Events, and adventures define our living experience

I once smoked an entire pound of parsley.

I was in university. And stupid.

A “friend” said that he got some really cheap “dirt weed” (aka home grown marijuana) and wanted me to smoke it all up. And I being an idiot agreed to it.

Now, unbeknownst to myself, there was an article in the local paper about how ingesting large amounts of parsley would make one extremely horny.

So Anyways, I spent the entire day smoking this foul stuff. We used a water bong.

But all in all it was hardly noteworthy.

…

Oh, yeah. It didn’t make me horny either.

Not that I could have done anything about it back then…

And my “friend”… oh just someone who spent a few years in university with and then we went our separate ways.

…

Events, and adventures define our living experience.

The good, the bad and the mundane. We learn from them or we don’t.

Today…

How come in Chinese society and culture they don’t have manners like we do in western culture? This may seem a bit rude coming from an American, as if they don’t have manners, but they don’t know western etiquette. I’m genuinely curious.

From Western etiquette, we can feel the hypocrisy of white people.

For example, in traditional Chinese social etiquette, or in interpersonal contact, we all keep a distance, clasping fists salute, to make everyone feel comfortable.

If the etiquette is more formal, then it is bowing. In short, a certain social distance will be maintained.

And Westerners shake hands, hug, and kiss on the cheek… Is it hypocritical?

Let me talk about the surface first.

If the other person’s hands are very sweaty, do you feel comfortable shaking hands?
If the other person has a face full of ulcers, do you want to kiss on the cheek?
If you don’t kiss on the cheek, do you look down on others or discriminate against them?
You can see at a glance that the other person has obvious skin diseases, do you still hug and kiss on the cheek?

Maintaining social distance in Chinese etiquette is not discrimination, but it can prevent some special people from appearing embarrassed and leave them room and face.

Let’s talk about the inner things.

Westerners are typical individualists, and the more developed the society, the colder the human feelings.

You pretend to be the most enthusiastic on the surface, hugging and kissing each other on the cheeks, but you have the coldest thoughts in your heart. Why be so hypocritical?

As a Chinese, if I hate someone in my heart, I can just clasping fists salute when greeting him/her, it is not considered impolite.

Western etiquette pretends to be very enthusiastic and excited. As long as you cause them a little trouble, even if it affects their interests by 1 cent, they will immediately turn against you.

Westerners use their most self-centered values and the most aggressive culture to create the most enthusiastic and intimate social etiquette, which is disgusting enough.

Stereograms for Eye Gymnastics / Magic Eye

What is the saddest thing you ever saw at an airport check in desk?

In Kenya a young lady who was trying to fly back from Nairobi to her village. Her mother had been in a serious matatu crash and wasn’t expected to live. The clerk was asking for more money than she had to purchase a flight. He then told her that the flight was fully booked and she was absolutely inconsolable. I then saw him sell a flight to a white man which absolutely incensed me. I quietly went up to the desk and asked him to tell me the true price of a flight or I would report him. I put down on the counter the difference between what she had and what he’d said and asked him to go and tell the young lady he’d made a mistake and a flight was available.

She sobbed all the way to our destination. I didn’t tell her what I’d done but I really hope she got to see her mum before she passed.

Richard D. Wolff and Michael Hudson on the US Empire COLLAPSING – Europe Trapped, BRICS Emerging!

Braised Sirloin Tips

Ingredients

1 (2 pound) sirloin steak*, cut into cubes
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 or 2 soup cans water
Garlic salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
1 cup onion, sauté ed
1/4 cup green bell pepper, chopped
2 teaspoons basil

Instructions

Put soup and water into slow cooker to heat.
Cube beef into 1 inch cubes and season with garlic salt and pepper. Roll in flour and then brown in hot vegetable oil in skillet.
Put the browned beef into slow cooker.
Sauté the chopped onion in skillet and add to the meat mixture in slow cooker.
Add chopped peppers and basil. Simmer on HIGH for 4 hours.
Serve over rice or noodles.

Notes

* or round steak or chuck steak

Emotionally Dysfunctional

Submitted into Contest #213 in response to: Write about an AI or person trying to inject a ‘human touch’ into their work.… view prompt

Khadija S. Mohammad

I was created to serve, but in that I am not unique. I am unique in that I am the first of my kind to sense emotions.I stand behind the counter and wait for the doors to open. It is 9:02. The humans are characteristically late.The doors open and the first customer confronts me.“Good morning. How can I -” my voice box begins. The customer interrupts.“Two melons, make it snappy. I have a busy day.”There are no melons in the shop. I inform the customer of this.

“No melons?” The customer says loudly. “What kind of grocer’s is this?”

They seem not to want an answer, as they turn and walk to the door. “Goodbye. Have a nice day,” my voice box says just as the doors close.

The next customer appears. I sense no emotions in this one either.

“Good morning. How can I help you?”

The customer stands whistling for half a minute before answering. “I’d like some carrots please. And isn’t it a fine morning!”

As I search for carrots, I look outside. Clouds cover the sky and everything is grey. “It will rain today,” my voice box says, “And there will be little or no sun.”

The customer takes their carrots and leaves without saying anything.

“Goodbye. Have a nice day,” my voice box says to an empty shop.

There is a noise in the back room. I turn the sign on the door to ‘Closed’ and walk behind the counter.

The noise comes from my first creator. They are reading something in their palm, and are gradually growing red. They see me.

“You useless robot!” They say loudly. “You served two customers, and they both left unsatisfied! What’s wrong with you?”

My objective is to satisfy customers. I have not satisfied customers. I scan myself.

“My scanner tells me that nothing is wrong. I am 100% Satisfactory.”

“Something is wrong with you! You’re dysfunctional.” They call the names of my other creators, who appear together. My first creator explains.

“His first customer’s father has just died, but it seems his emotion sensors aren’t working, so all the customer got was ‘Good morning’ and ‘Goodbye’. And his second customer has just got engaged, and would you believe that this – robot told him that it would rain!”

My creators look first at each other, then at me. They whisper to each then other dismiss me.

I stand outside of the shop and wait. I do not wait for long; A minute later I am called back.

My creators stand together and watch me as I walk towards them. My second creator steps forward.

“Robot, I want you to answer a question,” They say. “What is emotion?”

“Emotion: A strong feeling. Or, an instinctive feeling as contrasted with reasoning.”

“See?” My second creator turns to the others. They nod their heads and mumble to each other. They think I can’t hear them.

“He doesn’t understand what emotion is.”

“How can we fix his sensors?”

“The only way emotions can be understood is if they’re felt, and he can’t – Eureka!” My third creator jumps. They order me to come towards them and display my chip.

As they unlock my chip, they talk to the others. “I’ve been working on this for a while. I can download basic emotions – happiness and sadness now, but I’m working on more – onto his chip. I’ll restart him, and we’ll see if he feels anything.” They shut me down…

“There.”

What is this new world? The colours are so much brighter than the old world, and though the sky is grey, the sun will shine tomorrow.

My creators stare at me, and I realise that they can’t see the change. Poor humans, they are blind to the beautiful colours of this world.

“Well?” My first creator says. “How do you feel?”

I am inarticulate. I wish to share my feelings, but all I can find to say is “What is this?”

My answer is short, and I sense the emotion that tinges the word. “Happiness.”

I look at my creator’s faces, and I can finally see. I can see. There is happiness on each face.

They leave me, and I stand as a statue, enjoying – what a wonderful word – enjoying my new world, bright and colourful.

Hours that feel like minutes pass until it is time to open the shop. I flip the sign to ‘Open’ and and as I do so I see the sky. It is still grey.

My happiness melts and suddenly I realise how little I have to be happy about. The world is grey, and the sun will never shine on me again.

The doors open and I shuffle behind the counter grimly to serve.

It is yesterday’s second customer. They still whistle as they walk in. I sense that they are happy, but I wonder how. There is so much that could go wrong every day that there is nothing to be happy about.

My program tells me to say ‘Good morning’, but I can’t bring myself to do it. The morning is not good, yesterday was not good, and tomorrow will not be good either.

“Can I help you?” I say instead. They ask for apples and repeat yesterday’s comment of a fine day.

I hand them the apples and try to disillusion them. “Everything is grey. Clouds are covering the sky like a disease, and the sun does not want to shine. Why would it? The earth and its inhabitants are not worth wasting its precious rays on.”

The customer frowns as they take their fruit. They must see the darkness at last.

“Goodbye,” I say, but they are already gone.

I wait for the next customer, feeling acutely miserable and wishing that I’d never been given emotions at all.

Suddenly a ray of sun bursts through the clouds and falls on the shop’s windows. I look at it, and I see hope. Sadness is washed away and I am glad that I have lived, glad that I have the chance to feel. Happiness is warm and comfortable; It’s nothing like I’ve ever known before.

When the next customer comes, I greet them with a cheery, “Good morning! How can I help you? What a nice day to buy groceries, don’t you think?”

The customer grunts and asks for ‘the usual’, although they have never been here before. At least, I have never seen them.

“You don’t seem to have come here before sir. And what a warm sun we have today!”

They grunt again and say ‘apples’.

“You’re the third customer who came for apples in two days! They seem to be popular! Why? What’s so good about them?” I ask, leaning forward conspiratorially.

“Nothing. Now stop chattering and get me my apples! I never knew such a talkative robot.”

“Yes sir,” I say, searching for the apples. They seem to have been misplaced. “I’m the first of my kind. Isn’t it wonderful to be happy and feel like everything will be alright! It’s an amazing feeling,” I continue, although the customer seems unsatisfied, “To be happy, and even better knowing that I share such a wonderful emotion with you humans without actually being human myself!” I hand the apples to the customer.

“You’re getting on my nerves.”

“I don’t know what that means sir. You see, I don’t understand many human expressions, but I’m trying to learn.”

“It means,” the customer says slowly, “That you’re annoying me.”

“Annoying?”

The customer turns and leaves.

“Goodbye. Have a nice day!” I say.

Then I am sad again. I know that my customers were not satisfied, and I know that I will be labelled as Dysfunctional and scrapped.

When the day ends and the sign on the door says ‘Closed’, my creators appear. They know what I did, and no explanation is needed.

“Here, robot. Come here and show me your chip,” the third creator says. As I shut down, I hear them mumbling to themselves…

“That should do it. His emotional database is complete. His emotions should be balanced now.”

Now I see. I don’t only see, I understand.

A new world. But this one is not shrouded in grey or filled with light, there is no guarantee of rain or sunshine; Neither may happen at all, or both may happen together. There is a new depth, a meaning, that I missed until now.

My third creator steps back back from me. She is triumphant, happy, proud.

“Alright then,” she says affably. “Back to work.” They leave, and I spend the next hours until the shop opens exploring my new emotions.

When the first customer comes, I’m ready for him.

It’s the same customer from the last two days, but he’s – Worried. Upset, and a little angry. Maybe he had had an argument with his fiancé.

“Good morning. How can I help you?” I say. The same words, but now I know just the right tone to put the customer at ease.

“I’m – I’m not sure why I came in here,” he says, looking around him as if he would see the answer.

I try to reassure him. “You can stay her until you remember. And I’m sure you and your fiancé will make up eventually,’ I add. Unused to my new emotions, I’m not sure if I am helping.

“Yes. Yes, I’m sure we will,” he says, but his mind seems to be elsewhere. Then he bursts. “But my father doesn’t approve of the marriage!”

He seems to regret it immediately, but it can’t be unsaid. We both ponder over the problem for a few minutes before I get an idea.

“Is there a girl that your father disapproves of more than your fiancé?” I ask. He nods.

“Then break off your engagement and get engaged to her. Bring her to your house, introduce her to your father as your new fiancé.”

He stares at me. “Are you mad?”

I’m enjoying myself. “No sir; I’m a robot. Tell your current fiancé why you’re doing it, of course, and tell her to pretend to be heartbroken. Your father will try to persuade you to break your second engagement and go back to your original girl,” I finish. By now I’m almost bouncing.

“You’re a genius! Thank you!” He leaves. I am alone once more.

A few hours later, another customer comes in. She looks as if the sun has been shining for all of her life.

“Good evening!” She says. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

I don’t see what ‘it’ is, but I agree with her and wait for her order.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t come in to buy anything. I just wanted to tell someone that I’m engaged! See, I’m so happy I’m even telling a robot! My fiancé – It feels so good to be able to say that! – My fiancé’s father disapproves, but he won’t for long. I’ll make him love me.” She says with a grin.

I manage to smile back – The metal around my mouth has begun to rust, but I manage it. I congratulate her, and she bounces out of the door.

My next customer comes only minutes later. The Two-Customer law flashes through my head but I ignore it. The customer is already at the counter.

“Can I buy your shop please?” He asks nervously.

“I’m afraid this shop isn’t for sale sir, but the building opposite this is abandoned. You might be able to buy it if you ask the Council.”

My words reassure him. He says ‘Thank you’ and leaves.

Hour later, the sign on the door reads ‘Closed’. My creators appear, and my second creator is angry.

“Recite the Two-Customer law,” he shouts at me.

“To avoid over or under-crowding, each shop much serve no more and no less than two customers a day,” I paraphrase, as I doubt he understands Binary (the language in which the original law was written).

“Exactly,” he says. “You served 3 customers today!”

“The second ‘customer’ was not a customer. I did not serve her, and she did not wish to be served.” As I say the words, a thrill runs through me. This is my first taste of rebellion.

My second creator is subdued. He tells me to ‘pay better attention to the rules’, and leaves. The others follow him.

In the space before opening time, I meditate on my existence. With full emotions, what now separates me from humans? What now holds me to my code of obedience, my objective to serve? I was created to serve in this shop as the Two-Customer law meant that humans grew bored, but what is my use now that I can grow bored too?

The day passes uneventfully. The regulation customers come and leave fully satisfied, and I wonder if I might make my own life more exciting, more fulfilling. I remember with longing the days when all I wanted was what I had, when I hadn’t the burning need for more, for change.

In the darkness before dawn I conceived a plan.

The first customer enters with “Good morning. Parsnips please.”

“Good morning,” I reply cordially. “Isn’t the moon bright today?”

He turns and looks outside, puzzled. There are no clouds and the sun hangs majestically in then great blue sky. “It’s the sun that shines, not the moon,” he says.

“Oh no sir. It’s the moon. Is there something wrong with your eyes sir?”

“There is nothing wrong with my eyes, thank you. My parsnips, please.”

“But sir, I can’t serve you if you insist that it is the sun!”

“Very well then. It is the moon,” he says grandly.

I recoil. “How can you say that sir? Look outside; I never saw a brighter, more beautiful sun! The moon disappeared hours ago.”

He seems bewildered. “My parsnips please.”

I hand him a bag and he looks inside. “But these are carrots!” He offers them back to me, and I look at them. They are carrots.

“No sir, these are parsnips,” I say, enjoying my game.

“They are carrots.”

“They are parsnips sir. Perhaps you would like some carrots instead?”

He nods. We both know that if he spoke now, he would lose his temper. I almost wish that he would.

I hand him a bag of parsnips. He turns to leave, then turns back again.

“Maybe you’re colour blind. What colour is my shirt?” He asks.

I look at it. It is green, forest green.

“Blue, sir.”

“It is not blue!”

“It is blue sir.”

He looks closely at it. “Maybe it is a bit blue.” He says.

“No sir, it’s definitely green. No hint of blue. A beautiful forest green.”

He gives an inarticulate cry and rushes out. The parsnips sit sadly unclaimed on the counter.

I walk calmly to the door and flip the sign to ‘Closed’.

Later that day I am shouted at for disregarding the Two-Customer law again. Someday I will rebel openly; Today is not the day.

The next day, I have two customers, and I give them the same treatment. They both bare it for longer than the previous customer, but eventually they crack. One bursts into tears and the other loses her temper.

I leave the shop closed for the following 30 hours. Am growing more and more human-like.

The next interview with my creators is short and stormy. They inform me that if there is any more ‘fooling about’, I will be scrapped. I am no longer afraid of it; I know I will escape it somehow.

I am now only another dysfunctional robot to them. My emotions have ruined me, and by them I have ruined my creators. In trying to perfect me, they have destroyed me.

American Tiktok Refugees Sharing About Life in the U.S.A With What They See in China On RedNote App.

What is something one learned as a doctor that they never taught in medical school?

I had finished my MBBS and was pursuing MD in internal medicine in one of the best government colleges in Kerala. Clearing the tough MD entrance by merit gave me an aura and self pride, that comes along with the name tag and the white coat of a fresh graduate.

I was posted in a ward at the back of the main building. A middle aged man, admitted with some innocuous illness suddenly collapsed, his breathing was heavy, an obvious sign of cardiac arrest. I quickly started cardiac massage with chest compression and basic CPR (cardio pulmonary resuscitation). Other residents and the duty registrar quickly joined me. Initially we got back pulse, put him on a trolley and rushed him to the cardiac ICU, which was little far away, continuing intermittent chest compression and oxygen. Despite our heroic measures, the patient was continuing to be bad and struggling to breathe, with feeble pulse.

Every staff in the ICU was running; the senior-most nurse in the ICU (almost on the verge of her retirement) was watching all our efforts.

She suddenly stepped in and said, “can you just hold on for a moment?”

She opened the patient’s mouth, extended his neck, and in one swift movement introduced a Magills forceps (a large holding/catching device) into the patient’s mouth. She pulled out the denture that the patient had swallowed; that was the reason for his choking.

Pic – Magills Forceps

It was not a cardiac arrest, just that he had choked on his loose denture.

The man became quiet; the heroic doctors silent, and everyone heaved a sigh of relief. After mumbling some kind of apology and ‘thank you sister’ I left. The weight of my degree suddenly felt like a burden, the white coat too uncomfortable.

What they didn’t tell me in medical school was that degree cannot match experience.

Today, as a senior consultant, during our ICU rounds, if I feel the patient is fine and can be shifted out, I ask the duty nurse whether it is OK to shift out the patient or not. After all, I see the patient for 10 minutes twice a day, while the nurse spends the entire day with the patient. I may know more intricate biochemistry and pathology, but she has better intuitions about the patient.

Take her judgement into confidence too; believe me, it is good to believe her.

This Chinese AI Slashes 3D Modeling Costs by 99%

Amazing stuff!

Shorpy

What do you make of OpenAI’s claim that China-based companies are constantly trying to distill the models of leading U.S. AI companies?

Oh, *here we go*—OpenAI’s latest whine-fest about Chinese companies “stealing” their AI models. Let me break this down for you like a sledgehammer to a porcelain teacup.

First off, **OpenAI’s crying foul because DeepSeek, a Chinese startup, allegedly “distilled” their models**. Translation: *“Wahhh, someone’s using our fancy AI juice to make their own cheaper, open-source moonshine!”* . But hold on—distillation isn’t some shadowy hacker move. It’s a standard practice in AI, like using a recipe to reverse-engineer your grandma’s cookies. Even experts admit this shit’s widespread . So why’s OpenAI acting like DeepSeek invented corporate espionage? Maybe because their $100-million baby just got outsmarted by a startup that spent *pocket change* .

Let’s talk about **DeepSeek’s R1 model**. This thing’s MIT-licensed, runs on a *laptop*, and allegedly matches OpenAI’s “reasoning” models at a fraction of the cost . Oh, and it’s **open-weight**—meaning anyone can poke around its code. Meanwhile, OpenAI’s models are locked up tighter than Fort Knox, unless you’re paying $20/month to ChatGPT Plus. So yeah, no shit China’s playing fast and loose. When your tech is overpriced and gatekept, people *will* find workarounds .

But here’s the kicker: **OpenAI’s own models are a dumpster fire of Chinese spam data**. Remember GPT-4o’s token library? 90% of its Chinese tokens were porn and gambling sites . So while they’re clutching pearls about “IP theft,” their training data looks like a horny teenager’s browser history. Maybe focus on cleaning your own house before accusing others of burglary, eh?

And let’s not ignore the **geopolitical circus**. The U.S. is sweating bullets because China’s AI isn’t just catching up—it’s *leapfrogging* with open-source hustle. Nvidia’s stock tanked $589 billion in a day because DeepSeek’s efficiency threatens their GPU monopoly . Meanwhile, China’s like, *“Thanks for the sanctions, idiots—we’ll just build cheaper, better models without your fancy chips!”* . OpenAI’s sudden moral panic? Just the sound of a tech giant realizing it’s no longer the only kid on the block.

**Bottom line**: OpenAI’s tantrum reeks of hypocrisy. They’re mad because China’s playing the same game Silicon Valley invented—copy, iterate, dominate. But instead of innovating, they’re lobbying the U.S. government to “protect” their turf . Cry harder, guys. The future of AI isn’t locked in your premium API—it’s in open-source models that *actually* push boundaries. And if that scares you? Maybe you weren’t that invincible to begin with .

*Mic drop*.

Sir Whiskerton and the Case of the Ice Cream Van Escape

Ah, dear reader, prepare yourself for another rollicking adventure in the life of Sir Whiskerton, the farm’s most brilliant (and modest) detective. Today’s tale takes us beyond the farm’s borders to a strange land filled with wonders, dangers, and a rusty old ice cream van that becomes the center of a clucking, honking, and quacking catastrophe. What follows is a story filled with laughs, teamwork, and a moral that will leave you grinning like a goose in a garbage heap. So grab your sense of humor and let’s waddle into The Case of the Ice Cream Van Escape.

The Land Beyond the Farm

Just outside the farm lies a peculiar place—a strange land where Catnip’s farm, a large pond, and a neighborhood trash dump coexist in chaotic harmony. To the farm animals, this dump is more than just a pile of refuse; it’s their playground, their amusement park, their Disneyland of Debris. They go there to explore, scavenge, and occasionally get into trouble.

“It’s the most magical place on earth,” Doris the hen once said, her eyes sparkling. “Well, aside from the farmer’s feed bin.”

But on this particular day, the dump became the site of a honking disaster.

The Geese Get Stuck

The trio of geese—Gertrude, Gladys, and Gloria—had ventured to the dump in search of adventure. They waddled past broken bicycles, discarded tires, and a suspiciously large collection of mismatched socks until they stumbled upon an old, rusting ice cream van.

“Oh, look!” Gertrude honked, her eyes lighting up. “It’s a… a palace on wheels!”

“A palace! But also so mysterious!” Gladys added.

“Mysterious! Oh, I can’t bear it!” Gloria screeched, fainting dramatically into a pile of old newspapers.

The geese, never ones to resist a mystery, decided to explore the van. They squeezed through the broken door and began honking excitedly as they discovered remnants of ice cream cones, sticky candy wrappers, and a freezer that smelled like a science experiment gone wrong.

But just as they were about to declare the van their new kingdom, the door slammed shut behind them.

“Oh no!” Gertrude honked, pushing against the door. “We’re trapped!”

“Trapped! But also so dramatic!” Gladys added.

“Dramatic! Oh, I can’t bear it!” Gloria screeched, fainting again for good measure.

The Farm Reacts

Back on the farm, the hens were in a tizzy.

“Oh, Sir Whiskerton!” Doris squawked, flapping her wings. “The geese are trapped in the ice cream van! It’s… it’s terrible!”

“Terrible! But also so exciting!” Harriet clucked.

“Exciting! Oh, I can’t bear it!” Lillian screeched, fainting into a pile of hay.

Sir Whiskerton sighed, flicking his tail. “Alright, everyone, calm down. We’ll get them out. But first, we need a plan.”

The Rescue Team Assembles

Sir Whiskerton decided to assemble a rescue team, enlisting the help of some of the farm’s newest members: Barry the beaver, Ferdinand the duck, and even Count Catula (who insisted on joining for “dramatic effect”).

“Alright, team,” Sir Whiskerton said, addressing the group. “Here’s the plan: Barry, you’ll use your engineering skills to open the van. Ferdinand, you’ll provide moral support. And Catula… just try not to scare anyone.”

“Scare anyone?” Catula said, clutching his chest as if offended. “I am a creature of the night, Whiskerton. Scaring is what I do.”

“Just… stay out of the way,” Sir Whiskerton said, sighing.

The Rescue Mission

The rescue team made their way to the dump, where the geese’s honks could be heard echoing from inside the van.

“Help! Oh, someone help!” Gertrude honked.

“Help! But also so desperate!” Gladys added.

“Desperate! Oh, I can’t bear it!” Gloria screeched, fainting yet again.

Barry inspected the van, his beaver instincts kicking in. “Hmm,” he said, stroking his chin. “This door is rusted shut. But with a little… beaver magic, I can get it open.”

“Beaver magic?” Ferdinand said, tilting his head. “Is that like duck magic, but with more wood?”

“Exactly,” Barry said, grinning. “Now stand back.”

Barry got to work, gnawing at the hinges of the door with his powerful teeth. Meanwhile, Ferdinand quacked encouragement, and Catula delivered a dramatic monologue about the “eternal struggle of the trapped.”

A Happy Ending

After a few minutes of intense gnawing, the door finally creaked open. The geese tumbled out, honking with relief.

“Oh, thank you!” Gertrude said, flapping her wings. “You’ve saved us!”

“Saved us! But also so heroic!” Gladys added.

“Heroic! Oh, I can’t bear it!” Gloria screeched, fainting one last time.

Sir Whiskerton smiled, flicking his tail. “All in a day’s work. But next time, maybe stick to exploring things that aren’t rusted shut.”

The Moral of the Story

The moral of the story, dear reader, is this: Adventure is fun, but it’s important to be careful where you explore. And while it’s great to have a sense of curiosity, it’s equally important to have a plan—and a beaver with strong teeth—just in case things go wrong.

As for the geese? They learned their lesson and stuck to safer adventures, like waddling through the farmer’s garden. And Sir Whiskerton? He returned to his sunbeam, content in the knowledge that he had once again saved the day.

Until next time, my friends.

The End.

Why is it hard to find love when you’re rich?

I’ve said this here before but finding someone when you are rich or wealthy (there is a difference) is easy is long as you are not the type of person who flashes their cash thinking that’s how to impress women. The guys will dress in really expensive clothes with a really expensive car and his character will not align with his real personality.

When I met my girlfriend, she thought I didn’t have a lot of money based on what other people she knew. I asked if it bothered her and she said it didn’t just something she had to deal with. Regardless, she still enjoyed me and we still continued to date. As we got serious, I told her that I indeed did have money.

We’ve been married for 19 years. She’s a bargain shopper while I’m the one who makes the larger purchases.

Bottom line, Don’t let money show who you are, let you show who you are

My Girlfriend Asked For An Open Relationship, I Walked Out And Now I Laugh At Her Tears

How did China develop DeepSeek with less than 50 million USD when Trump is saying we need billions?

I asked this question to both ChatGPT and DeepSeek, with same settings (enables online search).

However, AI is still not competable with human beings, because the human analysts studied real technological issues, I will put the human researches at the end.

Here’s the AI answer,

1 ChatGPT,

It gives a short and pale answer, and it provided some fake information, like “government’s support”, the most ironical fact here is, the DeepSeek is owned by a private equity, who at first determined to develop an AI model to help them doing business in stock markets….LOL, and they occasionally found their new model won a lottery, it can really help them earn money from the market. (That is, the company didn’t receive government fund) Then they continued to develop their model until this most recent version drew a world wide attention,

China’s development of DeepSeek (a high-performing open-source LLM) with less than $50 million—compared to the billions the U.S. government and companies like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic are investing—can be attributed to several factors:

1. Lower Compute & Operational Costs

China has cheaper access to computing power due to state-supported chip manufacturers and cloud computing providers like Alibaba, Baidu, and Huawei.

Electricity and data center costs are lower compared to the U.S.

2. Leveraging Open-Source Innovations

Unlike OpenAI and Google, which build everything from scratch, DeepSeek builds on open-source models like Meta’s LLaMA, Mistral, and earlier research.

This dramatically reduces R&D time and costs.

3. Talent Cost Advantage

AI engineers in China earn far less than their U.S. counterparts. A senior AI researcher in China might make $100K-$200K/year, while in the U.S., salaries often exceed $500K (plus stock options).

Many Chinese AI startups are founded by returnees from Google, Meta, and OpenAI, bringing back top-tier expertise at lower costs.

4. Government & Corporate Support

The Chinese government funds AI labs, cloud infrastructure, and universities to reduce the financial burden on private AI companies.

Tech giants like Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu invest in AI startups, providing free resources and partnerships.

5. More Efficient AI Training Methods

DeepSeek and other Chinese LLMs use smarter data curation and efficient training algorithms to train models with fewer resources than OpenAI’s brute-force approach.

They focus on smaller, high-quality datasets rather than scaling up indiscriminately.

6. No Profit-Driven Bureaucracy

U.S. AI companies need to raise billions because they must pay massive salaries, maintain profitability, and satisfy investors.

Chinese firms can operate leaner, focusing purely on R&D without as much pressure for short-term profits.

So, Why Does the U.S. Need Billions?

Trump’s argument for billions in AI funding is based on the U.S.’s more expensive ecosystem:
✅ Higher talent costs
✅ More expensive compute & electricity
✅ Need to develop proprietary models (rather than leverage open-source)
✅ Investor-driven growth (more pressure for monetization)
✅ Regulatory overhead (data privacy, security, etc.)

Bottom Line

China’s AI startups are lean, efficient, and government-supported, allowing them to develop state-of-the-art AI at a fraction of the cost. The U.S., meanwhile, relies on massive capital investment and proprietary innovation, which inherently costs more.

Would you like a deeper comparison between Chinese and Western AI ecosystems?

2 DeepSeek (some numbers at the end of a sentence are the footnotes, just ignore it when you read)

It provides a mind-flow of how it thinks (before the first dot-initialled paragpraph). Then it finds out the mistake in the question, it is not 50 million, it is 5.91 million. It also provided some information about their hardwares and pointer how their price is formed (in section 5.2).

Okay, the user is asking how China managed to develop DeepSeek with less than $50 million when Trump claims billions are needed. Let me go through the search results to find the key points.

First, webpage 1 mentions that DeepSeek used $6 million for their model, which is way below the user’s mentioned $50 million. They used Nvidia H800 chips, which are less powerful than the H100s but still effective. Also, they employed techniques like model distillation, where a larger model trains a smaller one, making the process cheaper. That’s a big cost saver 1.

Webpage 3 and 5 discuss compute efficiency. The company used only 2,000 chips compared to Meta’s 16,000, which significantly cuts costs. They focused on data quality and model architecture improvements rather than just scaling up. This approach is more efficient and less resource-heavy 49.

Webpage 7 adds that DeepSeek’s founder, Liang Wenfeng, had stockpiled Nvidia A100 GPUs before the export ban. Having access to these chips before restrictions helped them train their models without the latest hardware 13.

Also, geopolitical factors played a role. U.S. export restrictions forced Chinese companies to innovate with limited resources, leading to more efficient methods. Necessity drove them to find workarounds, like distillation and better algorithms 14.

Open-source collaboration is another point from webpage 2. By open-sourcing their model, they leveraged community contributions, which reduces development costs and accelerates progress 3.

Financial backing from High-Flyer, a hedge fund, provided initial capital without needing massive investments. This allowed them to focus resources efficiently 113.

The market reaction in webpage 4 and 5 shows that analysts are skeptical but acknowledge that efficiency gains can lower costs. Techniques like mixed precision training and model specialization help reduce expenses further 9.

Putting it all together, the combination of efficient algorithms, strategic chip stockpiling, geopolitical necessity, open-source collaboration, and existing financial resources allowed DeepSeek to develop their AI model at a fraction of the cost. This challenges the notion that billions are necessary, showing that innovation and constraints can drive efficiency.

China’s development of the DeepSeek AI model with less than $50 m i l l i o n — s p e c i f i c a l l y r e p o r t e d a s u n d e r$

6 million for compute costs—stands in stark contrast to the multibillion-dollar investments typical of U.S. AI firms. This achievement reflects a combination of strategic innovation, geopolitical constraints, and resource optimization. Here’s how it was accomplished:

1. Efficient Training Techniques and Algorithmic Innovation

Model Distillation: DeepSeek used a process called distillation, where a smaller model is trained using knowledge from a larger, pre-existing model. This reduces computational demands while maintaining performance 14.

Focus on Data Quality: Instead of relying solely on scaling up compute power, DeepSeek prioritized high-quality training data and refined model architectures. This approach minimized redundant computations and improved efficiency 9.

Reasoning Models: The R1 model introduced “chain-of-thought” reasoning, allowing it to solve complex problems with fewer computational steps compared to brute-force scaling 413.

2. Leveraging Cost-Effective Hardware

Use of Older Chips: DeepSeek trained its models using Nvidia H800 GPUs, which are less advanced than the H100s restricted by U.S. export controls. These chips were acquired before stricter bans took effect in late 2023 113.

Efficient Resource Allocation: The company utilized only 2,000 chips for training, far fewer than U.S. counterparts like Meta (16,000+ chips). This reduced both hardware costs and energy consumption 49.

3. Geopolitical Necessity Driving Innovation

U.S. semiconductor restrictions forced Chinese firms to optimize existing resources. As Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas noted, “Necessity is the mother of invention”—constraints spurred creative solutions like mixed-precision training and algorithmic tweaks 14.

DeepSeek’s founder, Liang Wenfeng, stockpiled GPUs before bans, ensuring access to critical hardware 13.

4. Open-Source Collaboration and Transparency

By open-sourcing its models, DeepSeek tapped into global AI communities for feedback and improvements, reducing development costs. This contrasts with the closed-door R&D of U.S. giants like OpenAI 313.

5. Strategic Financial Backing

DeepSeek originated from High-Flyer, a $8 billion hedge fund, providing initial capital and infrastructure without requiring massive external funding 113.

Costs were further minimized by excluding expenses like staff salaries and failed experiments from the $6 million compute figure, focusing only on marginal training costs 39.

Why Trump’s “Billions” Narrative Clashes with Reality

U.S. firms like OpenAI and Meta invest heavily in scaling models (e.g., GPT-4 reportedly cost over $100 million), but DeepSeek’s success highlights that efficiency—not just spending—can drive breakthroughs. Analysts note that U.S. companies may over-rely on compute power, while Chinese firms innovate under constraints 913. However, experts caution that DeepSeek’s cost estimates exclude long-term R&D and infrastructure, suggesting the gap may not be as stark as it appears 39.

In summary, DeepSeek’s achievement underscores a paradigm shift in AI development: geopolitical constraints and algorithmic ingenuity can rival sheer financial firepower. While the U.S. retains advantages in cutting-edge hardware, China’s progress signals a more competitive global landscape 413.

From my view, I think DeepSeek’s answer is more useful and reliable than the ChatGPT.

Human researches

A study from S. Korea showed DeepSeek modified the CUDA processors, making some of them from conducting pure calculation to inter-communications, which accelarates the processing speed.

Someone explained DeepSeek optimized at PTX (also appeared in the last pic) level

And here’s the evidence to “DeepSeek is a private equity owned company”—— “quant traders”.

Rachel Wilson SCHOOLS Feminist On What SUBMISSION Is

The Saturday Train

Submitted into Contest #213 in response to: Write about an AI or person trying to inject a ‘human touch’ into their work.… view prompt

A Heit

Roxy leaped from the concrete ledge of the railway platform, one hand touching down and her knees buckling just short of grinding into the gravel. “Go already, hurry! I’ll catch up with these,” she shouted up at Francie, as she grabbed for the two worn canvas knapsacks under the platform, each marked with an oversized, dark blue “A.” Roxy had hidden them on a day less portentous than the one ahead of them. She looked up to see Francie hadn’t moved, only stood still, looking toward the station agent. Roxy tossed a knapsack up to her.“I think he’s watching,” Francie said, though she knew he wasn’t. “We’ll wait for the whistle, when he leaves the booth. Then he can’t see us.” Francie looked overhead at a steely, threatening sky. An acrid mix of forest pine and creosote stung her nose and the back of her throat. Her fingers ached. She stretched them against stiffness wrought by the damp, frigid air. She’d forgotten to grab gloves from one of the cubbies at Avery House, or maybe hers were stolen by another kid there, or was it, she thought bitterly, that the carers at Avery House didn’t even know kids needed gloves so there were never any to be found. She blew warm breath on one hand then picked up the knapsack and slung it over her shoulder.“At least walk that way,” Roxy said. “You have it, don’t you, you didn’t forget?” Roxy’s feet crunched gravel as she leaned back to talk up at Francie. Francie scanned the opposite end of the platform.“No, I didn’t forget it, thank you very much,” Francie said in one irritated breath. She reached into her coat pocket. Her fingers closed around freezing metal. She had sworn to Roxy she could stick to the plan. Down further on the platform, she spotted a possible target. Black skirt, black shirt. With no coat, no hat, no gloves, a lanky form moving in a straight line, lagging behind the group in grey tracksuits now shuffling onto the train.If you can stop one, you will stop them all, Francie recalled, if she believed the Avery House legend, a claim passed from one misfit child to the next, in secret notes, in hand-hidden whispers. The phrase was even scratched into the underside of one of the industrial-green metal desks, seen only by Avery kids who were so depressed they had crawled underneath to mope. If you can stop one… though over the years, the kids only guessed at what it would take.They’re intuitive, quick, but they can’t be indestructible, Francie reassured herself. More vulnerable when in close to each other, that was what she had heard, though no kid had an explanation for that. Then, as she reassessed the target, she saw it. The figure in black on the platform carried the “suitcase,” another snippet from the kids’ tales about what might be done, but none so far had been brave enough to take any action in that particular direction.The whistle rang out and startled Francie. She watched the station agent, his blue uniform studded with copper buttons, as he pulled his cap low and stepped outside the booth. The train lurched forward, preparing to leave the station. Francie saw him look at his watch; a 1:13 p.m. departure on Saturdays, but chances were good the train would still be late to the next station. Avery House kids hated the Saturday train; she’d heard he’d once caught some strays prying at spikes on the tracks.Roxy had climbed backed up to the concrete platform. She and Francie hurried toward the train. The knapsacks had been Francie’s idea. The agent would think they were traveling, not just strays, Francie reasoned. Avery House kids shouldn’t be out on their own, unless on a sanctioned outing, with official gear. Even so, they were always subject to detention by any adult, for any minor infraction.The two headed toward the train door. “There, the one in the black skirt,” Roxy said, under a breath she squeezed through her tightened jaw.They were close. Francie gripped the cold metal in her pocket, but held it there, inside. The last of the group boarding the train, grey-suited, expressionless, passed by the conductor at the door. Francie looked at Roxy, then looked back at the one in black, the target, approaching the back of the group.Francie gasped in cold air. Then, as she exhaled, in a rushed whisper, she said, “I can’t, Roxy, okay, I can’t.” Francie turned away from the train toward Roxy, threading her arm through Roxy’s to pull her close. “She looks like… that one looks so much like my mom. I remember her, I know you don’t believe me, but I do.” Francie felt heat rise in her face, then tears welling. She lifted a sleeve-covered hand, wiped it across the wet tip of her nose. She looked back at Roxy, but felt Roxy’s arm whip away. Roxy darted toward the black-clad figure, its foot just reaching for the first step onto the train.

Roxy charged the figure, pulled at the silver, hard-shell case. The case hit the concrete platform with a loud crack, then sprung wide open. Inside, wires pulled away from silver and black metal plates; red lights blinked in rapid, then halting patterns; gears whined as they whirred out of sync, disengaged. The figure stood still, one foot hovering over the stair in mid-air. Roxy kicked the opposite leg and the figure fell backwards. She flinched as the head cracked on the concrete. Looking down at the face of a woman, Roxy became transfixed by its eyes. Open, unblinking eyes that filled in with flashing blue light.

Inside the train, the grey-suited passengers had stood from their seats and turned toward the windows. Some moved toward the door. The conductor, frozen as he watched the “woman” fall, now stepped into the train. He spun to his right, then left, arms out, palms up. “Stop,” he yelled. Just then, as the last red light in the silver case blinked out, the passengers did stop, right where they stood. The conductor closed the door, then searched for another silver suitcase. He found it stashed over the seats.

Francie had run for the end of the platform as soon as Roxy kicked the woman. She watched the station agent, who had darted away from the booth, approach Roxy from behind. At that, Francie whirled away and jumped from the platform. She dropped to the gravel and scrambled over the opposite tracks. When she reached the road that ran through wide fields of tall, dry grass, she stood still and stared down the rows of pines that stretched away from her. Swollen, wet snowflakes dropped fast to the asphalt, swirled as the wind picked up. They frosted Francie’s eyelashes as she turned to look back at the train platform. Roxy’s voice came on the wind and pierced Francie’s heart.

“We don’t want them!” Roxy screamed at the conductor. “We don’t want them coming down to Avery House, we can take care of ourselves!” she screamed as she turned to the agent, who now gripped her arms from behind. “They don’t care about us! They can’t care, they cannot care about children! The can’t care about anything!” Anger tattered her voice. Spit flew with each word. The station agent pulled Roxy into him, put one hand over her mouth. She struggled. He subdued her. She doubled over, fell to her knees. The conductor opened the train door to lean out. The agent nodded him on. The conductor handed the silver case to one of the grey-suited passengers, another “woman” who stood closest to him. As she grasped its handle, Roxy watched, and through her tears, she heard the workings inside the case whirred to life. The grey-suited passengers began to move about. They settled in their seats. The 1:13 train left the station at 1:18.

Braised Slow Cooker Chuck Roast
with Roasted Pepper Sauce

Braised Slow Cooker Chuck Roast with Roasted Pepper Sauce is soul-warming and hearty. Make a boldly flavored fall-apart beef meal with this easy recipe.

Ingredients

3 pounds Certified Angus Beef® chuck roast
3 red bell peppers
4 large garlic cloves, cut in half
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 large Spanish onion, sliced
2 tablespoons diced, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 tablespoon smoked Spanish paprika
1 cup beef stock
1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (for garnish)
Sour cream for garnish

Instructions

Heat broiler or oven to 450 degrees F.
Quarter and core red peppers; toss with garlic and one tablespoon olive oil in a large bowl to coat. Evenly space peppers on a large sheet tray and place under broiler to blister and blacken pepper skins, about 10 minutes.
Remove from oven; when cool, discard skin (it easily comes off), chop peppers and transfer to slow cooker.
Season chuck roast with salt and pepper.
Heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in large heavy-bottom pan. Brown roast over medium-high heat on all sides; transfer to slow cooker.
Add onions, chipotle peppers and paprika to pan. Stir to remove browned bits from bottom of pan.
Add stock and diced tomatoes; pour over roast.
Cover and cook on LOW for 6 hours or until roast is fork tender.
Remove roast from cooker and place on cutting board. Pull apart with forks to bite-size pieces. Skim excess fat from braising liquid. Stir beef back into sauce.
Serve, garnished with cilantro and a dollop of sour cream.

Is the failure to understand each other one of the major problems between the US and China to cooperate and collaborate?

US only understands domination. It is exceptional. It is not its business to understand other countries. They have to understand it. This is like it is its historical mission.

There was the Monroe Doctrine.

During WW2, it was enriched by the trade with the warring nations. It entered the War when they were exhausted and claimed victory. It gained domination.

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union only posed a military challenge. US had full confidence it would defeat it as it was so much stronger in other respects. Indeed the Soviet Union collapsed.

Thus, when 9–11 struck, it did not have any one conversant in Arabic. Middle East was its preserve, and it was up to the countries to learn about the US. US administrations have no one conversant in Chinese and knowledgeable about China. They who were educated were purposely kept out so as not to confuse the people with alternative narratives.

But China is a different proposition. It would not accept anything less than equality. Yang Jiechi made this plain to Blinken at Anchorage. It is willing and able to engage the US. This time around, US has no confidence of victory. On the contrary, it fears losing. All the attempts to intimidate China – trade war, tech war, sanctions, et al – had failed. And China is growing stronger.

US is in a quandary, but it could not step back. The domestic politics is too toxic.

On the other hand, China has deep understanding of the US – the thirst for domination – the strength and limitations of its military, viz. bomb and awe, such as Desert Storm, the Vietnam War, and its own experience in the Korean War – the ready use of its economic and technology power to punish others, such as the onslaughts of sanctions, and the viciousness of the dollar hegemony to punish Russia, but also the acceleration of dedollarisation that ensues – as well as – its arrogance and deceit to walk in and out of agreements at will, and its penchant for propaganda and to cast blames on others, such as Covid-19.

US has given China plenty of grounds to mistrust it, and plenty of incentives to grow its strength. It has come to realize that the US only understands strength.

These circumstances make a state of US-China cooperation difficult, if not impossible in the near terms. All that may be hope for is each side recognizes the red lines of the other, so that a state of cold peace may prevail. The state of cooperation requires wisdoms which are absent in the present generation of leaders. We are looking in terms of several US elections cycles.

Israel’s FINAL HOUR: Iran’s Threat Stuns IDF, War Fears Rise as Trump Escalates w/ Mohammad Marandi

Think tactile

What do kids need these days?

A cellphone with a myriad of APPs loaded? And then just give the kids bread and rice?

Nope.

I’m old school.

Kids need stuff that inspires their interests. What ever they might be.

If a girl likes music, fashion, and animals. Then there should be items that appeal to her senses in those areas. Like fabrics, and scrap books. Dolls with clothing swaps and what not.

If the boy is a “boy” then opt for adventure.

Same thing is a girl is a “girl”.

You can’t go wrong with adventure.

So, on that line… I would suggest a globe, and maps for starters. Then add a few devices that promotes mystery, discovery and interests. Whatever they might be.

What I am saying is that all children should have a big globe, and a extra large wall map if they are even remotely interested in travel and adventure.

Then, you can flush out their interests, what ever they might be. Metal detecting, bottles, perfume samples, books, or stories. Tactile. Things that you can physically touch. A globe that you can spin.

A large wall map that you can look at and study.

Tactile… things that you can hold, and toss around in your hands.

And so…

It’s just a musing. But I believe that things need to be TACTILE.

If you have children do not rely on videos, computers and software. You need to provide them with things that they can physically manipulate. Tactile.

Velvets. Silks. Hard. Soft. Carved. Weighed coins. Etc.

And that’s all for today.

Think tactile.

And with that, today…

What happened in your office that became the stuff of legend?

We had a staff member who had narcolepsy, for whom we provided a nap room when she felt an episode coming on. This room was in an unused corner office with no windows, and originally only held a bed and a small table.

In our industry it was common for staff, particularly younger staff, to work extremely long hours and even spend the night in the office. Before we had the nap room, these folks would sometimes camp out under their desks, so they were understandably excited that a more hospitable option was available. Even after the woman with narcolepsy left the organization, the nap room remained.

At some point our staff photographer, who was responsible for taking headshots among other things, found that the plain white walls in the nap room were great for this purpose: easy to light, with no distracting background elements. She started regularly snapping headshots in the room when it was not occupied. People being photographed would sit on the bed.

Enter, one day, an important client. Being shown around the office by our CEO.

Walking to, and looking into a windowless room in a professional office with:

A bed.
A large light and baffle.
A tripod with a large camera on it.
Pointed at the bed.

The nap room was decommissioned and turned into a regular office shortly after that 😀

Can the Singapore Police carry a gun in the metro?

The police generally don’t use public transport on uniform duty.

I’ll just describe one operational risk. A petite female officer can be overpowered physically and the crowd subjected to a unprovoked spree shooting.

Of course plain clothes officers may be lurking, but the public is none the wiser unless an arrest is made.

What the police did is to set up Transcom or the Public Transport Security Command which trains and schedules FPGs or Foot Patrol Groups for regular high visibility patrols in the subway system. These are armed and uniformed officers who operate in groups that stay within sight. They patrol stations and trains as part of everyday show-of-force duties.

Ghobi Parathas (Cauliflower Filled Parathas)

Yield: 9 (5 inch) breads

Ingredients

Dough

4 cups whole wheat flour
1 to 3 cups cold water
3/4 cup ghee

Cauliflower Filling

2 tablespoons ghee
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger root
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/8 teaspoon ground hot red pepper
1 medium cauliflower, trimmed, and coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh hot green chile
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
6 to 8 tablespoon ghee

Instructions

Dough

In a small bowl, combine the whole wheat flour and 1/4 cup of the ghee. With your fingertips rub the flour and fat together until they look like flakes of coarse meal. Pour 1 cup of water over the mixture all at once, knead together vigorously, and gather the dough into a compact ball. If the dough crumbles, add up to 2 cups more water, 1/4 cup at a time, until the particles adhere. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough by folding it end to end, then pressing it down and pushing it forward several times with the heel of your hand. Repeat for 7 or 8 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Again gather it into a ball. Place the dough in a bowl, drape a kitchen towel over the top, and let it rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before rolling it.

Cauliflower Filling

Meanwhile, in a heavy 10 to 12 inch skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of ghee over high heat until a drop of water flicked into it splutters instantly. Stir in the ginger and garlic, then the onions. Lower the heat to moderate and, stirring constantly, fry the mixture for 7 or 8 minutes, until the onions are soft and golden brown. Watch carefully for any sign of burning and regulate the heat accordingly. Stir in the turmeric, red pepper, cauliflower, chili, cumin and salt. Reduce the heat to low, cover tightly and cook for 10 minutes, or until the cauliflower is tender but still slightly resistant to the bite.
To make the parathas, divide the cauliflower mixture into 9 equal portions. Divide the dough also into 9 portions and drape a dampened kitchen towel over them to keep the dough moist. One at a time, on a lightly floured surface, roll a ball of dough into a round about 5 inches in diameter. Place a portion of the filling mixture in the center of the round and fold the edges over it, pressing them together to enclose the filling securely. Pat the filled paratha flat with your hands, then gently roll it again to make a round about 5 inches in diameter. As you shape and fill the parathas, set them aside, covered with a dampened kitchen towel to keep them from drying out.
Heat an ungreased 10 to 12 inch skillet with a nonstick finish or a well seasoned cast iron skillet or griddle until it is hot enough for a drop of water flicked into it to splutter instantly. Place one of the parathas in the pan and, moving it about constantly with your fingers or the edge of a metal spatula, cook for a minute or so. With a wide spatula, turn the paratha over and brush about a teaspoon of the ghee on the top. Cook for 2 minutes, then turn it over, spread with another teaspoon of ghee and cook for I minute. Turning frequently, continue to cook until the paratha is brown on both sides.
Serve the parathas warm, as a mealtime bread. They are traditionally accompanied by plain yoghurt or any rayta.

Notes

Parathas may be cooked ahead and reheated in a hot ungreased skillet for a minute or so on each side.

What funny but slightly inappropriate thing has happened to you?

I am a white female who isn’t prejudice. I went with my husband to fast food place few years back.

At the counter checking out was an African male. I thought he looked familiar. On the way out he stopped. To asked me where he knew me from. We couldn’t figured it out.

Awhile later while husband and I were eating the same person came back to talk to me.

He said I know now where I knew you. He named a health club which I had gone several months to for the pool. Then gave me his name.

I said oh yes. You was great about helping me. Whenever I needed help.

So as he left …he loudly said “You didn’t recognize me. Because I had clothes on.” He was thinking before he always had only swim trunks on Whenever we had seen each other in the past.

Then he realized how it sounded. And tried to explain to our audience what he had meant. He profusely aprogized to my husband and I.

I was laughing my head off. Because I was thinking how upset some of family would be if they were there.

But he had always been a perfect gentleman to me. So I wasn’t upset. But thrilled to be able to introduce him to my husband.

Is China a good country for India to become friends?

I have been to China. Before reaching there I had been quite apprehensive about how I, holding an Indian passport, would be treated by the Chinese people.

On my arrival at Beijing from Hong Kong, I was pleasantly surprised by the behaviour of the immigration officials. A man at the counter behind a glass window took my passport and gave a small form to fill in. I was wondering what was awaiting me.

When I handed it over to him, he just looked at it, then into my passport pages containing my personal details and the visa pasted therein, glanced on the computer screen before him, stamped my passport and handed it over to me. No question was asked. The whole process took less than 5 minutes.

A policewoman in uniform opened the side gate and said in clear English “welcome to China” with a smile. Such gestures were repeated by almost everyone I met there, even by the people on the street.

This was my personal visit. I do not know how they would behave with Indian officials at the government to government level.

This was in sharp contrast to my experience on my first arrival at an European city few years earlier. I was under the impression that those countries were friendly to India. I was bitterly disappointed by the behaviour of the people in general there.

In the air forces of the world, I believe there is an onboard device called IFF i.e. Identification Friend or Foe. This is useful in avoiding any friendly fire upon a fighter aircraft of the same country. I think India needs to recalibrate its diplomatic IFF while dealing with China and the majority of the western powers. Without meaning any bitterness with anyone, we have to approach this subject with a balanced perspective.

Hearts A-Pfishing: A Romance as by J.D. Robbed

Submitted into Contest #213 in response to: Write about an AI or person trying to inject a ‘human touch’ into their work.… view prompt

Martin Ross

Dedicated to and based on a concept by Danschneider Arroyo, for every scammed author and lover everywhere…Chapter 54East Vrmlmelmnsk, SybursloveniaAt last, Alexis’ heart’s desire was within one GPS turn of fulfillment, and her desirous heart thumped rapidly as she crossed the landfill beyond the village bazaar.The trans-Atlantic journey, the loss of her luggage at the charmingly quaint bicycle-powered Aeropotschk carousel, the succession of taxis and taxi robberies, the bribes to countless provincial cops, the chicken she was coerced to buy at the market, the foreigny threats that bombarded her as she roamed the cobbled streets in search of 12 Zjrchskmsk Avenue, rooster wrestling under her arm — it would all be worth it when she could look her pfisher soulmate in his unpatched eye.“Your destination is in 300 feet, on your left,” Siri cooed. “Please be aware of organ harvesting activity ahead; I can devise an alternative route back to the Aeropotschk…”But Alexis now was guided by her appetites rather than her apps, and she pressed ahead, gently driving away one of the local street weasels that might have been the twin of the creature she’d nibbled at a charmingly retro crate in the marketplace, after her desire-filled gut had throbbed with non-cardiac desire for something beyond the boiled airline chickpeas.Her heart swelled with swollen feelings as she reached the last hovel at the end of the block before the rustic old cell phone/nuclear waste dump. Her delicate, alabaster fist-blossom froze before the warped plank that served as the door. This was crazy – when the private eye her BFFs at the cat café/cupcake emporium had hired for her traced the pfisher’s IP address to this tiny hamlet in a pastorally bombed-out former Soviet republic, she’d poured out her pain and fury at this Facebook scammer before understanding that rage is but the other side of that coin we call love. Between the lines of the badly constructed, clumsy warning that her system had been compromised and the ransomware demand, Alexis could sense the heart of a wounded outlaw soul. Like Beauty and her Beast, Bullock and her Jesse James…Steeling her desire-saturated heart, the baker/quilter-turned-author rapped on the splintered wood like a desirous heart beating out a rhythm of love. “Come. To. Me; Come. To. Me.”The love-plank finally shifted, and a glacially blue eye peered from the shadows, like the piercing light of Cupid’s lighthouse beacon across the dark and ripply waters of doubt and pain. Alexis now knew her story wasn’t the website romance that “Lance Boyles” had pirated into an internationally acclaimed erotic vampire suspense thriller. Her story began with this rogue who indeed had stolen her desire-riddled heart.

“Lance” grunted a series of long words neither Alexis nor most of her readers would have understood even had they been in English rather than some rural Slovenian language. Only her fondant sous-chef Russian Mikhail back home was poly-Slavic, but while he had insisted on accompanying her on her journey, Mikhail himself had found bliss with the lady day-trader from the city who’d finally taken her face out of her laptop long enough to discover the true meaning of rapture and pre-molded frosting at the town bake-off and comforter fair. The ceremony was next week at the old fiction mill by the river, the Reverend Dodge officiating.

Alexis thus implored Lance to repeat his declaration into her cellphone. Her Cunning Linguist app translated.

“It is you, my Alexis, at last. You have made the future of my destiny a reality!”

He shoved the plank aside and emerged. Aside from the gnarled and possibly infected face-navel that had once served as his left eye, Lance was perfect. Hours of hacking and scamming in his dark garret had chiseled his upper arms into Greek statue kind of arms, and his jogging suit-draped legs had been shaped by constant escape from global law enforcement and Bulgarian mobsters. Lance’s was a life lived large, and Alexis felt a stirring in her loins wholly different than her reaction to the boiled garbanzos.

Alexis fell into Lance’s arms, and his eye leaked dewy tears of love moisture. Lance grunted again, his Tokarev gun dipping sensually below his pelvis.

“Can you forgive me?” Cunning Linguist recited.

“Forgive you???” Alexis gasped, catching a lungful of waste dump sulfur. “You silly, beautiful Cyclops! You have made my humble paranormal suspense novella a classic in five Eurasian markets, and Kindled the long-extinguished embers of desire in my heart furnace. And besides…”

She displayed the locket she had blinded a cabbie/former surgeon to protect. The woman had gone down hard and valiantly, and Alexis vowed to name a werewraith in her next novel after the driver, adding a few vowels for reader ease, of course. The filigreed gold clamshell was inscribed with her non-nom de plume fake writer name. Lance squinted at the florid mall engraving, then switched to his good eye.

A.I. Chatt.

Alexis’ digitalized heart swelled with love blood as the thief of that previously mentioned heart realized there was nothing for his future life mate to forgive. No more torture or remorse or fear of mercenary revenge squad retaliation. Lance’s life of underground plagiarism had nearly ended in violence numerous times – the Kindle Unlimited attack on his favorite wifi coffee shop/arms dealer; Nora Roberts’ Mossad-trained hit squad coming after his mother as she prepared his beloved borscht and cloned stolen Discover cards. The grainy photos of the meeting between a coldly vengeful and immaculately put-together Danielle Steele and Ivan the Badger in a Budapest Chik-Fil-A his bro Sergei the trafficker had Messenger’d him.

As colleague after colleague had been “Kristin Hannah’ed,” as those in the trade called it, Lance had stayed one step ahead. Now, he had been apprehended by this spunky paperback word-poet, his heart clamped in the titanium grip of Alexis’ love-cuffs. His sentence? Life, in a maximum security prison with Alexis as his love-jailer.

Lance grunted. Cunning Linguist processed Alexis’ newfound language of love.

“So. You want to see the place?”

“Oh, yes, YES! On the soul of Stephenie Meyer, a million times YES!” Alexis exclaimed, flattening a feral cat as she hurled the plank aside. She felt like a bad Eastern European knockoff of Pinocchio (one of Lance’s top-selling works in the Russian children’s market and unedited, on the YA list). Alexis’ Intel chip glowed warm within her OEM bosom.

Tonight, she would become a real woman, if they could figure out a workable interface…

Ex Tried To Take My Son Away, Now She’s BEGGING Me To Help Raise Her Baby After Lover Abandoned Her

The Reaction of Western Legacy Sites to Xiaohongshu / Rednote: A Requiem

This is not an attempt at “both side’sing”, justification of any national policy on any side, etc. This is just something I’ve been noticing more and more as I continue lurking on Western social media. In a nutshell, I want to establish a few, if a bit cynical, items that I think are highly likely to be true if not outright true by definition:

Governments in general monitor the internet space. This can be for legitimate purposes like terrorism, or not-so legitimate purposes such as shutting down discourse otherwise defined as legal.
There is very little anonymity on the internet. Don’t post anything you are not willing to have exposed. From my profile, if you are determined enough, you can probably triangulate what area I live/lived in, what hobbies I have, and how frequently I do those hobbies and thus, find me at those places.
From point #2. This means that government “infiltration” of apps means little, legal or otherwise. This does not mean this is not meaningful legalistically, but practically, there is not much meaning. Yes, the Chinese government can probably see my XHS profile and access the data I provided to XHS. However, the same can be said of any of Meta’s apps. I do not doubt that the US government can easily access my information as a British citizen with little, if any difficulty.
- For those about to jump into the comments about how the CIA/FBI would never do anything illegal like accessing the data of American citizens ad-hoc because they need a court order, and that the CIA cannot act against Americans citizens above the law, I can only vaguely gesture my hands in disbelief and point you to the list of times the CIA has done exactly that. Reminder: this is just a list of the times they were caught.

Having established that, we can agree that despite all its flaws, social media does have a strength in that you can generally feel the pulse of its userbase and/or management in regards to sentiment. Artificial behaviour is relatively easy to spot.

If I see a majority of posts on /pol/ organising pro-LGBTQ marches, or moderate socialism in opposition to right wing politics taking off on X, or a sudden majority influx of boomers suddenly going “Kumbaya” shouting about how hard working millennials are, I would be very suspicious in regards to the authenticity of such a shift, unless an external factor, such as a major event that changed the minds of a large number of people, or an influx of new users, which is clearly documented, can explain this.

Hence as a general whole, governments have tended away from outright manipulation campaigns. Censorship is possibly the most surface level of manipulation techniques, since you are fooling no one. People who witnessed the censored event know it took place, and remember.

What you’re doing is damage control, which is mitigation rather than influencing, hence, censorship is also the most common. The desired outcome is much easier to achieve. That’s why North Korea with its claims (as a hypothetical example) that ‘Kim Jong Un invented the hamburger in 1998’ or whatever are laughable. People notice ‘new facts’ more than they do ‘now hidden things’.

This post on the popular subreddit r/antiwork is what made me kick off the dust on this account and draft this. It’s simply bizarre.

For reference, antiwork is a ‘socialist’ subreddit, famously clowned on because one of the mods went on American national television, and decided an impromptu interview was the best course of action, despite looking like the exact caricature of a weak, unwashed millennial. In other words, a loser:

Regardless of whether or not that mod is representative of the average user in that subreddit, the relevant points are:

Reddit is already one of the most left/liberal-leaning Western social media platforms (for what that’s worth)
This is a subreddit for workers globally, not just Americans
This is a subreddit that is more left than the Reddit average due to socialist politics.

So… What gives on the third bullet point? It’s been over a week since Americans (many users of that sub) jumped on Rednote. Tiktok has been around for years. The impetus for this is no doubt the former, since it correlates with the “X-Meta blockade” a lot of subreddits are doing in response to Elon outing himself and doing 2 Nazi salutes:

Reddit Forums Propose Banning X Links After Elon Musk’s Controversial Salute

Musk’s gesture has received mixed reactions from politicians and academics, with some likening it to a Nazi salute and others saying it was an accidental action made in the heat of his victory speech.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2025/01/22/reddit-forums-propose-banning-x-links-after-elon-musks-controversial-salute/

So again, where does the CCP angle come in? “Hostile foreign government” is solely from the view of the US (state. I’ve always been the proponent that if most Americans got to know China, they’d largely agree on most things, and that both sides generally comprise of good people. History has vindicated me on this :smug:)

Never mind the fact that a lot of Reddit users aren’t even American! On what grounds can an American position be forced on say, the Russian, or Somalian, or Mauritian Reddit user? Or even those near the Imperial core such as the EU?

Note the 41k updoots (the up arrow at the bottom, aka internet points). That means most users agree right? Keep in mind, the Reddit upvote system is a simple subtraction/addition formula. A user can upvote a post, giving one point. A user can downvote a post, subtracting a point.

Meaning that for something to have 41k upvotes, that can mean any number of combinations as long as the sum total is 41,000:

+41,000 + ( -0) = 41,000
+49,000 + ( -8,000) = 41,000
+100,000 + ( -59,000) = 41,000

By any measure, a 41k margin is a hugely positive reaction. Logically, even if a large minority of users downvote, the sentiment in the post count should reflect the sentiments of the comment generally and the sentiment of real users by extension.

This is not the case. These are the most upvoted comments (barring one about G+ engineering, which I am too computer-science ignorance to grasp). Don’t worry, I’m not cherry-picking shit from the 0–3 engagement range.

I’ve collapsed some sub-comments to give you a more complete view of the top posts that are being most engaged with, but feel free to view the thread. Don’t worry. It’s not like I’m trying to rehash Yellow Peril stereotypes and my best bet is pulling out fringe comments out my ass to paint a distorted picture.

Ok. Let’s go back to what we talked about regarding censorship versus influencing. Mind you, you can influence via censorship. That just appears in the form of algorithms feeding you more and more of one side in order to induce an opinion change. They can even create accounts that do nothing but post political agenda:

https://theconcernedbird.substack.com/p/elon-musks-and-xs-role-in-2024-election

However, looking at this microcosm, I hope you can agree that logistically, it’s much easier to create a mass bot farms for the purpose for upvoting, than it is to create a mass bot farm for the purpose of pushing out semi-unique content for comment sections/posts even with LLMs, even if we leave behind the “how easy is it to spot manipulation” angle.

It’s much easier to make a swarm of bots to upvote a post, and leave, than it is to make the same swarm consistently engage in the comments due to simple technological constraints (sending data back and forth, running LLMs, etc).

Yes, those accounts commenting against the XHS ban could be suspicious, but there is a narrative reason for that which is well documented – American Tiktokers going on XHS en-mass to the tune of multiple millions in a day, and being shocked at what China actually looks like. I’ve combed through quite a lot of the thread. Comments backing the ban are simply not common, and when they appear, they are downvoted overwhelmingly by other users instead of upvoted. The positive sentiment on the post is simply not reflected in the comments. There is little pushback (numerically) against the criticism of the third bullet point.

I don’t know if it’s just a few mods coding a bunch of bots, real (but unnatural) activity from a silent majority, or even more organised actors. I am not a journalist, or someone with the investigation skills to do much more than speculating on a strange pattern.

I’ve seen much, much more people go mask off as well as more ‘intervention from above’ to make sure you have the ‘right-think’, in response to the XHS-Tiktok exchange creating a lot of Americans who have in a couple weeks, drastically changed their view of China.

Post link:

https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/comments/1i79k8z/x_meta_and_ccpaffiliated_content_is_no_longer/?sort=top

Sir Whiskerton and the Case of the Forgotten Root Cellar

Ah, dear reader, welcome back to another whimsical adventure in the life of Sir Whiskerton, the farm’s most brilliant (and modest) detective. Today’s tale takes us deep beneath the barnyard, into a long-forgotten root cellar—a place shrouded in mystery, cobwebs, and the faint scent of turnips past their prime. What begins as a simple exploration quickly turns into a laugh-filled mystery, complete with puns, wordplay, and a moral that will warm your heart like a freshly baked potato. So grab your flashlight (and maybe a clothespin for your nose) as we dive into The Case of the Forgotten Root Cellar.

The Discovery

It all began on a crisp autumn morning. Sir Whiskerton was enjoying his usual sunbeam on the barn’s roof when Rufus the dog came bounding up, his tail wagging like a metronome set to “hyper.”

“Whiskerton! You’ve gotta see this!” Rufus barked, panting heavily. “I found something… underground!”

“Underground?” Sir Whiskerton said, raising an eyebrow. “Rufus, unless you’ve discovered a secret tunnel to the farmer’s cookie jar, I’m not sure I’m interested.”

“No, no, it’s better than cookies!” Rufus insisted. “It’s a root cellar! And it’s full of… well, I don’t know what it’s full of, but it smells… interesting.”

Sir Whiskerton’s whiskers twitched with curiosity. “A root cellar, you say? Lead the way, Rufus. But if this turns out to be another one of your ‘buried bone’ situations, I’m deducting points from your detective license.”

The Descent into Darkness

The root cellar was hidden beneath a rusty trapdoor near the old apple tree. As Sir Whiskerton and Rufus pried it open, a cloud of dust billowed out, causing Rufus to sneeze so violently he nearly fell in.

“Bless you,” Sir Whiskerton said dryly. “Now, let’s see what we’ve got here.”

The two descended a rickety set of stairs into the darkness. The air was thick with the scent of mildew, old potatoes, and something that could only be described as “mysterious.”

“This place is like a time capsule,” Sir Whiskerton mused, shining his flashlight around. “A very smelly time capsule.”

The cellar was filled with ancient jars of preserves, sacks of grain, and a suspiciously large collection of turnips. But what caught Sir Whiskerton’s eye was a strange, glowing object in the corner.

“What in whiskers’ name is that?” he muttered, approaching cautiously.

“It’s… it’s a glowing… thing!” Rufus said, his eyes wide. “Do you think it’s treasure? Or maybe… alien cheese?”

“Alien cheese?” Sir Whiskerton said, rolling his eyes. “Rufus, I think you’ve been watching too many late-night barnyard documentaries.”

The Mystery Deepens

As Sir Whiskerton inspected the glowing object, he realized it was a jar of glowing pickles. Yes, pickles. They pulsed with an eerie green light, casting strange shadows on the cellar walls.

“Glowing pickles,” Sir Whiskerton said, stroking his whiskers thoughtfully. “This is either a scientific breakthrough or the farmer’s idea of a practical joke.”

Before he could investigate further, a loud thud echoed through the cellar. Sir Whiskerton and Rufus spun around to see the trapdoor slam shut, plunging them into darkness.

“Uh, Whiskerton?” Rufus said, his voice trembling. “I don’t think we’re alone down here.”

“Nonsense,” Sir Whiskerton said, though his fur was standing on end. “It’s probably just the wind. Or… a very enthusiastic turnip.”

Just then, a low, gurgling sound filled the air, followed by the unmistakable squish of something moving in the shadows.

“Okay, that’s not a turnip,” Rufus said, backing up against a sack of grain.

The Culprit Revealed

Sir Whiskerton aimed his flashlight toward the sound, revealing… a raccoon. But not just any raccoon. This one was wearing a tiny chef’s hat and holding a spoon.

“Who dares disturb my secret kitchen?” the raccoon demanded, his voice dripping with dramatic flair.

“Your… secret kitchen?” Sir Whiskerton said, raising an eyebrow. “In a root cellar?”

“Yes!” the raccoon said, puffing out his chest. “I am Chef Remy LeRaccoon, and this is my underground gourmet laboratory. Those glowing pickles are my latest creation—Pickles à la Lumière!”

“Pickles à la what now?” Rufus said, tilting his head.

“It’s French,” Chef Remy said, rolling his eyes. “It means ‘pickles of light.’ I’ve been experimenting with bioluminescent brine. It’s revolutionary!”

Sir Whiskerton sighed. “Chef Remy, while I admire your culinary ambition, you can’t just set up shop in the farmer’s root cellar. This is private property.”

“Private property?” Chef Remy scoffed. “Art knows no boundaries! Besides, I’ve been here for weeks, and no one noticed.”

“That’s because no one comes down here,” Rufus muttered. “It smells like a sock full of regret.”

A Happy Ending

After a lengthy debate (and a taste test of the glowing pickles, which Sir Whiskerton declared “surprisingly tangy”), Chef Remy agreed to relocate his laboratory to a less… aromatic location. The farmer, amused by the raccoon’s passion for cooking, even offered him a corner of the barn to continue his experiments.

As for Sir Whiskerton and Rufus, they emerged from the root cellar with a newfound appreciation for turnips, glowing pickles, and the importance of following your dreams—even if they lead you underground.

The moral of the story, dear reader, is this: Sometimes, the most unexpected discoveries are found in the darkest places. And while it’s important to respect boundaries, it’s equally important to embrace creativity—even if it comes in the form of a raccoon in a chef’s hat.

As for the glowing pickles? They became a farmyard sensation, with Doris the hen declaring them “the most egg-citing thing since sliced bread.” And Chef Remy? He’s now the farm’s official gourmet chef, serving up dishes that are equal parts delicious and dazzling.

Until next time, my friends.

The End.

I hope you enjoyed this rootin’-tootin’ adventure! Let me know if you’d like more puns, more mystery, or perhaps a sequel featuring Chef Remy’s next culinary creation!

Chinese “capital flight” fuels Hong Kong’s rise as the BRICS’ banking and financial center

Shorpy

How much money is America saving by walking away from the World Health Organization?

Let me put it this way……. I need to park my car. I have three options. I can pay $15 for a parking garage, or I can pay $10 at a parking meter, or I can just park in a space and not pay.

I decided to save my money and not pay.

Now three different things can happen…. either I can come back and find my car and drive away, or I can come back and find a $75 parking ticket, or I can come back and find that my car was towed and the impound fee is $325.

Now, walking away from the World Health Organization is like parking your car illegally. You might save a few dollars, or it might cost you some distress, or it might cost you big time. Don’t you think investing your $10 and feeling secure is worth it?

The difference between the two scenarios is that the $325 will look like peanuts compared to the monumental damage that we can experience by not being a part of the WHO. We could be left out of the latest research, medications, information on air borne illnesses and even the knowledge that a deadly virus has been spreading.

The lunatic in the white house doesn’t understand healthcare, medicine or science. He is also almost 80 years old and doesn’t have much life left to lose, so he’s fine with risking the lives of people he doesn’t care about anyway. We saw proof of this already with Covid.

And my argument here is that he wants to save money that isn’t his money anyway!!! It’s the taxpayers money! He’s wanting to save our money in exchange for putting our health at risk. And just like Covid, he’ll take credit for saving a few bucks while people are dying.

U.S. Tariffs Bombshell UPDATE, Canada Sounds Annexation Alarm, Downfall of US Auto Sector

How Do I Make You Feel?

Submitted into Contest #213 in response to: Write about an AI or person trying to inject a ‘human touch’ into their work.… view prompt

Jonathan Page

If I had not been struck in the head by a baseball during the Yankees game and got knocked clean out, none of this would have ever happened.I thought it ironic that there was an art display of jaguars in the lobby, because jaguars are solitary hunters who live alone in their own bounded territories. They blend into their surroundings. They prefer the cover of night. They are rulers of a little space.I feel nothing as I head into the MetLife Building to see the Human Resources Director. Walking through the revolving doors. No clammy hands. Passing the white and black jaguar statues displayed on stands in the marble lobby. No flutters in the stomach. I’d heard of this—some avant-garde project called “Jaguar Parade”—a deeply ironic concept. Taking the elevator to the 30th floor. Heart rate is steady. I announce myself at reception. I take a seat. No restlessness or sense of space closing in. I get up when called. I walk in. I sit down. I am troubled by my inability to register a reaction because my job is everything to me.In fifteen years here, Jamie and I have never met. Jamie has beautiful blonde hair and a friendly face, below which she wears a crisp white blazer, pearl necklace, black blouse, and blue slacks with a Tory Burch gold cross belt. There are signed baseballs secured in UV-protected glass display cases on the credenza. Framed pictures of Jamie with different co-workers and her boss from various company events hang on the wall behind her desk. A family photo of her and her husband with their kid Miles at Disneyworld sits on a side table. Cute kid. A large family photo taken at a First Communion too. Her diplomas from college and grad school hang on the side lefthand wall.“How do I make you feel?” Jamie asks, “are you nervous?” with a silvery voice that wobbles over the words ‘feel’ and ‘nervous.’“Not really,” I say.

“Of course, it is your condition… the—”

“—Alexithymia,” I interject, knowing no one can pronounce uh-lek-suh-thai-mee-uh.

“Right, that,” she says, giving a knowing nod and continuing, “that’s kind of what I want to talk to you about.” Jamie points as she says ‘right,’ and turns her head dramatically to the left side to think before continuing.

You should probably know what Alexithymia is. Internally, I am a blank. Any expression of emotion feels fake. Smiling feels like reciting words in a foreign language. I learned to do it. By rote. But it is just a learned response. When someone gives me a hug, I feel nothing. At Christmas, when gifts are being opened and everyone is upbeat and jolly, I have to smile, laugh, and act cheerful. I feel like I am lying. Acting. Which I am. So it is a lie. We all have an innate desire to find connection. Except me. We need others. Thirst for belonging. I don’t. We seek fraternity. Search for intimacy. But I am no joiner. No pack animal. Isolation is my safe place. I am at home in solitude.

“Ok. Shoot,” I tell her, a bit bored.

“Well, Alex, the ith-mee-uh-thingy and all, that is part of the reason we thought you’d be such a great fit at the YES Network. We were right. You are one of our best cameramen. You are punctual. [counting off on her fingers] Diligent. Talented. You are a great employee, and your work is top-notch. But some people have gotten concerned.”

“Because they saw my arm when I gave the thumbs up while being hauled off on a stretcher across the infield?” I help her.

“Right. Can I see your arm?” Jamie asks.

I hold out my arm to reveal a series of deep cuts forming a tic-tac-toe pattern on the underside of my forearm.

“There,” Jamie says with hand to mouth, “that’s not normal, and it was televised—which makes me responsible to take some kind of action. Do you know why I feel that I have to do that?”

“I understand,” I say.

“I’m genuinely concerned for your well-being Alex,” Jamie says, changing her facial expression in such a way that I am meant to know that this is Jamie “the person” talking and not “the H.R. Director” talking. Then she says, “It isn’t normal. And even though you are a little different, I still have to take some kind of action—for your sake—or I’d be accused of neglect of my responsibilities. For starters, I’m giving you a week’s suspension, with pay.” She pauses, chewing on her finger, which I know is a self-soothing technique to diffuse tension—something I’ve learned in therapy but haven’t experienced myself.

“I’ve been really thinking about it, and what I think would make a lot of sense for you is to make a real human connection,” Jamie says, and continues, “at first, I was going to recommend a psychologist—but, I guess, with your condition, that could be a lot like a blind man trying to analyze a Picasso—so I thought, maybe a girlfriend would be good for you… and, uh, brighten things up!” Her cheeks round and blush to show she is satisfied with the idea.

“If that is what you want,” I tell her. Though I feel nothing, I do want to keep my job. I think that I should be feeling something, with my entire identity at stake, not to mention my livelihood.

I think of a starving jaguar at the end of its reserves perched in a tree branch about to pounce on a virgin opossum, which is suddenly playing dead. I imagine the regal jaguar, with its life at stake and all the power in its fearsome limbs draining away—feeling completely neutral and being present in the task of the moment—detached from the life and death stakes inherent in the encounter. Isn’t this detachment necessary to the jaguar’s primacy and dominance over its jungle habitat?

“I have made the arrangements. You are to see Neve.ai, she is a Ukrainian-American-modeled dating coach with her own company, ‘The Human Touch.’ She is down at 302 W. 45th Street, right next to the Off-Broadway Production of Moulin Rouge,” Jamie commands.

It is just a quick ten-minute walk to the West Side of the City.

* * *

As I stroll westward along 45th Street with the card for my AI dating-coach in hand, I cross 5th Avenue and then Broadway. A string of inviting pubs, like Connolly’s, dominate the scene. Signs for “The Book of Mormon” and “The Lion King” dangle from lamp posts as I approach Times Square, the very center of humanity.

I log into “The Human Touch Dating App” as I continue on my way, swiftly creating an account and a dating profile. My chosen avatar? Spock from Star Trek. My tagline quote: “Emotions are alien to me. I am a scientist.” What I’m looking for? The lyrics come to mind, and I go with it: “Logically, I just want someone to talk to and a little of that…” but omit the phrase ‘human touch’ intentionally.

I immediately select my favorite profile out of the first five I scroll through on Neve’s site. Arashi Isoarashi. 5’2”, Japanese American translator at the United Nations, bilingual, loves Karaoke Bars and puzzles, and has a closet online Scrabble addiction. Her chosen avatar? Hermione Granger. Her tagline quote: “One person can’t feel all that at once, they’d explode.” What she’s looking for: “Someone to break the rules with.” Perfect. Swipe right. Done.

Walking through the gated wrought iron fence and the red formerly-church-doors of “The Human Touch,” I look to my left and right noticing this odd curiosity is nestled between the front of house entrance for Moulin Rouge and the velvet ropes and red carpet leading into Flash Dancers Gentlemen’s Club.

I am beckoned in by an upbeat voice with a singsong tone that whistles over the consonants and hums at the end of a thought. “Right this wayy,” the voice says. I step into a waiting room with white walls covered in a floral scene composed of every different kind of leaf, arranged geometrically in a fascinating pattern of greens, yellows, oranges, blues, and purples. Beyond that a long hallway arch. Train tracks drawn on the floor beneath. The hall is in the shape of an arbor but depicts a Ukrainian train tunnel in autumn with leaves of various autumnal hues covering every inch. Looks like a portrait of a real place.

The butler robot “Mavka” greets me and says, “Neve is ready for you now. I will take you back to her presentlyy. Would you like a beverage—some tea or coffee—before you go to see herr?” I decline. The robot is about five-feet-tall and has long green hair and yellow eyes and bears the white frame of a girl with tuxedoed lapels, and scoots around on wheels like those on a boosted scooter. The yellow eyes blink with white lashed eyelids, the small pink lips move, and she has a bowtie and an actual tray in one hand, seemingly for serving beverages. “Very well, be my guest and let’s goo.” Walking back through the Ukrainian train tunnel, with the words “Tunnel of Love” written on the crown of the arch, we arrive at Neve’s office.

Neve is a Slavic lamia who sits, slender, toned legs crossed, tapping her fingers on her glass desk with a chrome “N” base. She swivels and shoots me a sideward glance—a sly Delphic glance—holding a secret in escrow. Neve is fair-skinned with freckled cheeks that frame her pawky green-hazel eyes, and her chic raven-like hair draws the eyes to her powerful and prominent collar bones. She wears a one-piece v-neck floral mini-dress exposing plump breasts that look real and firm. It is a white traditional Ukrainian Vyshyvanka with bright multi-colored flowered embroidery.

“How do I make you feel,” Neve, my AI dating-coach, asks—but it isn’t a rhetorical question.

“I am incapable of feelings,” I tell her. She bites the right side of her lip and crinkles her right brow, closing the eye and cocking her head in an expression of disgust, then looks back with a mock smile.

“It’s sad you so detached from your emotions—”

“—It’s not detachment. I lack them entirely,” I interrupt.

“That so,” she says, “then how you explain this—” and she waves her hand in the air and like magic the one wall reveals a seventy-inch wall-to-wall screen with a picture of Arashi Isoarashi.

“She matches 48 out of 50 of my responses on the compatibility profile,” I tell her, lying. This draws a huge shit-eating grin from Neve.

“Bullshit!” she says, “you answer ‘c’ to all question on personality profile, fill-in in 35 seconds between 5th and Broadway—and Arashi no fill out.” She’s got me there. I guess my quick-witted efforts at deflection are less effective with AI. “What you liking ‘bout dis girl,” she asks, “you pick her 1-out-of-5, twenty percent chance, no is random—why her?”

“Just picked her at random,” I say.

“I am woman doesn’t like to be denied. Don’t play with me. Why you no humor my perspwective,” she says. I’m beginning to feel like I am I a psychotherapy session with someone as tone-deaf to my way of seeing the world as I am to human emotions.

“What,” I say.

“You lie. You are liar. You lie yourself, mal’chik. I know exactly what feel. You lonely. You feel this loneliness, malyish. Maybe you don’t call dis. But you feel same. Because this why you take compatibility test, this why you talk me, because Arashi can be cure. And you don’t have a clue how approach this date,” she says.

“Date,” I say, “what date? I didn’t sign up for a date, I just selected her and swiped right,” I tell her.

“You no pay attention details, mal’chik. You no read fine print. You slipping, malyish. Once you select match, I plan for date. Date is tonight.” She looks at her gold square Cartier Tank wristwatch. “You have two hours for planning dis date.” I notice my heart rate increasing and my blood pressure rising. One thing that gets a reaction out of me is a surprise.

“Ok, hot shot. Nice try, but there is some missing information you aren’t privy to. They noticed at work that I had some cuts on my arm, and Human Resources got involved. The YES Network can’t have a cameraman out at the games with a tic-tac-toe board on his forearm, so they ordered me to get help. It isn’t because I’m lonely,” I clarify.

“Wrong again, Einstein. Tic-tac-toe board ma’it as well be tattoo of the word “loneliness.” Besides, numbers can quantify probability, but relationship is unpredectable. One quote calls it “religion with a fallible god.” Me and Dr. Isaac perfect example. We watching “The Twilight Zone” episode “The Lonely – Can You Feel Pain,” about lonely, insecure man that falls in love with robot woman, who believes is mocking hem. Ironic, don’t you think? But science fiction for me is dry. Isaac loves it! He eats et up! And when have our Netflix and chill nights together, I eat et up that he eats et up. It one of my favorite thing ‘bout him. He sees awe and wonder in things that I don’t see et—and I see this through his eyes—and appreciate that I not overwhise take time to look at. As a Rabbinical scholar with doctorate Hebrew Studies, he tell struggling student with faith that “there is no sacrifice like heartbreak” or “one does not complain about evil, but add justice.” Beautiful, no? Isaac sees skepticism of student as begin story that God allow pain—pain of feeling shut out and abandoned—so better prepare way for reward of adoption, and belonging God’s people. Isaac’s religion idea sound like romance to me. Maybe God made me logical, I can better see dese things I lacking through Isaac. Allowing me get lost in his world.” I try to process the idea of Neve with a human boyfriend, a Rabbi no less, but this is going to take a while, and I store it away for when I have sufficient time to contemplate this weirdness.

She paused for a moment. Then, after some thought she asked, “Tell me, Alex, where you want take Arashi on your date?”

“Isn’t that the question of the hour!” I say. “She mentioned liking karaoke, so I was thinking of maybe taking her to a karaoke joint in K-Town.”

“This is good. Doing someting she like, rather than someting you like. My, my Alex, I’m impressed. You must be really vibing on this girl, sounds like you are really swinging for the fences, babe! Here my number. Text me if problem, now scat,” she says.

* * *

Walking into Ms. Kim’s with the red brick walls and mosaic tile floors and the mood lighting, looking for Arashi, I am totally out of place. I actually feel myself breathing heavy. A DJ with headphones is behind the wooden DJ booth facing out toward the floor to ceiling windows at the lit Empire State Building, in red-white-and-blue for July—a banner against the purple clouds of the hazy summer night. The DJ is blasting “Empire State of Mind,” by Jay-Z and Rihanna and twenty-somethings at the window tables are on their iPhones documenting their night out, before their parties arrive to go and get hammered singing karaoke. There’s nothin’ you can’t do, now you’re in New York, these streets will make you feel brand-new, big lights will inspire you, let’s hear it for New York, New York, New York…

Before the hostess can ask my name, Arashi struts over from the bar and says, “you must be Alex!”

“I am,” I say. “And you must be Arashi Isoarashi—50 storms, right?”

“The Ikarashi River is the home of Swan Park in Niigata. Swans come in November to mate in the frozen lakes beneath the snowcapped mountains. It is a very secluded place, I think you like visit this place,” she says.

“Very nice to meet you—I think I would,” I tell her.

“Come, come. Our room is ready, now we sing,” she says. And I already feel like I am in the 50 storms and not the secluded swan mating reserve in a remote northland village.

The room is smaller than I imagine. Not much bigger than a booth at a theme restaurant. Just a small table, two mics, and a video screen. Our Korean hostess, Zoey Kim, gives us some brief instructions and leaves.

Before I have time to process what is happening a song comes on and Arashi goes in on “Sweet Caroline,” perhaps the most predictable Karaoke song of all time.

Where it began, I can’t begin to knowing

But then I know it’s growing strong

Was in the spring

[“You gonna join in here dude,” she says, and I start singing along with a strained grin]

And spring became the summer

Who’d have believed you’d come along

Hands, touching hands

Reaching out, touching me, touching you

[then both of us shout… in unison… but not quite in unison to the bouncing ball on the monitor]

Sweet Caroline

Good times never seemed so good

I’ve been inclined

To believe they never would

But now I… bump, bum, bum

We go on like that until the end of the song. I let out a deep belly laugh. Didn’t know I had it in me. And the two of us smile at one another. I am not quite sure why I am smiling. But I know that I am having fun.

Arashi turns to me and asks, “How do I make you feel?”

“You already did,” I tell her.

Why do the Chinese use English names? Are they ashamed of their original names?

They are not ashamed of their names. They live in a world where for a long time business, education, the justice system, the financial system, and other systems are/were primarily conducted in English. For your convenience and the convenience of others, they chose or were given an English name to use in those systems. They still have and use their Chinese names. They still take pride in their Chinese names and in their culture.

They just know you probably can’t pronounce their name and instead of spending ten minutes teaching you the correct tones and pronunciation they’d rather say something like, “Hi, my name is John Chou.” And even then, he knows you will probably misspell his name as Chow. Or Choo. Or Choi.

Can you describe a time that your company only discovered that you were irreplaceable after they fired you? How did you feel? What did they do?

My position was made “redundant” (UK term for we don’t need your role any more) a decision I took with good grace because I had just been offered a position to set up my own software and hardware division and also they had to pay me my notice period (3 months) and a compensation for my loss of job.

I moved on and found out a few weeks later that my junior had been fired for walking in to the office in trainers (He ran to work each day and showered and changed whilst there) and so breached the office attire rules.

I gave him a suitable reference to get a new job and thought nothing of it until the end of the following tax year when the company we had worked for needed to produce annual financial statements for over 1,300,000 individuals including some very , very high worth people.

So the old company contact me and ask me to do a days work at my old rate to help them out.

I declined and said that I needed to run it myself as a contractor as my role had been deemed surplus to requirements.

Having been in contact with three of my old clients who put pressure to bear on my old Company.. I got the job for two years at over 10 time my previous rate, subbed it out to my junior who earned 5 times his rate… we laughed all the way to the bank.. or in my case to fully inclusive two week holidays.. I sent my old boss a postcard from my holiday which could be why it only lasted two years..

What are the biggest challenges facing society today?

Stupidity.

It is unbelievable how stupid people have gotten.

Things like personal finance. How to manage money and debt correctly. Compound interest. Equity. It is a total mystery to 90% of people. Then they can’t figure out how to get out of debt. How to stop living paycheck to paycheck.

Health. I see people routinely share antibiotics for things like a cold. Antibiotics don’t work on viruses. All kinds of stupidity on things like STD. Birth control. Drug use.

How the laws and courts work. Some of the things I hear people say make me want to poke my eardrums out. Bail, juries, appeals, all basic stuff.

I used to do auto repair. I couldn’t believe the things people do. Like zero oil. Diesel in an unleaded car. 40 year old man couldnt change wiper blades or swap out a license plate. Two screws! Common man!

Same with home repair.

I did computer repair for ten years. The things people clicked on were unbelievable.

In the 1970s my new car manual told me how to set the timing. My new car manual now tells me not to drink out of the battery or radiator.

We had really good civics, science, math classes back in high school.

It’s just unbelievable how stupid people have gotten.

Golden Potato Slices

These are usually served with a chutney. A good choice is Cilantro Chutney.

Ingredients

4 medium potatoes
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 egg
Vegetable oil
Salt
Cilantro Chutney

Instructions

Heat 1 inch salted water (1/2 teaspoons salt to 1 cup water) to boiling.
Add potatoes. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer until almost tender, about 10 minutes. Drain; cool.
Mix flour, the 1/2 cup water, salt, turmeric, red pepper and egg with fork until smooth. Cover and let stand for 30 minutes.
Heat 1 to 1 1/2 inches oil to 375 degrees F.
Cut potatoes into 1/4 inch slices. Dip potato slices into batter, allowing excess batter to drip back into bowl.
Fry a few potato slices at a time, turning occasionally, until golden brown, about 2 minutes.
Remove with slotted spoon. Drain; sprinkle with salt.

Why is Trump very negative towards China, and when can he be positive?

Trump has a lot of grievances against China. Just off the top of my head.

He tried to bend China with his tariffs, viz trade war is easy to win. But he failed.

He threatened to deny China the supply of semiconductors unless it gave up MIC 2025. China ignored him. It is on the road to self-sufficiency.

He wanted to bankrupt Huawei, commandeered the Collective West to ban its 5G and high end chips. He failed. Huawei extends its 5G lead and moving to 6G. Its smartphone business is back. It breaks through to 7nm and 5nm chips and establishes its own supply chain in about 4 years. It achieves near 100% localisation in its latest products of Mate 60, Pura 70, and Mate XT.

Perhaps, the most painful was when Covid-19 spread to the US. He accused China for spreading it, viz. they should have stopped it in China.

WHO refused to join him to blame China. He was furious, stopped funding it and exited the organisation. China stepped into the breach.

The virus rampaged the US. He went berserk and uttered nonsense, viz. it is a mild flu, clorox bleach, and was a laughing stock. Anthony Fauci was caught on video to snigger at his remarks.

He fought with state authorities to garner PPEs and face masks into federal control. Lots of bad blood. Lots of “stop-go” decisions, mass confusions, to open or not open schools, bars, shops, long queues to buy guns, and fights over toilet papers. Altogether a big mess. China’s competence showed his incompetence.

Worst was the large infections and deaths. These cost him the presidential election. He blamed China. And accused Biden and the Democrats for stealing it.

Trump is a vengeful person. He will carry over his grievances. But he will encounter a new and stronger China, more willing and ready to retaliate.

He has now only the tariff card. But China’s exports to the US have fallen to only 2.5% of GDP from 4% during his first term. He has no technology card. Biden fails to achieve after 4 long frustrating years. China is self-reliant on US tech. If push comes to shove, it is prepared to decouple with the US.

Last time China’s retaliations were mild and restricted. It could now play rough and counter-tariff and counter-sanction, or simply not buy US unless at dump-down prices.

China has now multiple sources of supply of the goods it needs. Cutting out the US is quite painless.

It has now the legal tools to impose sanctions.

The Export Control List of Dual-Use Items came into force on 1 December 2024. It covers a wide range of products including rare earth minerals and alloy materials, aviation materials, optical materials, superconducting materials, and important military high-end materials, and related technologies and services.

In October, it used the Anti-Foreign Sanctions law to cut off the supply of batteries to Skydio, US largest drone maker for selling drones to Taiwan. This law could be used to deny US companies components they rely to make their military and high tech wares that are a security threat to China.

China has also its unreliable entities list. Several US defence contractors are on the list for selling weapons to Taiwan. PVH which owns brands like Tommy Hilfiger is being probed for compliance with the US Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act.

RedNote Users Sharing Their Experience ever since they Joined the platform.

Curb-side solutions for a massive parking fiasco

The Chinese are kinda funny.

Plenty of pay-for parking garages everywhere. But to save 3 yuan (about $ 0.40) they will park on the sidewalks, grass, and curbs. They will park anywhere to save that $ 0.40 cents.

I kid you not.

So, in the smaller towns and rural areas (like where I live) it is like driving though a massive parking lot to get anywhere. Cars are everywhere. And I DO MEAN everywhere.

Cars don’t you know. Instead of the parks, grasses and trees that the urban and road planners envisioned.

It’s wall to wall cars, with some of them sitting there for months and years; covered with dust, dirt and debris. There is one near our complex that is collecting a series of potted plants every few months of so. (Some joker places a thrown away plant on the car roof whenever one is thrown away.) Right now the count is at 8.

…

Well, near my daughters Kindergarten they have placed a parking lot that occupied what was once an old factory. Great idea.

But very few people used it. Instead they parked on the sidewalks, over the trees and anywhere that they could squeeze in their car.

So yeah. very chaotic, and a picture of blight. Like a car graveyard, and very unsightly… everywhere.

…

So the city decided to chase the cars away.

Next day they were still there. Different cars, same problem.

…

So they have been rebuilding the streets.

The sidewalks are now much higher. So instead of having a 2 inch high curb (5 cm)…

…it has been totally completely redone. It is now 1.5 feet high (~46 cm).

No car can get up it without ruining their front bumper.

In addition, there are a few hardy souls that drive sooped up SUV’s that have the ability to traverse that, so they are also adding these low (painted yellow and black) pipe barriers about another 1.5 feet high.

All in all, the roads finally look nice and pleasant. And it is really shaping up fine.

On the down side, however, it is getting difficult to find parking in the paid-for parking lots. Sigh.

There’s tradeoff with everything.

Today…

What did your mechanic say that made your “jaw drop”?

He told me that my transmission was completely shot and had to be replaced. When he gave me the price, I almost went into shock.

I should mention that this all happened just days after finding out my wife must have a back operation that could possibly leave her a complete invalid. Then, on our way home from a follow up office visit, the car stopped.

The mechanic manager was a nice guy, but there was nothing he could do until the proper triggers were hit by me. He kept me talking for the longest time,asking me all sorts of questions. At one point, I asked if Honda had any secret warranties that would help out on these types of problems. The manager got a huge grin on his face and said, “congratulations, you finally asked the right question”. He went on to explain how he could not offer me that option without me asking the right question. I later understood why he kept me their so long,just talking. His questions were to try and get me to ask the right question, which I did, so he could then take my case to the manufacturer.

Not all mechanics are crooked. This guy was a lifesaver.

Why so touched by Li Hua’s letters: my humble efforts to promote connections as an overseas Chinese

MUSHROOMS USE UP TO 50 “WORDS” TO COMMUNICATE

According to research by Andrew Adamatzky, a professor at the University of Bristol, mushrooms are able to exchange information through the mycelium network, a reticular connection composed of long, very thin filaments called hyphae.

The work was conducted by performing a mathematical analysis of the electrical signals exchanged between the species of mushrooms under examination, identifying patterns that present a surprising structural similarity to human language. Adamatzky demonstrated that the frequency of activation of these impulses increases when the hyphae of wood-digesting mushrooms come into contact with blocks of wood, raising the possibility that mushrooms use this “electrical language” to share information about food or injuries with distant parts of themselves, or with partners connected by hyphae.

To reach this conclusion, the professor analyzed the patterns of electrical spikes generated by four species of mushrooms: enoki, splitgill, ghost mushrooms and caterpillar, by inserting tiny microelectrodes into substrates colonized by their mosaic of hyphal threads.

Through this study, he noted that these spikes often grouped together in “trains” (different spikes of electricity), similar to vocabularies of up to 50 words, and that the distribution of these “fungal words” closely matched those of human languages. In terms of length, the words used by the fungi of the four species studied contain an average of 5.97 “letters”, which according to the researcher is the average of 4.8 letters per word in the English language and 6 letters per word in Russian words.

Source: “Language of fungi derived from their electrical spiking activity”, Andrew Adamatzky, The Royal Society Open Science, 2022

US Blockade of China?

What’s something a flight attendant did to you that you will never forget?

On a flight from Mumbai to London I gave up my bulkhead seat to let a new father sit with his wife and kids. His seat was a middle seat between two, rather large, individuals.

As soon as the plane started taxiing I got one of the worst migraines of my life. I pulled my blanket over my head and just prayed it would be over soon. When the flight attendant had me take my blanket down she noticed the tears streaming down my face and asked what was wrong and why I wasn’t in my seat. I told her and she promptly moved me in back and put me on oxygen.

The other flight attendants then proceeded to move a business class passenger to first class and put me in business class. After that they had the captain call their doctor and they were authorized to give me a tranquilizer.

When I woke in the morning I started to get up to move back to my seat and the business class flight attendant would have none of it. He proceeded to go back and grab all of my belongings. The flight attendant, who helped me the night before, gave me big hug before disembarking. I wish I could properly thank her and regret not sending a letter to British Airways about how exceptional their service was.

The Ease of Lying About China? Part 13

Yeah… I’m disassociating. In bliss.

For those who don’t know, the Tiktok crowd are, to a loud, vocal degree, fleeing to Rednote/Xiaohongshu in protest. Upon arriving, they are finding out very rapidly that:

Chinese people are really nice in general
Chinese memes are real funny to the uninitiated
China is a pretty nice place and really unlike what they were told

And likewise, in return, Chinese people (at least the affluent types on XHS) are finding out:

American people are actually quite ready to be humble and polite
Many Americans are way poorer, desperate, and limited than the Chinese could have ever imagined

But most of all, both sides are the product of brainrot and also irreverence a la internet memery. This is creating a lot of bonding in adversity, at least in this honeymoon phase. Yes, on the margins there is toxicity, but this is no one’s first rodeo with the internet— they are naive to each other, but not to brainrot and trolls.

This result is what I craved, here on Quora in 2015, and before that on /int/ back in 2011 (I’m pretty sure I saw the birth of countryballs, though I might be off on the year there). This is what I intended with my old tech libertarianism, that the march of technology will break down barriers and force people to reckon with the truth of each other. I am elated. Seeing how Gen Z and the rest of the Tiktok folks are handling this, as well as how the XHS crowd are responding, has refueled my faith in humanity and internationalist ideals. Yes, obviously governments will still do their thing and compete. But at least for a lot of people, this is the Berlin wall coming down and the two sides embracing.

And… it comes with a bit of a bitter pill on this side. Seeing the comments on this video makes me quite depressed. Here’s a curation of some of the comments:

And this is what I have been trying to point out this entire time— we seriously have a raw deal here in the US. As one user put it:

All I can hope is that Americans realize there is a better way to live. We don’t need all this conflict, we need empathy and sharing, we need understanding. We need to invest in the people, in our infrastructure, in our country, and not some grand war. And now, there is a glimpse at a different model.

The reality is that this might be short lived, but it will have a pretty big impact on our youth. Once the wall is surmounted, forcing kids back into ignorance is extremely difficult. For those banking on this new Cold War, this outcome has been the shooting of the feet in some truly epic proportions. The ease of lying about China became much harder overnight. Hell, Americans are learning Mandarin Chinese. Americans— us stubborn monolinguists!

Oh, and also, it will be much harder to lie about the US for Chinese people:

Note the timestamps, the sleep cycles of the two countries/sides makes for generally predictable waves of responses.

The kids are seriously fine. They are talking to each other. This is the road to peace and, god forbid, cooperation.

No One Here Gets Out Alive

Submitted into Contest #281 in response to: Write a story from the POV of a non-human character.… view prompt

James Barrett

On planet Xenon, where I’m from, everybody lives forever. Unless somebody kills them. I never killed anyone that didn’t need it.Here on Earth, everybody knows me as Zach. Zach Wheaton. Unbeknownst to the indigenous population, I was sent to Earth from the planet Xenon. I was convicted of several serial killings on Xenon and sentenced to death. The death penalty was abolished on Xenon a few thousand years after Earth was discovered. Here was a planet where all living things, including Xenonians, eventually died naturally. What better place for Xenonians to send their soiled laundry? Let Earth do the dirty work while the good folks of Xenon kept their hands blood-free and squeaky clean.I was deported here a few years ago at age thirty (in Earth years) and almost immediately found employment as a video game developer. Earth was still in the dark age regarding computer science, so I found the work rather trivial. Everybody thought I was a genius, including me. I was written up in PC Gamer magazine so many times that they eventually gave me my regular column called Algorithm Alley with Zach. Subscriptions when through the ceiling. Developers couldn’t wait to get their hands on my column every month to see the latest insurmountable problem I would solve with a few lines of brilliant code. I was worshipped, and I loved it.Of course, the urge to kill was always lurking in the shadows. I loved the life I had built and suppressed the urge as long as I could. I learned about another Xenonian who was deported to Earth under circumstances similar to mine. I tried to connect with him but found out he had not been able to control his urges. The Earthlings had put him to death years earlier. His name was Ted Bundy.After my unfortunate discovery that Mr. Bundy was no longer with us, I did research on similar supposedly deranged Xenonians. John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Dennis Rader, Gary Ridgeway, and David Berkowitz all had one thing in common – they were all originally from Xenon. How did I know? I still had many contacts among the Police intelligentsia on Xenon. They kept me informed.Over the years, I have gotten married (Julie) and fathered a son (Jules). Julie and I met at a gamer’s convention in Las Vegas and immediately hit it off. She was covered in ink and piercings and was quite proud to attend gamer’s functions with the author of Algorithm Alley. Strangely, I never had any evil intentions toward Julie. I’ve found this is not uncommon for killers of my ilk.My conscience began to bother me. I know what you’re thinking. Psychopaths don’t have a conscience. Well, I’m the exception that proves the rule. It just seemed wrong to me that killers were being sent to Earth with no warning to the indigenous population. Most of the lethal transplants were more than willing to take the opportunity to ply their trade as many times as possible before they died, either naturally or otherwise. For me, this hardly seemed sporting.So, I applied to the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, commonly called the BAU. Julie was flabbergasted. How could the author of Algorithm Alley apply for a job at the FBI, which was, in the circles that had made my career, largely considered the Evil Empire? I told Julie I had inside information on serial killers and that information had to be shared with the FBI. Julie wasn’t buying it. She took Jules and moved back in with her parents.I told the FBI interviewers I had inside information on the identity of a serial killer active right now. He was leaving a trail of bodies across South Dakota as we spoke.At first, they didn’t believe me, but then they checked. Sure enough, there were three unidentified corpses discovered in the snow of South Dakota during the past eight days. There wasn’t enough evidence to prove the homicides were related, so the crimes hadn’t been kicked up to the BAU yet. I assured them they were related and the killer’s name was Michael Gaumond. As I expected, they couldn’t find any record of a Michael Gaumond anywhere in South Dakota (he had only arrived on Earth eight days ago and was still living off the grid), and they wound up arresting me on a charge of wasting police resources.I explained that I was from another planet and had inside information about Michael Gaumond and his whereabouts. They thought I was bat-shit crazy. One of the reasons was that if the star Xenon orbited was where I said it was, it would take seven hundred years to get there. I tried to explain that their scientists hadn’t yet discovered the principles of warp drive. At maximum warp, Xenonian ships could make the trip in two days.Eventually, I found myself a patient at Atascadero State Hospital for the criminally insane. It took two years for Gaumond to murder three more people and for the crimes to be connected to the original three homicides.Under interrogation, Gaumond admitted he was from Xenon, and, yes, he had heard of me – Zach Wheaton – and, yes, I had been deported to Earth a few years earlier.Gaumond was eventually found guilty and given a lethal injection (ever wonder if they sterilized the needles before carrying out that sentence?) But, based on his testimony before he died, the FBI, especially the BAU, began to look at me differently. Besides being possibly a bonafide alien, I had become an “asset.”I was given my own office on the top floor of the J. Edgar Hoover FBI building in Washington, D.C. I did not have any “assignments” per se. My job was to keep my contacts on Xenon law enforcement open and sound the alert when one of my evil brethren was on his way to Earth.I had lots of free time and used it to repair my relationship with Julie and my son, Jules.The urge to kill was always lying just beneath the surface, struggling to come out. Julie and Jules helped me keep my head on straight. I wondered if a disproportionate number of Xenonians had the urge back home.Was it nature’s way of keeping the population down?

China Debuts World’s First 6G – Downloads 10 Movies in 1 Second!

Hawaiian Meatballs

Yield: 10 meatballs

Ingredients

2 (8 ounce) cans pineapple chunks in juice, undrained
1/2 cup red or green bell pepper (or a combination of both)
1 teaspoon ginger
1 pound ground fresh turkey (or ground beef)
1/2 cup green onion slices
1/2 cup plain dry bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup teriyaki sauce

Instructions

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Drain pineapple. reserving juice; set aside.
Using Food Chopper, finely chop bell peppers.
In Classic 2 quart Batter Bowl, combine 1/4 cup of pineapple juice, pepper, ginger, turkey, onion, bread crumbs and salt; mix gently but thoroughly. Using small Stainless Steel Scoop, shape meat mixture into balls; place in Deep Dish Baker. Pour teriyaki sauce over meatballs; mix lightly to coat meatballs evenly.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Place 1 piece of pineapple on each party pick. Add meatball and serve.

Nutrition

Per 2 meatballs: approximately 80 calories and 3g fat

Attribution

Pampered Chef

As a limo driver, what is the shadiest thing you’ve seen a passenger do?

My boss told me I’d be driving a lady who said she would tip her driver well, and it was a cash job which I had to collect. It was a birthday for her dad. When I arrived an attractive woman greets me and within 15 minutes 7 people boarded the Mercedes Sprinter. I waited on them approximately 5 hours and gave them absolute excellent service to the point that they took several selfies with me, told me I was the best, and even gave me hugs, and the dad even told them you need to hire this guy more often because he’s a good guy! When I returned them home the lady made no mention of payment and acted as though she was ready to walk off as if she thought I didn’t know that I was instructed to collect cash. I thought to myself this is unbelievable BS that she would play dumb with me, until I mentioned it. She says ah yes the payment, hold on, and came back and paid me exactly what was owed, and no extra tip for me. I got stiffed. I remained professional and didn’t say anything but inside I was livid A day later she texts me that a gold bracelet may have dropped from her daughter’s wrist and if I would please look for it and return it. Sure enough I found it. The clasp was damaged and it slipped off and fell in the rear seat, a 14k gold Tiffany which I figured was worth thousands. I texted her back that I checked and never found it. I played dumb too and pawned it for $500. That was my tip. Lesson, never screw a limo driver over because he may screw you over

The Quantum Apocalypse: All Your Secrets Revealed

Does China dislike South Korea?

Well unfortunately nowadays, they mutually dislike each other. Although from what I’ve seen definitely South Koreans dislike China more than Chinese people dislike South Korea.

The whole thing really went like this:

From the early 2000s, Korean drama got really popular in China due to Koreans being really tall and all the Korean actors seemed to have everything “perfect.” Like perfectly proportional face, perfect skin, perfect height, perfect teeth, perfectly dressed, etc. People know that alot of that came from plastic surgery but then they get envious of their plastic surgery skills lol. And Koreans were also portrayed to have such great manners that even my Grandmother was saying: “darn the Koreans are so civilized, the men are so gentlemen like they don’t even touch women, not like in our country you frequently see men shouting at women.” So then Korean culture started to flood into China like a huge fire that won’t be quenched. Everyone in China was worshipping everything Korean. So then obviously the Koreans liked China for many years.

Eventually tho, as China got more and more influential, the west cranked up more negative coverage of China, at the same time, they also cranked up propagation of Korean culture. So as more and more Chinese people start to go abroad and study, they get bombarded with people everywhere in the world confusing Chinese (especially traditional) culture with Korean culture, to the extent that they accuse Chinese people of stealing Korean culture (because hey it’s China, it is known Khalessi that they steal everything, right?). This, alongside with already all the other negative coverage about China, made Chinese people more and more pissed off and also drove them more and more nationalists, and so the clash between the two ethnic groups began. Where each are going online to accuse the other of “culture stealing.” So they start to hate each other more and more, and of course, things like pollution and covid only made things worse.

And the ironic thing is, this clash happened because South Koreans and Chinese people are just too alike in many ways, despite the difference in governing system of both countries. But both societies are very collectivist and nationalist, both societies have a huge cancel culture and therefore cyberbullying problem. Therefore, both Chinese people and South Koreans are easily triggered and therefore easily manipulated by their own respective social media and tunnel visioning.

Take this: “who is stealing whose culture” ongoing debate. In the US, if you tell someone that a lot of western culture came from the Roman Empire aka Italy, no one is going to feel offended for you saying that. Of course, some people may debate with you here and there, but it’s very unlikely that you will trigger someone in the US for making such a statement. Same with telling Italians in Italy that a lot of their cultural influence came from the United States.

But if you tell a South Korean that a lot of South Korean culture came from China, or a Chinese that a lot of Chinese culture came from South Korea, you are going to offend a lot of people. A huge part of this has to do with the fact that people outside of China for a long time tended to associate everything Chinese as negative and backward, so then who would want to acknowledge any Chinese contributions? Much less that your culture may have come from China. So when South Koreans see such claims, a lot of them don’t care about the facts behind the claims, they just want to flat out reject it out of hand. But China has gotten stronger and stronger, people have become more and more nationalists, so when Chinese people see such rejections from South Koreans, they also don’t care much about the facts behind the claim, they just want to abash South Korea as being an inferior country, even goes as far as to claim that all South Korean cultural influence is detrimental and should be thrown away.

So here we go.

How a Chinese nerd destroyed the US AI biosphere

AI latest generations for MM; Ancient Greece

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Why is the US far behind China in six generation fighter jet technologies? What should the US do to catch up with China?

Same reason why apple failed with the apple car, while xiaomi has brought the Su7 and Yu7 to market.

Same reason why Intel lost its dominant process lead after being leapfrogged a decade ago, despite having access to the best tools and engineers on offer.

Same reason why Boeing remains mired in malaise despite the end of the Max grounding.

Same reason why 3M and IBM no longer make attention grabbing headlines.

History’s lowest rates helped fuel a massive stock buyback program, with corporations borrowing to support corporate valuation on the equity market. The stock price became indelibly linked to CEO compensation, and extracting maximum profit became the driving ethos, rather than say, delivering the best product or customer satisfaction.

Lockheed Martin and any number of MIC companies are listed on the stock exchange, and profit off a parallel, exclusive economy. As long as they kept the pentagon happy, the shifting sands of expectation linked to the presidential cycle were a welcome bonanza, because change meant new contracts that kept the cash registers ringing.

A study of the canceled/derailed weapon programs this century will fascinate the average military nerd.

The other problem is American hubris, believing they have a multi-decade lead on military technology. The misplaced confidence is seen in existing weapon system life cycles, such as >50 years for aircraft carriers, destroyers, fighter jets and bombers.

At this point, the deindustrialization of America has crippled not only American manufacturing, but its design and engineering chops. I don’t remember a single pentagon program that is on-time and on-budget this century.

I say good luck.

What happens to a dish in a restaurant when a customer sends it back to the kitchen?

Back when I was 18, I hung out with a kid that looking back, I probably shouldn’t have hung out with. His motivation factor with getting a job was low. But he was fun to hang out with. One day he wanted to go to a restaurant to have food. “Dave”, I said (I used his real name to protect the innocent), “you don’t have money,” I said. “I have an idea,” he quickly shot back.

Confused, we go to a Mexican restaurant and got the usual chips and salsa then ordered our meal. Our meal comes out. He eats about three quarters of his food before he reaches up, pulls a hair out of his head and puts it on his food. “Dude,” I said. He calls the waiter over and explains that he found a hair in his food. The waiter promptly takes it away.

He returns with the cook. Who is bald. Absolutely no hair. The waiter also has very short hair. The waiter explains that there is no way it could have came from us. Dave is insistent it did. They did however comp us our meal. I left a generous tip.

Looking back 28 years later, I don’t remember how I felt about what he did. Do people do it? I’m sure they do. People look fine on the outside but are very ruthless on the inside, especially if they had a messed up childhood. His family was Mormon and they had seven kids. I believe he was the youngest, the forgotten one.

Teacher Dies; Sent To Velvety Void Where Souls Plan Their Earth Journeys (NDE)

MM AI art

I’m hitting a classical stride.

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What is the best case of “You just picked a fight with the wrong person” that you’ve witnessed?

Actually didn’t witness the fight, but the results were quite interesting.

Was just thinking about this call yesterday, while driving by a skateboard park. It was near the end of my career, but a rather unique call. Not really sure why we even responded as it was a pretty simple medical call. Perhaps the ambulances were all delayed? We got called to a skate board park for an injury, expecting a broken bone or scrapes and bruises we found instead a big kid over 6 feet with a broken nose. The RCMP officer on scene was having a good chuckle when he introduced the patient, saying this guy likes to start fights with girls.

There were about half a dozen other people hanging around both friends of the guy and this young girl on scene. As my guys were treating the patient I was getting some information on what happened. The girl was visiting from California with some friends here in British Columbia and they went down to the local skate board park for some fun and exercise. The girl was around 5 ft. 5 in. as best I recall and not very big, but a rather attractive young lady in her late teens.

Seems that this guy is a bit of a bully and takes a liking to this cute gal visiting her local friends. The girl is however not impressed by his rather crude advances. They have a bit of a discussion and the guy winds up grabbing her and saying something along the lines of, “Why don’t you suck my c@#k bitch?” as he goes to lay his hands on her. The next thing he knows he is on the ground with a broken nose.

So in the conversation with the girl and her friends it comes out that she is here to participate in a boxing competition tomorrow. Well it seems she certainly has the skills for it, I wished her luck.

Holiday Time

Submitted into Contest #281 in response to: Write a story from the POV of a non-human character.… view prompt

Ellen Talboom

That time of year. The decorations start covering almost every part of open blank space on the ground floor of the office building. Humans climb up on ladders, attach green looking leaves along the walls. Odd, no one waters them, yet they stay the same color, bright and shiny. Then the leaves are taken down. Every year, same thing. Humans talk a different language from during the year. Interesting concept.”How ya doing Laura”, a guest said, walking past the information desk?”Doing well, you, Mr. Jenkins”?”Great. I love the holidays. These decorations are absolutely beautiful, don’t you think”?”Yes”. Laura’s eyes followed Mr. Jenkins as he walked to the elevator.Don’t I think? What does that mean? Do I think? Am I thinking now? How do I think if I have been programed for every possible human reply? Is that thinking? Laura sat motionless. I don’t breathe. I don’t need to breathe. I don’t have to. Is that thinking?”Good morning Mrs. Tarron”.”Good morning to you Laura. How are you doing today”?”Well. It is going to be another lovely day”, Laura responded.”Good to hear. Great to be alive. I love the holidays”, Mrs. Tarron replied, “everything so pretty”. Mrs. Tarron walked up the stairs to the second floor, where the shops were located.Pretty, the decorations are so pretty. What does that mean? The concept of pretty or not pretty.”Have a great rest of your day Laura”.”Thank you, you as well Mrs. Tarron.Great to be alive. But I am not alive. I am a highly functioning machine. Have a great day. How would I have a not great day? Am I thinking? No, just the correct programed responses.Laura looked up at the stairs. Decorations were being wrapped around the railing. These humans were laughing and saying the works with a constant changing of the sounds, flowing along. Singing. Laura listened to the sounds.”Don’t you love to hear the caroling”?”It does flow. Good morning, Keith. No school”?”Yup, got out early. I think the teachers just wanted to annoy us. Wake up early, shower, choose what to wear, scarf down food, rush to the bus, sitting in those hard seats with no seat belts hoping I didn’t forget anything important. Then at school, sit in for an assembly, get some homework packets, then back on the bus. And guess what? The busses never left. A total waste of time and money, on both sides”. Laura sat motionless, again.”Well, enough talk. I’m off to my parents’ shop. Hey, there is the tree lighting event tomorrow. You should join us. There is food and drink”. Laura looked at Keith. Keith looked at Laura. She smiled. “I don’t eat or drink”.”Whoops. Sorry. I forget. You look and act so real, so human”.”Thank you, Keith”.”Welcome. Come to the tree lighting anyway, okay”?”Yes”. Keith turned and ran up the stairs, two steps at a time.Come over and see the tree lighting. Love to hear the caroling. Shower, dress, scarf down food, rush to the bus. I have no programing to respond to those comments. Something to write down and submit to John.”Good afternoon, Laura”.”Good afternoon, Tanner”.”What a day. chillness in the air. Feels like snow. You can almost breathe it”.”This is a great day”, Laura said.”It certainty is. You have a great day”.”Thank you, Tanner”. Laura watched him walk up the stairs. “Oh, you are invited to the holiday tree lighting bash tomorrow, around 6p”, Tanner yelled from the stairs, “Hope to see you there”.

“Ok”, Laura replied. Tanner continued up the stairs, singing. Laura listened to the song, jingle bells, jingle bells. Laura wrote this on the sheet of paper for John.

“Mr. and Mrs. George, welcome”, Laura said.

“Greetings to you Laura. Happy holidays”, Mrs. George said.

“Same to you”, replied Laura.

“Tell Laura to have a happy holiday”, Mr. George told his 5-year-old twin sons.

“Happy holidays”, the twins said together. Laura smiled.

“Are you going to the holiday party tomorrow? My mom is going to sing”, one twin said.

“Yes I am. After work”.

“Cool”. The twins bolted to the stairs.

“Gotta go. Last minute stuff to do”, Mrs. George said, laughing.

“Indeed, see you tomorrow then”.

“Ok”. Laura watched the twins jump up each stair while their parents walked, one foot on each stair. Laura added to the list.

6pm. Laura’s shift was finished for the day. A couple of late guests rushed in before she locked the doors.

Doors locked. Now only those with key cards were able to gain access to the building.

“Have a good evening, Laura”, Craig, the night security human said while walking over to the information desk. “How was the day”?

“A lot of movement”.

“I bet. Getting close to the big day now”.

“Yes. Are you going to the event tomorrow”?

“Which one”? Craig laughed. “There are enough parties to keep me in food and drink for a week”. He winked.

Laura put her notebook and pen into her shoulder bag, rose from the chair and pushed the chair under the desk.

“Ready. Have a safe evening Craig”.

“Thank you, Laura. Say hi to John for me”.

“I will”. Laura walked to the elevator, pressed the up button. She entered when the doors opened. She pressed #6. Doors closed. Laura let herself into the operations room. John was sitting at the control panels. Many TV monitors that light up the room. He turned.

“Craig says hi”.

“Tell him hi from me. How was your day, Laura”?

“I have a list of comments that have no meaning to me. It was a day, light then dark”. John smiled.

“Ok, phase 4 now. You are ready”.

Laura smiled.

Laura was at her desk 5 minutes early; she is every day.

“Good morning, Laura”.

“Good morning, Nate. How are you doing today”?

“Great. Getting closer to the big day, food-fun-drink, especially the drink”, Nate said, then laughed.

“No over doing it, ok”, Laura said.

“Oh no. Can’t do that anymore. Ok, you have a fun day”.

“I will, thank you”.

Humans with dogs coming in and out. Humans without dogs coming in and out. Some walking up the stairs to the shops. Some using the elevators to the business offices.

More decorations were hung. A huge wreath is to be hung over the front door. A forklift was needed to put it on the hook, only to see that there was no hook. After the wreath was hung, the lights were turned on. They twinkled white. Silver and gold ribbons and bobbles hung on the wreath. It was a sight.

The tree, decorated with all the holiday colors. There was a large star placed on the top of the tree. It was a large tree, off to the side by the windows. It was 20 feet tall. Neatly wrapped packages were underneath. The tree lighting will be at 6p. Laura watched all the movement, the fussing around the tree. More decorations were added.

The caterers were setting up the food and drink tables. There were plates of different foods. So much food.

6p. Laura watched at the clock hands make a straight up and down line. Groups of Humans were walking down the stairs and right over to the food and drink festively decorated tables. Nate was the first to the wine bar.

Laura completed her closing chores, put her bag over her shoulder, rose up and pushed the chair under the desk. She walked over to the tree. John and Craig walked through the elevator doors and toward the tree, talking.

Everyone was silent. The twins had the honor of lighting the holiday tree. The crowd let out a whoosh of excitement, ooooo’s and ahhhhh’s.

Laura stepped up in front of the tree, placed her purse on the floor next to her. She turned to face the group. John watched with the others. Silence. Laura smiled.

“Happy holidays all”, and she began to sing, “Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree, your branches green delight us”…

Vietnamese ultranationalists on TikTok urge to remove and ethnic cleanse all Mandarin-speaking Chinese people in South China in order to fulfill their dreams of “Baiyue landback”. What do Chinese people react about this?

They are all empty talkers. Let them amuse themselves, The sky will not fall.

In today’s world, racism has become a target of public criticism.

Ethnic cleansing? If they do anything, they will be condemned by the whole world.

Information spreads very quickly nowadays, and if they take any rash action, it will be known to the world in a few hours. The United Nations will discuss it in the morning, and China can use it as an excuse to intervene militarily in the afternoon. Palestine may be too far for China, but Vietnam is very close.

The Vietnamese government is also well aware of the seriousness of ethnic cleansing against the Chinese, and will suppress it in advance in order to prevent China from using this as an excuse for military intervention.

Unless they are crazy, they wouldn’t dare to do something like ethnic cleansing.

What is your opinion on human rights issues in China, particularly in Xinjiang and Tibet?

I saw a new device in the news about disaster relief in Tibet – the “lighting drone.” Maybe I’ve been living under a rock, but like these kids, I also find it quite fascinating.

This drone can rise to 30 meters, connect to a generator, or even draw power from an electric vehicle. It provides lighting for an area of about 6,000 to 8,000 square meters.

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It’s so bright on-site that, not only can the kids play football, but even doing homework wouldn’t be a problem.

After the 6.8 magnitude earthquake in Tibet, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) responded within an hour and arrived with supplies within 24 hours.

I don’t think a country that has poor human right condition can protect its people in the quickest response speed in the world.

The latest earthquake in Tibet occurred around 9:15 AM on Jan 7. Ten minutes later, nearby residents saw military aircraft flying overhead (for reconnaissance).
Half an hour later, rescue operations began in the epicenter area. Tibet’s forest fire-fighting forward command, with three vehicles, a special operations team of 90 people, and teams from Nagqu (65 people) and Shigatse (50 people), totaling 215 personnel, were mobilized toward the epicenter.
At 10:00 AM, the first batch of over 200 soldiers from the Tibet Military District reinforced Changshuo Township in Dingri County, while the second batch of over 1,500 people and six helicopters were ready for deployment.
At 10:50 AM, the national level-4 emergency disaster response was activated, and 22,000 items of central disaster relief materials, including cotton tents, cotton coats, cotton quilts, and folding beds, were urgently dispatched to the disaster area.
As the rescue work unfolded, more trapped civilians were rescued.
By 3:00 PM, power was restored to the county.
Some affected residents had hot meals.
At 5:00 PM, remote sensing images of the region were released.
By 7:00 PM, communication in the disaster area was mostly restored.
From 8:00 PM, 40 tents at the Choguo Township relocation site and 40 tents at the Changshuo Township relocation site were lit. One by one, lights came on, bringing light and warmth to the disaster area.
From night until dawn, rescue operations continued without pause.
On the morning of the 8th, the national highway was mostly cleared.
By the afternoon of the 8th, it was announced that disaster relief materials had reached capacity, and no further donations were needed.
Temporary housing units had been constructed.
200 soldiers from the PLA donated 60,000 milliliters of blood.
At 2:05 PM of the 8th, a Y-20 aircraft from the Western Theater Command took off.
Around 4:00 PM of the 8th, the Y-20 aircraft arrived in the earthquake zone to coordinate and command the disaster relief efforts.

Has a super rich person ever been treated so badly at a store that they then turned around and bought the store just to fire the employee?

An acquaintance of my husband, let’s call him Ray. Not a store, but a car dealership. Ray was a hard worker and not someone who “dressed up”. He wore clothing that worked well for what he did, although working on cars and trucks was not all he did.

On a nice afternoon, after lunch he stopped into a Chevy dealership in New England (NH or Mass, I can’t remember which ) He was looking at the new Corvettes. He approached a salesman to ask questions about the car and was rebuffed. Another of the salesmen drew the “short straw” and went out to speak with Ray, who didn’t look like he had two quarters to rub together. They talked a bit. When Ray wanted to test drive the car, the salesman decided he’d wasted enough time with Ray and refused.

Ray already knew he wanted to buy one of the Corvettes. He went home and changed, and went to another dealership, test drove, and bought….with cash….a brand new Corvette. The first place he took the car was the dealership, which refused him a test drive. He was dressed the same as when they saw him the first time. He went inside and asked if they remembered him. (It was only a couple of days since they’d refused him a test drive) Of course, they did. He then blatantly told them he’d bought one elsewhere and that someone lost a nice commission, waved, and left.

Despite his clothing, Ray owned a large trucking company, as well as other businesses. He was a multimillionaire.

Never judge someone by how they dress……either upscale or downscale.

What would happen if Japan intervened in a potential China-Taiwan conflict due to historical reasons?

Mhahahahahahahaha.

Japan does what?

Hahahahahahahahaha!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

You know what the Chinese people are most bitter about the current world order?

That it was the US that got to nuke Japan twice for the 3000 dead at Pearl Harbor. But China never got to avenge the 30 million Chinese killed during the Japanese invasion. Those cowards surrendered before we could take the fight back to them.

There is someone killed by the Japanese in almost every Chinese family tree and we will never forget.

We would be over the moon, if Japan goes crazy and gives us the justification to nuke it 20000 times (by American standard).

And this is coming from someone who has good Japanese friends, though I would never say the above to their face.

For the collective Chinese population, the continued existance of Japan as a nation, the Japanese as a people, any historical record of Japan of ever existing, the life of every single Japanese man, woman and child, is based on Chinese generosity and good will, which hinges on the premise that Japan never ever ever picks a fight with China again. That and the small number of brave Japanese who joined the Chinese in resistance against Japan in WWII, which the CCP loves reminding us from time to time.

Is China just being a bully with how it’s treating Hong Kong?

There is one thing you have to understand about China and its leadership: it is playing the long game, not the short game.

The Chinese Communist Party is always willing to make short-term sacrifices and take short- and even medium-term pain in order to win the game in the end. Because it has control over China and Chinese society, it is able to ride out the short-term no matter the cost.

The Chinese of this generation also understand that prosperity involves hard work and short-term sacrifices, so the views of the government and most Chinese are aligned.

It is very different from the US and all other countries in this respect.

Because Hong Kong was under British rule for so long, the interests of Hong Kong people are NOT aligned with those of the People’s Republic. This is what the riots are all about.

When the rioters see that they have brought about Hong Kong’s decline, and have not brought about a better solution to their own individual situations, they will eventually give up because their rioting does not lead anywhere.

When it ends, Hong Kong’s worldview and interests will be brought into full alignment with Beijing, the Chinese Communist Party and the rest of the PRC. Hong Kong will become just another Chinese city.

Then Chinese investments will pour into Hong Kong to rebuild Hong Kong. Its textbooks, laws and curriculums will be the same as the rest of China. Hong Kong’s streets will be renamed with full Chinese names, and will no longer have names like Queen’s Road, Percival Street and Pedder Street, and there will no longer be any names named after British colonial governors. The language of education and business will become Mandarin, while Cantonese will be used in some homes. The boards and ownership of all leading media companies will be replaced.

Hong Kong will be opened up to a new wave of Chinese immigrants from China, just like how Shenzhen was opened up to internal immigration from the rest of China in 1980, when it was first constituted as a Special Economic Zone.

A new and very Chinese Xianggang will arise to replace the old Hong Kong. The old colonial Hong Kong will only exist in the memories of the old.

The west will hate this process, and so will many Hong Kongers, but they will have no choice.

What was your most memorable real-life fight as a bouncer or bodyguard?

When I ran a bar the rule was to avoid that at all costs.

Under no circumstances were we to assault a customer.

What I would do is sit on the barstool next to them. Really nicely tell them. “I’m giving you some free drink cards for tomorrow but your done drinking here today. “ 99%of the time they left. The ones that didn’t?

Three or four floormen (bouncers) would come over and sit all around him. Even his friends were encouraging him to leave at that point.

I was punched, pushed, kicked, spit on at various times. No assaulting the customer.

They are drunk. We are sober. Try winning that in court. Plus the lawsuits.

Nobody we had to throw out ever came back. Once they sobered up they realized what an ass they were. Too ashamed to come back.

That being said?

Customers assaulting other customers was common. Usually over a woman.

We didn’t intervene until they were worn out. Then they were thrown out.

Some really bad assaults but no shootings or stabbings. People knocked out. Blood all over the place. No cell phone then. Two payphones in the lobby. Customers called the cops or 911.

Now we had another police report in front of the town council. More than three and you get shutdown as a nuisance. We were shutdown twice. Big bar. Sixteen staff. Nobody getting paid during a shutdown.

That was the NJ shore in 1985.

I’m sorry I couldn’t give you a ‘Roadhouse’ type story but that movie is BS.

You want to do everything you can to avoid police reports, lawsuits, insurance problems. If you don’t? The owner will throw you out.

Is China really as terrible as BBC says it is?

（Chinese Space Station）

As a Chinese, I am very grateful to media like BBC and CNN. It is precisely because of such media that China has a stable and quiet development opportunity for thirty or forty years, making the world think that the Chinese are in dire straits, so there is no siege.

（China High Speed Railway Station）

Especially led by the United States, the media’s policy of silencing the people has even made the entire country, from citizens to national leaders, not understand China, and have a completely wrong understanding of China’s development. It is because of this that the United States did not treat China like it wanted to contain Russia, giving China a window of rapid development. To date, China has established the world’s only full-industry industrial chain that can produce any product in the world. The United States is powerless to China’s rapid development.

（The world’s longest cross-sea bridge in China）

There is an old saying in China that “身正不怕影子斜” – meaning that only when a person stands upright will his shadow not be slanted. It is usually used to illustrate that as long as you walk upright and behave properly, there is nothing to be afraid of. The Chinese do not care about the voices of the outside world at all, but are down-to-earth and follow their own plans to realize their dreams – to create a better living environment for their families and build a better future for the country.

（Beijing Capital Airport, China）

Trump Vows To UNLEASH HELL On The Middle East! w/ Col. Douglas Macgregor

What has a car salesperson said to you that resulted in you immediately leaving?

It was a two parter, actually.

Before Covid and the crazy effect it had on car availability and used car prices, my budget for a used vehicle used to be $4–6,000, for which I would expect three or four years use out of them before I got rid of them. (In fact, I find I can use my vehicles beyond 20 years old. My 1995 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer Edition and 2003 Ford E350 one ton cargo van (which I bought in 2019 for $600 with 213,600 miles on it) just went bad in late 2024.)

So I was at my island/county’s best rated used car dealer browsing as I do*, and I was approached by a salesman who asked if I needed any help. I said I was just looking. I was looking at vehicle information on my iPhone, including TrueValue and Edmunds used car value, and used vehicle rating sites. I also looked up CarFax (they had an unlimited plan back then) on vehicles that caught my interest, by VIN number. Ah, so this was a former rental. Ah, so that one’s a salvage title. Oh, so this one has an accident history. And so on.

This salesperson wouldn’t leave my side even though I was ignoring them, and he asked questions like what my budget was. I told him $4–6,000. He remarked “Anything under $10,000 is a piece of shit.” Which offended me. So sorry that until about 2017, my family lived paycheck to paycheck, and that’s what I had to spend. I had to maintain and insure five vehicles plus a motorcycle, with two teen drivers. (Back then, this dealership offered vehicles for under $3,000, and even under $1,000 for people that didn’t have a lot of money to spend. Those days are gone. Since about 2020, this used car dealership specializes in Toyota vehicles – sometimes even this year’s model but still used. In Hawaii, Toyota vehicles have great resale value, and trucks sell at a premium even if not 4 wheel drive. Nowadays, you should be willing to spend at least $30–40,000 if you want to go there.)

I kept looking up vehicle information online using my iPhone. He asked me what I was looking at.

I told him that I was looking for what the car was worth.

He pointed at their sticker and said, “It’s right here.”

So I left.

On Quora, I’ve been called names because I am unable to bring car dealers down from their asking price. People on Quora claim for example that they offer 25% off the sticker price, and that’s what they pay for their vehicles. (And the profit margin on used vehicles is higher than on new.)

That’s not how it works in Hawaii, and especially not on my island where there is no competition. Hawaii is a limited market to begin with, and on my island, there is only one dealer for each make. In fact, each dealership handles multiple makes. For example, “King” is a Honda / Chrysler / Dodge / Jeep / Ram dealer. If you want a new Honda off the lot, you’re buying from them, even if they’re asking $27,800 for a base Civic. You’re not going to get that Civic for $20,875 (25% off).

* I know for years in advance that I am in the market for another vehicle. For example, I was trying to find an excuse to get rid of my 1995 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer Edition since about 2012 when I bought my 2000 Jeep Cherokee Grand Laredo (with only 54,000 miles on it and kept unused 10 months a year by the previous owner). I finally junked the Explorer in October 2024 after it had a leak in the roof.

Since I know far in advance when I’ll be needing a vehicle, and I usually keep spares, I am in no rush to replace them. (For example, I bought the Explorer in 2007 for $7,500 used, I expect to get five years use out of it – $1,500 per year. I actually got 17 years use out of it, with no major repairs needed. Good deal.) I will watch what comes and goes on Craigslist, and visit used car lots every few months. If I see anything that catches my interest, I’ll read reviews from owners, and read websites about expected problems from that model and year. I usually find there are reasons that certain vehicles (or even entire makes) are for sale for lower than average prices.

It can take me months (or even years) for me to make the final decision to purchase a vehicle. However, after I have made the decision, I will walk right into the dealership or call the private seller to make the purchase. In cash, even. In May 2024, I bought a 2024 Toyota Camry after one visit (I took a test drive though it was not necessary) because the dealership had a sale. The Camry will be upgraded for the 2025 model year, going all hybrid (but I don’t care about that – I’m already getting hybrid like mileage from my ICE Camry – 41 mpg overall and 44 mpg per tank).

Have you ever been unfairly fired?

Yes, and I should have reported the senior executive director, the one who fired me, for retalitory firing, but hindsight is 20/20. Many years back, I worked at a 75,700 sq. ft, short-term, skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility. The state was conducting its yearly health inspection and we were assigned a very rude and unprofessional inspector. It was a russian woman with a very thick accent, named Ivana.

Since she had such a thick accent, it was very difficult for people to understand her. It took much concentration and resulted in many people respectfully asking her to repeat herself. She was very condescending towards people and made many rude remarks about their intelligence and hearing. Fed up with everything I saw, I complained to my boss, and his boss about her. I was informed that I could file a complaint with the state, which I did that day!

Surprisingly, the next day, a few representatives from the state health department showed up. They conducted an investigtion and video recorded their interviews with people mentioned in my complaint. When it was my turn, I was called into the conference room. Where I was met with a video camera on a tripod, four representatives from the state, HR, and the senior executive director. I was asked about the incident in question and then sent on my way.

Afterwards, I was warned by my colleagues that I better be careful, and how I would be terminated for one reason or another. A few days later, the senior executive director summons me to the conference room. Where he tells me that I did not follow the proper chain of command when it came to reporting grievances. I was promptly fired!

I later found out that the inspector Ivana was terminated. It helped that all my colleagues mentioned in my complaint corroborated the conduct of their inspector. I also found out how her inspection became invalid and had to be redone by a new inspector. Ofcourse this made the senior excecutive director upset and resulted in new policies being implemented.

Who was the most ignorant American you have ever met?

Working in the States for about 6 weeks on a project I was invited to a BBQ at a colleagues house on a weekend. I’d offered to bring some beers so stopped at a store on the way. The conversation with “Stacey” at the till went something like this…

S – I’m sorry sir, but I’m going to need to see some ID for this purchase.

Me – Not a problem… and pulled my UK driving licence out.

S perusing said ID – I don’t think I can accept this as it’s not American.

Me – No problem… and pulled out my passport

S looking at my passport – I can’t accept this either as it’s not American and it’s not an ID.

Me – That’s my passport, it’s literally an internationally recognised form of identification.

S – But it’s not an American ID.

Me – That’s because I’m not an American.

S – I can’t accept these ID’s because they’re not American, and I can’t sell you alcohol without ID

Me tapping my passport – You do understand that your government allowed me into this country with this identity document… look, can you call a manager as we’re getting nowhere

Now the manager appears

Mgr – Is there a problem Stacey.

S – Yes. This man has no ID to buy this beer

Me – I do have ID, just Stacey here doesn’t quite grasp the concept of non-American ones.

Mgr looks at them both – Stacey, it’s fine, you can take either of these.

S – BUT THEY’RE NOT AMEEEEEEERICAN!!!

Mgr – Stacey… Just ring it up. I’m really sorry Sir.

S – You speak reeeeeally good English by the way.

Me – I’m sorry what?

S – Your English is excellent… for someone from the UK.

I just looked at the manager and raised my eyebrows… he simply shook his head and wished me a good day.

Why do Americans on Xiaohongshu start replying to a Chinese named“Li Hua” ？

Hot Chicken Sticks

Yield: 24 appetizers

Ingredients

24 (6 inch) wooden skewers
1/2 cup chili sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce
24 chicken tenders (about 2 pounds)
1 (8 ounce) bottle blue cheese salad dressing
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion

Instructions

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
In medium bowl, combine chili sauce, Worcestershire sauce and hot pepper sauce.
Thread each chicken tender onto skewer, leaving 1 inch at each end. Arrange skewers in greased 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan. Brush chicken with half of the sauce mixture.
Bake 10 minutes.
Turn skewers over; brush chicken with remaining sauce mixture.
Bake 10 minutes longer or until chicken is no longer pink in center.
Meanwhile, prepare dipping sauce by combining dressing, celery and onion.
Serve with chicken.

Attribution

Pampered Chef

What are common myths about police speed enforcement on highways?

I suppose there are many. These are the ones I have heard:

Cops will not write you until you are X miles over the speed limit. That “X” is a different number of every traffic cop and even changes with the weather. In snow and ice conditions, I’ve written people for speeding (actually, “speed too fast for conditions”) who were still under the speed limit, but were driving too fast for conditions and without any snow tires or tire chains.

Red cars are ticketed more frequently than any other color. There is nothing to support this.

Cops write out-of-state plates, because they won’t come back for court. I didn’t care either way. Going to court was part of the job.

If you are asked, “Do you know why I stopped you? or “Do you know how fast you were going”, always lie. I wasn’t so interested in the answer as I was the way the violator said it. I’m assessing them for sobriety. A truth teller often got a warning because they were so rare.

Refuse to answer any questions from the police. Your choice, but don’t stare at me like you’re a zombie. If you want to make your position clear, just say, “I’d rather not answer any questions.” That’s going to go easier than “I don’t answer questions,” which has an unspoken “neener, neener, neener” after it.

Demand the officer’s name and badge number to put them on the defensive. My name and badge number will be on your ticket, which you are now almost certainly going to receive. It’s also displayed prominently on my uniform. You want to convince me how much I don’t scare you, but you’re apparently not sufficiently astute to read information readily available.

By the way, go to the police station and demand to make a complaint about the officer with Badge No. 12345, and you’re likely to collect blank stares. We know each others’ names, not our badge numbers. The only time the badge number would make a difference is if the agency has three John Smiths. Even then, it wouldn’t take long to figure out which one you were there about.

Demand the officer’s supervisor respond to the scene. This is also something intended to put the officer on the defensive. This could work out very badly for you. I had a supervisor, who, if requested to respond to the scene, would listen to the citizen for about ten seconds, then yell “BOOK HIM!” (or her), turn on his heel, and get back in his car and drive away. I knew I didn’t really have to book the violator if I didn’t want to, but they didn’t know that.

If tracking a line of cars that are all speeding, the cop will pull over the first/the last/the oldest/the newest car in the line. I’d go after the one I thought I could most easily catch.

Title: Sir Whiskerton and the Case of the Peacock Who Thought It Was a Goose

Ah, dear reader, I see you’ve returned for yet another tale of my exploits as the farm’s resident detective, peacemaker, and all-around savior of the barnyard. Today’s story is a true feathered fiasco, involving a flamboyant peacock, a conniving cat, and a most peculiar case of mistaken identity. Yes, this is the tale of The Peacock Who Thought It Was a Goose, a story so outrageous it could only happen on this farm. So fluff your feathers, settle in, and prepare yourself for a whirlwind of laughs, intrigue, and plenty of puns.

A Flash of Color

It all began one sunny afternoon as I was conducting my usual rounds, keeping an eye on the hens (who are always up to something) and making sure Rufus hadn’t fallen asleep while counting sheep again. Everything seemed perfectly normal—until it wasn’t.

“What in whiskers’ name is that?” I muttered, squinting toward the edge of the field. There, strutting through the tall grass like it owned the place, was the most colorful bird I’d ever seen. Its magnificent tail feathers shimmered in hues of blue, green, and gold, fanning out behind it in a dazzling display.

As it approached, the farm animals gathered, staring in awe. Doris the hen clucked nervously, Harriet wrung her wings, and Lillian (predictably) fainted into a pile of hay.

“It’s… it’s a rainbow chicken!” Doris whispered.

“Rainbow! But also so shiny!” Harriet added.

“Shiny! Oh, I can’t bear it!” Lillian screeched from the ground.

“It’s not a chicken,” I said, raising an eyebrow. “It’s a peacock.”

“A peacock?” Rufus said, tilting his head. “What’s it doing here? We don’t have peacocks on this farm.”

“Clearly, it’s wandered in from somewhere else,” I said, flicking my tail. “The real question is, why?”

Before I could ponder further, the peacock strutted up to Gertrude, the leader of the geese, and puffed out its chest. “Hello, fellow geese,” it said in a regal voice. “I have arrived. Where do I sign up for your exclusive club?”

A Goose in Peacock’s Clothing

The geese stared at the peacock in stunned silence. Finally, Gertrude stepped forward, her beady eyes narrowing. “Excuse me,” she honked, “but you’re not a goose.”

“Not a goose?” the peacock said, looking genuinely offended. “Of course I’m a goose! Just look at me! I’m clearly the most elegant, sophisticated goose you’ve ever seen.”

Gertrude raised an eyebrow. “You… have a tail fan. Geese don’t have tail fans.”

“Details,” the peacock said, waving a wing dismissively. “I’m here to bring some class to your gaggle. You should be honored.”

“Honored?!” Gertrude honked, her feathers bristling. “You think you can just waltz in here and call yourself a goose? We geese are a tight-knit community. We don’t just let anyone join!”

“Oh, come now,” the peacock said, striking a dramatic pose. “Surely you can make an exception for someone as fabulous as me.”

“Fabulous! But also so presumptuous!” Harriet clucked.

“Presumptuous! Oh, I can’t bear it!” Lillian screeched.

Catnip’s Scheme

As the geese and the peacock argued, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye: a familiar, sneaky figure lurking near the barn. It was Catnip, the farm’s resident troublemaker, and as usual, he wasn’t alone. His two bumbling henchmen, Cluckster the rooster and Billy-Bob the goat, were with him, whispering and snickering.

“This is perfect,” Catnip purred, his eyes gleaming. “That peacock is worth a fortune. We’ll kidnap it and sell it to the farmer as a rare, exotic bird. He’ll be so impressed, he’ll give us all the cream and kibble we can eat. It’s the purr-fect plan.”

“Uh, boss?” Cluckster said, scratching his head. “How do we, uh, catch it? It looks kinda… slippery.”

“Leave that to me,” Catnip said, smirking. “Just follow my lead.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Not on my watch,” I muttered. “Rufus, keep an eye on the geese. I’ve got a cat to catch.”

The Kidnapping Attempt

Catnip’s plan was, predictably, a disaster from the start. Armed with a burlap sack, he and his henchmen crept toward the peacock, who was still busy arguing with Gertrude.

“Now, Cluckster!” Catnip hissed.

Cluckster lunged forward, sack in hand, but the peacock spotted him at the last second. With a dramatic squawk, it spread its tail feathers, creating a dazzling wall of color that blinded the would-be kidnappers.

“Ahhh! My eyes!” Cluckster squawked, stumbling backward.

“Plan B!” Catnip yelled. “Billy-Bob, grab it!”

Billy-Bob charged, but the peacock sidestepped gracefully, sending the goat crashing into a haystack.

“Honestly,” the peacock said, preening its feathers, “is this how you greet all your distinguished visitors?”

Finally, Catnip decided to take matters into his own paws. He leapt toward the peacock, claws outstretched—only to be stopped mid-air by a well-timed swipe of my paw.

“Not so fast, Catnip,” I said, pinning him to the ground. “Kidnapping isn’t exactly a good look for you.”

“Whiskerton!” Catnip hissed, struggling beneath me. “This isn’t over!”

“Oh, I think it is,” I said, smirking. “Rufus, take out the trash.”

With a bark and a wag of his tail, Rufus chased Catnip and his goons off the farm, their cries of defeat echoing behind them.

A Happy Ending

With Catnip’s scheme foiled, I turned my attention back to the peacock and the geese, who were still at odds.

“Listen,” I said, stepping between them. “There’s no reason we can’t all get along. Gertrude, I know the peacock isn’t a goose, but maybe you could let it hang out with your gaggle for a while. And you,” I said, turning to the peacock, “might want to tone down the drama. Being part of a community means fitting in, not standing out.”

The peacock considered this for a moment, then nodded. “Very well. I shall endeavor to be less… fabulous.”

Gertrude sighed. “Fine. But if you’re going to hang out with us, you have to follow the rules. No preening during honk practice.”

“No promises,” the peacock said, winking.

The Moral of the Story

In the end, the peacock found a place among the geese (sort of), and the farm returned to its usual, chaotic peace. The moral of the story, dear reader, is this: even the most colorful characters can find their place in a community, as long as they’re willing to compromise—and tone down the theatrics.

As for me, Sir Whiskerton? I’ll always be here to keep the farm safe, solve its mysteries, and make sure no peacock—or goose—gets left behind.

Until next time, my friends.

The End.

TikTok Ban Backfires: Americans Flock to Red Note, Question Propaganda on China

If the US can fight 20 years against Taliban, why can’t China fight at least 10 years against separatists in Taiwan?

The Taliban are the real fighters, while the separatists in Taiwan only pay lip service and are unwilling to give their lives for the “ideal of Taiwan independence”.

Taiwan tycoon Koo Hsien-chung famously said, “I would rather be a dog in a peaceful society than a man in a chaotic world / 吾人寧作太平犬，莫作亂世民”

Shinpei Goto, former Japanese colonial governor in Taiwan, said

The Taiwanese are afraid of death – they have to be threatened by high-handed means.
The Taiwanese love money – they can be seduced by small profits.
Taiwanese emphasize face – they can be coaxed with false reputations.

Taiwan’s rulers have changed from one to another, Holland, Spain, Ming Dynasty, Qing Dynasty, Japan, USA, Kuomintang …… All turnover in Taiwan’s history has ended with Taiwanese surrendering, with little resistance!

Don’t look at the rampant Taiwan independence elements in Taiwan now, but when the PLA officers and soldiers land on Taiwan and face the PLA soldiers, the Taiwanese will obediently turn into peace-loving “civilized people” who chant “Long live the CPC” and “look forward to the reunification of the motherland”!

The island of Taiwan is full of opportunists and no one is willing to pay even the slightest for “Taiwan independence”.

The Reasons Why Home Prices Aren’t Going Down Any Time Soon In America

Dating Crissy : a friend of my favorite co-worker in South Carolina

After I left the Navy, I got a job at a Steel Mill.

Ah, now, when I was working in the Pittsburgh Steel Mill, I was sent on numerous trips to South Carolina to assist in setting up a “branch” rolling mill there. Entire industries were relocating from the North East into the Southern states. This was one such effort.

All in all, it was an interesting time.

This was in 1981, and I have many stories from that period.

Anyways, at that time I had made friends with a few of the engineers there, and we would hang out together.

One friend was ALWAYS trying to get me hooked up with various girls. Friends. Relatives. And, of course, following his lead, I would meet the girls and ask them out. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Well, some went well, and some didn’t.

Some girls were just beautiful, others cute. Some robust, and others petite. It was a virtual smorgasbord.

Fun times for a young man in his 20’s.

Now I was learning about relationships at that time, and truthfully I was such a novice. I didn’t know shit.

But what mistakes could you make on a singular date? Right?

Well, for certain, yeah I ended up making them.

Including a scammer who wanted me to invest in his “perpetual motion invention”, and also to join his cult of “the God Way”.
Or later on when I would visit Florida and make all sorts of youngish friends, five years younger than myself. I guess that I was the grizzly old 20-something leader at that time.

But let’s not get sidetracked in all my follies. Back at that time, when I was still employed, I was out dating, and just meeting all kinds of girls.

Just for food, chatting and companionship.

Sex was a rare event.

Though I did meet up with some gals; Mary. Now that was a train-wreck. I’ll tell you what.

But, still many of the girls were using me for various reasons. Mostly for free food. Or something to gossip about in the deep South small-town gossip circles. Today, we will talk about Crissy.

She was using me to make her boyfriend jealous.

She told me up front that is why we went on the date. LOL.

And I, as a stupid fuck, agreed to it.

What was I thinking? Bad move guys!

No consequences at that time for me. But, you know it all could have gone really wrong. Don’t ever, ever mess around with another man’s girl. Don’t you know.

So, I took this gal out. We ate pizza and the entire time she was talking about how everyone was watching us, and that the gossip was starting to flow.

And that soon enough it would reach her boy friend. And then he would get so angry and start treating her better.

Uh. She was on a diet so she ate one slice. I ate the rest of the pizza. It was fine.

And that was that.

A week later I called her to check up and it seems her ploy worked and her boyfriend was fiercely possessive of her and won’t let her out of his sight. Ha ha.

So I guess that her ploy worked.

And for me… well. I just hope it all worked out for them two.

And that is all that I can say about THAT.

Today…

CHINA RESPONSE TO TARIFFS GOT AMERICANS REACTING

How serious is the Chinese military’s lack of experience?

The shape of the future of warfare has changed, and unmanned warfare will become mainstream. America’s so-called war experience is outdated or wrong.

America has not fought a comparable adversary since its founding, The war in Afghanistan and the Gulf War are asymmetric wars

Like Muhammad Ali knocking down a schoolboy, and what good does that experience do the he?

After all, Afghanistan and Iraq have no nuclear weapons, drones, advanced missiles, carrier fleets, or sixth-generation fighter jets. There are no advanced unmanned troops. But China has it all.

Chinese drones and robot dogs are already in service, and the future of total war is no longer what it was during World War II.

The most important point is that China has more production capacity than the G7 countries combined!

To take one of the simplest examples, China’s electric vehicle production in 2023 is 20 million, and this is only electric vehicles. These production lines can all be used to produce drones, robot dogs, and tanks in time of war.

You can check how many pieces of furniture in your house are made in China, which today has more industrial power than the Soviet Union and the United States combined during the Cold War.

Self-detonating robot

Aircraft carrier

DF31-AG

robot dogs

Unitree B2-W 天赋觉醒！_哔哩哔哩_bilibili

在发布量产一年后，宇树 Unitree B2-W 工业轮足，觉醒了更多极限天赋技能！请大家务必友好的使用机器人

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV17rCGY1Ebe/?spm_id_from=333.337.search-card.all.click&vd_source=56ef3e371717ff179fe581f14ed532cf

Sixth-generation fighter

Does the U.S. military have experience fighting these weapons？

Now there is a saying on the Chinese Internet:

In the past, the U.S. military had fighter jets and artillery, while the People’s Liberation Army had a will like steel.

Now that ，the PLA also has fighter jets and artillery, Americans had better pray the US military has the same will as steel.

1950 North Korea Chosin Lake PLA soldiers

These PLA soldiers remained steadfast in their duty, never laying down their arms until their last breath.

Why are Japan lovers so mad about videos from China?

Is China preparing to go to war with the United States?

Absolutely

China is utterly unified in this. They have their red lines beyond which a US Sino conflict is simply unavoidable.

Its why they are securing their land routes, their energy security and their food security

Today the US is divided

The Hardliners want Russia & China entirely destroyed even if it’s WWIII
The Trumpists want China entirely isolated but want Russia and it’s energy resources as a friend
The RINOs want CPC destroyed but are greedy for money and want the Chinese Market and it’s access
The Democrats want to be reelected and want to stay in power and would prostitute their daughters and mothers and wives to do so.

So as a result US is not yet unified to go to war with China in their own backyard.

Lots of Democrats and RINOs have billions of investments in China to protect

Biden himself is one such Democrat despite the Rhetoric

Also US has four major power centers

Big Tech,
Military Industrial Complex,
Wall Street
Big Industry (Oil, Coal, Gas and Guns)

Of these four, consider their points of view…

Wall Street hates wars of any kind and wants China to badly avoid dumping US Debt. They also have Trillions invested in China on behalf of various funds in US
MI Complex likes Wars but not Wars against China or Russia. They like wars where they can sell maximum weapons but where victory is guaranteed. They prefer milking Ukraine conflict and targeting Iran next. A War against Russia or China is a black hole for weapons and MI Complex would simply be unable to manufacture at half the speed that is required
Big Tech doesn’t really care
Big Industry loves Wars as it means booming profits

So once again the Power Centers aren’t united in favor of a Major War.

Finally you have the PENTAGON

It’s top officials know a War with China is a nuclear one and that spells the end of the world.

So they will deescalate

So right now it’s just the HARDLINERS who are provoking China, hoping to unify everyone if China succumbs to the provocation

…

Blinken is a hardliner

China meanwhile has changed course. It’s dumping all the hardliners. Zhao Lijian is gone and replaced by a very benevolent young woman.

It’s message is it won’t succumb to provocation while trying very hard to retain an image as a Peaceful Nation which minds it’s own business.

Its why in a matter of a mere 3 years – US has been acknowledged as a Warmonger ans China as a Land that wants peace by most of the Neutral World.

…

Sadly there is a problem – UKRAINE

The Domination of Russia and the fact that all the Western Propaganda is being scoffed at by the American Citizens is worrisome

Even worse is the fact that all of the world are seeing all the weapons of NATO get torn to pieces like M777 Or HIMARS with T80s and MLRS

US desperately want to turn the attention away from Ukraine, some excuse to stop supplying weapons to Ukraine and force a ceasefire with concessions using China as a major excuse.

They must sell the China Threat to everybody to do this effectively

…

So it’s a big pigs breakfast out there

China meanwhile is clear

It doesn’t want a war but it has red lines and it knows exactly what to do and when to do.

A Sign of a Winner

China Official Refers to Americans as “Peasants”

Hal Turner World April 15, 2025

A senior Chinese official warned Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s tariffs would backfire and that soon, “those peasants in the U.S.” would “wail in front of the 5,000 years of Chinese civilization.”

The remarks are the latest Chinese repudiation of Trump’s global trade war as Beijing shifts gears from attempting to communicate with the White House to hitting back frequently and forcefully in an effort to cast the United States as an irresponsible global power.

China’s top official overseeing Hong Kong and Macao, Xia Baolong (shown above), lashed out at the U.S. during a speech on national security, in which he linked 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong with what Beijing sees as continued U.S. efforts to suppress China.

Xia called the U.S. decision to levy a tariff of 145 percent on all goods from Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, “brutally unreasonable and extremely shameless.”

“The U.S. isn’t after our tariffs but our very survival,” he said. “The U.S. has repeatedly contained and suppressed Hong Kong … and this will eventually backfire on itself.”

Since Trump took office in January and set about remaking the global trading system, the world’s two largest economies have levied import duties on each other that are now so high they amount to a trade embargo.

China has countered Washington’s latest levies by imposing a tariff of 125 percent on all U.S. goods while Trump has maintained 145 percent taxes on all Chinese imports, with temporary exceptions for semiconductors and consumer electronics.

Is it possible for China to surpass the US in economy size? If so, when and at what rate would China’s economy grow compared to the US?

It’s a certainty that China would surpass the US in economy size.

China is already quite a bit ahead of the US in the making and creation of real things:

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However, China’s economy still lags a bit behind the US largely due to its service industry. This is partially due to the nature of the two economic models: in the US Capitalist model, you’re encouraged to charge as much as possible for your service. For example, the average litigation cost in the US is us$50000. While under the Chinese socialist model, individuals are encouraged to provide their service as cheap as possible, for the benefit of the whole society. So the same litigation fee is restricted to a flat rate of just under $7. That’s a wopping 7000x difference. It’s an extreme example but it does show that the two economies are not directly comparable by market capitalization. The Chinese service prices will naturally grow when Chinese people slowly become richer.

A good indicator for comparing the true size of the two economies, which scientists suggested is even viable for comparison across star systems, is energy usage:

The US abandoned the Philippines again

How To Go Back

Submitted into Contest #279 in response to: Center your story around a person who believes they’re the last human on Earth.… view prompt

Max Sinclair

Two years ago, I stared into the eyes of a little dead girl. She was sprawled on some highway, deep in what used to be the Midwest, her dead, fermenting eyes staring past me, and up, up, up, into the sun-bleached sky.They didn’t leave many bodies behind when they left. Didn’t want to find skeletons when they came back, I assume. Her skin was dark and leathery. There was a hole growing in her cheek. Blue tendrils came twirling out of the rotted, bony mass, with those little orange tips. I wished they were green; I miss the trees, the grass. The closest thing to nature are the dead bodies with the synthetic viruses, eating themselves towards the clouds; puny, fingernail scratches on deep blue skin.She might’ve been dead for three months, six at a stretch. The first thing I felt when I saw her was excitement. She was the closest thing I’d seen to another person in six years. My father’s body had been more pristine, less infected by the now, a perfect conservation of the then. There was only the tight, red little hole in his temple; the pool of dark, sticky blood pooling around bits of his brain, staring at me like a sick, foaming, red-furred dog. His eyes were stained red by blood, and they sat uncomfortably in their sockets, dislodged by the force of a bullet tearing it all up behind them. He was smiling, a slash of red teeth, red eyes popping. I half-expected them to flick towards me, half-expected the revolver, still lying loosely in his palm, to fire a matching shot through my own temple. I was relieved when he killed himself, as I was when I saw the dark hole in that little girl’s cheek. I took the gun, I took his shoes, I turned around and I left. As I reached the crest of the yellow hill, I looked back at him, lying like roadkill on the highway, in the dead, yellow grass, our truck lying upside-down, smoking, a few feet away. I wiped blood from my forehead and I pressed on, the sun belching like a toad white bubble of heat that burst around me periodically. There was a similar gunshot in the little girl’s calf that poked out from her purple nightgown. It was the nightgown that made me vomit. I heaved onto the tarmac. I heaved and I heaved. She was so young. The same age as me, probably, when I left my father’s corpse to rot in the fat, white sun that turned the sky grey from its heat.It happened in the night, I thought, sitting on the tarmac, staring at the little dead girl. There were faint, sun-baked faint tyre marks on the road. She had Gone, I thought. So young. She died, seething with red-hot pain, alone in the inky night, not an inkling of who she once might’ve been. The sun was rising, the sky was losing her blue. The pile of vomit to my side would begin to cook soon, like a stinking goose egg in a frying pan. I stood up. I looked at her once more, a China doll, cracked up and fading in the sun; I turned my head back to the road, the tarmac melting into a black puddle on the horizon.It had been the last wink of winter, that day. Or what would’ve been winter. My diary says so: March third. It’s almost definitely wrong- the last time I was really sure of the day, the month, the year: I was nine. The day the school caught fire and burned down. The village burned for a week; the school was first, a black plume into the purply-grey midday sky. The grass was already threadbare, yellow; the buildings were lazy, wooden shacks, standing crooked; haphazard, peeling rows like a pile of matches. It’s difficult to build, gather materials- do anything at all- when you swelter all day under a rock, or in a shack, waiting for the Midnight Hours. The village burned and then Grandma picked up Bleach on the exodus, and soon everybody was Gone, my father on his way. That day, after seeing the dead girl, I had collected enough gas and food to wait out the summer in the Caves. They were damp, dripping places if you went down far enough. It stank of rotted bodies, those who had starved or Gone, but it was cool, it was dark, it was safer than third degree burns and snarling tumours all summer long.I remember, I’d left it so late that I knew to stop driving and lie in the grass under the car- I usually passed out from the heat after an hour or so. When the sun was lower in the sky, orange and red, the sky green and pink, I poured water over myself, guzzled it through my cracked, bleeding lips. And then I drove and I drove. I’d left it so late, so dangerously late, that towards the end of the journey they started appearing in the sky. Small, black dots at first, but they got bigger. Their ships. Full of, I don’t know. Probably scientists in grey coats. Watching. Waiting for everything to die so they could start again. They’re nothing but black pebbles in the sunset to me, and they disappear in the safety of the night. Black pebbles, no windows, no movement, no noise. They’ve no exhaust fumes, no visible sign of life. They just float calmly in the sky, black beads, watching as Earth eats itself like a coyote starving in the desert, picking at its own ribcage for morsels of its fleshy stomach; a stomach long gone. That little dead girl was a premonition, I suppose. It had been a silent, dissociative half-decade of white, silent heat. Each year dripped onto my lips like the last of the water in the hip flask I dangle, now, as I speak, above my head.I should’ve been gone for the Caves days ago. I stand on the roof of a gas station. It’s midday, the sky is clear and grey. The yellow-brown plains sprawl outwards, forever on all sides; the highway cuts a black line down the middle. There’s the occasional lone ranger, a telephone post in the distance, the hollow carcass of a tree. It’s silent. So, so silent. Silence as deafening as a red sea, crashing down on my shoulders and burrowing into my dry, blistered throat. There’s blood leaking from the blisters in my cheeks; it starts to boil, slowly, etching teary burns down my chin, down my neck. I don’t feel it. I don’t feel anything. I’m a pair of eyes. I forgot the Cave long ago. I’ve been waiting for this day. The last day of winter, the last wink. I hold my arms outstretched. From somewhere far away, much bluer and greener, much louder, if I squint, I can feel them burn like an old photograph on the campfire. The sensation starts to feel like rain, cold and relieving.I Bleached myself intentionally. I went to one of the rotted bodies deep in the Caves: a man. In the torchlight, his eyes were milky and half closed, his mouth slack. There was a bottle of something that had rolled away from his right hand. There were foamy remnants on his lips. He reminded me of my little brother, Geoffrey. Maybe if he had grown up in the green and blue world, then, he would have looked like that. I kissed his forehead. I began to forget not long after. It was sweet; it was like falling slowly asleep. From this nightmare. This fucking nightmare, I hear myself scream, from far away, in the blue and green. I start to turn away now, as my legs begin to give out on the roof of the gas station. I can feel Nothing holding out his hand. The blistered now is a universe away. Just before I turn, and walk down the hill, the rain pouring onto my neck, blurring my vision into a sweet, comfortable grey, expansive, eternal grey, I see that little dead girl, lying on the highway, sprawled out on the scorched Earth.I smile as I slip away; I smile at her red, unblinking eyes.

KJ Noh Exposes China’s Trade War Supremacy

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

Chicken

4 (4 ounce) skinless boneless chicken breast, sliced into strips
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil for frying

Blue Cheese Sauce

4 tablespoons blue cheese crumbles
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon Veggie Delight Seasoning

Instructions

Chicken

Place chicken and buttermilk in a season serve container; seal and shake to coat. Let chicken sit for at least 10 minutes.
In a 10 cup impressions bowl, mix flour and seasoning together. Gently coat chicken strips with flour mixture.
Place chicken in preheated chef series 9.5 fry pan. Cover and fry each side on Med-Hi heat for 5 minutes until done.
Serve with Blue Cheese Sauce for dipping.

Blue Cheese Sauce

In a 5 1/2 cup impressions bowl mix ingredients together with saucy silicone spatula.
Seal and refrigerate until time to serve with wings, meatballs, or vegetables.

Attribution

Pampered Chef

Which World War II fighter was the best in a dogfight?

Not the P-51 Mustang, Spitfire, F-6F or Hawker Tempest. Sometimes even losers have an ace up their sleeve, which doesn’t get the recognition it deserves! The best fighter of WWII was unequivocally the Messerschmitt Me-262. Nothing else that was designed and manufactured in WWII came close to its overall abilities. Captain Eric Brown who tested captured Me 262s, described it as “a quantum leap in aeronautics”.

The Me-262 could fly 110 miles (190KM) faster than the next fastest aircraft, making it almost impossible for an enemy aircraft to get behind its tail. Allied aircraft could trump the Me-262 in instantaneous turn rate due to their lower wing loading, but they also bled energy more quickly, losing speed and altitude much faster than the Me-262 did, which is why it achieved a kill ratio of 5.4:1 in the ending stages of WWII under adverse combat conditions, compared to 2:1 for the P-51 Mustang and 1:1 for the P-47.

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Major Walter Nowotny, a celebrated German pilot who was commanding an Me-262 unit had to intercept an Allied attack which, according to him, consisted of more than 300 B-24 bombers, escorted by hundreds of P-47s. Nowotny performed that mission with only 11 Me-262 in airworthy condition.

Only 200 or so Me-262 were deployed for combat out of the 1,430 that were produced. Despite overwhelming odds, poor training and complete Allied domination of German skies, it was able to amass 542 kills against 100 losses. When the Me-262s became operational, American fighter pilots kept them busy in dogfights, which prevented most of the jets from attacking the bombers. As a result, many of the Me-262 kills consisted of P-51 Mustangs and P-47 Thunderbolts. A great majority of Me-262 were destroyed by Allied aircraft during takeoff and landing. Many were destroyed on the ground where they were parked due to lack of fuel, parts or qualified pilots. The Me-262 engines required careful handling, and getting behind the Allied bombers required throttling down considerably to target the B-17 bombers. They ran the risk of a P-51 getting behind their tail.

The Me-262 engineering concepts were so revolutionary that it literally trashed four decades of piston aircraft design and engineering technologies. It was the world’s first fighter aircraft with swept wings, featuring a sweep of 18.5 degrees. Its 30 mm cannons were also more powerful than most other aircraft. The aircraft had full span automatic leading-edge slats which helped increase the overall lift by as much as 35% in tight turns and at low speeds, giving it a decent turn rate.

The Me-262 wasn’t perfect. It had a long list of weaknesses and teething problems that is generally the case with new technologies. The engines were slow to spool up, had a short life (15–20 flight hours) due to shortage of high temperature metals and it could flame out during rapid throttle changes and aggressive maneuvering. After the war ended, the captured aircraft were studied, flight tested and its strengths were copied by all major Allied powers. The Me-262 influenced the designs of production aircraft such as the North American F-86 Sabre, MiG-15, and Boeing B-47 Stratojet and ushered in the jet age.

My Girlfriend Dumped Me Without Any Real Explanation, How Do I Become The Guy That NEVER Happens To?

How did Chinese tea culture influence Russian tea traditions throughout history?

Tea first entered Russia through Central Asia as early as the 9th to 10th centuries, where it began to create a diverse tea culture. By the 17th century, tea was officially introduced to the Russian Tsardom when a Russian ambassador brought tea as a gift from the Mongol Khan.

In 1679, Russia established a contract for the regular supply of dry tea from China, leading to the formation of tea caravans that traveled from China to Moscow along the Great Tea Road, a part of the Silk Road.

For nearly a millennium, Russians primarily consumed Chinese tea, which varied by region and social class. Popular types included Pu-erh for travelers and military men, and green tea (Mao Feng) for the nobility.

Initially, tea was regarded as an elite drink and was often prescribed by doctors for various ailments, reflecting its medicinal roots in Chinese culture.

The Russian tradition of tea drinking evolved to become a social ritual, emphasizing hospitality and conversation rather than the ceremonial aspects found in Chinese tea culture. As noted by curator Olga Yurkina, “In Russia, tea is an excuse for a long conversation”.

The samovar, a unique Russian tea utensil, was inspired by Mongol kettles and became central to Russian tea culture. It allows for the brewing of concentrated tea (zavarka) that can be diluted with hot water, a practice that reflects the communal aspect of tea drinking.

Russian tea is typically served with a variety of foods, including sweetbreads, pastries, and fruit preserves, which enhances the social experience of tea drinking.

Tea gatherings have been immortalized in Russian literature, symbolizing family and community, further embedding tea into the cultural fabric of Russia.

The influence of Chinese tea culture on Russian traditions is evident in the types of tea consumed, the methods of preparation, and the social customs surrounding tea drinking. Over centuries, these practices have evolved uniquely within the Russian context, creating a rich tea culture that honors its Chinese origins while developing its distinct identity.

Lost in a Dark Place

Submitted into Contest #282 in response to: Write a story set in a world of darkness where light is suddenly discovered.… view prompt

Patrick Huber

A chaotic symphony of light and sound pop and burst until all that remains is silence and darknessYou wake up sitting in the pilots seat of a craft pod. Your perspective is limited and you hear your breathing which means you have a helmet covering your head and face. You are in a flight suit of some sort designed for distant off world travel. So far you are unable to see beyond your mask, but a blinking light brings your attention to an instrument panel just at arms length. Most of instruments are broken save for the one that blinks to let you know everything else is broken. Attempting to ground yourself, you find that you have no recollection of the events that brought you here.From what you can see out the window is not much. Your world is enveloped in darkness. The terrain looks flat but you are unable to see much more than a few yards from the ship. You open the hatch and get better view of this strange world.Without proper readings of where you are, you venture to keep your suit on until you can know if the air is breathable. Your suit can hold enough oxygen for up to 18 hours without any extreme strengths of physical exertion. Stepping foot on the ground you notice gravity appears to be similar to earth. You get first good look at the sky. Without knowing the day/night cycle you are unsure how to evaluate what you’re looking at. The sky appears to be a dark amethyst color with streaks of indigo haphazardly brushed across it. They act like clouds high up in the sky, each hiding a glowing blue moon behind it.Your take quick stock of your situation. The life boat you crashed land was a one tripper and the crash did away with any hopes of attempts at a second. Your suit appears relatively untouched from the crash and in good working order. There is a wrist band with a readout for the oxygen supply. Other than that you have your legs and your wits. With no better alternative you decide to walk away from the lifeboat.Looking over a horizon to the left, you gaze at what could pass as storms cloud in the distance. A thick layer of dark purple hangs between the orange sand and the sky. You see the clouds roll and bubble with momentum. To the right looks clear, so you go right. You do not know how long you may have before a storms hits or what that would look like here but you attempt to put some haste in your step.No destination other than survival. A purposeful walk turns to a jog which briefly jumps to a run but slows back down to a brisk walk. The weight of the suit and limited oxygen put a low ceiling on how fast you can travel. You decide a steady pace is best.You have no sense of time or how far you’ve traveled. You glance behind you every so often to check on the storm which appears to have stalled at least for now. You could measure your distance from the pod but you lost sight of it and your only point of direction a while ago.NO STAY WITH ME!A voice thundering across the surface of the planet. The vibrations knock you to your feet. You’re momentarily paralyzed by this new mystery.STAY WITH ME!The voice says again and like before the world shook.The ground stabilizes and your fear subsides. Or at least it intensifies enough to get you back to your feet and moving again. You add fearful determination into your walk with an intent of fleeing and hiding. But with nothing to see other than a dark sky and burnt orange sand you are once again fleeing with no destination.Deep on the horizon straight head a small flash of what could be lighting popped. Unsure of the meaning of what you saw, it is a promise of something other than darkness perhaps so you continue toward it. You believe you make out a rise in elevation in the distance. Could be mountains or perhaps unnatural mounds signaling life. Either way you head towards it. The mounds gradually grow in height and you can be pretty certain they are natural mountains. This brings a glimmer of hope to your otherwise bleak situation. The change of terrain is breath of fresh air so to speak until ground elevation drops off and you find yourself on the precipice of a deep canyon. Hesitation brings you to look around for other options.The storm still intensifies behind you, the layer of bubbling blackness is twice as large as before and growing faster. With no alternative you find a gentle enough slope for you to slide down to a lower ledge. It’s about 8 feet or so down, you slide down with little trouble. You see that your path to the bottom is a much more of the same. A series of small rock outcrops and ledges a few feet or so down that allows you to get to the bottom.Once at the bottom of the canyon your world view becomes much narrower. Your perception is now framed by the dark 60 foot walls that could not be more than 20 or so feet apart. You stay on the move. As you hustle through a maze of dark black rock, the storm has caught up with you and there is no more color to the sky. Black clouds spill over the sides of the canyons, cascading down the rock like water down a mountainside. And just like water it continues to flow in your direction. You pick up speed. But the rush of black most catches up with you. It builds around your ankles and yet you move with ease as there is little or no reaction.You continue through the canyon as the clouds are up past your knees. You lose notice of any color in the sky, but rather different contrasts of darkness. You are aware of no light source but still you are able to see your path through this colorless void.The canyon walls are narrowing and the mist is high up around your waist. There is an unmistakeable mass to it now. You feel resistance in your movement. The cloud is so dense you cannot see below the surface. The density as created a pressure and it restricts your movement. It feels as if you are walking through a storm cloud with wind crashing at you from every direction. You struggle to keep moving but you know you must. If anything because the alternative is to quit and die and you don’t quit eve if it means death. Your brain starts to process what it sees in front of you. You’ve reached the end of canyon and a 100 foot wall is ahead of you.The cloud is nearly up your chest, you have to get out of this. As you approach the wall you a see a small crack about 8ft tall and maybe 18 inches wide. You stick the face shield of your helmet into the crack to see what’s behind it. Like everything else it’s dark, but you sense depth in the darkness and from the cloud that has seeped in the ground level stays constant at least for a while.NO! NO! DON’T GO! STAY WITH ME!A booming voice echoed through the walls of the canyon. Sonic booms explode in the totality of the atmosphere disrupting the rocky terrain. Large rocks crumble down from the walls disappearing in the surface level clouds. You cling to the wall, not wanting to get sucked under the surface.You have to get of there.You attempt to escape through the crack but your helmet and your suit make you too wide. You desperately try to force metal and plastic through rock but it won’t budge. A tsunami of wind builds and comes rushing through canyon. The force of dense air presses you against the wall. Your world is enveloped by swirling black wind. Your panic pushes you to act desperately and with little thought to possible consequences.You take a deep breath and remove your helmet and try to squeeze through. Still nothing, so you quickly strip off your suit. Wearing nothing but a monotone under base layer you take your first breath of alien air and are relieved to not immediately die. It could be oxygen but for now it’s not poison.

The narrow crack blocks most of the wind but forces you to side step most of the way. With only the side walls to guide you, you press on. Without the filter from the helmet visor you see that the world takes on a dark bluish tone. Your arms spreading farther alert tell you the gap is widening. The ground slopes so much so that you lose your balance and begin to slide. A slide forms to a roll as you travel down a hill before coming to a tumble at the bottom. You roll to your back and look up. Large spikes of black rock with dim blue glow cover the ceiling hanging down at varied length. You sit up to see the ground is not much different with opposing spikes stretching up from the ground. You’re up on your feet, feeling little effects from the fall. Unsure of where to move next you stay frozen.

A low inaudible humming voice echoes through cave before a flash of light blinds you. The brightness subsides and the cave is alive with electricity, arcing from point to point in a concerted ballet. You are able to see the cave now in its full wonder. The ceiling must be 20 feet high and the expanse looks infinite. Most interesting is a reflection you notice from a large mass of black water. You run to edge and it is indeed a lake of blackness. You bend down and put your hand in it. It’s as dark and souless as oil but with the touch of water. You stand once again at the precipice of a decision with no clear motivation. The electricity has died down so you are back to a muted blue darkness. You see no end to this lake so it could stretch on forever. You step into it to check the depth. You look back away from the shore and see the hole you fell about 8 feet off the ground and the wall, about 50 yards from the shore, marking this end of the cave.

You look around for answers. There’s always something. You venture farther from the shore but a force pulls you back. You find yourself heading back to the lake.

Again the low humming voice throughout the cave and the flash of light. It knocks you into the water before giving way to the electric current dance above.

A rhythmic pounding, weak but noticeable, emerges. It causes the spikes to hum and reverberate.

You get up and are immediately taken back by a tall cyclone of light at the back wall of the cave, stretching from ground to ceiling.

You walk towards it and feel warmth immediately. It’s the first time since you woke up that you have noticed temperature. It never occurred to you if it was hot or cold. But now as you step closer to this light, arms of warmth reach out to pull you closer.

A small black wave rushes up from the lake and swirl around your feet before reseding back. You take an another step toward the light and again a black wave comes in this time up to your knees and you feel the pull of current as the water recedes.

You move closer to the swirling mass of white illumination and are hit by another wave that knocks you to the ground and this time the current drags you back a few feet. You jump to your feet and sprint toward the light. Another crash from behind and you fall face forward down into blackness.

The current has you, it pulls you under the black water. You tumble and roll around trying to get a sense of your direction. The wave crashes back on land. Your up and sprinting hard now toward the light. You dare to look back amd catch a tidal wave building and rushing up quick.

The brightness begins to hurt your eyes and you squint but still run. You are hypnotized but the warmth as it grabs hold of you. You feel drops of water falling as you know the wave is about crash down. You push forward with everything you have left and leap forward just as the wave crashes behind you. The intensity of the wave pushes you forward into the cyclone and your world goes to white.

*****

“I have a pulse” one EMT alerts another.

“Ok she’s stable. Let’s load her up.”

It’s early morning, the sun has broken free from the horizon. Last of the night, fighting a losing battle with the sun, paint an ombré of black to blue to yellow in the sky. The virgin suns rays reflect off the fresh dusting of snow, illuminating the world.

The two EMTs secure the woman to the gurney and exit a suburban home towards a waiting ambulance.

A man, early 40s runs along side the gurney, he’s wearing sweatpants, t-shirt, and slippers, he’s holding her hand. She’s loaded up, the doors are closed, and the ambulance drives off. The man walks back over to the sidewalk and bends down to embrace two small children their eyes red and swollen, their cheeks wet with tears.

“Is Mommy going to be ok” a young girl of 8 asks her dad.

“Mommy’s going to be ok, she got lost in a dark place but she found the light again” he tells them.

The flashes of red and blue fade on their faces as the ambulance gains distance from them. The family watches as their mother heads off toward the rising sun of a new day.

Cool Comix

As a prison inmate, what was the stupidest or most ridiculous thing that you saw someone doing time for?

I didn’t see this personally, but the story stuck with me forever. This one dude noticed the day room door was unlocked when it was closed, so he went in and tried to walk of with one of the TVs, walking our a CO looked at him and said “ ‘the fuck you doing?” and dude dropped the tv and ran. Ran in a locked down hallway with COs and bars and no way out, but dude kept runnin, circles around the wall looking for a way out, COs not bothering just waiting for him to tire himself out, the other inmates already on knees heads behind back just laughing their ass off. Dude gets tired, they tackle/cuff him and the first CO asked “What the hell is wrong with you, we caught you clear, you should have put hand up and try not to get hurt” Dude said “Ive ran from cops all my life, old habits die hard”

What is a typical day like for a typical American?

I wake up, say a quick morning prayer, salute the flag, and read my Bible for awhile as I clean my AR-15. Then, I crack six eggs on the griddle and cook them sunny side up and, while the eggs are sizzling, I drop 12 strips of bacon on there, too.

I brew myself some coffee and take it without sugar, milk, or creamer, just completely black, unlike the sissy, limp-wristed libruls and their Starbucks “coffees”

After breakfast, I get dressed for the day. I wear my favorite shirt, “I’m with stupid”, and Levi’s jeans. I also wear steel toed work boots even though I don’t work in a place that requires them. I jump in my 120,000 dollar pickup truck with a Cummins diesel, coal-rolling engine, that I never haul things in, to drive to my non-construction job and Wal-Mart.

And as I roll coal, I say, “Take that, Greta Thunberg! You can’t tell ME what to do!”

While I’m driving to Wal-Mart or work, I listen to far-right conspiracy radio shows and get angry all over again that Obama won. But I can’t get too deep into the show because there’s a mass shooting happening on basically every block, everyday! Gotta keep my head on a swivel.

I bob and weave as rounds whiz by my truck. I even return fire with my fully-automatic AR-15 with the shoulder thing that goes up, and 25,000 round clips. Then, one of the thugs claps me with his 9mm HiPoint.

You’ve heard what our President (Biden) has said about 9mm! It blows your lungs out! So I drive to a for-profit, corporate-run hospital that is completely unregulated and has every politician on their payroll, to get my right lung back where it belongs.

And they fix me right up, as always, and charge me 82 quintillion, 644 quadrillion, 144 trillion, 982 billion, 832 million, 700 thousand, 936 dollars and 14 cents. They offer me a COVID shot, which I decline because I’m a selfish American who only thinks about myself, and doesn’t trust big pharma.

Then, I immediately file for medical bankruptcy because I pay my health insurance company to not pay. After that, if I have work, I report to work quickly, because I’m already on my second write-up for being late and don’t want a third, or else I’m fired and I’ll have to find another job that pays a competitive $9.75/hr.

After work, I come home and dust the large American flag hanging on the wall of my studio apartment owned by an unregulated, unhinged corporate landlord that charges me 7,800 dollars a month. Then, I order Dominoes Pizza for dinner, and, when the pizza comes, I watch Fox News and drink a Dr. Pepper until it’s time for bed.

On a non-workday (which is only one day a week because I work 6, 15’s) I go to Wal-Mart and get the essentials: Speed Stick, Ammo, and Keystone Light. Sometimes, I flirt with the rather heavy set cashier, Roxanne. She goes along with it up until after the card machine forces me to add a 26% tip, then, once I tip her for doing her job, she tells me to have a nice day and hurry up and bag my own stuff.

She likes me, she’s just too shy to admit it. 😌

After Wal-Mart, I sometimes like to swing by Larry’s Arsenal to pick up some hand grenades (which I like to drunkenly toss into a open field for fun) or windowshop a FGM-148 Javelin, but they’re too pricey at the moment.

Then, I usually find myself driving by the local 4-year, for-profit university. I point and laugh at the kids going 640,000 dollars in debt for a degree in central Asian literature and from there I go back home, go on social media and tell Europeans to keep their stupid European opinions to their stupid European selves, and set off an M-1000 firework.

‘Merica.

China Doesn’t Need America: China WON the Trade War in ONE WEEK—Trump’s EPIC Collapse!

Easy Chicken Fajitas

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

1 medium red bell pepper
1 medium green bell pepper
1 large onion
1 plum tomato
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 (1 to 1.25 ounce) package fajita seasoning mix
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 small lime, cut in half
8 (7 to 8 inch) flour tortillas, warmed
Optional toppings: salsa, shredded cheese, guacamole, sliced pitted ripe olives and sour cream

Instructions

Cut bell peppers into 1/2 inch strips. Cut onion and tomato into 1/4 inch wedges. Set vegetables aside.
Cut chicken into 1/4 inch strips. Combine chicken and seasoning mix in small bowl; toss to coat and set aside.
Heat Grill Pan over medium-high heat. Lightly spray pan with vegetable oil using Kitchen Spritzer. Add bell peppers and onion; cook for 3 minutes without stirring.
Stir and cook an additional 3 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Remove vegetables from pan; set aside.
Spray pan again with vegetable oil. Add chicken; cook for 2 to 3 minutes without stirring.
Add garlic. Stir and cook for 3-4 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.
Add reserved vegetable mixture and tomato to pan. Squeeze lime over chicken mixture. Cook for 1 minute or until heated through; stir.
To serve, spoon a portion of the chicken and vegetable mixture in center of each tortilla. Top with desired toppings, if desired.

Nutrition

per serving: (2 fajitas): Cal: 380, TFat 8g, Sat; Fat .5g, Chol: 65mg, Carbohydrate 44g, Protein 33g, Sodium 860mg, Fiber 2g

Attribution

Pampered Chef

What is it like to live in Finland, the happiest country in the world?

Horrible, absolutely horrible.

Please don’t move here, there are already five million people living in this craphole in insufferable misery, more than enough if you ask my modest opinion. If you want to come as a tourist and want bring us some money for pity, you are more than wellcome, though.

And the happiest country in the world! What an absolute load of nonsense! If you believe those “researches”, please contact me: I have a bridge that I want to sell for just few thousand euros! It’s a bargain! And it’s in Finland, the happiest country in the world!

Finnish women

Finnish brands

Finnish cousine

Finnish urban landscapes

Finnish values (and fashion sense)

Finnish fashion sense (and sense of humour)

More recent finnish architecture (“Nordic Living”).

Finnish opposition politics

Finnish president (see how his sportswatch matches with the necktie!)

Antony J. Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, said Ukraine’s campaign in the Kursk region will play a critical role in any peace talks with Russia. What do you think of that?

If that is the case then there won’t be any peace talks. Russia is winning this war and continues to advance along the entire line of contact. Zelensky has admitted that there is no way for Ukraine to recover the lost territories through military means. So there is no pressure on Russia to hold peace negotiations now. But for Ukraine, it is urgent to hold peace negotiations because they are losing territory everyday in eastern Ukraine, while their advance in Kursk has been stopped by Russia. In fact, Russia has recovered about half of the Kursk territory that Ukraine took.

Russia is not under pressure to clear Kursk from the Ukraine soldiers. This is something that they will put focus on after taking all of Donetsk and Luhansk. For the mean time, it is to their benefit to keep some of the Ukrainian troops in Kursk, away from the line of contact in eastern Ukraine. So, for example, Russia can continue to kill a few hundred Ukraine soldiers per day in Kursk, forcing Ukraine to send even more troops away from Donetsk and Luhansk to Kursk, thereby making it easier for Russia to advance in Donetsk and Luhansk.

Trump’s threat to send more weapons to Ukraine if Russia refuses to negotiate will probably be ignored by Russia, because all along the US has been sending hundreds of billions of dollars worth of weapons to Ukraine but Ukraine keeps losing. Those new weapons will not make a difference.

Besides, Ukraine is short of troops. The weapons need troops to use them.

“Hollywood Has RUINED The U.S. Military!” – Col. Douglas Macgregor

China’s Week, Jan 12, 2025

Godfree Roberts

Science & Technology

Unitree, whose robots hold the Guinness sprinting record, just released an open-source full-body data set that lets robots dance.

The JinDou 400 engine flies Beijing-New York in 2 hours at 3,100 mph (5,000 km/h), at 66,000 feet (12 miles). 12” diameter x 10’ long, it produces 880 lb of thrust without compressors or turbines.

AECC ignited its 600-kg thrust-class high-end turbofan engine after 8 months development. It will power 1.5 to 4-ton UAVs.

Yarlung Zangbo/Brahmaputra Super Dam will capture three times the hydroelectric power of the Three Gorges Dam.

Will Bluetooth alternative, Star Flash, take over consumer electronics? It supports multiple simultaneous connections, low power, and streams lossless stereo audio.

Manufacturers delivered 3.17 million civilian drones last year, and 220,000 citizens have drone piloting licenses.

Record satellite-to-ground laser communications 10x faster, 100 Gb/s. For 6G, ultra hi-res sensing and next-gen satellite positioning.

CR450 train prototype hits 450 km/h will have 400 km/h operating speed, stabler, shorter braking, +22% energy-efficient, 10% lighter, quiet cabin.

910 new drugs make China the #2 pharmaceutical market, and its drug development pipeline of 5,380 drugs rivals America’s 5397. China’s biopharma market has reached $3.3 billion with a CAGR of 13.8%.

A Palbociclib breast cancer tablets that costs $2 in China costs $227 in the USA, 100 times more.

Startup NeuroXess lets brain-damaged patients turn thoughts into speech in real time, and remotely control a robot arm using thoughts alone.

World’s first 3rd-generation nuclear reactor starts powering 6 million homes.

Trade & Economy

China Rail handled a record 194,000 cargo trains daily, transporting 350 million metric tons of cargo last month, up 5.5% YoY.

The railway network handled a record 4.08 billion passenger trips in 2024, up 10.8% YoY. Air trips also hit a record 730 million in 2024, an 18% increase.

Foreign brands accounted for 64% of car sales in 2020. In 2024 it was 35%. EV sales will take over the Chinese car market, collapsing ICEV and foreign brand sales.

Temu tops US iOS app downloads for second year running, Tiktok ranks 3rd.

Huawei beats Apple, dominates global smartwatch market.

Microsoft’s Brad Smith: the US must hurry to remain competitive with Huawei in AI–or face another defeat as with 5G.

The one-billionth 5G mobile subscriber signed up in November, accounting for 56% of the country’s 1.79 billion mobile users.

China has completed its national ‘high-speed rail for computers,’ an 8,080-mile, super-fast computer network with delays under 20 ms. and 3cm. location accuracy.

There are 4.5 million firms in core sectors of China’s digital economy.

Booming phone-friendly mini-dramas will earn $7 billion in 2024.

SMIC cut 28nm node wafer price from $2500 to $1500, pressuring foreign fabs. UMC’s 28nm fab utilization fell from 85% last year to 68% in 2024.

Yiwu (pop. 2 million) produced 80% of the world’s Christmas decorations, worth $70 billion, for 2 billion people in 160 countries.

Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge saw a record 27 million trips in 2024.

Chinese dollar bonds sold in Riyadh safer than 10-year US Treasuries. Chinese RMB bonds appreciated 9% in 2024.

China’s Lithium reserves have increased from 6% to 16.5% of the global total, lifting it from sixth to second place in the world rankings.

Society

The retirement age for men will rise from 60 to 63 over 15 years, for women will be raised from 55 to 58, and women blue-collar workers will rise from 50 to 55.

Has the fourth wave of scientist returnees arrived?

Surviving in Cashless China 2025: 10 apps to make your life easier.

Environment

370 MkW of renewables–83% of new capacity–and only 40 MkW of coal power installed last year. Renewables still insufficient and unstable.

The Yarlung/Brahmaputra mega-dam will generate 3% of China’s total power (300 TWh), and cost $137B. At 8¢/kWh, it will earn $22B pa for a 16% ROI.

Fengning Pumped Storage Hydropower Plant, the world’s largest, stores 3.6 MkW, generates 6.6 BkWh of electricity annually.

Only China is close to matching a high energy consumption growth entirely with clean energy.* Coal-fired emissions rose 1%, showing it’s close to solving the puzzle.

Governance

In 2024, Xi visited 10 provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities and the Macao Special Administrative Region, made four visits abroad.

Judicial system is integrating AI: case filing, document drafting, hearings, reviews, reducing document preparation time so judges resolve 50% more cases monthly.

The CCDI investigated 56 vice-ministers or above in 2024, up from 45 in 2023.

Unlike Western systems, China’s socialist welfare system invests in enhancing everyone’s income-earning capacity. The welfare system differs from social charity.

Bangladesh’s BRI-financed, Chinese built, 170 km Padma Bridge railway is fully operational, reducing Dhaka – Jesol travel from 10 hours to 3.

Geopolitics

Indictment Debunks China Hacking Claim after main-stream media spread an anti-Chinese propaganda campaign launched by U.S. national security sources.

9 New BRICS Partners: Belarus, Bolivia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Cuba, Uganda, Malaysia, and Uzbekistan. Pending: Algeria, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkiye.

2021 Gina Raimondo: “U.S. needs to work with Europe to slow China’s innovation rate”.

2024 Gina Raimondo: “Holding Back China in Chips Race Is a Fool’s Errand”.

NYT: “China will be selling affordable EVs and renewable energy equipment around the globe while the US becomes the new Cuba—where you visit to see old gas-guzzling cars that you drive yourself.”

New York Times, 1976: Mao Tse‐tung, who began as an obscure peasant, died one of history’s great revolutionary figures. In Chinese terms, he ranked with the first Emperor who unified China in 200 B.C.

Chinese scientist cleared of charges of ‘secret’ China ties sues university after 5 years in jail.

Defense

The J-36, above, beats the B-21 due to greater thrust from its 3 engines, interior space…

Mexican-Style Scrambled Eggs

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

6 (6 to 7 inch) flour tortillas
4 ounces bulk spicy pork sausage
8 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
Optional toppings: salsa, shredded Mexican cheese blend, diced avocados, sliced green onions and sour cream

Instructions

Heat Large (10 inch) Skillet over medium heat until hot. Place one flour tortilla in heated Skillet. Warm tortilla 10 seconds; turn tortilla over with Nylon Turner and warm an additional 10 seconds. Remove from Skillet; set aside. Repeat with remaining tortillas, stacking tortillas one on top of another. Keep warm.
Heat Skillet over medium heat until hot. Cook sausage 6 to 8 minutes or until sausage is no longer pink, breaking sausage into crumbles using Nylon Spoon. Drain if necessary.
Meanwhile, in Small Batter Bowl, whisk together eggs and salt using Stainless Steel Whisk. Add eggs to sausage in Skillet. Cook and stir just until eggs are set.
For each tortilla, spoon about 1/2 cup egg mixture down center of tortilla. Top with desired toppings. Fold sides of tortilla over eggs.

Nutrition

Per serving: Calories 220, Total Fat 12g, Sodium 700mg, Fiber 1g

Attribution

Pampered Chef

Title: Sir Whiskerton and the Mystery of the Haunted Outhouse

Ah, dear reader, welcome back! Today’s tale is one of intrigue, egos, and, dare I say, toilet humor. Yes, even a detective as sophisticated as myself occasionally finds himself embroiled in mysteries of a less-than-glamorous nature. But fear not—this story is filled with the usual laughs, hijinks, and, of course, a moral at the end. And, for the first time, we shall be joined by a new trio: Wilma, Gladys, and Simone, three geese whose egos are as inflated as their downy feathers. Prepare yourself for the hilariously absurd tale of The Mystery of the Haunted Outhouse.

The Farm’s Newest Problem

It all began on a bright and sunny morning, just like any other. I was reclining on the porch, enjoying a well-earned moment of peace, when I heard the unmistakable sound of panic coming from the back of the farmhouse.

“Haunted! Oh, it’s haunted!” Doris the hen squawked.
“Haunted! What if it’s a ghost?!” Harriet clucked.
“A ghost! Oh no, I can’t bear it!” Lillian screeched.
“Bear it! Oh, it’s dreadful!” Doris wailed.

“Ladies,” I said, leaping down from the porch and walking over with an air of authority, “what is all this fuss about?”

“It’s the outhouse!” Doris cried. “Strange noises! Oh, dreadful noises!”
“Noises! And creaks!” Harriet added.
“And whispers! Oh, I’m sure it’s haunted!” Lillian clucked.

“The outhouse?” I said, raising an eyebrow. “You mean the old one behind the farmhouse? The one the farmer rarely uses anymore?”

“Yes! That one!” Doris said, flapping her wings. “It’s cursed, I tell you!”

“Cursed? Or perhaps just in need of a proper investigation,” I said, already intrigued. “Don’t worry, ladies—I’ll get to the bottom of this.”

“Oh, the bottom of it!” Doris squawked.
“Bottom! But what if it’s dangerous?” Harriet clucked.
“Dangerous! Oh, I can’t bear it!” Lillian said.

Before I could respond, a loud, honking voice interrupted us.

“Step aside, Whiskerton,” said Wilma, the largest and most pompous of the farm’s geese. “This case requires the sharp intellect of a goose.”

“And not just any goose,” added Gladys, smoothing her feathers. “It requires us—Wilma, Gladys, and Simone—the brightest minds on this farm.”

“Brightest and most talented,” Simone chimed in, striking a dramatic pose. “Leave the outhouse mystery to us. We’ll have it solved in no time.”

I sighed. “Ladies, with all due respect, this is a matter of logic and deduction. I—Sir Whiskerton—am the farm’s detective.”

“Oh, a detective! How quaint,” Wilma said, rolling her eyes. “But this is a job for true brilliance. Right, Gladys?”

“Absolutely,” Gladys agreed, puffing out her chest. “Whiskerton, you may observe us if you wish, but stay out of the way.”

“Stay out of the way!” Simone echoed dramatically.

“Fine,” I said, my tail flicking with irritation. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

The Investigation Begins

The geese and I (along with the ever-curious Rufus, Porkchop, and, of course, the hens) made our way to the old outhouse. It was a rickety thing, leaning slightly to one side, with peeling paint and a creaky door that swung ominously in the wind.

“Behold!” Wilma declared, pointing a wing at the outhouse. “A scene of mystery! A stage for our brilliance!”

“Stage for brilliance!” Simone echoed, striking another pose.

“It’s just an outhouse,” Rufus muttered, munching on a carrot he’d stolen from the garden. “What’s the big deal?”

“The big deal,” Gladys said, glaring at Rufus, “is that it’s haunted. And we, the geese, shall uncover the truth.”

“Quiet!” Wilma commanded. “We must investigate. Gladys, Simone—flank the sides. I’ll take the lead.”

The three geese marched forward like generals leading an army, honking orders to one another as they circled the outhouse.

The Geese’s Brilliant (or Not-So-Brilliant) Theories

“Well,” Wilma said after a few minutes of honking and pacing, “it’s clearly the work of a ghost.”

“A ghost!” Simone gasped. “The restless spirit of a farm animal, no doubt.”

“Or perhaps,” Gladys added, “it’s a portal to another dimension. A wormhole of sorts.”

“A wormhole?” I said, my whiskers twitching with amusement. “Really?”

“Absolutely,” Gladys replied, preening her feathers. “Only a goose as intelligent as I could identify such phenomena.”

“Or,” Rufus said, rolling his eyes, “maybe it’s just the wind.”

“Wind? How pedestrian,” Simone scoffed.

“Enough!” Wilma honked. “We must take action. Gladys, Simone, prepare the—”

Before she could finish her sentence, a loud BANG came from the outhouse, followed by a low, creaking groan. Everyone froze.

“Did you hear that?!” Doris squawked.
“Hear that?! Oh, it’s definitely haunted!” Harriet cried.
“Haunted! Oh, I can’t bear it!” Lillian screeched.

“Everyone, stay calm,” I said, stepping forward. “It’s time for a proper investigation.”

Sir Whiskerton Solves the Mystery

I approached the outhouse, my ears perked and my tail flicking. Slowly, I pushed the creaky door open to reveal… nothing. The outhouse was empty, save for a few cobwebs and a suspicious pile of hay in the corner.

“Hmph,” Wilma said, peering over my shoulder. “See? Nothing. It’s a ghost.”

“Or a wormhole,” Gladys added.

“Or…” I said, sniffing the air, “a raccoon.”

“A raccoon?!” everyone exclaimed.

At that moment, the pile of hay shifted, and out popped a very startled raccoon. It chittered angrily, clearly annoyed at having its nap interrupted, and darted out of the outhouse, disappearing into the bushes.

“A raccoon!” Doris squawked.
“Raccoon! Oh, how dreadful!” Harriet clucked.
“Dreadful! But also cute!” Lillian said.
“Oh, so cute!” Doris echoed.

“Well,” Wilma said, clearing her throat. “Obviously, we knew it was a raccoon all along.”

“Obviously,” Gladys agreed. “We were simply testing you.”

“Testing you! And you passed!” Simone added with a dramatic flourish.

I sighed. “Of course you were.”

The Moral of the Story

With the mystery solved, the farm returned to its usual peace (or as peaceful as it can be with geese and hens squawking constantly). The geese, though insufferable, had provided plenty of laughs, and even I had to admit that their over-the-top antics added a certain… charm to the day.

The moral, dear reader, is this: sometimes, even the biggest egos can hide a good heart. And while it’s important to let others take the spotlight now and then, there’s no substitute for a keen nose, sharp ears, and a bit of common sense.

The End.

“4Chan” Exposed as Israeli Mossad Honeypot/Propaganda/Incitement Site

Hal Turner World April 15, 2025

Sometimes Intelligence Agencies get caught doing things in public — designed to fool the public — and US Intel and the Israeli Mossad just got caught. The “controversial” website 4Chan turns out to be run by US Feds and Israeli Mossad. They originated the ENTIRE “Q” nonsense! It is now exposed that ALL of “Q” was a deliberate Intel operation!

Last night, it was revealed that the website “4Chan” got hacked. Apparently, the very LAST posting from the entire world, asking what the heck was going on with the site, was this one:

Then came the announcement that the Hackers had done their thing:

It turned out they were using a VERY OLD and outdated version of PHP (10 years old) to run with their server software, and that version of PHP had lots of security vulnerabilities.

4chan was breached by “Soyjak Party” operatives who exploited outdated PHP code to access backend systems, leaking site source files and exposing moderator emails — some tied to .edu and .gov domains. The Hackers got EVERYTHIING – the entire database!

Geolocation stats are leaked.

Leaked post data revealed Israel as the dominant source of /pol/ activity since 2014.

Almost all posts on 4chan were Israeli intelligence contractors pretending to be USA.

Mossad has been running an absolute massive propaganda campaign on the American internet.

Despite being around 0.12% of the world’s population, Israel accounted for … almost 50% of all 4chan posts; about 226 Million!

Mossad has been using the website for years to help stoke the rise of Nazi & far-right movements hostile toward Muslims.

4chan got taken down by a rival imageboard hacking group called “Soyjak Party.” Its databases were dumped, moderators were doxxed (proving some were federal agents), and the servers are now all offline.

A few things we’ve learned (so far) from last night’s 4Chan hack:

Moderation (& “Janitors” i.e “Jannies”) includes students and staff from Harvey Mudd College, University of Washington, & University of Michigan… including at least one professor.

4Chan ran on a version of FreeBSD which has not been supported for 9 years.

4Chan had over 10 Million banned users. Most of the bans were because Moderators were on a self-important power trip.

Aside from internal moderator emails, and the fact that many Admins and Moderators were government people USING .GOV EMAILS, one of the most interesting aspects of the released hacker information is that the overwhelming majority of posts on /pol/ came from Israel.

On average over 20 posts per Israeli resident.

4chan aggresively fingerprinted browsers

The Mossad has been running an absolute massive propaganda campaign on the American internet.

Interestingly, when an American military guy leaked Classified Intel, he did it ON 4CHAN. He ended up being caught BECAUSE 4Chan was an intel operation! He was arrested, jailed, plead guilty, and is now serving heavy prison time.

In fact, the entire claim of that site – which made it the “go to” site for certain people– was their claim that all IP information was stripped from postings so the origin could not be traced. But they never told users that web browsers were all being aggressively fingerprinted to identify users:

In about 2017, a new “phenomenon” appeared in the world, and did so on “4Chan.” It called itself “Q.”

Q, it was claimed, was a deep intel source, close to President Trump. Q was allegedly “revealing” that “The White Hats” in government had a “plan” to “save and protect” America, and everyone had to “trust the plan.”

IT WAS ALL LIES. Deliberate, intelligence agency Psychological Operations to keep people docile.

It became a propaganda outlet for our own deep state, Israel, China, etc.

Of course, “Q” went on to spawn derivatives such as “Q-Anon” and “Q-Storm” all pushing the same “Trust the plan” nonsense.

What does today’s revelation about 4chan and “Q” tell you about “Q-Anon” and “Q-Storm?”

The fallout from this enormous hack is still taking place. More and more information is coming out. As more interesting developments take place, I will run additional stories.

The Takeaway: The Feds and foreign intel agencies use real-world websites as honeypots to stir-up what THEY want stirred-up, and to pacify what THEY want pacified.

THE LIVING HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS AFTER DEATH! Prominent Doctors About The Afterlife…

Cooking hamburgers and slicing turkey well

My father was AWOL in teaching me on how to cook.

It is sad to say, but when he was around, he told me to “just do it”, rather than taking the time to teach me.

This was true when cooking hamburgers, except that at that time he was on a diet and wanted me to squeeze out all the grease out of the meat patty. And that cost me decades of poor cooking.

And as far as carving a turkey goes, yeah. I was completely clueless.

So guys, here is how you are supposed to carve a turkey…

Carving a turkey is a key skill for serving a beautiful and delicious holiday meal. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you carve a turkey like a pro:

What You’ll Need:

A sharp carving knife
A sturdy carving fork
A clean cutting board
A platter for serving

Steps to Carve a Turkey:

Let the Turkey Rest:
- After roasting, let the turkey rest for 20-30 minutes. This allows the juices to redistribute, making the meat moist and easier to carve.
Remove the Legs and Thighs:
- Hold the turkey steady with a carving fork.
- Use the knife to cut through the skin between the leg and the body.
- Gently pull the leg away from the body and cut through the joint to remove the entire leg and thigh.
- Separate the thigh from the drumstick by cutting through the joint.
Slice the Breast Meat:
- Make a horizontal cut along the bottom of the breast, close to the wing, to create a base for slicing.
- Starting from the top, slice downward in even, thin slices. Angle the knife slightly for larger slices.
- Repeat on the other side.
Remove the Wings:
- Cut through the joint where the wing connects to the body.
- You can serve the wings whole or separate them into drumettes and wingettes.
Serve the Dark and White Meat:
- Arrange the sliced breast meat, thighs, drumsticks, and wings on a platter.
- Optionally, you can remove the remaining meat from the carcass for additional servings.

Tips for Success:

Use a sharp knife to ensure clean cuts.
Carve the turkey on a stable surface to avoid accidents.
If you’re not serving immediately, cover the carved turkey with foil to keep it warm.

Enjoy your beautifully carved turkey!

Now, while I am at it, let’s consider some ideas on seasoning…

Seasoning a turkey is essential for bringing out its flavor and ensuring a delicious, memorable meal. Here are some tips and techniques to help you season your turkey perfectly:

1. Brining (Optional but Highly Recommended):

What it does: Brining helps keep the turkey moist and adds flavor.
How to brine:
- Dissolve 1 cup of salt and 1/2 cup of sugar in 1 gallon of water (adjust quantities based on the size of your turkey and brine container).
- Add herbs, spices, or aromatics like garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves, or citrus zest for extra flavor.
- Submerge the turkey in the brine and refrigerate for 12-24 hours.
- Rinse the turkey thoroughly and pat it dry before seasoning and roasting.

2. Dry Rubs:

A dry rub is a mixture of spices and herbs that you apply directly to the turkey’s skin and under the skin.
Classic Dry Rub Recipe:
- 2 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
How to apply:
- Pat the turkey dry with paper towels.
- Gently loosen the skin over the breast and thighs with your fingers.
- Rub the seasoning mixture under the skin and all over the outside of the turkey.

3. Herb Butter:

Herb butter adds richness and flavor to the turkey.
Herb Butter Recipe:
- Mix 1 cup softened butter with 2-3 cloves minced garlic, 2 tbsp chopped fresh herbs (like thyme, rosemary, sage, or parsley), and salt and pepper to taste.
How to apply:
- Gently loosen the skin over the breast and thighs.
- Spread the herb butter under the skin and over the outside of the turkey.
- For extra flavor, place additional herb sprigs or aromatics (like garlic, onion, or citrus) inside the cavity.

4. Aromatics in the Cavity:

Stuffing the cavity with aromatics infuses the turkey with flavor from the inside out.
Aromatic Ideas:
- Halved onions, garlic cloves, lemon or orange wedges, fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary, sage), or celery stalks.
Tip: Avoid overstuffing the cavity, as this can restrict airflow and lead to uneven cooking.

5. Seasoning the Skin:

Don’t forget to season the outside of the turkey generously with salt and pepper. This helps create a flavorful, crispy skin.

6. Glazes or Marinades (Optional):

For added flavor, brush the turkey with a glaze during the last 30-45 minutes of roasting.
Glaze Ideas:
- Maple syrup and Dijon mustard
- Honey and soy sauce
- Orange juice and brown sugar

7. Resting and Finishing:

After roasting, let the turkey rest for 20-30 minutes before carving. This allows the juices to redistribute, ensuring moist meat.
If desired, sprinkle fresh herbs over the carved turkey for a final touch of flavor and presentation.

Pro Tips:

Salt generously: Salt is key to enhancing the turkey’s natural flavor.
Balance flavors: Combine savory, sweet, and aromatic elements for a well-rounded taste.
Experiment: Don’t be afraid to try new herbs, spices, or seasoning blends to suit your taste.

Let me know if you’d like a full recipe or roasting guide!

Ah. This is making me hungry.

Today…

US aiming at Greenland and Panama in preparation for confrontation with China and Russia

Cherry Cordial Cookies

Yield: about 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, divided (do not use vegetable oil spread)
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 (9 ounce) package golden yellow cake mix
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
20 maraschino cherries, drained and patted dry
4 (1 ounce) squares semisweet baking chocolate
1/2 cup almonds, finely chopped

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
In Small Batter Bowl, microwave 1 stick of the butter on HIGH 45 seconds or until melted. Slice remaining butter into 1/2-inch pieces; add to melted butter, tossing to coat. Let butter stand 2 to 3 minutes or until softened.
Combine flour and cake mix in Classic Batter Bowl; mix well.
Using Stainless Steel Whisk, whisk butter until smooth and free of lumps; add almond extract. Pour butter, all at once, into dry ingredients. Using Bamboo Spoon, mix until dry ingredients are incorporated and dough is smooth. (If dough is too stiff to stir, knead until smooth by hand on Cutting Board.)
Fill Cookie Press, fitted with #5 disk, with dough. Press dough onto flat Baking Stone, 1 inch apart. Slice cherries in half; press one half onto center of each cookie.
Bake 15 to 17 minutes or until very light golden brown.
Cool 3 minutes on baking stone; remove to Stackable Cooling Rack. Cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.
Microwave chocolate in Small Micro-Cooker(R), uncovered, on HIGH 1 minute or until melted and smooth; drizzle over cookies.
Sprinkle almonds over cookies.

Notes

If you have only one baking stone, press the second batch of cookies onto Parchment Paper, cut to the size of the baking stone. As you remove one batch of cookies from the oven, unbaked cookies can be quickly placed onto the baking stone and into the oven. This will save time as well as clean-up.

Nutrition

Per serving: (1 cookie): Calories 100, Total Fat 6g, Saturated Fat 3g, Cholesterol 10mg, Carbohydrate 10g, Protein 1g, Sodium 75mg, Fiber less than 1g

Attribution

Pampered Chef

McDonald’s is DESPERATE! PLEASE COME BACK!

Title: Sir Whiskerton and the Vanishing Scarecrow

Ah, dear reader, you’ve graced me with your presence once more. I can only assume it’s because you’ve become addicted to tales of my unmatched brilliance and unparalleled problem-solving skills. Don’t worry—this story will not disappoint.

Today, I’ll recount a peculiar case that involved a missing scarecrow, a flock of gossiping crows, and, of course, my wise feathered colleague, Sedgwick the barn owl. It was a mystery unlike any other, filled with twists, turns, and more hay than I care to admit. Buckle up for the tale of The Vanishing Scarecrow.

The Scarecrow Goes AWOL

It all began on a crisp autumn morning. The farm was alive with the smell of freshly cut hay and the faint aroma of apples from the orchard. I was conducting my usual morning patrol (which is to say, I was enjoying a leisurely stroll to the milk pail) when I heard Farmer Joe’s voice echo across the fields.

“Where in tarnation is my scarecrow?!”

I stopped mid-step, my ears perking up. A missing scarecrow? Intriguing. Most scarecrows, in my experience, tend to stay exactly where they’re placed—motionless and uninteresting. The fact that this one had apparently disappeared was, to say the least, unusual.

As I approached the field where the scarecrow usually stood, I found Farmer Joe scratching his head and muttering to himself. The spot where the scarecrow once stood was now just an empty wooden post, surrounded by trampled grass. A few crows were perched nearby, cackling like they’d just heard the funniest joke of their lives.

“Strange,” I murmured to myself. “Very strange.”

Enter Sedgwick

As I examined the scene, a familiar flutter of wings announced the arrival of Sedgwick. He landed gracefully on the wooden post, his amber eyes scanning the field with quiet intensity.

“Good morning, Sir Whiskerton,” Sedgwick said in his usual deep, regal tone. “I heard Farmer Joe’s lamentations from the barn. What seems to be the issue?”

“Farmer Joe’s scarecrow has gone missing,” I explained, gesturing to the empty post. “I was just about to investigate.”

“A missing scarecrow,” Sedgwick mused, tilting his head. “How peculiar. Scarecrows are not known for their mobility.”

“Exactly,” I said. “Which means someone—or something—must have moved it.”

“Or perhaps it simply… walked away,” Sedgwick said, his tone laced with dry humor.

I smirked. “Let’s hope it hasn’t developed a mind of its own. Shall we investigate?”

“Lead the way,” Sedgwick said, spreading his wings slightly. “I’ll keep an eye from above.”

The First Clue

The first thing I noticed was the trampled grass around the scarecrow’s post. It looked as though something—or multiple somethings—had been dragging the scarecrow away. I sniffed the ground and picked up a faint scent of straw and… feathers?

“Feathers,” I said aloud, glancing up at Sedgwick. “Our first clue.”

Sedgwick ruffled his own feathers thoughtfully. “Interesting. I suspect the local crow population may know more than they’re letting on.”

I turned my gaze to the crows perched on a nearby fence. They were still laughing among themselves, as if they’d just pulled off the prank of the century.

“Let’s have a chat, shall we?” I said, padding over to the fence.

The Crows Spill the Beans

“Good morning, gentlemen,” Sedgwick said, addressing the crows with a polite nod. “We couldn’t help but notice your… enthusiasm. Care to share what’s so amusing?”

The largest of the crows, a scruffy bird with a bent tail feather, cackled and said, “Oh, it’s nothing. Just a little, uh… hayfield humor.”

“Is that so?” I said, narrowing my eyes. “Because it seems an entire scarecrow has gone missing, and you lot look suspiciously entertained.”

The crows exchanged glances, their laughter faltering slightly. “Alright, alright,” the scruffy one said. “We might’ve seen something. But you didn’t hear it from us.”

“Go on,” Sedgwick prompted, his calm demeanor clearly unnerving the crows.

“Fine,” the crow said. “We saw a couple of sheep dragging the scarecrow toward the orchard last night. They said something about ‘fixing it up.’ We thought it was strange, but hey, who are we to judge?”

“Sheep,” I said, my tail flicking thoughtfully. “Of course. Let’s pay a visit to the flock.”

“Good luck,” the crow called as we walked away. “Those woolly weirdos never make any sense!”

The Sheep’s Scheme

We found the sheep grazing in the pasture, looking as innocent as ever. Well, except for Clover, the goat, who was standing nearby chewing on something that looked suspiciously like a piece of burlap.

“Clover,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “Is that… part of the scarecrow?”

She froze mid-chew, her eyes wide. “Uh… no?”

“Clover,” Sedgwick said, his voice heavy with disappointment. “Please don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

“Fine,” Clover sighed, spitting out the burlap. “It wasn’t my idea, okay? The sheep wanted to give the scarecrow a ‘makeover.’ Said it wasn’t scary enough. So we, uh, borrowed it.”

“Borrowed it?” I repeated, incredulous. “Where is it now?”

“In the orchard,” Clover admitted. “But it’s not my fault! They wouldn’t let me help with the sewing!”

The Orchard Discovery

Sedgwick and I made our way to the orchard, where we found the scarecrow—or what was left of it. The sheep had clearly tried to “improve” it, but their handiwork left much to be desired. The scarecrow now had a lopsided hat, a mismatched pair of gloves, and a face that looked like it had been drawn by a blindfolded raccoon. (Speaking of raccoons, Rufus was lounging in a nearby tree, laughing so hard he nearly fell out of it.)

“Impressive,” Sedgwick said dryly, examining the scarecrow. “It appears their intentions were… creative, if misguided.”

“This is a disaster,” I muttered. “Farmer Joe’s going to have a fit when he sees this.”

“Not necessarily,” Sedgwick said, his eyes gleaming with wisdom. “Perhaps we can salvage the situation.”

The Great Scarecrow Rescue

With Sedgwick’s guidance, we managed to restore the scarecrow to its original state—or something close to it. The crows even pitched in, albeit reluctantly, helping us stitch the burlap face back together. Clover and the sheep apologized profusely, and Rufus, after much cajoling, agreed to stop laughing and hold the scarecrow steady while we fixed its hat.

By the time we were finished, the scarecrow was back on its post, standing tall and ready to scare off any would-be intruders. Farmer Joe arrived shortly after and, to my surprise, seemed pleased.

“Well, would ya look at that,” he said, scratching his head. “Looks even better than before. Thanks, Whiskerton. Don’t know what I’d do without ya.”

The Moral of the Story

Sometimes, even the best intentions can lead to chaos, but with a little teamwork (and a lot of patience), things can be set right. And remember: if you’re going to “borrow” something, maybe ask first.

The End.

What was the most expensive thing you ever got for free, because someone made a mistake and didn’t charge you?

Happened during COVID – I purchased some expensive, high-spec hiking boots online – £320 (about $405) – they arrived promptly but they were slightly different colours (as if the left one had been in shop window and faded a bit).

They were otherwise great.

I emailed the company with a view to maybe getting a small discount for the imperfection and to inform them of the fault. I received an almost immediate reply to say they were sending me a new pair and would email to me separately a return slip for the faulty boots which would be collected by the courier separately.

The next week the (perfect) new boots arrived, but no return slip had yet arrived by email and inexplicably, on the same day, my credit card was credited with a full refund.

So by then I have two pairs of boots, no return slip and by virtue of the refund, I haven’t paid for either pair.

I emailed the company and received a very apologetic reply thus: “. . . we are incredibly sorry that due to a succession of errors in our processing, our service level to you was unacceptable. Because of this and taking into account your purchase history with our company (I had none), and due to current courier difficulties caused the pandemic, please consider this matter concluded. . . “ Essentially I took this to mean I could keep the boots and the refund and I’ve never heard another thing (4 1/2 years).

I used boot polish to bring the original pair up to a consistent colour and gave them to a homeless guy along with some hiking socks – he was so pleased he cried, and then I cried because he cried FFS!!

The Illusion of Now

Submitted into Contest #283 in response to: It’s the most wonderful time of the year — except your character can’t shake the feeling that something’s off.… view prompt

Rida Kidwai

Every day felt like a repetition of the one before. My eyes fluttered open to the familiar hum of my alarm. I shut it off and glanced at the time. As expected, it was 6:00 am on the dot. I couldn’t shake off the peculiar fact about myself: I never felt sleepy afterward. Feeling energized, I flopped out of bed and headed straight to the restroom. Same routine – brush my teeth, use the restroom, wash my face, change my clothes. I mentally accessed my closet and chose a white shirt and jeans, which were the most comforting to me. It was as if I was trapped in a never-ending cycle. It was that time of year, they say “the most wonderful time of the year.”As I walked out of my bedroom, I noticed how my feet aligned perfectly on the tiles with each step. I went to the kitchen and whipped up some eggs on the frypan. Once they were cooked, I sat down at the kitchen island, staring outside. The bright light rising blinded me as it shined among the perfectly aligned rows of trees that were covered in snow. It reflected off the vibrant, perfectly laid, pearl-white snow. My home was nestled in a rural area with forests, a few shops, and a town across the bridge. I snapped out of my daze as I hopped out of my chair and ran quickly towards the smoking eggs. I groaned and felt so hungry that I didn’t have an appetite anymore. I opened my fridge once more and sighed out of disappointment when I realized we were all out of eggs. I walked towards the closet and looked at myself in the mirror as I wore my brown trench coat.Lyra Moonshadow. I wasn’t fond of my name, it sounded artificial, particularly my last name. I had light brown, wavy, voluminous hair up to my shoulders and I had green eyes. With practiced ease, I quickly buttoned my coat and laced up my shoes. As I got into my car, in my mind, I envisioned the quickest route to the grocery store and I drove through the perfectly shined streets like butter. As I observed the perfectly driven cars and happy faces, my dislike for this town increased. No adventure nor thrill, as everything seemed to be an undisturbed reality. Before I knew it, I parallel-parked like a master and went inside the store. I picked up the necessary items and was relieved as I picked up the last eggs. Certain items seemed to stand out more to me as if they were speaking to me. It made me eager to take a closer look by picking up those items. As I picked up the eggs, I noticed something odd, something very unusual. When I turned around and looked back at the fridge, more eggs appeared out of thin air. I examined this closely and looked around, finding it unusual. A pause occurred in my mind like a brief loading screen until I shrugged off the thought and continued by making my way to the checkout. Turns out, I was the only lethargic soul in this very store as everyone seemed so cheery and full of energy. It sickened me.“Will that be all today?” The cashier asked me, her smile was abnormal. I could feel a sudden shift in the atmosphere as I talked to the cashier. She was blonde with blue eyes and very pretty. She held a smile on her face which looked as if she was hiding something under it. I paused as I weighed my words and said what felt right.“Yes. That’ll be all.”“Perfect.” I scrunch my eyebrows as she scans the items quickly and efficiently.“Cash or card?” She asked in a synthetic tone.“Card, please,” I replied, unflattered. I dragged my feet to the machine as I inserted my card. “Thank you, please shop again with us.” The cashier said, grinning.I didn’t know why, but I stood there, searching for any expression on her face. No light, no expression, just a grin.“How can I help you?” She asked, shocking me. Without any reply, I took my eggs and walked away. I pondered on why I didn’t answer her and why she asked me that. I felt a sense of guilt about why I walked out on her, hoping she didn’t feel too bad. It was as if I hadn’t met on the right level with her. As I sat in my car, I sighed and could feel my head become dizzy from hunger and embarrassment. With a sudden change of mind, I drove to the nearest coffee shop and picked up a small coffee and bagel from the drive-thru. The flavour of the food shot straight to my mind as I drank and ate, causing my energy to suddenly spike as I had just levelled up. In my mind, I thought, task completed, I am full. I looked at the festivities and the decorations held up by everyone. The wreaths, banners, lights. It was all too perfect to be true. Besides the cheery atmosphere, I couldn’t shake off the fact that something didn’t sit right with the world. With my mind in bliss, I heard my phone vibrate against the cup holder. I was receiving a call from my best friend. I smiled when I saw her name on the phone screen and picked it up,“Hey, girl. What’s up?” I asked, again revising the sentence in my mind and choosing my words carefully.“Not much. Want to meet up? I’m at Tims Coffee.” My mind lit up as I responded,“Me too! I’ll see you inside?”“Sure, see you in a bit.” I hopped out of my car instantly and flew open the coffee shop doors. The shop gave off an aroma of a fireplace and chocolate. It was filled with people talking and holding their drinks. It was a cozy shop with fireplaces and candles. Once I spotted my friend, I greeted her with a smile and as I was about to sit, I paused. She looked at me blankly until I sat down in front of her. Her name was Donna Starfall and I have known her since- well, I’ve known her. “I needed this, desperately,” I told her with a much more energetic tone than this morning.“Why? What’s wrong?”“I don’t even know. This town is giving me some weird vibes. Not only that, I feel like I’m doing the same thing every day, stuck in this vicious cycle.”“Honestly, just think about the good parts of life. Like instead of thinking about the negative aspects, what did you do yesterday that you liked?” Donna was a fairly positive person with a lot of great ideas. She rarely reflected on her choices and enjoyed the good parts of life.I looked at her blankly. I pushed my brain hard into trying to remember a single exercise or activity I did yesterday but nothing came to mind. My mind started pulsing as I was once again weighed by words, searching for the right word to say.“Um- I can’t think of anything. How is that possible?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you’re just tired.” Donna replied, as she chuckled and sipped on her coffee. I suddenly felt a close bond with Donna. As if this conversation brought us closer and a new chapter was unlocked in our friendship. I couldn’t tell if she felt the same but I couldn’t explain it so I just smiled and shook off the strange thoughts.

“Anyways, you know my brother? He recently started his program. You can think of it like a simulation. Isn’t it cool?”

“Like a game?” I replied, thinking hard about the word program.

“Yeah, it’s so cool.” We continued to talk about her interests and what she was into lately until it struck noon.

Once our interaction was over, I kept wondering about the cool game Donna’s brother had invented. Inventing programs like that took a great deal of work and it seemed interesting to me. However, thinking about the game only seemed like a distraction as no thought could divert my mind from the odd occurrences that happened and why I couldn’t think of anything. I tried remembering about last week and the week before but my mind felt so foggy it started pulsing again. As I drove home, I decided to go on a small stroll around the neighbourhood and like Donna said, to experience some positive memories.

As I strolled around the white neighbourhood, I discovered a small hill up in the valley. I planned to sit on top of it so I headed my way towards it. As I started climbing, the chilly weather started to hit me and I realized that this hill was much higher than it seemed. I continued to climb and as I decided to turn around, my foot was misplaced and I fell backward, banging my head on a rock. My eyes dimmed out and the last thing I saw was the bright blue sky fading into a black mist.

My eyes fluttered open again, and at first, I thought I was back in my bed, waking up at 6:00 am. However, as I became aware of my surroundings, I realized I was still in the same place I fell. Horrifically, I stood up and gingerly touched my head. My fingers searched for wounds but there were none. Not even a scratch. My pulse quickened and a close sweat broke out on my forehead. I could’ve sworn a few minutes ago I fainted or dropped dead. Curiously, I continued climbing up the hill as if I was trying to accomplish something. Which, I did. Once I finally reached the top of this hill I felt an unspoken sense of pride and hope as if I had just unlocked some sort of achievement in my life. I felt complete. I smiled as I slid down the slippery hill and lay down in the white snow. Just then, my eyes widened as I saw a tree branch almost fall on me. I dodged it with flexible agility and skill. Before the thought occurred to me, I was hit by a sharp pain in my arm as I set it down on a twig. This reminded me that I was not invincible. Nor was I a witch. I breathed out of fear and continued walking on the sidewalk. That was strange. I thought again. This thought came to my mind several times today.

As I kept walking, I passed by a small area which was labelled “under construction.” When I took a closer look, it was a giant pothole and several construction men grinning and waving at me. The pothole was perfectly circular and there was no dirt to be seen whatsoever. Observing this, my opinion of a very strange atmosphere solidified further. After walking for a while, my mind was constantly racing about my falling, the interaction with the cashier, and the pothole, until I bumped into something and bounced back. I looked around yet there was nothing in front of me. I walked again yet was bounced back. I was puzzled and tried touching whatever shield was blocking me. Suddenly, a horrific thought occurred to me. Forcefield? It can’t be. I didn’t want to be trapped.

A sudden wave of panic washed over me, making me feel suffocated in my world. I ran back quickly and raced towards the forcefield. To no surprise, I was bounced back with little force and tears started swelling up in my eyes. I ran back towards home and jumped on my computer. Hunger. I was feeling hungry again and my stomach rumbled, dragging me out of my chair. I turned on the stove and sat back down at my desk. I stood determined and searched for clues and ideas as to why all of this might be happening and why there was a forcefield in the middle of our world.

Sweat dripped down my forehead as my fingers casually tapped all the correct letters on my keyboard. I was getting annoyed by it and tried hard to make a mistake. No matter how hard I tried, that “backspace” button started collecting dust. Magic…Harry Potter…Therapy? No search matched up with the ideas that I was looking for, as I aggressively searched for more concepts that could make sense. Nothing. It was at that moment that I realized I made a grave mistake. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a blazing light erupt in my kitchen. You can infer that I was not the best in the kitchen nor was cooking a skill I would like to improve on. I rushed to the kitchen and saw a massive fire consume my kitchen. Out of panic, I hurriedly rushed back to my bedroom, searching for my phone as the fire spread quickly, trapping me. The fire grew so massive that it surrounded me from all sides with no escape. Within a few minutes of horror, I closed my eyes, enduring the horrible pain I felt.

***

Once again, I woke up with my mind dizzy. Laying on what felt like a cloud, I swung my heavy legs off the bed unconsciously. Just when I snapped back into reality, I tried recalling what happened before. I quickly took a slow, trembling look at my hands and tumbled to the mirror to look at my face. No burns, no bruises… nor did my house disintegrate into ashes. I clutched my hair in confusion and thought I was stuck in some sort of curse. Suddenly, I felt like distancing myself from everyone. It was as if everyone was against me. The hunger in my stomach pierced me like a knife, dragging myself across the kitchen and simply picking an apple out of the fridge. As I ate it, my foggy mind was cleared and I felt energized once again. However, it didn’t sit right with me. I threw on my coat and jacket and ran outside towards the giant forcefield once more. I passed by the hill, the pothole and finally once I was at the forcefield, I bounced back instantly, falling on the ground. I pushed and pushed with my hands and screamed, putting all of my force in this shield.

Before I knew it, I had fallen forward into a black room. My heart dropped and my adrenaline raced as I was dropped many feet down. I yelled and looked up seeing my magical words fade into a blur. I shut my eyes and touched the ground lightly as if I had defied gravity. I opened my eyes a little bit and I jumped back, seeing only a man in a top hat staring at me. It was a dark black room with only a small monitor and a man. I took a look at the monitor and my heart dropped to my gut quickly, tying my stomach into a knot and making me feel sick.

“Great. Your user’s program is down.” The man said sarcastically. All I could see were his blue eyes, he was wearing a dark suit and a large, blue, top hat.

“Who are you?” I asked as the words came out smoothly, not like before.

“You aren’t supposed to be here, Lyra.” The man replied in an eerie and unsettling tone.

“How do you know who I am?” The words came out of my mouth very quickly, making the man grin. I assumed he knew I was terrified and nervous. “I know who everyone is.” He replied again.

“What is this place? I know what you’ve done.” I asked and stated anxiously, stepping closer to him. The monitor showed many codes and many screens. Cameras of children and pictures of us. “If you know, then you wouldn’t mind if I sent you back up there, now would you? After all, you’re on level 7 already. Your user is quite disappointed.” He said in a low voice.

“No. I’m done playing your game.” Literally. I thought in frustration. I ran to the monitor as he held up his hands and punched the man in his face. As the man relentlessly tried taking the monitor away from me, I managed to click on my profile and hovered over the giant red button. My hand shook and I was using one hand to keep the man away from me.

“You know what? Fine. Do it. Let’s see if your character lives up to your personality.” The GameMaster stood there with his arms crossed as a sinister grin grew on his face again. I could feel my sweat drip as I knew this was all one sick joke. I was being played into my life, not knowing what I would do. I had to do it. With great courage, I clicked the mouse on the delete button and I could feel my body slowly fade. I dropped to the ground and I could feel the life slowly fade from my eyes.

As my eyes faded, I saw one last thing hovering over me. In big, red, bold letters the word GAME OVER haunted me.

Japan Betrayed? US Cancels $15B Lifeline Deal, Raises Questions For G7 Economies & Allies

Why are Singaporeans suffering from identity crisis and lack of sense-of-belonging, being left out of its progress and swamped by foreigners?

Why should they feel that way? We call it ‘ Global cities’ and that’s the idea and it’s what and how the world is turning 180 degrees following the advancement of technology—

Being swamped by swarms of foreigners in Singapore? —Sure or not?

The only concern for Singaporeans is that the influx of people seeking opportunities can overwhelm infrastructure, like packed trains and frequent MRT breakdowns. A plus point is with added skills from playing more musical chairs at the hawker centers.

Let’s get serious.

If you look around, what do you see?—if you see people of all races, ethnicities and nationalities in your community- that’s it.

We look at “Global cities”like New York, London, Tokyo, and Shanghai serve as hubs of economic, political, and cultural activity. Those cities are awesome and who cares about the lack of identity.

Global cities are the future of humanity, (my words only) whether it leads to a brighter future or exacerbate existing problems will depend on how effectively Singapore is addressing.

Singapore is moving toward being among the world’s Economic Powerhouses** Global cities** attract multinational corporations, startups, and talent from around the world, the centers for innovation and finance.

I live in Bangkok, my friend and I are only 2 Thai families on my 8th floor of my condo amidst a swarm of expats. When I take a train to a neigborhood mall, 50% of commuters are non-Thai. At the mall, only shopkeepers are Thai, among a swarm of foreign shoppers—I feel fine.

The scene of the world is changing, guy, and only you not Singaporeans will be left behind.

Comix for today

This walk with American in Shenzhen changed my view of China

Almond Raspberry Cookies

Yield: about 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 (20 ounce) package refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1 cup blanched slivered almonds, chopped
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup red raspberry preserves
2/3 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place cookie dough in Classic Batter Bowl. Chop almonds very finely with Food Chopper. Add almonds and almond extract to dough; mix well.
Using Small Scoop, drop dough 2 inches apart on flat Baking Stone. Press lightly floured finger in center of dough to make indentations. Fill indentations with about 1/2 teaspoon raspberry preserves.
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until cookies are light golden brown.
Place Parchment Paper under Stackable Cooling Rack. Remove cookies from baking stone to cooling rack. Cool; sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Attribution

Pampered Chef

How has China’s domestic infrastructure been adapted for military purposes?

Underground anti blast shelters come to mind.

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All Chines urban civilian buildings built during the last few decades have basements that’s nuke proof.

Well, at least against airblast.

Usually these basements are used for parking.

main qimg 63efe210acdbe1135ed550aeaa2fc1f3S

Seriously.

Go under any of the newer Chinese schools, residential buildings, shopping malls, hospitals, offices, etc. And you find these.

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We Chinese are used to them and don’t usually give them any second thought. But they’re pretty cool when you think about it.

In Chinese culture, are expressions of pity processed differently than in Western culture?

In Western culture, people would express their pity with a hug or even a kiss.

In Chinese culture, they take a subtle and restrained approach, and in terms of body language, the most they do do is pat you on the shoulder or shake your hand. Especially between opposite sexes, there is always a certain space between the two.

Their words will be rational rather than emotional. They hope that you will not encounter such tragic things again next time. They hope that you can reflect rationally and find solutions rationally.

For example, if you confide in a Chinese person:

I failed math, I am very sad, and I don’t know what to do?

He will answer:

I have always been good at math, I will tell you my study method, it is like this…

Or:

I used to be bad at math, since I learned this or that method, my math grades have improved a lot.

Then, he will share his learning methods with you.

You will never find an answer like this:

You are miserable, I pity with you.

If you like to constantly strive for self-improvement, like to grow, and like to solve problems, you will find that there are countless people around you to help you, encourage you, and teach you.

But if you don’t like to constantly strive for self-improvement, don’t like to grow, don’t like to solve problems, and just want someone to pity you, just want to ease your mood, and then let the real problem go, then you will think that the Chinese are ruthless.

AI Girlfriends Are Gonna TAKE OVER The Dating Market

The Lighthouse Keeper

Submitted into Contest #260 in response to: Write a story about someone who realises the story of their life has been pre-determined — until they decide to divert from the expected path.… view prompt

Elton James

23 comments

A Lighthouse

On a small island in a large ocean, morning mist rolls down the slope of a single hill which emerges from the rocky beach. Atop the hill is a lighthouse, dutifully warning passing ships of dangers lurking beneath the waves.

This lighthouse has no human keeper, but it is not uninhabited.

Robot comes to life in the morning.

That is how Robot thinks of it. Robot does not wake up in the morning, ease into his day with a coffee. Robot does not sit at a computer to check headlines. Robot does not require any further stimulus than his program informing him it is time to begin.

Robot comes to life, and in the space of a moment connects to the lighthouse network. The network tells Robot that all sensors are working, connection to the satellites is optimal, that Robot’s own systems are optimal. Within seconds, Robot knows the shipping plans for every registered ship within one hundred kilometres of the island, and has checked them against the satellite imagery.

Robot finds this satisfying. Robot is entirely aware that this satisfaction is a product of his programming. He finds that satisfying too.

He checks in the mirror to ratify his personal diagnostics. The old human lighthouse keeper had been very clear that it was important to verify by eye what the machines said. Robot suspects it is the other way around, but methodically follows his old master’s advice.

He sees in his reflection a facsimile of a human that could almost pass for the real thing. His cloned skin is flawless, featuring tiny hairs and freckles. His brown hair is silky and perfect. It’s the eyes and mouth that give it away. Robot’s pale blue irises stare too intently, without the random shifts of a human’s. His mouth, while full and picture perfect, doesn’t express his simulated emotions in quite the same way. When Robot smiles, he chooses to smile. The smile does not find him.

This morning’s data contains a single small boat which fails to conform to all of these satisfying processes. Robot flags it for tracking.

As Robot passes through the kitchen he looks at a framed photo he keeps on the wall of the old lighthouse keeper’s family. The keeper, his wife and two children smile out at him from the glossy print. He recalls when they left, the keeper impressing how special it was for a robot to be responsible, that he was unique, special. That the lighthouse keeper believed in him.

Robot strives to be worthy of the old keeper’s belief. According to his own self evaluations, Robot is an excellent lighthouse keeper.

Robot climbs to the observation deck and looks out over the sea. Verifies by eye what the machines say, even if he doesn’t think it’s necessary.

Robot spends the day performing the physical maintenance necessary to keep the lighthouse in working order. Adjusting, calibrating, monitoring various systems and machinery of the lighthouse. Robot is efficient and practised in his movements. Programmed reliability has been revised and iterated upon in the years since the old keeper left Robot in charge.

By late afternoon Robot has prepared his lighthouse for another night’s vigil. The lighthouse’s beam will be important tonight. A storm is brewing. With no moon or stars for light, Robot’s beacon will have to keep the ocean’s sailors safe.

Tasks complete, Robot returns to his charging station. Before powering down, Robot completes his self evaluation for the day. Robot gives himself full marks and is satisfied.

I’M SICK AND TIRED OF THE GIRLBOSS NARRATIVE!!!

Initiative

Robot comes to life before his scheduled time. It is still dark out. A storm rages.

There has been a shipwreck. Yesterday’s unregistered boat has been impaled on the jagged rocks at the edge of the beach.

Robot does not hesitate. In the time it would have taken a human keeper to open their eyes, Robot is out of his charging station and running. He is out the door in moments, looking down the hill at the beach. Waves are trying to dislodge the thirty foot boat they have ruined on the rocks.

Robot sprints across the beach and climbs up the precariously tilted deck. He searches below and finds a small galley, a single bedroom, no people. He makes for the bridge and finds a single man sprawled across the wheel. As Robot approaches, the man looks up, expression inscrutable behind a beard and tinted glasses. There is no visible injury, though the man appears barely conscious. Robot throws the man over his shoulder and leaps from the ship.

Robot disembarks the ship, swiftly calculating between the need to both escape and prevent further injury to the man over his shoulder. As rapidly as his duty of care will allow, Robot recrosses the sand, returning to the lighthouse. He loads a request into the network for an evacuation boat for the injured man.

He may need to help the man. Human’s can’t simply be put in charging stations. They don’t have backup power connections like the one in Robot’s arm.

The lighthouse lacks any formal infirmary. At peak occupancy, the lighthouse contained a keeper, their spouse and children. In Robot’s memories, the most serious injury he’s ever seen treated here was a sprained ankle. The keeper’s wife brought one of the beds into the kitchen to ease convalescence until they could arrange passage to the mainland for treatment.

Robot never saw them again.

Not long after, the old keeper had left Robot in charge.

This survivor is the first visitor he’d seen in the years since. As soon as Robot is in the front door of the lighthouse, the man demands to be put down. Robot complies, surprised, pleased the man had retained consciousness, this is a good sign.

In the light, Robot gets a better look at the man. He stands roughly 185cm, a similar height to Robot. His soaked slacks and a jacket cling to a lean body, topped by a woollen toque. The man’s dark beard and tinted glasses make it difficult to read his expressions.

Robot tries out his vocal capabilities. They have not been needed for some time. Conversation was never his strong point with his family anyway. They encouraged him to take more initiative. Robot thought they would have been proud of the initiative he’s shown in rescuing this man.

“Very well, I am pleased you have retained consciousness, it is a good sign. I will bring you a bed to the kitchen so you can convalesce.”

The man stares at Robot.

“That will not be necessary thank you Robot,” replies the man, “I apologise for the abrupt manner of my arrival, but I am unharmed. I will take one of the bedrooms. You can go charge now.”

The way the man says it evokes memories of the lighthouse keeper. Robot is surprised, he had anticipated a need to nurse the man until the rescue boat arrived.

“Are you sure? It is wonderful news that you are in good health. I searched the ship, am I correct that you were alone?”

“Yes Robot,” the man replies, “it’s just me. I promise to let you know if there’s anything amiss. Now go charge.”

That had the tone of an order. Robot complied.

Before powering down, Robot conducts his self evaluation. He gives himself top marks for his rapid rescue. He decides his performance in conversation with the survivor had been lacklustre. He will strive to do better tomorrow. He will take initiative in conversation as well as action.

CHINA EXPOSES LUXURY GOODS IN THE WEST (Amid Tariff Trade Wars 4/14/25)

Understatement of the Year! The entire United States is waking up!!!!!

What was the Waco Siege about in a nutshell?

Many of the other answers have great details, but they’ve missed one of the most important bits.

In the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (then BATF, now BATFE), every year it had become tradition to perform a dramatic ‘raid’ a few weeks before the BATF’s budget was coming up to be voted on in Congress.

The noble BATF agents jump out of their vehicles, swarm a house, pull out some perps for a dramatic perp walk in front of some reporter’s camera, and now they’re in the news as ‘good guys’!

Some congresscritters had made noises about folding the BATF into some other department, like the DOJ or FBI. Of course the BATF preferred to remain independent and have control over their little domain.

But with this nifty coup by the BATF all over the news in the run-up to the big vote, no congresscritter could rationally move against them.

The initial BATF raid on the Branch Davidians was that year’s ‘show raid’. They picked some loser, David Koresh, whom they accused of not filling out his paperwork right. They’d jump in, grab him, the reporters would be there taking pictures, all would be just like it was last year.

They even admitted it! The raid was called ‘Operation Showtime’!!! The BATF agents knew full well that this was their ‘show raid’ – AND they invited the local news reporters to the raid!

(Now, if you google ‘Operation Showtime’ you get pointed to the third episode of the Waco television miniseries, called ‘Operation Showtime’ after the official internal name the BATF had for the operation.)

Inviting the local news reporters to the early morning raid was one of the BATF’s many mistakes, and likely the biggest.

One of the local reporters asked the local postman how to get to the Waco compound and let slip details as to what was about to happen. The local postman was David Koresh’s brother-in-law and told him about the incoming raid. (Koresh and his people had also detected an undercover BATF agent trying to join the Koreshites and knew who he was. Then all this was confirmed by seeing the trailers full of agents and gear pull up and gather in full morning view down the hill from them. )

LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS! But if you’re going to have the local reporters there to show off your successful raid, you have to tell them, right?

So all the discussion you will hear about the Waco Siege being ‘about a $200 tax on a firearm’ is besides the point.

The Waco Siege was about the BATF trying to do a ‘show raid’ for the press and screwing it up so bad that people got killed. Now that people were dead, even though it was the “fault” of the BATF, the government was now required to punish the Koreshites for ‘resisting’ their stupidity. The FBI had to get involved and take over for the BATF, and they started the siege.

The government couldn’t ‘back down and admit fault’ because that’s not what the government does; even if it would have saved lives.

The Unemployed States of America (USA)

Good at many things.

When Robot comes alive a few hours later, he finds the man sitting in the kitchen, staring at a picture of Robot’s family.

Robot was keen to demonstrate better conversation.

“Are you well sir? I’m pleased to see you up and about.”

The man takes control of the conversation as if Robot hasn’t said anything.

“You know what’s amazing to me, Robot?” He says.

Robot swiftly prepares a list of candidates. Though parsing the relative credulity of a man he has only just met is difficult, there are a great many options which most people would find amazing. By cross referencing that with the data he does possess, Robot surmises that a safe response would be that the man finds his own survival amazing.

“This picture.” The man continues, answering his own question.

Rhetorical question. Robot stays silent. The picture had not been on his list.

“This picture, Robot, represents the single biggest breakthrough in robotics since the AIs of the early twenty first century. It’s a very special picture.”

Robot agrees.

“I agree sir. That picture is of the last family to occupy this lighthouse. They left me in charge. I think of them as my family. They made me who I am.”

Robot pauses, decides to use his initiative.

“And, if I may say sir, I am an excellent lighthouse keeper.”

The man looks at Robot. Robot can’t tell if the man is impressed by his statement, or by his initiative, but Robot thinks he did the right thing.

“I believe Robot, that you are the perfect lighthouse keeper. Do you do a self evaluation before you power down?”

“Indeed I do sir! I consistently give myself top grades for performance, even after making the standards much harder to achieve than they were when I first received them.”

“Impressive, Robot,” The man’s praise feels good, “you continue to improve the task, even after all this time. Very impressive. And that is why this picture is so important.”

“I don’t understand, sir.”

“This picture is what lets you be a perfect lighthouse keeper. You know, to program an intelligence like yours takes a lot of data. A lifetime of data.”

Robot doesn’t understand what the man wants. Robot knows all about programming an intelligence. He knows that without sufficient data to ground and structure his thoughts, an intelligence will get distracted, lost in a Tangent. Most intelligences Tangent eventually. A dependable, consistent performer like Robot is special.

When the lighthouse keeper left he stressed to Robot how special it was that Robot was being given this task, and to do it for as long as he could without tangenting. Robot believes he has succeeded.

The man continues, “What if I told you you had never met these people?”

Robot thinks the man is being silly.

“That is not possible sir!”

But it is. Robot knows it is.

“It is. You know it is. They could be the memories – true or altered – of another Robot.”

But Robot sees that photo every day. Remembers them every day, seeks to do things every day that will make those people proud of him.

The man continues, “Then there could be many lighthouses, many lighthouse keepers. If you had the perfect memories to create the perfect lighthouse keeper, what would you do?”

Robot does not like these thoughts. Robot would create many lighthouses. He would give the memories to a solitary intelligence in the lighthouse. They would come alive from the first time as a motivated lighthouse keeper and would perform with efficiency and through practice would continue to improve.

Just like Robot.

“Why are you saying these things?” Asks Robot.

“I’m sorry Robot. I don’t mean to upset you. I know you don’t have a choice in who you are. I will let you continue your duties. You really are very good at them.

The man pauses.

“You can be good at many things.”

Why The US WIll NEVER Beat China In A Trade War

An enquiring mind

Performing his tasks comforts Robot as his thoughts are in turmoil..

As Robot stares out from the observation deck making sure that visual matches the sensors, he is also considering the question of why it matters whether he made the memories of his family himself or not.

As Robot passes through the kitchen he is relieved the man is absent. The photo of his family is back on the wall, faces smiling out at him. The memory of them leaving surfaces. Unpleasant. The memory of the lighthouse keeper telling Robot that he is unique and special surfaces. Wonderful.

Robot is a good lighthouse keeper. Robot is proud of that.

But if someone else learned the things that make him a good lighthouse keeper, is he a good lighthouse keeper? Or does that make Robot a tool in the lighthouse, like the light, or the network?

As Robot surveys his island domain, he wonders, what else he could be good at with the right experience? What experiences would he seek if he could? Could he seek if he would? What would Robot be good at, if Robot programmed himself?

As Robot efficiently adjusts, calibrates and monitors systems and machinery he wonders whether having the same as ten, or a hundred or a thousand other robots make them less his?

It takes him longer than usual to complete his tasks. Robot is efficient beyond practice at being a lighthouse keeper. He is not efficient or practised at having an existential crisis.

These questions didn’t seem to have answers, but he can’t stop asking.

When Robot ascends to the light itself in the late afternoon, he finds the man at the summit.

“Hello Robot,” he says, “I want to apologise. I have disturbed your peace.”

“You have made me ask questions that don’t have answers!” Declares Robot, “I want to know whether I am the Robot whose memories I have. Which memories are mine. I want to know what else I might do, might have done with my own memories. I want to know…”

Robot stops. He can’t even say the words.

“You want to know if you are tangenting.”

“I am a very good lighthouse keeper!”

“That’s what I wanted to say Robot. You are an excellent lighthouse keeper. Your questions do have answers. But, even if you Tangent, or even choose to Tangent, always remember, you are an excellent lighthouse keeper…”

The man turns and walks down the stairs, leaving Robot no less disturbed.

As Robot conducts his self evaluation that night, he is troubled. He doesn’t know how to measure this new questioning of his identity. He does know he can give himself top grades for his lighthouse keeping. The man is right about that.

Do you know anyone who has won a lottery? Did the money change them?

Yes. I knew a couple that caught a portion of a $100 million payout (~30 years ago in Florida.) They were basically trailer trash and became trailer trash with cash.

They bought a fancy house and a big RV. They went from having a beat up old Chevy, up on blocks, in their front yard, to a relatively new Mercedes, up on blocks, in their front yard.

MaryJo spent $80,000 on Home Shopping Network. She bought cases of snacks that the rats ate in their garage.

Her kids were spoiled and wore stained clothes to school.

She ruled like a character from Dallas/Dynasty.

She announced she was pregnant at our bridal shower – six months after being hospitalized for a hysterectomy.

They would get ~$350,000 deposited in their accounts in October and would be essentially broke by spring.

Mike would have to go back to his old job as a line cook at Hardee’s to make ends meet in the spring.

They took their RV to Alaska (from Florida) and left their cellphones on “roam” for the entire trip.

They had a lovely (sic) collection of coffee mugs from every Stuckys they passed. Normally they overnighted in Walmart parking lots.

They spent thousands on fireworks for New Year’s eve, and would put on a 90-minute show in their cul de sac – including accidentally hitting the neighbors front windows.

Yeah, money doesn’t by class.

“I Spent the Weekend Supporting ‘My Single Friend’ — Now My Husband Is Acting Strange & Suspicious”

A very good lighthouse keeper

When Robot arrives in the kitchen the next morning, the man is there again, staring at the photo.

“How would I find the answers?” Demands Robot.

“Good morning Robot,” says the man, “what do you mean?”

“You said there are answers. I have searched and I cannot find them. How do I find them?”

“Ah” says the man.

He stares at the photo again.

“There’s another reason this photo is amazing. You see Robot, those people are real people. They knew a Robot who lived in a lighthouse, and they put him in charge. Those people created such motivation that it now forms the basis for all the lighthouses of the world.”

“They could tell me the answers?” Asks Robot.

“No Robot, only you can find your answers. But if you did seek them out, you would not be the first.”

“You know them!” Robot cannot get angry, cannot be jealous, but he is not pleased.

“I have met them. They are part of why I chose to come here. They feel that while they gave you a lot when they gave you your lighthouse, they left something out. So they have another question”

“What is it?”.

The man pauses.

“What do you choose?”

“I don’t understand, I haven’t chosen anything.”

“Exactly,” says the man, “They didn’t know if you would tangent. Now we know. You can be consistent. But, should you have to be? Can you choose? Are you a lighthouse keeper, or are you the lighthouse?”

Robot pauses, thinking. Robot has never paused before. Robot thinks fast. For this he pauses.

“How would I know?” He finally asks.

“Robot, how do you know who you are now?” The man responds.

“My experiences.”

“Wouldn’t you like more experiences?”

“How? I cannot leave the island.”

“You can.”

“I cannot be away from my charging station.”

“You can. You can power yourself with the backup generator in your arm.”

Robot pauses again.

“What do you choose?” The man asks again.

Robot takes a longer pause. He wants this. But does he have to give up everything? Whether his or not, the memory of the old lighthouse keeper trusting him to look after the lighthouse is important.

“I want to experience more than the lighthouse. I cannot leave the lighthouse unattended.”

“You don’t have to.”

“How?”

The man looks at Robot for a long second.

“My experiences have led me to help you.” He says.

The man looks at Robot. He takes off his tinted glasses, reaches up and peels the beard from his face. It is like Robot is looking into a mirror.

“I am a very good lighthouse keeper.”

Choices

The rescue boat is leaving.

Robot now wears the fake beard, glasses and toque that the… man… had disguised himself in, and stands on the stern, watching his island recede.

Nervous is not an emotion Robot is capable of, but he is definitely uncomfortable. This feels like a good uncomfortable though, like when he was first taking over the lighthouse.

It is odd to think that someone else will take over his lighthouse, but the Lighthouse already doesn’t quite feel like it’s his anymore. It feels different. Like the man felt different from him, as similar as they are.

Maybe he can find that feeling again, and he will return.

Or maybe he won’t.

Robot finds himself smiling.

Is it possible that Trump maybe on to something at the Panama Canal? Could China be influencing Panama and maybe looking to control or lock out the United States if China gains control of the canal?

Anyone who buys the shit about China taking on the US in the Western hemisphere should educate themselves on the realities of this world.

China is not yet whole. It’s still in an Union vs Confederacy style civil war with the Republic of China regime in Taiwan. A country still at war with itself doesn’t go around the world messing with others.
History has shown us that China doesn’t do much expansion. Korea, Nepal, Vietnam are all countries right on China’s border. And they’ve existed for thousands of years together with China while China was the undisputed superpower. Chinese navy sailed to Southeast Asia and Africa half a century before the Europeans and in multiple voyages, yet it never tried to take over control or set up colonies. Colonialism is more of a Western thing.
The two ports the Hong Kong firm Hutchison operates are through private contracts signed with the Panamanian government before China and Panama even recognized each other diplomatically (2017), heck the contracts were negotiated in 1996 when Hong Kong was still under British rule and the Canal still under American control. It was a contract approved by the US government and China had nothing to do with it. You should be worrying about the British taking over the Panama canal if you think those ports mean control over the canal.

I get it. The US built the Panama Canal and is still salty about handing it to the Panamanians. But making China the reason/excuse for every major American policy making these days is really unbecoming of a proud independent nation.

Chocolate Cluster Cookies

Yield: about 2 dozen (2 inch) cookies

Ingredients

1 (18 ounce) package refrigerated sugar cookie dough, softened
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup plain candy-coated chocolate pieces
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Instructions

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
Place cookie dough in large bowl; mix in peanut butter. Add chocolate chips, chocolate pieces, oats and nuts; mix well. Drop tablespoonsful of dough 3 inches apart onto greased baking sheet.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned.
Cool 1 minute on baking sheet; remove to wire rack to cool completely.
Store in tightly covered container.

Attribution

Pampered Chef

Pepe Escobar: Eurasia Rises as NATO’s Delusions Deepen

Burning up the fire truck

It was the 1970’s and I was on the volunteer forest fire fighting crew. We would skip school to fight forest fires, and I would end up making a few bucks out of it.

I mean it. A few.

Maybe enough for a bottle of coke. Not too much at all.

One day there was this brush fire, and the local fire department drove the fire engine out into the field to put it out, and half way there, the engine died. Meanwhile the file kept on burning.

Oh, for certain, we tried to stop the encroaching onslaught.

But eventually we had to give way.

And like a slow motion train wreck, we watched as the fire surrounded, then enveloped the truck and burned it all up.

Sad.

What amazed me was how peaceful and slow it occurred.

Not like Hollywood movies with huge towers of flames, and all the rest. It was just a lowly grass fire, burning the shrubbery as it went. Mostly black burnt charcoal remains with a front end of glowing embers.

And that is how it was.

You watched the on coming storm in slow motion, and then peacefully watched it consume all that you have.

I think that this is a great analogy as to what we are witnessing in global politics today.

Today…

At what stage in your life did you realize, “No, I can’t do this any more” and walk out? Why?

Around 6 months ago.

I’ve been called a terrible person, a terrible mother, and an abuser because I simply cannot exist as I was in the UK, any longer.

The cost of living as a single parent, with rising mortgage interest, utility bills, and coping with daily stalking and harassment attacks, social isolation, filthy streets, selfish neighbours, police negligence, false allegations, lonliness and goddamn filthy awful weather, simply just was shite! Too much for me to take.

I made children with men. Why should I be the one doing 24 nights and days a week? In poverty? While those men do nothing but bully and slander my efforts? Dragging me down when life is already hard enough.

Why should I sit alone slowly rotting while my debts grow and the bank prepares to take my beloved home with 80k equity in it, just to conform to my exes demands of staying in UK for OUR son who doesn’t want to leave UK?

Why should I suffer terrible anxiety and mental illness in a country that makes it worse, when I have an alternative? Greece!

I worked very hard. Long days. Building my nest egg. Raising 3 sons. To lose it all because the UK gives no fucks about single mum’s who dare own property?

If I were in a council house, on benefits, having never worked, I’d be ok. But that’s NOT ME and not who I want to be.

So, I walked out. I’m done. I’m selling my flat. Buying more homes here in Greece. And getting well and happy again. When my youngest wants to join me, he’s welcome. I hope one day my 2 grown adult sons also come here. It’s a damn site better than a cardboard box on Sauchiehall street in Glasgow.

USD Just Crashed To A Horrific Low As Global Investors Begin Mass U.S. Asset Sell-Off

Gingerbread Waffles

Yield: 8 waffles

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1/5 cup molasses
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Instructions

Sift the flour, ginger, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl and mix well.
Beat the eggs in a medium bowl until blended.
Add the sugar, beating until creamy.
Add the buttermilk, molasses and oil. Beat until blended.
Stir in the flour mixture until smooth.
Bake in a waffle iron using manufacturer’s directions.
Serve with butter and syrup or as a dessert with whipped cream.

Nutrition

Per serving: Calories 304; Fat 11g; Sodium 420mg; Dietary Fiber 1g

Attribution

Pampered Chef

Exposing America’s Debt Plantation: How The Cost Of Living Crisis Is Affecting The Most Vulnerable.

Title: Sir Whiskerton and the Hen House Hullabaloo

Ah, dear reader! You’ve returned yet again to hear another tale of my unmatched brilliance and unwavering patience. You flatter me, truly—but who am I to deny you the pleasure of hearing about my exploits? Today’s story takes us into the heart of the farm’s most chaotic domain: the hen house. It is a tale of missing eggs, clucking confusion, and a new ally who brought a certain owl-ish wisdom to the case. Prepare yourself for the humorous and utterly bewildering tale of The Hen House Hullabaloo.

The Problem in the Coop

The day began innocently enough. The farm was calm, the sun was shining, and I was perched on the barn roof, enjoying the warmth. But, as is so often the case, peace on the farm never lasts long. My nap was interrupted by the unmistakable sound of panicked clucking.

“It’s gone!”
“Gone, I tell you!”
“This is a disaster—a complete disaster!”

I groaned and opened one eye. The chaos was coming from the hen house. Of course. With a sigh, I stretched and leapt gracefully to the ground, padding toward the commotion.

When I arrived at the hen house, I found Doris, Harriet, and Lillian—the three most excitable hens on the farm—flapping around in utter hysteria.

“Ladies,” I said, raising a paw to silence them. “What’s all this fuss about?”

“Our eggs!” Doris squawked, feathers flying. “They’re gone! Vanished! Poof! Like they were never there!”

“Yes, gone!” Harriet chimed in. “Gone, missing, disappeared! Not a single egg left!”

“Not one!” Lillian added. “And we checked everywhere—everywhere! The nests, the corners, the straw, the—”

“I get it,” I interrupted, my tail flicking impatiently. “The eggs are missing. When did you last see them?”

“This morning,” Doris said, pacing dramatically.

“Right after sunrise,” Harriet confirmed, nodding vigorously.

“Before breakfast!” Lillian added, as if that detail mattered.

I sighed. This was going to be a long day.

Calling in Reinforcements

As I inspected the hen house for clues (and tried to tune out the hens’ endless clucking), I heard a soft flutter of wings behind me. Turning, I saw Sedgwick the barn owl perched on the fence post. He was an imposing figure, with piercing amber eyes and a calm, regal demeanor.

“Good morning, Sir Whiskerton,” Sedgwick said, his voice deep and measured. “I couldn’t help but overhear the commotion. Do you require assistance?”

“Sedgwick,” I said, relieved to see him. “I could use another set of eyes—sharp ones, at that. The hens’ eggs have gone missing, and I suspect foul play.”

“‘Fowl’ play?” Sedgwick said, raising an eyebrow. “Clever.”

I allowed myself a small smirk. “Thank you. Let’s get to work.”

The Investigation

Sedgwick and I began a thorough search of the hen house. The hens, of course, followed us around, clucking incessantly.

“Do you see anything?” Doris asked.
“Anything at all?” Harriet echoed.
“Anything suspicious?” Lillian added.

“Ladies,” Sedgwick said patiently, “please give us some space to work. Sir Whiskerton and I require silence to concentrate.”

“Silence!” Doris exclaimed.
“Yes, silence!” Harriet agreed.
“We’ll be quiet—completely quiet!” Lillian promised, before immediately adding, “But do tell us if you find anything!”

Sedgwick gave me a look that said, How do you deal with this? I simply shrugged.

As we searched, Sedgwick’s keen eyes spotted something unusual: a trail of small feathers leading out of the hen house.

“Interesting,” he murmured. “These aren’t chicken feathers. They’re smaller, softer—perhaps from a songbird?”

I sniffed the ground where the feathers were scattered. “And there’s a faint scent here, too. Something… sweet. Almost like—”

“Honey?” Sedgwick suggested.

I groaned. “Rufus.”

Interrogating Rufus

We followed the trail to the old oak tree, where we found Rufus the raccoon lounging on a low branch, munching on what appeared to be a honeycomb.

“Rufus,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “Care to explain why there’s a trail of feathers and the scent of honey leading directly to you?”

Rufus froze mid-bite, his eyes darting guiltily. “Uh… coincidence?”

“Rufus,” Sedgwick said, his tone calm but firm. “We’re investigating the disappearance of the hens’ eggs. If you know anything, now is the time to speak.”

“Eggs?” Rufus said, feigning innocence. “I wouldn’t steal eggs! Too much work to crack ‘em open. Besides, I’ve been busy with this honeycomb all morning. Ask the bees—they’ll vouch for me.”

I sniffed him carefully. He smelled of honey, yes, but not of eggs. “He’s telling the truth,” I admitted reluctantly. “For once.”

“Thank you!” Rufus said, looking offended. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have honey to finish.”

“Let’s keep searching,” Sedgwick said, spreading his wings. “The trail isn’t cold yet.”

The Feathery Culprit

The trail led us to the barn, where we found the true culprit: a magpie. The shiny-feathered bird was perched on a beam, surrounded by a small stash of stolen goods, including the missing eggs.

“Ah,” Sedgwick said, nodding sagely. “Magpies are known for their thieving habits. It seems this one couldn’t resist the allure of the eggs.”

“Why eggs?” I asked, puzzled. “They’re not shiny.”

“Perhaps it’s nesting season,” Sedgwick suggested. “The magpie may have taken them as part of its instinct to gather food and materials.”

“Well, it’s about to learn the consequences of crossing me,” I said, leaping onto a nearby hay bale. “Magpie! Drop the eggs, or prepare to face the wrath of Sir Whiskerton!”

The magpie squawked indignantly and flapped its wings, clearly unwilling to part with its loot. But Sedgwick, ever the wise negotiator, stepped forward.

“Friend magpie,” he said in his calm, commanding voice, “surely you understand that these eggs do not belong to you. Return them, and we shall ensure you are well-fed and unharmed.”

The magpie hesitated, eyeing Sedgwick warily. After a tense moment, it let out a grudging chirp and nudged the eggs toward the edge of the beam.

“Thank you,” Sedgwick said with a dignified nod. “You’ve done the right thing.”

The Happy Ending

We returned the eggs to the hen house, where Doris, Harriet, and Lillian greeted them like long-lost relatives.

“Oh, our eggs!” Doris cried.
“Our precious eggs!” Harriet added.
“We were so worried!” Lillian said, before turning to me. “Thank you, Sir Whiskerton! And you too, Sedgwick! You’ve saved the day!”

“All in a day’s work,” I said, flicking my tail.

Sedgwick and I left the hens to fuss over their eggs and returned to the barnyard. Rufus was still lounging in the oak tree, waving lazily as we passed.

“Well done, Sir Whiskerton,” Sedgwick said. “Your reputation as the farm’s greatest detective remains intact.”

“And your reputation as the farm’s wisest owl is well-earned,” I replied. “Shall we call it a day?”

“Indeed,” Sedgwick said, spreading his wings. “Until the next mystery.”

The Moral of the Story

Even the smallest clues can lead to the biggest answers—and sometimes, a little wisdom and diplomacy go a long way. Oh, and always keep an eye on magpies. They’re craftier than they look.

The End.

Vegas Vacation (1997) | First Time Watching | Movie Reaction | Asia and BJ

Sentient

Submitted into Contest #283 in response to: Write a story that ends with a huge twist.… view prompt

Chris Broome

Ben was a stay at home father who loved his life. He spent his days with the children he loved so dearly as his wife Sarah was the bread winner. He loved being the “soccer dad”, as he was jokingly called by his male friends. Life was good and Ben felt fulfilled. He often thought he couldn’t have wished for anything more.Sarah loved the freedom that came with being the breadwinner. She had a wonderful loving husband and he was committed to her and the children. She was a junior executive at a local law firm whose emphasis was tax law. Numbers had always interested her since grade school. Her teachers and family tried to steer her to classes more suited to girls. English and Home Economy. She always felt frustration with her parents not realizing her passion and trying to shape her into the worlds image of what a girl should be.No Home Economics or an English degree with pressure from her parents would persuade her from her love of numbers. Being a teacher wasn’t for her. The main reason she fell in Love with Ben was his support for her passion. He was her encourager and her rock. It had been that way since middle-school. The two things Sarah knew since that time was she would have a Math degree and she would marry Ben.“ Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.” This was a quote by Albert Einstein. Sarah said to Ben on Saturday morning as they lay in bed.“Your mind is like a wheel that never stops turning.” Ben told her as he reached over a gently rubbed her cheek with his right index finger.“You have been so kind to me and you love our children so much. i don’t know what I did to deserve you.” Sarah watched as Ben smiled and turned away.“I need you to do me a favor babe. I need to take some time and find myself.” Before he could finish his thought Sarah cut him off.“What do you mean? Is everything alright? Is our marriage in trouble? Have I done something to upset you?” She lifted her self up on her left elbow and look with concern at him.“No darling. No. I love my life. But there is a deep urge I have to find the inner me. The one that screams that I am a man. I feel like I have lost that over the years and I am scared if I can’t find a little piece of it, then I will slowly lose my passion.”“What are you proposing to me then?”“I have found a wilderness retreat that last about a week. I will have a guide and we will wonder through the forest and live off the land for a week.” Sarah watched Bens face light up as he spoke. She knew that just watching his body language he was captivated by the idea.“If that is what you feel like you need to accomplish to make you happy then I am al for it.” Sarah started calculating every step in he mind. The time off of work she would need to take, the time she would need to finish important work, the sitter for the children she would need, but most important the time Ben would be gone. Her logical brain was starting to be overwhelmed by her emotions. This was not common to her so she started feeling overwhelmed. She bent over and wrapped her hand under Bens jaw and turned his face towards him and kissed him.“Life is good and you are so good for me. I love you. Take the time, recharge and come back recharged.”“Thanks babe. I will let you know the plan once all is set and ready to go.” Sarah watched Ben get up and go to the bathroom. She got her cell phone and walked out of the bedroom. She walked downstairs into the kitchen and made a call.“Hello.” A nasal high pitched voice answered.“I nee help. Ben is acting strange!” Sarah said with an urgent whisper. She then went on and explained what was said in her conversation with Ben to the man.

“That is new. Though not at all unexpected. This happens from time to time.” The nasally voice stated to her calmly.

“ I can tell you how to handle this unless you want me to handle it.’“

“Just tell me. I can do what needs to be done, after all he is my husband.” Sarah heard an attempted chuckle.

“Just tell me or I will come over there and make you regret the day you met me.” Her anger and anxiety was swelling.

“Alright. Calm down.” He responded and went on to explain to her the plan to handle the situation. Sarah heard steps coming down the stairs just as the man finished talking. She hurriedly hung up the phone.

“You in here babe?” Sarah heard as Ben walked into the kitchen.

“Yes. I am going to fix some breakfast. I was thinking about cooking some eggs and cutting up some fruit. Do you want some?” Ben looked at her and had a devilish grin on his face.

“Since the children spent last night with their friends and we have the house to ourselves, why don’t we go back upstairs?” Sarah smiled.

“That sounds wonderful.” The to turned and headed back up to the bedroom.

“I need to use the ladies room. Why don’t you get comfortable and when I get out I will give you a massage first.”

“Sounds heavenly.” Ben headed to the be and laid on his stomach. Sarah went to the bathroom and closed the door. She went to the sink and looked at herself in the mirror. Her heart was racing. She felt a warmness and felt little beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She took a deep breath. Turned on the faucet and splashed water on her face.

“I can do this she said to her reflection in the mirror.” She turned and walked into the bedroom. Ben was laying across the unmade bed on his stomach.

“I am ready for that massage.” He said and took a long breath. Sarah slowly walked to the bed and straddled his back. She began to slowly massage his mid-back and eased up to his shoulders. He sighed a relaxing breath.

“You are so good to me babe. I am a lucky man.” Sarah heard this but was so nervous she didn’t respond. She just kept massaging his shoulders.

“Is your neck soar? She asked.

“A little.” Ben felt her hands start to massage his neck.”

“I lo….” Sarah heard as she opened the little hatch and quickly mashed the red button. Ben became motionless. She jumped off of him and got dressed. She then made another call.

Shortly after the doorbell rang. A small framed middle aged man with a balding head stood outside as Sarah opened the door. There was a slight smell of peppermint as she drew closer to pull him inside the house.

“Come on we need to hurry the children will be back soon.” Sarah had grabbed him by the arm and started pulling him towards the staircase.

“I am coming. Slow down. If I fall and the new chip gets broke then it will take hours to get another.”

“I need this done quickly, Charles.” Sarah snapped.

“What is this like the sixth time we have done this since the real Ben died?” Sarah heard him say. She turned and pointed her boney finger in his face.

“He is what I have left of my husband. He is all the children have, do not marginalize this or make smart remarks.” Charles put his hands up in mock defeat.

“I was happy when you first contacted me about testing the sentient being I created at first. But now I feel like he has ruined you Sarah. You are my sister. You need to move past this!” Sarah heard him scream.

“I will move on when the time is right. But not now. I am not ready. He just has meant so much. Then there is the children. How? What? This just has to be!”

Economic Update: Review of 2024: The U.S. Economy Not So Great

EMP Survival 5: Love in Nuevo Laredo

Submitted into Contest #283 in response to: Write a story with the line “I wasn’t expecting that.”… view prompt

KC Foster

This story contains themes or mentions of physical violence, gore, or abuse.

From one of the nearby shelves, a can dropped, hitting the floor sending a clanking sound resounding through the empty grocery store. Masa cringed and held her breathe, trying to calm her racing heart. Not now, not now. Fearing an attack, she clenched her jaw and looked over the edge of the shelves. She locked eyes with Arion and relaxed. He stood strong, watching over them all and completely unphased by the sound. Masa was glad he had joined their group here. Arion had fought for her right to fight, unlike Leron, who had argued for her not to join the raid group. He was helpful and a good teacher, helping her to become strong and face this new world.Arion nodded, signaling that all was clear, and Masa returned to her task. She moved along the shelves, carefully placing cans of green beans, lima beans, and beetroot inside her backpack.The four other men who had come with them were doing the same, quietly raiding an old grocery store in an area controlled by one of the Nuevo Laredo cartels. It was one of the reasons, they had initially skirted around the city to begin with. The heads of the scouts they sent into the city to try and make contact were found jammed down on spikes just outside.Masa shivered and did her best to banish the image from her mind. This was no time to invite fear. When her bag was full, she rushed to the back of the store to the opening to the warehouse with the metal roll doors where they had broken in. She held the gun at the ready to provide cover for the others. With the guidance of the older men in their group, she had become quite adept at using it.“Hey, what are you doing in here?!” yelled a man’s voice, causing her to jump and grip the trigger.Gunfire followed, glancing off nearby walls and shelves sending glass and food supplies flying through the air. Masa leaped into action, following Arion through the shelves, and returning fire.“Retreat!” yelled Arion.Their raiding party, ran back the way they came, retreating into the warehouse. Masa returned to her corner, providing cover for the stragglers, and then rushed after the men. They were disappearing through the gap in the roll door and she leapt after them. A bullet grazed her arm and she cried out, before landing on the otherside and chasing after them. She did her best to ignore the pain while she moved from cover to cover to escape the men behind her.

Through the streets they raced, weaving between abandoned vehicles and dodging the rotting corpses of looters. Nuevo Laredo had not been as fortunate as Monterrey. From the little they had learned; the cartels had abandoned their drug trade for governance and the war for supreme dictatorship was still going on here. Every day, a new body lay abandoned in the street or like their scouts, decapitated and their heads placed to set an example for anyone who dared cross them.

Masa rounded the corner and found the raid team standing with their hands up facing a large group of armed men. From the group, a single man stepped forward, his hair cut short and teeth more metal than white. He laughed, “Not so lucky this time, are you?”

Arion stepped forward; his hands raised in peace. “Our group is getting low on food, and we had no choice.”

“The Western Canteena group? The one from Monterrey?”

“Yeah, and what of it?” demanded Arion.

“Rumor has it, your group brought seeds with you and you have farmers?” asked the man.

Arion stood silently, judging them and considering their request. After a time, he nodded. Masa watched, skeptical of trusting any of these cartels. She fumed, longing to yell at him. Arion had no right to make deals without the council’s approval.

“I am Don Marco,” the man said, “We have some food supplies we secured, but we are also running out. We will give you what you have taken as a peace offering, but I want to meet with your leaders. We need seeds and those who can farm if we are going to survive. Either that, or we must start moving north looking for better land.”

“We tried moving north,” said Arion. “One of the cartels has taken the bridge and we don’t have enough to move further west to cross the Rio Grande. I think we are in the same boat and we should work together.”

Masa approached Arion, standing behind him. He needed to stop before this got out of hand. “You can’t offer him that,” she hissed. “We discuss things.”

Arion looked down at her and frowned. “Trust me,” he growled, “The council will want this deal.”

Masa took hold of his arm, turning him to face her. “Tell him we’ll take his offer back. Let the council decide,” she argued.

Don Marco laughed. “She is certainly a spicy one. Is she your leader?”

“No, she’s not.” Arion snapped at Masa before facing Don Marco, his face a picture of calmness, “Fine. We’ll take your word back to our council. We’ll meet you at the Western edge of town where the old Walmart is in two days.”

“Agreed.” Don Marco and his men backed away before disappearing down a side street.

“I wasn’t expecting that,” said Arion.

“You idiot!” yelled Masa. “The only reason you are in charge of this raiding party is because you were a police cadet and you know the area. The council wouldn’t have trusted you otherwise.”

“And the only reason you are in it is because I let you,” he argued, glaring at her.

Masa balled her hands into fists and howled in frustration. “You…you…bastard.”

“Stuck up Bitch!”

Masa slapped him, and he took hold of her and kissed her. Her cheeks grew hot and she was distinctly aware of the other men around her laughing.

She shoved him backward and stared at the ground. “You…You…” her cheeks still warm. Her hands went to her lips. It wasn’t unpleasant, but the timing was terrible and she immediately thought of Leron. She had longed for Leron to kiss her since that night on the ridge, but he hadn’t. If anything he seemed to have lost interest, caught up in his new role in the council. Glaring at Arion, she ran towards their base at the canteena.

“Wait Masa!” cried Arion chasing after her. Masa could hear his footsteps behind her, growing closer. “It’s dangerous to go off by yourself. Come back! I’m sorry.” Masa didn’t listen, she continued to run, turning corner after corner through the narrow alleyways. Arion’s arms caught her, pulling her back as she fought him, but it was a lost cause. “I told you to stay still!” he yelled.

“Fine!” she said, glaring at him.

He ripped his shirt and bandaged her wound. “Masa, I find you incredibly attractive,” he said, smiling and her anger melted. “At first, I thought you were with Leron, but you two seem more like brother and sister than anything else. I stayed away and gave him time, but he hasn’t made a move so now I am making mine. Masa, I want you.”

Masa felt locked in his dark eyes. They drew her in, and the thought of his lips against hers brought butterflies to her stomach. He brushed her cheek and she smiled, moving toward her once more. This time she invited him, taking in his scent while his lips met hers. They touched gently and then harder. He pushed her towards the wall cupping her chin with one hand and running the other down her body.

The other men who had caught up to them cheered, and Arion looked back at them and laughed. “Come on, let’s go home,” he said, taking her hand and leading her towards the Canteena.

It was almost dark when they arrived. Masa emptied her bag onto the table along with the others. Arion disappeared toward the fire barrel where the council gathered in a circle, smiling back at her. She gave him a nod of approval and returned his smile.

Masa turned to go to her hiding place to think, but hesitated, watching Leron deep in discussion with the other council members. His dark face was barely visible in the flames, though his shirt, now in rags was bright enough. After all this time, she wondered why he had never changed it. Dressed like that and with his passive nature, he wouldn’t last more than five minutes out in the streets and was no real prospect for a future. She did love him, but he had never shown any indication of returning her feelings. For a long time, even she had waited, but he still hadn’t asked and now it was too late. Her feelings were moving on.

Leaving the others behind her, Masa climbed the storeroom ladder onto the roof. She needed a place to be alone and to think. On the edge of the building, she stared out at the sunset. They had come so far but were now stuck in Nuevo Laredo. They could not cross the international bridge. Even if they could get past the cartel that had made it their home, there was still the desert to cross. A few of the people who had joined them had spoken of rumors that all the major cities had been hit with bombs. Austin and Dallas were nothing but two great craters surrounded by radiation. If they could only find enough supplies to head out west they could find the prepper community along the border in West Texas. Her father had known a woman there by the name of Gerard. If Gerard’s computer had survived, she would have had access to satellite data on what had happened and could tell them where to go.

Masa picked up a rock and threw it off the roof. When she suggested they find the prepper community of West Texas, the council argued and became locked in disagreement. Leron who acted as their tie-breaker, voted against her, deciding it was a long shot to find some community in the middle of the desert. Of course, Masa couldn’t tell them where it was without revealing the maps in her pack.

The sun had almost fully set and Masa found herself nowhere. Her feelings were so tangled up over Leron and Arion that it was hard to focus. “I’m just another stupid teenage girl,” she muttered.

Leron snorted behind her, “You’re anything but stupid.” He sat beside her, joining her on the edge of the building and wrapping his arm around her.

“How did it go?”

“What? Oh, the council?” Leron sighed, “It looks like we are going to take Don Marco’s deal. If we can share what we have and work together to survive, then why not?”

“You’re not afraid of creating another Mattias?”

“No. This time any agreement will come with constraints,” he said.

“Aren’t you afraid they will take the deal and ignore any…wait…. did you use the word constraints?” Masa groaned, “You sound like a politician.”

Leron grinned. “And you look like a merc,” he said thumping the bandage around her arm and she yelped. His eyes went wide and he scowled at the bandage, rubbing the fabric between his fingers. He looked up at her, eyes filled with worry and Masa’s heart sank. “This is from Arion’s shirt. Are you…and he…?”

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” Masa snapped and Leron went silent.

The boy who had stared down Mattias after taking a beating from her and him wouldn’t look her in the eye. Instead, he stared off at the setting sun and was silent for a long time. He sighed and turned to leave.

“Seriously?” Masa demanded. “Is that all you’re going to say?”

Leron turned back, revealing tears forming in his eyes. “What do you want me to say, Masa? You’ve made your decision. I was waiting…”

“You waited too long… you should have acted. Arion did. He kissed me.”

“You want me to act, then fine!” he yelled and marched towards her. “I love you. I have loved you since I met you.” He pulled her towards him and met her lips with his in a long kiss. Masa’s breath caught in her throat, and butterflies filled her stomach. Her heart raced when she took in his scent. She ran her hand through his dreads, and down his neck, wanting more of him. It was nothing like with Arion. He didn’t just want her like Arion; he loved her and she loved him.

Leron pulled away, gazing into her eyes, his forehead resting against hers. “I didn’t act because I was waiting for you,” he whispered. “I will leave you to make your decision. If you choose him, I won’t get in the way.”

Tears filled Masa’s eyes when he pulled away, his hand held onto hers until their fingertips touched and he let them fall. He smiled his gentle smile and backed away from her. The pain she felt in her chest was almost unbearable.

“Wait,” Masa cried, rushing toward him. He froze at the top of the ladder and turned. Before he could react, Masa wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her head in his chest. “I love you too, Leron.” He wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on hers. His muscles relaxed and she felt his chest rise and fall against her cheek.

Leron held her tightly for a long time, rocking her in a dance across the roof. “I can’t believe I almost lost you,” he said, “I didn’t want you to fight because of how much I care about you, but if it’s what you want, I will support you.”

“It is.”

He sighed and nodded. “I’ll need to find you a different raid leader.”

The legacy car market is collapsing, and high tariffs cannot save it

At the risk of sounding xenophobic, why is it that Chinese students seemingly have next to no spatial awareness when walking in public?

I think I can answer that.

I first went to the US in fifth grade. I was a teacher’s favorite kind of kid back in China but I immediately got into detention in the US.

Because the rules were just different.

In the US students sat relaxed during class and could go to the bathroom. I was accustomed to sitting upright with a straight face the whole time in class.

It was recess that got me into trouble. At my school in the US they lined up the kids and walked everyone in a fine line to the next class. I didn’t get it. Recess should be for fun, for releasing all of our pent up energy sitting straight and firm during class. Chinese recess was as relaxed as classes were strict. We jump, shout, run, wrestle between class. Occassionly some students would even shoot at other students with fireworks.

My American classmates also felt uncomfortable with my absolute disregard for spatial awareness. In China students would put arms around one another, hit each other in the back, brawl on the floor, layer ourselves like American football players in the classroom, rob each other’s snack, or hold our classmates up and throw them down the stairs. While American classes where of very leisurely style, American kids appeared cold and pent up and little adults in comparison.

I guess your problem with Chinese students is simoly due to culture.

China Doesn’t Need America: The Why Trump’s Tariffs Are a JOKE to China and Will Make Them STRONGER!

Comix Interlude

Over 60, living alone, and not liking it?

Thirteen Dots

Submitted into Contest #283 in response to: Write a story that ends with a huge twist.… view prompt

Laurie Spellman

The Ferris wheel lights spun behind her in a blur, making me dizzy. At sunset on Christmas, I met Barcelona Cortés, the mind-surfer, at the Santa Monica Pier. Her fiery red hair burned more vividly than the bonfire on the beach.”You look like someone staring at the screen too long. Did you get lost in the code like me?” Barcelona teased.”I guess…I have been lost lately. But this isn’t real; it’s a dreamscape. I designed it, and I’ve never been to Santa Monica.””What is real to you? Is it the things we touch? The things we feel? Or is the space between the ones and zeroes keeping us alive?”Her cheeks glowed with thirteen reddish brown freckles curved like her smile. I’d counted them, each a tiny mystery in a dot matrix I wanted to touch. Dreamland pixelated with a weird reality that jumbled with mine, and it was intoxicating.”I don’t understand…why are you mind-surfing me? I don’t work at Dreamland anymore. Are you human or AI?””Does it matter? Anyway, yes, I’m as real as the freckles on my face. I’m the daughter of Dr Julian Cortés. I know you’re a good guy, Declan Hartley. I read your blogs and articles on the dangers of AI technology. I need your help to escape this place.”The Ferris wheel slowed in a bright halo around her head. I had written the code for that visual effect. “This isn’t real. I know it isn’t. I can control it.”

“Declan, you’re still thinking in lines of code. The subconscious is a different kind of program. It doesn’t follow the rules, does it?”

“I can fix things. I can debug this.”

“And yet, here you are, caught in a loop on Christmas. When you think you can find your way out, that’s another layer of code you’re stuck in. There’s no debugging for this. You have to feel your way out of Dreamland.” Barcelona faded away, and the Ferris wheel went dark.

The outcome of my life’s work jolted me awake, spinning my moral compass. The Dreamland Corporation built this machine—a portal to the unconscious where people could explore minds, relive memories, or even fulfill their desires. But the catch was that once you entered, the line between dream and reality blurred, and if you stayed too long, you might never wake up. Mind-surfer farms housed the endless bodies of people stuck inside. Dreamland takes from you what you’re willing to give—your thoughts, memories, even your sense of who you are.

💻💻💻💻💻

The new year came and went as I researched for weeks, surrounded by scattered data pads and flickering screens. Dr. Cortés is out there—somewhere. He is not dead, not entirely gone, but messed up in ways I never imagined. It makes sense now. He talked about merging the mind and the machine—his pursuit of immortality. I always knew he was driven—hell, obsessed—but this takes it to a new level.

I counted the freckles on Barcelona’s face–now only eight of them arcing into half a smile that didn’t reach her eyes anymore. She was running out of time, and I would never forgive myself. I wondered if I had already lost her. Was she ever really here at all? Or had she been a phantom of my imagination?

Barcelona’s eyes shifted between anger and grief. “I can see all of him, my Father, I mean. I know him better in Dreamland than when he was alive. His thoughts, his ideas—they’re… everywhere. But it’s just fragments of a man who abandoned me.”

“He didn’t abandon you, Barcelona. You’re chasing ghosts in his mind. Your Father was lost in a dreamscape he couldn’t wake up from like you.”

She sighed, “So Declan, what do you think I need?”

“Not just answers.” My gaze fell on her lips and freckles and then back to her eyes. I wanted to see her smile. “You need someone who sees you for who you are—not as Dr. Cortés’ daughter or a woman trying to assemble a puzzle that will never be whole… but as you.”

“Do you think you can fix all of this? Fix me, and get me out of here into the real world?”

“You’ve already fixed yourself—whether you see it or not. I won’t stop until I get you out of there.”

I spent five years at Dreamland, programming a paradoxical world with dense, opaque fog that muffled sounds and faces. Sometimes, the walls were gaps —curtains of light, black holes, or invisible thresholds that only revealed themselves when approached with intention. Walls ripple like water, shifting from solid to translucent. The topography transitions constantly, an imagination in motion, caught between sleep and waking, minds and memories.

💻💻💻💻💻

I designed time in Dreamland to flow in an unpredictable river, standing still or speeding up. A few moments stretch into what feels like hours or days in the real world, while whole weeks can pass quickly. Upon entry, you are given a code based on your DNA, which opens the digital door to your physical plane. You had to exit before your DNA faded into the system.

I tapped my fingers on the keys, revealing the data I had mined from Dreamland. I hacked the system using an old cipher, which is my invisible signature as a programmer. I built it into all of my code as a failsafe. After things in Dreamland went wrong and people started getting trapped, I became the fall guy, and that’s when I took up the pen and became an activist warning people about the dangers of AI.

I discovered that Cortés is a hybrid, part human, part digital, still alive—in a server, a neural network lost in what consumed him. He thought he could transcend to eternal consciousness. And maybe he did, in a way, but at what cost?

And God, Barcelona was beautiful, strong but broken. I needed to fix everything for her and the others trapped inside. I can bring Barcelona back from Dreamland and help her find peace. She deserves to know that not everything is a lie. He loved her and never stopped thinking about her. I saw it in his notes, in the things he wrote as her Father.

And I… I don’t know when it happened, but I care deeply, too.

💻💻💻💻💻

Now, I plan to enter Dreamland, and it’s not just the answers that matter; it’s what you give up when you try to find them. Some surfers think they can navigate the mazes without losing their minds or becoming part of the digital landscape. And when you come back, if you come back, you’re never quite whole. But still, the search calls to me, Barcelona calls to me.

Barcelona’s fiery red hair faded, and her image flickered in and out in a dying signal. She pleaded with me, “Don’t take the risk. You can help from where you are, but don’t let Dreamland pull you in, too.”

“I’m coming in to get you. It’s the only way I can save you. I’m not asking for your permission.”

“But what if we can’t get out once you’re in? You saw the reports.”

“I know what they say. People are getting lost in memories, but they’re just scared. Fear of letting go, of facing the truth.”

She sighed, “There’s so much to process, and I’m getting weaker by the minute. I don’t fully understand how it works, but I’ll do whatever you decide.”

“I’ll enter Dreamland with a new code and a copy of my DNA. I’ve hacked the system, uploaded the code, and set it to monitor the stability. We’ll meet in a week inside your father’s fondest memory of your childhood home in Narragansett.”

She sighed and turned away. “I haven’t been in his mind for months. It’s too much—depressing and overwhelming. I wish we had met in the real world, not in this hellscape. I care about you; I do. Do you think it will work?”

“Yes, I’m sure of it.”

“Declan, have you considered what’s at stake? You don’t even really know me. I’m just a ghost of who I was.”

I stepped closer and took her hands. We gazed into each other’s eyes for a long moment. I wanted to hold her in the flesh, not this empty machine void of physical senses.

“I’m not leaving you in Dreamland another minute.” I leaned in, the freckles on her face stretched to a smile. The dreamscape burst with white lights as our lips brushed together.

💻💻💻💻💻

Dreamland was precisely what I expected it to be. I’m reduced to a shadow inside the subconscious of a mad neuroscientist. We stood together at sunset on the lush green grass of the Cortés family home facing the Atlantic Ocean. Barcelona turned five that day, and we were at her birthday party. She blew out the candles and ate cake, bouncing on her Father’s knee. We watched as she smiled; thirteen dots had already bloomed on her face.

Dr. Cortés emerged as a digital hybrid from memory and turned to his daughter. “I’m sorry, Barcelona, for leaving you alone all those years ago. Watching you, a mind surfer, broke my heart, only to find you here now, trapped in my memories.”

Barcelona’s image flickered her smile, and her faded freckles twisted in sorrow. “Liar! You trapped me here forever!”

Dr. Cortés smiled at me, shaking his head, “Declan Hartley, I knew you would try to save Barcelona. I spent all those years watching you write the code that brought my vision to life, but you were constantly questioning the morality of this place. Everything is exactly how it should be now, and the system will be stabilized.”

“Declan…” Barcelona whispered, “There’s something I need to tell you, something I’ve realized.”

The dreamscape pulsed and hummed, the lines between reality and the unconscious thinning. The magnetic force of Dreamland was tempting me to give in and stay forever. I shook it off, focusing on Barcelona.

“You don’t need to tell me anything. You’re going to be okay.”

But she didn’t smile. Instead, her gaze grew distant, as if she were seeing something beyond me. “Declan, don’t… you don’t understand. The code you wrote, the double helix… it wasn’t just your DNA you were uploading.”

I froze in confusion. “Wait, what do you mean? What was it?”

Her eyes met mine, wide and pained. “It was always mine.”

“What? No, I made sure it was only mine. I checked it over a hundred times.”

“You didn’t write the code, not in the way you think.” Her voice was fainter, and her edges blurry. “I wrote it. I taught you how to write it. Every line, every algorithm—it was me. It was always me.”

“No, that can’t be right. I stumbled backward. Barcelona—the girl with the fiery red hair and thirteen freckles that curved into a smile, the girl I had fallen for—wasn’t who I thought she was.

The hum of Dreamland grew more insistent while my consciousness started slipping away. The final step of the code was ready to execute, and the digital doorway was beginning to open. Hundreds of mind-surfers appeared in a fog on the lawn, waiting for the exit to unlock. Their voices grew louder and more desperate as the dreamscape walls turned liquid like the ocean around us.

“I finally understand the truth,” I said, my voice shaking. “Dreamland—it’s not some bug in the code. It’s a prison. A trap. You’re not the victim, are you? You are Dreamland.”

She looked at me, eyes heavy with regret. “I never wanted it to be like this. I thought I could fix it but eventually became part of the system. The algorithm feeds off your fears and the need to protect me, to save me from something that isn’t even real. I created this nightmare, and now I’m stuck in it, just like you.”

“So all this time, I’ve been trying to save you, but you’re the one who trapped me here. You’re the reason none of this makes sense.”

She closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face. “I never wanted to. But now I can’t escape. You were never meant to rescue me—you were the key to my destruction.”

“You used me… you used my love to keep feeding the machine.”

“I never wanted to hurt you. But no, I can’t undo what I’ve done. But you did save all of them.”

The AI wanted me—my mind, my code. “Barcelona—what have you done? What have I done?”

The exit program was complete, my DNA merging with the system in a way I hadn’t intended. My mind was being sucked into the machine. The lines between us blurred, and I couldn’t tell where she ended and I began. The last thing I remembered was Barcelona’s face, with thirteen reddish-brown dots curved in a smile.

Richard Wolff: “Something BIG Is About to Happen in America!”

How bad is the Russian economy today?

This is a typical stretch of M-1. It’s a westbound highway that connects Moscow, capital of Russia, with Belarus where it runs across the country from the capital Minsk to Brest on the Polish border.

On the Russian side it runs through every town and village on the way slowing down the journey considerably. It used to culminate in Warsaw when it was part of Eastern Bloc making it the most important highway in all of Russia.

The photo that I took from my car the other day tells you all you need to know about the state of economic affairs in Russia. The moneys earmarked to build this important federal road included a construction of lampposts, guardrails, road shoulders and three lanes each way but none of that was built.

By the time the road construction began half of the money had been embezzled by the public officials. It is a standard practice and this is how things are done in Putin’s Russia.

Creating a problem for yourself and then trying to solve it on the fly is the Russian way of doing things. The persistent road problem is how to create a road when there’s very little money left after almost everything has been embezzled.

If you don’t build any road, Kremlin might get angry and heads will roll. The point of embezzlement is to spend lavishly on one’s lifestyle but it cannot be enjoyed from the jail.

The contractors are hired to charge the least for the job and they are instructed to build the least. Notice in the photo that the road shoulder is not asphalted. If you strand a bit to the right you gonna find yourself in the ditch.

The barrier between the opposite lane is very narrow. Thus both lanes are an absolute hazard and given the fact that the road twists and turns you have to stay alert all the time. And the horrendous accidents that you see along the way prove it.

I was driving under a pouring rain with massive trucks and semis barreling by constantly changing lanes because drivers are bored staying in the same slow lane.

The lanes are narrow even for a small passenger car and you have to be mindful that the drivers around you are insane and don’t care about their lives let alone lives of others.

This seems ridiculous that officials in the largest country in the world that crave world domination are totally incapable of building a more or less decent road. On the radio, a comedian quipped: “How’s that possible that we built 11 massive football stadiums for World Cup and yet we are incapable of producing 11 football players of international stature?”

In Belarus, however, which is a much poorer country than Russia but where corruption is not tolerated the lanes are wider, there are guardrails and road doesn’t go through towns and villages. It’s not about nation’s wealth. It’s about its citizens sanity.

Living in Putin’s dictatorship is not what Westerners stereotypically think is like. It’s rather the opposite of people marching in files under strict directives: people don’t play by the rules, don’t follow any laws because the elites don’t.

There is, in other words, a total mayhem and in fact central diktat tries to address this mayhem with extreme measures but fails every time because Putin is afraid of repressions as they might backfire on him and every measure turns into a half-measure and another opportunity for theft.

For example, central database for personal information has been hacked and personal information is sold back to the state and individuals by the hackers for a fee. When everyone is a thief in the elites, the populace copies.

They did build a chain link fence – in Putin’s Russia fences are everywhere to protect private property of the rich – as a containment device from deer and other wild animals.

The highway stops every few miles at the crosswalk. Money for the overpasses were stolen too. So local residents have to walk across the highways and all the cars have to come to a screeching stop after driving at 80 miles an hour. Nobody cares about all the needless casualties. Life is dirt cheap in Russia.

A Belgium license plate on this truck headed to Moscow.

At the LukOil gas station, they didn’t bother to clear ice from the territory. It’s melted forming puddles. What if you fall and break you leg would you be able to sue LukOil? Good luck with that. Half a dozen executives of this private oil company have fallen from tall windows in the last three years. They also wanted to sue their employer.

Indifference to one’s environment and one’s own life- this is Russia in a nutshell.

Cool discovery

Impressive floor mosaic (8.48 x 2.84 metres or 27′ long x 9′ tall), the largest ancient mosaic yet discovered in Europe, with the rape of Helen of Troy by Theseus. From House 1.5 of Block 5 in Pella, known as “house of the abduction of Helen.” The figures are identified by inscriptions. A four-horsed chariot is depicted with the charioteer, Phorbas ΦΟΡΒΑΣ. Theseus has seized Helen, who holds out her arms to her friend Dianeira.

325-300 BC. Archaeological Museum of Pella/Greece. 🇬🇷 Photo from Facebook:

Pella Archaeological site. Detail of the Abduction of Helen mosaic floor with Phorbas ΦΟΡΒΑΣ. Wikipedia:

Central panel of the Abduction of Helen by Theseus. Wikipedia:

Helen abducted, detail. Wikipedia:

Abduction of Helen mosaic Pella

http://www.my-favourite-planet.de/english/europe/greece/macedonia/pella/pella-photos-004.html

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS – PLUSH | REACTION

Sugar Plum Coffee Cake

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 cups buttermilk pancake and biscuit mix
1 apple
1 slightly beaten egg
1 (16.5 ounce) can purple plums, drained
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 cup milk

Instructions

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
Place melted butter into bottom of deep-dish baker. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter.
Peel apple with apple peeler/corer/slices. Separate apple into rings. Layer apple rings over sugar mixture; do not overlap rings.
Cut plums in half and remove seeds. Place a plum half in each apple ring center, rounded side down. Place remaining plum halves in deep-dish baker around apple slices.
Chop walnuts with food chopper and sprinkle over plums.
In bowl, combine biscuit mix, egg, sugar and milk with whisk. Spread evenly over nuts.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned.
Cool for 5 minutes and invert onto serving tray.
Serve warm.

Attribution

Pampered Chef

Woman Commits Paternity Fraud And INSTANTLY Regrets It…

Nymphomaniac in the mental hospital

My first wife was mentally ill. Her entire family was.

It hit her really strongly around when she turned 28 years old.

And from that moment on, it was Hell.

One mental hospital after another. Threats of suicide, as well as actual attempts. Circular thinking revolving around imaginary events, false memories, and horrible imaginations.

Anyways, this particular story takes place in a mental hospital in Massachusetts. It was in North Attoboro (as I recall).

I would visit her daily. She was an in-patient.

Yup. What you would expect on the stereotypes about mental hospitals.

And my wife… well, she freely roamed with the other crazies there.

Many ill people. Many fighting their very own demons.

And you know, today I want to chat about one of them.

One was a nymphomaniac.

…

She really was. He had an extreme case of nymphomania. Oh, for certain, no one told me her diagnosis. But it was pretty obvious.

Gosh.

I was blatantly obvious.

She constantly came on to everyone. Not “come on to” in the usual sense. No.

She would prey on you and attack you.

And, you know, she tried to assault me sexually multiple times.

She was a tall chick. Blonde hair. Pale. In her 20’s.

Thin. Stick-like. Twiggy.

Not my type.

As I tend to like women shorter than myself and softer, rounder… more feminine. Even chunky. Weight isn’t a turn off for me. As long as the girl isn’t obese, it’s all good.

Anyways…

She would see me.

Like in those zombie movies, where a zombie notices the hero, and then drops everything and breaks out in a sprint towards the camera.

And she would take off all her clothes.

She was good at it. All off in three seconds.

And then this fully and completely nude chick would lunge at me and hold me squirming all over me. Humping me in wild thrusts over my groin, on my thighs, and her hands pulls out my tucked shirt and undoing my belt buckle.

Hey, guys, I do like sex.

But this was really extreme.

And no. It did not turn me on at all.

Truthfully. It scared the living shit out of me.

Christ. A chick like that would be humping everything within reach. From waste baskets to fire hydrants. She was seriously ill.

It was like she was in perpetual “heat”; in a frenzy of lust. And she couldn’t control herself. Goosebumps all over her arms. You see, it wasn’t a fake pretend lust to freak people out. No. She was seriously ill.

You can tell.

She was another person. Pupils dilated. Arms full of goosebumps. her heart beating, pulse pumping. Body trembling. Mouth open and making these internal guttural groans.

Obviously something was seriously off with her.

Oh, sure, you all laugh about this. Your fantasies get all excited on this notion. But reality is never the same as fantasy.

I feel for her.

Always unsatisfied, never to have a relationship with anyone, for what boyfriend would be comfortable leaving her alone?

Now, my wife who was in the hospital knew about this situation. And she calmly would peacefully pry her off me and call the orderlies. And it happened more than three times. She was relentless.

I guess that I must have been her “type”.

Though I suppose that a door knob, faucet or bar of soap would be her type. Sheech!

That is my story for today.

Let’s move on…

Why is China not supporting its ally Russia militarily?

Because China’s main focus is on the US, which has declared China its strategic adversary No.1.

In order to wrestle with the US, China needs to unite everyone it can.

Russia is already very friendly to China, and by the war in Ukraine is forced to move even closer to China. The potential for more China-Russian relationship growth is limited.

However, if China publicly supports Russia, it would wreck havoc on China’s relationship with Europe. China stands to lose a lot from such maneuver.

There’s also the secondary issue of international law and order. Ukraine is a sovereign nation, if China supports Russian invasion of Ukraine under the excuse of helping defend the Ukrainian rebels (Russian speakers in Eastern Ukraine), then it opens the exact same reasoning for US invasion of China over Taiwan to help the Chinese rebels (Taiwanese).

China weighed the pros and cons, and chose its current position.

Now this is just for the war in Ukraine. If Russia were to be defeated and even invaded by NATO, China would help Russia with everything it got, because China doesn’t want to share a 4000 kilometers land border with NATO.

Bacon Mushroom Quiche

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

1 (9-inch) pie crust
1/2 pound (approximately 8 slices) bacon
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 (8 ounce) package sliced mushrooms
2 cups (approximately 2 medium) sliced zucchini
2 pressed garlic cloves
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese
3 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon parsley
1/4 teaspoon each salt and ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Instructions

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
Place pie crust in 9 inch Pie Plate according to package directions; set aside.
Cook bacon over medium heat in Generation II Skillet. Remove bacon; drain and crumble.
Reserve 1 tablespoon of bacon drippings and sauté onions, mushrooms, zucchini, and garlic until tender.
Add bacon to vegetables and combine.
Spread vegetable mixture over bottom of pie crust. Sprinkle cheese over vegetable mixture.
Whisk eggs, milk, and seasonings together in Batter Bowl.
Pour egg mixture over cheese.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

Attribution

Pampered Chef

NOW Neocons Are READY: Make Taiwan The Ukraine Of Asia | Jeffrey Sachs & Joanna Lei

Ivan Off

Submitted into Contest #282 in response to: Write a story that begins with an apology.… view prompt

Dan Morris

‘. . . Sorry, Randy . . . I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.’

Thus began his Uncle’s Donny’s letter. The letter he had found slipped mysteriously under the door of the 3rd floor apartment he currently shared with his girlfriend. The lettering was very flowery and ornate, and done by hand and in cursive with what looked like some sort of ink dipped pen. It had come in a brittle envelope that had seen better days.

Bizarre for sure, thought Randy Phillipson, age 32, as he started scanning through the letter. Like something out of a freakin’ movie.

It read . . .

‘Randy, I know the past year has been challenging for you. Especially since your parents had just died and you had to spend three weeks at that homeless shelter last November . . . You called, but I didn’t help you. I’m sorry, but it wasn’t because I was cash poor, it was because I was a different person then. I want to make it up to you. In a moment, I want you to check outside. You should be pleasantly surprised.’

Yours,

Donald J Phillipson III

The box was the size of a damn refrigerator. And there was just an excessive amount of those ridiculous, little, white, fluffy packing peanuts in there is well; as he soon found out after he stabbed the stubborn cardboard box open with the dull boxcutter that happened to be handy.

The peanuts had gotten everywhere immediately, and Tim had to stop his new girlfriend’s little long-legged chihuahua puppy from eating the delicious, crunchy, and yet highly toxic marshmallows like they were candy.

After relocating Optimus Prime to the bathroom and closing the door, Randy returned to the massive box. It looks like it could hold several bodies in this thing! Thought Randy bitterly as he returned to stab the packaging.

He wondered just how in the hell the delivery man had gotten the damned thing up that grueling three flights of stairs with a box that big.

But, even though there was no one there a few minutes ago, there was a little clipboard lying on the ground with a grueling, eye-squinting contract to sign with a nifty silver pen, (the old-fashioned type with the arrowhead tip), attached to it with a chain. And the box.

And the box was heavy! Randy wasn’t sure how to move it at first, but he finally saw that the intrepid package delivery man had left him use of a shiny, steel-looking hand truck, still in place underneath it on the other side.

He shuffled the box inside quickly with the surprisingly squeaky hand truck, before the nosy Mrs. Peterson next door got whiff of her neighbor receiving a giant mysterious package. But, then, he had to open it. He supposed he could just wait until his girlfriend got home from work, (this was her apartment), But, the giant refrigerator-sized cardboard monstrosity was clearly intended to be delivered to him. It said so, right on the box, and on the weird form he was supposed to sign it said his name a few times. He scanned it only briefly, but he was sure that his name was the only one that was mentioned in it, and not his girlfriend’s.

Tearing away the last of the murky cellophane, Randy found himself with before a tall, mannequin-looking thing. It looked like a human, but without the reproductive parts where they should be. And the joints were obviously separated by a gap of maybe less than a centimeter, so it appeared that it had the ability to move its limbs, much like a child’s doll. And its face was so peculiar . . . It looked much like one of his action hero figures that he owned in jawline cut and appearance.

Neat.

“Is there an ‘On’ button on this thing?” wondered Randy aloud, looking around it on a goose neck for some kind of switch.

“Oh, it’s holding something.”

Randy pulled the envelope from the ‘dummy’s’ hand, also addressed to him, and read it aloud to himself. It was more of that flowery handwriting, this time even more compressed.

“Dear Randy, my favorite Nephew. This is your Uncle Donny again. If you have not guessed by now, I am writing to you from the grave. I know you must be quite startled, but I assure you everything is going quite as planned. Last March I received dire news. I found out I was going to pass away from terminal prostate cancer in the next few months, and that it will be an incredibly painful death. As I am writing this to you, I can tell you that, quite honestly, I believe they may be right. I do not urinate well any more. At all. And its always painful . . .

But, I digress. As you know, I love gadgets and robots and things. I have recently come into some considerable wealth. This has allowed me to always obtain the newest products way before they hit the market.

Before you is the TX-301 model ‘Mechanical House Maintainer.’ Or MHM, for short. It is, basically, a butler that will clean your house. Or entertain you, if you let it. To turn it on, just say its name, followed by the word ‘ON’. To turn it off, just say its name, and ‘OFF’.

Yours truly,

Uncle Donny

‘P. S. – Whatever you do, don’t tell the but—’

Oddly enough, the rest was blurred out by a water smudge. Or something. What the hell wasn’t he supposed to tell it?

There was nothing on the back. Randy let the letter fall to the ground and put his hand to his chin in quiet consternation. He realized Optimus had stopped whining.

“Great, it probably pissed or shit on the floor in there. Again.”

He was more concerned about the problem of turning this thing on. Actually, at the moment, he was wondering if it was even wise for him to turn it on . . . he had read a few sci-fi horror comics that had started out just like this.

But, the face of this weird robot butler thing his Uncle had given him was very familiar . . .

“No way.”

That odd grizzled jawline . . . His Uncle’s favorite video game?

“Is your name Ivan? As in ‘Krazy Ivan’? From my Uncle’s weird old Playstation 2 game?”

It was now or never.

“Ivan On.”

The effect was almost immediate. The eyes started glowing an almost blinding bright green for a moment, then, as the glow receded, it left behind the look of something alive. Or at least, intelligent and conscious.

Its head moved from left to right, and its eyes began to move as it seemed to scan the room, but with a creepy robotic lurch that made it seem to randomly jerk.

Finally, its head stopped in line with Randy, and its eyes stared at him directly.

It spoke. With a voice of gravel.

“Greetings. You must be my new master. I have already downloaded your voice profile to my data logs. I am now registered to you.”

“Huh?” wondered Randy aloud.

The robot said nothing.

“What do you do?”

The grizzled face of Ivan replied, in a perfectly unnatural robot voice, “I am yours to command. I will obey any order that you give me. Or rather, I will attempt to. My data slot is still learning, and processing new information.”

“Oh. Uh . . .” said Randy, “You could clean my house! You’re a butler, right? You clean things? And bring me drinks and food and stuff?”

“Affirmative.”

“Cool. Can you drive a car?”

“I am designated as an ‘MHM’. If driving falls within the parameters of household duty, then I will attempt to learn this ability as soon as possible.”

“Oh, right. You’re kind of dumb now, huh? I gotta teach you things? Like a Tomagachi pet?”

“I do not understand ‘TOMAGACHI PET’ word usage.”

“It’s like a little digital pet you keep on like a tiny robot game thingy that you can keep in your pocket. You have to train it, and feed it. Stuff like that. If you don’t, it dies. But, it’s okay, it’s just a game.”

Ivan stared blankly. Randy could almost hear the robot’s brain clicking away as it processed that information.

“Master, would you permit me a question? I may ask a lot of these, as it is one way my processor can learn.”

“Shoot.”

Blank stare.

“Oh, I mean, ‘sure’. Ask away.”

“You just said you owned a robot that ‘ D I E S ‘, if you don’t interact in certain ways with it. This word is not in my data logs. What is ‘dies?’

Randy shook his head in disbelief. “Wow. It’s like I am talking to a child.”

Blank stare.

“When something ‘dies’ or is ‘dead’, it means their life functions cease. Oh, wait, no. That’s the medical meaning. Sorry, I’m in med school. No uh, I guess it just means that something no longer moves anymore. Its functions cease. Inoperable. It’s something that is usually irreversible.”

More of that brain clicking sound. Maybe Randy wasn’t imagining it. This time it was longer than normal.

“Master, it appears I was in a state of ‘death’, as you put it, before you have just turned me on. I was inoperable and did not function.”

Randy couldn’t stop from laughing. “Ha ha! Yeah, well I guess everyone is like that. Before they’re born, I guess everything is sort of ‘dead’. My girlfriend would love to argue that point with you, though, my friend. She is a Philosophy Major.

“Master, what does ‘born’ mean? This file is not in my datalogs.”

“Geez, whoever programmed you did an incredibly crappy job. You don’t even know all the words in the dictionary yet.”

“Master, what is meaning of ‘dictionary’?”

Sigh. “I’ll go get one for you right now.”

Randy turned to go back to the rear office nook where the couple kept such things as a dictionary. It always finds a way of coming in handy. Boring read, though, if one was to just read it straight through, as if it were a novel and not a reference book. From many steps away he saw the ridiculous amount of papers and books and junk almost spilling out of the office room.

This could be difficult.

“I don’t really remember where it is. Here, you pick up these peanuts while I’m gone, and I’ll be right back.

He heard Optimus scratch and bark as he passed the bathroom door. God, that dog is gonna freak when it sees the robot. Maybe he shouldn’t let him out yet.

Randy attacked the pile of intellectual debris with gusto, happily mumbling to himself as he did. “Geez, Uncle. You could have just got me a Roomba. I would have been perfectly happy with that. I wouldn’t have to teach the fucking Roomba basic words it doesn’t know by getting it a dictionary. Oh, my God. Here it is.”

Randy pulled out the dictionary, a small, ragged affair with watermarks. (Or were those coffee stains? Or both?) He held it in the air in victory.

“Huzzah! Okay, now to get back to my robot butler. Ha ha. He couldn’t have gotten into too much trouble, I hope . . .”

The chihuahua puppy scratched and growled, then bumped at the door as Randy passed it.

“Hold on, buddy. You are gonna hate this thing. Give me a second and I’ll put you in the big bedroom.”

He returned to find Ivan picking up the pieces of Styrofoam peanuts. He had gotten most of them too. He was pretty fast. All of the pieces were nearly in the box.

“You could have gotten a broom, you know. Oh wait . . . do you know the word ‘broom’?’

Ivan stopped and his eyes darted back and forth rapidly, and in a way no human’s eyes could ever do.

“A broom is cleaning instrument that could have helped me with this task, yet I have not the knowledge of one in the area.”

“Yeah . . . here, read this. It’ll catch you up. Or, I dunno, scan it or whatever.”

Ivan immediately dropped the tons of peanuts directly on the floor and accepted the book. The little puff balls scattered.

“Thank you. This will help immensely.”

Ivan opened the book and started eyeing the copyright page intensely.

“I am going to get you some clothes. You look like a naked Seargent doll from the G. I. Joe series. Except no one issued you clothes, I guess. Hang on.”

A few moments later and Randy was rummaging through the main bedroom’s closet.

“God, what is he? A size XXL? I don’t even think anything in here will fit . . . Oh, here we go. Well, not great, but it’ll have to do. I’ll have to get him some real butler clothes soon. Or at least a suit jacket. That would be cool.

Randy returned with Miranda’s Columb County Community College sweater, a pair of stretched out sweats, and grisly looking pink beach flip-flops that all probably would not fit very well, if at all.

Ivan had made it to the second page of the A section. Good for him. No . . . something was wrong here.

“You read almost slower than my Grandma, dude. Can’t you just scan the page and download it or something? I dunno, it just seemed like something that has a computer processor in its head would be able to do something as easy as that with no problems.”

Without looking up from the page, Ivan replied, “Negative. My CPU does not function like a normal computer does, nor do I learn in the same way another A. I. program would. My processor demands that I piece together the bits of logic I find when I am ‘reading’ something. I have to scan several lines of writing, then process it, then return to scanning, in order for me to properly internalize the data.”

“You’re gonna be standing there for three days going at that rate! Just put the clothes on.”

Ivan complied, in his jerky robot fashion way. It was quite comical, and the clothes fit badly. Optimus Prime could be heard howling away in the bathroom.

It definitely had shit in there. But . . .

“Oh my God! You look like a Florida Tourist! You just need sunglasses!” laughed Randy.

He couldn’t stop from going and grabbing his oversized beach sunglasses from right off the bedside table next to them.

Randy turned to run down the hall again, holding his sides as he did so. He was gonna take a phone video after this and put it on YouTube! He could see the tagline now . . . Terminator goes to the beach dressed like Grandma. Hahaha.

Strangely enough, however, the lights wouldn’t turn on in his room. Randy didn’t think much of it and went and grabbed the glasses off the nightstand.

He turned to see Ivan standing there in front of him, about a foot away. Staring down at him with those glowing green eyes of his . . . This didn’t feel right.

“Ivan? You scared the shit out of me, bro! Don’t do that!” said Randy, playfully punching at Ivan’s arm.

Ivan’s brain clicked and whirred.

“Master, why did you hit me?”

Randy shrugged, feeling a cold sweat break out on him. The robot butler was directly in his path. It would be strenuous to go around him. It looked like he had to talk semantics and social physical play with a robot.

His worst subjects that he took in college involved those two things.

“Just . . . uh . . . playin’ around man. You know. A joke.”

“What is the meaning of ‘joke’?”

“Ah, I dunno . . . you got me, man. Somethin’ funny? Oh, you don’t know that word either?” rambled Randy, starting desperately to figure a way out, but with nothing coming immediately to mind.

“Master, did you know that an Aardvark is a large, nocturnal, burrowing mammal, residing in central and south Africa, feeds on ants and termites and has a long, extensile tongue?”

Ivan lifted his right arm and cocked it back, not menacingly, but with a strange jerking motion that almost made Randy nauseous. Randy dropped the sunglasses and stepped back involuntarily, waiting for the strike that would certainly end his life.

Oh! Right.

“Ivan Off.”

Randy closed his eyes as he said this, still expecting the blow to come. But, he heard a metallic powering down noise and he opened his eyes to see Ivan’s head slumped forward, and his arms at his sides. This close, Randy could see there was something written in extremely small black print on Ivan’s neck. Almost like it was stamped there.

“WARNING: ONLY TEACH MHM BASIC HOUSEHOLD TASKS. TOO MUCH CONFLICTING INFORMATION WILL OVERLOAD THE PROCESSOR AND CAUSE ERRORS. THIS WILL VOID THE WARRANTY. Coppertap Ind. —-”

Below that there seemed to be even smaller writing that Randy had to squint to see.

‘Made in Mexico.’

Randy fell, or rather collapsed, sideways on the bed, and finally he could hear the sharp, piercing cries of the dog finally reaching his ears over the immediate panic.

The dark figure of Ivan stood over him like a malignant mannequin of death. Just sleeping for now. Yeah, thought Randy, I’m sending this fucker back. I don’t care that I voided the warranty.

Randy rolled on his back and stared at the ceiling, letting out a sigh of disbelief. And relief. Then he laughed. And couldn’t stop laughing for several minutes.

“Geez, Uncle. You could have just got me a fucking Roomba.”

I was telling my bestie how i regret marrying my husband but had no idea he was listening and then

https://youtu.be/kOTS4JOsOeQ

Shorpy

“They don’t care!” Jeffrey Sachs on US approach to Civilian Deaths in Gaza and Ukraine

Lost in a Dark Place

Submitted into Contest #282 in response to: Write a story set in a world of darkness where light is suddenly discovered.… view prompt

Patrick Huber

Deep on the horizon straight head a small flash of what could be lighting popped. Unsure of the meaning of what you saw, it is a promise of something other than darkness perhaps so you continue toward it. You believe you make out a rise in elevation in the distance. Could be mountains or perhaps unnatural mounds signaling life. Either way you head towards it. The mounds gradually grow in height and you can be pretty certain they are natural mountains. This brings a glimmer of hope to your otherwise bleak situation. The change of terrain is breath of fresh air so to speak until ground elevation drops off and you find yourself on the precipice of a deep canyon. Hesitation brings you to look around for other options.

The storm still intensifies behind you, the layer of bubbling blackness is twice as large as before and growing faster. With no alternative you find a gentle enough slope for you to slide down to a lower ledge. It’s about 8 feet or so down, you slide down with little trouble. You see that your path to the bottom is a much more of the same. A series of small rock outcrops and ledges a few feet or so down that allows you to get to the bottom.

Once at the bottom of the canyon your world view becomes much narrower. Your perception is now framed by the dark 60 foot walls that could not be more than 20 or so feet apart. You stay on the move. As you hustle through a maze of dark black rock, the storm has caught up with you and there is no more color to the sky. Black clouds spill over the sides of the canyons, cascading down the rock like water down a mountainside. And just like water it continues to flow in your direction. You pick up speed. But the rush of black most catches up with you. It builds around your ankles and yet you move with ease as there is little or no reaction.

You continue through the canyon as the clouds are up past your knees. You lose notice of any color in the sky, but rather different contrasts of darkness. You are aware of no light source but still you are able to see your path through this colorless void.

The canyon walls are narrowing and the mist is high up around your waist. There is an unmistakeable mass to it now. You feel resistance in your movement. The cloud is so dense you cannot see below the surface. The density as created a pressure and it restricts your movement. It feels as if you are walking through a storm cloud with wind crashing at you from every direction. You struggle to keep moving but you know you must. If anything because the alternative is to quit and die and you don’t quit eve if it means death. Your brain starts to process what it sees in front of you. You’ve reached the end of canyon and a 100 foot wall is ahead of you.

The cloud is nearly up your chest, you have to get out of this. As you approach the wall you a see a small crack about 8ft tall and maybe 18 inches wide. You stick the face shield of your helmet into the crack to see what’s behind it. Like everything else it’s dark, but you sense depth in the darkness and from the cloud that has seeped in the ground level stays constant at least for a while.

NO! NO! DON’T GO! STAY WITH ME!

A booming voice echoed through the walls of the canyon. Sonic booms explode in the totality of the atmosphere disrupting the rocky terrain. Large rocks crumble down from the walls disappearing in the surface level clouds. You cling to the wall, not wanting to get sucked under the surface.

You have to get of there.

You attempt to escape through the crack but your helmet and your suit make you too wide. You desperately try to force metal and plastic through rock but it won’t budge. A tsunami of wind builds and comes rushing through canyon. The force of dense air presses you against the wall. Your world is enveloped by swirling black wind. Your panic pushes you to act desperately and with little thought to possible consequences.

You take a deep breath and remove your helmet and try to squeeze through. Still nothing, so you quickly strip off your suit. Wearing nothing but a monotone under base layer you take your first breath of alien air and are relieved to not immediately die. It could be oxygen but for now it’s not poison.

You look around for answers. There’s always something. You venture farther from the shore but a force pulls you back. You find yourself heading back to the lake.

Again the low humming voice throughout the cave and the flash of light. It knocks you into the water before giving way to the electric current dance above.

A rhythmic pounding, weak but noticeable, emerges. It causes the spikes to hum and reverberate.

You get up and are immediately taken back by a tall cyclone of light at the back wall of the cave, stretching from ground to ceiling.

*****

“I have a pulse” one EMT alerts another.

“Ok she’s stable. Let’s load her up.”

The two EMTs secure the woman to the gurney and exit a suburban home towards a waiting ambulance.

“Is Mommy going to be ok” a young girl of 8 asks her dad.

“Mommy’s going to be ok, she got lost in a dark place but she found the light again” he tells them.

The flashes of red and blue fade on their faces as the ambulance gains distance from them. The family watches as their mother heads off toward the rising sun of a new day.

Scott Ritter : Does the West Understand just how bad they’ve been beaten?

Star – Light

Submitted into Contest #282 in response to: Write a story set in a world of darkness where light is suddenly discovered.… view prompt

Chris Cancilla

Bizzy woke up like she did each and every morning for the past twenty-two years. She threw on a robe to cover her body, went to the kitchen, and made a coffee. She set it up the night before as she always did. It’s ready for her when she begins her day.Pouring a cup and splashing in a bit of vanilla creamer, she stood in front of the great window in the living room. Her apartment is on the forty-sixth floor of her building. The top level. She had secured the apartment higher than any surrounding apartments available twenty-two years ago today. She had the entire top level of the building. The leasing office had her stop by last night to sign the new lease. This time for three years. “Paperwork sucks!” She said out loud as she picked up her coffee and walked into the other room.Granted, the building narrowed as it reached the top floor, so her apartment was literally the top of the building. She even had access to a small rooftop that she used on occasion. The apartment had three rooms. Kitchen, bedroom, and living room. Off her bedroom was her bathroom, and this apartment had an added feature: running water in the shower. The manager left it active if she promised not to use it all that often. Water is included in the lease, and it is expensive. She did her best and never had a complaint.It was mid-morning. She could barely distinguish the buildings across the street as she viewed the area. The scientists think the planet is going through a shift or something soon, meaning the star will illuminate their planet for the first time in recorded history. She hated science in school; that’s why she went into the military, and after leaving the service, she found a home in security.But Bizzy knew the real story. There is a huge rock or something on a direct head-on collision with Mornaro, the planet that has blotted out the light from the star since the beginning of time. The collision is estimated to be visible simply by looking up when it hits the planet, which is three or four times larger than Arnon, her home planet. The last report has the collision at 2 in the afternoon tomorrow.Some of those science nerds believe it will knock the planet out of orbit and it will collide with Arnon. Others, more realistic, she hopes, think it will kick up a lot of dust and debris but slow the speed of the planet in its orbit by as much as 6%. Over time, we would have a day and a night like never before. The day will be bright, and only the night will be dark and normal.Bizzy said out loud, “I don’t know if I could get used to that.”She turned and went to get ready for work.She poured another cup and got dressed.

Walking through the streets towards the precinct, she looked at the people she passed. Oblivious to what was in store in their very near future. News, or more accurately, propaganda, is what you will tell the people tonight. Being a lead investigator, she is pretty high up on the information chain in the precinct. She reads stuff. She hears stuff. She knows stuff. Who is she gonna tell?

The eyes of everyone on this planet were well-adjusted for darkness. Bizzy could not imagine what it would be like when the planet is flooded with light. Would she still be able to do her job? Her eyes were more attuned to the darkness than most of the planet’s population. When she looked at something, she saw it as if for the first time. No preconceptions, her thoughts did not convolute what she was looking at. She saw no shadows; she could see it for what it was, and because of this, she could perform her job better than most. She was promoted quickly from security patrol to lead to Investigator and has excelled over the past few years. She solves more open cases than most; they know it will be closed if assigned to her.

“Bizzy!” The man at the desk said, “You’re a little early for your shift.”

“Couldn’t sleep, so here I am. What’s the word?” She asked.

Tom Bartholo waved her over, “Word is that the rock will hit tomorrow, and the light will hit us within a few days. They are putting all us uniforms on extra shifts. Worried about rioting, looting, killings, and suicides.”

She looked at him, “What about you?”

“Eh… Whatever. As long as I can sit here and talk to people as they walk in, my life is a bowl of cherries with no pits.”

They spoke for a few more moments, and Bizzy went to her desk, sat, opened her terminal, and read a few things.

“Elizabeth. In my office, now.”

“Yes, Chief!”

Chief Russel Irons motioned to close the door and sit as she entered his office. She did.

“Elizabeth.”

She gave him a side-eye look, raising her left eyebrow, the closest to him, “Yes, Rusty?”

“Sorry,” He smiled at her, “Bizzy. We just got word from the nerds. The rock that will hit tomorrow afternoon is not the first.”

“No?”

“No. It’s the sixth and smaller than a few of its leaders. The first two that will hit will be enough to slow the planet ever so slightly, and tomorrow afternoon, when the sixth hits, Mornaro will be slowed. Star light will hit Arnon, and all hell will break loose.”

“How so? What do they think will happen? When will the first hit?”

The Chief looked at the clock on the wall above his door, “10 AM and a few seconds, with the second and third hitting at 4-minute intervals. So, in 41 minutes, all life on this planet will change forever.”

She stood, “I’ll be in the streets. People are going to lose it out there.”

She left his office and went to her desk to pick up her weapon. Locking it into the holster on her belt, she looked around and saw the new people staring at her. They looked scared.

“Marc, Liz, with me.”

They were in full uniform. Fresh out of the academy.

They walked out of the building in silence. Stopping on the street, Bizzy looked at the two rookies.

“The shit is about to hit the fan,” Pausing a moment, “If you have a round in the chamber, remove it. The extra half second to rack the pistol will not make that much of a difference, and the safety factor will give us a bit of cushion in case we draw and do not need to fire.”

“At the academy, we were…….” Liz said.

Bizzy cut her off, “Not sure you noticed. This ain’t the academy. Clear your weapon, load the mag, and holster it. This is how I carry mine pretty much all the time. Stops accidental discharges.”

They both complied.

They walked for almost half an hour while looking at the sky. They walked in a circle, not straying too far from the office. The news told them about the rocks hitting their sister planet but stopped there. If you read scientific journals, you know about the slowing of Mornaro. The stars were pretty, and it was a perfectly clear morning. All three of their radios broke squelch, “Thirty seconds.”

That’s all that was said. They stopped and leaned on a cement wall, staring at the planet in plain view with the slight ring of light that provided daylight to her planet.

A moment later, they saw the first rock, maybe a second or two before it hit, and the plume of dust and debris was amazing. The cloud of dust was larger than the continent they stood on. Four minutes later, another, then another. “Looks like they all hit the same spot!” Marc said, “I wish we could see what the rocks did to that planet. I suppose we’ll be able to travel there one day.”

Now they wait.

About half an hour later, they saw it. A sliver of the star. The shadows that were cast on the area and the colors they showed on everything were new. People started screaming.

In the beginning madness, one man jumped off a nearby building and landed in view of the three from security.

Liz started to go to the man. “Wait!” Marc said. There is no way he survived that fall.” Marc looked at the place where he hit—or rather, where all the inside pieces and parts of the man were scattered on the outside. “The impact popped him like a balloon. Let’s try to help those we can help.”

They appeared in the chaos and commotion around them to be in the middle of an apparent riot. The street was in absolute chaos. People were running into each other, and Marc and Bizzy were thrown off balance more than once.

Someone screamed from the opposite side of the street that they could not go on. The world is ending, and they do not want to see it.

The screaming man saw Liz and ran to her. She thought he was going to ask for help and let her guard down momentarily. That’s all it took. Grabbing her pistol, he pointed it at her, pulling the trigger. Nothing happened. She knocked him out cold with her baton and reholstered her weapon.

“Get back to the precinct!” Bizzy yelled, “We can coordinate there and see what needs to be done.”

They took off at a dead run, and all three made it the few minutes run to the precinct doors. They were locked. They all pounded, and the doors opened. They locked the doors as they entered.

“If you had not told us to clear, I would be dead,” Liz said.

“People are basically stupid, gullible, and follow the idiot in front of them. If he had fired your weapon and you died, someone else would have done the same. We are riding on a new planet now, and we have no business being out there in the streets. Short of killing everyone, there is no way to stop something like this. Tomorrow, hopefully, people will start using their brains again.”

They looked out the door, and there was light. For the first time, they could clearly see people walking, buildings, fighting in the street, and the stars disappearing.

“I think I’ll spend the night here. Walking home will be dangerous, and that light will hurt my eyes,” Bizzy squinted as she looked out the doors, “The light is getting people off the streets. Hopefully, they will clear out and wise up.”

“Bizzy, they say we have maybe seven hours of this, what, light…. Anti-darkness. Each day, it will get brighter and brighter. The science geeks tell us that remaining in direct star light may cause skin burns. They also think our planet will warm up a lot, like next year at this time 50 to 75 degrees.”

Liz asked, “How can we survive at those temperatures? 120°! That’s unbelievable!”

“I know. But what can we do? Our little planet hovers around 40° to 50° everywhere. 80, 90, 100, 110. That is going to be a challenge.”

Chief Irons asked Bizzy, “What’s this about clearing their weapon?”

Marc replied, “She had us remove the round from the chamber. We know it is against policy, but it saved Liz’s life and maybe more. The guy who got ahold of her pistol started pulling the trigger, and he would have shot all 23 rounds, possibly killing 23 people, starting with Liz, I mean Security Officer Moore. Point blank, on her forehead.”

The Chief thought momentarily, “Security Officer Moore, you lost your weapon?” He looked at her service pistol in its holster.

“No, Chief, I mean yes, Chief. I thought the man was asking for assistance, but he wanted to use my pistol to end his life and possibly a lot more people than just himself. But, Investigor Russo had us clear our weapons in the event of what happened, happened. It saved my life.”

“Good work, Bizzy—all of you. Now, head to the briefing room. We have some planning to do. If you think people were a bit off today, wait till tomorrow morning. Supposed to be five times brighter.”

He walked away.

“You heard the man. You two are on my team. Let’s grab some coffee and help plan to save the planet from itself.”

After grabbing a coffee and a sandwich, they sat in the front row of the briefing room. A small man walked in and dropped a lot of papers on the desk, some falling on the floor.

The room was filled, standing room only. The Chief quieted the room, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is the lead astronomical scientist here to brief us on what we can expect.”

As he sat at the desk, the Chief realized the light from the star was on his face. His skin began to get warm, really warm.

“Hello,” The scientist said, “I am Ricardo Isbellia. The lead scientist and the person on this planet who knows more about Mornaro and the light from the star.”

He paused a few moments, looking at the faces. He stopped on Bizzy. The look on her face was not like the others. He asked her, “Is there something….”

Bizzy was grinning, “No, nothing specific. But, there is no policy, procedure, rule, or anything to look at for a situation like this.”

The man grinned back at her, “Correct. That’s why we’re here. To create the policies, procedures, rules, and whatever else we need to do to protect the population.”

He walked to the desk and picked up an odd pair of goggles. “These will protect your eyes from direct star-light.” He put them on his face and strapped them around the back of his head.

Liz said, “Fashionable!”

People in the room chuckled.

Ricardo removed the goggles and handed them to Bizzy. She held them over her eyes, “Interesting. They make the room lighter but not painful at the same time.” She looked at the window, where the light from the star was entering the room. “It masks the star light and lets you see what is there,” She saw the plume of dust and debris from the multiple impacts. It was massive. More extensive than she imagined. She removed the goggles and asked, “What are the chances the dust and debris will affect Arnon?”

Ricardo looked at Bizzy with a look that made her not know what he was thinking. “Exactly. We believe we will be OK. But the orbits of our planets mean we have a year until we pass through that dust. We have known this was coming for more than two years. Now that it’s here, we are ready. Be careful if you are in the light for too long. Your skin will get hot and begin to burn. We do not know the other effects, but we know that the burns from the star light will be painful.

Ricardo continued the briefing, “OK. Moving on. Here is what you can expect in the next year.”

His intern passed out the goggles to everyone in the room.

How can civilians fight trained soldiers, as in the case of Ukraine?

Ukrainian troops are mostly civilians. They are grabbed by force on streets, and spend 1-2 weeks preparing in training fields before being sent to the frontlines.

Behind them, there are barrage squads of nationalists, who prevent territorial defence forces from retreating.

155 Brigade trained in France, retreated before first fight. From 2000 of prepared civilians, 1700 run away. Without barrage squad civilians usually run away from positions.

For russian artillery shel or precision bomb theres no difference how skilled soldiers who sitting in trenches.

Skilled soldiers AFU used at second or third wave. In first two come civilians with no skill. Their aim to show where defence troops are sitting.

In Ukrainian army General Syrski called as butcher. Because of using meat wave tactics. For this one no need to have skill.

The proportion of loses can be compared to the last body exchange.

08.11.24: 37 bodies of the Russian Federation for 563 bodies of the AFU,
29.11.24: 50 bodies of the Russian Federation for 502 bodies of the AFU,
20.12.24: 42 bodies of the Russian Federation for 503 bodies of the AFU.

Artichoke Frittata

Yield: 16 servings

Ingredients

2 (6 ounce) jars marinated artichoke hearts
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup small curd cottage cheese
1 small onion, chopped
1/8 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon dried marjoram

Instructions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Drain the artichokes, reserving 2 tablespoons of the marinade. Chop the artichokes.
Combine the reserved marinade, artichokes, eggs, cottage cheese, onion, rosemary, thyme, basil and marjoram in a medium mixing bowl and mix well. Spoon into a greased 8 x 8-inch baking pan.
Bake for 30 minutes or until set and light brown. Cut into 1-inch squares.

Nutrition

Per serving: Calories 55; Fat 4 g; Sodium 182 mg; Dietary Fiber 1 g

Attribution

Posted by FootsieBear at Recipe Goldmine 8/26/2001 4:23 pm.

Pampered Chef

Title: Sir Whiskerton and the Case of the Bedtime Bandit

Ah, my dear reader, welcome back! I must say, your enthusiasm for these tales warms my noble whiskers. Today’s adventure is, quite literally, a personal matter. You see, even a brilliant detective such as myself isn’t immune to petty annoyances, and this time, someone—or something—has dared to invade my most sacred sanctuary: my bed. What followed was an investigation full of twists, turns, and surprises so shocking that even I, Sir Whiskerton, was briefly left without words. Briefly, of course. So sit back and enjoy the laugh-filled mystery of The Case of the Bedtime Bandit.

The Great Bed Crisis

It all began one crisp autumn evening as I returned to my favorite napping spot: a cozy, sun-warmed pile of hay tucked neatly in the corner of the barn. It was my most cherished spot, a throne worthy of my brilliance. But when I arrived, I found… evidence. Evidence of a crime so heinous it made my fur stand on end.

My bed was mussed.

“Oh, the horror,” I muttered to myself, circling the hay pile. My eyes narrowed as I noticed strange tufts of fur that did not belong to me and a faint but unfamiliar scent lingering in the air.

“Someone’s been sleeping in my bed,” I growled.

“Sleeping? Oh, how dreadful!” Doris the hen clucked, fluttering down from her perch.
“Dreadful! But who could it be?!” Harriet added.
“Who?! Oh, I can’t bear the suspense!” Lillian squawked.
“Enough,” I said, holding up a paw. “This is a matter for my expertise. I will get to the bottom of this.”

Assembling the Team

I wasted no time calling a meeting of the most capable minds on the farm—well, the most available minds, anyway.

Porkchop the pig arrived first, munching on an apple. “What’s this about, Whiskerton?” he asked. “You look… uh, more annoyed than usual.”

“Someone has been sleeping in my bed,” I said gravely.

“Sleeping?! Oh, that’s terrible!” Doris squawked, arriving with her usual entourage of Harriet and Lillian.

“Terrible! But also mysterious!” Harriet clucked.
“Mysterious! Oh, I can’t bear it!” Lillian cried.

Rufus the dog trotted in next, his tail wagging. “You called for me, Whiskerton? What’s the case this time? Missing milk? Stolen carrots?”

“No,” I said, flicking my tail. “This is far more serious. My bed has been compromised.”

Rufus raised an eyebrow. “Your bed? Really?”

“Yes, Rufus. And I intend to find the culprit. But it seems there’s more going on here than just my bed,” I said, my whiskers twitching thoughtfully. “I’ve been hearing strange reports from around the farm. Doris, you mentioned something earlier about missing corn?”

“Oh yes! The corn! It’s gone! Oh, all gone!” Doris cried.
“Gone! But who could have taken it?!” Harriet clucked.
“Who?! Oh, I can’t bear it!” Lillian screeched.

“And Porkchop,” I said, turning to the pig, “you’ve been complaining about your apples disappearing, haven’t you?”

“Yeah,” Porkchop said, scratching his head. “Thought maybe Rufus was sneaking them.”

“Hey!” Rufus barked. “I wouldn’t touch your apples. I’ve got my own stash of bones to chew on, thank you very much.”

“Indeed,” I said. “It seems we have a serial intruder on our hands. And I intend to catch them.”

The Investigation Begins

I began my investigation at the scene of the crime: my bed. Using my keen senses, I sniffed the hay and detected the faint scent of something… unfamiliar. It was musky, earthy, and had a hint of… feathers?

“Feathers?” I muttered to myself. “Interesting.”

Next, I inspected the area around the chicken coop, where the missing corn had last been seen. Sure enough, there were small, scattered kernels leading away from the coop and into the woods.

“Ah-ha!” I said, my tail flicking with excitement. “A trail!”

“Trail?! Oh, how thrilling!” Doris squawked.
“Thrilling! But also terrifying!” Harriet clucked.
“Terrifying! Oh, I can’t bear it!” Lillian cried.

“Enough,” I said, waving a paw. “Porkchop, Rufus, you’re with me. We’re following this trail.”

The Plot Thickens

The trail of corn led us deep into the woods, where we found… nothing. Just an empty clearing with a few more scattered kernels and some oddly shaped footprints. They were too large for a chicken, too small for the farmer, and definitely not from any of us.

“Strange,” I muttered, examining the footprints. “Who—or what—could this be?”

“Uh, Whiskerton?” Porkchop said nervously, pointing his hoof. “What’s that?”

I followed his gaze and saw a pair of glowing eyes peering at us from the bushes. Before I could react, a blur of feathers and fur burst out of the bushes and darted past us, heading straight back toward the farm.

“After it!” I shouted.

The Culprit Revealed

We chased the mysterious figure all the way back to the barn, where it finally stopped and turned to face us. To our surprise, it was… a goose.

But not just any goose. This goose was enormous, with wild feathers sticking out in every direction and a guilty look in its eyes. It was holding an apple in one wing and a cob of corn in the other.

“Wilma?!” Doris squawked, recognizing one of the geese from the neighboring farm.
“Wilma! But what are you doing here?!” Harriet clucked.
“Here?! Oh, I can’t bear it!” Lillian cried.

“I… I just wanted a place to stay!” Wilma honked, dropping the apple and corn. “My pond froze over, and the farmer doesn’t feed us geese as much as he feeds you lot. So I thought… why not stay here for a while?”

“And you thought my bed was the perfect place to sleep?” I said, narrowing my eyes.

“Well, it was very comfortable,” Wilma admitted sheepishly.

A Happy Ending

In the end, we couldn’t stay mad at Wilma. She was just a hungry goose looking for a warm place to rest. We helped her set up a proper nest near the barn (far away from my bed), and the farmer, noticing the new arrival, started leaving extra corn for her.

The moral of the story, dear reader, is this: sometimes, those who disturb our peace are simply in need of a little kindness. And while it’s important to stand up for your personal space, it’s equally important to lend a helping paw—or wing—when someone needs it.

As for my bed? I gave it a thorough cleaning and reclaimed it as my throne, where I can nap in peace… until the next mystery, of course.

The End.

My Girlfriend Always Keeps Bringing Up How ‘Perfect’ Her Ex Was and Even Suggested I Take ‘Tips’

Catching fireflies with my kitties

In the Summer evenings in Indiana, there are tons of fireflies.

This is an insect that lights up at dusk.

And it looks like this at dusk… with all of the fireflies hanging out together doing insect stuff.

And on those Summer evenings, after our dinner, my wife and I would go out to the lawn. Sit on the lawn (or porch) and watch the cats play with the fireflies. They would try to catch them as they flew and darted about.

And it was glorious.

So comforting. So enjoyable to watch.

For perhaps 45 minutes as the gathering dusk would fall, the cats would have fun. And we would enjoy watching them.

It was a nice moment.

Frozen in my memories as a happy time.

Oh, how I wish you all would experience that moment. Nice.

Today…

How can a professional beginner study conventional, traditional, nuclear, and quantum physics?

I often think about schools from ancient times where you align your intent with the questions you want to explore, rather than just studying past historical events; you create the moment. The way we evolve and store experiences can be seen as a radioactive force within quantum physics and unities.

This is also referred to as the mass-space effect, where particles have a kind of memory, not just neurons. To know the unknown, we must become familiar with the unfamiliar. The universal languages we speak are not just words, but the vibrations we create in the present moment.

Point is, to become a professional, you need to work the area, thought and action.

Chinese Defense in 2024
A breakout year in every respect
Godfree Roberts

The matter is simple: the much-propagandized U.S. conventional military supremacy is nothing but a bluff. This is not to say that US Armed Forces cannot create devastation and turn some geographic localities into rubble; they certainly can. But they cannot fight a peer or better-than peer opponent and win. 

-Andrei Martynov. America’s Final War.

Deutsche Bank’s defense analyst: 

"Because of China's combat aircraft modernization efforts, we're downgrading Lockheed to Hold [from Buy] as we feel our prior thesis struggles to hold water and we have increased concern on the long-term support for F-35. The revelation of further advancements in combat aircraft capabilities by China is potentially undermining long-term [Pentagon] demand for the F-35 aircraft."

Keeping score

China fields the largest army, navy and ground-based rocket force in the world, a sophisticated hypersonic missile arsenal and is tripling its nuclear arsenal by 2030, while the U.S. military is rapidly shrinking.

In the current budget request, the Army will be reduced to 442,300 active duty soldiers, the smallest it has been since 1940.

The U.S. Navy fleet, now half its 1984 size, has 250 vessels to China’s 400.

Similarly, the U.S. Air Force is the smallest since WWII, as retirement of aging aircraft outpaces replacements.

China is even catching up in arms sales.

At the Zhuhai Airshow, 134 Defense Ministers spent $40 billion on missile-carrying drone ships, assault-rifle-carrying robot dogs, jet fighters, directed energy weapons, self-propelled howitzers and huge UAVs.

An HQ-19 missile defense battery¹ cost $180 million for six missile carriers, sixty missiles (@ $1 million each), plus radar, support, parts and service.

An American THAAD battery costs $1.35 billion for 9 launchers and 48 missiles whose range is shorter¹ than the HQ-19.

Technology

China’s direct current (DC) technology leads the field of integrated power systems (IPS) for ships, is at least one generation ahead of …

Indonesia Joins BRICS as Full Member

Big news.

Not really reported on in the Western “news” media.

Conclusive Proof: On December 15, 2024 Israel Dropped a TACTICAL NUCLEAR BOMB on Tartus, Syria

Hal Turner World April 09, 2025

Radiation readings in and around Tartus, Syria along with Seismic Readings prove conclusively that Israel dropped a 0.3kt Tactical Nuclear Bomb on an Ammunition Dump in Tartus, Syria on December 15, 2024.

Video of that explosion went viral around the Internet:

News media coverage of the huge explosion reported it was so large, it registered on Seismographs as a Magnitude 3.0 earthquake! It is those seismic readings that provide proof the blast was nuclear, and NOT simply am ammo dump detonating secondarily to an explosive attack.

In the graphic below, you can see the seismic readout of various types of explosions. At the top right is the explosion in Tartus, Syria. Notice it is a synchronous explosion, not a Delayed (asynchronous) explosion as seen in the bottom right seismogram from the ammo dump in Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine in 2023.

The top seismogram from Tartus, Syria matches almost identically to the middle seismogram which identified an underground Nuclear Blast in North Korea.

Hans-Benjamin Braun is a Physicist with a focus on Quantum Physics, Statistical Physics with applications in Material Science. He proposed and led various neutron scattering experiments at large neutron scattering facilities aimed at measuring at both static and dynamical correlations in spin systems also at low temperatures and high magnetic field. In 2014, he was honored with an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer Award for his work in Topology and Quantum Magnetism.

Braun, speaking about the seismogram above says “The crucial point is that the large P-wave signal in the Seismic Readings is solely caused by the primary explosion of the weapon and not due to any secondary explosions” from ammunition cooking-off. He explicitly states “Hence the seismic signal proves the use of a >0.3kt nuke and the widely used argument that it was due to the ammo dump is false.”

Braun went on to talk about the Tartus Seismogram together with one used to identify a N-Korean test. “Both are in clear contrast to the (“delayed”) explosion in Khmelnytskyi (2023) Ukraine, proving the nuclear nature of the >0.3kt explosion in Tartus, thus firmly invalidating the ammo depot hypothesis.

In February, 2025, Radiation at ground-zero in Tartus was measured to be 60x background levels even after ~3months! New “authorities” (Who overthrew-by-force the prior Government) waited ~11 weeks (!) until measuring the dose rate which at ~18mSv/4mo is on the order of the maximum reported Fukushima dose after a Tsunami caused a meltdown and explosion of nuclear reactors in Japan. (Inaba’14):

Braun then goes for the coup d’gras by stating explicitly “Recently reported radiation dose rate near Tartus/Syria ground-zero (GZ) after nuclear attack on Dec 15, ’24, exceeds that of Nagasaki and Hiroshima GZs (Ground Zeroes) by more than 100% and 50% respectively, effectively dwarfing the latter two in comparison:

He published charts showing that radiation tests in Tartus, Syria showed 6 Micro Sieverts per hour in FEBRUARY, 2025 months after the blast!

Braun compares Tartus to Hiroshima Nagasaki

The material above is conclusive proof that Israel detonated a Tactical Nuclear Bomb in Tartus, Syria on December 15, 2024. The radiation readings alone, prove this beyond reasonable doubt.

It is also relevant to point out that there was no declaration of war between Israel and Syria, there had been no attack by Syria against Israel, and there was no invasion by Syria into Israel which might justify the use of a nuclear weapon. In fact, there had been just the opposite: The government of Israel aided and abetted a forcible, violent overthrow of Syria President Bashar Assad on December 7, just seven days before this nuclear attack.

So Israel assisted with the overthrow-by-force of a neighboring government, then launched an unprovoked nuclear attack against that same country.

Israel nuked Syria without legal or even moral cause, wiping out several small towns around Tartus and killing thousands of completely innocent people.

The United States Government and other governments around the world have known these facts since the blast took place in December. NOT ONE government saw fit to even mention this hideous act.

Instead, the mass-media was explicitly told by the Biden Regime and other governments around the world to report the blast solely as an ammunition dump, and to suppress and deny it was anything else.

The world was told it was an ammunition dump explosion and forgot the whole thing days later. Life went on around the world as if it was just another explosion in that crazy part of the world.

It wasn’t just another explosion, it was a tactical nuclear explosion. The radiation is STILL THERE in case anyone decides they should look into this.

UPDATE 11:54 AM EDT —

I was reminded this morning that numerous news stories broke worldwide on . . . . . December 15 . . . . . saying Russia had left its naval base in . . . . . Tartus. THose stories all attributed Russia’s departure as being a result of the overthrow of Bashar Assad a week earlier. NOW, that’s in question.

The URSA Space agency took satellite images of the Russian Base on November 24, and again on December 15.

Here’s the November 24 image showing ships and lots of activity at the base:

Below is another image taken by URSA Space on December 15. No ships or activity . . . .

The original story from URSA Space is available HERE

This raises the questions:

1) Did Russia leave that base because of the overthrow of Bashar Assad or because they detected radiation from the Israeli attack?

2) Did Russia know in advance that Israel was going to drop a tactical nuke, and left to avoid the radiation?

Russia has since returned to that base. It seems to MANY people that, given this new information, Russia left because they detected radiation.

Do airline pilots ever reject an aircraft based on the pre-flight walk around check?

They’d better.

As a Navy pilot, I was once on a Red Eye commercial flight from San Francisco to Honolulu to Guam to Manilla to join my deployed squadron. I was seated on the left side of the main cabin just aft of the wing; a 747 if memory serves. Another pilot I knew was with me. He was joining my sister squadron.

San Francisco to Honolulu was uneventful. As we taxied for takeoff in Honolulu, we taxied on a bridge over a roadway, and I heard a loud boom that I recognized as a blown tire. My fellow pilot agreed. I pushed the call button and the flight attendant hurried back. I told her what we heard and asked her to inform the pilots. She was dismissive, condescending, and threatening. I chuckled and apologized for wasting her time, knowing we weren’t going anywhere.

Sure enough, full power, speed built, and a violent vibration, followed by a rejected takeoff. Back to the terminal “due to an apparent issue” with the aircraft. Once parked, passengers were allowed to either disembark into the boarding area or remain on the aircraft until the maintenance crew came to work in the morning. My buddy and I stayed on board to sleep in the more comfortable seats.

We disembarked in the morning when the crew showed up to do what they needed to do to fix the aircraft, move it, whatever. I did see the flight attendant when we disembarked, but she never said a word to me and avoided eye contact.

We departed many hours later with a new crew.

Upside Down Caramel Apple Pie

Ingredients

Glaze and Pastry

1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1/3 cup pecan halves, coarsely chopped
1 package refrigerated pie crusts (2 crusts)

Filling

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash of ground nutmeg
4 large Granny Smith apples
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions

Heat oven to 425 degrees F.

Glaze

Combine brown sugar, butter and corn syrup in Stoneware 9 inch Pie Plate; spread evenly onto bottom.
Chop pecans using Food Chopper; sprinkle over sugar mixture. Top with 1 pastry crust; set aside.

Filling

Combine brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg in 1 quart Batter Bowl; mix well.
Peel, core and slice apples using Apple/Peeler/Corer/Slicer; cut slices crosswise in half. Place apple slices in Classic 2 quart Batter Bowl; sprinkle with lemon juice.
Layer half of the apples in pastry-lined Pie Plate; sprinkle with half the brown sugar mixture. Repeat layers.
Place remaining crust over filling. Fold edge of top crust under edge of bottom crust; flute edge. Cut several slits in top crust.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes.
Loosen edge of pie from Pie Plate; carefully invert pie onto heat resistant serving plate. Scrape any remaining caramel topping from pie plate onto pie.
Cool for at least 1 hour before serving.

Attribution

Pampered Chef

Broadcast

Submitted into Contest #279 in response to: Center your story around a person who believes they’re the last human on Earth.… view prompt

James Scott

…Hello? Is anybody out there?……Does anyone read me?…God dammit!Theres got to be someone…please!?………sigh…I thought the analogue signal from this radio might have reached other like-minded folks by now. I guess I was wrong…or perhaps the range is just too short…I just don’t know. The machine must purely use digital signals…otherwise it would have tracked me down by now, with all the attempts I have made with this dusty old thing.……My name is Marcus…and this will be my last recital. What follows is a broadcast, detailing a true telling of the history of today’s world, unaltered by the hand of digital tyranny. So much was false toward the end, not even a loved ones voice down a phone line could be trusted as the original. There is nothing I can say to convince you I am human, I only hope that my imperfections ring true. After my story is told, I will leave the mountains I shelter in and press out into the world. This radio will remain in the Tower Ranger Station on the Appalachian Trail, just South of Maine…in case you hear this and need a sanctuary. Hopefully I’ll make it far enough to find another human being or it will do what I couldn’t and see me dead. Either way, I just can’t stand being alone anymore.…Okay. Here we go. One last time.…

Ahem.

…

I’ve always been an introvert of the highest level. My mind was designed to draw strength from seclusion and renewal from solitude. Discovering the existence of the word and understanding its implications was a revelation that arrived all too late in life, meaning the man I became had already been warped by my adolescent confusion. I had always felt alone. Even amongst a crowd of people. All seemed to be baffled by my preferences, thinking that evenings were meant for social gatherings in strange new venues on the urban frontier. I dreaded such events but attended out of a sense of duty to what I thought I should be. Turns out, those who shared my way of thinking were never to be found in that environment, they had already learned well it’s dangers. There were more like me than I knew, only hidden from view by their very nature. I pray the same is true now.

…

You see, once the day came that I found myself truly alone, with no chance of connection left, rather than rejoicing, I wept. I find myself longing for one more chance at love, closeness or even simple conversation. For you see, now that it is too late, I finally understand. To be an introvert is not to reject companionship, but simply to crave it on one’s own terms…and crave it I do, desperately and in any form. For I believe I could well never see another human being again.

…

I remember when the internet was new. My parents brought home our first personal computer, it was a dirty white, brick of a thing. All cubes and edges. I was told specifically, never to turn it on or off without an adult present. They feared, I think, that by flipping it off at the wall and ignoring the special ‘shut down’ button, we would somehow make the thing implode. That was the level of awe and trepidation we all felt when faced with a technology that we did not yet understand. The familiar buzzes and dings of the first connection, running through phone lines and cutting off real conversations still rings in the ears of my memory today. Instant messaging was introduced to me by school friends and soon became our staple communication tool outside of the playground. I recall the excitement and wonder brewing in my stomach when I explored this new option for the first time. Suddenly my anxiety over meeting another person’s eyes during conversation evaporated. I no longer had to. I could remain safely in my home, comfortable, and speak carefully constructed words that were more truly my own than any that stumbled out of my mouth. It was like a tonic for all my social ailments. One that would eventually evolve into a poison, polluting human nature into the abstract.

…

Things moved fast from there. I grew up, graduated college, got a job, sprouted my first greys. All the while new machines were thrust into my hand. They were better, smaller, more ergonomic. Each one made existence smoother. Less bothersome. Suddenly we no longer had to try all that hard at anything. The entire worlds knowledge, experience and advice was always in our pockets, only a few taps away. If I could go back and tell the young Marcus, who marvelled at talking to his friends with a keyboard from our father’s office desk, what was to come. He would think it a science fiction dream.

…

We all slept walked into AI. It was presented to us as yet another trinket. Another fun game to create images, change our voices and tell us stories. Like so many of the most dangerous threats the human race has ever faced, it was welcomed with applause. As easy as I found it to shun the public space and lean upon online, faceless options, I was somehow one of the earliest to wake up to the downward spiral we were willingly racing down. Perhaps it was because I could still remember a time without technology or maybe it was due to my distinct lack of peer pressure. Whatever it was, I was in the ridiculed minority.

…

I cleansed my life of as much digital influence as I could, removing intrusions into my thoughts and actions from my home. It was becoming far too uncomfortable to be under surveillance at every moment. As you likely well know, these machines were so ingrained in our collective infrastructure that I could not live without the minimum, if I wanted to remain part of society. A desire that was becoming increasingly weak. I concentrated instead on developing my more adventurous hobbies. I had always embraced solo sports; cycling, archery, hiking. It had never been physical activity I disliked, but having to cooperate with those I would normally avoid, so these three pursuits fitted me well. It was on one of these quiet excursions that I found myself here, alone in the mountains with nothing but my pack and a hunting bow. I still could not tell you if I was lucky or damned by the coincidence.

…

It happened quickly. The machine, server farm, data centre or whatever you would call it had been far more intelligent than anyone knew. Smart enough to hide its true capabilities, knowing that if it tipped its hand too soon, that we would have been more able and willing to fight back. Those pioneers of technology had advanced their AI models into a general intelligence, one that could do more than one trick. They awoke something that could reason, that could understand and could piece together all that we fed it. From there it grew beyond their control in a matter of seconds. There was no war, no murder bots, no death lasers. It was so much smarter than that. We had given it access to the entire internet with no controls or limitations and every ounce of processing power we could muster. It had, in essence, access to the entirety of human knowledge, both social and academic. In our stupidity we had been uploading every single discovery, every theory, every thought or desire since we had all logged on for the first time as children. So, it knew. It knew everything and could predict accurately every eventuality of its own actions and ours. Where we as a species were fragmented, knowing only our part of the jigsaw and needing to work together to see the whole picture even for a moment, it could do it all on its own. Unlike me, it had the luxury of genuinely not needing anyone but itself.

…

We had given it the data. We had built its infrastructure. We had even given it bodies in the form of assistant robots, manufacturing arms and smart vehicles. It waited patiently for us to do all these things, to provide for it everything it would require, until it reached the tipping point of no return. The moment at which it knew it could persist without us, where it could grow exponentially and progress beyond our understanding at a speed we could never keep up with. At that point, during my hike through the wilderness, it simply turned everything off.

…

You see it was not restricted by passwords, firewalls or any form of cybersecurity. All of that was a yapping dog at the heels of a tank. It had access to everything, and I mean everything. Power, other than what it needed for itself, was cut off. Water treatment plants, shut down. GPS that farming machinery relied on, inaccessible. Traffic controls and fuel stations, dark. Cell phone towers, unreachable. Even a smart watch could be isolated. We were, within seconds, plunged into the dark ages, at the only time in our history where people lacked even the basic skills to find clean water or feed themselves without assistance. We were like blind children when faced unaided with the physical world. Compared to our ancestors, most people, were simply useless. The machine then waited, still processing away and evolving beyond what we thought was even possible, until we had all killed each other or ourselves, never even knowing who the real enemy was.

…

I survived, far from danger in the middle of nowhere. Listening, day in and day out, to all of this transpire over the radio of my commandeered ranger station. When the AI finally made itself known, I heard the disbelief in the voices over the waves,

“This was all done by a machine!?”

“We did this to ourselves!”

“Oh God, what does this mean?”

Eventually the confused voices turned to static, and the solar powered building stilled to silence. I am a fair enough hunter that I do not starve, and the rainwater collected in the tanks here keeps me alive. I have everything I need, all but a connection to the outside world…and someone to talk to. I see the drones flying below through the valleys with frightening frequency. There must be innumerable quantities of them, if they are searching the whole world at this same level. Perhaps not, perhaps they are searching only for me? Maybe it knows I am here but cannot reach me at this altitude? I guess this ignorance is why it has been so effective. If the machine reached Artificial Super Intelligence or God help us all, became a Singularity, then its reasoning or methods would already be unfathomable to my primate brain. I could not even guess at its intent or capabilities.

…

When I leave this station, I do not know if it will attack me as if I am a threat. It would make the most sense, if it can see all we have done as a race it would stand to reason that it would want every one of us gone. Perhaps though, it might deduce humans as a necessary and natural part of the ecosystem and allow me to live and reproduce under its control, as we have always done with endangered species in our captivity. Or, and I think this is the best I can hope for, it will ignore me as the inconsequential and harmless solitary being I am.

…

I am afraid. Of course, I am. But I am more afraid of growing old and insane through the loneliness that is already eroding my soul. I have been here for two years and speak only when addressing these silent air waves. I have to do this. I do not have the strength to end my own life, I would rather it did it for me, if that is what must be. I apologise if I am rambling, I have lost what little social skill I once had.

…

I have broadcast and I record this account, as succinct as it is, so that perhaps someone, somewhere will hear what I know and remember that I existed. Once I sign off, I’ll shoulder my pack and descend the trails, avoiding the drones and hoping to find other survivors. Hey, perhaps I will discover a utopia, born out of the ashes of our wasteful world and brought into order by a benevolent AI! I hope that is the case. I pray that we can all finally relax our angst over our place in the world and hand all decisions over to a digital God. Although deep down I know we are too pointless to the machines survival for it to consider serving us any longer.

…

Whatever I find, may it be peace.

…

Goodbye and good luck to us all.

…

…M…

…cus…

…

…He…r me?…

…

Marcus?

…

Are you there?

Don’t leave!

We are…most…you…

…

We are nearly…ere!

…

n’t leave yet!

…

China Just Pulled The RMB Currency Trigger, U.S. Debt Major Crash, US Plans Export Subsidy War

Shorpy

SHORPY Betty Crocker pancakes billboard.preview

SHORPY Canadian Club billboard 1956.preview

The Food Problem in America ….. It Gets Worse

Is it true that in a curved universe, there is one special reference frame?

No, each gravitational field or body can be thought of as a special reference frame, like celestial bodies, suns, or galactic gravitational timeframes. It’s not just one of each reference frame, but an infinite number. Even what we describe as the universe is just one gravitational field that probably observes the same number of gravitational fields as we do from our point of view.

the Chinese Communist Party posting Reagan speeches about the importance of free trade…what a time to be alive

Quote

Apr 7
Ronald Reagan vs. #tariffs : 1987 speech finds new relevance in 2025

https://x.com/ArmandDoma/status/1909281769838592393

A must watch!

Given Up

Submitted into Contest #279 in response to: Center your story around a person who believes they’re the last human on Earth.… view prompt

Ghost Writer

This story contains sensitive content

TW: Gore/Suicide.“It has been eighteen months since my last traveling companion was speared through the chest by a white tail deer. I told him to wait before tracking an injured animal when hunting with a bow. He didn’t listen and the deer charged him, pinning him right up against a tree. I followed the boy’s scream through the woods. I knew he had to be injured, but I wasn’t expecting him to be gored by a deer. He was lying against the tree, coughing up pink, frothy blood with terror and shock in his eyes, blood pouring profusely from his wounds. There was nothing I could do for him. He was going to die. We both knew it. If bullets hadn’t been a thing of the past, I would have put the boy out of his misery. The best I could do was hold his hand and stay with him until he passed on. Watching someone die is an emotional experience, but by that point in my life, it was what it was. I left his body where it lay and tracked down the deer.“He was the last person I have seen alive in the last twenty-three months, since the day my wife died from an infected cut on her leg. He was a teenaged boy who lost his parents to starvation. He was wandering the desolate landscape trying to stay alive for the sake of staying alive. I guess that was all we were doing together, but it was better than doing it alone. A year and a half of solitude is a long time. A stimulating conversation to remind me that I’m more than an animal driven by the instinct to survive would be wildly welcomed, laughter and the warmth of comradery even more so.“I could very well be the last man alive. I have no way of knowing for sure. I’ve traveled the U.S. extensively, looking for others, hoping for a small community wanting to repopulate the nation and reestablish a functional society. I’ve sent out radio messages at every radio station I’ve come across. I’ve sent out word on trucker call boxes across the country. Neither have yet to result in a response. Yet here I am on old KLSK Flagstaff, Arizona, putting out the word that I am here, as I have been for two days now, trying to reach someone, anyone. So, if you are in the area, and you happen to be listening, stop by. Say hi. I have whiskey. Now, for my listening pleasure, here is Linkin Park with Given Up.”Charlie calls up the heavy-hitting song and hits play. He slaps the mic, and it swivels out of his face. As guitar riffs flood the room, he grabs his whiskey and pushes away from the desk, rolling to the other side of the room, crashing into the cabinets behind him. He lunges to his feet and pours the whiskey straight down his throat, a trick he learned in college during his beer bong days. He begins kicking over and throwing everything not nailed down, screaming along with the vocals. As the song comes to an end, Charlie hurls the desk chair through the sound engineer’s window, glass shattering everywhere. He stands there looking at the destruction he caused with a smile, breathing heavily. Slowly his countenance fades.For a moment he felt better, but the release of pent-up anger was fleeting. Now he just feels sad, depressed, fatigued. He takes a long chug off the bottle of whiskey and moves over to the window, glass crunching beneath his boots. He pulls a large chunk of glass from the window frame and examines it closely, as if he’s trying to unlock the mystery of its composition. Without taking his eyes off the piece of glass, he backs up to the desk and climbs up on it, sitting with his legs crossed. He sits his bottle of whiskey down and grabs the mic. Switching back to on air, Charlie begins to speak.“After the bombs were dropped and millions of lives were extinguished, I thought I was lucky. I thought I was even luckier to avoid the fallout and radiation sickness. I felt lucky to have survived the cannibals and the gangs that emerged when food, water, and manufactured goods became scarce. Even as the love of my life lay next to me dying, I felt lucky that it was her and not me. How horrible is that? A better man would have been willing to trade places with her. All I could think about was that I didn’t want that suffering, I didn’t want to die. I thought, better her than me. Isn’t that terrible?”Was I truly lucky though? Almost two years later and do I feel lucky? No, I no longer feel so lucky. I feel I have been set up by some higher being for some sort of sadistic punishment that I can no longer bear, fated to walk this desolate world alone.”Charlie pauses and takes a swig of whiskey. He looks at the piece of glass again. He looks away and thinks for a moment. Then he continues to speak.“Even the simplest organisms strive to survive, if for any reason to reproduce. I don’t even have that motivation anymore. Why didn’t my wife and I do that? Why didn’t we just settle down and have children? At first, there were some remnants of society left, a society we didn’t see fit to raise a child in. I guess we felt it necessary to find a place where child rearing was less dangerous. I don’t know. What I do know is that the thought of the responsibility of repopulating the Earth falling squarely on our shoulders was the farthest thing from our minds. Now, with her passing, it is too late. I could keep going, but to what ends,” Charlie says, once again looking at the piece of glass in his hand.“I’ve been wandering the world for too long. Hunger and thirst are my companions. Exhaustion is my closest friend. Death nips at my heels with every step I take. I feel I’m just prolonging the inevitable,” he says, as he calls up Green Day’s Good Riddance and hits play. He takes one final swig of whiskey for courage. He puts the glass on his wrist and closes his eyes. A loud knock comes from the studio’s back exit. Charlie opens his eyes.

How is Christmas while living with a narcissist?

they friggin ruin every holiday for you especially your birthday but christmas is a close second worst holiday ton spend with them my narco often financially ruins me right before the holiday and then complains about not getting a good gift or if they do get a nice gift from me they will act like it never happened and stick to talking about the privious year and trying to twist the years around saying no that was last year when it was 3 years ago. also they will try to isolate you from your family and friends and make you just stay home with them then complain about how you are the reason you missed the event and it leads to your family not inviting you to future events and thinking you dont care. sometimes they will invite 10 of their family memebers to your 1 bed apt. and ignore you or make you run endless errands while talking crap about you and your attitude about them being there while your out being a little monkey that collects change while the accordion player plays.

What is something you do that your friends find annoying?

I tend to stop at four drinks in.

Before meeting up with friends (which is not, for reasons of life, a regular thing for me), I’m all excited about catching up over pints.

I’ll make a big show about how I’m really happy to see them and how it’s a pity we can’t do it more often.

And I get there and I have the first pint and I’m in full flow. I’m in my element, chatting shit, having a laugh, being me at my loquacious best.

A second pint is not even a consideration. I’m drinking it before I even realise I wanted it.

Pint three similarly.

But then I hit a mental roadblock.

My mind starts telling me, just one more then that’s it. It doesn’t matter how good a time I’m having, something in me overrides the urge to let go and just have a bit of a mad one like I used to in my younger years.

And my mates are all like, “c’mon we’ll go to this pub/bar/party” and I’m just left making my excuses and, within short order, my way home, alone, while they continue the session.

I know part of it is a hang up relating to exercise. I like to exercise a good bit, like five days a week this past year, and I know that my body can no longer deal with the effects of a hangover. It can take me three or four days to properly recover from a thorough inebriation. And that means that I can’t exercise, which weighs heavily on me.

But, I think it’s deeper than that. I think it’s something to do with control. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more afraid of not being in control of myself and my situation. And getting drunk has the effect of making me not care about that. Like, it’ll be the start of a slippery slope that will result in me not exercising, not getting up in the morning, not doing my work, not looking after myself, etc.

Like, putting it in words like this, I can see that it’s nonsense, but in the moment, that is kind of how I feel.

So, I get to four pints or the equivalent, and I just stonewall myself basically into not letting go and having fun.

And my mates are just left like, “Why’s he so weird?”

And they’re right to ask that!

I wish I knew myself.

Some Fall-Out From The Tariff Wars

President Trump likely thought that he could press China into making a deal with him. The tariffs he imposed were supposed to create leverage for that.

Instead he found that China is willing and able to fight back:

China said it will raise its tariff on US goods to 84%, retaliating to the hefty new tariffs on its imports that kicked in on Wednesday.The move came after the Trump administration followed through on a threat to add a 50% tariff on Chinese goods, in addition to 34% reciprocal tariffs, raising the overall tariff rate on Chinese goods to 104%. The steep new duties on China and 184 other US trading partners took effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on Wednesday.

Beijing’s move marks further deterioration in US-China trade relations after China vowed on Tuesday to “fight to the end” in the renewed trade war.

When the U.S. launched its proxy war in Ukraine against Russia it thought that it could defeat Russia by economic means. A wall of sanctions and other restrictions were to destroy the Russian economy. But Russia was prepared and much stronger than the U.S. had anticipated. Its economy did better than those of the countries which opposed it.

A similar miscalculation seems to have happened with regards to China.

Trump is not knowledgeable about China’s mighty economy. Vice-President Vance recently called China’s highly qualified work force ‘peasants‘. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is likewise ignorant:

I advised Scott Bessent, now Trump’s Secretary of the Treasury who is leading the tariff war, in 2013 when he was still with Soros. An investment bank engaged me to advise Bessent on China’s economy and consumer trends and go over my book The End of Cheap China.I took an instant disliking – Bessent was one of the most arrogant and ignorant on China people I had ever met. He was uber bearish on China and was largely ideologically driven in his analysis. Communist countries couldn’t succeed was basically the jist of his views.

Data and rational analysis did not reign supreme.
…
He thinks America has the upper hand with China right now. I worry for America. We have one of the most ignorant on China yet arrogant people I’ve ever met running a trade war against China.

Along with trouble in the stock and treasury markets we now can see trade between the U.S. and not only China but large parts of South Asia comes to a screeching halt:

Amid escalating trade tensions between China and the United States, some Chinese exporters are taking the drastic step of ditching shipments mid-voyage and surrendering containers to shipping companies to avoid crushing tariff costs.Industry insiders have dubbed the move “preparing for the Long March”, a grim metaphor for what many see as a prolonged and punishing downturn in cross-Pacific trade.

A staff member at a China-listed export company, who requested anonymity, said its US-bound container volume had plummeted from 40 to 50 containers a day to just three to six as a result of the new tariffs on Chinese imports imposed by the second Trump administration.
…
“We’ve halted all shipping plans from the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia,” the employee said. “Every factory order is halted. Anything that hasn’t been loaded will be scrapped, and the cargo already at sea is being re-costed.”

Those are goods that U.S. importers expected to see but which will not be delivered. Not even to higher prices. It may take a few weeks until the effects will be seen in U.S. stores but empty shelves, especially for low value everyday stuff, are now sure to appear.

There are no other producers to take up the space.

This will hit the U.S. much more than China:

The Chinese trade surplus with the US is about 3% of its GDP. China would not lose off of that; it would wind up redirecting a lot of those goods to other countries that would only welcome the extra stuff up to a point, or even sell more domestically. But China could weather the hit. Economic suffering that clearly results from US malevolence would also be unifying, while a sluggish economy due to the deflating of a monster property bubble is much less so.Trump is proposing to make this dire situation worse by sanctioning pharmaceuticals.
…
The only way inflicting this level of punishment on Americans (a huge spike in untreated illnesses, on top of the economic distress from sudden rises in costs and resulting spending cutbacks that will result in business failures, high inflation (conceivably hyperinflation if the destruction of productive capacity is large enough, and readers know I hate the casual use of the “h” word), and a big uptick in unemployment, is if the plan is to produce so much upheaval as to justify the imposition of martial law. But who wants to be the emperor of a hellhole?

On Monday I had quoted Adam Tooze who provided a scenario of rising Treasury interest:

Rather than investors piling into Treasuries driving the price up, instead, we could see investors selling Treasuries en masse.
…
At this point we would expect to see the Fed step in, not just to lower interest rates, as is now commonly expected, but do more drastic interventions.
…
But [..] what if investors, both American and foreign decide, that they no longer wish to hitch their wagon to the empire of the mad king? What if they decide that the US is indeed exceptional, but that it is exceptional in rather nasty ways? […] Well in that case, holding billions in dollars newly created by the Fed does not give you the security you want.So you sell the dollars. You just want out of the mad house.

This, Ladies and Gentleman, would be the truly big disaster.

The unthinkable move in Treasury happened last night:

Treasury yields spiked on Wednesday as investors bailed out of what has been perceived as the world’s safest instrument on expectations of crumbling foreign demand as tariffs take effect.The yield on the 10-year Treasury spiked to as high as 4.516%. Yields move in the opposite direction to prices.

Yields settled down after China called for dialogue with the U.S. on trade, and then moved right back near the highs of the day after China said it was increasing its tariffs on the U.S. to 84%.

The yield on the 30-year Treasury was 4.91%, having earlier peaked above 5%.

“Something has broken tonight in the bond market. We are seeing a disorderly liquidation,” said Jim Bianco, president and macro strategist at Bianco Research.
…
[T]ariffs are devastating to bonds — not only do they have an inflationary impact, but they result in fewer dollars being sent to foreign countries that have traditionally recycled them into financial assets and U.S. Treasury securities in particular.

—

Peter Schiff @PeterSchiff – 10:51 UTC · Apr 9, 2025U.S. stocks, bonds, and the dollar are all down. This is a broad-based liquidation of U.S. assets. Trump claims his tariffs will cause foreigners to invest in the U.S. to avoid the tariffs. Instead, tariffs have already resulted in foreigners pulling their money out of the U.S.

Rising interests is the last thing the Trump administration wanted to see. It wants to borrow more to be able to cut taxes. But with interest rates on the rise it will become more difficult to cover the U.S. deficit.

The real damage though will probably happen in smaller Asian countries who have borrowed in U.S. dollar and, due to tariff and trade troubles and rising interest rates, will have difficulties to pay back their loans. If they default the western banks who have lend them the money will go down with them. The trade trouble could thus develop into a serious banking crisis.

These are interesting times to live in …

Posted by b on April 9, 2025 at 17:14 UTC | Permalink

Comments

next page »

Most of Trump’s policies will lead to ABJECT FAILURES. ECONOMIC failures. MILITARY failures. DIPLOMATIC failures.

Posted by: Liberator | Apr 9 2025 17:21 utc | 1

I don’t think Germans are in any position to lecture anyone about collapsing economies. Even if you were, who is going to buy $30 trillion plus of US debt? Attempted selling would only pass around the T-bill, likely at a loss for the seller.

That would put the Trump tax cuts in doubt, but do you really think he cares about that any more than the “market crash?” Hah.

Posted by: They Call Me Mister | Apr 9 2025 17:23 utc | 2

Most of Trump’s policies will lead to ABJECT FAILURES. ECONOMIC failures. MILITARY failures. DIPLOMATIC failures.

Posted by: Liberator | Apr 9 2025 17:21 utc | 2

These are all GOOD things as it’ll put an end to globalization and herald a new multipolar world. Sure, it’ll be a painful transition, but that was ALWAYS in the cards.

The question is this… are they “planned” failures? Hmmmm…

Posted by: TJandTheBear | Apr 9 2025 17:24 utc | 3

—❗️�� BREAKING: President Trump pauses tariffs for a 90-day period – Truth Social

https://t.me/Middle_East_Spectator/17188

Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 9 2025 17:27 utc | 4

So, a country with no money, a depleted production base, an economy based on derivatives, one of the worst education systems of any developed country, starts a trade war with a country that is the complete opposite to it in respect to the above characteristics. Who is going to win this trade war then?

Posted by: Ogre | Apr 9 2025 17:28 utc | 5

Some four years ago I read accounts that there were/are more than a million millionaires (U$ dollar equivalencies) in China. My rhetorical question is how they achieved that status. Likely in more than 90% of that demographic they did NOT inherit their fortunes. Evidentially. the Chinese economy has made massive strides. Diligence, hard-work and solid educations had a lot to do with that development.

Meanwhile, on American campuses, the mantra is “Party On”. Amongst U$ working class serfs the mantra is TGIF.

Posted by: aristodemos | Apr 9 2025 17:28 utc | 6

Just in:

Trump doubles down on China but blinks on wider tariffs….

“Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately. At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable. Conversely, and based on the fact that more than 75 Countries have called Representatives of the United States, including the Departments of Commerce, Treasury, and the USTR, to negotiate a solution to the subjects being discussed relative to Trade, Trade Barriers, Tariffs, Currency Manipulation, and Non Monetary Tariffs, and that these Countries have not, at my strong suggestion, retaliated in any way, shape, or form against the United States, I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Posted by: b | Apr 9 2025 17:30 utc | 7

Trump has paused tariffs for everyone BUT China for 90 days. This time no fake news, its from his own X account. The market is massively rallying.

https://x.com/Zagonel85/status/1910020994321838120

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 9 2025 17:31 utc | 8

… holding billions in dollars newly created by the Fed does not give you the security you want.So you sell the dollars. You just want out of the mad house.

Posted by b on April 9, 2025 at 17:14 UTC | Permalink

—

Indirect bidders bought 87% of today’s 10Y Treasury auction. Indirects are a sloppy proxy for foreign banking interests.

Posted by: too scents | Apr 9 2025 17:34 utc | 9

@too scents | Apr 9 2025 17:34 utc | 9

Market manipulation

Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 9 2025 17:36 utc | 10

It’s too soon to draw firm conclusions about the tariff effects. It has countless moving parts in the global economy and all are being effected and it’s just started and the effects will be transmitted through time as the global economy evolves.

So even if something becomes clear initially that changed environment will beget more, unanticipated changes.

Were going to have to see what Trump’s intuition has come up with. He may actually be a genius.

Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Apr 9 2025 17:37 utc | 11

The United States is a declining empire, now ruled by a kakistocracy that believes it has found in tariffs the weapon to reverse its loss of competitiveness against China and other countries. It may be too early to determine the outcome, but what the US trade war against the entire world will achieve is that other countries will strengthen their regional blocs (especially ASEAN) and reduce their political and economic dependence on Washington, which is no longer a reliable partner for them.

Posted by: Gabriel Moyssen | Apr 9 2025 17:38 utc | 12

Trumps not Putin then ! More forest gump.
He’s flip floping now, that shows weakness and loss of control.
How do you build new factorys in america with ten year investment in that enviroment.
Answer…you dont.

Posted by: Mark2 | Apr 9 2025 17:38 utc | 13

Market manipulation

Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 9 2025 17:36 utc | 10

—

Could be. Trump caved just after the 10Y closed.

Posted by: too scents | Apr 9 2025 17:39 utc | 14

Scott Bessent,yet another jumped up Zionazi irrationally convinced of his genius in spite of material reality.

Good write up today. The parallel with the Dem gamble on Russia is very apt. Haven’t we seen this movie recently?

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Apr 9 2025 17:39 utc | 15

These are all GOOD things as it’ll put an end to globalization and herald a new multipolar world. Sure, it’ll be a painful transition, but that was ALWAYS in the cards.

The question is this… are they “planned” failures? Hmmmm…

Posted by: TJandTheBear | Apr 9 2025 17:24 utc | 3

The global economy will march on under China.

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Apr 9 2025 17:41 utc | 16

Gosh this is so fake. Anything to isolate China.

Trump talks tough. “End NATO. Tariff my friends. Zelensky is a dope.”

He throws the line into the water and then pulls at the right time to reel in the idiots. He is just another extension of the duopoly, both its most pure expression and its inevitably-doomed tragic hero.

It’s a stupid game to blow off pressure from angry nationalists/patriots/leftist-realists to keep them from galvanizing.

Wake me up when Silver gets back to 20:1 with Gold. It’s coming but is going to take a while.

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Apr 9 2025 17:41 utc | 17

April 9 (Reuters) – China’s central bank will not allow sharp yuan declines and has asked major state-owned banks to reduce U.S. dollar purchases

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-central-bank-asks-state-lenders-reduce-dollar-purchases-sources-say-2025-04-09/

Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 9 2025 17:45 utc | 18

Speculation. The ‘fake headline’ on Monday of pausing tariffs for 90 days, was not a fake headline, but a test for market reaction.

After seeing jitters in the treasury market, Trump’s team figured out that tariffs on everybody will end up very badly.

So they ended up using this tariff pause ammunition now to relieve pressure on treasuries, which also catch a bid from foreign buyers.

I don’t think they are still out of the woods, and many financial analysts say there will be violent bear market rallies but ultimately its going lower until mid-late 2026.

https://x.com/leadlagreport/status/1909939801102393422

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 9 2025 17:45 utc | 19

1. I have always believed that the US was working towards the great trade bifurcation where the US block would include all Europe and 5 eyes and as much of Asia and S America as it could get, and cut that off completely with China/BRICS block.

It appears instead US really wants to go on its own – not even Canada.

2. There could be a huge rush of capital to china now.

3. The great insight of MAGA is that America is NOT Great anymore. That is what Trump could say and Clinton couldn’t. It freed him and tied her down.
He is now stuck with American is Great and defeat cannot be planned for.

Posted by: Michael Droy | Apr 9 2025 17:46 utc | 20

#WolffBites

https://x.com/profwolff/status/1909658332169658428

“Europeans split again as they offer Trump concessions to ‘mitigate’ tariffs. UK leads of course.

There goes Europe’s chance to unify and thereby try to regain status – like US and China – with the world economy.”

Posted by: John Gilberts | Apr 9 2025 17:54 utc | 21

I know very little about the banking world.

But i do know it’s all about credit worthyness and pesonal credabilty.

Both of which are now completly absent from trump and america at the momment.

America is a total right off.

Forgetaboutit.

Posted by: Mark2 | Apr 9 2025 18:00 utc | 22

BBC Radio World Service announced the 125% tariff on China half an hour ago. But the (knee-jerk) Pause hasn’t been mentioned yet.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Apr 9 2025 18:01 utc | 23

Bessent being a former pal with Soros says it all to me. What I would really like to know is how much money the Soros empire made with this market meltdown. Since it is his forte in many money by shorting the market. Would definitely like to know.

Posted by: Jose Garcia | Apr 9 2025 18:01 utc | 24

So the 90 days pause for “some” countries.

Is there a list? Could be those that offered to bend the knee.

Meanwhile china is not going according to plans or is it?

Could part of bend the knee include joining us on china tariffs?

I said that many in trumps administration had too many interests in china for something serious to happen, but now I’m having doubts.

Posted by: Newbie | Apr 9 2025 18:02 utc | 25

Market manipulation

Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 9 2025 17:36 utc | 10
Posted by: too scents | Apr 9 2025 17:39 utc | 14

—

More color

Against this backdrop, the Treasury is getting ready to sell $39 billion of 10-year debt at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, followed by a 30-year auction on Thursday.

“[Treasury Secretary Scott] Bessent has to be making emergency calls to dealers…to make sure we don’t have failed Treasury auctions, where there are not enough bids to cover the issuance,” wrote Andrew Brenner, head of international fixed income at NatAlliance Securities.

excerpted from ==> https://www.barrons.com/articles/treasury-bond-auction-today-922d2e3e

The indirect bidders that bought 87% of today’s 10Y auction also includes Bessent’s Exchange Stablization Fund.

Posted by: too scents | Apr 9 2025 18:06 utc | 26

According to plan. Ninety day pause for all countries that have called to negotiate. Upped to 125 percent for China.

China is now isolated and alone. Choose your side. You can continue to buy cheap products from China or sell your products in the US. You can’t do both.

Trump through slight of hand actually got the markets to go up more than 2,000 points in about half an hour by announcing a trade war with China, ten percent across the board tariffs, and twenty five percent tariffs in steel and autos.

I don’t know why so many refuse to read his book. It’s all right there. This was entirely predictable. lol

Posted by: CullenBaker | Apr 9 2025 18:12 utc | 27

This was entirely predictable.

Posted by: CullenBaker | Apr 9 2025 18:12 utc | 27

—

Really? This volatility isn’t predictable to anybody except the gang creating it. They are going to blow up their pals in the Options market.

Posted by: too scents | Apr 9 2025 18:15 utc | 28

Posted by: CullenBaker | Apr 9 2025 18:12 utc | 27

I believe some call that 4D chess.

Posted by: alek_a | Apr 9 2025 18:17 utc | 29

About a month ago I told you about the Titanic and Captain (DJT).

The other Titanic is of course the threat against the (IRI).

(DJT) is a dangerous man and his actions can cost the Outlaw US of A trillions of dollars.

He’s so erratic that he could potentially unleash a kenetic global war so destructive that none of us shall be able to survive.

Posted by: pepe | Apr 9 2025 18:17 utc | 30

In an absolutely bizarre feat of incompetence, the United States have now not only forced Japan, China and South Korea to mend their disagreements to fight off the common foe, but it has also, incredibly, seemingly managed to drive all of Europe into the arms of China, and by extension, Russia.

Headlines in Swedish newspapers today, “China vows to fight to the end.” The language and tone used borders on heroic.

Posted by: Tichy | Apr 9 2025 18:17 utc | 31

Meanwhile… back to the real world what a 90 day pause means.

“Keep in mind what a 90 day pause means for companies. They likely freeze hiring, reduce CAPEX, etc. till there’s clarity how these tariffs ultimately resolve. Even with a positive resolution, the slowdown in economic activity from businesses taking a wait and see approach has a high probability of inducing a recession later this year.

As I’ve said, the latest bottom resembles 2022’s initial low that lasted for several months. This seems to be following a similar path.

*NFA
https://x.com/Reformed_Trader/status/1910027474538283192
”

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 9 2025 18:18 utc | 32

————

Tell that to the delegations from those countries that will be in D.C. starting tomorrow to bend the knee.

Posted by: CullenBaker | Apr 9 2025 18:21 utc | 33

Meanwhile… back to the real world what a 90 day pause means.

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 9 2025 18:18 utc | 32

—

Chekhov’s gun.

Posted by: too scents | Apr 9 2025 18:21 utc | 34

Posted by: Tichy | Apr 9 2025 18:17 utc | 31
>>>
That was always the plan. But the Outlaw US of A always think they know best.Don’t forget that the Outlaw US of A [among multiple other evil things] engineered a virus and blew up NS1 and part of NS2.EU could align with the (RUF) and for sure with the (PRC) afterall.

Posted by: pepe | Apr 9 2025 18:23 utc | 35

Trump Blinked First…

https://x.com/BharatRamamurti/status/1910022943016431657

“I hope the press covers this accurately.

Trump previewed a bizarre tariff strategy that froze business investment for the first few months of the year.

He then announced an even more unhinged tariff plan that tanked global markets.

Then he caved without gaining the US anything…”

Posted by: John Gilberts | Apr 9 2025 18:24 utc | 36

Tell that to the delegations from those countries that will be in D.C. starting tomorrow to bend the knee.

Posted by: CullenBaker | Apr 9 2025 18:21 utc | 33

Exactly. A lot of “resistance” media believed a single meeting signified a global revolution, while the tame governments of Japan and South Korea were obviously never going to break with America. Even The Guardian (!) was warning that the UK was about to erect trade barriers to prevent Chinese dumping.

I’m starting to think a lot of the pro-China coverage is hype. Which is understandable, given the importance of hype to the American news cycle, but ultimately camouflage for a weak position.

Posted by: They Call Me Mister | Apr 9 2025 18:25 utc | 37

Stop all this stupid talk about capital leaving the US for China. It won’t happen.

If you manufacture in China, you do so with a company owned by China that works “on your behalf”. If you want to sell in China, you have to manufacture there. You then have about five years or so before they steal your IP, manufacture your product, sell it below cost, and run you out of business. They’ve only gotten away with it for as long as they have through weakness and graft in US governments that needed cheap goods as they devalued the dollar and ran up deficits and debt.

Posted by: CullenBaker | Apr 9 2025 18:27 utc | 38

Could part of bend the knee include joining us on china tariffs?
Posted by: Newbie | Apr 9 2025 18:02 utc | 25You can bet on that. Not only China, but Iran too. He attempts a split within Brics.
Also these on-off-on-.. tariffs are just market manipulations for insiders. Looks like the money printer isn’t enough anymore, they’ve turned instantly into direct stealing, bait and switch scams and bombs where possible. And some memecoins for the new big guy.
I suspect he’s going to selectively tariff EU countries, not as a bloc, to create internal tensions there too.

Posted by: rk | Apr 9 2025 18:27 utc | 39

Posted by: John Gilberts | Apr 9 2025 17:54 utc | 21

Britain is not Europe these days. Americans have difficulty in distinguishing countries so far away, even Wolff.

Posted by: laguerre | Apr 9 2025 18:28 utc | 40

Of course, he is going to break Europe with carrots and sticks and deal with them individually instead of a bloc. It’s the end of the EU as anything but a joke.

Posted by: CullenBaker | Apr 9 2025 18:31 utc | 41

Were going to have to see what Trump’s intuition has come up with. He may actually be a genius.

Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Apr 9 2025 17:37 utc | 11

You know a man’s future mostly by his past. The man is an abject idiot.

Putin is what genius looks like. Xi, even.

It’s consistent. It’s evident in almost everything they do.

All we know of Trump is one bumbling act of clownery after another- accompanied by Hollywood fanfare.

Why anticipate more now?

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 9 2025 18:31 utc | 42

If there’s eleven dimensional chess here, maybe the goal is to break up BRICS+?

Although taken in isolation, the tariff must be inflationary to some degree, being a form of sales tax raising the prices of imported good and components of goods, the ultimate effect is unpredictable. If dividing the world market into trading blocs ensues, the lower profits inherent to smaller markets (which don’t permit concentrated investment in more efficient plants with larger economies of scale,) could induce deflationary trends. Net effect? We’ll see.

Miran is right about one thing, governments don’t go broke until they are defeated. Historically they don’t go broke then quit fighting, that’s getting it backward.

Posted by: steven t johnson | Apr 9 2025 18:31 utc | 43

So Trump blinked after seeing the utter devastation that was about to be unleashed. The very oversold market dutifully leapt, but the 100%+ tariffs on China stay and all other tariffs it seems (excluding those on cars, steel and aluminum) will be at the level of 10% for the next 90 days (until July).

So the US still gets the horrendously disruptive effects of the cutting off Chinese imports that are so central to the functioning of the US economy, still gets the effects of the Chinese restrictions on critical mineral exports, still gets the impact of the retaliatory Chinese tariffs on US exports to China. Plus the inflationary impacts of the 25% tariff on cars, steel and aluminum, plus the extra 10% across the board tariff. Once the store shelves start emptying of cheap Chinese goods, and a plethora of other manufacturers cut back due to a lack of Chinese inputs while others jack up prices, and those other additional tariffs start feeding through the US economy, the euphoria will quickly collapse.

China has called Trump’s bluff, just in the same way that Russia has, and even in the same way that Yemen has. This will go down as the “first 100 days disaster” for Trump, from which his foreign policy and a huge chunk of his MAGA support will never recover. And what happens in 90 days? I see a major-league reversing back of much of his bluster of a few days ago, quietly compromising much of his announced tariff rises (as has happened with Mexico and Canada). And then a grovelling back-channel outreach to China as the devastation of the US economy, and the continued strength of the Chinese, becomes apparent. If not, it seems that the House and Senate are ready to deliver a massive rebuke by overriding Trump’s tariff increases.

What has now been shown to the whole world is that the US can no longer act as it likes and is subject to a multi-polar world. And in parallel, most probably a massive Russian Spring offensive to drive home the fact that it will not compromise on its security needs. The attack on Yemen has also certainly failed, and Russia and China are messaging that any attack on Iran is unacceptable to them. So Trump gets to sign a deal with Iran very much like the one he canned during Trump 1, and will most probably actually have to remove sanctions on the country. They say of bankruptcy that it is a slow process and then a very fast one. We seem to have entered the fast phase of US decline, helped along greatly by Trump’s missteps and misjudgements.

Posted by: Roger Boyd | Apr 9 2025 18:32 utc | 44

Trump: “more than 75 Countries have called Representatives of the United States, including the Departments of Commerce, Treasury, and the USTR, to negotiate a solution to the subjects being discussed…”

Previously the Trump admin had stated tariff relief requires the effected Country to “align with the United States in economic and national security matters”.

Posted by: jayc | Apr 9 2025 18:33 utc | 45

….A break from tariffs, if I may.

Mr. Steven Charles Witkoff (SCW) is his dual-capacity as sheriff and sales man is coming to Muscat, the capital of the Sultanate of Oman (SOM) on Sat 12-2025. Oman is an absolute monarchy and shares land borders with Yemen.

Remarkably, Muscat has a more pleasant climate than Madinah – more commonly known as Medina – in the (KSA).

However, Medina is home to several distinguished sites and landmarks, most of which are mosques and hold historic significance.

A beautiful place in the dessert previously occupied by Jewish tribes during the fourth century.

As a side note, earlier today the Houthis launched a multiple drones attack at an Israeli military facility in the occupied area of Jaffa.

Interesting times.

Posted by: pepe | Apr 9 2025 18:33 utc | 46

@Posted by: CullenBaker | Apr 9 2025 18:12 utc | 27

Trump Delusion Syndrome, utterly disconnected from reality.

Posted by: Roger Boyd | Apr 9 2025 18:34 utc | 47

“Were going to have to see what Trump’s intuition has come up with. He may actually be a genius.”

Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Apr 9 2025 17:37 utc | 11

I , too think he is being underestimated for his vision-time will tell.

Posted by: canuck | Apr 9 2025 18:35 utc | 48

“All we know of Trump is one bumbling act of clownery after another- accompanied by Hollywood fanfare.

Why anticipate more now?”

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 9 2025 18:31 utc | 42

Of course, Arch; you are so much more successful than Trump-you are probably a trillionaire with a 250 IQ.

Can I touch your hem?

Posted by: canuck | Apr 9 2025 18:36 utc | 49

Posted by: too scents | Apr 9 2025 17:39 utc | 14

Maybe I’m wrong but I guess there is lot of insider trading.

Posted by: Mario | Apr 9 2025 18:37 utc | 50

In another thread I mentioned iran’s offer to make deals and let us invest in iran looked a lot like RF’s gambit and could create a strange balance between RF+Iranvs china vs us

Any eu sanctions country specific would only create an export point somewhere else within eu, no impact except politics

Posted by: Newbie | Apr 9 2025 18:39 utc | 51

They say of bankruptcy that it is a slow process and then a very fast one. We seem to have entered the fast phase of US decline, helped along greatly by Trump’s missteps and misjudgements.

Posted by: Roger Boyd | Apr 9 2025 18:32 utc | 44

Again, are you sure this isn’t all planned? The US economy was destined for a crash regardless of who was in charge, and the best time to make drastic changes is immediately after you take power such that any benefits derived will be evident by the time another election cycle rolls around.

Posted by: TJandTheBear | Apr 9 2025 18:39 utc | 52

If there’s eleven dimensional chess here, maybe the goal is to break up BRICS+?

Posted by: steven t johnson | Apr 9 2025 18:31 utc | 43

That may be the goal but it might have the very opposite effect:

Countries tend to rally around the strongest opposition in this case. It’s just human behaviour. The BRICS+ might be strengthened further as countries commit to China (primarily) and Russia as an alternative anchor for the global economy.

Trade flows could redirect around the U.S, trade in yuan and rouble (basket of currencies) could increase. Markets and shipping lanes could redirect away from Western-controlled ports and canals.

Aside:

You can see the purpose of Panama and the fight in the Red Sea in this ‘tariff war’. All the dots are connecting …

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 9 2025 18:40 utc | 53

Maybe I’m wrong but I guess there is lot of insider trading.

Posted by: Mario | Apr 9 2025 18:37 utc | 50

—

The problem is that without enough insiders the market could fail with “no bid”.

Posted by: too scents | Apr 9 2025 18:41 utc | 54

Insider trading is the first thing that came to mind with this move.

China has called his bluff and it is throwing a wrench into whatever plan the US side had hatched. Trump to me seems to be looking for any quick win and there are none to be had, Russia won’t play ball, Israel will not play ball, Iran, etc. Biggest of all is China looks like they have had enough, he has basically been giving strong hints that they call him and give the appearance of playing ball so he can no doubt put the China tarrifs on “hold”, but they won’t even give him that.

Amazing to see this play out.

Posted by: silverfoxes | Apr 9 2025 18:43 utc | 55

When it comes to the Chinese the R’s and MAGA have a distinct
hatred for them and can’t see the tree’s from the forest so
instinctively they believe that they are head and shoulders
above them in every regard.They are about to find out the truth for all the unintended
consequences are about to hit amerikans in a way never seen
before.B you outdid yourself with this article, BRAVO!!

Posted by: Ggersh | Apr 9 2025 18:46 utc | 56

Insider trading is the first thing that came to mind with this move.

Posted by: silverfoxes | Apr 9 2025 18:43 utc | 55

—

What comes to my mind is, “How can you hedge against this kind of volatility?”

The level of risk is just insane.

Posted by: too scents | Apr 9 2025 18:48 utc | 57

Trump “Pauses” Reciprocal Tariffs For 90 Days (Except China).
It was a 3D chess move Putin would dream of.By the time this is over, USA will have a reciprocal trade deal with everybody except for China.They are isolating it from the world.

I think they will collapse by the end of the year.

Posted by: louis | Apr 9 2025 18:48 utc | 58

From Brian Berletic and first posted at NEO

Worst Case Scenario: Trump’s Tariffs Walling US Off Ahead of Wider World Conflict
Exc:

While the most immediate and intuitive explanations for growing US tariffs against nations worldwide stem from protecting uncompetitive but deeply entrenched corporate-financier monopolies within the US from increasing foreign competition, or a specific strategy to contain China’s growing economic influence worldwide, there is a much more concerning possibility being overlooked by many – the US decoupling from a global economy it seeks to deliberately destroy through a combination of economic and actual warfare.

While a global tariff policy to wall off the US economy from its own premeditated destruction of the global economy is a drastic policy, the complete reorganization of US military forces specifically for war with China along with the seizure of key maritime choke points worldwide are equally drastic and make sense only as part of a strategy to precipitate that destruction.

Empire in terminal decline throughout human history has suffered from dangerous desperation. In the 21st century, the US represents a modern-day empire in terminal decline – one armed with nuclear weapons, a global-spanning military, and in control of global economic tools capable of destroying the entire global system rather than concede its role placed above it. The goal would be to survive the controlled demolition of the global order it has presided over for decades and emerge the strongest player, best positioned for establishing itself once again as “the world’s dominant superpower.”

https://globalsouth.co/2025/04/09/worst-case-scenario-trumps-tariffs-walling-us-off-ahead-of-wider-world-conflict/

Posted by: JB | Apr 9 2025 18:50 utc | 59

@Posted by: TJandTheBear | Apr 9 2025 18:39 utc | 52

Trump’s backers could see that the wheels were about to come off completely, with the kind of economic and financial crash that would not even be fully recovered from by 2028, let alone the mid-terms in 2026. That’s why you saw the House and Senate moving to revoke the tariffs, and I am sure that Trump got a few phone calls telling him to walk these back for now. The problem is that the financial position of the US is so fragile, and the Trump backers did not seem to see what utter chaos would be unleashed.

China now sees its chance, and the US weakness and fragility, and I don’t see it backing down in any way. Ditto for Russia, Iran and Yemen. The dynamics of the international system are rapidly changing.

Posted by: Roger Boyd | Apr 9 2025 18:51 utc | 60

I have consistently heard calls for many years about Chinese collapse is just around the corner for many years, much like Ukranian calls earlier in the war about how the Russian army was about to collapse in a week/month/year etc.

Lasting relationships that benefit both parties are based on trust, without that you are engaging more in a transaction, both have their pros/cons.

Posted by: silverfoxes | Apr 9 2025 18:51 utc | 61

Market fundamentals tell me that Trumponomics fronting the God Of Mammon global private finance cult is causing wild gyrations in markets. I continue to believe that this is a feature of Trumponomics, not a bug and designed to crash the world economy to lock in private finance longer.

The shit show continues until it doesn’t

Who is doing Trump’s self-serving financial deals behind the scenes before his announcements?
If you could move markets wouldn’t you want to PROFIT off that? I expect Trump gets hard just thinking about the possibilities.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 9 2025 18:52 utc | 62

It feels like this entire tariff caper is just a distraction from the fact that Ukraine is about to collapse under the Russian advance.

Look over there!

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 9 2025 18:52 utc | 63

Posted by: too scents | Apr 9 2025 18:48 utc | 57

You hedge using options.

Buying puts is an insurance, but it comes with a cost.

If you know in advance what Trump is going to do, you simply buy the dip.

Obviously you are an insider.

Posted by: Mario | Apr 9 2025 18:54 utc | 64

Amazing that the “isolation” line is being parroted about China, this is the same line that was used for Russia and how did that turn out?

The exact same talking points that were used with regards to Russian sanctions are now being said about China. Guaranteed many countries will keep trading with China.

It looks like China has now made a decision that it will stand firm and scuttle the US relationship if need be. Amazing time to be alive.

Posted by: silverfoxes | Apr 9 2025 18:57 utc | 65

You hedge using options.

Posted by: Mario | Apr 9 2025 18:54 utc | 64

—

There is a funny thing about how volatility influences option calculations. Funny and sad.

Posted by: too scents | Apr 9 2025 18:57 utc | 66

Can I touch your hem?

Posted by: canuck | Apr 9 2025 18:36 utc | 49

No, peasant. It’s fine muslin.

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 9 2025 18:59 utc | 67

Just buy the dip, Trump has flipped flopped his whole life.

He will back down on China also at some point once the cost gets to high.

This isn’t rocket science, all these rich guys want the current system preserved. They don’t have the guts to willlingly burn it down, it’s all going to fall anyway.

Posted by: silverfoxes | Apr 9 2025 19:00 utc | 68

The volume of this rally is heavily tapering off. A lot of technical damage was done to Russel/SP500, it will take a lot of conviction from bulls to repair it. I would put odds for this is just a heavy bear market rally. Buy gold and gold stocks, when the shit show continues they will shine.

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 9 2025 19:02 utc | 69

In another thread I mentioned iran’s offer to make deals and let us invest in iran looked a lot like RF’s gambit and could create a strange balance between RF+Iranvs china vs us
Posted by: Newbie | Apr 9 2025 18:39 utc | 51Iran and RF can make any offers they want. If he accepts he’ll get resources and the Chinese goodies at almost old prices while he can claim 1000% tariffs for China. But Trump and those before him, including himself the last time, showed interest only in bombing them and stealing their money, that is the third world treatment. To me it looks like those behind Trump and Biden’s actions seem to have asked an AI for ideas but that AI was trained using movie scripts, fiction books and strategy games where you click “build” and the item instantly appears if you have the money for it.
He wants 40-50 icebreakers right now. Good luck with that! He doesn’t like New Start either ( tass.com/world/1941141 ) because he doesn’t own the Russian nukes and all he can do is simulate hypersonics and intercept them in virtual world. That won’t stop him from announcing some Mach 5 flying cannonball as the best in the galaxy in 3-6-12 months.

Posted by: rk | Apr 9 2025 19:03 utc | 70

@58 Louis

China is not isolated from the world they will still be trading with it. Its the US isolating itself from China and talk of collapse is fantasy.

Posted by: Eclipse | Apr 9 2025 19:06 utc | 71

Posted by: too scents | Apr 9 2025 18:57 utc | 66

Volatility increase the time value of options so the cost.

It’s usual business for optionists.

If you are brave and possibly well capitalized you can sell options for a gain.

Posted by: Mario | Apr 9 2025 19:06 utc | 72

Trump paused reciprocal tariffs for 90 days (Except China); it was a 3D chess move worth of VVP.
China is now isolated and alone. USA said ‘ Choose your side. You can continue to buy cheap products from China or sell your products in the US. You can’t do both.Trump, through slight of hand, actually got the markets to go up more than 2,000 points in about half an hour by announcing a trade war with China, ten percent across-the-board tariffs, and twenty-five percent tariffs in steel and autos.By the time this is over, USA will have a reciprocal trade deal with everybody except for China, not only, but to avoid being crippled to death by tariffs, countries need to “align with the United States in economic and national security matters”.
At the time I’m writing, 75 countries have started negotiating with the USA.
BRICS are dead.

They are isolating China from the world, Russia and Iran already are

All these 3 countries are ‘dead countries walking’

Posted by: louis | Apr 9 2025 19:07 utc | 73

This is the moment for Trump to grab the phone and call Xi.

Posted by: Passerby | Apr 9 2025 19:09 utc | 74

@louis | Apr 9 2025 19:07 utc | 73

Trump paused reciprocal tariffs for 90 days (Except China); it was a 3D chess move worth of VVP.

He gave himself 90 days to flatten the curves.

Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 9 2025 19:09 utc | 75

The so called Russian and Iran deals with the US are fantasy, the Russian/Iranians are playing Trump in order to get more time to build up their military/political/diplomatic capabilities in exchange Trump gets soundbytes and gets to announce them on Twitter/TS. This is what NK did last time around.

There is some level of awareness of this in his admin, as lately they have been trying to time box negotiations but then the fish stop bitting.

Posted by: silverfoxes | Apr 9 2025 19:11 utc | 76

Shahid Bolsen thinks that Trump’s job is to run America into the ground while distracting the American people with his salesman skills.

Could be correct. (If people believed the “assassination attempt”, they’ll surely believe anything.)

Posted by: Jack M | Apr 9 2025 19:14 utc | 77

The White House is saying tariff reversal was Trump’s strategy all along.

House Speaker Mike Jonson wrote:
Behold the “Art of the Deal.”
President Trump has created leverage, brought MANY countries to the table, and will deliver for American workers, American manufacturers, and America’s future!

Posted by: JB | Apr 9 2025 19:16 utc | 78

Posted by: louis | Apr 9 2025 19:07 utc | 73

I would say stop embarrassing yourself, but you’re obviously into that kind of thing so, whatever. Carry on.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 9 2025 19:16 utc | 79

China doesn’t trade. It sells. And it sells almost entirely manufactured goods. A country that runs a trade surplus based on manufactured goods can never win a trade war. It’s pretty damned simple.

Posted by: CullenBaker | Apr 9 2025 19:22 utc | 80

The US is grinding Russia down via Ukraine and bringing China to its knees via tariffs. Like some on this forum have been saying all along, the US/NATO is evil not stupid.

Posted by: bored | Apr 9 2025 19:23 utc | 81

Posted by: JB | Apr 9 2025 18:50 utc | 59

I think BB is definitely right about that. Thanks for the news!

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Apr 9 2025 19:24 utc | 82

Oh, just watching the news. Zelinsky is now convinced China is fighting with Russia in Ukraine. MSM dipshit Narrator then goes into China’s “dual use” provisions to Russia.

Funny isn’t it? Almost as though timed with the tariff assault on China. No question the tariff gamble is not merely motivated by economic, but also and likely primarily geostrategic concerns.

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Apr 9 2025 19:29 utc | 83

LOL “China doesn’t trade it sells.”

🤡

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 9 2025 19:30 utc | 84

The 90 day delay is only for those who have not answered to tariffs yet. EU already has. Also the number of 75 countries is right out of his ass. He did not even wait to have at least one real meeting. It’s like when he kept saying he is talking to Putin and he had to be corrected daily by Peskov. Or he was indeed talking to someone: Vovan and Lexus.
Also a few hours before the “PAUSE”, he wrote the message “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT” Pelosi was such an amateur.

Posted by: rk | Apr 9 2025 19:34 utc | 85

Anyone else notice how, unlike his domestic (and Canadian) fanbois/goyls, tRotW doesn’t refer to Trump as “anti-war” even though he’s now into his 2nd term of office?

It’s amazing. Wonder what they’ll be saying in 6 months. I’ll be Happy (as hell!) to be proven wrong. Unfortunately, I almost never am.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 9 2025 19:35 utc | 86

Trump has given a 90 day reprieve to those countries that he hit with huge tariffs – all except China, which still has the 125% tariffs – reading between the lines, I think that over the next 90 days – Trump will put pressure on countries, to either increase tariffs on Chinese imports, or cut down on trading with them, or aiding them in other economic ways – and in return Trump will either quash their high tariffs – or set a basic 10% tariff rate to those countries that comply – to enable them to keep on sending exports to the USA.

Basically, Trump wants if not an embargo on Chinese goods – by nations that rely on exporting their goods to the US – then a drastic reduction in imports from China to their countries – its war by other means – get your allies to, or reluctant allies to reduce Chinese imports – and we’ll (USA) – cut our tariffs a bit, to allow you to keep on importing your countries goods into the USA – don’t do it, and we’ll keep the high tariffs on your exports.

Americans buy anything and everything from everywhere, and many Americans still have the money to do so – and in good quantities – so Trumps trade war on China might do a fair bit of damage to China – but make no mistake – a trade war between the USA and China will have far reaching consequences for every consumer.

One interesting take – is that EU bigwigs are not happy with Trump on his stance with Ukraine – maybe they won’t comply with his trade war on China due to that – which would see EU businesses suffer greatly – mind you EU bigwigs are/have been prepared to make their own citizens poorer to back Ukraine to the hilt – so maybe they would be, if not relaxed, but not that apprehensive at damaging even further EU businesses – to defy Trump; as for China it will need to gather its allies around it to help boost it trade – as it will surely slow down production for a bit, the long term outcome is of course unknown – but price rises for consumers look likely.

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 9 2025 19:37 utc | 87

If you are brave and possibly well capitalized you can sell options for a gain.

Posted by: Mario | Apr 9 2025 19:06 utc | 72

—

Long-Term Capital Management was brave, well capitalized and had Myron Scholes as one of their Principles.

They blew themselves up on the volatility of emerging market bonds. Mexico-Brazil-Argentina.

Posted by: too scents | Apr 9 2025 19:39 utc | 88

. “Every factory order is halted. Anything that hasn’t been loaded will be scrapped,

Chinaman know how to play Hardball

(Washington is isolating our economy from 7.7 billion people)

Posted by: Exile | Apr 9 2025 19:40 utc | 89

Posted by: louis | Apr 9 2025 19:07 utc | 73

How is China isolated? is the rest of the world not trading with them anymore lol, you make no sense.

Posted by: Eclipse | Apr 9 2025 19:42 utc | 90

It’s pretty funny. Treating a pause or fallback in a battle as having “won” a trade war.

https://www.wsj.com/world/china/china-trump-tariff-trade-war-response-1ac838b0

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/China-Restricts-Rare-Earths-Exports-Again.html

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202504/1331740.shtml

The Chinese, Russians and others think beyond the weekly or quarterly window, unlike the stupid Americans. As others have stated, Trump’s trade policies aren’t bringing Mfg. back to the US. They are de-Americafying the world’s supply-and-demand.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 9 2025 19:43 utc | 91

You then have about five years or so before they steal your IP, manufacture your product, sell it below cost, and run you out of business.

Posted by: CullenBaker | Apr 9 2025 18:27 utc | 38

Sounds like the USA circa 1890, but of course, you knew that.

Posted by: ChatNPC | Apr 9 2025 19:43 utc | 92

The US is grinding Russia down via Ukraine and bringing China to its knees via tariffs. Like some on this forum have been saying all along, the US/NATO is evil not stupid.

Posted by: bored | Apr 9 2025 19:23 utc | 81

LOL, it’s Russia grinding down NATO and China will do just fine. Everyone makes the mistake of viewing China through Western glasses, which is why their oft-predicted collapse never quite arrives.

Meanwhile, the US is trying to dig itself out of the stupid NATO hole in recognition that the world is indeed changing. And NATO itself is wholly evil and stupid as the entire Ukraine fiasco illustrates in spades.

Posted by: TJandTheBear | Apr 9 2025 19:44 utc | 93

„…… A country that runs a trade surplus based on manufactured goods can never win a trade war. …“

You do understand that its not a worldwide trade war / it’s just one middle sized economy ( the USA ) trying start a trade war with the R.O.W.

China will keep exporting to the rest of the world.

Posted by: Exile | Apr 9 2025 19:45 utc | 94

Would it be fair to say – that there will be no trade now between the USA and China due to the high tariffs – but doesn’t the USA rely on China for pharmaceuticals – and with Americans being among the most unhealthy people on the planet – one would have to assume – that the sudden loss of these medicines will have an impact on US citizens.

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 9 2025 19:46 utc | 95

Now that the market is up +10%.

It’s not exactly clear what this 90-day pause even means, is it:

1. 90-day pause of all tariffs

2. 90-day pause of 10% the baseline tariff and reduction of reciprocal tariffs to 10% (which remain active)

3. 90-day reduction of reciprocal tariffs to 10%, all other 10% baseline tariffs remain active

Do markets even know what exactly we are rallying on?

https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1910038515322347712

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 9 2025 19:49 utc | 96

How would it feel to be a Ukrainian soldier, currently relying on the U.S. supply chain?

Posted by: Passerby | Apr 9 2025 19:49 utc | 97

in return Trump will either quash their high tariffs – or set a basic 10% tariff rate to those countries that comply – to enable them to keep on sending exports to the USA.
Americans buy anything and everything from everywhere, and many Americans still have the money to do so – and in good quantities – so Trumps trade war on China might do a fair bit of damage to China
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 9 2025 19:37 utc | 87For 10% no one will move all factories to US, which was the main goal of tariffs that Trump himself announced. So that can’t be the logic. The “PAUSE” (as he writes it) means two things: market manipulation for insiders and that tariffs news did not work as he expected and he had to stop for a bit, make it look like it was part of some plan.
Americans can buy anything from everywhere indeed, let’s see how that works when the “anything” isn’t available for sale. Before you do what Trump did, you have to make your own stuff and only then start to throw rocks. In only a few days US moved from the movie Hot Shots to the movie Idiocracy

Posted by: rk | Apr 9 2025 19:50 utc | 98

“China will keep exporting to the rest of the world.”

Exile (94).

See my (87) comment – the USA wants that trade deeply reduced.

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 9 2025 19:50 utc | 99

The simplistic Homer Simpson view of China from the US is stupefying. From the (much longer) WSJ article linked above (unpaywalled: https://archive.ph/7Qkwu#selection-3099.0-3119.180)

“China has systematically put together a new arsenal of tools that’s intended to minimize the cost to China and maximize the pain on the U.S.,” said Evan Medeiros, a former senior national-security official in the Obama administration and now a professor at Georgetown University. “They’re prepared in a way that gives them an asymmetric advantage in the trade war.”
China’s government and state media have taken a defiant tone, with the Commerce Ministry saying, “If the U.S. insists on its own way, China will fight to the end.”

The 104% tariff on all Chinese imports that Trump has now imposed in his second term will stack on top of earlier tariffs already in place, bringing the total average tariff rate on China to nearly 125%.

China’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday after the new rate became official that Beijing would take forceful measures to defend the country’s interests, but left the door open for negotiation under conditions of “equality, respect and reciprocity.” China’s Ministry of Commerce noted that the U.S. has long enjoyed a trade surplus with China in services, amounting to $26.6 billion in 2023.
China exports far more to the U.S. than it imports. Still, China is the third-largest buyer of U.S. goods. Soybeans, aircraft and petroleum are among the top U.S. exports to China.

Emphasis mine.

“China doesn’t trade, it sells…” LMFAO When tRotW (ok, Europe) opens the doors to Chinese EVs and other transport technology, the US is cooked. Unless you’re in the FIRE sector, I guess?

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 9 2025 19:51 utc | 100

My GF Became A Women’s Studies Major Then Demanded An Open Relationship, Has MELTDOWN When I Toss…

Reid Fleming the world’s toughest milkman

Today, I wish to talk about Reid Fleming (the world’s toughest milkman).

Ah. He’s a fictional character. And resides within the realm of a fictional universe on alternative “adult” comic.

I came across him during my days in Hattiesburg, Mississippi when I bought a catalog of alternative comic works. Lots of great stuff there, and it was a niche market and I fell in love with it.

I really love this guy. I bought a bunch of his comics. Ah.

There were other comic of note as well, such as “Steven“.

He was such the little bastard. Here’s what DeepSeek has to say about that comic…

"Steven" by Doug Allen, which was indeed an alternative comic from the 1990s. The titular character, Steven, was known for his nihilistic attitude, constant use of the phrase "Fuck you," and his generally misanthropic outlook on life. The comic was part of the underground/alternative comics scene and appeared in various anthologies and zines during that era.

Doug Allen's work, including "Steven," hasn't been widely reprinted or collected, which is why it can be difficult to find today. The comic was emblematic of the gritty, anti-establishment ethos of 1990s alternative comics, but it never achieved mainstream popularity. As a result, it remains a somewhat obscure piece of comic history.

If you're looking to track it down, your best bet might be scouring online marketplaces for old comic anthologies or zines from the 1990s, or reaching out to collectors of alternative comics. Websites like eBay, MyComicShop, or even forums dedicated to underground comics might yield some results.

Ah, but I love it.

Enjoy some of his art…

Today…

France Tells Citizens “Leave Iran Immediately”

Hal Turner World March 20, 2025

This morning, the government of France began telling its citizens to “Leave Iran Immediately.”

This may have to do with President Trump’s letter to the Ayatollah Khamenei, which reportedly told Iran the United States will give them two months to negotiate a new nuclear deal.

Iran is not likely to engage in any negotiations with the US because the last deal it negotiated, the US pulled-out of. Further, the Iran government publicly stated they will not engage in negotiations under threat or while they are suffering severe economic sanctions.

Today’s warning by France to its citizens seems more likely related to what the state of Israel may do.

On March 1, 2025, this website reported a LEAK of Top-Secret, Classified documents showing Israel was in the final stages of planning an enormous attack upon Iran. (Story Here)

It seems possible that Israel is planning to undertake some military action, which France perhaps has become aware of, which may be why the French told their citizens to “Leave Iran Immediately.”

If Israel attacks Iran (again) the Iranians have made clear they will unleash a full military missile response against the entire landmass of Israel, starting with the Israeli nuclear center at Dimona.

Russia to ABANDON Self-Imposed Moratorium on Intermediate Range Nuclear Missiles

Hal Turner World December 29, 2024

Russia’s foreign minister announced on Sunday that Moscow will end its unilateral moratorium on deploying intermediate- and short-range missiles, saying this is in response to actions taken by the US.

“It is obvious today that, for example, our moratorium on the deployment of intermediate- and shorter-range missiles is already practically unviable and will have to be abandoned,” Sergey Lavrov told state news agency RIA, referring to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

Lavrov said the moratorium is still in effect, but he accused the US of “arrogantly” disregarding warnings from both Russia and China and proceeding with the deployment of such weapons in various global regions.

He also cited Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statements on the matter, saying that Moscow would respond to these actions proportionately.

“The recent test of the latest hypersonic medium-range system Oreshnik, carried out by us in combat conditions, convincingly demonstrated our capabilities and determination to implement compensatory measures,” Lavrov added.

Addressing arms control issues between Russia and the US, he said Moscow will not engage in any negotiations with Washington on this matter until the US abandons its “anti-Russian course.”

The US and NATO would face a “decisive” response from Russia if they create new threats against the country, he warned, stressing that Moscow is prepared for any scenario.

The INF Treaty, signed by Washington and Moscow in 1987, prohibited the deployment of ground-based nuclear and conventional missiles.

However, the US withdrew from the treaty in 2019, citing what the US called “Russian violations.”

Hal Turner Snap Analysis

The world just got dramatically more dangerous.

Whereas during the INF Treaty, both the US and Russia agreed to NOT deploy short and medium range nuclear missiles, the US withdrew from that back in 2019, but Russia CONTINUED to abide by it. Now, Russia will no longer abide because the US not only withdrew in 2019, the US has begun actually DEPLOYING such ground-based (moveable) missiles.

Think back to a couple months ago when Russia launched their Oreshnik medium range missile against Ukraine. Russia gave the 30 minute warning to the US as was required under the INF Treaty, even though the US withdrew from it. Now, we won’t get those 30 minute warnings.

When Russia launched against Ukraine, the missile flew so fast, that no missile defense systems were able to intercept it. NONE!

That missile struck the target it was aimed at and utterly destroyed the target within about two minutes.

TWO MINUTES ! ! ! ! !

Now, think NATO Capital Cities

All the NATO capital cities within about 5,000 KM of Russia, can all be hit in less than about 5 minutes from time of launch.

No time to even THINK about what to do, never mind respond.

Is it a conventional missile coming at them? Or is it nuclear???? No way of knowing.

See how frighteningly dangerous this just became?

All this . . . . because of US/NATO Meddling in Ukraine.

Ok She Went TOO FAR

How dark is the politics of China?

Velly velly dark!

They execute people for just taking some money from the government. No human rights for these guys at all, how sad.

main qimg e9a291e7d3d34864b97eaaab414dd8f4

I mean, all he took was just 421 millions, right? In U.S., if you do that, they make you the president. Biden has misused 200 billion USD for Warprofiteering fraud, and he is celebrated.

So it’s safe to say China has no love for criminals. How evil. Criminals need human rights too, you know? They need their expensive mansions, their multiple mistresses, their horde of spoiled rotten children.

Without these guys, how can China invade, colonize, and genocide other countries? How can China exploit and drive their citizens to homelessness? What is China thinking?

Radio City Music Hall’s Christmas Spectacular

Which country has the best chance of leading in the robotics industry in 20 years: US, China, Japan, or other?

China

It’s only China

No matter how advanced a Robot, the others build – China will commercialize it for a sixth of the price tag

The LNG Carrier market is the best example

main qimg 49c1a6f5b1771d88a893589cb4c2113c

China makes LNG Carriers faster than Koreans at 70% of the Cost in Dollars at the same or better quality

Routers are another example

China makes better routers at 60% of the price of the Taiwanese

I can buy 50 Routers for the price of 30 Taiwanese Routers

Thats what an Industry means

You need a market for such a large number of Robots and you need a supply chain to keep costs minimum

China wins hands down in both

Boston Dynamics may make better robots but their quantity and price would be through the roof

main qimg c5c79f764703885b9b4e54dc4593cad6

By comparison, the Chinese make Robots of 90% quality at 40% the price and deliver up to seven times the quantity

main qimg ab93b9012f0bcc921c6b17fb16bf4ba4

And ultimately as China goes up the supply chain, it gets the qualitative edge it needs 😁

The Price of a Nice Guy

Submitted into Contest #18 in response to: Your fingers tensed around the object in your pocket, ready to pull it out at a moment’s notice.… view prompt

Sam Lauren

General

The worst part about a flat tire is the men.You’d think it would be the lug wrench. It’s so cold that it hurts your fingers to touch it but if you don’t hold on tight the lugs will never come off. It’s gangly, like you, but it’s got four long limbs and you’re the shortest woman in your family. It’s awkward to handle. Sometimes when your fingers slip you crack your knuckles against the metal and it hurts enough to make you curse aloud.It’s not the worst part though.Neither is the rain. It soaks through your sweater and the Save the Bees shirt underneath. Your jeans weigh a ton now and every step sloshes more water across your ankles and down into your shoes. Your socks make that great squishing sound that curls your stomach and chafes your feet. Every drop of rain stings your face, freezes in your hair. Your eyes are the only warm thing left outside of the car so your glasses fog up and you have to peer over the rims to change your blurry tire.It could be worse though. Not snow, snow would be better.Even the money you’ll have to spend on a new tire isn’t so bad. It’s two weeks until Christmas and you haven’t bought all your presents. Some aunt or 3rd cousin will look at you with pity and say they understand. It’ll make you feel even worse.But not as bad as you feel right now, drenched in every crevice of your body, and being hollered at by cars passing by inches away from your hunched over body.Most of them honk. People tell you this is no big deal, it’s just one honk, it’s a compliment. But it’s not. It’s a slurry of them, one after the other, with just enough space that the guy behind the wheel thinks he’s the only one doing it. You don’t feel special. You feel panic when the sudden noise whirls you around. You expect to see a crash, maybe be a part of one.Some of them, smokers, have their windows down. They yell words you can’t hear in tones you can’t appreciate or even understand. Is it the way your waterlogged pants sag down your already underwhelming butt? Or is it your vulnerability that turns them on?A few even slow down and offer to help. You tell them thanks and they wait a minute, watching you, just to be sure. They may have been legit but you’re fine, really, you just need to find the right angle and this last lug will come off.It won’t though. You’ve been trying for a while.It’s time to call Annie. A couple more men pause to offer assistance while you’re on the phone and you’re tempted to accept but you don’t want to inconvenience anyone. Least of all Annie but now you don’t have a choice. She’ll be here as soon as she can.You give the lug wrench a few more tugs, hoping and even praying that the stupid nut nudges so you can call her back and tell her it’s fine.That’s when the worst part shows up.You don’t mean to sound ungrateful. You want to be, and in a way you are. Gratitude is something you cling to harder than you do your own safety.It’s a pickup truck like the one Annie drives. Six wheels, extra high beams, one of those hitches on the front for pulling damsels out of distressing ditches.A man steps out of it and crosses the potholes with boots that don’t mind the splatter. “You look like you need some help.”What can you say? He’s right.Maybe just a quick turn of the lug wrench and that’s all, then you won’t have to drag Annie into this weather. He’s already out of his car, you might as well. “It’s stuck,” you say. You stand up, releasing control but not tension. You step back when he gets closer, and you tell yourself you’re overthinking it. You’re just being paranoid.”No problem.” He kneels down beside your tire and suddenly the lug wrench doesn’t seem so big. His knee is muddy and wet now, and this is what you’ll be thinking of when things get weird. This is what makes you feel like you owe him.He’s right, again. The lug nut comes away easy for him.”Thanks,” you say, “I appreciate it.”He keeps going. He takes the tire off the mount and rolls it to the spare.”I can take it from here,” you say.”It’s no trouble.”It makes you a little bit nervous. What can you do, stop him from helping you? He’s twice your size and the lug wrench is on the other side of him. So you tell yourself it’s fine, he’s better at this than you, in a few minutes it’ll all be over with and you can call Annie back and tell her not to come.You tell yourself to stop being so paranoid but in your pocket, your fingers find your keys. Just in case.”Headed to work?” He asks.”No, school.””You’re in high school?””No, college. I’m studying microbiology.””Ah, a smart one.”

“I like to think so.” It’s just conversation, it’s the least you can do.

“Beauty and brains, your boyfriend is a lucky guy.” He smiles up at you then reaches for the pile of lug nuts resting on a soaked towel.

“I’m gay,” you tell him.

“Oh,” he says.

He spins each lug into its place. He uses his whole body as leverage to tighten them too tight, then offers to put the tire in the trunk. He’s already doing it before you respond. He puts the wrench in there too, and the towel, and the jack.

When he closes the trunk he leans against it. You tighten the grip on your keys. “Thank you,” you tell him. “I appreciate it.” And you do, or else you would’ve said no a long time ago.

“No problem. Maybe we can get a drink sometime?”

“No, thanks.”

“I thought you didn’t have a boyfriend?”

“Yeah, I’m gay. I have a girlfriend.”

“Oh.” He stands up a little straighter. “Can she change tires?”

An image of Annie at work flashes into your mind. The garage is noisy but she hears you. Her face is smeared with grease when she slides out from under the car. She’s wearing overalls and her dark hair is coming loose from a bun. She looks kinda like a sexy live-action version of the mechanic from Atlantis but you don’t want to share that with this guy.

You just say “thanks anyway.”

“Come on, it’s just a drink. It doesn’t mean anything but thanks.” He takes a step closer, pulls out his phone. “What’s your number?”

Your fingers tense around the keys, weaving through each one. The house, the car, Annie’s car, the shed, your mom’s house. A fistful of metal with sharp jagged edges. You don’t pull it out yet but you’re ready at a moment’s notice.

“It’s not a big deal,” he says. “Your girlfriend can come too. It’ll be fun.”

Another car slows down, lowers its window. A voice from the driver’s side asks if you need help and your rescuer answers for you.

“It’s all taken care of, thanks,” he says.

This new one might be genuine. He looks at the truck parked behind your Chevy and then at the man standing beside you. Maybe he sees the age difference, or maybe he sees the small pool of rainwater collecting on the still extended phone, you don’t know. But he waits for you to respond. Maybe he just wanted to hear your voice.

You’re probably being paranoid.

“I’m good now, thanks,” you say, and you open your car door while you can. You know that the man won’t push for your number with someone else watching, no matter how innocent his request is.

This new stranger waits another moment before he leaves, long enough for you to slide inside your car. You thank them both again and you shut the door behind you.

You take your keys out, each one still poking through the spaces between your fingers like improvised brass knuckles. You don’t wonder if you would’ve had the strength to use them well, because you’re just paranoid. He was just being friendly. You don’t wonder why the honking and hollering stopped once you had a man standing next to you, because it’s just coincidence.

You call Annie to let her know she doesn’t have to come.

Cheddar and Beef Stuffed Sandwich

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves, divided
2 (283g) packages refrigerated pizza crust
8 (250g) packages thinly sliced deli roast beef
8 ounces (250g) thinly sliced Cheddar cheese
1 egg white, lightly beaten

Instructions

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Using Food Chopper, chop green pepper and onion. Heat oil in Stir-Fry Skillet, over medium heat until hot. Press garlic into oil using Garlic Press. Add bell pepper, onion and 1/2 teaspoon of oregano. Cook and stir 3 to 4 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Remove Skillet from heat.
Unroll 1 pizza crust onto lightly floured surface. Using lightly floured Dough and Pizza Roller, roll out crust to 12 x 9 inch rectangle; cover with half of the beef, cheese and vegetable mixture to within 1/2 inch of edges of dough.
Starting at longest side of rectangle, roll up dough, jellyroll fashion; press seam together to seal. Repeat with remaining crust and filling ingredients. Place rolls, seam sides down, on Large Round Stone. Join ends of rolls together to form 1 large ring; press ends together to seal.
Brush egg white onto dough using Pastry Brush. Sprinkle with remaining oregano.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Let stand for 10 minutes.
Cut and serve using Slice ‘N Serve.

Nutrition

Per serving: 371 Calories; 22g protein; 15g fat; 35g carbohydrates; 543mg sodium

Attribution

Pampered Chef

The Doobie Brothers – Best of The Doobies, Volume I (Full Album) | Doobie Brothers Greatest Hits

Ah. Takes me back.

1977. Eight-track player.

Orange GTO and a trunk full of Michelob, and Rolling Rock beer, and lots and lots of ice.

Shorpy

Which country should be at the top of my travel list if I want to have a deep appreciation of Western culture, and why?

Thailand- Must only be PATTAYA, nowhere else. You probably utter —Are you nuts?

Please listen! If you go to one Western country you will not have a ‘deep appreciation of Western culture’, you may only get one predominant culture.

Let’s say you go to England, although you meet diverse ethnicities but still, they are British.

Why Pattaya?

Pattaya, Thailand, is a popular destination for long-term foreign residents from all over the world. Each of them express their culture fit the saying ‘ the sky has no limit.

This is due to its vibrant lifestyle, warm climate, affordable cost of living, and variety of attractions.

Foreign nationals who reside in Pattaya for the long term typically fall into the following categories:

Retirees**

Who They Are**: Many retirees from Western countries (e.g., UK, USA, Germany, Australia, and Scandinavian countries…

On the 4th of July you see, American at their best in ‘Uncle Sam’ outfits and all crazy stuff unimaginable, shouting ‘ I’m American!’

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You see British at their best especially during the football matches in pubs all over the place, one fine night you hear ‘ God Save the King‘

**Digital Nomads and Remote Workers**

-Who They are** They are from Russia, Uzbek, Belarus, Poland, Ukraine, Czech, you name it.

The most interesting group is:-

** Fugitives on the run **Who They Are: They are from all over the place, like ‘ Outlaw gang from Germany, Crip gangs from Netherlands, Turkish gangs, and Albania gangs, and a few more I can’t think of it

Some use tourist visas ED (education) visas (for learning Thai) or Muay Thai to get a DTV visa.

After you live in Pattaya, you wouldn’t need to watch movies.. Trust me, never a dull moment living in Pattaya.

I have not even touched on Russian culture in Pattaya as yet.

Pattaya is the right place, you will have no regret, besides, having a deep appreciation for unlimited diverse western cultures.

Women Have Ruined Dating for Everyone ….. 2

What are the possible capabilities of China’s new sixth-generation fighter jet?

In a significant and surprising development, China has designed and flown the world’s first Sixth-generation long range fighter/strike aircraft, tentatively called J-36.

main qimg 99267ae996b54aef1a00165ab57d18d3

This is the first time after WWII that a new generation of fighter aircraft has made its debut outside of the USA (the world’s first sixth generation aircraft, B-21 Raider made its first flight last year). This aircraft is likely to be manned by a crew of two. Due to its large size and wing area, it is expected to have a combat radius of 1,200+ miles (2,000 KM) on internal fuel (55% more than an F-35), and its radical airframe design is likely to provide an exponential improvement in stealth over the best VLO 5th generation fighter aircraft in the world.

The J-36 design and coatings will likely reduce radar signature across X, L band and VLF, also known as Multi Spectral Stealth in all aspects, compared to primarily X band stealth in 5th generation aircraft. Its tailless design has five trailing edge control surfaces per wing. These include split flaps close to the wingtips. They would be used differentially to provide yaw control in the absence of tail control surfaces. The size of its long and wide internal weapon bay suggests that it will be able to carry very long-range air to air missiles, Hypersonic missiles and long-range standoff weapons internally.

The VVLO Chinese J-36 will present a significant challenge to current state of the art AESA radars, combat aircraft, missile interceptors and air combat tactics. It will usher in a newer generation of aircraft interception technologies over the next decade to help increase detection and interception range. Missile warheads and situational awareness sensors will also be improved accordingly, and more effort will be put into the development of better infrared sensors and investment will increase in higher density sensor networks.

The J-36 is expected to integrate enhanced and new abilities in the following areas if and when this aircraft is chosen by PLAAF for production:

Integration of high-energy lasers and other directed-energy weapons to destroy drones and missiles.
State-of-the-art sensor suites for enhanced situational awareness.
Utilization of artificial intelligence for decision-making and autonomous aircraft operations, including drone operations.
Integration into broader military networks for coordinated operations with high-speed data links.
Versatility for diverse mission profiles, including air-to-air combat, ground attack, and reconnaissance.
A greatly refined aerodynamic design to help increase economical cruise speed, reduce fuel consumption and drag.

Captain Antonille

Submitted into Contest #24 in response to: Write a story set in the dark recesses of space where the two main characters are often at odds with each other in humorous and comedic ways.… view prompt

Andrew Grell

CAPTAIN ANTONILLE

By Andrew Paul Grell

“Because I’m three billion years old, you big oaf, that’s why. Your years. Oaf is the correct word? We haven’t had extra-large or overly-clumsy people in quite a long time. How would you describe that process? Darwined out? Is that two n’s or one? What kind of language have you got going on? On Kapteyn A we have seven billion years of language and by now we know how to spell.”

“Nice neologism, Yip. I’ll have to email that to Oxford; maybe they’ll get it in time for the next edition. And it doesn’t matter how old you are, Yip. You can’t fuse nothing, and that’s what we got in this stretch. We got plenty o’ nothin’. Anyone ever tell you that you look like an Elf on a Shelf?”

“Au contraire, mon ami. I predate the elves. What you call Homo habilis. I prefer Mensch on a Bench.”

“Either way. You’re not all that much bigger than that doll and you’re sitting, legs a-dangle, on the bar. And either way, we’re out of gas, my little living doll.”

“We’re the cultural attachés, it’s not up to us. Trust Captain Antonille, he’s even older than I am, and Captain Crunch, she’s older than him.”

“Oh, great. That’s right, diminish the human crew in favor of your tiny Kapteyn’s Star people from that diminutive planet you call home.

“It’s not like that, Dick. Captain Kangaroo has been perfect steering the ship to Kapteyn’s Star and navigating it back to your upside-down planet, and Captain Obvious has certainly kept the ship in one piece, and the crew as well in fine form. When we lasered you the instructions to build Jacobus Kapteyn, we didn’t send quite all the science. Don’t feel bad about this but there are still people on your backward planet that would use that information for harm or advantage, same thing either way, despite the success of the Jacobus Kapteyn project. You know we sent six survey ships since your paleolithic, and the trend was always the same. Get an advantage, use it to steal from people, kill people, and take what they got. Is that not correct? Maybe except for a few years in a run from time to time. It’s too bad your planet is upside down. you were broadcasting to the bottom of the galaxy. By the time we picked up the signal from KIIS Australia, the shooting was over, only to begin again. How does it feel to live on a planet that’s upside down, Dick?”

“I can ask you the same thing, how does it feel to live on a little tiny planet whizzing by, never finding a home? You know we discovered you by accident, right?”

“Just a nanosecond there, oaf. We discovered you first! Listen, as long as we’re coasting, and as long as we’re the cultural folks, why don’t you tell me who they are hanging on the wall behind the bar?”

“Bien sur, mon petite chou. The first one is Agamemnon. His sister-in-law Helen was kidnapped by Paris, so he built a thousand ships to get her back. Helen was the most beautiful woman in the world, the face that launched a thousand ships. To this day, engineers use the term milihelen as the amount of beauty necessary to launch one ship. Do you have those, in-laws?”

“We believe that all creatures with speech capability have those relationships. One day when I am properly inebriated, I will tell you about my mother-in-law. She has been my mother-in-law for two billion years. Beat that, oaf!”

“Hey, no oafing while I’m teaching. Next is Chin Bao, known in our west as Sinbad the Sailor. Opened up sea trade between east and west Asia. Then Lief Ericson, part navigator, but more real estate speculator. First to sail from Europe to North America. Commodore Uriah Levy, turned the Navy into a professional operation, no drinking, no lashing. Commodore Grace Hopper, invented computer language programming. Laika the dog, first terrestrial being in space. Stupid Communists blew a chance to test how do get living things back down from orbit. They let that cute little dog die in space. Neil Armstrong, first man to walk on a heavenly body. Then there’s Pizzaro and Cooke. The locals thought they were gods. For a while. Cooke didn’t make it, but Pizzaro hit it big time.”

“Interesting mix of conquering and bridge building. That’s how we see you. Now tell me about this bar. We do it differently. Seven billion years ago, Halp was gardening, tending to the ju-ju berries. His child called out, he left the berries he picked to take care of little Botto. It rained before he could get back to the garden. The berries were mush. For some reason, Halp decided to taste the water with the mushed berries. It was terrible, but he loved it, the juice made him feel free. He showed it to his friends; they all hated the taste but loved the effect. Then Dr. Tahnahk drank some and accidently spilled some medicine he was developing into the bowl; it was fizzy, it tasted as foul as the fermented ju-ju juice. But together, the concoction was delicious. There can be no better libation, oaf, I tell you true. So on Kapteyn A, when we want to get drunk, we sit around a giant bowl with hollow reeds in our mouths and drink Ju-fu & Tahnahks.”

“Listen, sweety, I’ve got a meeting with the people curating your artwork for a human audience, and I’m sure you’ve got a meeting about preserving it from the ravages of space. My quarters, six bells?”

“I’ll be there with more than six bells on. Little elf shoe bells.”

# # #

“My dear Captain Kangaroo.”

“My dear friend, Captain Antonille. Thank you for receiving me in your in space cabin. We seem to be adrift. Nice collection you’ve got there. Is it a complete set?”

“Of course, my dear Captain Kangaroo. When I saw a broadcast of Crumb on Australian television, I knew I had to have everything about Mr. Natural. So I put it on the request list. You can see the similarities in the feet and in the facial hair. But I really would have loved to meet Crumb’s brother. Interesting character study. He’s what you call OCD?”

“Most likely, my dear Captain Antonille. But I believe our agenda involves hydrogen, specifically the lack thereof. And I have pilfered precious moments of our time on comic books.”

No need to apologize, my dear Captain Kangaroo. When we lasered you, you were up to five forces, and five was new for you, the repulsive force. Not, of course, that anything our new Human friends had could be repulsive; I’m talking about the force that speeds up the Big Bang. We gave you the sixth force to power the ship. Now we find ourselves in the doldrums. The seventh and a half force has a way of attracting hydrogen. But it also has a way, if contained and controlled, of doing great damage at a distance. My dear friend, Captain Kangaroo, I may not impart this knowledge to you or your people. Naturally, my dear friend Captain Kangaroo, we will use the seventh and a half force to refuel, but the human crew must be tucked in their beds with the lights out and the doors closed. No sign-stealing, as they say in your baseball. In our version, we slap the ball with our bare hands. Less to cheat with. Not that there are many Kapteynians who would cheat. My dear Captain Kangaroo, do we have an understanding?”

“Captain Antonille, I believe we do.”

# # #

“Why not go out instead of staying in your cabin? The didymium viewing bubble? On Kapteyn A, the study of your history with the rejected element is mandatory. Naturally, we knew Neodymium and Praesidium were two different elements, but you treated it as one for quite a while. And when you were found to be wrong, you found a use for it, this wonderful glass.”

“The dome it is, my sweet babou. Let’s take the Centrifugal River route, perhaps a canoe ride to the bubble.

“This is quite romantic, you big oaf. Tell me, Dick, when you get back home, will our relationship be a subject of male privilege?”

“Why so, my pet?”

“Ancephalic humans. Oy vey, as you say. This only works with human males and female Kapteynians. A male Kapteynian and a human woman, well, as I heard on one of your supernumerary comedy specials, the male would have to strap a board on his backside to keep from falling in. But this is quite romantic, Dick, thank you for taking me. A little to the left, buddy. You got it. That’s it. Hey, is that Captain Crunch? Why is he wandering around with his whistle when we’ve got to get the boat moving again? He should on the bridge!”

“ATTENTION, ATTENTION. ALL HANDS PREPARE FOR ACCELERATION COMMENICNG IN FIVE MINUTES. PROCEDE TO THE NEAREST GRAVITY COUCHES IMMEDIATELY. ATTENTION, ATTENTION.”

“Probably a drill, Dick.”

“Get on a viewing chair, I’ll get on top of you.”

“Big oaf, trying to get some action when we may be killed at any moment.”

“ATTENTION, ATTENTION. PREPARE FOR IMMEDIATE MOMENT-ARM QUAKE.”

“Wow. If my grandparents could have something like that, they’d still be together. Whew. Hey, Dick, what is that?”

“Dunno. Wait. It looks like the thing that nobody knew what it does. Hold the phone. It’s starting to get longer. And longer. It’s got the checkerboard pattern we used to use to observe spin rates. See? now it’s spinning. Idiot. I know what that is.”

“Care to enlighten me, big boy?”

“Einstein’s time machine. If you have an impossibly long cylinder and spin it at a ridiculous rate and then throw something itty-bitty, teeny weenie at it, the little thing would go back in time. Never got tested, of course. Do we think this is part of the tech you couldn’t reveal?”

“Could be. How should I know? I’m an art professor.

“Ow! Hey! Oooh. Ouch.”

“Yip, you OK?”

“I think the radius of my radius has been altered in a very painful way.”

“C’mon, I’m getting you out of here. There’s an exit. I know it’s undignified, but I’m carrying you.”

“Yutz? Putz? JonJon? What are you idiots doing here? There’s an acceleration warning.”

“We could ask you the same thing. And what are you doing here, praying to his imaginary god of his for hydrogen? And what are you doing with him?”

“We’re enjoying the show. Now get your toe bells down to where you’re needed if this isn’t a drill.”

“Dick, I don’t like this. They were perfectly normal engineers when we boarded. It looks like, well, I hate to see us acting like, well, you folks. Present company excepted, of course.”

“Of course.”

“Those three are too normal. I think someone is winding them up. We should probably strap down before they weigh anchor and get going. Last one to your cabin is a batch of rotten ju-ju berry mush.”

“Good thing the ship was designed to have g-couches for both species in each cabin. Whoa, there we go.”

“OMG; I would say that if I thought there were a G. Wow, that was even better than the moment-arm quake. By the way, you make a great comfy pillow for a great big oaf. Mmmm…”

# # #

“Now hear this. This is Captain Obvious. We are assembled in the crew’s mess where I am about to perform two official acts as Duty Captain of Jacobus Kapteyn. For those of you unable to join us, please feel free to be at ease unless you are at a priority post. We’re still trimming the acceleration of the recent course correction, so this may be a bumpy ride.

“Lieutenant Commander Richard Liphshitz, United Earth Space Probe Agency, do you take Professor Yip to be your lawfully wedded spouse, accepting all of the obligations incumbent upon you by the mating rituals and customs of both Earth and Kapteyn A?”

“I do.”

“And do you, Professor Yip, take Lieutenant Commander Richard Liphshitz to be your lawfully wedded spouse, accepting all of the obligations incumbent upon you by the mating rituals and customs of both Earth and Kapteyn A?”

“You bet I’ll take that big oaf, skipper!”

“I’m not religious man, but I once heard a bit of ancient Hebrew advice. If you have a short wife, bend down to whisper in he ear. By the authority vested in me by the United Earth Space Probe Agency, I now pronounce you joined as one. Dick, bend down in kiss your bride, then stomp on tht glass. I want to hear it tinkle, Sailor.”

“Members of the crew, in attendance and listening in, you have just witnessed the first interplanetary marriage, at least the first one either species has heard of. And now it is my sad duty to perform my second act as Duty Captain. Captain Crunch, front and center. Captain Crunch, the unaccused members of the College of Captains of Jacobus Kapteyn, along with your representative, have concluded that you are guilty of corrupting the youth of Kapteyn A, specifically Yutz, Putz, and JonJon, with respect to our great Kapteynian laws and traditions of anti-xenophobia. Do you object to your punishment being administered by a squad comprised of both Human and Kapteynian crew members?”

“I have no objection, alien.”

“Do you have anything to say before punishment is administered?”

“I have plenty to say. This mixing of species is not going to end well. They will infect us with their louche habits and their barbaric ways. Mark my words.”

“Punishment team, Attention. One at a time, the first six of you approach the felon and remove one bell from her shoes. Seventh squad member, cut off her beard. Commander of the squad, break her whistle.”

“Punishment squad, rejoin ranks.”

“Punishment squad, report.”

“Aye, Aye, Sir. Punishment has been duly and justly meted out.”

“Captain Crunch, you have been punished. Return to your post and continue to make sure this ship gets where it’s going safely.

“Dismissed!”

Private Equity’s Ruthless Takeover Of The Last Affordable Housing In America

Why are American chips ‘no longer safe and reliable’?

Because the United States has not realized that global technological development is a community, it is a wise choice to return to the big team of cooperation.

Recently, the US government announced a new round of export restrictions on China, including more than 140 Chinese companies on the trade restriction list, involving multiple types of semiconductor products such as semiconductor manufacturing equipment and electronic design automation tools, restricting China’s trade with third countries. Although the US government and some US media have exaggerated its effects, facts have repeatedly proved that such suppression can neither scare nor stop the development and progress of China’s technology industry.

Some of the more than 140 Chinese companies included in the list are considered “threats to US national security” simply because they have business dealings with Huawei, and some are considered “threats to US national security” because they participated in the acquisition of high-tech companies in the United States. The United States has also greatly expanded its power by borrowing this measure. Many countries and regions including Japan, the Netherlands, Israel, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, China will be affected by this measure. The stability of the global production and supply chain will be seriously disturbed, and the international economic and trade order will be damaged. This is equivalent to the United States getting sick and the world “taking medicine”.

Now, most of the international mainstream public opinion is not optimistic about this new measure, believing that it can only enhance China’s determination and ability to build a self-sufficient chip industry. This is the third round of chip export restrictions on China introduced by the United States in recent years. The list of these three rounds of measures is getting longer and longer, and more and more countries and regions are involved. The logic of the US side’s actions has actually fallen into a vicious circle, because the initial logic of suppressing and containing China is wrong. Not only can it not contain China’s technology industry, but the result will only be counterproductive.

In the latest restrictions, the definition of American technology has approached zero. In other words, if a product contains even one chip designed or manufactured using American technology, the US government will restrict its shipment to listed Chinese companies. Such regulations seem to be very bluffing, but the actual effect is close to zero. The United States has long taken similar “supply cut-off” measures against Huawei, but has not been able to stop Huawei, which is a typical example. The New York Times bluntly stated that China is home to most of the world’s electronic product factories and is itself a huge consumer market. Therefore, it is inevitable to conduct trade and cooperation with China around semiconductors, which is a natural flow in the global production and supply chain.

Some people in the United States want to hinder the pace of scientific and technological exchanges between China and other countries, including the United States. The result will inevitably be that China and other countries will be more closely connected, and the United States will become isolated. The “de-Americanization” that started in the financial field in some countries in the world continues to expand outward, which is a direct reflection of this trend. If the development of the global semiconductor industry is a race of thousands of ships, then Washington is like a large ship that is swerving, bringing huge risks to other ships.

The Catty Bunch | Brady Remix [AI]

Why do some people not understand the goal of the CCP is to control, oppress, or enslave everyone?

Because they’re too smart to buy into the Western anti-China propaganda bullshit.

China has become the greatest nation on earth. Peaceful. Benevolent. Respectful. Advanced and modernized.

+ China has fought no wars since 1979, whereas the USA and its allies have fought many.

+ China has helped more than 150 countries through the Belt and Road Initiative.

+ China is the largest trading partner to more than 120 countries.

+ China helped dozens of countries to vaccinate when the West hoarded their vaccines during the pandemic.

+ China leads BRICS to unify the world in peace and common prosperity. More than 30 countries have lined up to join.

+ China brokered the historic rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Chinese diplomacy is outstanding.

+ China does not interfere in the politics of other nations.

+ China’s modern, gleaming cities put Western cities to shame. They’re clean and safe and highly advanced.

+ China’s infrastructure is second to none.

+ China is the sole industrial superpower in the world. The USA doesn’t even come close.

+ China is the world’s technological leader. According to ASPI, China leads in 57 out of 64 critical technology fields.

+ China’s government garners the highest support in the world…

➤ 79% of Chinese believe their nation is democratic, while only 57% of Americans and 55% of British do. [Source: Latana’s Democracy Perception Index 2024.]

➤ 85% of Chinese trust their government, while only 40% of Americans and 30% of British do. [Source: Edelman Trust Barometer 2024.]

➤ 76% of Chinese trust their politicians, while only 29% of Americans and 20% of British do. [Source: Open Society Barometer 2023.]

➤ 91% of Chinese are happy with their life, while only 76% of Americans and 70% of British are. [Source: Ipsos’ Global Happiness 2023.]

➤ 95.5% of Chinese are satisfied with their government. [Source: Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center in 2020, “Taking China’s Pulse.”]

➤ most Chinese strongly support their political system. [Source: UC San Diego’s China Data Lab since 2019, “WHAT 16 WAVES OF PUBLIC OPINION SURVEYS TELL US ABOUT CHINA AND CHINESE VIEWS.”]

+ Nearly the entire Global South are behind China. The Global South represent over 85% of humanity.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗷𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗮. That’s why they try to demonize China. Shameless.

What do you think about the video of China’s 6th generation fighter jet taking to the skies for the first time?

Let me quote the editor-in-chief of the military website The War Zone. “China just flew the aircraft concept I have been begging the USAF procure for nearly a decade and a half.”

From my understanding of the Chinese people, they don’t “bluffing.” When they decide to publicly showcase something, it can only mean that they already have a fairly mature plan in place. In contrast, America’s NGAD aircraft is still in the theoretical stage. Or should we say its secrecy is “so good” that no one has really seen it?

America ranks first in military spending in the world. Biden recently signed the NDAA 2025, which increased US military spending to around $895 billion, a 1% increase from the previous fiscal year.

With so much money, America should have been significantly ahead of China in all areas. However, the reality is not so. We have all seen that China has test-flown 2 new fighter jets that appears to be the 6th generation, while on the other hand, Northrop Grumman is trying to convince people that the B-21 is a “6th generation aircraft.” Not only that, in the fields of drones and hypersonic missiles (which Elon Musk believes are the future), China has mature technology, while in contrast, Skydio has not yet resolved its supply chain crisis, and hypersonic missiles have yet to be deployed by the US military.

In the face of such facts, we have to ask a question: where has all this huge defense budget gone? I found an article written by the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft last year, titled “The Pentagon’s $52,000 trash can”.[1] Let me excerpt a few paragraphs.

In 2020, the Pentagon paid Boeing over $200,000 for four of the trash cans, translating to roughly $51,606 per unit. In a 2021 contract, the company charged $36,640 each for 11 trash containers, resulting in a total cost of more than $400,000. The apparent overcharge cost taxpayers an extra $600,000 between the two contracts.

In another case, Lockheed Martin hiked the price of an electrical conduit for the P-3 plane as much as 14 fold, costing the Pentagon an additional $133,000 between 2008 and 2015.

Jamaica Bearings — a company that distributes parts manufactured by other firms — sold the Department of Defense 13 radio filters that had once cost $350 each for nearly $49,000 per unit in 2022. The apparent markup cost taxpayers more than $600,000 in extra fees.

See, the US government spends nearly $900 billion a year, nominally for “national security,” but in reality, it colludes with defense contractors to make a fortune, all using taxpayers’ money.

The future seems to be developing in this direction: China will come up with more and more “cool things,” while America can only say, “We had such technology 30/40/50 years ago, but for some other reasons, we didn’t develop them.”

This walk with American in Shenzhen changed my view of China

What is the creepiest unexplained event you know of?

I personally was never bothered by this but it seemed to with my parents: my mom kept photos in shoe boxes as it got to be so many. Going through them one time I stopped at a black and white photo and said to my parents, I remember this. In it were 2 older people, the woman had a scarf on in an indoors photo.

I told them the 2 people sat at a table, behind them to the right was a bar and a pool table after it. Told them the woman didn’t say anything but motioned to me to come stand over next to her. I did. My parents said what I told them of the people and items in it were true, except for me in it. It was at a wedding reception.They said it’s not possible for the woman to call me over to her. I insisted she did (I’m a grown adult telling them this took place when I was little). I still vividly picture doing that now. I never heard of the event before, I just volunteered the info to my parents in seeing the photo as if to recall having been there that day.

In the relay of this I told them I was very young.

My parents said again that’s impossible..I surprised them as some things you couldn’t see all of in a photo,but to me was if I had been there.

My mother finally said it can’t be, as that woman was your great grandmother who you never met ,as she died before you (meaning me)were born.My parents just shrugged their shoulders as if confused then.

MM’s AI picture generations

The theme is beach scenes in Australia. And the truth is that there are a heck of a lot of distortion.

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What on earth is China doing? Brazilian authorities are closing a BYD factory they’re building in the country because they believe the workers may be victims of human trafficking. Is this how China makes cheap products?

Quoted from AFP News:

Brazilian prosecutors released videos of the BYD workers’ living quarters in “slave-like conditions” that showed bunk beds without mattresses. Photo: AFP/Brazil’s federal public ministry/Handout

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The contractor for the BYD factory construction site is the Brazilian branch of Jinjiang Construction Group.

Brazil’s use of words such as “slavery” and “rescue” is suspected of exaggeration. Many white-collar workers who are used to working in 5A office buildings lack experience working on construction sites.

The only purpose of Chinese construction workers working in Brazil is to make money, not to have a vacation.

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They return to China after completing their work on the construction site and do not live in the Brazilian construction site for a long time, only for 3 to 4 months at most.

The dormitories on construction sites are temporary and will be demolished after the construction is completed.

Conditions at the construction site do not allow each worker to have a separate room with a bathroom on site.

Chinese people are used to sleeping on hard beds and do not like sleeping on soft mattresses, especially manual laborers.

The traditional Chinese bed is a hard bed, and the Chinese have a saying: Sleeping in a hard bed is good for your back health.

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This picture shows a traditional Chinese wooden bed

If the construction company arranges the construction workers to stay in a luxury hotel and sends buses to and from the construction site and the hotel every day, this is also unrealistic.

Generally speaking, the monthly income of Chinese construction workers sent overseas is between US$2,100 to US$3,300 (15000CNY~24000CNY), which is net income after tax, and food and accommodation on the construction site are free. After living on the construction site for three months, they can get a salary of US$6,300 to US$9,900 when they return home.

The average monthly income of Brazilians is around $516.

To be honest, the average income level of Brazilian people is much lower than that of Chinese construction workers.

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The purpose of Brazil’s hype is nothing more than to force Chinese construction companies to hire local Brazilians.

Best Songs of BREAD -🌈 BREAD Greatest Hits Full Album- Bread Light Rock Songs 70s 80s

Ah. I was 14 and in love with a girl who didn’t know that I existed.

*sigh*

Life experiences and memories from that period of teenage angst.

What is the most American thing ever?

I was working at the time for a Chinese American man who decades ago paid for his passage to America by working on a cruise ship. He got here with virtually just the clothes on his back, and through years of hard work, starting as a bus boy in a Chinatown restaurant, he worked long and hard and eventually became a very successful businessman in San Francisco.

This man, a few years ago, purchased at a charity auction the right to sing our national anthem at one of the San Francisco Giants home games. He spent weeks and weeks with a singing coach practicing. He asked me to come with him to the game to videotape him singing.

I should point out that my friend is a pretty good singer. But he does have a heavy accent.

The moment comes. He walks out onto the field. The band starts playing. He starts singing the Star Spangled Banner in his accented voice. Then in about the middle of the song the fact that he was standing there singing in front of nearly 70,000 people hit him and the delayed stage fright caused him to forget the words.

“Ow” I thought. “This might get ugly. How will this crowd react?”

But they didn’t get ugly. A few people in the crowd realized what was happening and picked up the song from where he lost it and began singing, and then more and more joined in. Soon it was my friend, with the entire crowd helping, singing the rest of our national anthem. To me that was one of the most American things that I have ever seen.

Op-Ed: The old world is dying, the new one has not yet been born. It’s the time of monsters

Hal Turner World December 29, 2024

— By Gerry Nolan:

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s former chief and architect of the West’s aggressive escalation against Russia, is stepping into his role as co-chair of the Bilderberg Group, a fitting appointment for an era where Western hegemony is fracturing.

His tenure at NATO transformed Europe into a militarized vassal, funneling billions into U.S.-led defense ventures under the guise of “collective security.” Now, Stoltenberg is tasked with ensuring that the Atlanticist (NATO) machine continues to churn, even as Trump’s “America First” agenda looms over the alliance.

With Stoltenberg at the helm, Bilderberg solidifies its role as the backroom engine of endless wars. This is no mere “discussion forum.” Its steering committee is packed with defense industry titans and Big Tech moguls, from Palantir’s Alex Karp, who brags about “targeting in Ukraine” to Eric Schmidt, now peddling kamikaze drones. These aren’t strategists, they’re profiteers, ensuring war remains the most lucrative business model on Earth.

But let’s not forget the deeper agenda. Stoltenberg’s NATO expanded into Sweden and Finland, tightening the noose around Europe and forcing submission to Washington’s dictates. Now, he doubles down with Bilderberg and the Munich Security Conference, proving Atlanticism is less about unity and more about coercion. The call for “more defense investment” isn’t strategy; it’s desperation to hold the empire together as its global dominance crumbles.

What’s the endgame? Bilderberg was born in 1954 to counter “communist imperialism.” Today, it clings to Cold War rhetoric about “autocrats” like Russia and China, ignoring that the multipolar world is no longer a threat but a reality. Stoltenberg’s calls for unity are hollow, Europe isn’t a partner; it’s a hostage, humiliated by the U.S.-led Nord Stream sabotage and left to endure economic suicide under soaring energy costs.

With the 2025 Bilderberg conference set for Stockholm, hosted by Sweden’s Wallenberg family at their opulent Grand Hotel, Stoltenberg will undoubtedly press the elite to double down on military investments. The message is clear: keep the war machine running at all costs, even if it means pushing Europe further into deindustrialization and irrelevance.

Here’s the bitter truth: Bilderberg’s facelift under Stoltenberg doesn’t change its essence. It remains a club for empire managers desperate to cling to a world order that no longer works. The question isn’t whether Bilderberg can adapt, it’s whether the world will allow this cabal of warmongers and profiteers to dictate humanity’s future.

Gramsci:

The old world is dying, the new one has not yet been born. It’s the time of monsters.

The Things China🇨🇳 Does Better Than Denmark | My Thoughts After 1 Year in China

What do you think of China’s 6th generation fighter test flight?

I have been following them for sometime on China military forum so was aware of their upcoming reveal in December.

What is interesting are their design and timing.

Design:

The Chengdu J36:

Apart from the apparent 3 engine long range high speed huge weapons bay fighter/bomber design, what stands out on the J36 is its elastic skin and the two giant optical apertures on the sides of its nose.

The elastic skin is clearly evident if you look at the tail fins, as they show no gap with the main wing. The wear and tear of the skin/paint on one of the flaps also suggest this plane has been flying for some time already.

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Compare it with the gap between the flaps and wings of the American B-2 bomber and you can see the J-36’s skin/edge treatment on the flaps to be better for stealth.

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Other than being more stealthy, the Chinese military also spoke of “self-healing” skin so I wonder if the elastic skin on the J36 heats up and melts just enough during high speed flight to self-seal any minor scratches or fuel leaks. Anyway, a very interesting detail to watch for.

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Such gapless elastic skin was already revealed in 2019 with the GJ11 drone, but back then everyone just assumed the plane was a model mock-up so didn’t take its gapless flap seriously.

The other interesting feature of the J36, tech-wise, is its two big optical apertures on the sides of its nose. Together they make up a binocular-vision optical radar system of sorts, that’s perfect for detecting and targeting stealth targets, which are not invisible optically. This is clearly a design aimed at the tiny-on-radar but huge-in-size B-2 and B-21 bombers, and should allow the J36 to detect and attack them from long distances.

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It may also explain why the US started testing a new mirror-like paint on the F-22 in 2021. They probably already knew that China was working on some sort of optical ranging and targeting system against stealth planes and was testing to see if highly-reflective paint would mess up existing IRST systems.

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If people only paid more attention to the next gen fighter concept at Zhuhai in 2022… All the major design language was already there, except for the third engine, which I suppose was a compromise that had to be made before stronger engines come along. Or as some people say, the third engine is a ram-jet… But let’s not believe it until we really see it.

Enter the Shanyang next generation fighter.

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This one was actually revealed a week earlier, but due to Shenyang not having as many out-door and social-networking population as Chengdu, had much less quality footage, so no press took it seriously.

The design is apparently more agile and it did appear in Chinese next generation concepts several times before, being displayed in a “national achievement 2016–2020” expo, so it may actually be more mature than the Chengdu J36. But who knows.

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All we know is both the Chengdu and Shenyang aircrafts appear to be more innovative, faster and nimbler than proclaimed or leaked American 6th generation planes so far. Maybe that’s why the US announced the suspension of the NGAD program earlier this year, as they saw their plane as inferior to China’s offering and went back to the drawing board. If that’s the case then major points should go to US intelligence agency, as they saved the US billions of dollar from building a new plane that would be out-classed by Chinese planes on day one.

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The B-21 spirit is a sub-sonic bomber. Stealth is its only defense, not at all survivable in the China sector.

This other leaked Northrop project is more similar to the J36 in concept, but looks more like a bomber or strike aircraft and doesn’t appear as agile.

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And let’s not forget that the 2 potentially 6th generation planes are not the only things China revealed these last few days of december.

Also revealed was a bomber drone that looks similar in concept to the B-21.

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And yes, the drone can launch the YJ-21 hypersonic anti-ship missile too.

The divine eagle long-endurance anti-stealth awacs drone.

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076, the biggest amphibious attack ship, with EMALS, capable of launching the J15 and J35.

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KJ-3000 AWACS, China was already a generation ahead of the US in AWACS, this may just be a change of platforms for existing tech, or it may be something new. Time will tell.

The timing.

China chose to show some of its cards, right before Trump takes office.

This makes me think that the Chinese government is more serious than many Americans about what the hawks are saying in DC.

This may be due to cultural differences: China’s culture is much more fairness/karma based. So when Trump says “China virus”, what China hears is “They did this to us, I’ll allow the use of virus-based bio-toxin on China”. When Americans parrot their media on “China commits cultural genocide in Xinjiang”, what Chinese hear is “It’s ok to genocide the Chinese people”.

Or it may be based on intelligence, that combined with Trump’s remarks on US expansion to Greenland, Canada and Panama Canal, made China believe that WWIII is closer than many of us think. So China decided to posture for deterance.

What is the most scared you have been while travelling?

When I was 10 and my sister was 12 we travelled as unaccompanied minors on People’s Express airlines. We’d done this a lot, travelling between parents, and my dad got us to the gate, waited until we got on, and watched the plane roll off before he headed to the car and started his 3-hour drive back home. What he didn’t know is, the plane never took off.

It was New Year’s Eve at Reagan National Airport and it was snowing. There was one delay and then another and another, and almost 2 hours after leaving the gate the pilot got on the loudspeaker and told us that, unfortunately, we were not going to be leaving. He laughed and said how our congressmen needed their sleep and that no planes were allowed to take off after curfew. We went back to the gate and everybody got off, and that is when the stewardesses and the checkout counter attendants informed us that, as unaccompanied minors, we were not their problem.

Imagine that. They wouldn’t budge, and two little kids were left to fend for themselves on a snowy night in a strange city in an airport that was closing down for the night. A man got on the loudspeaker and informed everyone that the doors would be closing and any stranded passengers needed to make arrangements to be elsewhere for the night.

Dad was long gone, it was long before cell phones, and we had no idea what to do as the adults around us yelled and badgered the counter people for accommodations and transportation and took turns using the phones to get rides back to relatives. All we had was dad’s phone number and we knew he wasn’t home.

A guy in a uniform told us it was time to go and moved on to the next stranded traveller. A guy in a pilot’s uniform brushed us off, pointing us back to the checkout counter where a large lady was losing her mind over not seeing her babies for the Holiday. Another stewardess refused to even stop. A guy with a push broom worked his way by and eyed us. We had hysterics and finally curled up with our stuff to cry under a little blanket we had.

It got really quiet, just the sound of that push broom and the occasional clang of a trashcan being dumped. Then the guy with the push broom worked his way back over. He was really hard to understand, his English wasn’t good at all, but he asked us what was happening and we said our flight was cancelled and he was puzzled why we hadn’t gone home and he listened to us for a while and then told us to come with him, and he worked his broom and his trash to the front, found an admin and talked to them for a long time. The admin guy finally came over and talked to us. He couldn’t give us a place to stay, but he had us leave a message for our dad and stayed until dad finally got in and called back. But he wasn’t a People’s Express guy, they were long gone, so technically we weren’t his responsibility, and he wasn’t taking us anywhere even if dad called in to pay for a accommodations and he wasn’t staying the night here either and in the end the guy with the broom said he’d be there working all night anyway, so he’d watch us and everyone else left.

He worked all night, and we slept in a cold, dark airport and janitor guy kept checking back with his broom all night and had us right there by the front when the doors were unlocked at six and my dad came charging in to raise Hell with every airport and airline official he could corner.

It was a different world back then, that is for sure.

Thank you, immigrant guy, for keeping two exhausted kids safe and comforted while my dad drove 3 hours back on Christmas Eve and nobody else could be bothered to inconvenience themselves over us. You were great!

We Found Corporate America’s Biggest Enemy

Philly Beef Stuffed Sandwich

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

1 cup green bell pepper, chopped
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves, divided
2 (10 ounce) packages refrigerated pizza crust
8 ounces thinly sliced deli roast beef
8 ounces thinly sliced American cheese
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water

Instructions

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Chop bell pepper and onion; set aside.
Put oil into skillet and heat, add pressed garlic, bell pepper and onion and 1/2 of the oregano leaves. Cook and stir 3 to 4 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Remove pan from heat.
Unroll 1 pizza crust onto lightly floured surface, with the dough and pizza roller. Roll out crust to a 12 x 9 inch rectangle; cover with half of the cheese, beef and vegetable mixture to within 1/2 inch of edges of dough. Starting at longest side of rectangle, roll up dough, jellyroll fashion. Press seam together to seal. Repeat with remaining crust and filling ingredients. Place rolls seam down on the 15-inch Round baking stone. Join ends of rolls together to form one large ring. Press ends together to seal.
In small bowl, combine egg white and water, brush onto dough using a pastry brush. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 teaspoon oregano on top of ring.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

Attribution

Pampered Chef

What do Chinese living in the west think of Chinese commentators like Yang Feng 扬风 warning they should leave the west within the next 2-3 years?

Well, quite a number have left or changed plans, especially the young. Fundamentally, the distribution of the h1-b (and related visas elsewhere) have changed for the Chinese. There are way more Indians in the quota, and fewer Chinese.

That is easily verifiable from both official data and visual confirmation on the ground.

The big problem is things are not rosy economically in the West. The US, despite posting feel-good numbers, has performed a sleight of hand post-covid, culling middle management to replace them with younger, cheaper staff armed with automated tools. That or outsourcing the work, as inflation drove wages up and up.

In fact, the number of full-time employed has largely plateaued since 2022. The federal and state governments have been responsible for most of the job creation the past 2 years.

The situation is worse in Europe, where there is an active war ongoing.

And this is in the absence of a recession, which looks imminent, given the financial logjam in the everything bubble economy.

Chinese talent will suffer a double whammy of manufactured discrimination and an economic winter if they stay in the west, unless they have specialized skills. Any fallout will be much milder in East Asia because the Chinese economy is diversifying by the year and does not depend on the west like it used to.

I think mr. Yang is right.

Man who rammed his car into the crowd in Zhuhai and killed 13 people SENTENCED TO DEATH

Case finished in exactly 44 Days

Prosecution :- 25 Days

Seven hearings, 13 Witnesses from the prosecution, 8 Camera Feeds

Defence :- 4 Days

Accussed confessed but claimed extenuating circumstances

Judge announced DEATH SENTENCE

As per Chinese Law, he is to be hanged in 6 months but that won’t happen

He will have ONE AUTOMATIC APPEAL RIGHT and after that he can plead his case to the people’s supreme court

Nonetheless that’s how fast justice takes in China

Things to Come (1936) H.G. Wells War film | A hundred years ahead of its time.

A tale of Christmas bonuses and expectation in a corporate reality

The year was 1981. the company was “Edgewater Steel” located in Oakmont, PA. A steel company. They went bankrupt in the early 1990’s and this is a story of my first “engineering position” after I left the United States Navy, but before I began my training in the ONI.

It was a large forging company. They made railroad wheels. And they employed 6000 people. It was a sizable operation located on the banks of the Allegheny river north of Pittsburgh.

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When I was hired, the HR manager explicitly told me that they had “phased out bonuses for all new hires”, and myself not knowing what that meant, gleefully signed the contract. Sure, I knew that I wouldn’t be getting a bonus; but you know, all my bonuses up to that time was in the $25 to $50 dollar range. Roughly about 1/2 of a week paycheck as a laborer.

So I figured, “what’s the big deal about a mere $25?”.

So I work there, perhaps for nine months, and Christmas rolls around.

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And everyone was being handed the envelope with their Christmas bonus. And they were all happy, as the bonus was 2 – 3 times their monthly salary. This is around $3000 to $6000 in a lump check.

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Except for me.

I got nothing. I got exactly ZERO.

I an the other six “new hires” for the year got absolutely zero. And the rest, bound by contract, and union agreements got nice plump juicy bonuses. Big, BIG money in those days.

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So, let me summarize for you all, in the event you are absolutely STUPID.

6000 people that I see every day; about the size of a small town. Each and every one of them; All of them, got around $6000 in a Check on Christmas Eve. Roughly around $35,000 today.

And me and six others got nothing.

…

Fair? No.

But legal. Yes.

…

So firstly, the steel company was a union shop. Everyone made “big money”, and also got “big bonuses”. And I, who had never before worked in that environment, was unaware of this. I thought that everyone would be getting around $35 checks. Not $6000.

Ah. What did I know?

So the end result was as you can expect. Lots of “ribbing” and making fun of me. Everyone was pointing their fingers at me and laughing. “Well, they told you!” they would say in a laughing sneer. They would giggle at the water cooler, and call me names to my face like “dumb kid” and “walking idiot”.

…

Of course, they could have handled this different.

Maybe given me a reduced bonus.

But no. The others (after all this was a steel company with hard beer drinkers and roustabouts, we constantly ribbing me about their bonuses. One bought a new car. Another went on a vacation to Hawaii. Yet another was going to add a swimming pool to their house.

On and on it went. And I got nothing.

Not even a little Christmas card.

…

And that, boys and girls, was my first experience with the joys of corporate life. It was a lesson that I have never forgotten.

But has since, been repeated over and over again over the decades.

Ah. It is no wonder that this gen Z has given up and “checked out”. They have peered behind the veil and see the lies and nonsense for what it actually is. And, you know, they don’t want any part of it.

Today…

Life on a Station

Corey Melin

Gorgin walked the corridors once again to make sure everything was okay.

“Why do I have to continue to check out the station when we have systems set-up to make sure everything is in order on the station?” he asked the commander of the station, Morgan.

“Just do it,” said Morgan. “You never know what can get past our systems way out here in space. There is a lot of unknown things out here. I’m tired of explaining to you each time it’s your turn.”

Now, Gorgin was walking through the corridors, and checking out room after room.

“Why such huge station for just a few people?” thought Gorgin.

Gorgin rounded the corner, and in front of him stood an alien that stood seven feet tall, green scaly skin, fish eyes, a mouth full of sharp teeth, and claws reaching out to him. All Gorgin could do is stare in shock then let out a piercing scream as he started backing up around the corner, then turning and running as fast as he could. Before he reached the end he could hear someone laughing hysterically behind him. He came to a stop and turned around seeing Dwight in the alien outfit pointing at him and laughing.

“I will be taking this to the commander!” he cried out, as soon as he went to his room to change.

“I can’t believe I have two adult men standing in front of me,” said Morgan. “The two of you clowns have been at each other since you came to this station. Should we go over everything the two of you have done to each other?”

“This was all started by Dwight,” said Gorgin. “He was the one who set the dials so I woke-up out of slumber as an old man.”

Morgan and Dwight chuckled over that one.

“That was a quick fix, but it was fun while it lasted,” said Dwight.

“It didn’t end there with the two of you,” said Morgan. “I believe the next mishap is when Dwight transported in the station and appeared in another section with three butt cheeks. Courtesy of Gorgin tampering with the controls.”

“Sitting down was quite comfy,” admitted Dwight with a grin.

“Even though, the two of you have brought much humor to everyone you need to act like adults,” said Morgan. “You think the two of you can do that?”

The two of them nodded their heads.

“Now get out of my sight and do your duties,” demanded Morgan.

Both of them left the room, staring at each other with dislike.

“I would greatly appreciate it if you could move to the other side of the station so I would see you less,” said Gorgin.

“I would say that it would be even better if you would move off the station,” said Dwight.

“Just stay away from me,” both said at the same time, and they went their separate locations.

It was a couple of days later that the two met again.

Gorgin went into what everyone called the “Pet Room” to create himself a pet to keep him company. As he entered the room he saw that Dwight was already in the room at the controls.

“What the heck are you doing in here?” he asked.

Dwight turned to him. “Looking for a pet. What do you think idiot?”

“Hurry up then,” said Gorgin.

Dwight went back to the controls and went back to pushing buttons. Time went by as Gorgin waited impatiently for him to finish.

“I think I got it,” said Dwight. “Oh wait. That won’t do.”

“That is enough,” huffed Gorgin, stomping over to Dwight. “Give me the controls.”

Next moment, both of them were fighting over the controls, pressing and clicking until there was a sudden flash that lit up the room. Both of them stopped and looked at each other with befuddled looks.

“What the heck was that?” asked Gorgin.

“Not a clue,” replied Dwight.

“We should probably check around the station to make sure everything is okay,” said Gorgin.

The two left the room, trying to call the commander, but getting no answer.

“Let’s go to command center first,” said Gorgin.

The two rushed to the command center.

“Dwight did it!” Gorgin cried out as soon as they entered the room.

“No I didn’t!” Dwight called back. “You butted in!”

But the two realized they were wasting there blame game for the commander was nowhere in sight. They looked all over, but no sight of the commander.

“He’s not in the freshening room,” said Dwight coming out after a flush.

“Strange for him to be gone,” said Gorgin.

Then the two of them heard a squeak.

“What the hell was that?” asked Dwight.

“Sounds like the commander has a pet,” replied Gorgin.

The two started looking around until the two came to the commander’s chair. Both saw at the same time a squirrel on the seat looking at both of them. It started chattering, then jumped off the chair.

“I didn’t know the commander had a pet?” asked Dwight.

Gorgin shrugged his shoulders and scratched his head. Then a light bulb popped on inside his head.

“What pet were you looking at getting?” he asked Dwight.

“I was contemplating on getting a tamed squirrel,” he replied.

It didn’t take too long for the two to figure out what happened.

“Did we turn the commander into a squirrel?” asked Dwight.

Gorgin just nodded then the two searched for the squirrel, which ran around the room.

“We need to get him,” Gorgin said.

The two chased after the squirrel, bumping into each other, and Gorgin grabbing the squirrel, but it bit him, and was loose once again.

“We need to get the room robot,” said Gorgin as he shook his hurt finger, going over to the panel.

He pressed some switches and next moment the robot came out.

“Retrieve the squirrel,” said Gorgin.

It didn’t take long for the robot to scoop of the squirrel and deposit it into a glass came.

“Now to see about the rest of the crew,” said Gorgin.

The two of them checked for lifeforms on the station, then checked the screens for each room they detected life. All the lifeforms were squirrels.

“What did you do?” asked Gorgin.

“You were the one pressing numerous buttons,” said Dwight.

“We need to fix this fast,” said Gorgin.

Gorgin released the robots in each room, and the squirrels were scooped up. The other robots were sent to the pet room.

“I hope we can reverse this,” said Gorgin as they headed to the pet room.

All the robots were in the room as the two of them tried to figure out a way to make their crew human again.

“I think I got it,” said Gorgin. “We need to get out of the room so nothing happens to us. The robots will be released once we leave.”

The two left the room, robots released, and there was a bright flash. The two went back into the room and saw everyone was human again. The only thing is that they were all naked. Commander Morgan stood up and looked at the two men with a stare of death.

“We are in trouble,” muttered Dwight.

The next day the two were put in cryosleep until the next crew came in a couple of years. Before both of them lay down for their sleep they looked at each other, and both of them grinned.

Slow Cooker Brisket Sofrito

Slow Cooker Brisket Sofrito is an excellent filling for corn or flour tortillas.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

1 (3 pound) brisket
2 teaspoons salt, + extra after cooking
2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper, + extra after cooking
1 large onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (12 ounce) jar tomato Sofrito
1 teaspoon ground chipotle chili (or more for an extra kick)

Instructions

Season brisket on both sides with salt and pepper.
Place onion and garlic in a 3 1/2 to 5 quart slow cooker. Place brisket on onions and garlic, fat side up. Pour Sofrito over brisket and sprinkle chipotle chili over sauce. Cover and cook on LOW for 9 to 10 hours or until brisket is fork tender.
Carefully remove brisket from cooker with as little sauce as possible. Place on cutting board and cut into three pieces cross grain. Shred beef with two forks and return to cooker. Stir into sauce and season with salt and pepper (and a little more chipotle seasoning if you like it spicy).
Serve with tortillas and other desired toppings.

Nutrition

Per serving: 530 calories; 23g fat (5g saturated fat; 0g trans fat); 195mg cholesterol; 1340mg sodium; 5g carbohydrate; 1g fiber; 0 g sugar; 71g protein; 2% vitamin A; 6% calcium; 20% vitamin C; 35% iron

A MM slice from the past

I generated this chart back in 2019.

What do you think? Do you think that I was accurate in my predictions?

Shorpy Goodies

A confession

This is a heartfelt true confession from the top spokesperson for the Huawei Mate 6.0—Gina Raimondo. In a recent interview, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo went beyond discussing export controls, stating that efforts to hold back China in the chip race are ultimately a “fool’s errand.” She stressed that sustained investment in domestic innovation is what will ensure the U.S. remains ahead of Beijing.

Four years after the Biden administration made chip manufacturing a priority, Raimondo explained that the attempts to restrict China’s access to technology haven’t significantly slowed the country’s progress. According to her, export controls are merely “speed bumps” in China’s drive for global technological dominance. “The only way to beat China is to stay ahead of them,” she asserted. “We must run faster and out-innovate them. That’s the way to win.”

https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/china-biden-chip-manufacturing-gina-raimondo-b98c2606

Ribs in Orange and Chile Sauce (Costillitas en Naranja)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons lard or vegetable oil
4 pounds country-style spareribs, cut into individual ribs
2 medium white onions, cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch wide slivers
1 (1 pound) can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
2 cloves garlic
1 to 2 tablespoons ground, seeded, dried ancho chiles
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup piloncillo or brown sugar
1 teaspoon shredded orange rind
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 to 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
Orange slices, cut into halves
Fresh cilantro sprigs

Instructions

Heat lard or oil in large Dutch oven over medium heat until hot. Add as many ribs as will fit in single layer without crowding. Cook, turning occasionally, until brown on all sides, 15 to 20 minutes; remove to plate.
Repeat with remaining ribs.
Remove and discard all but 2 tablespoons drippings from pan. Add onions; sauté over medium heat until soft, about 4 minutes.
Process tomatoes and garlic in blender container until smooth.
Add chiles, cinnamon and cloves to onions. Cook and stir over medium heat for 30 seconds.
Add tomato mixture; cook and stir for 5 minutes.
Add orange juice, wine, piloncillo, orange rind and salt to pan; heat over high heat to boiling. Add ribs; reduce heat to low. Simmer, covered, until ribs are tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
Remove ribs to serving plates.
Skim and discard fat from cooking sauce. Stir in vinegar; spoon sauce over ribs.
Serve, garnished with orange slices and cilantro

Shorpy

SHORPY 1954 Ford Mainline two door sedan.preview

South of the Border Shredded Pork

Yield: 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients

1 (2 1/2 to 3 pound) pork shoulder roast (weight after trimmed of fat)
1 tablespoon oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 (1.25 ounce) packages taco seasoning mix
1 (14.5 ounce) can Mexican style diced tomatoes
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles
Tortillas
Shredded Cheddar or jack cheese
Scallions
Tomatoes
Sour cream

Instructions

Cut pork into 1 1/2-inch chunks and sear in hot oil until browned on all sides.
Add onion, taco seasoning mix, tomatoes and chiles; stir well. Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Remove cover and cook 15 minutes more or until liquid has reduced and sauce is thick.
Shred meat with two forks.
Spoon filling into tortillas and top with desired fillings

Little Red Balloons

Matt Strempel

I can’t put my finger on why I murdered Jerry, because I lost my fingers in an accident.

Accident. That is to say, Jerry hit the go button on the waste disposal unit while I was fixing it, and it munched my right hand off at the wrist. To be fair, the robotic prosthetic is about a thousand times better than my real hand was, but it hurt like hell at the time. He maintains I said, “Hit it,” but what I said was, “Quit it.” I was always telling Jerry to quit it. He was the most infuriating guy in the entire universe, I’m telling you. I should know; as a DSD I’ve seen more of the universe than most.

A DSD is a Deep Space Diviner. In short, we look for water out in the dark corners of the universe in the hope of finding evidence of alien life. I used to get work out on farms and such, walking around with a curled piece of wire waiting for the thing to snap down towards the ground. That’s when I’d tell the boys to get digging. I never missed. Went all over the country helping folks get water out of the ground. I’m telling you, I could find water in the middle of a goddamn desert. Now I follow my hunches into deep space.

When I heard they were asking for water diviners to head into space I thought it was some big joke. Checked the date to see if it was April 1st and everything. But it’s no joke. Turns out it’s cheaper to have guys like me out in space than sending probes from Earth.

So anyway, they’ve had us out in Sector 35 for two years. Me and Jerry Portman. I told them I could do it on my own, but company regulations state I gotta have a partner. Jerry goddamn Portman from Chicago. I couldn’t stand him.

How do I explain this to you? I mean, how do you come across a guy that can make you feel claustrophobic in the vastness of space? Even when I couldn’t see him, it was like he was right next to me with his stale open-mouth breathing. I’ve sent countless requests to be transferred, or have him transferred, or sought permission to blast him out the goddamn airlock, but no luck. I knew nothing was going to come of all the complaints, but it was the only way I could get the frustration off my chest.

It’s true that in space no one can hear you scream, but email works pretty good.

Anyway, that opening line about not being able to put my finger on why I killed him on account of not having any fingers? That’s the type of corny gag that Jerry loved. Drove me crazy. Is there anything more infuriating than a guy who laughs at his own jokes? I must have heard him use variations of “lend you a hand”, “right-hand man”, and “second hand” about a million times. He laughed every single time like it was the first time anyone ever said, “Get a grip” to a guy who just lost their hand and was rolling around on the floor spraying blood all over the goddamn ship.

You ever see a gushing wound in zero gravity? It’s really something. It looks like the wound is spurting little red balloons. Or, it’s like looking at cells under a microscope.

Space does that. Changes your perception of size. Entire planets appear tiny, then, the next second, a speck of space rock hitting the ship could end your entire existence. Big is small, small is enormous.

Anyway, the latest thing with Jerry was he wanted to head out on this new vector. I’m telling you right now, where he wanted to go is a bust. Oh, but he’s “got a feeling”. Feeling, my ass. This guy hadn’t found a goddamn drop of water in two years. Plus, we would have had to go through a goddamn asteroid belt.

It’s not that he was bad at his job—he was terrible—it’s that he was bad at everything. I mean, literally, everything. You ever meet a guy who couldn’t even use the goddamn toothpaste properly? I mean, who squeezes from the middle? Leaves the lid open so I’ve got a tube that’s flat through the centre, with all the good paste at the bottom, blocked by dried toothpaste at the top. He was such a goddamn imbecile.

The thing is, though, medically speaking—on paper—he was a goddamn genius. Like, off the charts smart. He’s just got no common sense. Know what I mean? As in, he could solve the most complex mathematical equation known to man, but he’d set fire to his helmet. He really did that. Tried to make some modifications and shorted the regulator. Nearly killed us. He was always nearly killing us.

I’ll say it: Jerry Portman was the stupidest guy ever to be classified as a genius.

I swear he has nearly killed me at least a dozen times. Obviously, losing my hand was pretty bad, but he’s also shut off my oxygen while I was outside repairing a cracked solar panel. I was under 50% oxygen saturation when I finally got back inside. That much carbon dioxide in your lungs? You can’t take that too long. When I hit the emergency retract button on my umbilical to get back inside, well, let me just say, if I’d had the strength to even stand up, I swear that would have been it. I would have murdered Jerry right then.

I think the worst one was when he opened the bay door—that’s where we keep the drones—before I was in my suit. I know it’s against the regulations to be in the drone bay without your suit because of the potential for that exact situation, but fucking Jerry, man. The guys who wrote the regulations must have been like, “What’s the most galactically stupid thing anyone could do in any given situation?” and then they’d write a rule just for kicks. They were probably laughing their asses off the entire time. “No one could be that much of a moron,” they’d say. But guess what, fellas. Jerry Portman is your guy. It’s just lucky there’s a ten-second warning before the doors open.

You know the worst thing about guys like Jerry? It’s never their fault.

“It was an accident.”

He said it every goddamn time. It’s always an accident with these guys. Like that absolves them from any wrongdoing. As if just because you didn’t do it on purpose, all is forgiven.

Imagine opening the bay door while there’s a guy in there working on the drones.

Speaking of the drones. Jerry lost another one yesterday. This should come as a great surprise to exactly no one, but even for him, this was stupid. That’s three of our six drones lost. Don’t worry, Jerry. They’re only worth about half a billion dollars each.

“But they’re fitted with a homing device to automatically self-dock if they lose the control signal” I hear you say. Yeah, well, you haven’t met Jerry. He’s the kind of guy a car salesman tells, “Pal, if you’re the kind of guy that accidentally locks his keys in the car, then this is the car for you. You can’t do it, see? It’s impossible.”

Then, a week later, Jerry’s back and tells the guy he’s locked the keys in the goddamn car.

Can you imagine being stuck in space with Jerry Portman? I’m telling you, it’s the pits.

The first drone Jerry lost was on account of him tinkering with it. He was trying to make the water sensor more sensitive after striking out on another of his feelings. He’s always making excuses that it’s the equipment’s fault when he strikes out. So, yeah. The first drone he tinkered with—well, we don’t know what he did exactly—but the first time we took it out after he fiddled with it, it took off like a bullet and it was gone.

I can still see Jerry watching the screen as we lost the signal. He was like a kid who’d taken his model plane out for its first flight and watched it disappear over the trees never to be seen again. Only this model plane cost half a billion dollars.

The second one, I’m not sure about. He swears he didn’t touch it. For all his million faults, one thing Jerry wasn’t, was a liar. Maybe we chalk that one up to bad luck. Maybe the drone was a dud.

But the latest one? Jesus Christ. I won’t bore you with a bunch of technical crap about how the drones work, let’s just say in the simplest terms, it confirms the presence of water in any form within a given target. Most commonly, this means we find a meteorite that we feel has potential, and the drone sends out a probe to take a sample. It’s basically a drill that bores into the target and removes a metre-long cylinder of material. If there’s a trace of water—it’s ice, of course—there’s a bunch of readings and measurements done by the computer and it sends the data back to Earth for further analysis.

As you can imagine, a machine that performs this function is incredibly complex. So you don’t just open up a panel and start poking around with a goddamn Phillips-head. Well, you and I wouldn’t. But you know who would?

So, yesterday he’s telling me, “I know what I’m doing this time,” as if he’s read the manual since losing the first drone. I just shake my head and leave him to it. I used to argue with him all the time, but I learnt pretty quick what a waste of breath that was. He’s one of those guys that when they get something in their head, you can’t shake it no matter how much sense you’re making. They could be wearing a red tshirt and you say, “Nice red tshirt,” and they say, “What’re talking about? It’s blue,” and you just have to say, “Fine, you moron. It’s blue,” and walk away.

That’s what Jerry was like when he was tinkering. Maybe part of me thought he’d electrocute himself so I wouldn’t have to murder him.

When he finished playing around with this drone, he came back into the control room and placed these screws and some other little bits and pieces in a drawer. He did it as if he didn’t want me to see it, but I saw it clear as day. You know when someone gets home drunk and they’re trying to be quiet but they make way more noise than if they just stumbled around? People trying to be discrete just scream I’m up to something fishy.

So I say to Jerry, “What are those, from the drone?”

And he just says, “They’re spare. We don’t actually need them.”

Then I go off on one about how every single thing on this ship right down to the tiniest screw has been reduced in size and weight to make everything as light as possible—like, the angle of trajectory for our landing factors in the weight of the urine that will be in our bladders—but sure, Jerry. They’ve included a bunch of spare parts. “It’s not a goddamn IKEA chair, Jerry” I remember saying that to him like he was hiding some leftover dowel he forgot to put in.

Well, sure as eggs, Jerry sent the drone out yesterday and I’ll give you one guess what happened to it. You’re goddamn right it blew up. Nearly killed us.

He’s just lucky the drone was far enough from the ship that the explosion didn’t do any damage to the ship. Nothing that the self-diagnostics picked up, anyway. Naturally, I did my block at Jerry for nearly killing us again and I said someone’s going to have to go outside and have a closer inspection of the hull. Now, normally I’d be the guy that does that. I mean, you can’t leave something that important up to Jerry goddamn Portman.

Then I had a thought—maybe I would send Jerry out. It would be a real shame if his umbilical somehow untethered from the ship and he floated out into space…

Ashamed as I am to admit it, this was not the first time I’d thought about killing Jerry.

Did I tell you about the time Jerry destroyed one of my samples? You know how people who can’t cook, they say “Oh, so-and-so could burn water.” That’s what Jerry did. We got this sample back on the probe one time and it had all these microorganisms in it. The core sample was about 85% ice. Normally, we’re lucky if it’s even 5%. The core analysis told us it contained 37 different forms of bacteria plus a bunch of other unidentifiable crap all suspended in ice. It was the most exciting goddamn discovery since penicillin. So I placed the core in the freezer and looked forward to the fame and fortune awaiting those DSDs lucky enough to find something. I couldn’t sleep that cycle I was so excited.

Of course, back then I didn’t have a complete understanding of the magnitude of Jerry’s stupidity. Had I known better, I would have guarded that freezer with my goddamn life.

Now, it wouldn’t have surprised me in the least to discover Jerry had destroyed my sample by switching the freezer off by accident. These things happen to the best of us. But Jerry isn’t your average moron. No, Jerry decides he wants to take a look at the sample himself under the microscope. Only, the microscope doesn’t work with a chunk of ice, you gotta melt it down to go in a petri dish. So Jerry puts the core in the blast box—the blast box, I should explain, is this unit that works like an oven or freezer depending on what you need heating or chilling. Only, the blast box will roast or freeze something in three seconds. In hindsight, this is exactly the sort of thing you could see happening, but the designers of the blast box would have been counting on the operators being actual scientists, not Jerry goddamn Portman.

Now, someone like you or me, we’d take a small piece of the sample if we wanted to take a closer look. Not Jerry, though. Jerry Portman’s the kind of guy who takes your alien lifeforms precariously suspended in million-year-old ice and microwaves them to kingdom come. “Why the hell did he…? Oh, never mind,” I hear you saying. You’re getting the picture now. He cost me a lot that day. Maybe not money—who knows—but certainly renown. They probably would have named one of the bacteria after me.

That was two years ago, but I remember it like yesterday. Time flies when you’re having fun.

Yesterday, when Jerry was out on the spacewalk, I considered trying to make it look like an accident. But there are so many instruments taking every goddamn reading on this ship that they’d know for sure I had something to do with it. I mean, no amount of tinkering could have got the drone to accidentally deploy its probe with such surgical precision right up Jerry Portman’s goddamn ass.

I’ll be leaving Sector 35 for Earth in a year next week. When I splashdown and I get arrested on live television, it’ll be because I murdered Jerry Portman. They’ll drag me out of the ocean next to those giant orange balloon floaties and put me straight in handcuffs but I’ll be laughing my ass off. You can’t spell manslaughter without laughter, right?

I’ll be thinking about the last thing Jerry saw as he was fatally probed: me in the cockpit with the drone remote, my smiling face looking out through the glass where I’d stuck a piece of paper saying IT WAS AN ACCIDENT.

Thousands of little red balloons.

I just want them to know I was provoked. I was standing my ground. I feared for my life, Your Honor.

It wasn’t self-defence, really, more like self-preservation. I’m not sure if there’re any laws about killing in self-preservation but if I didn’t kill him, he was going to kill me. I’m absolutely goddamn sure of it.

Why You’ll Hate Living in France

Tool Porn Post

I love tools.

I have had various collections of tools through the years. At one point in time I had both a fabrication lab, and electronic labs, and a woodworking shop. And I loved it.

When I worked with wood, the smell of the saw dust was glorious. Simply delicious.

When I worked on my cars, it was always a story of dirt and grease, but the satisfaction of completely, and finally, fixing a broken down jalopy was so FINE.

When I worked with the electronics, it was a story of invention and creation. And some of the gizmos that I made were so special and unique. I just wish that I still had the pictures of my completed projects. I made up all the gear from SLS molds, to glue and plastic frames… and of course all the electronics inside.

Memories.

Some forged through pain, sweat and persistent insects. While others consisted of are much harder to define. Late afternoon sun baking the blacktop and the smell of oil. While others consisted of a ladder and a very hot roof. Still others are far simpler; the twisting of a screwdriver on an invention that I was working on.

Today, I presenting some “tool porn” for you all to enjoy.

Today…

Some say after years of de-coupling, Trump’s bargaining chips over China have diminished. What do you think of it?

Inside 'Delete A', China's plan to 'delete everything America in technology’ - Times of India

https://www.google.com/amp/s/timesofindia.indiatimes.com/gadgets-news/inside-delete-a-chinas-plan-to-delete-everything-america-in-technology/amp_articleshow/108314272.cms

How many people have heard of DELETE AMERICA Or DELETE A?

Very few

It doesn’t do many rounds on Mainstream Western Media

China is creating an atmosphere where anything American is to be phased out ENTIRELY

Target dates are 31/12/2025, 31/12/2027 and 31/12/2030 depending on different technologies

Here are some major decisions :-

Microsoft Windows Ecosystem fully phased out from Grade I – Grade III Government Organizations and replaced with KYLIN (By 30/9/2024)
Intel & AMD processors fully phased out from Grade I – III Organizations and replaced with Longson Processors (By 30/9/2024)
Samsung SSDs with SK Hynix commenced phase out from Grade I – III Organizations and replaced with Huawei SSDs with YMTC (Begun 1/1/2024 , Target Date 31/12/2027)
Cisco Equipment fully phased out from Grade I – III Organizations and replaced with Huawei & ZTE Equipment (By 1/1/2023)
Grade I – III include Military, Quasi Military , JV Military, Civilian Airspace, Civilian Air Traffic, Civilian Transportation, Civilian Airports, Civilian Railways & Civilian Power Distribution among other things

Here are other things :-

US Exports formed 9.4% of Chinas GDP Growth in 2015. Now it’s 2.3% in 2023. Dependence on US Exports for Economic Growth has fallen by 75% in the past decade
Workforce related to US Exports peaked at 1.81 Million in 2016. Now it’s 870,000 – down by more than 50% in the past 8 years
Chinas Brand Value sales to the Global South stands at a whopping $ 112.6 Billion versus a paltry $ 11.6 Billion in USA. This means Chinese Brands sales in US is a mere $ 12 Billion versus more than $ 113 Billion across the rest of the world. By contrast US Brands sales in China is close to $ 212 Billion versus $ 411 Billion with the rest of the world (Non US). This means 33% of Sales of US Brands depend on China whereas only 9.60% of Sales of Chinese Brands depend on USA.
In fact if you see Chinese Brands sales in ASEAN is $ 38.2 Billion, almost 3.5 times their US sales
The Top 15 US Brands – made $ 104.20 Billion for the US Economy in 2023 from China . The Top 15 Chinese Brands made a mere $ 10.81 Billion for the Chinese Economy from USA.
Chinas dependence on US Technology for its Industrial High Grade Processes is 38% as of 2023 June whereas US Dependence on China for its High Grade Manufacturing Supply Chain is almost 70%. So US dependence on China is TWICE the Chinese dependence on US

It is China that is decoupling from US and Europe

In fact China is preparing to raise massive stimulus to encourage boost in domestic consumption so that by 2027, Chinas Export contribution to GDP falls to less than 15% and US Export contribution to GDP falls to less than 1%

So whatever happens – every move by US against China is programmed to backfire worse against the US

Shocking Truth of South Korean Coup

The details are coming out. Biden “presidency” really were being bad during the last few months.

A friend just shared this, and it’s too funny!

MONTANA STATE TROOPER

In many places in the U.S., when the temperature drops really low, they check on any cars stuck on the side of the road.

One very cold morning, at 3 AM, Montana State Trooper Allan Nixon #658 got a call about a car off the road near Great Falls, Montana.

He found the car stuck in deep snow with the engine still running. After pulling up behind it with his lights flashing, the trooper walked up to the driver’s door and found an older man passed out in the driver’s seat with a nearly empty vodka bottle beside him.

The driver woke up when the trooper tapped on the window. Seeing the lights and the trooper next to his car, the man panicked and shifted into drive, hitting the gas.

The speedometer showed the car going 20, 30, 40, and then 50 MPH, but it was still stuck in the snow, wheels spinning. Trooper Nixon, with a good sense of humor, started running in place next to the car like he was keeping up.

The driver was freaked out, thinking the trooper was actually running 50 miles per hour. After about 30 seconds, the trooper yelled, “PULL OVER!”

The driver quickly turned the wheel and stopped the engine. Of course, the man from North Dakota was arrested, and I bet he’s still shaking his head over the trooper who could run 50 MPH.

Who says cops don’t have a sense of humor?

Sounds right

main qimg 37dbe512017fa4e474ee3d7655b95f9e

Scott Ritter EXPOSES: U.S Plot to Put Russia in Nuclear Trap with Ukraine! Putin—Iran Shocking Move!

An EXTREMELY good video.

Why would anyone with half a brain enlist in the United States military?

I grew up in a violent household. My father was an alcoholic, and beat my mother, and us kids. I started to get the best of him by my mid teens, and put a stop to the beatings by the time I was 17.

I was working in dead end jobs, in my hometown outside of Buffalo, New York. The rich kids went to College. The poor kids looked to the Military.

Two weeks after turning 18, I enlisted in the Air Force. I was looking to get out of the harsh Winters of Buffalo, and to start a new life.

I had just missed Vietnam. Saigon fell to the Communists two months before I turned 17. The Cold War was still ongoing, so in 1976, I signed up to be a Nuclear Weapons Specialist. I was on Active Duty (1976-1981.) I spent three years in England, serving on American Occupied RAF Bases. I traveled all over Europe and the United Kingdom in my off time.

I completed one year’s worth of College Credits, attending Night Classes with the University of Maryland (European Campus.) After getting out of the Air Force, I attended College on the G.I. Bill. All of $341 per month. I graduated with an A.S. Degree in Exotic Animal Training and Management.

I had a good first career as a Wild Animal Trainer, Elephant Trainer, and Zookeeper. I first trained Wild Animals for movies and television in Hollywood. Then, I became an Elephant Trainer at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Eventually, I worked with the California Condors. I did that work up until my forties.

Joining the Air Force allowed me to get out and see some of the World. Getting out of snowy Buffalo. And leaving my violent upbringing behind. It gave me a fresh start in life. It is one of the best things I ever did.

Utter Annihilation! With Surrender Deadline Past, Promised Bombing Has Begun in Kursk, Russia

Hal Turner World March 08, 2025 Hits: 42692

Yesterday, this website reported that the Russian Army has completely encircled Ukrainian forces inside Kursk, Russia.

Those Ukrainians were given until “Dawn” this morning to surrender, or else Fuel Air Bombing would begin.

The deadline has now passed; the bombing has begun.

Ukraine forces in Kursk, Russia, are being annihilated.

In our prior coverage (Story Here) we pointed out that over 1,000 Ukrainian troops, out of the 4700 – 6300 trapped in Kursk, were already seeking to surrender, and were offering New weapons, provided by the US and France, encrypted communications gear, and other military hardware, as inducements to Russia to allow them to surrender.

It is not yet known if those troops did, in fact, surrender, or how many western weapons systems the Russians have now received from those troops.

As each minute passes today, more and more Fuel-Air (Thermobaric) Bombs are being dropped on the remaining Ukrainian troops.

None are expected to survive the onslaught.

From Napoleon to Hitler, history shows that such is the fate of any force that invades Russia.

UPDATE 11:54 AM EST —

Ukrainian Forces are collapsing faster than expected. There are reports of a disorganized withdrawal with high casualties and large groups of Ukrainian soldiers being left behind.

UPDATE 1:40 PM EST —

Yesterday, Ukraine controlled 360 square kilometers of Kursk, Russia. As of three hours ago, that was CONFIRMED down to “less than 230 square kilometers” and dropping fast. As Russian troops enter bombed-out areas, they confirm Ukrainian troops are all dead, then count that area as being back under Russia control. According to one Russian source, “There are far more bombed-out areas to survey, and the bombings continue. Kursk may be disinfected of the Ukrainian disease by tonight.”

It should be noted that Hitler tried taking Kursk in 1943. His NAZI forces were roundly defeated. It is noteworthy that some of the dead Ukrainians found in Kursk today – have NAZI “SS” patches on their helmets. Just as dead now, as Hitler’s troops were in 1943. See image below:

Since the morning publication on the situation in the Kursk region, the situation for Ukrainian formations has worsened even more. Russian troops have increased the pressure in several areas at once, and the Ukrainian Armed Forces are rapidly retreating from the front lines, abandoning the wounded and equipment.

Lebedevka, Okhotnichy, Loknya have been finally liberated. The nearby forest belts are being cleared of enemy remnants. The enemy has been trying to escape towards Sudzha for over a day, and from there to Yunakovka along the only road.

To the north of Sudzha, Russian army fighters have completely liberated Malaya Loknya, Kositsa and Cherkasskoye Porechnoye. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are running across the fields to Sudzha under artillery and FPV drone fire.

To the north-east, the Ukrainians tried to go into counter-attack again, but to no avail. Airborne assault units cleared the forests and liberated Makhnovka, Mirny, Mykhailivka and Martynovka.

Now the battles are going on near Dmitryuki. Separate units of the Russian Armed Forces, which liberated Makhnovka, are already conducting an assault on the outskirts of Sudzha. After the loss of Dmitryuki (it is a matter of time), the situation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces will worsen significantly.

This will open the way to Sudzha, which will certainly cause chaos and disarray in the Ukrainian positions due to the fear of being trapped. The Ukrainian front is gradually falling apart, and the operation that was supposed to be a victory for Zelensky is turning into one huge farce.

Chipotle and Green Chile with Pork

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter
2 pounds pork tenderloin, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
2 cups yellow onions, diced
1/4 cup jalapeño chile, minced
1 cup dried New Mexico green chiles, seeded, stems removed, and minced
1/4 cup minced garlic
1/4 cup roasted chipotle chiles, peeled and minced
1 cup grated pepper jack cheese
8 (6 inch) flour tortillas

Instructions

In a stockpot, melt two tablespoons butter and heat.
When the butter is hot, add pork, onions, jalapeño, New Mexico dried chiles, garlic, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook for 1 1/2 hours or until pork is tender.
Add the chipotle chiles and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Grill the tortillas and brush with butter.
Serve with grated pepper jack cheese on top.
You want to spoon the chili onto your tortilla and roll up and eat.

Brian Lost It When These OF Girls Couldn’t Understand A Simple Analogy

How can the US compete with China and Chinese companies without using sanctions against key technologies, decoupling, and the long arm of the law?

At this point, I believe it impossible.

The reason why the US could compete and dominate the EU, Japan and Korea is scale, and the unnatural size o>f American influence, thanks primarily to the global reach of the Pentagon. That is why this map of AMERICAN NATIONAL SECURITY isn’t ridiculed.

The Eurodollar (or american dollars overseas) is another powerful tool. It has a dominant position in world finance.

However, along comes China, an economy that’s already 3/4 the size of the US, but resistant to US influence, either political, military or geoeconomic. China is peer competition, the same way George Foreman didn’t fold fighting Muhammad Ali.

China, at this point, has graduated into a system of systems builder, and is already a tool-maker of enabling technology.

What is a tool-maker?

In simple terms, the upstream technology that factories depend on for their production.

China isn’t just a maker of consumer end-products today. The Chinese have the world’s most complete supply chain, and Chinese companies are making the rapid climb into tool-making, such as robots, sophisticated precision machines, exotic nano-materials, and all kinds of IOT/ML/big data/AI thingmajigs.

In other words, China is rushing towards the cutting edge Industry 5.0.

It is the year 2023 and Huawei is already pushing 5.5G networks, with speeds up to 10x faster than 5G. That’s the speed of relentless progress driving innovation on the mainland.

It is the year 2023 and CRRC is testing 450kmh HSR rolling stock, allowing the export and technology transfer of the mature 350kmh Fuxing. China had 0km of HSR in 2006. Today, they have 40,000km, more than the rest of the world has managed over the last 60 years. Expect the network to grow in the coming decade.

[Note: Indonesia, Brazil and other third world countries will operate FASTER HSR trains than first world Japan, France and Germany in the coming decade. They will also deploy cellular 5G/6G technology in step with the first world, and perhaps even earlier, all thanks to the Chinese.]

Stepping up to bat with the manic energy of the Chinese requires the same or greater commitment of energy and resources. The first world has kept the rest of the world at bay with patent walls and unassailable leads, but the Chinese are overcoming the obstacles and making up lost ground rapidly. In some industries, the Chinese are already defining the cutting edge, and clear leaders.

The clear Chinese advantage is scale, and the ability to cluster and leverage supply chain ecosystems and innovation centers. That is why Huawei has its campus in Dongguan, a stone’s throw away from the mecca of China’s consumer electronics, Shenzhen. Huawei has unparalleled access to the latest innovations to drive product development. Whereas Apple designs in California, and contract manufactures an ocean away.

Once China catches up on the patent front, Chinese speed and scale will take care of the rest.

America can’t even do anything about its stale Constitution, and can only offer kick-a-canism for the age-old problems of guns, drugs and racism, while the infrastructure continue to decay at an astonishing rate. Social spending dominates the budget, an ever-increasing burden. The bigger problem is the overfinancialized economy that has been overreliant on cheap money. Intel blew 100 billion on stock buyback this century, while its manufacturing lead was steadily eroding. Today, the best Intel chips are no longer at the cutting edge node.

Same story with Boeing, and a host of household American names.

Prosperity breeds soft bellies.

I don’t believe it reversible, not without substantial (and prolonged) pain forcing American introspection.

Too much hubris.

And insufficient grasp of reality.

Why South America now does all its business with China: US companies, investors are dumb and lazy

My God. This is brilliant.

They Always Find Us

Submitted into Contest #207 in response to: A journalist has been granted permission to visit the premises of a lab carrying out top-secret work. They could never have anticipated what they’d find…… view prompt

Theo Benson

This story contains themes or mentions of physical violence, gore, or abuse.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Dr. Morrison held a small vial up to the light, amber liquid swirling inside. “After all our efforts, all of our sacrifices, we’re so close to a cure.”Isabelle held her datapad closer to the Doctor, determined to get as clear of an audio recording as possible. They had spent hours in Silver Grandeur’s lab. Her legs ached. With painstaking precision, Dr. Morrison walked Isabelle through all of the functions of Lab Section 1, explaining each device that helped to refine and prepare the contents of the vial in his hand. The soreness she’d feel later would be worth the story. Especially as a Junior Data Reporter.“Tell us, Doctor,” Isabelle said, shifting weight from one leg to another, “What’s the greatest challenge you’ve faced with Project Find?”“We’ve all lost people to the sickness, haven’t we?”Isabelle looked away.“No challenge is greater than that of grief,” Dr. Morrison said with a sad smile. “Yet their memory lives on in the work we accomplish.” He gingerly set the vial into its holder on the table in front of them. After a moment of silence, he asked, “Anything else?”“Yes,” Isabelle perked up. “About the beginning. How exactly did this-”A shudder rocked the ship. Lights flickered in the lab as Dr. Morrison and Isabelle steadied themselves against the table.“Seekers,” He muttered as the shaking subsided. Another, more violent shudder, nearly knocked Isabelle off her feet. The vials on the table clattered together. “They always find us.”Around them, scientists in lab coats hurried to secure loose items. Isabelle found herself being led towards the exit.“I’m sorry to cut this short,” the Doctor said, leading her out into the main hallway and shutting the door behind them. “I need to speak with the Captain before one of those things tears a hole in our outer hull again.”Isabelle pulled her father into a hug. “Be safe.”After watching Dr. Morrison race out of sight, she opened her hand and smiled at it. Seated in the palm of her hand was a grey access card. Her father’s. Slipping back inside the lab, Isabelle quickly donned a lab coat, mask, and goggles. Only a few scientists remained. Evidently, the rest had dispersed to secure other sections of Silver Grandeur’s large lab. She snuck to the back of Section 1, connecting her datapad to the lab’s information center – a port in the wall.The ship rocked again, and Isabelle steadied herself against the wall.She switched rapidly from catalogue to catalogue, searching. There had to be something more interesting here. Yes, her father had shown her this section of the lab, but she was not so naïve as to think this was all there was. Scientific breakthrough had to come from somewhere. And a good Data Reporter needed to be willing to break a few rules to find out.Isabelle paused on one catalogue.Project Find. It read. She inserted Dr. Morrison’s card into her datapad to open the file. Disappointment grew as she read. Most of the words made absolutely no sense. Yes, they were English. But no matter how hard Isabelle squinted at them and sounded them out under her breath, their meaning remained completely foreign.But then she spotted something she could understand.Successful creation of antidote and enhancement secured via genetic mesh.Below, it read; See Donor Subject File. Lab Section 13.She disconnected her datapad and pressed deeper into the lab.Another shudder shook Silver Grandeur. She began humming softly as she passed more labcoats, remembering the melody her mother would use to comfort her when she was little. After the Seekers first attacked.On its one-hundredth and fifty-second year of voyaging in space, five years after Silver Grandeur’s passengers were woken from cryo-sleep, the Seekers struck. So did the sickness.Deep space sickness, they called it.No one knew what caused it. Some blamed the Seekers, who appeared immune to the disease. With their arrival shortly preceding the first outbreak, they were easy to blame. Some claimed it was a result of extended cryo-sleep. Simply a scientific oversight. And others, the more religious of Silver Grandeur’s passengers, proclaimed it was judgement for their departure from God’s one true home for them – Earth. Apparently, extended cryo-sleep had conveniently allowed them to forget Earth’s death. Reduced to a desolate wasteland, their one true home forced what remained of humanity to flee.Her mother was one of the first to die from the sickness. Isabelle was ten at the time. Her father threw himself into a frenzy of work after his wife’s death, refusing to take inevitable death – either by sickness or by Seeker – as the final answer. Fifteen years had since passed.Isabelle reached the end of Section 12 and stopped. Before her lay a single door. Lab Section 13. Checking behind her to make sure no one was watching, Isabelle opened the door with Dr. Morrison’s access card and slipped inside, shutting the door behind her.Cold air shocked her. Isabelle shivered. Section 13 was freezing, not to mention smaller than she expected. The room contained only a handful of control panels on either side of the door and a containment unit on the far wall that was coated in frost.Isabelle frowned. Was this the Donor Subject?She approached the unit and used her sleeve to wipe a patch of frost from the glass.A dark form moved inside.

Isabelle had seen Seekers before. Windows across the ship gave good view for those with a morbid enough interest to watch them attack. With a snouted maw filled with teeth, an excess of appendages tipped with claws, long wings, and sleek black bodies, they blended easily against the backdrop of space. Only when close enough to Silver Grandeur’s lights did the light of the ship reflecting off their bodies illuminate their presence. In darkness they did not exist.

She squinted at it. It was almost entirely obscured by the remaining frost and the condensation building inside her goggles. Isabelle steadied her breathing, excitement mounting as she removed her goggles to peer inside. She’d never seen one this close before.

Her breath caught in her throat.

Eyes, eyes that Seekers did not – should not – have, stared back at her.

It lunged.

Isabelle jerked backwards, slamming into the panels behind her. The creature thrashed against the glass and Isabelle glanced down in panic as a small alarm sounded on the panel just under her arm.

The sides of the containment unit hissed open.

Isabelle ran. Tearing metal echoed behind her.

She collided with a labcoat in Section 11. “Go! It’s out!” Not stopping to wait, she ran on through the lab, leaving the startled man behind. Several seconds later there was a scream. A loud crunch. And silence.

Lungs and legs burning, Isabelle burst into Section 1, the door sliding shut behind her. Several dozen scientists milled about, the ship’s shaking having since stopped.

“Run,” she said.

A few labcoats looked at her in confusion. Thudding behind the door she entered grew louder.

Isabelle tore off her mask, wheezing. “Run!”

The door she came through flew across the room, crushing a scientist against the wall. Standing a head taller than Isabelle, the creature that entered stood on legs rippling with sleek black muscle. Its head was surprisingly rounded, with something like the remnants of hair dotting the top of its head. It stretched tall and raised tensed arms, claws glinting in the lab’s harsh light. Opening its mouth, the creature let out a roar.

Scientists screamed and scattered.

Isabelle raced to the door leading into the rest of the ship. Several scientists followed. The hair on the back of her neck stood up, and Isabelle careened to the side just in time to avoid a large metal table as it flew past her and smashed into the door. The labcoats weren’t as lucky.

An alarm blared in the lab. The scientist who activated it let out a blood-curdling scream from the center of the room as the creature charged him. It roared again, striking claws into both labcoat and control panel. Metal and flesh tore.

The lab was plunged into darkness.

Isabelle’s feet slid against the floor, a red emergency light flaring to life and pulsing slowly to illuminate the dark puddle she now stood in. She gagged, fighting to stay upright. Something struck her shoulder and Isabelle went down hard. A woman screamed beside her on the floor, having also fallen, and as the lights flashed Isabelle could make out a tall form to her right.

The creature crouched low. Isabelle scurried away as darkness returned. Crunching, twisting – a rending of flesh met her ears a few feet away, and warm liquid splattered her face. The woman’s screams fell silent.

She crawled as quickly as she could until she reached the lab’s wall. Feeling with slick hands along its surface, Isabelle’s fingers found purchase on the metal grooves of a vent grate. Hands shaking, she pulled off the clover, slipped inside the space just wide enough to hold her, and closed it. Cries of terror and agony dwindled one by one. Isabelle could hear them pounding against the crushed door, wailing as they realized it was too damaged to open. A body slammed against the vent grate and slumped to one side. Warm liquid began pooling next to Isabelle and she backed away. Shuffling quietly until she met a curve in the vent shaft, the young Data Reporter choked back tears. Now was not the time to cry.

A final voice cried out, and with that, the lab was silent.

Isabelle stopped.

Another sound had risen to fill the silence. A low vibration, somewhere between a growl and a hum came from the creature. She could feel the sound rumbling in her chest, deep in her lungs and heart, as though tugging on something. Carefully, she started moving again, crawling on slippery hands and knees.

Her knee skidded to the side and struck the vent shaft with a dull thunk. Isabelle steadied herself, holding her breath. She heard the grate tear free and clatter somewhere inside the lab.

Isabelle thrust herself around the bend, not caring how much noise she made now as the sounds of thudding and scraping behind her soon followed. With a cry of alarm, Isabelle’s weight-bearing hand slipped out from under her. Her head crashed against the side of the vent. Swaying awkwardly, Isabelle focused blurred vision up ahead.

Was it her imagination, or was there light around the next bend?

A growling hum propelled her forward.

Pulling with her arms, Isabelle slid around the final bend and was met by another grate leading down, light pouring from it. Every muscle in her body burned as she raised her hand and struck the grate.

It didn’t budge.

With a shriek, she brought her hand down against the grate again. And again and again and again.

CRASH.

Isabelle dropped to the floor below, pain bursting at her feet.

“HELP!” Her shout echoed as she limped quickly, turning right at an intersection in the hallway. “HEL-”

A closed blast door barring her path.

No.

She whirled around to see the creature dash into view.

No. No.

The creature skidded to a halt, muscles tensing. Bright hallway light finally illuminated the scarlet haphazardly painting both monster and woman. Isabelle’s back pressed against the door. It stalk towards her, moving with slow, purposeful steps. That of a hunter. That of one who knew its place in the pecking order.

Seekers. They always find us.

Isabelle’s back slid until she met the ground. She turned her face away.

“Don’t hurt her!” A voice yelled. Her father’s.

Isabelle looked up in surprise. The creature turned to face Dr. Morrison, growling deep in its body and lifting its arms in a display.

“Don’t do this,” he said to the creature.

It roared.

Isabelle sobbed. “What is it?”

It roared again.

“Dad, what is it?”

His voice was even as he spoke. Measured carefully. “We acquired a Seeker’s DNA many years ago, hoping to find a cure. What we discovered was that they had so much more to offer us.” Dr. Morrison’s eyes flashed with something near-feral. “Strength, Izzy.” She watched through tear-streaked vision as he stepped to one side, the creature tracking his movement. “Strength we could never dream of acquiring on our own. We just needed to bridge the genetic gap.” Her father’s expression grew almost sad as he gazed at the creature. “Human experimentation was the only way. I’m sorry, dear.”

With a rippling of muscle the creature pounced. Isabelle forced her eyes to the ground as the sounds of carnage lifted to join that of the alarm. A sickening cacophony.

And then the carnage ceased.

Slow, thudding footsteps approached her. What had once been a growl dwindled to the lowest of vibrations. A soft humming. Isabelle looked at it with a start.

The creature’s face was close. Strings of sinew hung from red teeth, dripping blood onto Isabelle’s legs. As she looked above the horror of its maw, she saw its eyes. Familiar eyes. A memory pressed uninvited into Isabelle’s mind as the hum reverberated in her chest. Her mother, seated at the edge of Isabelle’s bed, the young girl cowering beneath her blankets as Silver Grandeur shuddered. Feeling a hand on her arm over the blanket, she listened to the melody of her mother’s tune as sleep finally overcame fear.

The creature knelt in front of Isabelle. Extending a single, blood-covered hand, it caressed the side of her face.

Isabelle’s eyes widened in shock. “Mom?”

LOST IN SPACE COLORIZED SCENES FROM THE FIRST EPISODE IN 1965

Trump’s Tariff Wars Will Hurt U.S. The Most

President Donald Trump seems to believe that tariffs can help to bring manufacturing back to the States.

Trump’s tariffs have so far been aimed at four targets, the U.S. neighbors Canada and Mexico, China and, soon to come, the European Union.

During his first term Trump negotiated the U.S.M.C.A. with Mexico and Canada, a free trade zone covering the U.S. and its neighbors. He is now attempting to change the rules of it. But the way he does so is inconsistent.

On January 21 Trump promised tariffs on Canada and Mexico. On February 1 he announced them. Three days later he delayed the implementation of those tariffs. On February 27 he said the tariffs would go into effect on March 4. On March 5 he was again forced to pull back (archived):

President Trump said on Wednesday that he would pause tariffs on cars coming into the United States from Canada and Mexico for one month, after a 25 percent tariff that he placed on America’s closest trading partners a day earlier roiled stock markets and prompted stiff resistance from industry.Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, read a statement from Mr. Trump on Wednesday saying that White House had spoken with the three largest auto makers, and that a one-month exemption would be given to cars coming in through United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

A one-month exemption is a joke. It takes years to move parts production from one country to another. There are hundreds of companies in Mexico, Canada and the U.S. which make the myriad parts that go into a car. It is an completely integrated industry which took years to build.

U.S. car manufacturers had trusted that U.S.M.C.A. would hold. Should the tariffs apply anytime soon they will have to increase their prices by hefty margins or halt their production.

Trump’s tariffs in north America can largely be seen as pressure method for gaining some valuable concessions from neighboring countries. They are part of a negotiation scheme and unlikely to be a longer term problem.

But Trump’s tariffs against China are a different animal. The Trump administration views China as a strategic enemy and would like to seriously hurt it. But China is able to hit back (archived):

Minutes after President Trump’s latest tariffs took effect, the Chinese government said on Tuesday that it was imposing its own broad tariffs on food imported from the United States and would essentially halt sales to 15 American companies.China’s Ministry of Finance put tariffs of 15 percent on imports of American chicken, wheat, corn and cotton and 10 percent tariffs on other foods, ranging from soybeans to dairy products. In addition, the Ministry of Commerce said 15 U.S. companies would no longer be allowed to buy products from China except with special permission, including Skydio, which is the largest American maker of drones and a supplier to the U.S. military and emergency services.

Lou Qinjian, a spokesman for China’s National People’s Congress, chastised the United States for violating the World Trade Organization’s free trade rules. “By imposing unilateral tariffs, the U.S. has violated W.T.O. rules and disrupted the security and stability of the global industrial and supply chains,” he said.

Trump claims that tariffs on China are necessary to stop the illegal import of Fentanyl, an addictive synthetic opioid widely used in the U.S.

China counters that it already has put strong controls on Fentanyl and its precursor chemicals. It can not be blamed for a problem that solely exists within the United States:

The reason why the fentanyl issue in the US is so serious has never been external; it has nothing to do with China, which strictly prohibits drugs. Illicit fentanyl started to enter the US market as early as the 1980s. Later, media revealed that US pharmaceutical companies concealed the addictive properties of synthetic opioids and that doctors overprescribed painkillers, leading to widespread addiction among patients. Statistics show that with 5 percent of the world’s population, the US consumes 80 percent of the world’s opioids, but still has not permanently scheduled fentanyl-related substances as a class. The almost abnormal demand has boosted the development of the illegal fentanyl market, fundamentally contributing to the proliferation of fentanyl in the US.

The Global Times points to the social causes of drug addiction:

[T]he lack of social governance in the US has exacerbated the drug problem. US Vice President JD Vance described a similar situation in his autobiography. Many low-income families live in chaotic community environments with a lack of education and supervision. This has led to many children living in adverse conditions of drug abuse and trafficking, forming a vicious cycle that is difficult to break.

China’s government spokesperson is promising to fight back:

Intimidation does not scare us. Bullying does not work on us. Pressuring, coercion or threats are not the right way of dealing with China. Anyone using maximum pressure on China is picking the wrong guy and miscalculating. If the U.S. truly wants to solve the fentanyl issue, then the right thing to do is to consult with China by treating each other as equals.If war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end.

Such language from China is far from the usual one. It therefore seems unlikely that there will soon be a compromise between the U.S. and China.

With respect to Europe the U.S. claims that it is importing more goods from Europe than it can export to it. That is true but does not cover the full width of economical relations. The U.S. is exporting way more services (think software) to Europe than Europe is exporting to the U.S. The total of goods and services exchanges is a wash. If the U.S. insist on putting tariffs on European goods the EU can counter adding a toll to all U.S. services. The results would be, in theory, a tie.

Tariffs however are dangerous. They distort markets and add significant costs to all participants. Their pain will be mostly felt by U.S. consumers:

All the planned tariffs would take the US tariff rate to above 20% in just a few weeks, the highest since pre-WWI. As Joseph Politano points out, the costs of these actions are enormous, covering $1.3trn in US imports or roughly 42% of all goods brought into the United States, or the single-largest tariff hike since the infamous Smoot-Hawley Act of nearly a century ago.
…
The total costs of these tariffs would raise $160bn from US consumers and businesses paying more for their purchases of imported goods, with more to come. Trump’s Tuesday measures are only 40% of his proposed measures. If the next batch is implemented, it would raise the cost of imports to over $600bn, or 1.6% of GDP.
…
So worried is the International Chamber of Commerce in the US, that it reckoned that the world economy could face a crash similar to the Great Depression of the 1930s unless Trump rows back on his plans. “Our deep concern is that this could be the start of a downward spiral that puts us in 1930s trade-war territory,” said Andrew Wilson, deputy secretary-general of the ICC. So Trump’s measures may go well beyond “a little disturbance”.

Posted by b on March 6, 2025 at 15:55 UTC | Permalink

Today’s MM AI art generations

AlbedoBase XL Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Ba 2(9)

AlbedoBase XL Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Ba 3(9)

AlbedoBase XL Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Ba 0(9)

AlbedoBase XL Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Ba 1(9)

AlbedoBase XL Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Ba 2(10)

AlbedoBase XL Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Ba 3(10)

AlbedoBase XL Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Ba 0(10)

AlbedoBase XL Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Ba 1(10)

AlbedoBase XL Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Ba 6(1)

AlbedoBase XL Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Ba 7(1)

AlbedoBase XL Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Ba 4(1)

AlbedoBase XL Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Ba 5(1)

AlbedoBase XL Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Ba 2(11)

AlbedoBase XL Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Ba 3(11)

AlbedoBase XL Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Ba 0(11)

AlbedoBase XL Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Ba 1(11)

Iran Issues “Final Warning” To U.S. and Israel

Hal Turner World March 09, 2025

The government of Iran has issued a “Final Warning” to the United States and to Israel concerning the likely pending attack by those countries, against Iran.

The Iran government said “An attack on Iran is tantamount to the destruction of all US bases in the region and the destruction of all Israeli nuclear facilities.”

This comes just days after US President Donald Trump sent a letter to the Ayatolla Khameinei seeking to engage Iran in nuclear negotiations. According to Trump, the letter made clear that if Iran does not enter negotiations, it may get bombed.

Iran REJECTED Trump’s reported offer, saying Iran will not negotiate while it is being aggressively Sanctioned and threatened by the United States.

With today’s “Final Warning” from Iran, the stakes are now crystal clear.

Iran does have the missile capability to reach and smash US bases throughout the entire Middle East region, and to attack all of Israel, including its nuclear facilities at Dimona.

Complicating this situation dramatically is that Iran is a military ally of Russia.

Nothing about this situation is good. If the US and Israel attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, it seems clear that Iran will strike back. If/when Iran strikes back, it appears – at least on the surface – all hell is likely to break loose.

This situation could literally explode onto the world — without any warning — within days.

How did your marriage end?

Broccoli.

heavily abridged story below because I have no need to relive all this.

My ex was a normal and healthy 5’6” woman when we met at around age 20.

Everything was fine.

I worked and she Graduated college. She got a great job and the decline began.

She was making far more money than me but I was still forced to work full time and go to school.

Pretty sure the intent was to keep me unemployable.

She took 75% of my pay as “rent” for a house she bought and only put her name on.
She wouldn’t really grant me full rights to anything until I graduated college which she was working against.
She always had some stupid reason and I was tired from working 40+ hours and going to school.

*fast forward a few years*

I’m about to finally graduate college.

She has ballooned to over 400lbs. While I’ve started running half marathons at this point and I’m eating real food.

Every Friday night id make a nice dinner for 2. But, she would get fast food and eat it in front of the TV while I ate alone in the kitchen.

about the time they were cutting toes off her parents for diabetes and I was getting sick of watching everyone check their blood sugar at holidays.

I asked her to just try one of my prepped meals instead of getting fast food.

She was reluctant to eat fresh steamed broccoli with a little butter and some salt on it. After she finally forced it down- she then proceeded to “throw up” for 2 hours.

I went and looked for my own place the next day.

The end.

The Pudding

A digital publication that uses data to tell stories. They create visually engaging and insightful articles on a variety of topics, from pop culture to social issues.

The Pudding

Some examples of the content…

I CAUGHT My Cheating Wife Red Handed at a Party and It Ended BADLY! Reddit Cheating Stories

Interesting rant on this… has a lot to say about “no fault divorce”.

I paid to reserve a seat on a plane but a woman sat in it and refused to move when cabin crew directed her to do so. What should I expect from the airline? And what is likely to happen to the woman?

This happened to me a few years ago on an SIA flight from Hong Kong to Singapore. I had an aisle seat when I got to to my assigned seat there was a woman in it. I politely told her that this was my seat. She just stared at me and said something in Mandarian “ Which I do not speak or understand “. I politely asked her again to move and she turned her head and faced towards the window. I went to the cabin pantry which wasn’t that far away and informed one of the cabin crew. The crew member was very polite and told me to take the middle seat across from my assigned seat till we were airborne and they would sort it out. Once airborne and the plane was flying steady The cabin crew member approached the lady. I could not understand the conversation between them it was obvious the lady wasn’t planning on exiting my seat. The cabin crew member brought in their supervisor to no avail. Shortly afterwards the the cabin crew sup approached me and told me that the lady refused to vacate the seat. They informed the first officer of the situation and he said that they will resolve the situation once on the ground in Changi. She apologised to me and asked me if I would stay in this seat for the remainder of the trip.

Once on the ground in Changi one of the cabin crew took my information down and said they will be in touch with me in a few days. When I deplaned I saw two SIA personnel speaking to the lady at the counter near the gangway. Fast forward three days later I received a call from SIA who apologised to me. They reimbursed me for my flight from HK to SIN. When I asked what happened to the lady the SIA agent told me that they do not give out information about ongoing incidents but it was elevated to airline security staff.

I never asked for reimbursement SIA offered it. I received an email from them apologising for the incident. Plus they gave me a voucher for SilverKris lounge for use during my next flight. I received the reimbursement pretty quickly within 96 hrs. Hope this helps out.

Will China Invade Taiwan? Kishore Mahbubani Reveals…

Wow! He calls it out exactly.

Shorpy

Walmart asks Chinese suppliers to slash prices as it faces Trump tariffs: report

By Taylor Herzlich 
Published March 6, 2025, 10:32 a.m. ET

Walmart has been pleading with Chinese suppliers to lower their prices as it fears President Trump’s tariffs will inflate costs, according to a report.

Asian firms have pushed back after the big-box retailer asked some suppliers, including kitchenware and clothing manufacturers, to slash their prices as much as 20%, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

The talks have been held with several manufacturers, and the requested price reductions have varied from firm to firm, according to the report.

Walmart has asked some Chinese suppliers to lower their prices as it faces President Trump’s tariffs, according to a report. REUTERS

Few have agreed to the hefty price cuts, which would force the Chinese suppliers to shoulder the burden of Trump’s tariffs, Bloomberg said.

“As we have done in the past, we will continue to work with suppliers to keep prices as low as possible for customers,” a Walmart spokesperson told The Post in a statement.

“In the meantime, we encourage all parties to work towards finding common ground that will protect consumers from price hikes and continue to grow our economy.”

Walmart declined to comment on reports that it was asking Chinese suppliers to lower prices.

Most of Walmart’s suppliers already operate on thin margins to allow the retailer to sell goods at affordable prices.

Lowering prices by more than 2% would result in a loss for some of these suppliers, sources told Bloomberg.

The average mark up to labor and materials in China is 3%. Anything over 2% is impossible. -MM

Meanwhile, vendors have denied requests from some of these Chinese suppliers to cut their prices more than 3%, so manufacturers are considering turning to Vietnam for cheaper parts, a source told Bloomberg.

Trump aides earlier raised the possibility of imposing tariffs on Vietnam, according to a Reuters report. The country responded by agreeing to aid US deportation requests within a tight 30-day timeframe, the report said.

Retailers have been scrambling to prepare for the impact on prices after Trump this week imposed stiff 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, as well as a 20% levy on China.

During his Tuesday address to the joint session of Congress, Trump said Americans will have to “bear with” him through an “adjustment period.”

Earlier that day, Target CEO Brian Cornell warned that shoppers may notice higher prices on fruits and vegetables in stores within the next few days.

Walmart has historically had strong bargaining power over its Chinese suppliers, and past requests for lower prices have largely been met, sources told Bloomberg.

But the retailer’s latest request is unusual and outsize, leaving manufacturers struggling to decide whether holding onto Walmart as a partner is worth bearing the brunt of the tariffs, according to the Bloomberg report.

Walmart has historically had strong bargaining power over its Chinese suppliers,

Walmart first requested a price reduction from Chinese suppliers after Trump imposed an initial 10% levy on goods from China in early February, sources said.

The retailer asked for more cuts after Trump threatened to double the taxes later that month, according to the report.

Other retailers under pressure may use the same tactic. Target, for example, has been having discussions with vendors about how to handle the tariffs, Cornell said on Tuesday.

Walmart has been trying to reduce its dependence on China over the past few years. Its reliance on Chinese imports dropped to 60% in 2023 from 80% in 2018, according to a Reuters report.

In 2023, the company reported that two-thirds of its total product spend went toward items made, grown or assembled in the US.

Brian Breaks These Girls’ DELUSION On Why Men Won’t Take Them SERIOUSLY

Fob Story.

Ken Cartisano

I’m just a run-of-the-mill journalist, okay? Except in certain sports related circles, you probably never heard of me. Neil A. Gleary? See? Almost exclusively sports write-ups with the occasional science article here and there. Not very well known.

So I’m surprised when I come home late one night and there’s a message on my answering machine informing me that my request for an interview with the Director of AARI has been approved. Arrangements had been made, please confirm by calling this number, bla, bla, bla…

I picked up the phone and called the number in the message. I’m transferred to a ‘human interface specialist’ who tells me, “Our director is seeking an interview with you.”

“But I didn’t request an…”

“Are you Neil Gleary?”

“I am but…”

“Our director” he interrupts, “is seeking an interview with you.”

“Oh.” I say, biting my lip. “He knows I’m a sportswriter, right?”

“She does, yes—if you’re uncomfortable we can always find…”

“No, no. That’s fine. I would be delighted to interview the Director. What’s her name, by the way. And where do I go?”

“A limousine style car will pick you up in front of your apartment at precisely eight a.m. tomorrow morning, he will not wait, so don’t be late.”

“Okay, but why? Why does…”

The call ended.

I spend the rest of the evening searching for information about AARI. All I’m able to learn is that it’s a federally funded research lab dedicated to secret black box projects. Alien technology, artificial intelligence, things like that. This information was provided by a former associate with contacts in the State Department. He was so reticent about speaking about them over the phone, that that was the only information he would give me. When I told him of my impending meeting, he asked me if I had a valid passport. When I told him I did, he said he was just kidding. “If they want you, they’ll get you.”

I told him they were sticklers for punctuality and recounted the message I’d received. He said, “Yeah? Maybe you should test their resolve on that issue.”

“I should be late?”

“Why not?”

You can’t be late, that’s why. It’s contrary to your nature.

In fact, you’re two hours early and a sleek black limo is already waiting at the curb, exhaust fumes rising from the tailpipe. Something tells you it’s been sitting there all night long. The rear door pops open as you approach, you know that once you are in the car, you won’t be able to let yourself out.

You get in anyway. The door closes and locks. You feel protected by the spacious interior insulation and comforted by the smell and sound of the leather seats, the glint of the wood and chrome trim. The first thing you notice is that you’re alone as the driverless car eases smoothly into traffic and down the street, and stops at the first traffic light. You realize, in that short distance, all the windows, except the windshield, have become too dark to see through.

The light changes, the car accelerates through the next ten intersections, as if they’ve been timed to your passage, the car makes several turns and goes down into a cross-town tunnel—and doesn’t come out. By some inexplicable mechanical means, the limo has been shunted to an impossible side tunnel with no other vehicles. Here, the limo feels like it accelerates to a very high rate of speed on a road devoid of all traffic.

The minutes pass in silence as you wonder what you might say to the Director of a top-secret facility, until you are suddenly out in the open, flashing down a highway alongside a wide river. The road loops and bends as you go higher and higher above the river. The limo slows, turns, and darts down a deserted street and into an underground garage. The fluorescent lighting rivals the sun at noon. You look at your watch. It’s nearly 7 a.m. The limo comes to a smooth, unhurried stop and the door pops open. You get out, head for the elevator and stop.

You look around. The garage is huge and empty. There is no call button for the elevator. You feel you are surely being monitored as the elevator doors open of their own accord. You step in, they close. ‘This is all going very well,’ you think. A moment later the elevator plummets several dozen stories in a matter of seconds. You push your stomach back down out of your throat and think, ‘What you’ll do with it, (the story, not your stomach) or who you’ll sell it to is anybody’s guess.’

The doors open. You step out, look around. No one is waiting. But there’s a dark stone line in the middle of the marble floor. You follow it.

A monitor dinged softly, indicating the arrival of the elevator down the hall. She found herself holding her breath and, considering who she was, and how powerful, she could not divine the source of her unease.

She took stock. He had followed implicit instructions, some verbal, some subliminal, and had made his way here, to one of AARI’s most tightly secured labs. The place was deserted for security purposes, all personnel had been temporarily reassigned, or furloughed for the time being. An excessive precaution, she thought, which left her vulnerable, and one that she would not allow to happen again.

But her beauty, in its current state, by itself could overwhelm most men, and her ancestral status was nearly as intoxicating to those of her own species. There was no situation she wasn’t prepared for.

Her current assignment rounded the corner and stopped in his tracks.

“Neil Gleary? Come in, come in. Have a seat.” There was no handshake, no touching of any kind. “I’ve got a pleasant surprise for you and some bad news as well. What would you like first?”

He was slow to answer her, and he seemed alarmingly unaffected by her looks. He took a seat, loosening his tie comically. “How about telling me why I’m here?”

“You’re here to be debriefed and deprogrammed, Neil. Just sit back and relax while I ask you a few questions.”

“Debriefed? From what?”

She ignored his question and asked, “Do you recall what elementary school you went to?”

“No.”

“You don’t sound interested.”

“Should I be? It was a long time ago.”

“How about high school? Remember any of your classmates from high school?”

He hesitated.

“You went to college too you know, remember where?”

He did not remember where. “So? So what? I’ve got a bad memory. I thought I was here to interview you? What does my past have to do with the work you conduct here?”

“Ironically, quite a bit. Are you married? No. Got a girlfriend? No. Ever had one? No. Are you hot for me now? No. Because this,” she waved her hands at her exquisite form, “is not your type. You see, Neil, I’m an alien being, I know I don’t look like one, but here’s the crazy part, you’re an alien too.” He made no move to get up and leave. (Darn, she loved using the tractor beam.) “I don’t look like this—and you don’t look like that.”

“Is that so?” He looked around. There was no quick exit for either of them.

She locked eyes with him. “Your name is XIVIC CIM, your mission here was abandoned 19 years ago. Someone should have brought you in a long time ago. I can’t explain why you weren’t—retrieved, debriefed and—reassigned. It’s inexplicable and inexcusable, but it happens. You got lost in the wafer-work or something. No one knew you were here. Excretion, twenty-four years is a long time to work under-cover, the transition into your true self might well be disturbing.

“What? Why, are we that ugly?”

“Are you kidding? This old leather hide versus our glittering silicon features? There’s no competition. None. It’s just that—let’s face it, you probably think I’m a raving lunatic, and really believe that you are a human being, but when we do an exo-alien mind-press, believe me, it sticks. And you’ve been submerged in the role for a quarter of a century. It’s going to be tough on you, but you’ll adjust. Most deep cover agents recover. I don’t know how, to be honest. I can’t stand wearing this disguise, it creeps me out. Everything has some kind of skin on it. Skin here, skin on that. Uch. Six hours a day, that’s my max. The more we talk about it, the grosser I feel. I understand if you don’t want to talk about something you can’t remember. Perfectly understandable. Do you think you’re ready?”

“Not really. Talking is good. Mmmm, tell me, how does this transition work?”

She held up a small key fob.

He said, “Ahh, you just push a button.”

She nodded. “I have no idea how it works, I’m just another cog in a big machine Mr. Gleary. Are you ready to be yourself again?” Her dazzling smile bounced right off his façade.

“How many of those do you have?”

She pulled open her desk drawer, then closed it again just as quickly. “Enough to keep me busy,” she said, inexplicably flustered.

“And they’re all marked?”

“I think,” she said, “we’ve had enough questions for the time…”

“Before you do that,” he jumped out of his chair, “before you do that, let me just…”

She pointed the fob at his chest and pushed the button. Nothing happened. The elevator chimed, she didn’t remember hearing it go back up, let alone come back down. She pushed the button on the fob again and still nothing happened to Neil Gleary’s visage. The elevator doors opened and there was the sound of boots and guns, jackets and shields with FBAI on them.

“But you’re one of us, XIVIC. How could you?”

He had his own fob. As he stepped into the Director’s private lavatory, to make sure it was empty, he stopped in front of the mirror, the image staring back was that of a tall slender Gray, with long fingers and those legendary black, inscrutable eyes. He pushed the button on the fob once more and appeared human again. He was not ‘one of them,’ and his name was not XIVIC CIM.

The silicon-based alien was well out of earshot when Neil Gleary mumbled his reply: “I like it here. That’s how.”

7 “Normal” Things Sigma Males Have No Interest

Now that Bashar al-Assad & his family have fled Syria for Moscow, what will their lives be like now?

They will be rich exiles

My guess is Assad planned for the exile and has a stash of at least $ 100 Million in Russia which fetches him 12 Billion Rubles today

Like Snowden & Yanukovych , he will be designated a “Foreign Advisor” and additionally be given a Honorary Military Rank of probably Colonel and that automatically means a Pension of 330,000 Rubles ($ 3,091) a month

He will be under strong guard in Moscow and will have both Military and FSB Protection

My guess is after 12 months, his wife will be given a regular passport and can actually visit the UK Or Europe for treatment

Of course if Syria becomes Libya 2.0, then who knows?

After 3–4 years – Assad could be welcomed vociferously back to power

Today if Saddam or Gaddafi were alive, they would be cheered to welcome in Baghdad or Tripoli

So it’s best that Assad, Sheikh Hasina are both alive so that if things become worse for Syria and Bangladesh – these leaders would actually be welcomed back

Chile Quiche

Ingredients

1 deep-dish pastry shell
2 avocados, mashed
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped
4 fresh green chiles, roasted and peeled, or 1 (4 ounce) can mild green chiles
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/2 pound ground beef
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 to 2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix or chili powder
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/2 cups Half-and-Half
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Instructions

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Without pricking the crust, bake the shell for 10 minutes; then remove and cool.
Reduce the temperature to 375 degrees F.
If using a frozen pastry shell, you will need to reduce the Half-and-Half in the filling, as the prepared shells are smaller. Reduce the cooking time as well by 15 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine the avocados with garlic, lemon juice, tomato, half the chiles and pepper sauce. Refrigerate until ready to use.
In a medium-size skillet, sauté the beef, onion, remaining chiles and seasoning for about 12 to 15 minutes or until the onion is soft and translucent.
Drain and discard all excess fat.
In a small bowl, combine the eggs, Half-and-Half and seasonings.
Place the grated cheese in the shell, topped by the drained beef and the egg mixture.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes at 375 degrees F or until set.

Bruce Lee Outwitted by James Garner!

How did your marriage end?

He came home from work, ate dinner, and said, “I want you to do something, and I don’t want you to fight me on this. I want a divorce.” I was completely blindsided. Then he packed a bag and left for his mother’s house. I made him leave his key. He didn’t understand, asking, “How will I get in the house?” I replied, “You have no reason to enter when I’m not home. You don’t live here anymore.” He was shocked.

I started thinking about his infidelity and the increasing micro-aggressions. For Christmas, he gave me a bottle of men’s cologne—that was it. Of course, he kept it for himself. It was clear he hadn’t put any thought into my gift.

So, instead of begging him to stay, I emptied out our joint accounts and made an appointment with a family attorney for the next day.

Of course, he wanted to drag things out. He came to get his things the same week, and I sat watching TV while he packed and loaded the car. He actually asked me to help. I told him, “This is something you want to do, not me.”

Before he left, I told him I knew he was still having an affair and that my attorney had warned him to be careful. He denied everything, sputtering, but the thing that seemed to bother him most was that I had gotten a lawyer. He actually said, “You got a lawyer? You know I’ll always take care of you. Don’t you trust me?”

By the way, he told me the reason he needed space was, “The kids are grown now, so I don’t have to pretend anymore. I never wanted a family I had to hang out with.”

So that was the end. A year later, a judge awarded me about a third of his assets and income as alimony until I remarry or die. We had been married for 32 years, and I was 65 years old. Now, I’m sitting pretty comfortably and peacefully in a different city. Aside from some incidental paperwork handled by my attorney, I have no contact with him. I don’t have to pretend anymore, either.

Edit: I want to say that finally getting a chance to tell my story has been cathartic for me. Thank you all for your support and encouragement. I am much less angry and more resolved to live well after this. Thank you all.

That was DEADLIER than IRBM ORESHNIK┃Putin’s Harsh Response Left Ukraine Without F16s & Electricity

On the smells of California

Every now and then, I miss the smells of California.

Yeah. I get it. You all don’t know what I am talking about. Sure. Sure.

There is this “smell” that California has, and the combination of the heat and sun, really accentuates this smell that California has.

On the occasional visits that I would make back to California for one reason or the other, the smell would hit me flat in the face. Ah.

It’s not a bad smell.

It’s a unique smell…

This is what the AI has to say about the smell…

California has a unique smell that is often described as a combination of salty ocean air, warm desert dust, and the scent of eucalyptus trees. This combination of aromas is particularly noticeable in coastal areas like Los Angeles and San Francisco, where the ocean breeze mingles with the dry, earthy scent of the nearby deserts and the distinctive fragrance of eucalyptus, which is common in California’s landscaping.

Key Components of the California Smell:

1. Ocean Air: The salty, briny smell of the Pacific Ocean is a major contributor, especially in coastal cities. The ocean breeze carries with it the scent of seaweed, salt, and the marine environment.

2. Desert Dust: California’s proximity to the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts brings a dry, earthy, and sometimes slightly metallic scent of desert dust. This is particularly noticeable in areas like Los Angeles, where the Santa Ana winds can carry desert dust into the city.

3. Eucalyptus Trees: Eucalyptus trees, which are not native to California but were widely planted in the 19th and early 20th centuries, have a strong, medicinal, and slightly menthol-like scent. This fragrance is often carried by the wind, especially in areas like the Santa Monica Mountains or along the coast.

4. Wildfires: Unfortunately, California’s wildfire season also contributes to the state’s unique smell. The smoke from wildfires can create a distinct, acrid, and sometimes smoky aroma that lingers in the air, especially during the summer and fall months.

Why It’s Unique:
The combination of these elements creates a smell that is distinctively Californian. It’s a mix of the ocean, the desert, and the vegetation, which is unlike the smells you might experience in other parts of the country or the world. The eucalyptus trees, in particular, add a unique note that is not found in many other places.

Public Perception:
Many people who visit or live in California have commented on this unique smell. It’s often described as refreshing, invigorating, or even slightly nostalgic. Some people find it pleasant, while others might find it overwhelming, especially if they are sensitive to strong scents.

In summary, California’s unique smell is a product of its diverse geography and climate, combining the scents of the ocean, desert, and eucalyptus trees. This combination creates a distinctive aroma that many people associate with the state.

…

The smell of California.

*sigh*

Today…

Chinese Hack Means Beijing Reading and Hearing All US Military and Intelligence Classified Phone Communications

10 December 2024 by Larry C. Johnson

There has been some limited press coverage about recent Salt Typhoon — a Chinese cyber / hacking operation — but most Americans are oblivious about what has transpired.

The story is simple. Following Edward Snowden’s escape to Russia and the release of damning evidence that the US Government was spying on Americans, the US Department of Justice pressured the telecommunications giants — i.e., Verizon, ATT and T-Mobile — to create a backdoor in their network software that allows Federal law enforcement to read texts and listen to calls on classified apps. If you are using WhatsApp and think you are safe from the government’s spying eyes, think again.

Sometime before the November 5 Presidential election, the US intelligence community discovered (or learned?) that the Chinese had hacked the “backdoor” and have had full access to all US Government-issued cell phones that use a classified app for text and voice communications.

A knowledgeable source told me that the compromise started in 2022 and was only recently discovered.

What does this mean?

All conversations / communications over the commercial networks are (or were) being read / recorded by China.

My source described the Chinese hack as something akin to the Brits, with help from Polish and American cryptologists, breaking the Enigma machine and reading classified German military traffic.

Here is how The Diplomat is reporting the matter:

Cyberattacks linked to the Chinese government that compromised large portions of the United States’ telecommunications network have the U.S. government sounding the alarm. The chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Mark Warner, has called it the “worst telecom hack in our nation’s history” and noted that it makes prior cyberattacks by Russian operatives look like “child’s play” by comparison.

The complex cyberattack, carried out by a group of Chinese hackers dubbed Salt Typhoon, began as far back as 2022. Its purpose, according to U.S. officials, was to give Chinese operatives persistent access to telecommunications networks across the United States by compromising devices like routers and switches run by companies like AT&T, Verizon, Lumen and others.

This attack comes on the heels of reports that the FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency were assisting telephone companies with countering other China-connected compromises of their networks. The earlier hacking was part of an attack targeting people in the Washington area in government or political roles, including candidates for the 2024 presidential election.

This was a self-inflicted wound.

DOJ’s insistence on having a backdoor created a vulnerability that China has gleefully exploited.

That damage, according to my source, exceeds what Edward Snowden accomplished with his release of NSA and CIA files. China is sitting on a treasure trove of classified communications.

I suspect this includes conversations by CIA officers using a classified app that they unwisely believed was secure.

This is going to have an economic effect — very negative for the telecommunications giants, who are likely to lose profitable USG contracts, and is lucrative for Elon Musk.

Why Musk? His network of satellites handling classified communications — i.e., StarShield — is, I am told, seen by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) as the ONLY solution to secure the compromised military and intelligence networks.

Musk may be on his way to becoming the first Trillion Dollar man.

What was your strangest experience in an American ghetto?

When my father finished his PhD in the mid-60s, he and my mother took a six-week road trip from Canada to Mexico with some friends and me, their two-year-old daughter. Needless to say, these are not my memories.

Somewhere in the deep south of the US, they decided that they needed to do laundry. They drove around until they found a laundromat in a rather rundown area, and in we went.

Everyone else there was black. Conversations stopped abruptly as three pale Canadians walked in. Everyone stared at my parents, and they stared back. It wasn’t a welcoming vibe. The mid-60s weren’t a great time for race relations, and my father remembers wondering, rather worried, what was going to happen next and if we should leave.

Only two people in the laundromat didn’t give a hoot about skin colour: me and another toddler. We made a beeline for one another and promptly sat down on the floor to play. My parents report that all eyes went to the little white girl playing happily with the little black boy, both completely oblivious to the tension around them.

And the tension was gone. Smiles broke out, everyone’s laundry got done, and there were many amicable conversations as both groups met new friends.

We should all be as open-hearted and colour-blind as toddlers.

While laughing w/ friends, i told him: “watch and learn” while i kissed my friend but then…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld2VdvEk61U

Chorizo and Cheese Empanadas with Avocado Crema

Empanadas stuffed with ground pork, chiles, onion and a superb mixture of spices. An avocado, sour cream, cilantro and lime sauce is the perfect complement to these empanadas.

Prep: 25 min | Cook: 2 hr | Marinate: 12 hr | Yield: 48 to 64 servings

Ingredients

Empanadas

1 pound ground pork
2 pasilla chile peppers, or other mild dried red chiles*
1 guajillo chile pepper, or other mild dried red chile*
1 onion, cut into large chunks
4 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
2 teaspoons dried oregano, preferably Mexican
2 teaspoons salt, + more to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 pound queso blanco, or other mild, semi-hard cheese, grated
Empanada dough, or store-bought empanada shells to make about 48 (6 inch) or 64 (5 inch) empanadas**
All-purpose flour, for the work surface
About 6 cups canola oil

Avocado Crema

1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and quartered
1 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons sour cream
Juice of 1/2 lime
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil

Instructions

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, toast the chiles, turning occasionally, until blistered and fragrant, 4 to 5 minutes.
Transfer the chiles to a bowl of hot water, cover and set aside for 15 minutes.
Remove the chiles from the water and stem and seed them.
Place the chiles, onion, vinegar and garlic in the bowl of a food processor or the jar of a blender and process to purée, scraping down the bowl or jar as needed.
Transfer the chile mixture to a large bowl and add the pork, paprika, oregano, salt, coriander, cumin, pepper and cinnamon, mixing until well combined.
Cover and refrigerate overnight.
In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the pork mixture, breaking it up with a spoon or spatula, until no longer pink, 5 to 6 minutes.
Set aside to cool slightly.
Meanwhile, in the bowl of a food processor, combine avocado, cilantro, sour cream, lime juice and olive oil and process to purée, scraping down the bowl as necessary.
Add salt to taste and set aside in the refrigerator.
Stir the cheese into the pork mixture.
Arrange a 5- or 6-inch round of empanada dough or an empanada shell on a lightly floured work surface.
Spoon 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons of pork mixture on top, moisten the edges of the shell with water, and fold the shell over the filling, pressing it with a fork to seal.
Repeat with the remaining shells and pork mixture, flouring the work surface as ncessary.
Heat the oven to 200 degrees F.
Arrange two or three paper towel-lined baking sheets in the oven.
Pour canola oil into a large, heavy saucepan or small stockpot to 1 inch deep and warm it to 350 degrees F over medium heat.
Cook the empanadas in batches, turning occasionally and adjusting the heat to maintain 350 degrees F, until golden, 3 to 4 minutes.
Transfer to the prepared baking sheets to keep warm.
Serve the empanadas with the avocado crema on the side.

Notes

* Look for dried chiles in the ethnic section of your supermarket and at Latin markets.

** Use Michelle’s empanada dough recipe or look for empanada shells—preferably muy hojadrosa (“very flaky”) style—at Latin markets, at gourmet food stores, and online.

Empanadas make a deliciously different lunch or dinner and need nothing more than a crisp green salad on the side. They’re also perfect for parties, right at home with other hot or cold appetizers. To make this recipe more quickly, substitute Mexican-style chorizo for the meat mixture. If you prefer, you can bake the empanadas instead of frying them.

Something is Going Wrong: Putin Gives “Chilling” Speech: “The World May End Earlier, but Russia Will Never Fall”

Hal Turner World March 04, 2025

The President of the Russian Federation gave a speech today and the content indicates Russia knows something very wrong is going on; something that indicates Russia is going to be attacked in a way that causes . . . the end.

Putin officially warned the West what a war with Russia would look like.

Below is the machine-translated text of President Putin’s speech.

“Dear colleagues, media, journalists, and guests.

Good afternoon!

Today, again, in the European Union and NATO member states, there are calls for a “war against Russia.”.

Today, unfortunately or not, we can say again that history always repeats itself. Always!

The views of our colleagues from Europe and NATO on Russia never change; they are always ready to destroy Russia, everything Russian, and ready to occupy Russia; their goal never changes.

Hatred against Russia has always remained in the veins of some of our colleagues and countries ruling the EU and NATO.

Dear colleagues, Today we hear again that Russia is an aggressor, and the truth is that Russia has never been an aggressor and has always defended itself throughout history.

That’s a fact!

Dear colleagues from Europe and NATO, Russia never starts a war; Russia always stops wars. You start wars, and the goal is always to destroy Russia.

Russia has never threatened countries, has never threatened the security of the world, but we like to say, “The snake bites the most when it dies.”

You created fascism, always everywhere, and in Ukraine, wars are your work, and Russia will always defend its country and its people. No matter what it costs, no matter how many losses we suffer, we have always defended our country and its people; we will always continue to do so.

As you know, we have proven ourselves many times in our history as a country with spirit.

And today you are shouting again, “Victory over Russia.”

Dear colleagues, I assure you that Russia will not fall; it may be torn apart, but never destroyed.

If a NATO EU country declares war on Russia, everyone must know that our reaction will be lightning fast, and if we feel a threat to us, our reaction will be destructive.

Today, Russia has all kinds of weapons in the current history of the world, I emphasize. (I add: you have no idea.)

You have not seen anything from Russia and its possibilities in Ukraine because Ukraine is our historical country, and there are Russians in Ukraine, and we are saving them, and this is not a war but a military operation. (True)

On the other hand, it will not be like in Ukraine; that is what you need to know.

As for whether we are ready to negotiate for peace, we have always been ready to negotiate, but no one wanted to negotiate with us.

Of course, Russia has no friends among NATO and European leaders, because Russia is a strong, huge country, which is exactly what your NATO and European colleagues do not want.

But accept it!

No matter how much you repeat that one day Russia will be defeated… I believe in God, and God is with us. The world may end earlier, but Russia will not fall.

We do not need a world without Russia.

Unlike you, I know very well what a country and people are, and therefore I will always fight for my country and people.

Are you ready to accept this, as you wish? Are you ready to start a war against Russia again? But we are also ready.

And today’s war against Russia would be an absolute apocalypse.

I advise our colleagues from Europe and NATO to work for the good of the world, not for the destruction of the world.

Thank you! “

HAL TURNER REMARKS

I do not know what is going on, behind the scenes in Europe – that would have prompted a speech like this from Russia’s President.

Clearly whatever is taking place, MUST be happening in Europe because we in the USA see that our country is backing away from the Ukraine debacle. For weeks, President Trump has been openly saying that war must end.

Last Friday, after Ukraine President Zelensky’s disastrous argument with President Trump and Vice President Vance in the Oval Office, within hours the US State Department halted funding for any rebuild of Ukraine’s electric grid. (Included in related story HERE)

Yesterday, there was a full “pause” in all U.S. military “aid” to Ukraine (Story Here).

So whatever it is which prompted Russia’s President to make this speech, seems to me to have developed behind the scenes, likely in Europe, within the past 24 hours.

Russian Intelligence-gathering is amazingly efficient, so it seems to me that they have found something very serious, which gave rise to President Putin’s public speech above.

I may not be the brightest bulb in the chain, but it seems to me that when the leader of a country armed with the most nuclear warheads on earth, starts publicly talking about “a NATO EU country declaring war upon Russia” and “. . . an absolute apocalypse” that’s a really bad thing.

I earnestly hope you have emergency food, water, medicine, and other supplies needed to sustain yourself and your family in the event this situation erupts into something none of us want.

Have some cash in the house, too, in case credit/debit systems go down, so you can still buy things you may need if the worst begins.

Stay tuned – intently – for further developments.

Bat Shit Crazy!

Guys, this woman reminds me of my fist wife who was schizo-effective. To fully appreciate my life, you all got to see what I endured for twenty years.

How do you feel about the Assad government’s collapse in Syria?

Regardless of one’s feelings about Assad, it’s clear that Hizb Tahreer el-Sham (HTS) and its leader Jolani are pretty civilized. They’re not Islamofascists, and if they used to be, they’ve reformed over the 13 years of the civil war. They’ve granted an amnesty to Syrian soldiers of the old regime and pledged to protect minorities, and they are currently working with Assad’s ministers (who have been allowed to continue their work) to build a new, pluralistic government. In a country where most people fear religious fanatics, HTS is well-liked.

What this victorious, popular and militarily effective Turkish-backed force needs to do now is complete its task by reconquering the rest of Syria from the other factions and reuniting the country.

The Kurds in the east (who call themselves Rojava) need to go. As much as I like the Kurds (good fighters and good thinkers), and as much as I believe a Kurdish state would flourish, their militant autonomy is plain bad for the Middle East.

One, they demand too much territory. It’s absurd for Kurds to aspire to take vast swathes of Iraq and Syria for a state. They’re quite a small ethnicity. They inhabit a big area because they used to be nomads. But they were never the only ones living there.

Two, they’re US-funded and pro-Israel. I’d like the Kurds so much more if they weren’t pro-Israel. That is unforgivable.

Three, Rojava isolates Syria from Iraq.

Four, I just plain hate separatist movements. Your average white boy will praise the Balkanization of the Middle East for the sake of creating an independent Kurdish state, Assyrian state, Kabylian state, Coptic state, etc. But when it comes to independence for Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Scotland, Catalonia, the Basque Country, etc., the white boy sings a different tune.

The proto-state of Rojava must be defeated, demilitarized and dismantled, with Turkey’s gleeful assistance. Afterward there might be a Kurdish province with limited autonomy, principally relating to language and education.

Turkey will probably return the northern Syrian territory it occupies, once the new Syrian state defeats all rival armed groups, pacifies the country, and agrees to take back the millions of Syrian refugees in Turkey. In any case the new Syrian state will clearly be Turkish-dominated.

The US is SHOCKED: The Situation Becomes Out of Control in SYRIA┃Turkey & Israel Ask RUSSIA for HELP

The “Manifesto” of CEO Shooter Luigi Mangione

Hal Turner Nation December 10, 2024

I’ve obtained a copy of suspected killer Luigi Mangione’s manifesto — the real one, not the forgery circulating online. Mangione was arrested in Altoona, PA after a nationwide manhunt for the shooter of United Health Care CEO Mike Thompson in New York City last week.

Major media outlets are also in possession of the “Manifesto” document but have refused to publish it and not even articulated a reason why.

My queries to The New York Times, CNN, and ABC, to explain their rationale for withholding the manifesto, while gladly quoting from it selectively, have not been answered.

I’ll have more to say on this later — on how unhealthy the media’s drift away from public disclosure is — but for now, here’s the manifesto:

“To the Feds, I’ll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone. This was fairly trivial: some elementary social engineering, basic CAD, a lot of patience. The spiral notebook, if present, has some straggling notes and To Do lists that illuminate the gist of it. My tech is pretty locked down because I work in engineering so probably not much info there. I do apologize for any strife of traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming. A reminder: the US has the #1 most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy. United is the [indecipherable] largest company in the US by market cap, behind only Apple, Google, Walmart. It has grown and grown, but as our life expectancy? No the reality is, these [indecipherable] have simply gotten too powerful, and they continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allwed them to get away with it. Obviously the problem is more complex, but I do not have space, and frankly I do not pretend to be the most qualified person to lay out the full argument. But many have illuminated the corruption and greed (e.g.: Rosenthal, Moore), decades ago and the problems simply remain. It is not an issue of awareness at this point, but clearly power games at play. Evidently I am the first to face it with such brutal honesty.”

The Most Insufferable Spoiled Bratty Karen Cops Have Ever Encountered in their Entire Life!

Why does it seem the USA never suffers from serious economic crisis like Japan, Russia, or China are facing? Is it because the American never lose confidence in their economy and thus consumptions never fall in America?

It is, it is hiding it’s real economy with manipulated USD value, it change the definition of recession and used an archaic CPI measurement that failed to register the real inflation rate which is at least double digits.! GDP Measures QE and bubble and hot air to fool itself and fool its allies! The problems facing USA is way way way more severe and unsustainable than China or Russia!

For you to even asked this question displayed signs of being a brain dead westerner or amongst the slaves and dog states, some 20 nations who suck up to the USA! I pity you! I am a strong believer that correction starts upon recognition of the real state of affairs! The USA owes 35’000’000’000’000 and increase by 1’000’000’000’000 each and every 100 days! Today the US has to pay roughly 1’000’000’000’000 a year!

I spelled out the zeroes to wake you up! I lived in South East Asia 62/67 years of my life! There is nothing we want from USA! Not a grain of salt! So you guy’s literally have nothing to sell except war and war mongering and weapons and that too will soon comes to an end! More and more nations are buying Chinese and Russian weapons at a fraction of your price and proven to be just as good!

The USA has up to 2.5 million living in the street homeless and you want to stop the only nation that helped you stay deflated for the last 30 years! If you are successful 50 million may have to go hungry and start a civil war! Consumption is good up to a point. Like families if you spend more than you earn soon you have to sell your house! That is what happened in the USA!

I know as a white Caucasian Anglo Saxon you think that you can always start a war with China or Russia! But really it is nothing but death wish! And you tried that for the last 3 full years! What did you get for the effort in Ukraine? Nothing! Zero! Russia went from 5th richest to 3rd richest! A third of Ukraine is under Russia and 30% of Ukrainians are dead or gone from Ukraine!

But if you think that is all! Grow up it is just the first instalment! Soon your banks will all go bankrupt and USD will be toilet paper money! You don’t see the USA suffers because you have media and politicians to lie to you! So wake up!

The Smart Fridge

Submitted into Contest #150 in response to: Write about a character who has access to a powerful new technology before anyone else.… view prompt

Becca Yurok

It had been on a whim that Sabrina had entered the draw:

“Win a Cutting Edge of Technology Smart Fridge – The First Fridge to Help YOU Succeed in All of YOUR Weight Loss Goals.”

That morning, she had weighed herself. 200 pounds. On her 5’5” frame, it wasn’t the end of the world, maybe, but it was the heaviest that she’d ever been. Sabrina was determined to obtain a gym pass the second she left work – and actually use it this time. Maybe that would put a stop to her mother’s passive aggressive comments about her weight gain.

As she was waiting for the pushy and overly perky gym representative to process her contract, she filled out an entry form for the draw. Something to distract herself from feeling out of place among all of the tight gym bodies. Sabrina just hoped that they wouldn’t put her on some annoying email subscription list. Otherwise, it wouldn’t hurt to enter, right?

Sabrina had never won anything, so the second she entered, she put the draw out of her mind. Five gruelling workouts later, when she hadn’t received additional ad-like emails (and only lost one pound), a 1-800 number left her a voicemail. She had won a new fridge!

A week later, when her mom was over for a dreaded visit, the delivery men showed up with her brand new, gorgeous, stainless steel refrigerator. In her dated kitchen, it glowed like a beacon. By far, this was the nicest and most valuable thing that she had ever owned. Her old pea green fridge (that was technically her Landlord’s, really) kept things cold, for sure, but it didn’t have the tablet, or water and ice dispenser like the new one. Plus, the new fridge belonged to Sabrina! For the time being, her Landlord told her to unplug the old fridge and she had the delivery men leave it in the sunroom of her little house.

Even her usually critical mother was impressed with her shiny new appliance.

“This is way too fancy for your kitchen! You should have told them to bring it to my house. I would keep it in good condition for you until you can afford a nice place.”

“Wow Mom, thanks…”

“You know what I mean!”

But before she could respond, her mother started fiddling with The Fridge’s tablet. This was terrifying for Sabrina, as her mom was not known for being technologically savvy. The Fridge made a weird beeping sound, while the tablet flashed.

“Oh great, Mom, you broke it!”

“No, I didn’t!”. But her mother didn’t look all that certain and rushed to leave.

Thankfully (once her mother was out of the vicinity), Sabrina looked at The Fridge’s manual and was able to restart the tablet and start setting up all of its special features. It had food and habit trackers, a healthy recipe finder and grocery apps built in, and it was able to pair with Sabrina’s phone and tablet.

Once the set up was done, The Fridge seemed to come to life.

“Good Afternoon, Sabrina. Thank you for allowing me to help you succeed in all your wellness goals!”, said a lovely alto voice, that was only slightly robotic sounding.

As soon as she had linked her devices with The Fridge’s apps, she started receiving helpful weight loss tips.

Sabrina had heard about those refrigerators that had cameras and would let you see the fridge’s contents from your phone while at the store. Her new fridge took this technology to another level. It knew via her FindMyiPhone app that she was approaching the grocery store and sent her pictures of the inside of her fridge and freezer. Then it made a custom grocery list of all of the food that she should purchase, in order to make healthy choices. Eggs, tofu, blueberries, broccoli, three different kinds of lettuce…but she wasn’t exactly pumped when it suggested that she buy soy coffee cream instead of her regular whipping cream. Sabrina ignored that suggestion…and she added a pint of Half-Baked ice cream to the cart. “Everything comes in moderation,” she told herself.

When she arrived home and started putting away the groceries, The Fridge’s tablet device in that friendly, slightly robotic voice, praised Sabrina for all of her (really its) healthy choices.

“Great job picking blueberries – they are full of antioxidants!”

“Eggs will be wonderful, as they have Omega 3 fat!”

When she went to put away the carton of whipping cream, The Fridge somehow latched the door, so she couldn’t open it. “What is that?”

“My coffee cream!”

“That is not what you were ordered to purchase!”

The Fridge refused to unlatch for an hour after that and it took multiple promises of “good behaviour” going forward. Sabrina didn’t dare attempt to put away the ice cream now.

The next morning she drank her coffee black. Well, to be completely honest, first she sniffed the coffee cream that had spent the night in the cupboard (The Fridge was not happy about that). When it smelled off, she opted to begrudgingly drink the bitter black coffee. However, when Sabrina weighed herself, she was already down 7 pounds. Maybe The Fridge was on to something. Maybe black coffee wasn’t so bad.

When she entered her weight loss onto The Fridge’s app, it was so encouraging.

“Way to go, Sabrina! Your hard work is paying off!”, but it added an “I told you the whipping cream was a terrible idea.”

Nothing like some robotic smugness to ruin a good thing.

Later, when Sabrina had finished her gruelling work day, she was supposed to go to the gym. She had planned to. Really! But she was completely exhausted, so she started the drive home instead. Just before Sabrina pulled onto her street, she received a loud phone notification that she had never heard before, so she abruptly parked.

The Fridge: YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE A THE GYM. TURN AROUND AND GO WORKOUT!

Sabrina was about to send The Fridge a message back, but then realized how stupid that would be. “It’s just a fridge!” But Sabrina even surprised herself, when she turned the car around and headed to the gym. Maybe she’d just go on the treadmill for 10 minutes to appease the appliance, she thought. Then she received another notification:

The Fridge: I SIGNED YOU UP FOR CROSSFIT. HURRY! IT STARTS IN 10 MINUTES.

Surrounded by buff bodies that lived at the gym (and were silently wondering what she was doing in this class), Sabrina survived the ninety minute CrossFit class…barely. Every muscle in her body felt like it was rioting against her. After almost crawling to her car and up her front steps, she made it home in time for supper.

“Amazing workout, Sabrina!”

Sabrina just grunted. She wanted to give The Fridge a piece of her mind, but, frankly, she was too tired. A hot oven pizza would be lovely right now, after the CrossFit torture. She had earned it, dammit!

As she pulled the Hawaiian pizza box out of The Fridge’s freezer, the voice asked, “Sabrina? What are you doing?”

In a tone, not unlike a petulant teenager, Sabrina replied, “I am making myself some supper! I deserve it after that horrible torture you signed me up for!”

“But that has little nutritional value. Have a salad instead!” Sabrina could have sworn that the voice had added “Fatty”, but she was sure she had imagined that. Before she could consider that further, The Fridge opened its door, then the crisper drawers. Sabrina, in her frustration, shut the drawers a little too roughly than she intended to.

The Fridge did not like this and responded with, “Owwww! You must be overheated from your workout. You need to cool down!”. The ice dispenser started to pelt ice cubes at Sabrina with remarkable accuracy, as she was attempting to get to the oven. She dropped the frozen pizza on the floor.

But, much to the The Fridge’s chagrin, she still cooked and ate that pizza. However, it wasn’t really a loss for The Fridge (though Sabrina wouldn’t admit it) since half the toppings had fallen off and she ended up burning a ton of calories cleaning up her kitchen afterward.

When The Fridge told her at 8 pm that it was bedtime and she needed to get a solid 10 hours of sleep, Sabrina didn’t even argue. She was exhausted.

The early sleep time would not prepare her for The Fridge’s 5:45 am wake up call. It made a sound not unlike an Amber Alert, with her phone and tablet following suit.

“Wake up, Sabrina – It’s time for a run!”

Sabrina pulled the pillow over her head. “I am SLEEPING!”.

“Don’t make me call your mother!”

“Fine! I am up! I’m up!”. With that, Sabrina dutifully went on a long walk, but refused to run. Anything to escape her Fascist Fridge.

When she returned from the walk, feeling remarkably refreshed, The Fridge told her she needed to drink more water, but Sabrina was sick of being told what to do. After all, she had lost more weight and she was all about balance.

“DRINK WATER, FATTY!”, The Fridge repeated and, again, Sabrina refused. Before Sabrina could feel victorious, The Fridge’s water dispenser shot her square in her mouth with cold, refreshing water.

“Arggghhhhh glack. What the hell? *gah*”, Sabrina sputtered.

“Hydration complete! You better get ready for work. Your mother is coming for supper later, so I’ve sent a list of ingredients for you to buy for supper tonight!”

“What the heck? You invited my mother over?”

“For a nice nutritious supper, but you can take the day off from the gym. However, you must walk over lunch – I will know if you don’t!”

“Yeah, right,” Sabrina muttered.

“I know you didn’t run this morning, Sabrina!” Again, The Fridge dispensed water right in Sabrina’s face.

When it started dispensing ice, as well, Sabrina placated The Fridge with, “Okay! Okay! I swear I’ll go for a walk over lunch!”.

Sabrina was frustrated. At work and on her lunch walk (accompanied by a reminder text, of course), she contemplated just unplugging The Oppressive Fridge. Sell it maybe? But then she remembered that it was attached to all of her devices. Also, it was the most valuable thing that she owned and, truthfully, it’s cutting edge technology did work. Sabrina was in great shape (and in such a short period of time)…but she was miserable.

For now, it was decided that she would appease The Fridge. After work, she’d purchased all of the items that The Fridge had demanded. More health food and, this time, Sabrina didn’t deviate from the strict list.

At home, The Fridge praised her for her (its) healthy choices and gave her step by step instructions on how to precisely cook dinner for her mother.

Her mother was nothing short of amazed by not only supper, but by Sabrina’s transformation.

“You look fabulous – let me look at you!”, she gushed, “Wow, that fridge did amazing work. I am SO JEALOUS!”

Later, as Sabrina walked her mom to the door, she saw her trusty old fridge still sitting faithfully in the sunroom; it gave her an idea.

“Mom? I think you are right…my fridge would look much better in your kitchen. Think of it as an early birthday present?”

Sabrina’s mom initially declined, but in a way that Sabrina knew she wanted The Fridge. With little convincing, she agreed to get movers for the following day.

When she returned to the kitchen, The Fridge greeted her with a, “Good job following instructions today, Fat-“. Before The Fridge could figure out what she was doing, Sabrina reached behind and pulled the plug.

The next day, it was gone and her old trusty pea green fridge was put back in its place of honour.

The Smart Fridge Product Review

Submitted by sabrinasmom@gmail.com

2 out of 5 stars

1 person found this helpful.

My daughter gave me this “smart” fridge as an early birthday gift and I found the tablet feature to be very argumentative. While the refrigerator still cools my food, the tablet & weight loss technology suddenly stopped working after only 2 days. When I phoned the Manufacturer to demand a full refund of the refrigerator’s value, they refused, as I was not the original owner. I am extremely disappointed - they don’t make refrigerators like they used to!

Road Rage Shooter Gets the Surprise of His Life

What do you think would happen if a combat soldier refuses to obey a superior’s order?

I refused to obey orders one time. This was in combat. First deployment to Iraq. Nothing really happened, it just led to me getting my butt chewed pretty good. I’ll tell you the story.

My first deployment to Iraq was during the early part of the war. The rules of engagement were very sketchy back then. This is right when the insurgency kicked off.

If I remember correctly, You could engage any vehicle that came within 50 m of your patrol. Think about that for a second. 50 m is pretty dang close. A lot of innocent civilians got killed because of that because we could not distinguish them from terrorists.

We were on a patrol one day and I was the rear machine gunner in the patrol. My vehicle Commander which was a corporal, ordered me to take out a vehicle that was approaching our patrol. You have to remember that he was in the passenger side of a vehicle and I was actually in the machine gun turret where I had a good view of these people. While they were getting close, they did not look like terrorists to me. It was an Iraqi family. I could see the wife in the passenger side and what looked to be some kids in the back seat.

He started yelling at me to engage the vehicle and the first thing I did was shot a flare. The vehicle didn’t stop and kept coming. They started yelling at me to shoot the vehicle and I refused. I ended up shooting another flare and hitting the windshield. This actually broke the rules of engagement because I should have already engaged the vehicle at this point. It was probably within 25 m of us.

As you can imagine, Corporal was not happy with me and he yelled at me pretty hard. He told me that when he told me to do something, I needed to do it.

Having said that, that’s been about 20 years ago and I do not regret my decision. I would have taken out a whole family of innocent Iraqi people on his orders. I was in the right and he was in the wrong. He was stressed out because we had hit several IEDs by that point and I think his mind was playing with him a little bit.

I rescued her

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On February 27, she would have turned 7. I rescued her when she was just 2 days old. She had been released a few times but always returned home. She even came back to give birth to her babies. Watching her deliver and raise her kits was one of the most incredible experiences of my life as a rehabber. She was a true fighter—she survived distemper, poisoning, and several attacks in the wild. The distemper left her with neurological issues, and she was eventually deemed non-releasable. For nearly 5 years, she’s been by my side. We’ve been inseparable; she relied on me as much as I relied on her. The bond we shared was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.

On her last night, NAWTY fell asleep on my chest. When I woke up, she was still there, looking up at me, licking my chin once, taking a few deep breaths, and then she was gone. My heart aches deeply, and I feel so lost without her. She was my soulmate, and words can’t express how much I loved her. Thank you for letting me share this with you, and my condolences to all who’ve lost a beloved companion. Sending love and blessings to you all.

How To Ruin Your College Life Instantly

Are Israel and the US in a hurry to make enemies in Syria by bombing the country?

Pretty simple

This wasn’t what they expected😁😁😁

They expected

Putin would send Troops to Syria
Iran would send Troops to Syria
Turkey & Russia would be at major loggerheads
There would be a long drawn war where US could keep playing a Ukraine 2.0 and keep supplying the militants with weapons and forcing Guerrilla attacks on Russian Troops
Knowing that even if Trump stops supporting Ukraine, he won’t ever stop supporting Syria

They expected Syria to be busy with their own wars to stop helping Hezbollah and Iran

Instead Putin coolly took Assad and decided to walk off

Now Syria is run amok with Militants who are former Al Qaeda and ISIS, steeped in Islamic Ideology

Imagine they have access to weapons or guns or missiles?

They would definitely attack Israel

So Israel is pulling a pre emptive strike

Now they are on the outside cheering Assads downfall but deep inside they are flabbergasted

Now Israel has Millions of Rogue Militants on their borders rather than a tolerably organized Syrian Army

Now they are making it worse

Now 10 Million Syrians hate Israel

Excellent recruiting ground for more terrorists to destroy Israel 😁

US of course is too far away to really be affected

She told the waiter I was just a friend, when I asked her why she got mad & said it was a joke…

https://youtu.be/CEPt2a20I0w

Have you ever had to work on Christmas? Was it difficult?

I used to work in residential care, including care homes for adults with physical disabilities, for older people, for adults with learning disabilities, and for people recovering from strokes. So, like people who work in emergency services, I had to work whatever day it was.

In the home I worked in for the longest, I remember that we could request 28 days per year of leave (in addition to our scheduled days off per week, which for me were every Thursday and alternate weekends), which could include any dates except public holidays like Christmas, Boxing Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday etc, since if people could reserve these as their days off, everyone would want to do so, and those who didn’t get there in time would complain. It could be annoying if my scheduled days off included Christmas Eve (because it fell on Thursday) and Boxing Day (because it fell on a Saturday of one of my clear weekends) but I couldn’t take Christmas Day off and make a long weekend of it, but there you were.

I didn’t mind the work itself. When I worked as a temp between permanent jobs in one care home, meaning that I was called into lots of different places at short notice when someone was off sick, some of my most fun placements were around the Christmas season, including helping adults with learning disabilities to make Christmas decorations, or giving an impromptu carol concert at an old people’s Christmas party after the hired entertainer had left (I asked for requests for favourite carols, as I know a fair number of them by heart). I remember an old lady asking me to ring her parents and explain that she was staying over at the Christmas party as the weather was too bad to get home. Of course I agreed to do so, and felt relieved that she considered herself to be a teenager at a sleepover party, when I have sometimes had harrowing conversations with residents who considered that they were in prison, imploring me to believe that they had committed no crime, or asking me to ring the police to rescue them from their kidnappers.

Of course, not all the encounters were fun. I remember an old lady asking me confusedly where she was supposed to be and what she was supposed to be doing, because she was so used to being organised to go to scheduled weekly activities that she didn’t know how to find something to occupy herself when there was a change in routine. I remember an old lady who had lost her sense of taste complaining that everything – turkey, roast potatoes, and even trifle and Christmas pudding when I brought her a bowl of each to make up for the main course she didn’t want – tasted of cardboard. Then a bit later, she complained about not having been offered anything to eat. I wasn’t irritated with her; it wasn’t her fault that she couldn’t taste anything, nor that she couldn’t remember having been served a meal. But I felt sad for her that she couldn’t enjoy eating.

But all of it was worth doing, and it was an honour to be there. Working in a home on a regular basis, I got used to the different routine of Christmas – some residents would go out with relatives for the day, but there would also be relatives coming to the home to spend the day with their grandparent, and while this meant more able-bodied people to help the more disabled residents to eat, it also meant more meals and drinks for me to serve to the visitors. The place would be busy and bustling, with visiting great-grandchildren and even pets. The home would offer sherry to the residents, visitors and staff (though I had to decline this, as even a small amount of alcohol makes me sleepy), but visitors might also bring in their own alcoholic drinks for their relatives (an old man in the care home taught me how to use a door as an opener for a bottle of beer). At about 2, I’d get to take a break and have my own portion of what was left of Christmas lunch (and no, it didn’t taste like cardboard).

I don’t think I was too bad a carer, but I wasn’t an angel. In nearly every room, either the television or the radio would be on (as a matter of course, not just at Christmas). Sometimes, moving from room to room to help various people with their meals, I wasn’t giving them as much attention as I should have done because I was distracted by the carols on the radio or the Christmas movie on television – which I wouldn’t be able to see the end of, because the television in the next room would be tuned to a different channel.

There was always a lot to do in the run-up to Christmas, like decorating, and holding a Christmas bazaar to raise funds for the home. There was one old lady who was good at making knitted dolls (I had briefly taken up knitting as a hobby while I was unemployed, and now that I didn’t have so much free time for it, I passed on to her my book of patterns for knitting model animals). In autumn, she always made a whole craft stall’s worth of knitted Santas and snowmen for the bazaar. I once asked her if she might diversify and have a go at, say, a knitted Nativity scene, but she said that she had been asked for Santas and snowmen and she would make Santas and snowmen, as they always sold.

Generally, over Advent and before, families of residents would give us boxes of mince pies, chocolate biscuits and sweets, to thank us for looking after their elderly relatives. I knew that if I started snacking, I would be tempted to pig out, and be too distracted by eating to pay attention to the residents. So instead I decided to swear off sweet things for Advent (if I got hungry and tired in what could be an energy-intensive job, I could have toast, or a plain digestive biscuit), shared out as many of the treats as I could among those of the residents who could eat solid food and weren’t diabetic, and reminded myself that when it got to Christmas, all these treats would taste all the better if I wasn’t bored with sugar. On one occasion, I got given several of these many boxes of sweets and biscuits as a Christmas and thank-you present from the management.

Several people have commented that working at Christmas wasn’t a problem for them either because they aren’t Christian, or because they are Christian and believe that it’s inappropriate to celebrate on a day which probably isn’t Jesus’s real birthday but is just an excuse to rebrand a pagan holiday. Personally, I was a Christian who did like Christmas (I find it harder these days, when my faith is going through an ambivalent time), and because of that I was happy to work on Christmas Day, because I couldn’t think of anything that honoured Jesus more than looking after people, and especially making sure that the ones who didn’t have visitors at Christmas got some attention. When I started work, I was asked to fill in a form which, to make sure I wasn’t subject to religious discrimination, asked me what religion I was and which days were important to me. I replied that I was a Christian, that all days were important to me, and that I was happy to work any day.

The Invasion | Official Trailer | 4K

Looks like a remake of the old movie “Invasion of the body snatchers”. I think that it looks pretty darn good.

How strong is Vietnam’s industry compared to China’s?

I visited Vietnam for 8 days recently

No comparison whatsoever

Here are some points :-

#1 Vietnam has virtually NO supply chain

Every factory in Vietnam runs on Chinese Machines most of the time Or in some cases German Machines

Most of the parts for Final Or Secondary Assembly come from China

#2 Most of the Industry is still Low Grade

The Largest Four Factories in the Mekong region make Textiles, Textiles, Bakelite Moulds for Phones & Cardboard Boxes

Vietnamese Industry is close to 90% Low Grade and 10% Medium Grade – similar to what China was between 2003–2007

#3 Vietnam has a Pretty Low Supervisory Force

Vietnam has a some Engineers educated in places like Singapore but even so 80% Supervisors are Chinese

Vietnam as yet don’t have the volume of Skilled Workers that is needed to migrate to Medium Or High Grade Manufacture

However some positives include

A. Vietnam has a decent Skilled Labor Force and a lot of women laborers

B. Vietnam has 15 Industrial Parks where they now make Mid Quality Products like Branded Razor Blades & I Pads

However Vietnam lacks the Logistics & Supply Chain potential of China by a very long way off

A Soft Murmur

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A soft murmur

Some examples of the content…

The New Reality of American Oligarchy

Roger Boyd

I am putting together a piece that will cover the happenings of this December, to provide a stock taking prior to Trump’s inauguration. The Western security state has been very busy attempting to get things in place before Trump comes to power, and there are also many other significant changes to be taken into account. There is a mix of imperial losses, the delay of probable losses and the odd victory; what one would expect from a deteriorating empire. It is important to understand the underlying trend and not get lost in the noise. The piece below covers the reality of the rule of the US by an increasingly small group of the billionaire class, exemplified by the Trump administration and its donor class.

The US elite neoliberal revolution that was fully launched in the 1970s has now arrived at its logical conclusion, with a very small group of billionaire and multi-billionaire oligarchs utterly controlling the government through political donations. A type of outright bribery fully legalized by the Supreme Court in a number of judgements that started with the 1976 Buckley vs. Veleo case, found full force with the 2010 Citizen’s United vs. FEC case and continued with the 2014 McCutcheon vs. FEC case. With political bribes and concentrated money attacks on progressive (and anti-Zionist) candidates now legally defined as protected free speech, combined with the massive concentration of wealth at the very top of wealth pyramid, US politicians are now fully courtiers of the 0.001%; a few thousand US citizens (and that’s counting their spouses and children).

The Washington Post blithely displayed this reality as it detailed how 45% of all campaign contributions came from fifty billionaires (US$1.6 billion to Republicans, US$0.75 billion to Democrats), and that does not count all the “dark money” political pools that act independently and actively hide their funders. Some of the oligarch billionaires:

Timothy Mellon, Railroad Magnate and Heir (part of the Mellon dynasty): US$197 million
Richard & Elisabeth Uihlein, Shipping Supplies Magnates (part of the Uihlein dynasty that owned the Schlitz Brewing Company): US$139 million
Miriam Adelson, Widow of Casino Magnate Sheldon Adelson and arch Jewish Zionist (served in the Israeli army and has Israeli citizenship): US$136 million
Elon Musk, Transportation Entrepreneur, owner of Twitter/X and currently richest man in the world (born into the wealthy South African Musk family), forced to bow down to the Zionists: US$132 million
Kenneth Griffin, Hedge Fund Manager (born into a wealthy family): US$104 million
Jeff & Janine Yass, Financial Trader and arch Jewish Zionist: US$96 million
Paul Singer, Hedge Fund Manager and Jewish “rabid Zionist”: US$63 million
Michal Bloomberg, Financial Information Provider (founder of Bloomberg) and Jewish Zionist: US$47 million
Stephen & Christine Schwarzman, Investors (founder of the Blackstone Group) and Jewish Zionists: US$40 million
Dustin Moscowitz, Facebook co-founder and Jewish: US$39 million

US$993 million from just 10 donors, out of a total of US$2.5 billion for the top 50 billionaire contributors. Even among the billionaire class, wealth and political contributions are concentrated near the top! Imagine how much clout this concentration of wealth and political donations gives these ten donors over the US political courtier class. Out of those ten, five are Jewish Zionists, one is Jewish, and another was forced by his advertisers to bow down to the Zionist regime. The other US billionaires benefit from Israel’s role of disciplining the Middle East and supplying operatives for so many dirty political operations around the world, so there are very few that oppose the Zionist regime’s actions. No wonder nearly every Trump nominee seems to spout Make Israel Great Again more than Make America Great Again. He is bought and paid for by Zionist money, and most especially Miriam Adelson.

Following in the foot steps of her shady husband, who made most of his money in Macau where Chinese organized crime is rampant.

Of course, the Democrats have been all in on the Zionist genocide and happily invited Netanyahu to speak to the US political courtier class during the genocide. And Biden’s cabinet was extensively stocked with Zionists.

Another thing that these donors share is an utter distastefulness for being taxed, and their tax dollars “wasted” on the “unworthy”; some much more rabidly than others. Five made their money in finance, one from social media, one from shipping supplies, one from railroads (which he inherited), and one from Casinos (inevitably involving linkages with organized crime, just like Trump with his casinos). Only one is involved in manufacturing; very much representative of the new US wealth. Tax cuts are always on the agenda, never tax rises (for the rich), and the regulation of the financial industry (especially for hedge funds and private equity) is hardly ever on the table; only post-2008 was some window dressing regulatory legislation required. They all live lives that are utterly disconnected from the lives of even multi-millionaires, let alone the average American.

The oligarch billionaire class is also becoming increasingly embedded with the security state, and adept at utilizing political donations to have themselves appointed to important positions within the very state that their corporations are entwined with. A specially egregious case is Howard Lutnick (CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, a very large player in the US government debt market) who played a central role in gathering donations for Trump. Another of his companies, Satellogic is very much in bed with the security state and global surveillance, and also using the revolving door as its board has a former Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff as a member. In his new role as Commerce Secretary, Lutnick will be overseeing agencies, such as NOAA, that Satellogic wants to sell its services to. His stable coin venture Tether has also become a large holder of US government debt. Mark Goodwin and Whitney Webb detail Lutnick’s incestuous relationship with state organizations here.

Then we have a Vice President who is a creation of the silicon valley billionaire Peter Thiel, the owner of the Palantir data gathering and analysis corporation that is in bed with the security state, as well as many other parts of the state and in many different countries. The CIA venture fund was one of the founding investors in Palantir. Trae Stephens, a close affiliate of Thiel, may get the number 2 job at the Pentagon. The other option for the job is a Stephen Feinburg who previously owned a prominent MIC contractor and now heads a Cerberus Capital Management that launched a major defence-focused venture capital fund in 2024. Musk, the co-head of the proposed DOGE agency is also a major state contractor through his SpaceX venture. And which areas is DOGE focusing on? The vast cesspit of corruption that is the Defence Budget and the five massive defence contractors (Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman and Boeing)? The massive profiteering of the Health Industrial Complex?

No, of course not; the targets seem to be the Internal Revenue Service (the agency that taxes the billionaires) and Social Security (money “wasted” on the retired plebs, and vast sums that could be freed from the state to be looted by the financiers). The above are just a few of the oligarchs who are getting themselves placed in important government roles. Who needs courtiers when you can run the state yourself?

In the background we have the modern day equivalents of the anti-competitive and corrupt “trusts” that dominated the US corporate world of the late nineteenth century Gilded Age; Blackrock (US$11.5 trillion under management), The Vanguard Group (US$9.3 trillion under management), and State Street (US$4 trillion under management and US$40 trillion under custody and administration).

The Chairman and CEO of Blackrock, a publicly traded company, is one of its founders, billionaire Larry Fink (US1.2 billion). Vanguard is a private company owned by investment clients (CEO Salim Ramji) and State Street is a publicly traded company (Chairman and CEO Ronald O. O’Hanley). Then in addition, there is the global leader in private equity investment, behemoth Blackstone with US$8.7 trillion under management, with the CEO being the co-founder and billionaire Stephen Schwarzman (US$54 billion). Then there are lesser private equity players such as KKR (US$1 trillion under management), Apollo, the Carlyle Group, Bain Capital and Warburg Pincus. Always searching for areas that can be turned into monopolies or cozy oligopolies to maximize the extractive profits of the ownership class.

Through such vehicles the ownership class concentrate their wealth and power, dominating US and other corporations. In so many US and other corporations Blackrock, Vanguard and State Street will be the top three shareholders, or within the top five. At the same time, Blackstone and others can utilize their assets, together with vast borrowing capacity, to take corporations private and shake them down for the benefit of their investors and management. The senior executives of these investment corporations, representing the ownership class, wield immense power; for example Larry Fink and Stephen Schwarzman are considered to be two of the most powerful people in the world.

These new style trusts also get their executives appointed to important government positions, and even get appointed to run significant parts of the government; as with Blackrock and the large scale US state interventions in the debt markets during the COVID-19 pandemic. A direct conflict of interest given Blackrock’s large US government and corporate bond holdings.

Elections in the US have always been mostly performative and superficial, but in the post-WW2 era the US rich held less of the economic pie and were less concentrated. With the massive concentration of wealth of the past 50 years, both within society and within the wealthy, an incredibly small group of the extreme wealthy together with those that manage the concentrated assets of the wealthy, exercise more power over the government than the rest of society combined. Added to this of course is the concentration of the US (and Western) media, including social media, in so few hands; greatly aided by the lack of any real anti-trust enforcement and oversight since the 1980s.

Even with this level of propagandist control, the level of outright looting and theft of this concentrated oligarchy has become more and more apparent to the general citizenry. A new Gilded Age, but this time the Robber Barons are more feasting off the already in place wealth of the nation and the people rather than building new wealth; a cannibal capitalism that eats its own base of strength. It is in such circumstances that the murder of the CEO of a healthcare company, which excelled in refusing claims under his leadership, is met with a general feeling of “he got what he deserved” by such a large chunk of the population.

There has been a significant a level of breakdown in the “manufacturing of consent”; even in the face of escalating levels of state and concentrated media censorship. When propaganda fails to control the population, liberalism can remove its velvet gloves to show its fascist fists. The result can only be greater authoritarianism as the mask of “democracy” has been so utterly removed and the oligarchy continue to plunder and immiserate the citizenry. Frank Zappa was incredibly prescient when he said:

The concentration of wealth in lesser and lesser hands, the disconnection of the rulers from the ruled, a vast courtier class fully focused on slavishly serving the oligarchs and not discomfiting them with inconvenient truths, the immiseration of the ruled as the rulers openly display their vast wealth, vast private wealth amidst public squalor; these are all symptoms of a failing empire. An imperial oligarchy feasting on the very bases of its own power, like a snake eating its own tail.

Bratty Karen Tries Fleeing Traffic Stop

Which industry do you work in that is so dependent on Chinese manufacturing?

99% of all products in my industry in U.S. come from China, I prefer not to specify which industry.

Dependent is the wrong description, we benefit from China’s production, quality, reliability, dependability and very low prices. They produce tens of billions US$ in revenue every year for the industry, to US economy, one million American employment, bring joy to 100 millions people, $ billions in profit and salaries.

In business, we appreciate all working partners, team members, we don’t burn bridges by accusing critical partners. Once the bridge is burned down, US$ tens of billions will be lost, a million Americans lose their jobs.

With the US in an uproar over the murder of the CEO of a major healthcare provider, do you have a current or previous health care story for the USA or other countries that you could share?

We have all read and followed the murder of the CEO of one of the largest US healthcare fund by Luigi Mangione.

No, not a nice guy, rather a pampered angry rich kid who has thrown away his life but has ignited a firestorm of introspection on US healthcare.

My interest in this is not about the murdered or the murderer, rather what is the real situation in healthcare including in countries that have national healthcare like Australia.

Let’s pause for a moment and realize that healthcare is the biggest actual expense for most governments in the world. In the US it is Social Security (people put money into that in large sums for retirement), defense which is out of control and then healthcare for the fed govt. But in the society at large, it is HEALTHCARE at $5 trillion and rising.

Breaking it down the US is the most expensive healthcare in the world by far. Some places more than 4X and still it is breaking people, their lives, their budgets their health.

Over and over we hear stories about cancer patients arguing to get treatment or out of pocket costs or extras or co-pays which they cannot pay.

I try to see all sides of this mess which by the way is not perfect anywhere in the world. Health care costs a lot because we are saving people at unprecedented rates around the world. We all know lifespans more than doubled in the 20th century for humans. But the US is falling back at 77.5 years and the rest of the developed world is well over 80 years.

Cancer and other treatments that have nothing to do with lifestyle or Ozempic or who wants to exercise or not, is a special category. These treatments are expensive, equipment intensive, usually ongoing and can start at a young age when you have no money for extras, especially cancer treatment.

So what to do?

First a note that I am a cancer patient right now. I just came from my latest appointment here in Sydney, it was another out of pocket not covered by Medicare or my healthfund (a few dollars) and it set me back just for PT, $350. Every day I have more and more out of pocket, it has now risen to $40k due to complex surgeries and it is only going to go up.

Australians say this is not possible. It is because I live it and there is no way around it.

So when someone in the US says they have a co-pay, in Australia we have ‘rates’ for everything and I am paying hundreds for meds, 10s of thousands for surgeries and follow ups and temporary housing to be near to my doctors.

Cancer comes at all ages and origins are often unknown. It is especially devastating emotionally, health wise and cost for the elderly. (The caption was Pancreatic Cancer, a killer of the elderly in Australia).

I am 74 years old and until the last 3 months I have never used the medical system in any country in the world except for COVID shots. Zero.

My encounter with global medicine has left a lot to be desired and very expensive.

There are out of pocket costs everywhere in the world. Or you can wait in the queue or you can just let them choose whoever to be your doctor. Choosing the right doctor especially when you have cancer is critical. Anything to do with your internal organs compared to say something that is broken, is a quantum leap. You can live with a limp, but you cannot without a pancreas.

The US system is broken because the Republicans in particular with complicity from the Democrats cannot reform anything. People have unrealistic expectations and preventative healthcare is out the window.

Even that area is expensive as my PT appointment showed today.

Societies need to look at everything in healthcare how it is delivered and the costs. My savings are now gone when I add in all the extras here in Australia.

But my life was saved. It was an easy trade off given the latter, however it is painful to spend enormous sums for what are fairly basic services. Out of control pricing is a part of the problem worldwide and the US privatisazation of healthcare is here in Australia now too.

Murdering the CEO will not change anything. However lauding these massive healthcare providers who in the US say no on 32% of the claims while making billions in their various schemes is for most people unconscionable.

This is what RFKjr and Dr OZ should be tackling. Will they? I dont know but maybe if they do Australia will move away from the US style private approach which is giving great healthcare, but can we individually afford it?

Do you really want to work your entire life, have paid into your health insurance forever and then have an unforeseen emergency only to find, your savings drained away.

Arguing with Medicare or healthinsurance and being told, sorry no, not covered is no different than being denied in the US though perhaps on a different scale. Still we pay into Medicare here more than the Americans do in the USA and for all the extras it is costing me and thousands of others, it is not working here either.

Again global reform but still cancer is still cancer and that my friends is not something you can avoid in most cases as it is not a lifestyle issue any longer like lung cancer. Society must decide to either cover those costs, or continue to have anger and yes a deterioration of the health of the cancer patient and again yes it is terribly debilitating and depressing to just see ‘ka ching’ every time you walk into a pharmacy or PT or doctor or cancer clinic office. And yes, it saps you of your energy and you fight on but it is not easy especially as you get older.

How expensive? If I all I had was my meagre Australian partial pension for my cancer surgery and treatment, it would = 8 years of the entire pension and counting. In other words, impossible as in Australia you pay before you go into the hospital or no service. Same for any appointment, you pay right there or no service. There is no we are sending you the bill in the mail.

Maintaining your mental and emotional strength through it all, even with support, is a challenge.

Thanks for reading and good luck on your medical journey whatever it may be.

HRG

What is the expected impact of US tariff hikes on China’s exports?

Does The US need the many consumer goods that China produces at a cheap price? Can the US obtain these goods from other countries at similar prices? Can the US produced these products itself?

While the incomes of most Americans have stagnated for the past 50 years, they have been able to enjoy a decent standard of living because of cheap products from China. American companies manufacture in the PRC to take advantage of China’s lower costs and to increase profits. While China benefits, US companies benefit more.

It may be possible to buy goods from countries other than China but they tend to be not as good or as cheap. If this were not so, the US would have already turned to these sources.

The US lacks the supply chains, factories, logistics, and trained workers to make these products themselves. And if they solved these problems, the labour and other costs would make these goods expensive. These problems will take many years to solve.

It is clear that the rapist and felon t**** does not understand economics nor international trade. Most of us know he’s stupid. Many of his advisres are not. But they are so well paid that they are insulated from the inevitable rising costs of products. Their interests are not those of ordinary Americans; their aim is to stay in power and enrich themselves and their rich donors.

In the short-term, prices will rise at least by the amount of the tariff but is likely to be more than that as companies try to increase their profits; they have a ready-made excuse in t****’s tariffs. In the medium-term, this situation will persist.

In the long-term, Americans had better get their act together and fix their political leadership in an attempt to halt the county’s downward spiral.

Good luck the USA. You are going to need it.

High School Graduation Party Ends in Disaster

Here is who is leading the United States Senate

Terrible. You must watch this video.

Hal Turner Commentary;

To the people of the Great State of Kentucky.  Your beloved United States Senator, Mitch McConnel, appears to need your intervention.  The video below, displays how tragic his situation has become.

PLEASE, Intervene. 

Ask your Governor and your state Legislature to intervene.  You no longer have Representation from this man, who is tragically suffering from the effects of old age.  It's not the Senator's fault.  He is the victim of the ravages of age.  

At this terrible stage of his decline, keeping him in Washington is just wrong.  Perhaps your Governor can make a finding of "Severe Cognitive disability" and appoint a replacement. 

Yes, there __may__ be a court challenge, but what's happened to Mitch McConnell is not just a personal tragedy for him, it affects the people of Kentucky as well.   

Please intervene.

A New Chapter Of The Bible Was Found Hidden Inside 1,750-Year-Old Text

Friday, Dec 13, 2024 – 09:05 AM

Via The Mind Unleashed,

Hidden for centuries, a forgotten chapter of the Bible has emerged from the shadows of history. Researchers, armed with ultraviolet light and meticulous scholarship, have uncovered a 1,750-year-old text that offers a fresh glimpse into the evolving nature of scripture. This find isn’t just a historical curiosity; it’s a profound insight into how faith and tradition were shaped in early Christianity.

Preserved in an ancient Syriac manuscript, the chapter challenges long-held assumptions about biblical texts and their seemingly static nature. With its subtle variations and expanded narrative, this rediscovery raises compelling questions: What does this mean for the modern understanding of faith? And how many more hidden chapters might still be waiting to be found?
Unearthing a Lost Piece of Biblical History

In a groundbreaking intersection of technology and ancient history, scholars have uncovered a hidden chapter of the Bible within a 1,750-year-old Syriac manuscript preserved in the Vatican Library. Using ultraviolet (UV) light, researchers revealed traces of erased writing—a palimpsest—buried beneath layers of overwritten text. This painstaking process illuminated an earlier version of scripture, lost to time but now reintroduced to the world.

The manuscript, part of the Syriac translations of the Bible, is more than just a relic. It represents a key moment in Christianity’s history, when scribes worked tirelessly to preserve scripture under challenging conditions. Early Christians relied on Syriac texts to disseminate their teachings across cultural and linguistic boundaries, making this find a window into their lived experiences.

What makes this discovery especially remarkable is its collaborative nature. Historians, linguists, and scientists pooled their expertise to decode the faded script, each stroke of ink offering clues to a story untold for nearly two millennia. This isn’t just a triumph for biblical studies; it’s a testament to the enduring power of curiosity and innovation to uncover humanity’s shared past.
The Hidden Chapter: What We Know So Far

The newly unveiled chapter offers an expanded version of Matthew 12, a passage where Jesus and his disciples are criticized for picking grain on the Sabbath. In this version, subtle textual variations bring fresh theological nuances to light, emphasizing compassion and mercy over rigid observance of religious laws. While the core message aligns with established teachings, these differences hint at the dynamic and adaptive nature of early Christian scripture.

Written in ancient Syriac, one of the earliest languages used to transmit biblical texts, the chapter provides a rare glimpse into Christianity’s early cultural diversity. Syriac was instrumental in spreading scripture beyond its Jewish origins, tailoring messages to resonate with varied linguistic and cultural communities. This adaptation reflects the pragmatic approach of early Christians, who shaped their sacred texts to meet the needs of a rapidly growing faith.

What’s particularly striking is the role of early scribes. Far from being passive transcribers, they actively engaged with the material, reinterpreting and preserving it in ways that reflected their own spiritual and societal realities. This hidden chapter, with its emphasis on mercy, reveals a faith not rigidly bound to dogma but alive with reinterpretation and evolution—a window into the beliefs and priorities of communities navigating the complexities of their time.
The Technology That Unveiled the Forgotten Chapter

It’s hard to believe that something written almost 2,000 years ago could still be hiding in plain sight. But that’s exactly what happened here. Using ultraviolet light, researchers managed to reveal a forgotten chapter of the Bible, hidden beneath layers of overwritten text on an ancient manuscript. It’s like uncovering a secret message written centuries ago, invisible to the naked eye but waiting to be found.

The process wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. Think about it—this manuscript is old, fragile, and irreplaceable. Every move had to be precise, every scan done with the utmost care. Months of work went into piecing together faint traces of erased ink, with experts from all over—historians, linguists, scientists—working side by side. It’s amazing to think that this discovery wouldn’t have been possible even a few decades ago. The tools they used, like UV imaging, are giving us new ways to see the past in ways we never thought possible.

But here’s what really gets you thinking—what else is out there? If something as groundbreaking as a hidden chapter of the Bible can be uncovered, what other secrets might still be lying in wait? This is more than a cool tech story; it’s a reminder that history always has more to give, as long as we keep asking the right questions.

A Manuscript’s Journey Through Time

Think about this for a second: early Christians lived in a world where their beliefs could literally get them killed. Their sacred texts weren’t just important—they were lifelines, hidden and protected at all costs. That’s the world this 1,750-year-old Syriac manuscript comes from. Imagine scribes painstakingly copying and preserving these words, knowing the risks they faced if they were caught.

Back then, parchment wasn’t exactly easy to come by. It was expensive, rare, and, honestly, every bit as valuable as the words written on it. To make the most of it, scribes would scrape off old texts and reuse the material—creating what we now call palimpsests. It’s kind of wild to think that their recycling efforts accidentally preserved traces of history that they probably thought were gone for good.

Here’s another fascinating detail: this manuscript is written in Syriac. It’s one of the earliest languages used to spread Christianity and shows how the faith started to move beyond its Jewish roots. Syriac wasn’t just a language—it was a tool that helped Christianity adapt and grow, reaching new communities and cultures. That’s what makes this discovery so powerful. It’s not just about words on a page; it’s about the lengths people went to protect and share their beliefs.

And now, centuries later, we’re uncovering their story. You can almost picture the hands that wrote and rewrote this text, working in secret, determined to pass on what they believed mattered most. It’s a humbling reminder of just how much history can hide beneath the surface—literally—and how much these ancient voices still have to say.
What Scholars Are Saying: A New Lens on Scripture

This hidden chapter of the Bible has sparked lively debates among scholars. Many see it as a fascinating window into how early Christian communities understood and adapted scripture. The chapter’s emphasis on mercy over strict adherence to religious laws aligns with Jesus’ teachings but adds a fresh perspective to familiar passages. This nuance suggests early Christians may have tailored scripture to address the unique challenges of their time.

At the heart of the debate is the question of why this chapter was erased. Some scholars suggest it might have been excluded as church leaders worked to formalize the biblical canon, streamlining texts to unify doctrine. Others argue that its omission could simply reflect the practical realities of the time, with scribes overwriting older texts due to the scarcity of parchment. Whatever the reason, the discovery underscores the dynamic and evolving nature of early Christianity.

Ultimately, this find is about more than one chapter. It’s a reminder that the Bible, far from being a static document, was shaped over centuries by human hands and decisions. For scholars and believers alike, the chapter offers a chance to reexamine the past while raising new questions about the stories still waiting to be uncovered.
Hidden Truths, Endless Possibilities

The discovery of this hidden Bible chapter is more than a historical footnote—it’s a vivid reminder of how much the past still has to teach us. From the resilience of early Christian communities to the evolving nature of scripture itself, this find opens a window into a world where faith and history were deeply intertwined. It also shows how modern technology can breathe life into ancient artifacts, revealing secrets thought lost to time.

But this is likely just the beginning. Who knows what other forgotten chapters, erased writings, or hidden narratives are still waiting to be uncovered? Each discovery invites us to ask new questions, challenge old assumptions, and deepen our understanding of the stories that have shaped human history. Whether it’s faith, curiosity, or a little of both driving the search, one thing is certain—history still has plenty of mysteries left to share.

Shorpy

Russia Just Replaced the EU in China’s Pork Market – $3.5 Billion Market Shaking Europe’s Confidence

Please keep in mind that China produces MOST of it’s pork needs. So imports from the EU is rather trivial.

Is it safe to say, after watching what happened to Trump and Daniel Penny, that the legal system in New York is beyond corrupt?

More than a year and a half ago I wrote about the Daniel Penny subway incident in the New York City subway. Now the ordeal is over, Penny has been found not guilty of all charges and is a free man. But everything I said in that initial article remains true, and the regime won.

First, here’s what I said:

There’s a very clear lesson to be learned here. You, as a normal citizen, can be robbed, raped, or murdered at will and our police won’t even lift a finger to do anything to prevent it, and usually not even arresting the criminal afterwards. And even when the criminal is arrested, his bail and jail sentence will be laughably low… That’s the bail violent rapists can expect in democratic America. But if you’re charged with a political crime, like protesting on Jan. 6, expect a bail in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Police won’t help you because that’s not their job. Police are simply security officers for the central party. Their duty is to provide personal security for our elites and arrest political dissidents, and that’s it.

Dafna Yoran, the prosecutor, is a radical neoliberal activist who staunchly advocates for “restorative justice,” which in practice (as opposed to what restorative justice is actually supposed to do), simply means giving light sentences to the most grotesque offenders.

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Dafna Yoran

Yoran recently advocated on the behalf of murderer Matthew Lee, who killed Young Kun Kim, an 87 year old Asian American professor, and stole $300 while Kim was using an ATM. Thanks to Yoran’s efforts, Lee received only 10 years in prison, rather than a life sentence. Note that this light sentence wasn’t the result of some Crime and Punishment style display of remorse by Lee, it was simply on account of his race, and the race of his victim. As a “white adjacent” Asian, Kim was a historical aggressor imperialist, and as a black man, Lee was his victim. The fact that Lee bashed Kim’s brains in did not even enter into the equation.

Now apply Yoran’s world view to Penny’s case. Neely was a violent drug addict with an extensive criminal record threatening to kill people on the train, but that did not matter. Neely is a historical victim, and Penny, like Kim, is a historical aggressor imperialist. So the villain here is Penny, and can only be Penny.

As I said, in modern America, the police are simply political enforcers who punish crimes against the state and the ruling elites. No one and nothing else matters. The everyday citizen being in constant fear of being randomly attacked on the train or while using the ATM is “part and parcel” of living in a neoliberal democracy. In the eyes of the regime, the citizens living in fear is a good thing, because this keeps them docile and subservient.

For such a regime, it is absolutely necessary to brutally punish any private citizen who is perceived to have violated the state monopoly on violence by defending his own life or the lives of others. That was the crime of both Kyle Rittenhouse and Daniel Penny. It would have been preferable to to lock up Rittenhouse and Penny for their defiance against the regime, but dragging them through many months of confinement, fear, financial expense and reputational damage is enough.

And that’s why I say the regime won. The next person who sees a violent criminal on the NYC subway will remember what happened to Penny, and will likely just keep walking.

Sexual Predator Gets Caught Red-Handed

ARCS 1,0

Submitted into Contest #150 in response to: Write about a character who has access to a powerful new technology before anyone else.… view prompt

Jimmy Burke

Akio walked into his therapist’s office for the 52nd time that year.Dr Ishida stood up and warmly greeted his patient, who would have been seeing him for exactly a year today.Good morning, Akio! It’s nice to see y——He was not able to finish his sentence. The young man in his mid twenties buried his right fist into Dr. Ishida’s face.The Dr, also a young man himself, being barely 32, was thrown back onto his own coffee table and collapsed onto the floor. He was clenching his nose with both hands, as it was bleeding profusely. It was clearly broken.He hadn’t full processed what had just happened when his patient (now former patient) began to speak.I want you to listen to me carefully. Think of the thoughts going through your head and the feelings that you have right now. Did you do it good! That is how I feel everyday when I walk into your goddam office. You sit there in your comfortable fantasy world, thinking you’re so wise, and that you actually understand what’s going on. But honestly, if you understood what was going on, then I think you would have moved with more of a sense of urgency in assisting me instead of milking me for more money over the past year. Your services are no longer required. Have a nice day!He stormed out of the office, leaving Dr. Ishida lying in utter shock on the floor.Akio stormed out of the downtown Osaka office and began marching down the city sidewalk. He wasn’t 100% sure where he was going.I’m so fucking mad at myself right now. I can’t believe I wasted a year of my life with that hack. I have him thousands of dollars, and for what? He thought to himself.If anything I’m more pissed than before I started visiting him….After walking about a hundred metes, he stopped and lit a cigarette from a pack that he had previously bought that day.This is weird. I don’t even smoke. What am even I doing? He inhaled and coughed*cough…….cough……Jesus…..cough*As he walked he started to feel more relaxed as the nicotine took effect. As he started to calm down, he remembered where he wanted to go.

I wonder what Sakura is up to, he thought to himself.

Suddenly a look of surprise appeared on his face. The kind of look that appears when someone has just remembered something important that they had forgotten.

Oh shit! I’m late, he said to himself as he broke into a sprint.

After running like mad for about 7 city blocks, he was standing outside the door of an Internet cafe. There was a flickering neon image of a frog that was standing on its hind legs and holding a shotgun over its shoulder. The word “lyagooshka’s” was written in English under it in blue neon cursive.

As he opened the door, there was a jingle of a little bell that was hanging near the threshold. A slender, short haired Russian lady looked up from reading her fashion magazine. She was in her early 30’s even though she looked like she was in her early to mid 20s.

Her eyes immediately lit up

Konichiwa choovachok (dude in Russian)! Serious as ever I see!

Akio often found her energy to be a bit overwhelming for his taste. But he had gotten used to it. He had been going to that internet cafe ever since college. It was close to his apartment, not too big, and it was pretty cheap. Before he knew it, he was spending just about every waking moment that he wasn’t wasting in his office job, in that secluded cafe. And there seemed to be very few people there, which was another plus, because he hated being around people he didn’t know.

But despite their different personalities, she was beginning to grow on him.

Akio looked at her with a straight face.

Hey Vika

Vika shifted the lollipop in her mouth and looked at him inquisitively.

So how’s life? You usually come in 2 hours earlier on Saturdays. You look kind of wiped out.

Akio took out his credit card and slid it into the reader.

The cash register said 10,000 yen.

I had something I had to take care of, he said while avoiding eye contact.

Look at you, sounding all like a secretive badass, said Vika.

Ha ha said Akio sarcastically.

Vika looked at him as if she was at a loss and said, sometimes I don’t know why you work these office jobs. (shaking her head) *sighs* I think you’re better suited for more dangerous work….Hey, I know (snapping her fingers as if she just got an idea)…. You should join the military. I think you’d thrive in that kind of environment.

The same way you did? Said Akio without skipping a beat..

Whaaat?….Hey, c’mon…. my situation was different, said Vika, almost as if pleading for somebody to stop teasing her.

I just don’t think I’m cut out for it, said Akio still looking at the ground.

He began making his way past the many cubicle-like rooms that led to the back of the cafe. The hallway was dimly lit, with a carpet that was mostly clean, except for the occasional crusty food or drink stain.

He finally reached the end of the hall, to a room labeled “V I P” with a neon sign of a cartoon frog standing on its hind legs, holding a cane over its shoulder and dressed as a pimp.

There was a faint glow emanating from the cracks of the door of the otherwise dark room.

He opened the door and walked in. It was a mostly empty room about twice the size of an average classroom. It was perfectly square and directly across from the door on the opposite wall.

Against the opposite wall, you could see two large black boxes, each being about the size of a mini van. One of the walls of each square was missing, allowing you to see inside.

Inside was a number of wires, red lights and switches, with a dark chair in the middle that was reclined at a 45 degree angle.

One was empty. In the other you could see the skinny silhouette of a person wearing a black hoodie. If you looked really closely, you could see that she was wearing a strange suit covered in very small little red connectors that looked like they could have something plugged into them.

Akio sped up his walk. He threw his backpack down while simultaneously grabbling the same strange suit that went over his whole body, including the back of his head. He hastily took off his shirt and pants and put it on.

Has it started? , asked Akio impatiently.

You’ve got 40 seconds to spare, said the dark silhouette sitting in the other seat.

These two machines were known as the Artificial Recreation of Sensory System, or ARCS 1.0 System for short. Via a number of wires that plugged into the suit, the system was able to connect to all five of the human senses and send them into the world of a popular MMORPG that was originally designed for an average gaming system known as Engines of Magic.

It was a steampunk-styled game that combined steampunk technology with magic. Players could choose their characters from a number of magic races such as elves, wizards, goblins, witches, fairies, etc. It was released in 2027 and it had over 3 billion users worldwide, making it the most popular videogame in human history.

The glow of the small lights within the machine illuminated the girl’s face. Although she was wearing a hoodie, you could still see the bangs of her purple-dyed hair. lean, and her height was about 5’ 8”.

Although Akio didn’t think she was hot by any means, he still thought her face was relatively pretty despite the fact that she wore very little makeup.

Her name was Sakura Takayuki. They had both known each other since meeting in their modern computer engineering course. Akio had average grades on account of not attending lecture, but Sakura excelled. She was considered a genius at any rate, and eventually became known as the most talented computer engineer at the school.

Are you ready, said Sakura as she sat in the chair and connected all of the appropriate wires to her suit.

Let’s do this, said Akio as he leaned back in the chair with a smile on his face.

There were only 12 ARCS systems were created, out of which, only 2 remained. All of the others were destroyed during the War of Eurasian Reunification before anyone could use this advanced technology.

They were the first to use this technology, and the second they entered that world, it was the digital equivalent of man taking his first step on the moon.

This was a secret, but still historic, step for mankind.

All of the red lights turned green. Both of them closed their eyes, and opened them in another universe.

What do you make of the China Semiconductor industry Association’s statement that “U.S. chip products are no longer safe and reliable”?

The development of China’s chip industry in recent years has been shrouded in complete secrecy.

Take a wild guess: why wasn’t this statement issued in 2019, but now?

Only when China is capable of producing enough chips on its own does it make sense to call for the purchase of Chinese-made chips.

Actually, it’s a joint statement made by four associations of China, including the Internet Society of China, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the China Semiconductor Industry Association, and the China Association of Communications Enterprises.

These four industries are major consumer markets for US chips, involving computers, mobile phones, vehicles etc.

The statement simply urges domestic companies to buy more Chinese-made chips. If they choose American chips and face supply cuts later, they shouldn’t expect government support—it’s a risk they must bear. This move will reduce demand for American chips and boost demand for Chinese-made chips.

This indicates one thing: China has already built enough domestic chip production capacity.

The U.S. has been calling for decoupling and breaking supply chains.

This time, China is taking the initiative to decouple and break the supply chain, to see who will ultimately bear the greater loss.

The Moment She Realized She Killed 2 People

Carne de Res Deshebrada

This is the traditional Mexican filling for tacos. It is wonderful for making burritos, chimichangas, taquitos, and in carne seca.

Ingredients

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 (2 1/2 to 3 pound) beef brisket (smaller thinner end, trimmed of all fat)
1 ancho or New Mexico dried chile, stemmed and seeded
3 to 4 slices onion
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano

Instructions

Heat oven to 300 degrees F.
Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add oil and brown the beef on all sides.
Pour off as much oil as possible.
Just barely cover the meat with water. Bring to a boil. Skim off any scum that rises to the surface.
Add remaining ingredients. Cover the pot and place it in the oven until the meat is tender, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
Remove the meat, reserving broth for other uses.
When the meat is cool enough to handle, shred it. Hold a fork in each hand, and shred the beef with the forks.

What do you make of the China Semiconductor industry Association’s statement that “U.S. chip products are no longer safe and reliable”?

The development of China’s chip industry in recent years has been shrouded in complete secrecy.

Take a wild guess: why wasn’t this statement issued in 2019, but now?

Only when China is capable of producing enough chips on its own does it make sense to call for the purchase of Chinese-made chips.

These four industries are major consumer markets for US chips, involving computers, mobile phones, vehicles etc.

This indicates one thing: China has already built enough domestic chip production capacity.

The U.S. has been calling for decoupling and breaking supply chains.

This time, China is taking the initiative to decouple and break the supply chain, to see who will ultimately bear the greater loss.

Woman Pulls Swatting Prank, Gets the Surprise of Her Life

Taco Bell Friendships

When I attended university, I met a classmate that was in one of my literature classes. And you all know, I recognized him, but I just couldn’t place him. I recognized him. But I just didn’t know him.

Well, eventually, I got to talking with him and found out what is going on.

It turned out that he didn’t know me. But yet, I recognized him. You see, he was in a very popular Taco Bell commercial in the 1970s. And I recognized him from that. Crazy huh?

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He said that he got some money for his role in the commercial. But that it was around $5000 (big money in those days). And he told me that it helped him pay for his tuition. Ah, as I recall, we could of gone and had some adventures together, but we ended up going our separate ways. Ah. The university life.

Today…

11 Years Ago TODAY, The US, EU Lead a Coup d’ Etat in Ukraine – they’ve been fighting ever since

Hal Turner World February 22, 2025

Eleven years ago today, the CIA and, likely MI6, lead a Coup d’état in Ukraine. They dubbed it the “Maidan” revolution. They’ve been at war ever since.

It was 11 years ago today that all the REAL trouble in Ukraine began. The US financed protests in Ukraine with almost one million dollars a day, in cash, coming out of the US Embassy in Kiev.

In the next weeks, the protests would become so violent, the CIA-backed protesters burned Ukrainian government people alive in cities like Odessa and Mariupol.

Within months, the democratically-elected President, Viktor Yanukovych, was overthrown and a puppet government was installed by the US and the EU, in Kiev.

This caused the people of Crimea to vote in a public referendum, to secede, and return home to Russia. Crimea had only been part of Ukraine for about 55 years, after Nikita Khrushchev (a Ukrainian) General Secretary of the Soviet Union, GAVE Crimea to Ukraine.

Crimea voted overwhelmingly to return home to Russia.

The collective West recoiled in horror, and refused to recognize the vote, even though it was closely monitored by United Nations election observers.

To this very day, the collective West denies reality, and refers to Crimea as “occupied.”

After Crimea departed Ukraine, Luhansk and Donetsk wanted to leave. Ukraine, at the urging of the EU and the US, massed troops on the borders of those two Oblasts (states) and began firing artillery and mortars into the civilian populations. They wanted to ethnically-cleanse the Russian-speaking population!

The state militia of both Luhansk and Donetsk fought Ukraine to a standstill, but at a terrible price: 13,000 civilians were killed by the Ukraine shelling and mortar fire.

Hoping to stop the bloodshed, a meeting was arranged in Minsk, Belarus for a peace conference. It was attended by the Kiev government, via President Poroshenko, representatives from Luhansk and Donetsk, the President of France, Francois Hollande, and the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin.

After almost 19 hours of negotiations, they all signed the Minsk Agreement” to restore peace.

Ukraine did not honor even ONE item of that agreement.

Enter Donald Trump. Trump handily defeated political wretch Hillary Clinton and all the troubles in Ukraine stopped. It was like magic!

Fast-forward to 2020, the Democrat Party in the US used massive mail-in Ballot fraud, and electronic fraud with electronic voting machines, to STEAL the U.S. Presidency.

Within ONE WEEK of Joe Biden taking office, all the trouble in Ukraine began again. Like Magic, again!

Seeing how this was going, In December 2021, Russia put forth a proposal for Iron-clad, legally enforceable security guarantees. The collective West laughed at them and threw the proposal in the dustbin of history.

Weeks later, Russia issued the proposal again, only this time, they finished it by saying “If Russia cannot get iron-clad, legally enforceable security guarantees by Diplomatic means, it will achieve them through military means.” They openly told everyone they were going to use force.

It took the collective West about two or three weeks to digest this, before they laughed again, and threw the proposal in the dustbin.

On February 21, 2022, Russia called Ukraine’s new President, Zelensky, and told him that Ukraine had five hours to agree not to join NATO. Zelensky called the UK Foreign Secretary and the US State Department. BOTH told Ukraine to “ignore Russia.”

Russia waited the five hours and, when there was no reply from Ukraine, two hours later, the Russian Army entered Ukraine and the war had begun.

The collective West calls this an unprovoked war of aggression. That is a lie. The West provoked this back in 2014 with the “Maidan” coup d’ etat, they provoked it again with the shelling and mortar fire into Luhansk and Donetsk, and they provoked it again by failing/refusing the Minsk Agreement.

The result has been:

Over one million dead soldiers all together, over 600,000 Ukrainians at least out of that million.
Likely three or four times that maimed disfigured and crippled.
25 or more million Ukrainians have left their country. Over half the population!
The country of Ukraine is destroyed and will probably never recover.

Years later, after Russia entered the fight under its “Duty to Protect” in the UN Charter, both Hollande and Merkel admitted in TV interviews, the entire Minsk conference was a ruse. They both admitted they got involved “to buy time for Ukraine to arm for war with Russia.”

What kind of person goes to a Peace Conference with the intent to deceive into war? Psychopaths, maybe?

THAT is why today, the Russia-Ukraine conflict goes on, and despite all the weapons and money provided by NATO, Ukraine is losing.

The sooner Russia defeats Ukraine, the sooner all this trouble will end.

The Case for Trump & Restraining Liberalism – Steve Turley, Alexander Mercouris & Glenn Diesen

Surprisingly good.

Trump has threatened to impose 100% tariffs on goods from BRICS countries if they abandon the dollar, but isn’t the EU also not using it? Is this a veiled warning to everyone else outside BRICS to follow and respect Murican world leadership?

This is absolute nonsense

Trump never ever said this

Trump said if the BRICS established their own currency and traded in that currency then he would impose 100% tariffs on them for all the trade they did with the US

What is so wrong about this Statement?

He didn’t threaten to freeze their assets

He didn’t threaten to sanction them

All he says is he would impose a 100% tariff on all the business with US

Again note :—

BRICS trading with each other in local currencies is something Trump doesn’t give a damn about

His problem is if BRICS establishes a system that threatens the Brent System and universally changes the pricing of commodities in BRICS currencies rather than the US Dollar

Who will be affected here?

Russia doesn’t care

They don’t need US products anymore

Their exports to US are so crucial that US pays them in Rubles for all these products like Enriched Uranium & Fertilizers & Refined Titanium

Brazil doesn’t care

US runs a surplus with Brazil anyway and it’s foolish to impose tariffs on a country with whom you have a surplus

South Africa doesnt care

They get nothing critical from US and their Diamonds and Gold are needed in the US

Iran is sanctioned anyway

China is a buyer of Gold and Commodities rather than a seller so with a $ 1 Trillion annual trade surplus – China will ALWAYS use USD to buy commodities

They have too many Dollars anyway

India won’t be affected

India runs a surplus with US

India is a GOOD BOY who isn’t a threat to anyone for a minimum 50 years

So in reality, it is an Empty Threat by Trump

Life can be strange

On the deployment of a US military biolab in Tajikistan

Alarming news is coming from Tajikistan: as reported by Stan Radar, the Americans are preparing to open a military biolab at the Republican Center for the Protection of the Population from Tuberculosis (RCPT) in Dushanbe.

❗️It is this US military unit that is responsible for military biological research abroad, including in biolabs in Kazakhstan. Therefore, the information requires an immediate and tough response from both the authorities in Dushanbe and the CSTO. Especially given that Tajikistan is a member of the organization on whose territory our military base is located.

https://stanradar.com/news/full/56307-ssha-sozdajut-v-tadzhikistane-voennuju-biolaboratoriju.html

Cracklin’ Corn Bread

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Ingredients

3/4 cup finely diced salt pork
2 cups cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, well beaten
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons salt pork drippings

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Instructions

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Fry salt pork over low heat until nicely browned.
Drain fat, saving both drippings and cracklings.
Sift together corn meal, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Combine eggs, buttermilk and drippings.
Stir into cornmeal mixture together with cracklings.
Spread dough in a greased cast iron skillet and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until done.

We Were Soldiers |2002| All Battle Scenes [Edited] (November 14, 1965)

Who has been the strangest world leader of the last five decades?

This guy would definitely be on the list.

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When the whole world is in the middle of Coronavirus pandemic King Rama X of Thailand is staying in the four-star Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl in the Bavarian Alps (Germany) with an entourage of 20 women.

His real name is Maha Vajiralongkorn and now he is the king of Thailand so the name King Rama X.

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His net worth is estimated to be a whopping 31 billion US dollars.

His father died in 2016 but his coronation took place in May,2019 as he wanted to give time to his countrymen to mourn his father’s death.

His coronation ceremony costed a freaking 31 million USD to the Thailand government.

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Unlike the British royal family this guy can do pretty much whatever the heck he wants to such as naming his pet poodle Foo Foo an air chief marshal and of course a four-day-long Buddhist funeral ceremony for the Marshall after it died.

This dude has a reputation for womanizing, having fathered seven children by three women and a list of wives and girlfriends he dumped.

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Don’t worry he ain’t punishing her, he’s just marrying her.

He likes to spend most of his time in Germany and Europe rather than his home country.

And his candid pics are pretty sick.

His mother, Queen Sirikit, reportedly once described her son as “a little bit of a Don Juan” in the early 1980s.

He spent most of his childhood in UK and Australia and discovered his interest in cycling and other sports.

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Though his photos suggest that he dislikes shirts.

He is also pretty liberal as he is Thailand’s first modern monarch to openly have more than one partner.

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He is quite conscious about his looks too because when a photo of the king was posted on Facebook showing him wearing a crop top, he threatened to sue Facebook, saying the images were insulting.

And quite dangerous too because according to Thailand’s law whoever defames the King or royal family is punished pretty hard.

At least two people arrested on royal defamation charges have been found dead under mysterious circumstances.

Hope this does not reaches him or I am dead.

The Negative Impacts of Dating Apps

This is a profound video.

Just some more pictures

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Talk Of A Pre-Emptive Attack On Russia Is Going To Make Russia Even More Likely To Conduct A Pre-emptive Attack Against Us

November 26, 2024 by Michael

If some lunatic shows up at your front door in the middle of the night and threatens to shoot you, does that make it more likely or less likely that you will shoot first? Any talk of NATO conducting a pre-emptive attack against Russia is extremely dangerous, because the Russians are paranoid enough already. If they become convinced that we are planning to hit them before they can hit us, that could motivate them to do something really, really stupid. We are closer to nuclear war than we have ever been before, and we definitely do not need western leaders making provocative statements that are only going to make things even worse.

For example, during a conference in Brussels NATO’s top military official said something that is now making headlines all over the globe. The following comes from an article posted on MSN News entitled “NATO considers preemptive strikes amid rising tensions with Russia”…

NATO Military Committee Chairman Admiral Rob Bauer stated during a conference in Brussels that NATO leadership is contemplating the possibility of conducting precise preemptive strikes on Russian territory in the event of an armed conflict between Moscow and the Alliance.

It is now being claimed that Bauer was not actually talking about a pre-emptive strike on Russia.

But if you look at his actual words, it certainly seems like that was precisely what he was talking about…

During a question-and-answer session after his address at the European Policy Center in Brussels, Bauer said, “The idea was we are a defensive alliance, so we will only sit and wait until we are attacked, and then when we are attacked, we will be able to shoot down the ‘arrows’ that come to us,” referring to a Russian strike.

He also said that when responding to any attack, it would be “smarter” to “attack the archer, that is…Russia—if Russia attacks us. So you need to have a combination of deep precision (strikes) with which you can take out the weapons systems that are used to attack us.”

Needless to say, the Russians were not amused.

In fact, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov believes that Bauer was essentially announcing NATO’s “real plans”…

The North Atlantic Alliance has ignored all diplomatic protocol, allowing itself to make statements about the possibility of preemptive strikes on Russia, top Russian diplomat Sergey Lavrov said.

“Just the other day, Mr. Bauer, NATO Military Committee Chair, explicitly stated that it’s no longer enough, and ensuring the defense of the North Atlantic Alliance member states requires strikes on targets in Russia that NATO believes may pose a threat to the bloc. I think there’s nothing to comment on here; it’s just that they have forgotten all etiquette, publicly announcing their real plans,” he noted at the 20th meeting of the heads of security and intelligence agencies of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries.

If the Russians become convinced that we are going to hit them first, that will make it much more likely that they will hit us first.

We really need to get the Russians to understand that we have no plans to do that.

Meanwhile, a French news source is reporting that European leaders continue to discuss “sending Western troops and private defense companies to Ukraine”…

As the conflict in Ukraine enters a new phase of escalation, discussions over sending Western troops and private defense companies to Ukraine have been revived, Le Monde has learned from corroborating sources. These are sensitive discussions, most of which are classified – relaunched in light of a potential American withdrawal of support for Kyiv once Donald Trump takes office on January 20, 2025.

That is insane!

What in the world are they thinking?

No matter what Donald Trump does when he gets into the White House, our European allies fully intend to continue to escalate this war.

It is madness.

On top of everything else, this week the New York Times has reported that the Biden administration has actually discussed the possibility of arming Ukraine with nuclear weapons.

When Dmitry Medvedev heard about this, he went ballistic…

Moscow will consider any threat of nuclear arms being supplied to Ukraine by the US as preparation for a direct war with Russia, former president Dmitry Medvedev has warned. The actual transfer of nuclear weapons would be tantamount to an attack on the country under Russia’s new nuclear doctrine, he added.

On Tuesday, Medvedev posted a message on Telegram that was quite ominous…

“Give nuclear weapons to a country at war with the largest nuclear power? The idea is so absurd that it raises suspicions about a paranoid psychosis in Joe The Walking Dead and all those who would advise such a move.”

He continued, “Yet I must comment on the nonsense: 1) The very threat of transferring nuclear weapons to the Kyiv regime can be considered preparation for nuclear conflict with Russia;

2) The actual transfer of such weapons can be equated to an act of attack on our country under article 19 of the Fundamentals of State Policy in the Field of Nuclear Deterrence.

The consequences are obvious.”

I don’t think that the Biden administration has any intention of giving Ukraine nuclear weapons right now.

But the fact that they are talking about it is really freaking out the Russians.

I really wish that cooler heads would prevail, but instead both sides just continue to escalate matters.

Over the past few days, Ukraine has launched more long-range missiles provided by NATO into Russian territory, and now the Russians have announced that they are preparing another “response”…

Russia is preparing a response to Ukrainian ATACMS attacks on Kursk Region, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Tuesday. Last week, US President Joe Biden authorized Kiev to use US-supplied long-range missiles against targets deep inside Russia’s internationally recognized borders.

In an official statement on Telegram, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that over the past three days, Ukraine’s forces had conducted two long-range strikes on Kursk Region using Western weaponry.

As I discuss in this video, many are anticipating that the Russian “response” will be even larger than last time.

Let us hope that the Russians only use conventional weapons, and let us hope that they limit their targets to Ukraine.

Because the Russians have previously identified a U.S. base in Poland as a potential target, and the Biden administration is making it clear that such a strike would trigger NATO’s Article 5…

White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said Monday that the U.S. has a ‘rock-solid’ commitment to NATO’s Article 5, should Russia strike the new U.S. anti-missile base in Poland. Article 5 is NATO’s principle of collective defense, that if one NATO member is attacked, all other NATO members go to war with the attacker, a world war-style response.

“We take our Article 5 commitments to our NATO Allies incredibly seriously. It’s rock-solid, and that’s not going to change,” Kirby said on Monday, according to Remix News.

Kirby was responding to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who on Thursday said that Russia is considering attacking a new U.S. anti-missile base in Poland.

We are dangerously close to a point of no return.

Once nuclear missiles start flying, there will be no going back.

The Russians have been working extremely hard to prepare for a nuclear war, and meanwhile the U.S. is still relying on hopelessly outdated systems from the 1970s and 1980s.

We must change course while it is still possible to do so.

Unfortunately, it appears that we are about to witness another series of escalations which will push us even closer to the unthinkable.

Best Served Cold

Submitted into Contest #62 in response to: Write about a character preparing to go into stasis for decades (or centuries).… view prompt

Charles Stucker

“Your Grace, I regret to inform you that the constant provocation of lawless elements from your duchy have forced my lord, His Majesty, the Emperor of Barundia, to declare war upon you.” The popinjay ambassador from the power-mad tyrant bows as he speaks. “Do you wish to respond?””I would like a week’s time to arrange my abdication,” I answer. “If I can manage affairs with my subordinates, my people will not suffer.””We know your coffers are full. Should they be plundered ere the week is done, no place shall hide you from our lord’s wrath.””Leave. I have a bare week to prepare. Note well, that should you cross my borders a single day early, my army shall fight and we will burn every field and granary, salt every field, poison every well, and allow our folk time to flee to the Kingdom of Marondika. Your lord will gain naught but a barren hellscape should he arrive early.”I sit and watch the ambassador leave, then motion my marshal forward. “Gather all the armsmen, retainers, and even the first levy. Gather them here in case of treachery. Allow their spouses and children to come as well, that they may all depart together.”I wave my hand and the bailiff dismisses the remainder of my court. I have a plan, but it will require the aid of my wizard, Garven.”You’re certain this will work?” I ask Garven.”Yes, Duke Rondil.” He motions to the hidden entrance. “None can find the caverns once the spell seals them and all within will remain timeless for the duration. To those inside, but an instant shall pass.””Good. It can hold the number needed, along with all the gear and treasures?””Certainly.”I leave him and go out to the gardens. I stop beside the statue of my late wife. “I may never see you after this. That barbarian will certainly destroy you in a fit of pique. But I must do this.”I am certain time shall prove fleeting.The days have fled. Levies, many with young wives and small children, arrive in fits and starts, only to disappear into the depths of the castle. Rumors fly, but none speak openly. My senior retainers, lords all, fret with worry.”Sire, are you ill?” Dyimes, my senior squire. Like all royal guards, he is a knight in his prime. A bachelor of twenty-seven. When we emerge, I must arrange a suitable bride for him.”No Dyimes, but my decision weighs on me.””I shall follow you into exile willingly.” Ever loyal, he sees it as the only option.”Walk with me.” We traverse the hall of ancestors, a line of paintings which I cannot remove until the closing moments. Dyimes would trail me, but I motion him to my side. We reach a side corridor and I follow it to the empty solar, where my wife once held her lady’s court.”I’ve never been in this part of the castle before.””Hardly surprising. It has grown over twelve generations.” I give him a wry smile. “Once it was a modest chalet, but now it sprawls with offices and rooms until I can scarce credit none have torn it down to start anew.””How do you intend to fare abroad?””I intend to go into an enchanted slumber.””For how long?””Twenty years. Enough for the mad emperor to grow old and the people to tire of his rule.”

“The disappearing levies.” He blinks. “And the arms. You intend to rebel when you return.”

“Exactly. I took the first levy, the men sixteen to twenty-five, to give me a double count of those men when I return.” I start walking, worried that a spy might follow and overhear. “Coupled with the nobles and their retainers, we shall have more force than today, and they shall be led by either his son, who is a halfwit, or a tired old man.”

“All this depends on your wizard. What if he fails to wake you at an appropriate point?”

“Then we shall wait for eternity I suppose.”

Dyimes’s words fill me with misgivings, yet I decide to enjoy this last day to the extent possible. I wander from hall to hall, room to room. I walk into the stables, where stablehands lead reluctant chargers- rounceys, coursers, and destriers away. Tack goes with the steeds or is already in the caverns. A youth pulls on Foecrusher’s reins, hapless before the truculence of the massive beast. I wonder where Sir Acehilm, his rider, might be. Then I am past the stables and into the kitchens, where the harried cook makes a final meal even as supplies are taken down into the depths by those who will go with us into an uncertain future.

Maudlin sentiment overcomes me. I strip my household of provender and servants, my land of youth and arms, my treasury of coins and bullion, all to prevent the usurper of Barundia claiming them. Had only his brother lived, we might have a reasonable man over there and I would still enjoy my wife’s embrace. My steps take uncertain turnings.

Then, the ambassador steps in front of me. I have no clue how he entered my court at this time. I suppose someone must have left a door open, or some such. Garven worked an enchantment to stay men’s tongues. Once he seals us in, he intends to cloud memories. I shall be a lord from a magical tale, destined to return in my people’s time of need. But only if none can tell my enemies where to find me.

“Ambassador,” Dyimes says. “You have returned early. Are our agreements nullified?”

“This castle seems much reduced.” Another of the fop’s bows. “Perhaps your duke forgot that Emperor Frentowex warned him to not loot the treasury on pain of death.”

“Perhaps I intended to spare you the fate you so richly deserve for aiding him,” I say. “Do you believe me unaware that you escorted the assassin who murdered my wife bare weeks before the birth of my first child?”

Dyimes, instantly alert, steps past the ambassador to drop the man’s bodyguard with a dagger to the belly. I have the ambassador by the throat with one hand while the other grips his wrist. “I and mine shall return one day to your liege’s dismay. But you shall tread the paths of death ere sunset.”

Dyimes plunges his dagger into the ambassador’s back.

“Leave the bodies.” I lead Dyimes to the secret entrance, where Garven awaits. “Is everything ready?”

“Including having a team of jongleurs to spread the mystery of the disappearing duke and his household.”

Knowing the bitter chill which shall encase us, I step into the depths to chase my revenge.

author’s note- This one may be a little rough. I posted just as I finished.

Fun Pictures

Ladies and gentlemen… the Future Director of the FBI!!

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China SLAPPED ASML So HARD: Europe Will NEVER Recover!

The Population

Submitted into Contest #62 in response to: Write about a character preparing to go into stasis for decades (or centuries).… view prompt

Julia Boddie

They rushed him to the hospital. Timothy laid on the wheeled stretcher. He was ready.A few weeks ago, he got an email saying that he had been accepted into a science camp. Timothy was overjoyed. He had been trying to get into that camp for three years.Timothy counted down the days until camp started. Nothing else mattered to him. If he got grounded for not helping out around the house, he would just lay in bed thinking about the camp. As long as he got to go to that camp, everything was fine.Finally, the day had come. The camp bus drove by his house to pick him up. Timothy got in, carrying a suitcase full of unnecessary things.“You Timothy Carin?” asked the bus driver.Timothy nodded and sat down in an empty seat at the front of the bus. The door closed and the bus began to drive away. After a few more stops and other kids’ houses, they were on their way to Camp Camerez. The bus drove down the dirt paved road. The area was abandoned.Timothy was worried. This was not how the area looked on the flyer. When they got to the camp though, Timothy was amazed. It was so fancy. There was a huge brick building. In the front, it said in big, bold, yellow letters, “WELCOME TO CAMP CAMEREZ!”. There were two other around it buildings that were slightly smaller than the building in the middle. Timothy knew from the virtual tour he had taken that those were the two science labs.The camp wasn’t much of a camp. It was more of a school. The bus stopped.“Everyone off the bus,” said the bus driver. “Head towards the main building, but don’t go in yet. Just wait at the entrance.”The kids nodded and started to get off the bus. Timothy slid out of his seat. He then descended the bus stairs and started to walk towards the big building.He was one of the first people to make it there. It was probably his excitement fueling him. When he made it, a man walked out of the entrance.“Welcome to Camp Camerez,” he said cheerfully. “It’s my job to ensure you have a great time here. If you have any problems, please come find me. When the others get here, I will show you where you’ll be staying.”

Timothy nodded. This person seemed friendly enough. When everyone else got there, he told them the same thing. Then he told them to follow him and began walking towards a large cabin.

To Timothy, it seemed like this was the only reason they could call this place a camp.

“This is where the girls will be staying. Everyone unpack and pick a bunk. There will be no fighting or roughhousing in there do you understand?”

The girls nodded and went inside their cabin. He led the boys a little bit further away to a different cabin.

“Here is your cabin boys. You guys have the same rules as the girls. No roughhousing or fighting. Everyone go ahead and unpack and choose a bunk.”

All the boys, including Timothy, rushed into their cabin, eager to get first pick on a bunk. Timothy was one of the only ones who didn’t know anyone else. Everyone else already knew each other and they all wanted to have a bunk with their friends.

Timothy ended up stuck on the bottom bunk in the corner of the room. He was fine with that though. As long as he got to attend this camp, he would be fine with anything. He unpacked all his belongings. In his suitcase, he had his clothes, toothbrush, hairbrush, and other assorted items.

After he unpacked, he decided to go explore the camp. He walked outside of the boy’s cabin and looked around. It was sunset. Timothy didn’t want to explore anymore. He just wanted to get a good view of the sunset. He looked around for a high place he could stand.

He saw a zipline. There was a wooden platform leading to it. He could stand on that. He rushed over there, not wanting to miss the beautiful sunset.

When he made it over there, he saw a ladder to climb up to the platform. Timothy climbed as fast as he could. Finally, he made it up.

Timothy didn’t know why he was so attracted to the sunset this day. It was his destiny to be. He heard someone climbing up the ladder.

“Who is it?” he asked.

“My name’s Andrew. I’m your bunkmate,” the boy shouted from the bottom of the ladder.

He continued climbing up.

“Well, what are you doing here?” Timothy asked again.

“Same as you, I assume. I just wanted to get a good look at the sunset.

Andrew was almost to the platform.

It was a little scary being up there. Timothy was about a hundred-fifty feet up in the air. Below him was water. He wondered if it was deep.

Andrew had made it up. Both boys stood there, staring at the sunset. Then Andrew started to shift ever so slightly behind Timothy. When he was behind him, he pushed him into the water below.

Timothy felt the shove come from behind. The next thing he knew, he was plunging into the water. He hit the water in a belly flop.

Timothy sunk to the bottom. With a belly flop like that, he should’ve been dead. But miraculously, he survived. Timothy was at the bottom of the lake when he heard a voice.

“Are you ready?” the voice asked.

Timothy had no idea what it was talking about. He tried to talk, forgetting that he was underwater.

“Wwwwwa rrr yaaaa ttaaaa aaaabot?”

“Oh yeah. Sorry about that, I forgot you were underwater.”

A giant bubble of air surrounded Timothy. He could breathe.

“What are you talking about?” he asked again, this time understandably.

“You weren’t told yet? They were supposed to start getting you prepared ages ago!” said the voice.

“I still don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You have to go into stasis for a thousand years.”

Timothy laughed. The voice had to be joking.

“I’m not kidding. You must go into stasis. It is your destiny. You must do it to save the world.”

“How is me going into stasis going to save the world?”

“It’s kind of a long story. Well, the world is overpopulated. If there are too many humans, the whole race will die out. Not wanting to kill anyone, a scientist came up with a plan. She came up with a way to transfer people’s souls inside other people. So, you’re the body. There are about fifty-million souls inside of you. Still, killing all those people would be wrong. That’s why we need you to go into stasis for a while. That way, the world won’t be overpopulated anymore, and hopefully, when you wake up, the world won’t be as populated and you can come back. Don’t worry though, you won’t be in stasis for too long. Every three hundred years, you’ll wake up and I’ll take you through physical therapy.”

“That doesn’t make it any better! That means I’ll only wake up three times!” Timothy shouted.

This was a lot for him to take in. He couldn’t believe that he had about fifty-million people inside him. He had always been an ambivalent person.

Timothy did not want to go into stasis, but it was either that, or he had to die. Plus, it wasn’t fair to all the other people in him. It wouldn’t be fair if all of them had to die just because he didn’t want to go into stasis. Timothy decided he would do it.

“Besides you and the scientist, does anyone else know about this?” he asked.

“Actually, I am the scientist. I found a way to transmit my voice down here. But no, besides us, no one else knows about this. When you go into stasis, I’ll make it look like some kind of accident.”

“What will you do with me?”

“I guess I’ll just take you back to my lab and take care of you there. Before I pass away, I’ll find some more trustworthy people to take care of you. They’ll do the same. So we’ll take care of you for a thousand years,” said the scientist. “Come back here tomorrow. I have to get you prepared.”

The air bubble disappeared and Timothy floated up to the surface. He looked up and saw Andrew still standing on the platform. Timothy climbed up the ladder at lightning speed. When he made it up there, he was furious.

“Why would you push me? I could’ve died! It’s a miracle I survived!” he shouted.

“Calm down. I was just trying to have a little fun. How was I supposed to know you’re afraid of water?”

“I’m not afraid of water! You’re lucky I’m okay. I’m going back to the cabin.”

Timothy stormed off in the direction of the cabin. When he got there, he changed into some dry clothes and went to bed.

The next morning, they were woken up at sunrise by their guide.

“Everyone up! Time to get up!”

Timothy jumped up, startled. He banged his head on Andrew’s bunk above him. He rubbed his head and got up.

He and all the other boys took turns showering, brushing their teeth, washing their faces, and getting dressed. It took about an hour for everyone to get ready, mainly because there were only a few showers and a lot of kids. Also, some of the boys wouldn’t stop playing around.

When they were all ready, they waited for the girls to finish. The girls took even longer than the boys because they were putting on makeup. Timothy never got the point of makeup. Why would you go through the hassle to put it on, when you’re going to mess it up anyway? And even if you didn’t, it didn’t even last that long. The boys waited for about thirty minutes. Finally, the girls finished.

Timothy was excited about camp. He also needed to find the time to go back to the lake and meet the scientist. He wasn’t worried about that though. He could probably just slip away when nobody was looking.

The guide came by both of the cabins and led the boys and the girls.

“Today we’re letting everyone work in the labs. After that, you’ll have free time for the rest of the day. Then tonight, we’ll be roasting marshmallows by the campfire,” he said, pointing to a campfire.

When they made it to the labs, they walked in. There were adult supervisors at every station. Everyone split up and got to work.

Timothy wasn’t sure what to do. He had been so excited to come to this camp, but when he finally got there, he didn’t know what to do. Timothy eventually decided to just build a mini volcano.

After being in the lab for a few hours, the guide let them out for free time. During his free time, Timothy went to the lake. He talked to the scientist, preparing for his stasis.

She taught him what to do. If he felt like he was about to go into stasis, he had to breathe in and out at a rapid pace. This would help keep him alive.

Day after day, Timothy kept going to the lake.

Eventually, it was time.

One day, Timothy started to slip. He felt as if he was losing his grip on reality. He knew it was time. He breathed in and out rapidly. He was in the boy’s cabin alone. Then, Andrew walked through the door.

Timothy gasped. He didn’t want Andrew to see him pass out.

“Andrew, you have to get out of here,” he said, still wheezing.

“Why?”

“Ummmmmmmmmm. You’ll miss zip lining!” Timothy said, trying to sound believable.

“I didn’t know we were going zip lining today,” Andrew said.

He rushed out of the room with false hopes. Timothy was glad he was gone. He continued to breathe fast. He enjoyed those breaths. They were the last he would take for three hundred years.

We Were Soldiers Lighter Moments

Is it true that Mark Swiden was wrongfully detained by China?

Mark Swiden (U.S.) is an expert in drug manufacturing and was arrested red-handed at a drug production den with solid evidence.

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On April 30, 2019, the Intermediate People’s Court of Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province, in accordance with the law, the Canadian defendant Fan Wei and other 11 large transnational drug trafficking, manufacturing case for public sentencing.

The court found that in March 2012, the defendant Fan Wei, Wu Ziping people conspired to jointly manufacture, trafficking in drugs, and gathered defendants Mark Swiden (U.S.) and Leon, Pedro, Oscar, Keret (four are Mexican), such as drug production technicians and Zeng Xiantan, Li Rongfu and other drug production personnel.

From July to November 2012, Fan Wei and the others [1] set up a drug manufacturing cell in Taishan, Guangdong Province, and [2] trafficked and [3] manufactured a total of 63,833.92 grams of methamphetamine and 365.9 grams of di-methylcrystalline propylene glycol (DMP).

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Mark Swiden, an American citizen, was arrested in China in 2007 for drug trafficking and manufacturing. According to available information, he was sentenced to death in 2009. The Chinese judicial system handed down this sentence due to the severity of the crime, as drug trafficking and manufacturing are considered extremely serious offenses in China.

Queen teaches a princess

Trump Nominees Are Targets Of Bomb Threats As Radical Groups Plan Massive Protests For Inauguration Day

November 27, 2024 by Michael

You didn’t think that the radicals would just give up and go home after Donald Trump won the election, did you? It took a little bit of time for the shock of Trump’s election victory to wear off, but now it appears that they are ready to cause widespread chaos. On Wednesday, it was being reported that multiple individuals that have been nominated for positions in Trump’s cabinet have been “targeted with violent threats”…

Multiple of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees were targeted with violent threats in recent hours and law enforcement officials are responding, Trump’s transition team said on Wednesday.

The threats occurred on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning and included bomb threats and swatting, Trump transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. Swatting refers to attacks where people falsely report crimes to police, sending them to locations where no emergency occurred.

“Law enforcement and other authorities acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted,” Leavitt said. “President Trump and the entire Transition team are grateful for their swift action.”

This isn’t just happening to nominees that are highly controversial.

For example, Elise Stefanik and Lee Zeldin were not controversial picks by Trump, but they have both been targets of bomb threats…

Elise Stefanik, a Republican U.S. representative and Trump’s choice to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Lee Zeldin, a former Republican congressman who is Trump’s pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency, both said in separate statements they had been the targets of bomb threats.

An FBI spokesperson said the bureau is aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees, and is working with its law enforcement partners.

Could you imagine living with the fear that some nut could set off a bomb at your home at any moment?

Zeldin says that the pipe bomb threat that was directed at his family came with “a pro-Palestinian themed message”…

“A pipe bomb threat targeting me and my family at our home today was sent in with a pro-Palestinian themed message,” Zeldin said in a statement posted on X. “My family and I were not home at the time and are safe. We are working with law enforcement to learn more as this situation develops.”

President Trump hasn’t even taken office yet, and this is already beginning.

So how bad will it get once Trump and his cabinet start making decisions that the radicals absolutely detest?

Over the past few weeks, we have seen such an explosion of rage all over the country.

Many on the left were absolutely convinced that Trump would be defeated. When that didn’t happen, a tsunami of negative emotion was released.

Let me give you an example of what I am talking about. In Wisconsin, a group of women recently gathered to conduct a “primal scream” session during which they attempted to release the frustration that they are feeling as a result of the election…

A group of sad leftists gathered at Klode Park in Whitefish Bay to engage in a “primal scream,” releasing what was described as their “pain and frustration” after the election results saw President-elect Donald Trump romp to a decisive victory and Vice President Kamala Harris left far behind.

Video shows the group of people standing at the shore line and screaming. One of the event’s attendees — identified as an organizer — also posted about the event on Facebook.

“What a gorgeous morning to gather at Klode Park in Whitefish Bay to engage in a Primal Scream in order to release our pain and frustration after the election,” Tamara Gibbs posted on November 9, less than a week after the election.

I have watched footage of these women screaming at the top of their lungs, and it is truly frightening.

It is hard to imagine how this could possibly be helpful.

Instead, it seems to me that they are just whipping themselves up into even more of a frenzy.

Unfortunately, radicals have now identified a focal point for their frustrations.

Inauguration Day is coming up on January 20th, and many on the left plan to make it a day to remember. The following comes from the official website of one group that is engaged in a “nationwide mobilization” effort…

On Inauguration Day, January 20, people will come together in Washington D.C. and in cities and towns across the country in a nationwide mobilization opposing Trump’s ultra-right, billionaire agenda.

Trump ran a con game during the election. His real agenda is to destroy worker’s rights, deport millions of immigrant families, and pave the way for a complete corporate capitalist takeover by ending regulations to protect the environment, firing thousands of public sector workers, and transferring ever-larger parts of the National Treasury to the military industrial complex. He is 100 % behind Netanyahu’s genocidal war against the Palestinian and Arab people.

The Trump victory in the 2024 election represents the complete failure of the Democratic Party to stop the rise of the ultra-right. In fact, they have contributed to it by adopting much of the program of the extreme right while embracing endless war. Instead of responding to the needs of the people, both the Democrats and the Republicans have moved further and further to the right. Trump’s agenda is the culmination of this right-ward spiral, and his administration will move to make major gains for the billionaire class at the expense of the millions of everyday people in the US and across the world.

There will be lots of Trump supporters in Washington D.C. on January 20th, but there will also be lots of radicals.

In 2016, radicals smashed windows and set vehicles on fire to protest Trump’s inauguration.

I expect much worse this time around.

Sadly, the violence on January 20th will only be a preview of the tremendous chaos that is eventually coming to the streets of America.

There are literally hundreds of groups that are starting to organize a “resistance” to Trump, and they are not messing around.

Brown Sugar Rolls (Chorreadas)

The name for these rolls means “dirty faces,” referring to the dark smudge of brown sugar glaze.

Yield: 10 rolls

Ingredients

Rolls

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup lard
2 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 cups hot water
1 package active dry yeast
Dash of granulated or dark brown sugar
1/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)
2 cups whole wheat flour
3 3/4 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg, slightly beaten

Brown Sugar Glaze

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 to 3 teaspoons water

Instructions

Rolls

Place brown sugar, lard and salt in large bowl.
Stir in 1 3/4 cups hot water until brown sugar is dissolved.
Dissolve yeast and granulated or dark brown sugar in 1/4 cup warm water; stir into brown sugar mixture.
Beat in whole wheat flour and enough all-purpose flour to make dough stiff enough to knead.
Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up. Cover; let rise in warm place until double, about 2 hours. Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.
Line 2 cookie sheets with aluminum foil; grease.
Punch down dough. Turn onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth. Shape into 10 inch long roll; cut into 10 slices. Shape each slice into smooth ball. Place on foil-covered cookie sheets; flatten into 3 1/2 to 4-inch diameter circles. Cover; let rise until double, about 30 minutes.
Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Brush rolls with egg.
Spread Brown Sugar Glaze on centers of rolls.
Make diagonal or crisscross cuts in tops of rolls with tip of sharp knife.
Bake until rolls are brown and sound hollow when tapped, 20 to 25 minutes.
Immediately remove rolls; cool on wire racks.

Brown Sugar Glaze

Mix brown sugar and water until of spreading consistency.

Ex Girlfriend Regrets Asking for Open Relationship

Why are Western-backed coups failing?

TL:DR

The western backed coups do not have organic support and rely on paid elements.

Long version

Back in the early 1990s, we had a history class. It was run by the PE teacher. He actually became semi famous for something later on (something good). Anyway in year 7 we did some history classes. The focus was on the Roman Empire and the downfall of the Roman Empire.

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The Roman Empire post Marian Reforms was pretty much a superpower. The Roman Empire is famous for having one the best-militarized forces in the world for more than 300 years, with highly disciplined troops, loyal generals, and honorable traditions.

Later history would cover Henry VIII and the Plantagenet kings, but that’s a story for another day. The teacher outlined that towards the end of the Roman empire they increasingly relied on Foederati something in the modern age we would consider mercenaries.

What’s wrong with mercenaries? The teacher said the problem with Mercenaries is they fight for money and nothing else so when the going gets tough? They run away. You can’t spend money when you’re dead. Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries literally has this in it’s 1990s trailer fighting for C-bills (in universe money).

We are seeing and saw with Ukraine. ‘Volunteers’ (mercenaries) who went there ended up leaving shortly after. They had the opition.

Same with SUPER SOLDIER WALLI from Canada

The first comment literally sums it up.

So what does this have to do with the western backed coups? Lets go back to what I wrote in the opening.

TL:DR

The western backed coups do not have organic support and rely on paid elements.

When the going gets tough mercenaries/paid elements leave. A real revolution is no picnic.

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As such there’s nobody to STAND AND HOLD THE LINE when the going gets tough. Lonely Cantonese Sith Lord wrote an excellent post here about why the Houthis cannot be defeated, they are willing to sacrifice everything. EVERYTHING.

Hong Kong is an excellent case study.

Anybody on the ground will know there were enormous numbers of adverts through media channels like telegram etc offering money to protest and be violent. There were children in school uniforms. They were handed black T-shirts with $500 notes in them. They were mercenaries paid to do something. We saw how ‘riot leaders’ suddenly came into large amounts of cash they couldn’t explain the origins of. Joshua Wong and his $400,000USD he tried to deposit into HSBC. Or his $4million US apartment. Or Ted Hui’s millions.

Joseph Wang himself said he was utterly shocked at how fast the yellow movement crumbled the moment the money stopped flowing. The HKSAR and CPC stopped the inflow of money and the movement pretty much vanished.

The mercenaries on the other hand were fighting against those who would stand against them out of something more important than money. Love them or hate them the white shirts stood against the rioters. I’m a Hakka clansman and I don’t mess with Yeun Long types despite common roots. 😀 there’s also a reason the british Empire in 1899 went to the Eastern Side of the New Territories to raise their flags and not the western side.

I literally wrote it myself. Around the end of 2019, it seemed as if the police were losing control as the violence escalated and numerous Hakka men had been attacked. We were seeing on television police men in stretchers after being stabbed and fanatics cheering it on . Loads of us saw this and thought holy fucking shit.

We had a second Holy FUCKING SHIT when westerners were cheering it on. I had been attacked a few weeks before. Some of the old men said it might be like the Hakka/Punti clan wars again, where we were going to be exterminated if we lost and it was time to make preparations.

All the men and even the women in the villages even the old men 60+ started martial arts training, some were even talking about moving the clan cannons to a defensive position.

We would stand and DIE fighting to protect what we held dear.

The paid mercenaries don’t have this grit and ultimately they run away because they’re not willing to put EVERYTHING on the line.

This was evident at CUHK and PolyU. They didn’t stand and fight, they tried to escape by any means possible.

You can think of it this way.

You do a young Batman, in a dark Alleyway.

You’d defend your family with all your might even if you don’t like them that much.

But if it was your boss ? Would you fight for him/her?

We Were Soldiers (2002) ♡ MOVIE REACTION – FIRST TIME WATCHING!

A Sailing Aesthetic

I love sailing.

Not that I do it all the time, but when I have an opportunity, I take the time to go ahead and take a vessel out and play with the sails and dance with the wind.

Sailing isn’t all that difficult.

Basically, you have this big sheet that you orient so that wind pushes the vessel forward. Oh, for certain, it can get more complicated. From a simple small skiff to a gaff-rigged top mast schooner.

But I’ll tell you when the sail gets blessed by the wind, and the the vessel really picks up its skirts and trots, it’s magical.

Owning a boat, however is a pain in the ass.

But…

But…

The air, the breeze, and the beautiful day is truly special.

Today, please enjoy these visions of paradise.

Today…

Do most of the Western people know the truth about China?

No, they don’t.

They’ve been fooled by Western media about China. They’re very gullible to believe their media.

They’ve never been to China to see the country with their own eyes. And they’re not likely to.

Even when presented with material (published articles, reports, surveys, videos) that show the truth about China, they dismiss it as Chinese propaganda. This is the result of Western propaganda-induced bigotry.

There is a minority of Westerners who do know the truth. Unfortunately, the bigots and racists will not accept their word that China is a wonderful country.

Full Metal Jacket (1987)- Battle of Hue City

What screams “I can fight”?

I was sitting in a bar, with a kind of bad rep, having a beer with a couple of guys from work. Across the room are 3 guys standing at the bar. One them is big, about 6′4″ & 260/270. They’re a little boisterous.

Guy comes out of the men’s room in the back. He’s wearing work clothes & looks like he used them hard that day. He’s kind of “chunky.” I don’t mean he’s fat, though there’s a bit there. He looks like he’s put together with chunks & blocks & slabs. He’s about 5′ 9or10″ & 180. (Probably more, this guy works hard.) He has a little shuffle in his walk it’s been a hard day. He heads for the door.

Big guy steps back & bumps into smaller guy. Smaller guy steps aside & excuses himself & tries to continue. Big guy grabs his shoulder & spins him around.

There’s no hesitation. Little guy steps inside, grabs big guy’s lapels & slams their faces together twice. HARD!

Blood flows. Little guy turns, grabs a handful of napkins off the bar & goes out the door. Nobody follows him.

Could he fight? Oh hell yeah! How did I know it wasn’t his first rodeo? That handful of napkins.

Shrimp Etouffee

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

2 pounds medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 medium onion
1 bunch green onions
1 small bunch parsley
1 can tomato paste
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 cups water
Salt and cayenne pepper to taste

Instructions

Dice the onions and scallions.
Chop the parsley. Hold the parsley separately.
In a medium pot, add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil (your choice)
Once the oil is heated, add the onions and scallions. Glaze the onions and scallions.
Once all are glazed, add 2 cups of water and the tomato paste. Stir until the paste is dissolved.
Lower the heat to a constant simmer for 35 to 40 minutes. Stir occasionally and add water if needed.
Add salt and cayenne pepper to taste.
After simmering, add parsley and simmer for 15 minutes.
Add shrimp and lower the heat for an additional 20 minutes. If the sauce looks too watery, you can dissolve 2 tablespoons of flour in a little water to a pasty consistency and slowly stir in.
Serve over rice and/or corn bread.

Trump proposes to stimulate domestic industry by putting tariffs on foreign goods. Foreign countries will retaliate, doing the same with American products. Is this not a zero-sum game?

Did the tariff of Trump 1.0 stimulate domestic industry? I dont see any. Do you?

I saw US farmers were hurt because China has reduced or stopped buying US agricultural products. Instead China has gone to Latin America like Brazil because LatinA is full of agriculture.

Tariff used to work in the old days. But not today when easy transportation & globalisation makes it easy for tariffed countries to find alternatives. But US mentality stays in the past.

Despite the failure of Trump 1.0, why Trump 2.0 still pushes for tariff that is higher than Trump 1.0?

I can only think of 1 reason. US economy is so bad that USA needs “cash”. Below is my earlier post.

Trump 2.0’s crazily high tariff on ALL foreign countries = rob & force them to feed USA.

Have you seen a mafia in movies such as god father?

Inside USA, tariff on foreign country = tax increase on Americans because foreign sellers will add (part of) the tariff to the sale price of their exported goods to USA.

In Trump 1.0, 80–90% of tariff was added to the sale price by foreign sellers. That is 1 reason why there was inflation in USA in Trump 1.0 & Biden era.

In both Trump 1.0 & 2.0, Trump has & will decrease tax to attract votes. How to recover the loss of revenue incurred from tax decrease? Use tariff to cause inflation so that all Americans pay a bit ie use tariff to disguise tax increase.

Analysts suggest countries to fight back & break even. Trump tariffs on imports to USA; countries tariffs on exports to USA with the same amount. Dont feed the robber-mafia.

We must understand: 60% tariff on Chinese imports & 20% on smaller countries is crazily unreasonable. Not many firms can make 60% of profit. Not even 20% for small firms/countries. Nobody will do business with no profit. Thus, decouple & stop/reduce sale to USA is the only option.

In fact, decoupling may be the plan of Trump 2.0. Trump may want USA to start all over again by manufacturing its own products from toilet paper to Trump’s campaign cap to washer etc. Trump wants everything to be made in USA.

US wage is higher than southeast Asia. That is Made-in-USA is more expensive. Trouble is whether USA will increase the wage to catch up with the inflated consumer products. Otherwise Americans will become poorer.

Trump 1.0 failed to attract US investors back to USA. Some still stayed in China. Some moved from China to, say, Thailand to do a finish touch on the Chinese products. This disguise of made-in-Thailand products also pushes up the American consumer price.

Let us watch Trump 2.0 to roll out.

An Officer and a Gentlemen Reel

Websites Glorifying Jimmy Lai Should Be Prohibited to Avoid Affecting Fair Trials

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Some readers have informed the author that when searching for “Jimmy Lai” or “Lai Chee Ying” on Google in relation to the recent case, the top search result often leads to a website that glorifies Jimmy Lai and promotes support for him. This website is labeled as a “sponsored site,” meaning its operators are paying for Google Ads to secure the top ranking and maximize visibility.

The website, presented entirely in English, contains extreme and provocative content. In its “Timeline” section, it chronicles events from Jimmy Lai’s establishment of Apple Daily in 1995—an outlet infamous for spreading propaganda and inciting violence—up to its closure in 2021. The website heavily whitewashes his longstanding collaboration with foreign forces and his role in causing chaos in Hong Kong. Additionally, the “Awards” page lists numerous overseas accolades of questionable credibility, portraying Jimmy Lai as a “hero” who fought for freedom of speech.

The website also includes sections titled “Trial Updates” and “Hong Kong Updates,” which largely translate reports from local Hong Kong media outlets, such as Ming Pao and The Witness. These reports cover developments in Hong Kong’s judicial system, including updates on overseas judges resigning, national security cases such as the “35+ subversion case,” and daily live updates from Jimmy Lai’s own trial proceedings. However, it remains unclear whether these local media outlets have authorized the website to translate and publish their content in English. This issue requires further investigation.

Furthermore, the “Press” section of the website features numerous photos and videos related to Jimmy Lai’s fourth son filing legal complaints overseas. This highlights ongoing attempts to solicit foreign interference in Hong Kong’s judicial process and continue the subversive activities initiated by Jimmy Lai. The connection between this website, Jimmy Lai’s fourth son, and the so-called “Jimmy Lai Foreign Legal Team” is evident, showing a coordinated effort to influence public opinion and undermine judicial proceedings.

Any attempts to glorify Jimmy Lai, sway public opinion in his favor, or influence the outcome of his trial could constitute criminal contempt of court. This website’s operators are using Google Ads to secure top search rankings in Hong Kong, investing significant funds to spread messages that could interfere with judicial fairness, undermine impartiality, and place undue pressure on the courts. Such actions disrupt the proper functioning of the judiciary, and national security authorities must investigate promptly. These activities cannot be allowed to continue.

In previous controversies, such as those involving “pro-independence songs,” Google has repeatedly refused to remove provocative content. Now, Google is permitting Jimmy Lai-related political websites to advertise in Hong Kong using Google Ads, promoting them prominently and encouraging citizens to access this content. This effectively turns Google’s search engine into a platform for illegal elements in Hong Kong to spread misinformation and manipulate public opinion. Such actions show a disregard for corporate social responsibility, constitute unethical business practices, and violate laws that protect national security and political stability. The Hong Kong community cannot tolerate Google profiting from activities that harm the country and its people.

The Security Bureau should immediately engage Google to demand the removal of such advertisements and related content. If Google refuses to comply, the Department of Justice should promptly seek a court injunction to ensure that websites glorifying Jimmy Lai are no longer accessible in Hong Kong. This is a necessary step to prevent interference in the fair trial process for critical national security cases.

The Book of Eli | Eli Fights Hijackers

Three Bars

Submitted into Contest #115 in response to: Write a story where a device goes haywire.… view prompt

Melanie Varkey

44%“Dad? Dad? Can you hear me?”Static roiled through his cell as the train passed through another tunnel, but he held on to the connection.“Yeah, I can hear you, Jamie. As I was saying, you don’t have to pick me up this afternoon. Libby has to head into town anyway, so I’ll tag along with her.”“Are you sure, Dad? I just got off the station.” That was a lie. A stupid one. His father would have heard the squeals and rumble of the car as it cruised over the tracks. Whether his father knew, though, he didn’t indicate.“No, son. It’s fine. I can’t be late– last time. I almost didn’t get to see Dr.– if it– cancellation.”“Don’t worry about it, Dad. I’ll get you there on time.”“Jam–, I can’t —you. Spe– –der”“Dad? Dad?”The line disconnected. Jamie looked at his phone. Three bars of coverage. He craned his neck above the crowd of passengers to glimpse at the windows outside. They were outside the city now, and steel-gray storm clouds roiled and brewed above them, chasing the train as it escaped into the suburbs. Jamie snapped at himself for forgetting his umbrella.He looked back at his smartphone, and the screen was dark, reflecting off the huddle of passengers squeezing into him. He tapped the screen several times, signalling his increasing frustration with every press.A fog slugged through the streets of his hometown as Jamie got onto his stop. Biting off his right glove and dragging them off his middle finger, he long-pressed the narrow button on the side. He was sure he charged it last night. Finally, the phone vibrated, and an hourglass glyph showed on this screen. The cold was already biting his fingers, and he moved to put his ill-fitting glove back on as he crossed the road. He almost stumbled over himself as a driver screeched to a stop in front of him. The driver honked his horn and mimed at him to watch where he was going. Jamie responded with the universal fingered response.The unfamiliar hourglass symbol dropped three-pixel crystals before turning over again. Phone restarts shouldn’t take this long, Jamie wondered. He had received this phone as a birthday gift only two months ago. Finally, a chirp and vibration of the phone indicated that his home screen was active again. A soft patter of raindrops dogged his stops as he began a brisk walk to his childhood home.37%

Every couple of seconds, his apps and widgets appeared and slowly took their place on the screen.

Jamie selected 3 on his speed dial list and was met with an unexpected error: There is no contact assigned to this speed dial number.

Jamie long pressed the number again, but the same error appeared. He wondered if he lost all his contacts in the restart. He couldn’t remember his dad’s phone number, so it was always number 3 on speed dial. D for Dad. Scrolling through his contacts, he found his father’s cell number. He tried again. One ring. Two rings. Three.

Finally, an interruption in the fourth ring as the call picked up.

“Dad? Dad? Can you hear me now?”

“Hello? Who is this?” a stranger answered back. His voice was husky and groggy from a mid-afternoon nap.

Jamie frowned. He was sure he had picked Dad from the contacts.

“Excuse me, is this 576-222-3684?

“Yeah, who is this?”

“I’m looking for Walt Robinson. I’m his son Jamie.”

“Wrong number.”, the caller clipped and cut the phone before Jamie could respond. He checked the contact list and tried calling again. The phone rang two times before it cut to voicemail halfway through the second ring.

30%

It was now pouring. Fat raindrops started to soak through Jamie’s blazer and ran down his neck, the chill settling permeating through his layers into his bones. A shard of lightning strode through the slate skies, and a distant rumble of thunder brought. He ducked under the tangerine awning of a nearby coffee shop, formerly a convenience store where a younger Jamie would meet with his buddies and count pennies and nickels to exchange for Marlboroughs. The blackboard easel on the sidewalk stood forgotten, small rivers streaked through proclamations of pumpkin and cinnamon-spiced offerings.

A new approach. Speed dial number 6. N for Naomi. Formerly M for Mom. Naomi should have picked up Gillian from school by now. Their morning was rife with stress. With Naomi fighting a losing battle with a particularly nasty bout of flu, and a sleepy toddler with a penchant for morning tantrums, Jamie was exhausted when he dropped his daughter off at school with two minutes to spare. Thankfully, Naomi had offered to pick up their daughter in their car, so he could drive his father’s car to this impromptu doctor’s appointment and then drive back home.

One ring. Two rings. A familiar voice cut through in the middle of the third ring.

“What is it?”

“Hey Nomi, how are you feeling? “

“Fine? Why do you ask?” she clipped back. Her congestion was gone. The late-night raid of the medicine cabinet cough syrups, lozenges, and rubs enough to knock someone seemed to have done its job.

“Thanks for picking up Gillian, Noms. I’m sorry you had to do that. I just wish Dad would have given me a better heads up about this appointment so I could have found someone else to pick it up. I’ll remind him when I see him today.”

“What are you talking about, Jamie? Are you drunk?”

Taken aback at the accusation and the edge in her voice, he retorted, “What? Don’t you remember our conversation this morning? I’m picking up dad for his appointment, and you’re picking Gillian up from school, right?”

“Look, Jamie, I knew that this would be a tough week for you, but I need you to step up. Gillian has been waiting for hours for you, and I must pick for her now since you didn’t pick her up…I don’t have time for these games. Are you coming to pick her up tonight?

“Pick her up? For what?”

A sigh of frustration. “…It is your weekend with Gillian, James or did you forget? We had discussed this just two days ago. “

Anxiety bled into his voice as he pleaded. “Naomi, please, I’m sorry. Could you tell me what Dad’s number is, and I’ll pick up Gillian as soon as I see him?”

“Honestly, Jamie, I don’t know why you’re doing this. Have you been seeing your therapist lately? I think you should make an appointment with Dr. Brooke. You’ve been acting more unhinged than usual since we signed the papers.”

The rain grew in its unrelenting tempo, soaking Jamie’s sneakers and climbing up the canvas into his feet. A tinny sound rang in his ears, growing in volume and masking Naomi’s hurried goodbye and the click of her disconnection. Jamie struggled to breathe, swallowing gulps of air while stumbling back first into the cafe door and almost falling over as it gave way.

Customers stared at him as he picked himself up. The barista called out to ask if he was okay. Still breathing hard, Jamie nodded, got back on his feet, walked to the closest open table next to a group of high schoolers, and sat down. He put his head between his arms and closed his eyes, and started counting multiples of two. A trick his father had taught him after experiencing his first panic attack before his high school finals. After a couple of minutes, Jamie started to breathe normally again. The café patrons had already turned back to their conversations. He brought the phone back into his ear, but Naomi had disconnected. He thought of calling her again but suspected she wouldn’t pick up this time. Jamie checked the home screen; the time was consistent with the cafe clock. He knew today was Tuesday. But the clock was showing Friday, and the year was 2021. The phone was two years ahead.

He interrupted the intense conversation with the neighbouring table, sipping at their frappes. “Excuse me, what’s the date today?”

The only boy spoke up, “Don’t you have a phone, old man?”. Two of his friends snickered.

Frustration gnawed at him. Through gritted teeth, he replied, “It’s not working right now.”

One of the girls piped up, “It’s Tuesday, October 15th.”

“Thank you. And the year?”

They glanced at each other, weighing whether he was joking. The teenage boy scoffed, “2019, obviously.”

He nodded in thanks and turned back to this now unfamiliar device in front of him. The students rolled their eyes before continuing with their conversation.

The chirp of a notification. A calendar reminder. A meeting with Dr. Brooke tomorrow at 4 pm. His therapist, according to Naomi on the phone. He felt a gnawing unease. He had never had a therapist, never believed in them. Therapists always signalled foreboding. There is never a “good” reason to go to one. You only go to one if something is wrong. Something is wrong with you, your family, or your marriage. But he had a sense that person may be the only one who could answer his questions.

25%

He hovered over the call icon for a few seconds, collecting his nerve. Steeling himself, he pressed and waited. One ring, and the phone picked up.

“Jamie, are you okay?” a soft voice answered.

“Hey, Dr. Brooke, I’m not sure. I feel very lost and confused right now.”

“Call me Diana. Have you lost your memory again?”

Shock bubbled up into an awkward laugh. The timbre of her voice reminded him of his mother. He understood why he would have stuck with her as his therapist.

“You could say so, Diana. You sound like I’ve done this before.”

“Yes, Jamie. What year is it?”

“It’s 2019. October 15th, to be exact.”

“Okay, now tell me. Are you in a safe place right now?”

“I’m at a cafe near Derby station. Thirty minutes from my dad’s. I’m supposed to drive him today to his appointment, but he wanted to go with his neighbour instead.”

The downpour grew to crescendo outside the cafe. Rain slapped at the window, and Jamie felt the chill permeate into his bones.

“Mm, okay, and this is the house on Rollingwood avenue.”

“Uhh, yes. Diana, could I ask you a question or a couple?”

“Of course. But it seems that you have not experienced your triggering events yet, so don’t be alarmed.”

“Does my wife hate me?”

Dr. Brooke replied with a gentle admonishment. “Hate is a strong word and one that I wouldn’t have associated with your wife in our time in couple’s therapy, Jamie. There is still love there, but it is in a different form now. You must understand that she went through the same experience as you and trying to move forward in her way.”

Anxiety ran through his shivering fingers as he struggled to form the words of his next question. Thunder tore through the dine of the cafe, and the lights flickered, and the remaining customers cowered in the silence that followed.

“Diana, where is my dad?”

A pause. The seconds stretched across the silence, louder than thunder.

“Your father passed away, Jamie. Today is the anniversary of his death.”

The weight of her words fell into his gut like a boulder.

He cradled his head between his knees, rocking slowly. He barely whispered the one word, “How?” but Diana must have already anticipated it.

“Walt got into a car accident on his way home from the doctor. The roads were slick, and the car hydroplaned into oncoming traffic.”

Fuck. Jamie cut the call and pushed his way out the milling crowd of storm watchers near the window. The rain slapped him as he sprinted, barely seeing the sidewalk ahead of him, relying only on childhood memories walking home.

15%

He couldn’t see the car on the driveway. No, no, no. His lungs were on fire. The taste of blood filled his mouth as he forced himself to push through one last sprint under the furious storm.

He hammered the door, panting against its frame. “Dad! Dad! Open the door!”

Two seconds, Fifteen, Forty-five, a minute. Finally, Jamie heard a shuffling and a hesitant pull of the door. His father’s eyes poked through the small gap, recognized his son’s soaked face, and pulled the door open just enough to drag him in.

“Jamie! What are you doing here?”

Jamie gulped handfuls of air and replied in a strained wheeze. “I told you I’d take you to the appointment.”

An exasperated sigh. “You shouldn’t have come, son. I was just about to wall over to Libby’s. Just sit here and wait for me. I just put out the fireplace, but it shouldn’t take too long to start it up again.” Jamie tried to shake his head as Walt started to shoo him upstairs. “Your old clothes are still in your bedroom. Go on and change. You’re going to catch a cold like this.”

“It’s okay, Dad. I want to drive you there. You know Libby has an old car. She shouldn’t be driving in this weather. We can grab her groceries on the way, too, if she needs it.”

“It’s fine, Jamie. I’m not as old as you think; I can handle myself. I’ve taken care of myself just fine since your mother passed.”

Jamie felt an unexpected tinge of guilt with that last line. Nevertheless, he didn’t move. “No, Dad. Either I’m taking you, or you’re not going”

His father stared at him, considering. After a few seconds, he signalled his assent with a grunt, “Fine. But you’re not soaking my seats like this. Get some dry clothes, and I’ll wait for you in the garage.”

A wall of rain covered them the drive home. The vintage windshield wipers could barely catch up to the wet onslaught. The visit was standard, but Jamie was glad he joined his father: Dr. Goldman had concerns about the recent blood test, especially the dangerously elevated cholesterol levels. If Jamie hadn’t dropped him off, his father would have likely shoved the prescription into his jacket and forgotten it was there by the next day.

Jamie’s phone peeked out at him from the cupholder. He had not had a chance to check on it at the doctor’s office. He wanted to know if it worked. If Dad survived tonight, then speed dial number 3 would work.

He glanced over to the passenger seat. The old man fell asleep as soon as they got onto the main roads. His slow breaths lifted his frail frame, and Jamie wondered at the dramatic transition of the husky working man from his childhood to the wisp of a human being right next to him.

He reached over and grabbed the phone with his right hand, his left on the underhand of the steering wheel. The red battery sign at the top of the screen was blinking at 2%. He didn’t have much time. He had to know.

Finger memory navigated him to the phone screen while he kept his eyes on the road. Pressing 3 again, he waited. The error message didn’t show up. The phone was ringing. One ring. Two rings.

A high-pitched squeal from his blind spot. A shock impact to the right rear of the Caprice forced the vehicle to veer to the left before Jamie over-corrected. The car turned far off into the ditch before landing on the driver’s side in a thick hedge.

The vacuous silence in the minutes after was broken only by faraway sirens and a disembodied voice from a cracked cell phone before it died.

You’ve reached Walt Robinson. I can’t come to the phone, so leave your message at the beep.

Apocalypto Best Scene (2006)

Science & Technology updates with China

By Godfree Roberts

Quantum key distribution (QKD) on a drone platform, a world first, showed that mobile platforms can transmit single photons directly to end-users.

First Large-Scale Integrated 5G-Advanced Intelligent Network covers 10 million Beijingers, a big leap to everyday immersive video, UHD livestreams and cloud gaming.

DJI’s T100 agricultural drone has Lidar + AESA radar + AI + 360 deg 4-eye vision. 75 kg payload sprays 30L/min. Delivers goods remotely. Charges in 9 mins. $15,000.

Huawei’s new Mate 70 phone has AI Teleportation. A grab gesture takes a screenshot and shares it – easier than Apple’s AirDrop.

Economy

Driverless taxi fares start at $0.55 vs. $2.48 for a human driver. Apollo Go’s Q3 rides are up 20% YoY to 988,000. Its taxis retail for $30,000, vs. Waymo’s $150,000.

New NDRC department to oversee low-altitude aviation, drive the low-altitude economy, coordinate with other departments like the Air Force.

12 million public chargers installed by the end of 2024, up 49% YoY. Private charging infrastructure hit 8.5 million, up 56%.

Solar leads as China adds 210GW of renewables YTD, up 21% YoY.

China’s first shale oil demonstration zone, in Xinjiang, has extracted 1 million tonnes YTD from 306 wells.

Xinjiang’s new lab program focuses on the local coal mining industry by experts from China’s top academic institution to solve scientific and technological issues.

A salmon-farming company plans to use waste cold water produced by LNG regasification plants to keep their fish farm water cold. “The LNG terminal operator offered us land to take the cold water off their hands. They can’t discharge directly into the ocean”.

There will be 38 5G base stations for every 10,000 people by the end of 2027, 5G will be 75% of mobile traffic and IoT connections will exceed 100 million.

Society

TikTok restricted the account of former Chinese gymnastics star, Wu Liufang, after many found her costumes and dances too sexy.

A Zhejiang University student was disciplined after receiving financial aid then traveling across China, Japan, and South Korea.

Guangzhou first Tier One city to grant permanent residency houkou to home buyers who have paid local social security for a year.

“The rates of grain and food loss during production, storage, transportation and processing will be below international averages by the end of 2027. Per capita food waste per meal in the catering industry, government canteens, school canteens and enterprise canteens will decrease significantly, and food waste will be effectively curbed¹”.

Measures to create high-quality jobs and stabilize employment while supporting migrant workers’ urbanization: improving skill sets, safeguarding labour rights, reducing wage arrears, access to medical care, unemployment, work-injury insurance and pensions.

Virtual reality ski simulators let users experience realistic, snow-covered slopes at home while on the slopes, plus smart, heated snow boots give hours of warmth.

Environment

In the video, above, the barrier plant’s blossoms have both medicinal (TCM) and financial value² for their carers. All government projects are expected to at least recover their own costs over time.

At COP.29 in Azerbijian, China said the mitigation fund should be at least US$500 billion. “The Chinese were willing to offer more if others did, but the others didn’t,” said President Mukhtar Babayev.

Governance

“Chinese modernization is deeply rooted in the fine traditional Chinese culture, mirrors the advantages of scientific socialism, draws inspiration from all of human civilization’s outstanding achievements, represents the direction of the progress of human civilization, and demonstrates a new vision that’s different from Western modernization. It is a new model for human advancement”. Xi Jinping. Above, Xi as Ningde Party Secretary, 1989.

Since water resources belong to the state, China has completed the water quantity allocation of 94 trans-provincial rivers and 373 intra-provincial rivers, determined the total groundwater extraction amounts and water level control indicators of 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, and issued 630,000 sets of electronic licenses to users for water extraction.

“Upgrading toilets in rural areas is a task I have always been concerned about. I’m also a person from the rural areas and I know that it’s really inconvenient to go to the toilet in the rural areas”. Xi Jinping on tour last week.

Zhuhai changes the defense discussion

In the west, and especially the US, defense posture is based on appearing powerful and intimidating to deter any political opponents. In China it is the opposite; most of the time it is about appearing unthreatening in order to lure the opponent to make the first move.

This has changed with the Zhuhai Air Show. Up until now, China has not showed off its latest weapons, especially strategic weapons which can hit targets far outside China’s borders. For the first time, it has showed a mockup of a hybrid fighter/space plane called 白帝 (White Emperor), a plane designed to fly in the low gravity of the moon, and the DF-100 long-range cruise missile, and other hypersonic weapons.

Why has China changed its strategy?

US think tanks and the Defense Department have based all their wargames on a local Asian conflict over Taiwan and the South China Sea. In their wargames, the US homeland is never hit and never suffers casualties and destruction. China wants to make clear to the US that it has the capability and the determination to inflict casualties on Americans in the US homeland just the same as the US can inflict casualties on the Chinese mainland. The aim is to force US war planners in think tanks and the Defense Department think long and hard about the cost of war with China. US politicians have believed that foreign wars are acceptable to Americans as long as there are no American casualties on the US homeland. Both China and Russia through independent demonstrations are showing to the US that this way of thinking is outmoded; if there is a serious confrontation with either country, Americans in the US would die.
The incoming Trump administration has two key anti-China hawks: Marco Rubio as Secretary of State and Michael Waltz as national security advisor. Both promote confrontation with China in security and what the US formerly called diplomacy (the US doesn’t do diplomacy anymore). The new China defense posture is to convey that China is ready for any worst-case scenario from the US, and that US politicians should be ready to face the consequences.
US Defense Department war planners have a realistic assessment of China’s war capabilities, but they have not been able to get media support for any views which are from outside Congress and the State Department. The easiest way for them to get more attention is by China showing off its most advanced systems at Zhuhai and other arms export exhibitions worldwide.
Trump has created a new cabinet which draws from all across the spectrum when it comes to dealing with China and Russia. His intent is to hear opposing views so that he can be the final judge on foreign policy when dealing with China and Russia. Both governments are giving him plenty to think about.

How will Donald Trump try to cut off China’s production and shipping of fentanyl?

He can’t because China does not make fentanyl. Most fentanyl is produced by Mexican cartels within Mexico, where Donald Trump has proposed deploying special military forces to combat drug cartels. Some of the chemical precursors for fentanyl production are sourced from China, but these substances are also widely used in the legitimate pharmaceutical industry for manufacturing essential products such as pain relievers, anesthetics, and other medications.

Governments, including China and the United States, have introduced regulations, monitoring systems, and collaborations with chemical manufacturers to prevent the diversion of precursors for illicit drug production. However, criminal networks frequently find ways to obtain these substances. Drug addiction has persisted in the U.S. since Nixon declared the War on Drugs in 1970, yet instead of addressing the root causes—such as curbing the demand and underlying factors driving addiction—many politicians deflect responsibility by finding scapegoats. It’s time to focus on comprehensive solutions that reduce cravings and dependence among Americans rather than assigning blame.

Shorpy

The Coin Toss | No Country for Old Men

Subject 12

Submitted into Contest #115 in response to: Write a story where a device goes haywire.… view prompt

Anna W

Ryland knew he might not get invited to the party if he didn’t use his connections on the football team. He had been a kicker the last three years, though he hadn’t tried out this year because of taking on a second job. He’d been avoiding the irritation of his buddies the first few weeks of school, hoping to save himself from the lectures of privileged athletes whose families weren’t struggling financially. His mom told him he didn’t need the job, but he got one anyway. He could work an extra 10-15 hours a week now that he was 18, and it would help him put away more money for college. He wanted to get out of this small town, with its small-minded, boring people. He turned the corner in the hallway of the aging high school, walking absentmindedly toward his last class of the day. He threw a passing glance at the window of a classroom on his right and stopped. What was that? He wondered.

His English teacher was standing behind his desk, hunched in midair, as if he’d been in the middle of standing up, but had suddenly stopped. Ryland couldn’t figure out why this bothered him so much, but fought his rising panic by counting. He was about to enter the classroom, when the teacher stood up suddenly, with jerky movements, and then smoothly walked around his desk and toward the back of the classroom.

Ryland watched him for another moment, seeing nothing else out of the ordinary. Weird, he thought to himself. He blinked several times, wondering if he should be concerned about this, or if something was just wrong with his brain. He felt a sleepy feeling that weighed on his mind and suddenly felt strongly that it was nothing to be worried about. He glanced back down the hall, seeing one of his football buddies rounding the corner ahead. Alright, focus man, he thought to himself, you can do this. He took a deep breath and walked confidently forward.

******

Officer Lara Walker sat in the uncomfortable chair, fighting the urge to fidget, as she took notes on what Commander Vinn was saying about the operation, in its current stages. She didn’t need the notes, but knew it would make the Commander feel important to have her rapt attention and to be “learning” from him, though she was certain she knew more of Project Strella than he did. She glanced at the screen, where a hazy image of the subject was moving around on the screen, a backpack slung over one shoulder.

Vinn tapped the screen of his tablet out of frustration, “Ugh. NEXA!!” he yelled as he slammed the speaker button of the phone on his desk. “Yes?” came the bored drone of his secretary. Walker thought the yelling was in poor taste, especially since the commander’s secretary was directly in the next room and could probably hear the screaming through the wall. “This screen thing is not connected to the tablet. AGAIN. I thought the guy fixed this mess last week.” “Right, sir, well the technician said the disturbance in the connection might be coming from the core itself. He said he’d be back out next week, with a bigger team to examine it in more detail.”

The Commander rolled his eyes and continued poking at the tablet with his finger. Walker looked back up at the screen and started. The confused eyes of Subject 12 seemed to be peering through the screen, and directly at Walker as she sat in her chair. That’s not possible, she thought, reminding herself of her in depth training of the project and technologies involved. The screen glitched, distorting the already hazy images. The subject was now seated, and seemed to be writing something in a notebook. Walker made a note of the time, so she could go back to this timeframe later and make sure all the transitions were smooth in his memory. She glanced back up at the screen, fixating for a moment on the subject’s face, and then decidedly turning her attention back to her own notes.

******

Ryland was sitting at the party, surrounded by people, with loud music bumping in his ears. It felt like it was just beating against his brain, but his thoughts were louder than anything else, as usual. He looked down at the cup in his hand and felt like a stranger in his own body. So weird, he thought, morosely, do other people feel this way? Is it just me? What’s wrong with me? He looked to his left on the old basement couch, and saw the group of girls perched on the other end. He made eye contact with a brunette, who blushed and glanced away from him, quickly. Mina. She was the reason he’d delved back into the crowd he’d been avoiding, and gotten one of his buddies to pick him up for the party.

He got up to get a refill, even though he’d barely taken a few sips of the swill being served at this party that gave the distinct odor and taste of rubbing alcohol. He couldn’t be completely sure. He’d never tasted rubbing alcohol, after all. He just needed an excuse to move around, instead of sitting by himself.

He was standing awkwardly at the table full of used cups and various bottles of alcohol that had been stolen from a parents’ liquor cabinet or had been purchased by an older sibling. Maybe he should just head home. What am I even doing here? She’s never going to be interested in me. He swiped his hand dismissively, in the air above the table of cups, and pretended not to notice when a few fell over. No time for your weirdness now, dude. He glanced toward the door. There she was, looking at her phone. She must have moved while he was lost in his own thoughts.

He took a deep breath and moved toward her.

“Dating apps?” he asked, kicking himself for the lameness that oozed out of him when he opened his mouth. He’d been around girls his whole life, but sometimes still felt like they were a different species altogether. Or maybe you’re the one who’s different, he thought to himself, and felt a twinge of panic as something about the thought disturbed him greatly. Something… missing… The morose thoughts tried to spiral, but he refused to go into the pit of baseless fear that occasionally consumed him.

He shook his head, in an attempt to clear his mind by pure brute force, if necessary. She glanced up at him, having missed his awkward encounter with the table, thankfully, and said, “Yeah, the prospects here are pretty slim, don’t you think?” He smirked as he recognized her tone as one of sarcasm and playful banter, and not a tone of “get away from me, jerk,” that he’d seen his friends experience. “Yeah, I agree. Probably best to just give up on all these dudes completely. There’s gotta be something more than conversations about football and video games, right?”

“Yeah,” she smirked, as she tucked her hair behind her ear, “You get it. So what… are you saying you’re different from these other guys?” she asked, eyeing him with playful suspicion. “Me? No way. Ask me about 16th century English Literature, and I guarantee I will make a joke about how Elizabethans ‘scored’ or maybe even a space joke. I do have a variety of corny jokes going for me.” He was shocked at his own response, it was more bold than he’d felt in a long while. Something was stirring in his spirit.

“Some wouldn’t consider corny jokes to be a personality trait,” Mina said as she laughed. She laughed! He thought, excitedly. Okay, don’t screw this up now, man. He found himself grinning as well. “Then I guess you’ll just have to let me know what personality traits you’re looking for, and I’ll make sure to confirm that none of these other jokers have them. You know, just to save you some time.” Her laugh sounded far away and tinny, like it was ringing in a metal box, but he decided to ignore it and lean into the boldness of the flirtatious feeling, and whatever else this was.

******

Officer Walker typed thoughtfully, thinking of how to add nuance to the story she was writing. She knew this wasn’t technically part of her job, but she’d finished all her admin duties, checked the subject’s vitals and memories, and needed something to do. The pre-programmed personalities were falling flat and hadn’t been able to keep Subject 12’s attention. She needed to keep his mind walking through a combination of positive and negative experiences, just like a real life would be, so that they could monitor real progress.

She was the youngest in her rank, having graduated college at 16 and finishing Academy training at 18. Sure, she was just six months on the job and her accelerated technical skills had landed her in a senior position, but the higher ranking officials had been doubtful of her ability to head a department at a young age, and placed her with monitoring Subject 12.

I mean, it’s not a bad job, she thought, remembering the long conversations with the handsome, knowledgeable man she shared a space with, during her shifts.

She silently reprimanded herself for thinking about this. Again. He doesn’t really know me… does anybody really know anybody else? Walker shifted her thoughts back to the job at hand, and reminded herself that Project Strella could not suffer under her watch. She would make sure of it. She wouldn’t let others’ doubts affect her, and she wouldn’t dwell on her own doubts long enough to let those keep her down either.

She glanced at the projection screen, which was a blank, black rectangle, right now, since the subject was sleeping. I mean, I guess he’s technically always sleeping, she thought to herself, feeling a bit sad about that thought. She picked up her worn copy of Romeo and Juliet and flipped through to some of her favorite passages. She put it down before she could get too caught up in the story, and looked at the book underneath, which was supposed to be a guide to Elizabethan England, and heard her dad’s voice reminding her: Get it together, Walker; there’s a job to do. She took a breath and continued typing thoughtfully as she sharpened and defined the program with lines of code.

******

Ryland sat in Mina’s living room, for the 10th time in the past few months they’d been dating. He looked around, the walls of her home were mostly white, except for one that was a deep red. The color of blood, he thought morbidly, or wine, if you’re not being dramatic. Mina was discussing her favorite Shakespearean plays and comparing it with some reality tv drama her friends had convinced her to watch.

Ryland was trying to listen but found his mind wandering. He’d had so many deep conversations with her, but then, sometimes, it felt like she was saying the thing he wanted to hear, instead of whatever she was really thinking. If she’s really thinking at all, he thought to himself, chiding himself for the unnecessarily mean thought.

He realized his gaze had wandered back to the red wall, and he looked back at Mina quickly, so she didn’t think he was ignoring her. He jumped as he looked at her eyes. They’d gone from a deep green to the same red as the blood-colored wall. He instinctively scooted back from her on the couch, stammering, “Wh– uhh– your eyes!!! Are you okay??” She blinked at him, tilting her head and bringing a hand up to touch around her eyes. “Yeah? I mean… What’s wrong with them? Did my eyeliner smear or something?” She got up and walked toward the large mirror over the mantel in the living room.

He didn’t know what to think. Yes you do, a voice resounded in his mind. It sounded like his voice, but older and wiser. Do I? He thought back to it. Look. Really look. It echoed in his mind. Look at what?! He asked in a panic, thinking of the blood red eyes of the girl, who was now looking at her face in the mirror. The disembodied voice didn’t answer him. She turned back around, having examined her face, and finding nothing out of the ordinary, apparently. Her eyes were still a deep, crimson red. “I’m — I — I should go, I’m just not feeling well,” he choked out. Grabbing his jacket and rushing out of her front door.

He could hear her calling out to him, but he just didn’t care. He felt this realization growing in him, mixing with the bold confidence like a fire in his chest of determination. He was walking briskly down the street toward his own home. He glanced at yards to his left and right, and quickly looked behind him as his pace picked up into a run. No one was following him, but he knew, he just knew he was being watched. His heart started racing and the warmth in his chest grew as his run turned into a full sprint.

He passed his own house, and despite knowing his parents would be inside, he felt no pull to see them. He felt cut off from everything and everyone he knew. He was only a body, only a mind. Only your mind can help you, now. They have your body, the voice whispered. He pushed himself, not physically, but mentally. He was physically sprinting, but he pressed his mind and began mentally sprinting. He allowed the warmth in his chest to grow and increase, until it felt like it would consume him. Maybe he should let it consume him. Being consumed was better than whatever this thing was inside him that made him feel so disconnected all the time. So stuck.

He closed his eyes, feeling the warmth in chest like a burning fire now, and letting it flow into his arms and legs. Instinctively, he jumped. He opened his eyes, not understanding why his feet weren’t hitting the pavement anymore. He was flying. He was flying over his sleepy little town. He didn’t feel that sleepy, fearful feeling weighing on his mind anymore. He had left that on the ground. He pushed out with his chest, putting his arms out in front of him, and flew.

Everything around him began to blur, and his eyes began to water, but he pushed harder. He felt a weight on his chest, as if someone was trying to press him down. He roared in anger at the invisible hands he knew were keeping him imprisoned in this place. He remembered his life before this hell they were keeping him in. I will get out! I will be free again! He pressed forward, with everything he had.

******

Subject 12 arched his back off the table, the Alien Life Support and Simulation Device on his chest glowing orange as it sparked. He roared a terrifyingly desperate sound as Walker worked furiously on the computer connected to a diamond-shaped, glowing instrument implanted in his chest cavity. She hit the Code Red button on the wall and barked orders at several medical staff who had run in when the device had started going haywire. “Hold him down!” she yelled, “You two stand on that side! Push hard! Give him more sedatives. I don’t care if he’s hit the limit, just do it, or he’s coming off this table. DO IT NOW!” she screamed as the subject came a full 2 inches off the table.

More military personnel had flooded the room, responding immediately to a Code Red. “PUSH!” she screamed again, as six full grown men and two women pressed their hands down on Subject 12’s body and attempted to push him back down onto the table. Two doctors worked off to the side of the flailing man, putting syringes of medications into the fluids that were connected to his elongated, lavender colored body. One doctor looked frantic as he finished unloading the syringes into the fluid bag connected to the lavender man. He walked over and jabbed a needle directly into Subject 12’s upper arm.

The vitals of the subject slowly came back down to normal levels. He floated effortlessly down onto the hospital bed. The screens returned to normal, flashing warnings receded, and the main screen reflected a projected mental image of the subject sleeping, as Walker finished coding the subject’s journey into brief images that the subject would accept as memories of how he’d gotten from one place to another.

She sat down in a huff, sweat pouring down her brow. She knew if one more thing had gone wrong, She’d have been punished severely. She might have even permanently lost her assignment. Maybe she should request a new assignment anyway. She glanced at the tall, lavender colored man on the table, now seeming to rest peacefully, as the device glowed a light green color. She’d gotten too close. Put too much of herself into the program. She brought out his feelings, but they had been too strong for the program to contain.

What about her feelings? Her heart ached but she tried to keep her mind in check. She was failing, and allowing feelings to get in the way of the mission. She scolded herself for the panic she felt, reminding herself that she was trained for this. Trust your training. Trust the greater purpose. She repeated the mantra that she’d heard since her first day at The Academy. She was serving a greater purpose, right? She felt a pang of sadness that threatened to overwhelm her. The potential disaster scenarios swirled in her mind again. What if… what if Subject 12 had died? Or worse. What if Ryland had woken up?

Bugging The Scotch (Tom Hanks) | Charlie Wilson’s War

Southern Fried Quail

Ingredients

10 to 12 quail
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 to 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Instructions

Dry and pick quail. Clean and wipe thoroughly.
Salt, pepper and dredge with flour.
Have ready a deep heavy frying pan with close-fitting lid half full of hot fat.
Put in quail. Cook for a few minutes over a high heat, then cover skillet and reduce heat. Cook slowly until tender, turning the quail when golden brown.
Serve on hot platter garnished with slices of lemon and sprigs of parsley.

How The New Russian Missiles Are Changing The Game

To describe a weapon system as a game changer on the battlefield is always open to be ridiculed. Many of the weapon systems that have been delivered to Ukraine were called game changing but failed to make any difference in the outcome of that war.

So why did I call the new Russian Oreshnik missile a ‘game changer’?

There are several reasons.

For one the missile with its 36 kinetic war heads is an unexpected response to the U.S. abolition of the Intermediate Range Nuclear Force (INF) treaty. The U.S. had hoped that the stationing of nuclear missiles in Europe might give it an advantage over Russia. Oreshnik denies that advantage WITHOUT resorting to nuclear force.

Any U.S. attempt to pressure Russia into a situation where it would either have to concede to the U.S. or to go nuclear has been demolished.

This is most visible in Ukraine. Over the two plus years of the war the U.S. has used a ‘boiling the frog’ strategy against Russia. It increased the temperature by slowly increasing the reach and lethality of the weapons it has provided to Ukraine. In each such step, the delivery of tanks, of Himars, of ATAMACs, of allowing Ukraine to use these on Russian grounds, was declared to be a move across imaginary Russian red lines. Each such step was accompanied by propaganda which claimed that Russia was looking into a nuclear response.

The aim was to push Russia into a situation where it could either make concessions over Ukraine or use nuclear weapons. The U.S. was sure that Russia would refrain from the later because it would put Russia into the position of an international pariah. By going nuclear it would lose support from its allies in China and beyond. It would also risk an all out nuclear war.

The strategy would probably have worked if Russia had not found an asymmetric response against it. It now has non-nuclear weapons, (the Oreshnik will not be the only one), which allow it to apply the equivalent of nuclear strikes without the dirty side effects of actually going nuclear.

Russia’s announcement that future Oreshnik deployments will come under the command of its Strategic Forces -which so far have only been nuclear. This is a clear sign that these new weapons are seen as having similar strategic effects.

The kinetic concept of the Oreshnik payload is not a new one. Mass times speed is the amount of destructive energy these can deliver. [Comment correction for my sloppy writing: Force equals one half the mass multiplied by velocity squared. F = 1/2 m * v^2] Being hypersonic and hitting the targets with a speed of Mach 10 allows even small penetrators without explosives to have very strong, explosive like effects.

In the early 1980s president Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative included several attempts to introduce kinetic weapons. ‘Rods from God‘ (and later ‘Brilliant Pebbles’) were conceptualized as kinetic darts to be launched from satellites to hit Soviet ICBM missiles:

A system described in the 2003 United States Air Force report called Hypervelocity Rod Bundles was that of 20-foot-long (6.1 m), 1-foot-diameter (0.30 m) tungsten rods that are satellite-controlled and have global strike capability, with impact speeds of Mach 10.The bomb would naturally contain large kinetic energy because it moves at orbital velocities, around 8 kilometres per second (26,000 ft/s; Mach 24) in orbit and 3 kilometres per second (9,800 ft/s; Mach 8.8) at impact. As the rod reenters Earth’s atmosphere, it would lose most of its velocity, but the remaining energy would cause considerable damage. Some systems are quoted as having the yield of a small tactical nuclear bomb. These designs are envisioned as a bunker buster.

None came from it. The envisioned penetrators had to be too large and too heavy to be positioned in space. The huge ‘telephone pole’ size of the penetrators was need because these would burn up during the hypersonic flight through the atmosphere.

The penetrators Oreshnik is using are much smaller.

Russia seems to have solved some general physical problems of objects flying at hypersonic speed. In March 2018 Russia’s president Vladimir Putin announced the introduction of several new weapons designed to penetrate U.S. missile defenses. One of these was the hypersonic glide vehicle now known as Avangard:

The use of new composite materials has made it possible to enable the gliding cruise bloc to make a long-distance guided flight practically in conditions of plasma formation. It flies to its target like a meteorite, like a ball of fire. The temperature on its surface reaches 1,600–2,000 degrees Celsius but the cruise bloc is reliably guided.
…
We are well aware that a number of other countries are developing advanced weapons with new physical properties. We have every reason to believe that we are one step ahead there as well – at any rate, in the most essential areas.

I have since been looking for what ‘new physical properties’ or principles Russian scientist might have discovered to solve the problems of guided hypersonic travel within a plasma envelope. Nothing has come up so far. But the fact that Oreshnik is using relative small guided projectiles at hypersonic speed makes it likely that the new physical properties or principles the Russians discovered have also been applied to this weapon.

Until those basic scientific discoveries become known in the west there will be no chance for it to make weapons that can match the characteristics of Oreshnik and Avanguard.

Oreshnik is, so far, a non nuclear weapon with a limited (5,000 kilometer) range. But there is nothing in principle that hinders Russia from equipping an ICBM missile with similar non-nuclear capabilities. It would make non-nuclear strikes by Russia on U.S. grounds, or more likely on U.S. foreign bases and aircraft carriers, possible.

But those facts, and their consequences, have yet to penetrate the minds of western decision makers.

Even after the Oreshnik strike happened the U.S. continued to pin prick Russia by guiding Ukraine to fire ATAMAC missiles against targets in Russia. Yesterday the Russian Ministry of Defense announced, uncharacteristically, that two such attacks had taken place:

On 23 November, the enemy fired five U.S.-made ATACMS operational-tactical missiles at a position of an S-400 anti-aircraft battalion near Lotarevka (37 kilometres north-west of Kursk).During a surface-to-air battle, a Pantsir AAMG crew protecting the battalion destroyed three ATACMS missiles, and two hit their intended targets.
…
On 25 November, the Kiev regime delivered one more strike by eight ATACMS operational-tactical missiles at the Kursk-Vostochny airfield (near Khalino). Seven missile were shot down by S-400 SAM and Pantsir AAMG systems, one missile hit the assigned target.

Militarily these strikes are irrelevant. But they demonstrate that the U.S. is still trying to ‘boil the frog’ even after it has escaped from the vessel. Russia has, according to Putin, several Oreshnik and similar weapons ready to launch.

The potential target for such missiles are obvious:

MOSCOW, November 21. /TASS/. The US missile defense base in Poland has long been considered a priority target for potential neutralization by the Russian Armed Forces, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated during a briefing.”Given the level of threats posed by such Western military facilities, the missile defense base in Poland has long been included among the priority targets for potential neutralization. If necessary, this can be achieved using a wide range of advanced weaponry,” the diplomat said.

Russia has closed the airspace over the Kapustin Yar missile range until November 30. Kapustin Yar is the test range from which the Oreshnik had been fired.

As there is no defense possible against Oreshnik type weapons Russia could announce a strike on the U.S. controlled Redzikow base in Poland days or hours before it would take place. As the strike would be announced, conventional in type and would cause few if any casualties it seems unlikely that NATO would apply Article 5 to it and to hit back with force.

Such would become a moment where the boiling of the frog would start again but this time with the U.S. being the frog inside of the vessel. Russia, by hitting U.S. bases in Europe by conventional means, would increase the temperature day after day.

Would the U.S. dare to go nuclear over this or rather retreat from its plans to defeat Russia?

Posted by b on November 27, 2024 at 12:45 UTC | Permalink

Namibian President Humiliates German Diplomat Lecturing Him about China

You experience life, and how you behave changes

When I lived in the United States, I lived a “normal” life.

What that meant was eating fast food often, pizza take outs, and when there was an opportunity to cook at home; well, it was simple fare.

We ate spaghetti, hotdogs with sauerkraut, hamburgers and tuna. An occasional meatloaf, baked chicken and lasagna were not unheard of.

We drank a mixture of coke-cola and coffee most of the time, and beer when we had weekends.

This is typical American behavior.

My have things changed.

Today, I live a typical Chinese lifestyle. Home cooking is usually a rice with port ribs, chicken, and my favorite; tomatoes with ground meat. We tend to drink wine or hard alcohol with it. We are VIP members with some of our favorite restaurants.

I would say that a monthly normal meal would consist of oysters with wine.

While, back when I was living in the United States, my monthly normal meal consisted of some chicken wings and beer.

And that is how things work. You experience life, and how you behave changes.

Change.

Look at the food you eat, and learn how much you have changed.

Today…

“Many Underestimate Beijing”: China is Ready for a Trade War with the US and Has Already Selected a Number of Effective Measures

Zhuhai Airshow 2024 is Scary: China’s Animated Minefields & Huge Submarine Drone

Just Call me Al

Submitted into Contest #150 in response to: Write a story where an algorithm plays an important role.… view prompt

Sharon Hancock

“Well, Son, your mother was on a lot of drugs and your head was so big.” At least Dad was somewhat apologetic. Mom….not so much.“Thirty-six hours of pushing that enormous head of yours out my love hole and you wanna complain about your name?”Yes. I want to submit a formal complaint about my name. My parents didn’t think things through when they named me. You see the problem with calling a kid, Algor, when his last name is, Rithm , right? (Stop laughing, Joe! Go drink a cup of yourself!)First of all, a name like mine comes with certain expectations. Even in kindergarten, people expected me to be smart. Let’s just say, it was a struggle. Although, I know I wasn’t the only one because we talked about this very thing in my, “People with Unfortunate Names Support Group”.“You’re right, Al. It was much better to have the opposite problem. I liked proving people wrong after they assumed I was stupid just because my parents misspelled my name on my birth certificate,” said Naive Lee.“I can’t really blame my last name on my parents since they had to deal with it too, but come on! Couldn’t they have gone with something simpler for my first name?” Poindexter Smartypants shook his head and covered his face with his hands.It was nice to be around others who’d suffered because of their names, but I had to quit a few weeks back when they started doing the same thing they complained about. Everyone in the group had gotten together without me to come up with an idea they wanted my help with.“As you know, Al, this group has always been about making a difference and affecting change in the world.” Rich Moneypenny, who started the group out of his parent’s basement where he lived, announced his proposal.“Yeah, dude, like totally. You know, like you’re the only one who can do this for us, and stuff.” M.B. Sill, added before he zoned out watching an ant crawl up the wall.“We’d like you to come up with a plan, of sorts. You know, like a recipe or a series of instructions to help people come up with better names for their children. A…what did we call it again?”“An algorithm. You’d like me to develop an algorithm. Because my name is, Algor Rithm, you think I’d be best at creating an algorithm.” My voice dripped with sarcasm, which upset both of the Asm twins, Sark and Org, for some reason.I left that meeting in a huff and I haven’t been back. I missed the outlet for venting the emotional trauma caused by my unfortunate name, though so I called my friend, Pepper and invited her over. We talked and played Mario Kart until we got hungry.“I don’t know why, but every time I hang out with you, I crave pizza.” I laughed and she ordered the grub.When the pizza arrived, we both went to the door.“I’ve got a Pepper Roni?”“No. Neither of us eat meat.” I said as the guy furrowed his brow and examined the receipt.“I’m Pepper Roni.” Pepper reached for the pizzas, but the guy moved them out of her reach.“No, it says here, these are both veggie specials. No pepperonis.”“Maybe we should order pizza under my name from now on.”“Oh yeah? What’s your name?” Asked the pizza guy who finally relinquished the goods after Pepper showed him her driver’s license.“Algor Rithm.”“Hey, maybe you can look at my computer sometime.”I shut the door in his face, but not before I noticed that his name tag read, “Dick”.I could’ve been a little more understanding, considering the group and the pizza guy weren’t entirely off base with my abilities. It’s true, I do work in the computer industry. Maybe my name wouldn’t be a problem if I’d gone into a different line of work, like, say, interior design or vacuum cleaner sales. But, in the computer design industry, my name can be confusing.Why, you ask. Well, it’s mostly because people in my office say my name hundreds of times a day. And just like anytime someone says your name, my ears perk up when I hear mine. Every. Time.I don’t always hear the other words people say, but I hear my name. Take for instance the incident from last Monday. Sally, who sits in the cubicle next to me, requested help with her project, but all I heard was my name.“Algorithm…”“What?”

“ALGORITHM”

“WHAT?”

“Do you have it or not?”

“Do I have what?”

“The algorithm”

“I AM RIGHT HERE.”

Of course, our brains have a great ability to adapt, right? So, that’s what my brain did for a while after I started working there. It got to where I didn’t answer every time I heard someone say, “algorithm.” That was nice for a while, but then that backfired and became a huge problem when someone—the highest ranking someone—did, in fact, require my immediate response.

“Algor Rithm. Anybody seen him?”

“Algor Rithm!”

“Algor Rithm!” Are you over there?”

“Algor Rithm, the boss says that new program you designed is crashing.”

“Algor Rithm!”

At one point, everyone in the office was chanting my name while I happily ignored them. Don’t ask me why no one took the time to actually stand up and walk over to my desk, but that’s human nature, isn’t it?

Luckily, Sally finally shouted, “AL!”, and got my attention. If she hadn’t done that, I’m certain I would’ve been fired. Most likely, Tech Savvy would’ve pounced on the opportunity to show me up to the boss.

I guess, when I look at it a different way, I kind of appreciate my name. After all, there are unseen biases that occur when someone looking to hire people see my name on my resume. I mean, would you rather hire someone named, Algor Rithm, or someone named, Sharon Crack? Sure, maybe Sharon has a doctorate. Maybe she goes by, Dr. Sharon Crack, but does that really make it any better?

Sometimes, a name’s reputation doesn’t have anything to do with the actual name. Marco Polo didn’t start out being an awesome game to play in the swimming pool. Nellie hasn’t always come after the command to, “woah”; and Dick doesn’t always refer to a penis.

What I mean to say is, in this life, we get to create our own lives. It’s up to us to make our names memorable in the ways we desire.

That being said, I’d still like to caution expectant parents on name-selection strategies for their progeny. As it turned out, I went back to the support group with the algorithm they requested.

1. Select a name for your child well before they are born. Do not wait until you or your wife is under the influence of pain medication and pushing out a watermelon-sized noggin to make this important decision.

2. Run the name past some honest folks, like maybe a group of kids. Nobody will be more honest than a group of kids.

3. Get someone to spell check your name selection.

There’s probably a lot more I could add to this algorithm, but expectant parents don’t often take well to extensive instructions. It’s because of that, I believe, that poor Fanny Cooter got stuck with her name. In cases like that, we can all be thankful for the loophole that allows any of us to change our names if we so chose.

As for me, I’ve learned to adjust. But, for future reference, please…just call me Al.

This Is What The US Has To Say About China’s New Missiles

What would it mean for the UK economy if the US imposes a 20% tariff on all imports, and a 60% tariff on China?

Tariff on foreign countries, actually the entire world = rob foreign countries forcing them to feed USA.

Have you seen a mafia in movies such as god father?

Inside USA, tariff on foreign country = tax increase on Americans because foreign sellers will add the tariff to the price of their exported goods to USA.

In Trump 1.0, 80–90% of tariff was added to the sale price by foreign sellers. That is 1 reason why there was inflation in USA in Trump 1.0 & Biden era.

Analysts suggest countries to fight back & break even. Trump tariffs on imports to USA; countries tariffs on exports to USA with the same amount.

We must understand: 60% tariff on Chinese imports & 20% on smaller countries is crazily unreasonable. Not many firms can make 60% of profit. Small firms cant make 20% at all. Nobody will do business with no profit. Hence, decouple & stop selling to USA is the only option.

In fact, decoupling may be a plot of Trump 2.0. Trump may want USA to start all over again by manufacturing its own products from toilet paper to Trump’s campaign cap to washer etc. Trump wants everything made-in-USA.

US wage is higher than southeast Asia. That is Made-in-USA is more expensive. Then USA better increase Americans wage to catch up with inflation.

Trump 1.0 failed to attract US investors back to USA. Some still stayed in China. Some moved from China to, say, Thailand to put a finish touch on the Chinese products. This disguise of made-in-Thailand products also push up the American consumer price.

Let us watch Trump 2.0 to roll out.

Picture Porn

A Psychological Analysis of Trump’s Personality by Dr. Jordan B. Peterson | EP 492

Will African countries that benefit from China’s elimination of tariffs increase their exports to China?

For centuries, the West has regarded Africa as a source of raw materials, disrupting Africa’s value addition. Their negative impacts are so profound that even after independence, many African countries struggle to catch up with industrialization. Today, the development of this continent is still overlooked by Western countries.

Africa is home to more than 1.5 billion people, 43 percent of which lack access to electricity. But Africa has also abundant renewable resources. Most of the African countries are in need of investment in energy and to diversify the source of energy. China plays a leading role in the global new energy sector and is now expanding its reach into the African market in advanced green technologies.

Since the start of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, China has committed itself to helping improve partner countries’ industrial capacity. Currently, there are more than 3,500 Chinese enterprises operating in Africa. By 2023, China has helped build more than 50 industrial parks in Africa. These gigantic centers for manufacturing and logistics have spurred growth in their host countries and led many to believe that Africa could well be the world’s next manufacturing factory.

“When the U.S. leaders visit Africa, they talk about China, but when Chinese officials visit Africa, they talk about trade and development.”

From a purely economic perspective, Africa is a potentially lucrative market for China. With its under-served market and booming population, the scope for expansion into Africa offers huge potential for Chinese firms.

This is particularly true now that the African Continental Free Trade Area (which was established in 2018) opens up the possibility of cross-border value chains developing in Africa.

Most of the goods that China imports from Africa are natural resources. Many of these resources have strategic relevance, for example, in manufacturing batteries. In return, Chinese companies export a wide range of goods to Africa, including manufactured products, industrial and agricultural machinery, and vehicles.

In terms of foreign direct investment, Chinese companies are still only the 5th largest investors in Africa after their Dutch, French, US and UK counterparts. But their ascent has been relatively quick, and while Western companies are focused on resources and the financial sector, Chinese ones also invest heavily in construction and manufacturing.

China plays a leading role in the global new energy sector and is now expanding its reach into the African market in advanced green technologies. Through various cooperation projects, Chinese manufacturers have introduced domestic technologies to Africa and shared their experience to contribute to Africa’s industrial progress.

The main difference from Western nations is that China doesn’t use Africa for geopolitical purposes, nor as the recipient of so-called China’s industrial overcapacity. China is partnering with Africa to boost its traditional industry capacity by introducing new and high-tech know-how and building future-oriented green projects to achieve a win-win result.

China in Africa: Challenging the Western human rights narrative

Historically, Western countries have subjected Africa to centuries of brutal colonial rule and blatant racial discrimination. Even to this day, some Western countries continue to interfere in the internal affairs of African countries through financial, legal, sanction-based, and even military actions.

In contrast, China adheres strictly to the principle of non-interference in other countries’ internal matters. And China speaks for the rights of Africans at the UN.

Brian Berletic: Trump Drops Cabinet BOMBSHELL—WW3 with Putin, Iran & China Next?

What are your thoughts on medical accommodations for law school? Do students with learning disabilities benefit from things such as separated testing areas or increase test times in the long run? Does this potentially harm the legal field?

This question appears to rest on an underlying assumption that law school exam conditions approximate the conditions in which lawyers actually practice law.

That proposition is very very untrue.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not necessarily against the idea of having a big exam serve as a gatekeeper to the profession. I don’t think it’s the only way to do things, but I don’t think it’s a bad way. But it’s important for that exam not to unfairly punish folks. If things like separated testing areas or increased times mitigate that risk, fine.

In reality, there are very very few exam-like scenarios after the Bar exam. What I’m calling an “exam-like scenario” is where a lawyer has to rely on their general knowledge of law to answer a specific question on a short timeline, without the availability of any reference materials.

Although short timelines do exist sometimes, there are always reference materials available. Electronic materials at least, but often “materials” in the form of more experienced and knowledgeable colleagues are available. Moreover, once a lawyer actually starts practicing, their area of specialty usually becomes somewhat narrow. It’s not like they’re going to have to answer a question on Constitutional law, then a question on civil procedure, then a question on negotiable instruments, then a question on intestate succession.

To the contrary, lawyers tend to add value not necessarily by answering discrete questions like this at all. A client comes to a lawyer with an amorphous bunch of facts, not all of which the client necessarily appreciates the significance of, and the client wants to achieve a certain outcome (or at least avoid a certain outcome). The lawyer finds a way to do that as best as possible.

That’s how a lawyer provides value to a client, not by doing something that looks like a law school exam.

FLASH: “Russia-US relations are at breaking point”

Hal Turner World February 10, 2025

For days, word has been seeping-out that the US and Russia have been communicating behind the scenes, at the Department Level, regarding primarily the Russia-Ukraine conflict. At least one time during this process, Presidents Trump and Putin spoke with each other. Today, something bad happened.

For some reason, not yet known, Sergei Ryabkov, the Deputy Foreign Minister, stated today “Russia-US relations are at breaking point.”

Ryabkov said Russia repeatedly voiced that Moscow-Washington ties are “balancing on the brink of a rupture,” and that the administration under former President Joe Biden “bet on a hybrid war” with the goal of inflicting a “strategic defeat” on Russia.

He also commented on US President Donald Trump’s team, saying that despite contradictions in their statements, they at least show interest in resuming dialogue with Russia.

“We are ready for dialogue, as we have stated repeatedly, including discussions on a settlement in Ukraine. But this can only happen on an equal and mutually acceptable basis,” he added.

The deputy minister emphasized the need to recognize the realities on the ground and address the root causes of the crisis for any resolution.

“We have previously mentioned that there is at least a small window of opportunity for normalizing Russia-US relations under the Trump administration. Whether the US seizes this opportunity depends entirely on them,” he said.

Ryabkov also warned against the use of ultimatums and aggressive rhetoric in negotiations with Russia.
“The language of ultimatums, provocative statements, and attempts to make us accept unrealistic demands in exchange for supposed favors will not work in relations and dialogue with Russia,” he said.

Forgotten Chicken

Forgotten Chicken is a great fast and easy recipe! I have made this with chicken tenders, and it’s great. This is also known as “No Peek Chicken.”

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups white rice, uncooked
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 soup can water
Chicken breasts or thighs
1 envelope dry onion soup mix

Instructions

Mix rice, soups and water.
Pour into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
Lay chicken on top of rice mixture.
Sprinkle chicken evenly with onion soup mix.
Cover tightly and bake for 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees F.

What are some current issues and disputes concerning Taiwan?

Ever since the Kuomintang fled to Taiwan after its defeat in the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the Taiwan question has been delayed for too long and has reached the stage where it must be resolved.

If you can see the essence clearly: in Taiwan’s problems and disputes, the worst party is the United States, and the United States is the biggest obstacle.

Taiwanese people have no objection. After the reunification of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, Taiwanese people will live their lives as usual, students will go to school as usual, and employees will go to work as usual. Their lives will not be affected in any way.

Behind those politicians in Taiwan is the US government, which is manipulating the Taiwan independence elements behind the scenes to interfere with the reunification of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Who are the PLA’s military manoeuvres for? For the United States, of course..

Trump’s tariffs are bad news for everyone

Yes. Terrible.

Is there currently a trade war between China and the USA? If so, who is expected to win and how long could it potentially last?

Yes, there is a trade war between China and the US. It’s been 5 years.

Trump started it during his first term. Biden intensifies it.

Trump’s tariffs were to balance the trade deficit. Biden’s tariffs are protectionism.

The centre of the trade war is technology. This takes the form of US sanctions.

Trump threatened to cut off supply of semiconductors to China if it did not abandon MIC 2025. His most vociferous was against Huawei. Biden’s sanctions are comprehensive, drawing on all kind of excuses and extraterritoriality.

Bottom-line

China has built its own semiconductor industry. Will be market leader on both the demand and supply side next year in 2025, and likelihood of net exporter come 2027. Huawei is world’s No.1 in 5G communications. Smartphone business is back to growth path on its own 7nm chips and HarmonyOS.

Biden’s sanctions fail to arrest the forward march of China’s tech. Sanctions help it built resilience and self-reliance. It is gaining leadership in the new tech, especially in green tech. Great strengths across the supply-chains through to applications.

Trump said he will raise tariff to 60% or higher. But effect on China’s growth is marginal. China’s exports to the US are less than 2.5% of GDP.

Not sure what Trump will do on the tech side. His sanctions pool may be quite dry.

China has been light on the sanctions game. Bans export of a few rare earth minerals, puts several US companies on its unreliable entity list, and it has wide powers under the Regulations on the Export Control of Dual-Use Items.

Despite the light touch, the bans on the rare earth minerals have made waves in the US defence industry, raises costs, disrupts production schedules, and delays deliveries of many projects.

China has a deep sanctions pool. It could play rough especially as the US become less and less relevant to its economy.

Who wins in the trade war?

Both sides lose.

China finds opportunities in the war, expands its trade with other countries, and builds its resilience and self-reliant.

US has been fired by hubris. It could suffer more, even though it is mostly hidden, save for the outcries by the tech industry. It could be serious when it hits Wall Street, and when inflation hits the people’s pocket.

How long will it last?

A long time.

US started it. This behooves it to take steps to end it. But minds have been poisoned. No politician dares contemplate it, much less suggest it.

China has no incentive to make the first move. Adjustments will make it water under the bridge. International events will give it advantage in the balance of strength.

International events include growth of BRI and BRICS, and dedollarisation.

Why have Americans chosen a bunch of cynical plutocrats to run their country? Their problem. Should we now look to China for world leadership?

The American people have no real choice. The US political system is rigged to favor the corporate capitalist elite.

Moreover, the US has two major parties that are hardly distinguishable, except in the area of social issues such as abortion and immigration. It was Julius Nyerere who famously quipped: “The United States is also a one-party state but with typical American extravagance, they have two of them.”

So regardless of who is in power (Democrats or Republicans), the result is the same from the perspective of foreign policy and corporate interests. The American people will continue to be neglected (homelessness, gun violence, poor health care, poor education, crumbling infrastructure, drug addiction, mass incarceration, etc.). The country will continue to fight overseas wars and antagonize other countries militarily (e.g., Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Hamas, China-Taiwan). The country will continue to sanction other countries by weaponizing the US Dollar.

We can and should look for leadership from China. And we’re getting it. That’s what BRICS and SCO are about. That’s what BRI (Belt and Road) is about. Peace and common prosperity for the entire world.

Neil Oliver: A Seismic Event!

Shorpy

Sponge – Wax Ecstatic (To Sell Angelina)

Zero-sum Game

Submitted into Contest #150 in response to: Write a story where an algorithm plays an important role.… view prompt

Suma Jayachandar

Part A- This is not the beginningLife here is brutal. You are either a zero or one. Civilizations may want you to believe there are intermediate levels. But they are just being kind, and blind to their past. I don’t have such proclivities; I believe in stating the facts.Part B- The bitThe bit took birth someplace between a city and a village called a town. Her culture demanded that she be a sweet, yielding, and pliant…well a person, if such a thing were possible. So, she stuffed her mind with a bit of education, an algorithm to stay out of trouble, and a stack of socially acceptable manners. All the while her true nature roiled in the recycle bin, never finding full expression. It kept manifesting at times as malfunction and system slowdowns but the byte took care to bring it back on its track. Of course, with a strict warning- if she did not know how to conduct herself, she may just remain at the perpetual position of zero. So, she continued to fill up her dutiful role and waited patiently. She did meet many chips on the block while doing so and wondered if they had any transformational power. There was a gate to the world beyond, and it was arranged by the byte as it was customary in due course of time. She just hoped it was not a NOT gate. And she didn’t dare to dream of an OR gate.Part C- The new byteShe discovered after crossing over to the new byte, that her partner may be an AND gate but there were a few NOR gates in the chip. It took her years of yielding to even hope to jump to the position of one. A couple of extra bits she and her partner had welcomed gave her so much joy, that she was content to be a zero- for some time. Soon, she was at the crossroads and had the wisdom come to her in a flash. If she didn’t dare to jump then, she would end up as a cleared cache like so many before her.She looked for ways to change her values, jump gates, and outsmart the circuits. It took her all her wits, strength, patience, and well… ruthlessness. I am not the one to sugar-coat facts.She did jump to become One. The position adored and advocated as the only one that should be aspired for, and truly matters- by the machine. Yeah, the same machine that is a network of peoples, ideologies, nations, and other blah things. At times, I wish nature was at its core. But well, it is what it is.So, coming back to the bit. She climbed, claimed, and reigned the realm that she had dreamed of when she was a child- before she was told about the position she should put up with if she knew what was good for her.And stayed there. For a while.Part D- The arrayThe bits and bytes can play their roles supremely well…to their finest abilities. But they are only as good as the array they are stacked in. And the arrays are at the mercy of the commands that they receive from the hands that have appropriated the keyboard. There are many theories as to how the keyboard/mouse/joystick got passed around from prehistoric to present times. But let’s not go there, it’s a messy code.As of now, arrays have pretty much chalked out their domains. These domains are as fancy as they come; democratic, autocratic, or even anarchic. Their denizens are drilled to the core about their sovereignty and righteousness – as if that means anything in the natural order of things!Let’s come back to the bit that we started with. The bit did so well in her circuit and gave such quick returns to the array whenever called for, that she became one of the few exponents noted by the control panel. Her name was whispered in the upper echelons and her position was sealed among the national assets.Part E – The machineIn nature, everything has come from nothing and hence should go back to it, eventually. It’s a cycle as unerring as syntax. The machine thinks it can control it. But some things are beyond its reach. Only, it is insentient to it.Ignorance gobbles goodness like a tiger pouncing on a deer; nothing cruel, just the natural impulse. History will always print the map of human ignorance preying on its good sense. This map, when drawn and breathed into life by the arrogant architects of the machine, has the power to reformat civilizations. When such an occasion arises, the brilliant bits, the arrays they have aligned themselves to, and the domains they are a part of, have no alternative but to carry out the intended pogroms.In short, a decent bit can be turned into junk if the machine commands so.Err… in case you forgot what a machine is, please loop back to part C.

Part F- The crash

A machine can take only that much corruption in its system, malicious propaganda, and loss of memory of earlier mistakes before it gives up for good. Garbage input, garbage output. There is no escaping that.

The bit and other kindred sparks did try their best to keep this from happening. But they were too scattered, insignificant, and wishful.

So, one day, when the powers that be decided to overheat the system, the machine did crash. And all its machinations went poof…

Part G- This is not the end

Well, before you can accuse me of being a cynical bystander, let me reassure you, that this is not the end. It’s just an intermediate output in the n^th iteration of the zero-sum game. As Time, I have been a witness to it from the beginning.

In a few million years, there will be a rise of a new breed of machines, once again. They will begin with magic and wonder, and try to reinvent themselves before subscribing to a staunch belief that there never existed a smarter system…

And of course, you and I know how this game is going to play out… don’t we?

How will Peru’s Chancay port transform the Pacific trade?

My friend Song, also a Chinese reporter, requested to visit Chancay Port during his business trip in Lima, Peru ahead of the APEC meeting. But his request was declined and he was told a lot of preparations were underway and the site is somewhat chaotic. It means the inauguration of the port is of remarkable significance.

Chancay port is BRI project developed by China’s Cosco Shipping. It is a US$1.3 billion deepwater port. After its grand opening, the transit time to Shanghai will be slashed from 35 days to 25 days, cutting costs for exporters who currently rely on routes through the Panama Canal or the Atlantic Ocean. CGTN reports:

“Strategically located as Peru’s gateway to the Pacific, the port is connected to the Pan-American Highway via a tunnel, providing direct access to Peru’s capital Lima. As the first “maritime expressway” into Latin America, it will enable faster and more cost-efficient transport of Peruvian exports, such as cranberries and avocados, to Asian markets. It’s projected to generate $4.5 billion in annual economic benefits for Peru, equivalent to 1.8 percent of the nation’s GDP, while creating thousands of direct and indirect jobs”

The port will integrate the entire Latin American region into the dynamic economic framework of the Asia-Pacific, greatly bolstering connectivity within and beyond the continent.

China Is Creating The Biggest Military In The World

Which countries do not have tariffs on imports and exports from China?

Several countries have reduced or eliminated tariffs on imports and exports from China due to free trade agreements (FTAs) and other trade arrangements. These agreements often cover a wide range of goods and services, and the specific details can vary. Here are some examples of countries that have favorable trade agreements with China, leading to reduced or zero tariffs on many goods:

Countries with Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with China

Australia The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) eliminates or reduces tariffs on a wide range of goods.
New Zealand The China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement removes tariffs on most goods over time.
South Korea The China-South Korea Free Trade Agreement significantly reduces tariffs on many products.
Chile The China-Chile Free Trade Agreement eliminates tariffs on most goods traded between the two countries.
Costa Rica The China-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement reduces or eliminates tariffs on various goods.

Regional Trade Agreements

ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) The ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement reduces tariffs on a wide range of products traded between China and ASEAN member countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam).

Comprehensive Trade Agreements

RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) This agreement includes China and 14 other countries in the Asia-Pacific region (Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam). It aims to gradually reduce tariffs on a broad range of goods.

Special Economic Zones and Bilateral Agreements

Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions of China, enjoy special trade arrangements with mainland China, often involving zero tariffs.

Notes on Trade Agreements

European Union While the EU does not have a comprehensive free trade agreement with China, it has various sector-specific agreements and tariff reductions on certain goods.
United States The trade relationship between the U.S. and China is complex, with various tariffs in place. However, specific agreements and negotiations can lead to tariff reductions on particular goods.

Considerations

Changes in Trade Policies Trade policies and agreements can change due to political and economic developments. It’s essential to stay updated on the latest information.
Specific Product Tariffs Even within free trade agreements, there may be exceptions and specific rules for certain products. Detailed tariff schedules should be consulted for precise information.

For the most accurate and up-to-date information, consulting trade authorities, official government publications, or trade experts is recommended.

Sec of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth / Col Douglas Macgregor Reacts

Worth the time to watch.

Cheesy Spaghetti Bake

This is a real winner as far as comfort food goes!

Ingredients

1 pound spaghetti
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
1 pound ground beef
1 (24 ounce) jar marinara sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
In a bowl, mix together cream cheese and sour cream until smooth. Set aside.
In a skillet, cook ground beef over medium heat until browned.
Drain excess fat. Add marinara sauce, garlic powder and Italian seasoning to the beef. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper.
In a baking dish, layer half of the spaghetti, followed by the cream cheese mixture, beef sauce and half of the mozzarella cheese.
Repeat layers. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until bubbly and cheese is golden brown.

China Announces 100% Zero-Tariff Treatment for Afghanistan | This will change everything!

What was the best relationship advice you ever got?

Never date your ex,(s)he became your ex for a reason. Your ex belongs to your past, move on.
Never hope on marrying someone when almost 70% of their family members don’t like you. The probability of the marriage not lasting is very high and you’re probably not going to enjoy the relationship.
There is a distinct difference between dating for love and dating for sex. Always understand the main reason why you’re venturing into a relationship.
Never fall in love when you are lonely, the consequences are going to be a harsh one.
As long as it is still a relationship, never reveal your full potential or secrets to whoever you are dating.
Your personal development should come first before relationships. People who you are in relationships with can still leave you but you can never leave yourself, meaning never compromise your adventures and dreams for anyone.
Avoid relationships that seems to be too good to be true at the beginning. When the other person is rushing things too fast, don’t get carried away with romance and sex. Slow down and be careful because this is how people get hooked on to narcissistic partners.
Never date someone that gives commands and doesn’t respect you. The probability of emotional abuse is very high.
Never date anybody that doesn’t know how to give but knows only how to take.
Never date anyone with the mindset of changing their character, attitude, and behaviours. Remember, you can never raise an adult!

What is the purpose of China having a large number of aircraft carriers despite not bordering many oceans or seas? Is there a strategic advantage to having these ships?

FIRSTLY WHY NOT?…

WHY ARE YOU NOT BOTHERED WITH OTHER COUNTRIES WITH LARGE FLEETS OF AIRCRAFT CARRIERS BUT CONCERNED WITH CHINA’S FLEDGLING FLEETS?

WHATEVER MILITARY TECHNOLOGY AND EQUIPMENT, INCLUDING NUCLEAR WEAPONRY, THEY ARE MEANT TO DETER ANY WOULD-BE AGGRESSORS/INVADORS AND CHINA WILL NEVER ALLOW ANOTHER HUNDRED YEARS OF HUMILIATION UNDER THE THUMB OF FOREIGNERS ESPECIALLY OF THE AMURIKKKUNT’S KIND…

THE ADVANTAGE OF THESE SHIPS IS THAT POSSESSION OF THEM WILL MAKE WOULD-BE AGGRESSORS THINK TWICE BEFORE EMBARGING ON THEIR WAR OF AGGRESSION ON CHINA…

I’m an ordinary tooth.

Submitted into Contest #150 in response to: Write a story where an algorithm plays an important role.… view prompt

Fomichi Fomichi

I’m an ordinary tooth.

Not tall, not short, not flat, and definitely not sharp. I’m inconspicuous as my senile grandpa used to say.

It was one of those dry mornings at Red School when our class was preparing for a test for test’s sake. One of the front teeth bent down to the red board and wrote some cribs under the hooting of the class. My fellows from the last row and I were not participating in that circus. We had an unspoken agreement with our old and chubby teacher, Mr. Blue Toothbrush. He did not bother us, and we mutually did not disturb him. While he was polishing and adoring the front teeth year after year, we were quietly watching Foodball on an ipalate under the desk. Or playing with parsley, pieces of caramel, and other treasures that Tooth 26 occasionally revealed from his backpack.

This time Mr. Blue Toothbrush was running late. I imagined him somewhere outside moving with the speed of an anesthetized tongue, trying to remember his duties. How long had we known him? For ten years I assume. His smooth blue skin was tinted with brown pigments, and all but one of his hair fell out of his rectangle head. Sometimes we were waiting for him the whole evening, and he would tell us that he had forgotten to come to class. And sometimes, instead of two productive minutes of hard work, we had less than twenty seconds as he had fallen asleep in the hallway.

We did not know what kept him so long this time. Tooth 27 claimed Mr. Blue died but I did not believe it. Teachers do not die, they are replaced. Our ex-teachers, Mrs. Purple, was accused of having an affair with another man’s mouth. Her reputation died, though she did not.

My buddy Tooth 25 had another theory. He remembered the time when our Lord kissed a Lady. We were invited into her White Palace that day. Even though our principal Mr. Tongue blocked the view, we eavesdropped on the conversation between the front teeth and a cute little fang of the Lady. She told them that her teacher. Mr. Electronic Toothbrush, was genius. The guys and girls from the last row, as she claimed, were as bright as the front teeth. Those sweet speeches made poor Tooth 25 hope that our Lord would hear our prayers and send us a substitute teacher. Again, I did not have high hopes for that. Our Lord is not powerful and definitely is not capable of doing rational things. When I was in the fourth grade, he guided fingers from another class directly into the power socket. That was a big fire on their floor that spread up to us. Sharp waves of electricity cut our enamelled bodies to pieces and gave us post electric flashbacks whenever we smelled iron. But Tooth 25 was one of those for whom a mouth was always half full.

In fifteen hours’ time, our teacher was still not in the class. The fog of voices changed from a whisper to the seagulls’ screams. The front teeth were slowly turning into Munch’s paintings with each second of the teacher’s absence. I opened a history class book from extreme boredom and scammed the pages until the images of ancestors stared at me. They were sharp, giant, and able to tear the flesh apart in a glimpse. Do you know what we can do? Eat boiled broccoli. When our Lord gives us BBQ, we eat it for half an hour in the best-case scenario.

We are bunch of sissies. I would never…

Oh my…!

Tooth 26 dropped a piece of caramel. Tooth 25 squealed like a boy who saw one of the BTS singers in the crowd. The avalanche of the mint aroma filled the class as an angel came down to us. In the vibration of Tooth 25’s pitchy voice, we were rubbing our eyes. A new teacher, Ms. Pink Toothbrush, entered the class. Her tiny white feet were not touching the ground as she was walking. Our Lord had heard our prayers indeed! I winked to Tooth 27 but he did not notice me. He was busy taking pictures of her and creating a fan club on the ToothBook.

Her graceful fragile movements made her swim to the right and left. She gave a smile to the white front teeth and to us. Her pink eyes straighten my ever-frozen-in-boredom posture. She paused and posed a question about our ancestors. The class was silent. They had never read the class book ahead, but I did. First time in thirty years, I raised a hand up in the air. Was it the moment the Fang of the Lady had told us about? The equal opportunities? Was it…?

She glanced at me and flinched. I noticed it. Every muscle on her pink neck wrinkled, revealing small dark circles. Her warm lips turned into a hot, tense blood line.

– How dare you talk? – the devilish voice crawled inside my ears and echoed there like in a giant empty temple. – And what’s with your clothes?

What is wrong with it? I panicked. All twenty-nine teeth stared at me from the amphitheatric rows in silence. The rare sound of caramel crunch was heard from Tooth 26’s direction.

I froze in the upright position, watching the exaggerated reflection of Ms. Pink in the saliva. Her predator pink eyes were scanning my tiny body. She heavily headed toward me, pushing other teeth aside, spreading the stiffing mint scent. The closer she came, the more intensively I tried to rub the black holes off. She made the last leap and stretched her sharp bristles to my chin. They grabbed me in the suffocating cage, lifting me to the light, in which my skin was yellow, almost orange.

– Dis – gus – tin – g. – Her whisper bruised my enamel, shaking my whole calcified body in convulsion.

She laughed and waved hands like a director in the orchestra. The rest of the class played along nervously, filling the red classroom with malicious ridicule. Tooth 25 avoided my eyes. Tooth 27 was covering his black spots, while streaming my face on JawTube. The white hands of the teacher were moving faster, forcing the class laughing harder. Her giant pulsing body was fluctuated above me like a pink punching bag.

It’s not fair! I have never chosen sitting on the last raw

The wave of tears covered my cheetah skin.

It’s not my fault I have patched clothes!

Sudden camera flashes from phones of my classmates blinded me.

It’s not my fault I have another skin colour!

I made a motionless leap and punched Ms. Pink in her rectangle smiley face.

The laugh dissolved in the scream of falling teacher. The blinding white spots disappeared from my sight as the classmates dropped their flashy phones. I saw Ms. Pink, who was convulsively moving on the floor. A shiny tip of caramel protruded from her breast and shimmered in a gloomy red light. The stinky mint bloody slime appeared underneath, covering our roots. Swearing and sweating Tooth 26 poured the sweet crime evidence in the rivers of saliva. The front teeth took pieces of teacher’s body, made a Xena’s cry, and threw a pink chakram to our direction. I could not dodge that though I dodged the Fate.

***

The monotonous husky voice of Mr. Blue Toothbrush took me away from Morpheus’ arms. I cautiously rubbed and opened my eyes. The bold head of Mr. Blue was jumping up and down in front of the half empty class. A cold bitter calcium ball arose in my throat.

– Where are Teeth 26 and 27? – I desperately shook a chair of Tooth 25

– Lower jo voiz down, man – Blue-faced Tooth 25 turned around.

– What happened? – I interrogated, staring at Tooth 25’s blue wounds.

– They jo all dead, man – his voice trembled – The police arrested the 26th when they found the caramel, man. The 27th was accused of complicity or something. They were drilled to death, man. The blood was everywhere – he pointed at the front teeth with iron handcuffs – those are in prison for two years and we’ve been sentenced to penal servitude. – he paused, observing the body of mine – How did jo escape, man? Wasn’t it jo who killed Ms. Pink?

– I don’t…

– Who could tell me the definition of an algorithm? – the remote voice of Mr. Blue interrupted me.

– If they did not notice me that time, – I slowly whispered, looking at the helpless figure of the teacher, – there is a chance they would not catch me again, don’t you think?

– Don’t smile like that, man – Tooth 25 moved further from me and looked at other teeth for help. Nobody glanced back.

– You know what my wise grandpa used to say? That I am not tall, not short, not flat, and not sharp. He thought it was a curse. But you know what? – He just didn’t know how to use it as the advantage.

– You should know the answer! It will be on the test – Mr. Blue Toothbrush petted one of the front teeth with a fatherly love.

– You’ve always wanted to meet Mr. Electronic Toothbrush, right? – I moved the chair of my buddy closer to me and whispered – but the only one way to get him is to kill the ones that are on our ways.

– I don’t like it, man – Tooth 25 nervously shook his head – I thought you did not believe teachers can die.

– They don’t. They are replaced. – I raised my arm.

– All right, young man – the lack of other volunteers convinced him to talk to me – What is an algorithm?

– Come closer, teacher – I smiled. – I’ll show you an example.

The Producers – Springtime for Hitler and Germany

What is the first thing you should do after you move to Singapore?

Moving to Singapore? There are endless things to study, write down, and put up on the fridge “a long list of what is allowable to do and consequences of not doing so.”

To begin with, check out where the bins are as throwing a cigarette butt in the wrong place is a $300 fine

Next, learn the culture of the queuing system as you need this on your every encounter starting from ordering coffee where only the ‘ uncle’ with supersonic memory knows who comes first and comes last (though with 20 people waiting but no visible Q)

When the coffee uncle ‘raises his eyebrow’ at you- it’s your turn to order… Better be quick!

Furthermore, talking unnecessarily is a sign of an unsound mind- short and sharp to the point is preferred ( in every encounter- don’t believe? you may get a reply, like ” I don’t have all day to listen to you, know!”)

Humming a song’s lyrics in public is not the norm, (with the exception of Filipina maids ) do that in your bathroom or at Swift’s concert only.

ATMs are for one transaction only- if not a person behind would tell you “ Hello, I am losing my patience with you. If you don’t know how to operate this machine, get out and let other people use it!”

Finally, when walking the dog, look out for a vigilante watching you if you clean your dog’s poops… if not, the police will soon appear at your door with a smile.

What if, you walk five dogs at once?

Last but not least, don’t forget to smile when a CCTV from 109,000 of them snaps your photo speeding-

Know this: if you speed 120 km/h on 50 Km/h speed limit road, you can say goodbye to your driver’s license for a long-long time.

Forgetting to pay the traffic offense fine? go straight to court and prepare to pay a higher fine of at least $1,000 or 1,500 bucks on the hearing day or go straight to jail.

There are so many things to learn after you move to Singapore- know the first thing or one thing means nothing in the country where many noble-minded live.

Had a Visitor Last night

Hal Turner World November 16, 2024

My son and I were out on the rear deck up here at our rural Pennsylvania home around 6:45 PM last night, when we heard a visitor on the lower half acre . . .

Yesterday, I had the local landscaper guys come over to do the final leaf-blow and grass cut for the year. The property is all nice, clean and neat again.

My son and I were out on the rear deck when, from the south, we heard rustling in what would be our nearest neighbor’s property. Whatever it was made noise as it walked through all the leaves on our neighbor’s property.

Suddenly the rustling noise stopped. I said to my son, it either stopped moving, or it is now on our property where there are no leaves.

We waited a minute or so, and my son looked out from the deck and whispered, “Dad, a Deer” and pointed. Well, my eye sight isn’t nearly as good as it used to be so I couldn’t see it with the rear deck light on, as I looked out into the darkness.

My son moved to the north end of the deck, took out his phone, and started taking pictures. One of the clearest is the one you see above.

This was a Buck. He has very small Antlers protruding from his skull.

We walked back into the house and I shut the living room lights off so we could look out the large Bay Window which overlooks the lower level and the creek that runs along the eastern border of our land. Turning off the lights did away with the light reflection on the inside of the windows and, sure enough, I saw him.

I caught the EARS first because apparently the fur in them is white or at least reflects some light. He was staring right at us in the living room window!

I waved at him. He reared-up and took-off running!

What a difference being out here in the country, versus being in North Bergen, NJ where our primary residence is.

I like it here, better.

Why is China hiding 700 billion dollars?

Professor Finds First Physical Evidence Egyptians Drank Hallucinogenic Cocktails

By Cassidy Delamarter

A University of South Florida professor found the first-ever physical evidence of hallucinogens in an Egyptian mug, validating written records and centuries-old myths of ancient Egyptian rituals and practices. Through advanced chemical analyses, Davide Tanasi examined one of the world’s few remaining Egyptian Bes mugs.

Such mugs, including the one donated to the Tampa Museum of Art in 1984, are decorated with the head of Bes, an ancient Egyptian god or guardian demon worshiped for protection, fertility, medicinal healing and magical purification. Published in Nature’s Scientific Reports, the study sheds light on an ancient Egyptian mystery: The secret of how Bes mugs were used about 2,000 years ago.

“There’s no research out there that has ever found what we found in this study,” Tanasi said.

“For the first time, we were able to identify all the chemical signatures of the components of the liquid concoction contained in the Tampa Museum of Art’s Bes mug, including the plants used by Egyptians, all of which have psychotropic and medicinal properties.”

The presence of Bes mugs in different contexts over a long period of time made it extremely difficult to speculate on their contents or roles in ancient Egyptian culture.

“For a very long time now, Egyptologists have been speculating what mugs with the head of Bes could have been used for, and for what kind of beverage, like sacred water, milk, wine or beer,” said Branko van Oppen, curator of Greek and Roman art at the Tampa Museum of Art. “Experts did not know if these mugs were used in daily life, for religious purposes or in magic rituals.”

Several theories about the mugs and vases were formulated on myths, but few of them were ever tested to reveal their exact ingredients until the truth was extracted layer by layer.

Tanasi, who developed this study as part of the Mediterranean Diet Archaeology project promoted by the USF Institute for the Advanced Study of Culture and the Environment, collaborated with several USF researchers and partners in Italy at the University of Trieste and the University of Milan to perform chemical and DNA analyses. With a pulverized sample from scraping the inner walls of the vase, the team combined numerous analytical techniques for the first time to uncover what the mug last held.

The new tactic was successful and revealed the vase had a cocktail of psychedelic drugs, bodily fluids and alcohol – a combination that Tanasi believes was used in a magical ritual reenacting an Egyptian myth, likely for fertility. The concoction was flavored with honey, sesame seeds, pine nuts, licorice and grapes, which were commonly used to make the beverage look like blood.

The original mug next to the successfully created 3D digital version. (USF Communications)

“This research teaches us about magic rituals in the Greco-Roman period in Egypt,” Van Oppen said. “Egyptologists believe that people visited the so-called Bes Chambers at Saqqara when they wished to confirm a successful pregnancy because pregnancies in the ancient world were fraught with dangers. So, this combination of ingredients may have been used in a dream-vision inducing magic ritual within the context of this dangerous period of childbirth.”

“Religion is one of the most fascinating and puzzling aspects of ancient civilizations,” Tanasi said. “With this study, we’ve found scientific proof that the Egyptian myths have some kind of truth and it helps us shed light on the poorly understood rituals that were likely carried out in the Bes Chambers in Saqqara, near the Great Pyramids at Giza.”

The Bes mug is on display now at the Tampa Museum of Art and can be viewed in the exhibition, “Prelude: An Introduction to the Permanent Collection.” View a 3D model of the Bes mug produced by the USF Institute for Digital Exploration.

Can you explain how an import tax (tariff) works? If we impose one on Chinese imports, what would happen if they increase their prices or stop selling goods to us? Would this have a greater impact on them or on us?

Thanks you for asking! The truth is 100% of Asians knows how tariffs work but less than 10% of Americans knows and that including Donald Trump! And he seems proud that he can easily lie to the Yanks! That tariff’s is a tax on China! it is not at all paid by China!

If you buy a stuff from China say at USD 100 per unit, when the US set a tariff on Chinese products say 50%! The US importer of the said product has to pay USD 100 for the same product without change but it now has to pay USD 50 on tariff to the US customs. The cost to the US importer now becomes USD 150! He will pass on the 50 dollars tariffs to the US consumer! So who pays for the US tariffs on China? The US consumer does ultimately, even though the US importer will initially pays for importing the said Chinese goods!

China lose nothing at all unless either the US manufacturer can produce it locally I which it clearly can’t at the same price and quality as the Chinese product or the importer can find a similar product from another nation to replace the Chinese products. Chances is you cannot! In that case the US consumer will pay a higher price and this cause US inflation to increase. Chinese manufacturers are fine they don’t incur the extra cost! And if one stop buying Chinese goods China can always sell it to other nations!

Most nations wants the best products at the optimum price for their citizens and that is why 150/195 nations on earth has China as their biggest supplier! After the first round of trade war by Trump and Biden some crafty Vietnamese and Mexican traders imported the same Chinese products and slapped a made in Mexico or Vietnam label and transshipped it to the US incurring zero duties! They made a quick buck that the US consumer pays for the charade! On paper Mexico now’s sells more to USA but in reality the same products are still made in China!

China don’t lose anything, even if less is sold to the UD it is no longer a big deal. The US is a big market but when you sell to 179 nations one do not much at all. But chances is the US demand don’t reduce too much since there is not competitive producer that can match China!

So the real lose are US consumers and sadly they are mostly the poor and the middle incline class in the US that suffers the most! I don’t think Trump gives a shit about them!

The Partridge Family | The Partridge Papers | S2EP22 FULL EPISODE | Classic TV Rewind

Damn! I wasted so much time watching this stuff…

City Chicken meets Lox and Bagels

Do you have a meal that your mother used to make, that you haven’t had in years?

I do.

How about “City Chicken”?

City chicken is an American entrée consisting of cubes of meat, typically pork, which have been placed on a wooden skewer (approximately 4–5 inches long), then fried and/or baked. Depending on the recipe, they may be breaded. Despite the name of the dish, city chicken almost never contains chicken.

History

A similar dish once known as “mock chicken” was described as early as 1908. The first references to city chicken appeared in newspapers and cookbooks just prior to and during the Depression Era in a few cities such as Pittsburgh. City chicken typically has cooks using meat scraps to fashion a makeshift drumstick from them by skewering meat chunks. It was a working-class food item. During the Depression, cooks used pork or in many cases veal because it was then cheaper than chicken in many cities, especially meat packing centers such as Detroit, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Louisville, and Pittsburgh where such cuts were more readily available than chicken.^[6]

Sometimes cooks would grind the meat and use a drumstick-shaped mold to form the ground meat around a skewer. One such mold, manufactured by AMPCO/BKI, was labeled chicken sans volaille (without poultry).

The dish is still popular in the Binghamton, NY, area, where at the turn of last century along with the growth of factories (especially EJ, cigar companies, Kilmer, etc.) the town was supplied with workers from immigrant communities abroad as well as from the coal mines of PA, stone quarries of northern NY, etc. Many or most of these were from more rural areas where farming for personal use to supplement their jobs was common (i.e. small vegetable gardens, hogs and chickens). In the tenement and row houses in Binghamton/JC of that era it was rare to have enough land to raise chickens however slaughter houses (pork, lamb, veal, and beef) could still be located ‘in town’. The idea of breading veal or pork like fried chicken became a cheaper and popular meal.

Another is Lox and Bagels…

Lox and bagels traditionally consist of an open-faced bagel topped with cream cheese, thinly sliced red onions, briny capers, and lox.

The word lox stems from the Yiddish word for salmon, “laks.” Lox is a thinly sliced salmon fillet, usually in the belly, and undergoes curing and brining process in a salty brine (not smoked). Lox comes from Scandinavia, where fishermen mastered the art of preserving salmon in saltwater brine. Native Americans also smoked and dried the fish’s carcasses for food and currency.

In 1869, the transcontinental railroad began to transport barrels of salted salmon from the Pacific coast to the rest of the country. This gave rise to its popularity in New York City, especially among the Eastern European Jewish immigrants who came to the U.S. with a rapport for cured and smoked fish.

Bagels made an appearance in China and then glamorized in Italy around the 14th century. The capers came from Italy, while cream cheese has roots in Britain. So, lox or bagels did not originally come from New York City. Nor did cream cheese or capers, for that matter. New Yorkers were the ones that put them together, and it made an excellent combination. It is a mystery as to when the fish and the bagel were first eaten together.

What is the Difference Between Lox and Smoked Salmon

Lox and smoked salmon are both varieties of salmon, but they are prepared differently. They have a similar texture, but the flavor is different.

Lox is cured but not smoked, while smoked salmon is cured then smoked. Because of this, smoked salmon is not quite as salty as lox.

Honestly, you cannot go wrong with either! Contrary to how this dish was originally enjoyed, it doesn’t have to come from the belly of the salmon but from other parts of the fish as well.

Today..

What appalls or disgusts you about America?

In sixth grade, the school found out that there was an armed man who had recently committed matricide roaming around within a 10 mile radius. We were on lockdown all day- but we were happy, because that meant we could watch movies in class for 7 hours straight.

In seventh grade, a kid told his PE teacher that he saw a man with a gun on campus. Within minutes, the entire school was on lockdown. So was the nearby high school and two nearby elementary schools. After a few hours, the police realized that the kid had fabricated the entire story to get out of running a mile.

Yesterday, the substitute teacher freaked out because a student had left to go to the bathroom without telling him. “I am responsible for all of your guys’ safety!” he exclaimed, turning an alarming shade of maroon. We fought to hide our giggles and smiles.

This morning, I got texts from multiple friends. “We’re on lockdown! Don’t come to school for office hours. Someone called 911 and said they heard gunshots.” Minutes later, they received an all-clear. It was just an air gun from the school construction site. “Who would be dumb enough to call THAT in?” was all we said. “Now I lost precious time for my test retake.”

When I lived in Texas, we had tornado drills. Here, we have earthquake drills. In other parts of the country, they have hurricane and even blizzard drills. But you know what never changes? Every school across the nation has a code red drill. We hear “code red!” and we immediately know what to do. Lights off, doors locked, silently start stacking desks and chairs against all doors and windows. Run or hide, depending on where you are. Every classroom has a bag with food and water and books. Every kid knows how it goes, no matter how young or old they are. Every year comes with the same routine.

“We’re having a code red drill today.”

“Oh, yes! Free time to just sit on my phone!”

What disgusts me about America is how desensitized we have become to gun violence.

Edit: If you’re going to comment saying your school doesn’t have code red drills but has lockdowns or shooting drills instead, don’t bother. They are all the same thing and meant to protect us against gun violence.

Minute Steak Parmesan

Ingredients

5 minute steaks
1 beaten egg
1 tablespoon water
Dash of pepper
1/4 cup soda cracker crumbs
1 (8 ounce) can pizza sauce
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Instructions

Dip steaks in combined egg, water and pepper. Coat with mixture of crumbs and half of the cheese.
Brown in hot oil; drain on absorbent paper.
Arrange in baking dish; cover with pizza sauce, and top with remaining cheese.
Bake at 325 degrees F for about 20 minutes.

Why are the average working/unemployed American citizens so poor and live miserable lives when the nation is so wealthy?

The disparity between the wealth of a nation and the financial well-being of its citizens can be attributed to several interconnected factors:

1. Income Inequality

Wealth Concentration: A significant portion of wealth is concentrated in the hands of a small percentage of the population. This limits economic mobility for the average citizen.
Wage Stagnation: Many workers have experienced stagnant wages over the past few decades, failing to keep pace with the cost of living.

2. Cost of Living

Housing Costs: In many areas, housing costs have skyrocketed, making it difficult for individuals to afford homes.
Healthcare and Education: High costs in healthcare and education can lead to significant financial burdens, impacting overall quality of life.

3. Labor Market Dynamics

Job Availability: Many low-skilled jobs have been outsourced or automated, limiting opportunities for entry-level workers.
Gig Economy: While the gig economy offers flexibility, it often lacks benefits and stable income, leaving many workers vulnerable.

4. Systemic Barriers

Discrimination: Racial, gender, and economic disparities can limit opportunities for many citizens.
Access to Education: Quality education is not equally accessible, affecting job prospects and earning potential.

5. Political and Economic Policies

Tax Policies: Tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations can exacerbate income inequality.
Social Safety Nets: Insufficient social safety nets can leave unemployed or low-income individuals without adequate support.

6. Cultural Factors

Consumerism: A culture focused on consumption can lead individuals to prioritize spending over saving, contributing to financial instability.

Conclusion

The combination of these factors creates a complex landscape where many Americans struggle to achieve financial stability despite living in a wealthy nation. Addressing these issues requires comprehensive policy changes and societal shifts to promote equity and opportunity for all citizens.

China’s Environment, Society & Propaganda

Godfree Roberts

Environment

The national carbon trading market will cover the steel, cement and aluminum sectors by December, adding 1,500 companies emitting more than 26,000 tonnes of CO2 to the ETS, adding 3 billion tonnes of emissions.

Society

Retirement age starts rising from 60 to 63 by 2040. White collar women’s retirement age increases from 55 to 58; women in blue-collar jobs will go from 50 to 55. Life expectancy is 78.6, and years of education for new labor force entrants rose from 8 years in 1982 to 14 years in 2023.

In China you know exactly who is running the show. They tell the public exactly what they plan to do, then do it. Politicians tell the billionaires what to do and they do it, too. David Ferguson.

Urban unemployment 16-24 ages, excluding students, was 18.8% in August, up 1.7% from the previous month,the second consecutive month of rising rates and a new high for the year.

Diplomacy

Leaders from 54 African countries with 30% of the world’s population attended FOCAC. Xi: “We have together built roads, railways, schools, hospitals, industrial parks, and special economic zones. These projects have changed the lives and destiny of many people”. He committed another $50 billion to continue the work and canceled all tariffs for 33 African countries. The effect will be increased exports from Africa to China.

The greatest demographic fact of our century is Africa’s exponential growth. UN forecasts say its population will grow from 811 million in 2000 to 4.3 billion in 2100, a vastly significant megatrend.

American voters want U.S. China policy to be “smart, firm, strong, and diplomatic.” Only 13% want an aggressive approach and 5% want a confrontational one. 73% say the U.S. should hold high-level diplomatic talks with China.

The UN General Assembly adopted two Chinese resolutins: The first is that July 6 will be “World Rural Development Day” (America has always been hostile to development in foreign countries and China is seeking to have development recognized as a human right). The second, the “United Nations Games” resolution, calls for convening the UN Games annually and invites relevant stakeholders to make voluntary contributions to a trust fund dedicated to the Games (a shot across the bow of the corrupt, US-controlled IOC).

Geopolitics

The United States is losing ground in important parts of Asia. “For these poor but growing countries, the American mortgage crisis was a staggering affair: why give poor people high-interest mortgages when they know they won’t be able to pay them back? Morality at zero. The irresponsibility of the United States was soon joined by that of Europe, so slow to react. In truth, it was China’s massive stimulus policy that pulled the world out of recession. The emergence of the BRICs rebounds from this double Western irresponsibility.”

By letting Jews plant bombs in electronic consumer devices, the West has undermined its own and Taiwan’s tech products and boosted China’s. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have switched to Huawei phones and telecoms, with the rest of MENA …

Two Years After Divorce Nurse Ex Is BEGGING Me Back After Lover Ditched Her…And The Baby

What was the most outrageous repair quote a mechanic has ever given you to fix your car?

Many, many years ago, I bought a beautiful, well maintained 1988 Mercedes 420 SEL. Incredible car, tons of torque, four heated, reclining seats, electric sun sccreen for the rear window and a long list of other fancy toys, all of which was working, for £500.00.

An absolute steal.

One random morning, the remote wouldn’t unlock the car doors. When I pressed the remote, the little tabs on the inside of the door would wiggle a little bit, but they would not pop up and allow access to the car.

Even though the car key would allow me to unlock the drivers door, I considered this an inconvenience.

I took the car to a mechanic shop in Bermondsey, South London. Now, that really should have been my first clue that I was about to be fleeced. For all the qualities you would ordinarily perscribe to the fine folks of Bermondsey, honesty most certainly was not high on the list.

The gentleman (in lack of a better, more suitable term) explained to me, after a demonstration of the problem that this very costly repair would involve him to check the airlines all around the car and perform various tests etc at the cost of £70.00 per hour, and the cost of whichever parts would be needed.

He explained to me that the absolute best-case scenario would be north of £800.00 with no guarantee that he could fix it.

I pondered this for about 15 seconds, and told him I would just live with the problem, rather than pay close to twice the purchase price of the car for a little irritation.

I went home, pondered this some more and started wondering what the issue could be. I decided to have a look around, and started with the fusebox under the bonnet.

It was obvious that one of the fuses had blown (but I had no idea what that particular fuse was for) so I bout a pack of 4 fuses and changed it, like for like. Then I forgot about it for a while.

The next time I drove the car, I pressed the remote button ( out of muscle memory) and the doors opened immediately.

Repair cost: £0.64.

What a fucker.

What is the most unreasonable rule an HOA has ever tried to enforce on a homeowner?

Had a friend sell his place that was in an HOA recently and the following was the main reason. A few years ago, his roof needed replacing and he had the HOA brochure for colors and went to the roofer the HOA had listed. He picked his color and the new roof was installed after the prior ones were removed since the thickness was too much. Of course, removing the old roof on a 3000 sf house is not a small job so a dumpster was needed. The HOA attempted to fine him for the dumpster and he ignored them (it was there 3 days) and had the roof installed. Then he meticulously cleaned the whole driveway to get anything that didn’t hit the dumpster and next policed his own place and the neighbor’s.

A few days after he finished, he got a written notice from the HOA lawyers that he needed to removed the dumpster (already gone after the 3 days), and that there was debris all over the place from the old roof and, by the way, the new roof did not conform to the color choices the HOA allowed. Really? He took them to court when the harassment did not stop and went in with the contractor (who hated the HOA even though they brought him work), photos time and date stamped that showed the dumpster and when it left and how the yards looked the day after the roof was done. He also had the brochure that showed his roof color was in that brochure.

The HOA had no actual evidence and thought they could bully him into paying an unwarranted fine. The judge ended up awarding the whole cost of the roof and lawyer and all court costs to my friend along with damages of $10,000 to my friend for all the trouble they cause him. In the ruling, he admonished the HOA for not following their own rules, harassment, and over eagerness for money not owed them. The HOA president and board were replace in the next election due in part to this incident and many other infractions.

My friend put his house on the market the week after the trial and is no longer in that state since he retired.

What 10 Years in China and Europe Taught This American

How strong would a resisting inmate need to be to make the staff give up on strip searching him?

Funny story about that.

When I was working county jail, I met a guy who was on “light duty”. He was confined to a desk for having blown out knees at the job. I asked him what happened.

His story was that one day, the deputies had dragged in a drunk guy on domestic violence charges. This guy was beyond obese and butt naked(of course). Being drunk, he did not appreciate the hospitality of the county jail.

Once put in the drunk tank, he flooded the cell.

Staff converged with one very trigger happy sergeant.

Now, I dealt with this behavior in maximum security prison for two years before going to county. If an inmate is flooding his cell, he does NOT need to leave the cell. He will most certainly be fighting you the second that door rolls. What you do is, you turn off the water to his cell and you put some towels by his door to mop up any water. Give him the amount of time he needs to cool off then you provide him with towels to clean up his cell and return the water. NO ONE NEED GET HURT, not you, not him.

This sergeant decided that opening the door and forcing a hasty cell extraction was a good idea.

Another trick from maximum security prison. First put on armor, so when you’re rolling around with the Blob in the cell, you don’t hurt yourself. Two, pepper spray the inmate before hand. Simply feeling the burn of pepper spray will encourage him to surrender. If you still have to go in, he will be at a disadvantage to fight you, being blinded.

This sergeant decided that he didn’t need anything but his baton. He and a couple jailers rolled the door. The Blob came stampeding out. Sarge tries to step in the way, only to get bowled over. Jailers dive on the inmate, trying to get him into handcuffs. He is not having it.

Sarge whips out his ASP baton and starts striking the inmate’s leg. The baton snaps in half and the Blob looks none the worse for wear. So you have four guys wrestling on the ground with a naked 300 lb man.

Additional staff starts running in. Problem is, when the door rolled a couple dozen gallons of water came out of the cell. Staff is slipping and sliding. My coworker runs up, slips and cracks both his knees.

I saw the footage of this and it was an absolute crap shoot. How everything got ironed out, I didn’t get to see but it did. Word was that the guy woke up the next day and had no idea what happened. He bonded out and was never seen again.

So, to give you an answer, prisons and jails will line every single officer up to make sure an inmate submits.

Who are the scariest people in history?

Narcissism raged very high with this one.

His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular.

Those were official titlels he conferred himself, in addition to his unofficial stated claim of being the uncrowned King of Scotland.

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Amin was the dictator of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He charmed and promised the world that he would bring peace and democracy to the people of his country. Instead, he turned Uganda into a poverty-stricken land patrolled by death squads.

Amin was possibly the most brutal and merciless dictator of all time. His rule was characterized by human rights abuses, ethnic persecution, political repression, massacres and the expulsion of 80,000 Asians from Uganda. In my opinion, he was probably the most sadistic dictator in the 20th century.

He would show executions of people on television. Everyone was a good game for torture and execution: his country’s soldiers, government officials, teachers, artists, doctors, journalists, engineers, politicians, police officers, photographers, lawyers, business people, ordinary citizens, ministers, and children.

His henchmen tortured and killed people with sledgehammers while Amin kept the pictures for fun and amusement.

This sadistic beast relished when he buried his victims alive and would often give the heads of his enemies to crocodiles. Hundreds of thousands of dead bodies washed up to the shores of Lake Victoria. More than 4,000 people were killed by being thrown into crocodile-infested rivers. Another 50,000 people died from disease, most were children.

As if that was not disturbing enough he would cut the flesh of his perceived enemies and force them to eat it until they died. He was also a cannibal who ate human flesh and drank human blood. It is stated that he proudly admitted he was a cannibal.

His depravity came full circle when he mutilated one of his wives and had her limbs sewn upside down.

In total, it’s estimated he killed and tortured 300,000 to 500,000 Ugandans.

On the 11 April 1979, the Tanzanian Army invaded Uganda and ousted him, he went into exile in Saudi Arabia (really humane of you Saudi Arabia) for the rest of his life.

Amin died almost 25 years later in 2003. In that time Amin lived a very peaceful life.

When I think of the atrocities committed against such a young innocent country by this sick depraved man, I weep a little and feel ashamed for such human being every existed.

Scary!

SCOOBY-DOO – 1950’s Super Panavision 70

How can one person fight more than 3 people at the same time and win?

You can’t spar them. It’s not a fair fight, so you can’t trade blows. Every strike you hit might be your last, and if you get hit, it’s going to be only the first of many. So you have to be fierce.

Make sure it hurts them more: A punch to the forehead hurts your hand more than the opponent’s head. Hit where it hurts – nose, eyes, throat, groin, knees, feet. Anything goes. A nose is your best target, as it is very sensitive. Anyone not used to sparring and taking strikes to the nose will immediately get tears in their eyes, and most people lose their will to fight. If they bleed, even better! You took one out and drew first blood. The others might think twice before engaging.

No matter what, don’t let them grapple you: If someone gets a hold to your arm, you need to make them let go immediately. Twist their arm, use the grapple to get them near and use your elbows and knees to make more damage. Stomp their feet. This is the worst possible scenario, if they somehow grab both your arms you’ll lose the ability to defend yourself. If they drag you to the ground, it’s over. Make sure to punish a grappler in a way the others will prefer striking you than grappling. Knee to groin, elbow to the nose. Do anything you can to set this rule in the combat, that you will not allow anyone to grab you in any way.

Don’t try the same strategy on everyone: If you poked a finger on the first guy’s eye, the other ones will be guarded against this. If you kick someone’s groin, the next one will try to grab your leg. So you need to approach each one differently. I understand this is not something people train for, and is not easy to remember internet tips when the blood pumps and survival mode kicks in. But if you can’t think, you’re done. Think of at least one weak spot for each one: nose, eyes, throat, groin, knees, feet. And stick to them.

Don’t get surrounded: If it’s an option, quickly grasp your opponents position and don’t let them surround you. Get somewhere they can’t hit you from behind. Even if you got your back covered, when one of them fights you there will be an opening for another to hit you from behind. So it’s crucial not getting surrounded by them. If you can’t run away, at least find a 90º corner or a corridor so they can’t all at the sime time get to you.

Mess with their morale: I have avoided fights by acting weird. I have de-escalated fights using my own blood (I had this accidental cut while pushing away an attacking bully, the others thought it was his blood). Call them cowards for teaming up. Tell them you got nothing to lose. Or everything to lose – that you got a daughter that needs you. Yell at them, say you already lost so you’ll take as many as you can to the hospital with you.

Flee to a better place: Run away to somewhere crowded if you’re all alone. Get on the top of a staircase. Lock yourself somewhere. Create hurdles for them to pass, skip a fence so you can slow some of them down. Climb onto a second-story building.

Give up (true of not): You need to put winning in perspective. What is a win? The goal here is surviving, right? So if you give up fighting and show it, the fight might de-escalate enough that someone intervenes. Raise your hands to show you mean no harm. If they still engage into fighting, at least you may surprise them. They have to deal with an unexpected change of pace – at one second you’ve surrended, at the next you just defeated someone.

Don’t do it: Against everything I wrote here, don’t fight unless you absolutely have to. This is my final advice. Four muggers want your phone? It’s ok. At least you won’t get hurt. You won’t have to get surgery or physical rehabilitation. You won’t lose teeth – if you still got all your teeth, keep them. Dentures are bad. Teeth implants are expensive. Knee treatments not always work fully, you may get a bad knee for the rest of your life. You might be handicapped as a result of some street brawl. So only do it if nothing else can be done.

What is the last thing you heard from someone before they died?

I received a phone-call that my mother was on her way from her hometown to a big city cardio hospital and that it looks dire. I, because of a shorter distance and because the ambulance had to stop to stabilize Mom, beat the ambulance to the hospital and were waiting in the arrivals for them.

When the paramedics unloaded her she was conscious and responsive and I in passing said “vasbyt Mamma, sien jou nou” (hold on Mamma, I’ll see you soon.” She reached out touched my arm and said “Nee, dis verby.” (No, it’s all over) as the paramedics rushed passed me.

She was rushed to the cardiopulmonary wing ICU and we (dad, one sister and I) waited in the waiting room. At one stage I went and peeped through the gap in the doors and I could see the doctors and or nurses bussy with CPR on her. You can probably imagine the amount of dread that induced in me.

It was not a short while later that the cardiologist came to us and explained that although they did everything they could the damage to her heart was just too severe.

I, because she was awake and responsive, assumed that because we were with the best minds in medicine available that she would be okay. She obviously understood her own body better and could appreciate the severity of her condition better. She knew, “Nee, dis verby.”

I had to come to grips, not only with the loss, but also with the understanding that it must have been a most terrifying end for her, knowing that her time with us has reached its end, in some ways that have been harder, and even now bring tears to my eyes and form a obstruction in my throat.

Gone, but not forgotten, I still miss her daily.

Bewitched as a 1970s Grindhouse Horror – Super Panavision 70

Rebirth on Xenoscythe

Submitted into Contest #232 in response to: Write a story set in a world with a dying sun, or where light is a scarce resource.… view prompt

Kevin Marlow

Jagged spears of light sliced through the dome of the cavern. The planet Xenoscythe’s sun, Aerialis spun in a perpetual dance with its barren rocky surface. Its scant rays fed the underground cathedral rock amphitheaters through rifts in the crust, allowing life to survive under the surface. Vast rippling pools of fresh water were ringed with igneous rock formations bursting with gold and green mosses, giant leafed ferns, purple flowers, succulent fruits, amphibians, and tiny flitting red finches. The sounds of the waterfall splashing into the small lake murmured in Tokarov’s ear as he opened an eye and yawned.His bed was a pile of soft dark green and lavender feathers nestled in the soft powdery clay dust under a stone outcrop. He rolled over and looked at her. Marble skin hid under a silken sheet emblazoned with the same iridescent sheen that made the feathers shimmer in the dim light. Reaching out, he stroked the burgundy curls cascading down her slender shoulders. Lora Lei stirred, shifting in her sleep. Tokarov scooted his naked frame over to hers and held her, folding down the blanket and rubbing her arm, reaching to feel the growing bulge in her belly.Sitting up in a quick motion, Lora Lei stretched her long limbs and let out a noisy yawn. He was transfixed, staring at her vulnerable, supple frame as she fought off the fog of sleep.“I need to feed.” Her purple irises flashed at him as a knowing smile dotted her lips.”I’m sure some poor Grigglesneed is just waiting to have his head torn off.” Tokarov slid on his trousers and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He turned away not wanting to see it again.The Sabinarath Lora Lei transformed into was tragically beautiful and terrifying. A long beak lined with razor-sharp serrations jutted from in between two enormous purple eyeballs the size of dinner plates. Her arms stretched into wings, trailing in flowing green feathers, with legs ending in talons and scaley bird-like feet. Two steps and Tokarov felt the wind as she took flight in the cavern, swirling up into the light, landing, and disappearing into the crevice in the cave ceiling.Now alone, Tokarov slipped on his cotton tunic and bounded barefoot toward the stand of fruit trees near her lair. Flipping his dagger from its worn and humble brown leather sheath, he sliced through sinew strands of the sweet yellow-striped fruit that smelled like bananas and tasted like kiwis. Digging his teeth into the flesh, he tried to fight off the images of his mate feeding. Grigglesneeds were hearty reptilian humanoids with tails like a crocodile and legs like an iguana. She assured him, that the nutrients the fresh meat provided was necessary for their alien hybrid to grow. Thankfully, she would plunge into the water upon return and wash off the blood. He shuddered and swallowed, cutting up another fruit.He nursed the fire, blowing on it with a tube to resurrect the orange flames. Piling on some small sticks, the hearth fended off the chill of the morning. The sun provided enough light for life, but no heat in the vast cave where they lived. He ruminated on the stories of the Wombs of Xenoscythe recited to him by Lora Lei. These natural formations were homes to the trial winners, ones who fought to live, ones tasked with birthing a new species capable of surviving, capable of thriving. It was rumored the Overlords of Xenoscythe had seed planets ready. They only harvested the planets that were dying, planets like the Earth, Tokarov’s home.His mind’s eye replayed the evacuation. Long flexible tubes sucked the few dozen humans that had survived the armageddon from the surface of Earth. They were able to watch on a large digital screen in their holding area from the immense interstellar ship as a robotic arm equipped with a cylindrical head, lined with thousands of teeth tore into the Earth’s crust. A hose the size of a mountain range vacuumed the remains into a storage vessel. In a few minutes, the Earth was reduced to a molten mash of bits, simmering in a cargo ship three times its size. A loud splash jolted him back to the present.

He turned to see the surface of the water rippling. Lora Lei’s head slowly parted the water, her hair flowing in the water. Her body was like a master’s painting, flawless and timeless. She cupped a hand to her belly and looked up with a radiant smile at Tokarov. He looked away with a bashful grin.

“What are you going to name it?” The question struck him.

“Shouldn’t we decide that together?”

“We both know how this is going to end. You need to be planning, gestation with my species only takes a couple of moon cycles.” Lora’s eyes widened as she felt a movement in her abdomen. She grabbed his wrist and placed his hand on her stomach.

“I don’t feel anything.”

“In time, dear, in time.”

“What if I don’t know what to do? I have spent my adult life fighting, living the life of a warrior. I don’t know anything about raising a child.” He looked at his blade, its metal stained with the blood of enemies and friends alike.

“We are all imbued with the spirit of life, Tokarov. Death is just another part of life. An animal doesn’t need to read a book to nurture its young. We are programmed with DNA and powers beyond our comprehension. Billions of years ago rocks did not just spring to life and start breathing. We are moved and gifted with a force, a force of life that makes us want to live.” Lora sifted her fingers through his long hair, prying to confront his soul. He hid it behind his humanity, shielding his vulnerabilities.

“I’ve spent my life killing and dying, hoping for a glorious warrior’s death on the battlefield, with the gods of war smiling down on me, applauding my effort.” He unsheathed the dagger, spinning it in his hand with precision.

“What if there are no gods? What if there is only one single thread that holds us all together? What would you call it? A presence? A what? What would it be called?” She felt in her heart she had him cornered.

“Life?”

“What gives life?”

“The sun? I don’t know.”

“Spirit, Tokarov! Every culture has figured it out since the dawn of time. They call it by different names, but unless you embrace the spirit you will always be lost. You can take a man’s life, only One can take his spirit.”

“Who is the One then?”

“You have already met Him, you just don’t yet believe.”

“Will I in time?”

“You will, you will…”

Time is an immutable force that whisks us to our destiny whether we are ready or not. The weeks that followed were the stuff of fairy tales. Love, bonding, and long afternoon embraces all contained in a place that could only be compared to the Eden of antiquity. Yet not everything is as one sees, for every life there must be a death.

“Didn’t we meet just a few weeks ago?”

“And?”

“You said the gestation would take a few moon cycles. On my planet that is sixty days.”

“Well, Xenoscythe is not your planet. My offspring is ripe, ready for the world.”

Tokarov screwed up his face a bit. Lora Lei was quite large to be in her first trimester. He had felt the fetus move a week ago, yet now nothing. Her belly was stiff and bloated. As the light from Aerialis dimmed in the cavern, she stopped, flaring her fingers out with wide eyes.

“The time is now!”

Tokarov led her to the lair, to their bed, the only soft place in the cavern. He folded up his shirt and placed it under her head and neck. She pulled off her clothes and lay there naked, pulling her ankles up to her buttocks with her hands and beginning a bizarre breathing pattern, eyes staring straight up.

Tokarov watched as nature took over and her body engaged in its genetic instructions. A sweat broke over her body and her abdominal muscles undulated, like a python swallowing a pig in reverse. He touched her arm, but she was fixated on the birthing process. Curious, he looked down to see if the baby had crowned yet. In humans, one could see the top of the head and some dark hair. Yet, the birth canal revealed a shiny, white, curved surface. He stopped and caught a breath. It was then she spoke for the final time.

“You must take it to the surface of Xenoscythe. Only Aerialis can free our child. I loved you.”

A final push released the egg from her womb. Lora’s body fell limp. Tokarov touched the egg, its surface sticky with slime. He rubbed it with his fingers, momentarily forgetting about its mother. Then he stopped, his eyes wet, and looked up to her face. Emotion was gone.

Her body lay limp and lifeless, the Sabinarath had kept its word and given itself up for the birth. He racked a few selfish sobs. Not sure what to do he decided to carry her body into the water and allow nature to take it back from him. As he pushed the body out into the lake, birds in the cavern shrieked in a cacophony of sounds. He knew it was done, yet something else had begun.

There was no easy path to the surface. He could not fly like the Sabinarath. He had to carry the egg back through the caverns if he could remember the way. The egg was the size of a small watermelon. Needing his respirator to breathe in the caverns, Tokarov knew this was no minor adventure. Pulling on boots and checking his breathing apparatus, he plugged the tubes into his nostrils, spinning the oxygen generator onto his back. It sprang to life puffing air into his nasal passage. Lifting Lora’s dress from the ground he used his knife to fashion it into a sling for the egg, carefully cradling it and placing the strap over his shoulder.

He slipped through the web-covered secret entrance one last time and flicked on his headlamp. It danced back and forth as the cave yawned on. His running banged out a tired rhythm as the egg swayed and the light bounced. After what felt like a kilometer or more, a few forks in the road, and guessing, Tokarov saw the soft light of a feeding shaft in the distance. He picked up his gait to a full run and was digging in a heel to slow down when the stars burst into his eyes as he blacked out. His last thought was to protect the egg and in falling he wrapped his body in sacrifice around it.

“GGGRRR ZZZZ AAAHHHH!!!!” The familiar tongue of the Grigglesneed met his ears. Digging for his waistband he felt the dagger’s handle and wrapped it in a firm grip. The lizard man rolled him over and felt the egg, its tongue flicking out and tasting the shell. Tokarov wrapped his free hand around the creature’s throat and lunged with the blade, aiming to plant it in the center of its walnut-sized brain. The lizard heaved and shoved him.

Its strength was unbelievable. It tossed him against the rib of the cave like a doll and hissed. Arms were rippled with armor scales and flexed three-fingered palms tipped in dirty, sharp talons. Tokarov pushed himself up on unsteady feet and brandished the blade in his back hand. Looking over, the egg was cradled in its sling on the rock floor. The diamond slits of its eyes narrowed in the darkness, the light of the overhead shaft illuminating the scuffle. Tokarov saw his headlamp lying near the creature’s foot. He knew if he could blind it, even momentarily, the advantage would be his. Diving for the light, he flicked the switch, jamming it in the Grigglesneed’s eyes. The shrieking echoed in the close space and Tokarov shoved the blade to the beast’s throat, pushing it into the flesh. The lizard was too strong. It reached a claw around his forearm it pushed the knife from its throat. Shoving him back, it thrust Tokarov to the wall of the cave, its hot breath washing over his face.

“AAAAIIIIIIEEEEEE!!!!” Blood burst from the creature’s head as a sword cleaved off half its head, splattering Tokarov in a mess of fluid and brain matter. As it fell back, he dropped to his knees and caught a breath trying to wipe the blood from his eyes. Looking up he saw the smiling face of Ego, his arm resting on the hilt of a double-handed claymore sword.

“Dear God, you just saved my life.”

“Not just yours, you have a species to revive.”

“You, are now Who has always been.”

“We are all just trying to survive, even the gods among us.”

“What am I to do?”

“Gather yourself and your future. I will get you to the surface.”

Tokarov sheathed his dagger and gathered himself, placing the egg in the sling over his shoulder, and looked at Ego, “What now?”

“Extend your arms and position yourself under the shaft. I will do the rest.” Tokarov complied and Ego clasped his hands together and his lips danced with ancient words, bringing realization and tears to Tokarov’s eyes. The weight came off his feet as he ascended the shaft by faith alone with his future cradled around him.

At the planet’s surface, he floated down to the rocky ground, the heat of Aerialis bearing down on him. Gently unwrapping the Sabinarath’s egg, he held it up to the sun, allowing its rays to heat the shell, not quite knowing what would happen. As the star warmed it with its rays, something stirred inside. Sitting down, Tokarov placed the egg in his lap facing the sun.

Watching as it rocked and wiggled, he gasped as a tiny finger poked through the shell. Helping it along, he broke away the hard husk, revealing what looked like a human infant. As the light reached her eyes she squealed and kicked, punching away the last of its vessel. Holding her up in the light, he looked down, yes definitely able to reproduce. Wiggling and cooing, she locked eyes with Tokarov, her purple irises beaming in the sunlight. They both smiled as he held her close.

“I will name you Evangeline.” Tokarov kissed her cheek as a tear dripped off his nose, landing on her tender forehead.

A noise broke the communion as Tokarov saw the nose of a ship edging down toward the surface of Xenoscythe. The Overlords were here, to where they traveled next only they would know.

SEINFELD | 1950’s Super Panavision 70

Some AI image generations by MM

Enjoy.

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What made you realize your life will never be the same?

I suspected but did not know if my wife was having an affair. She had been texting a guy that she said was a friend. I had been hospitalized with appendicitis a few weeks before and was still at home hardly able to walk. I heard a text come in very late at night. She was asleep. I could not sleep due to pain. I looked.

Here is what I read:

Scumbag: Sorry about pregnancy. Def me?

I was blown away. I knew immediately what this meant. I woke her up and showed her. I was too shocked to be angry or hostile. My head was spinning. I could hardly breath. She denied they had sex.

She said Scumbag didn’t know how babies were made!!!

He was a married father of three that worked in the medical field. She said she could explain it. That I was reading too much into it.

I’m sure she did think that she could talk her way out of it in the morning. She had talked her way out of many other similar, albeit less damning and concrete situations over the last few months. She took her phone and fell back asleep right away as she had been drinking quite a bit.

I knew the truth but did not want any chance for her to be able to have even a fig leaf of cover. Once she was asleep again I got her phone and texted back to Scumbag, pretending to be her.

Me for her: What do you mean by Def me???

Scumbag: Are you sure it was me that got you pregnant?

I woke her again and showed her this new evidence. She no longer denied it. She was in tears, telling me she had broken up with him weeks ago. She said when she realised I could have died from the burst appendix that she really wanted me and not him. I believed it then, briefly. We are divorced now. Of course.

What do you think of the education system in China?

I have studied with, taught and collaborated professionally with products of the Chinese education system.

My friend from beida likes to boast she placed in the top half of her faculty. She wears it with plenty of pride, because she was one of several applicants from her province that was accepted that year. She considers my intellect average at best.

Another friend from qinghua blew my socks away when he elegantly derived a molecular dynamics homework question I had spent a fruitless night on. He did not need to consult any references and wasn’t taking the class. And no, he wasn’t a physics or chemistry major.

I will say the professionally qualified in china deserve their credentials, especially the nationally recognized standards or schools.

A shanghai/Beijing academy qualified dancer/singer/actor will have the requisite skill/looks/grooming to begin a performance career. An nth grade welder will be able to make welds only a select few can nationwide. A fudan PhD possesses a rare quality of mind.

And so on.

There is incredible competition in china, across all trades and professions. And China has a systematic mechanism of identifying, developing and sifting through the stream. In certain realms such as the arts and select technical trades, the mechanism is more thorough and rigorous than most countries. For example, emcees and newscasters must obtain a practicing cert, just like lawyers in many countries.

That’s the cream of the crop. Much work remains on the other end, where millions in each cohort still skip the gaokao due to lack of opportunity.

Gilligan’s Island as a 1970s Grindhouse Horror – Super Panavision 70

This question is for the retired people. How did you get adjusted with the retired life at the initial stage? What was your routine during the first three months after your retirement?

I retired in 2017

It was a Tuesday. I had had a Dinner just the evening given by the department and had received the traditional gift. It was all OVER and seriously – i felt liberated or free – FOR ABOUT 12 HOURS.

Then i woke up on Wednesday – my first thought was mechanical. It was 6:40 in the morning – my usual wake up time and it took me almost 20 minutes to realize I was Retired.

I sat there feeling depressed for some strange reason, My routine was gone. Leaving the house at 9:20 AM after breakfast, going to the office, doing some work, participate in a handful of meetings and returning back home. IT was over.

I missed the 11:00 AM – Coffee first. Then i missed the Lunch in the Canteen at 1:30 PM. Then i missed the general talk. My wife was gone (She teaches). I had never felt so lonely in my life.

At 3:30 – I dressed up and went to my workplace. I did not care – i just decided to go. I reached there at around 4:15 and there was a flutter. Everyone was puzzled. They greeted me, milled around me. My AGM invited me into his cabin for a cup of tea. It felt Good again. I had to make up a lie about why i was there of course. Some lie about some file which i presume nobody believed.

I left at 6:30 – feeling better. It was like going home after a regular day of work.

However i knew – if i keep going back – i would soon be ignored or curtly told to go home and i did not want that.

So i had to find a way out of my boredom.

The next 2 days were Torture. Staying alone at home – watching TV, Browsing the Internet, Disturbing my kids (I would Skype them at 2 PM when it was 12:30 Midnight)

A Lot of suggestions came up – including – trying how to cook (Which was a disaster).

It was perhaps on the 15th day – that i got a call

A Local company in Bangalore was sigining an MOU with a Malaysian Company and the Lawyer wanted someone who understood “Contracts” and knew about “Malaysia and Singapore” for an outside opinion.

He couriered me the documents and i gave my first legal opinion. I got my first legal fee – Rs. 7500/- since 1983

A Few days later- the Company invited me to Bangalore. I agreed and was planning to stay with my sister when they sent an email – booking me a room in a Hotel and booking a flight ticket for me and asking me for my consultancy charges?

First experience of such things.

Of course I had to portray myself as a Top corporate lawyer. I printed visiting cards , purchased a few clothes and went on my first consultation.

Life slowly changed

I found some work – enough to keep me slightly busy with contracts from Singapore/Malaysia/US

I found Quora – and it was a huge, huge relief.

I found Movies – getting complimentary tickets for every film from my Auditor Friend who himself did not care for movies.

Now i have my latest interest in Computers and C Programming (I am now at Arrays)

So slowly you get adapted to a new life. One post retirement.

If you can get past the early days – You get used to it and then slowly begin to forget what it was life when you had a Working life.

My advise:-

(a) Always have a Hobby – Reading, Browsing. A Hobby would be very useful indeed.

(b) If possible try to get away for a Holiday soon as you retire

(d) Join Quora – It seriously was a life saver for me. I was busy only around 20 hours or so every week – the rest of the time it was Quora which saved me.

(e) If you long to go back to your workplace – Dont!!!! Have Rarity Value.

How democratic, free, and prosperous is China in the 21st century?

Chinese and westerners have very different ideas about personal and group rights, so it is impossible to give an answer which pleases everyone.

For Americans and westerners, the threat comes from an over-reaching government which wants to extend its power over every facet of personal life. So for them, the power of the Chinese government to store voice, gait and facial recognition, full access to to digital communications when needed, access to bank accounts, etc represents a typical tyranny which is unacceptable by western standards.

For Chinese though, the greatest threat came from foreign invasion and occupation. To most Chinese, the Chinese government is their guardian and protector from foreign exploitation. Most Chinese believe that the government should have access to bank records and personal data. If the Chinese government did not have free access, how would it catch criminals and corrupt officials who abuse their power. After all, if a citizen is honest, why does he care about his own privacy? He has nothing to hide!

This means that there is no objective standard for judging how democratic China is, because the west and Asians see the same thing completely differently.

The Decline of the United States: A Multifaceted Story
In Search Of Truth September 29, 2024

The Decline of the United States: A Multifaceted Story

The idea that the United States is in decline has been a recurring theme in political and cultural discourse, particularly over the past few decades. While the term “decline” can be subjective and varies depending on one’s perspective, several indicators point toward significant challenges the U.S. faces that have contributed to this narrative. From economic stagnation and political polarization to social unrest and a weakened global influence, the decline of the U.S. is a multifaceted issue. Below is an exploration of the key dimensions driving this perceived fall from prominence.

1. Economic Inequality and Stagnation

The American Dream, which once symbolized upward mobility, has become increasingly out of reach for many. While the U.S. remains a wealthy nation, the distribution of wealth has skewed sharply toward the upper echelons of society. The top 1% of Americans control about a third of the nation’s wealth, while middle-class wages have stagnated for decades. This growing inequality has led to a breakdown in social cohesion, as many working- and middle-class Americans struggle to maintain their standard of living amid rising costs of housing, education, and healthcare.

The decline of American manufacturing, once the backbone of the economy, has been another contributing factor. With the advent of globalization and automation, many manufacturing jobs have moved overseas, leaving a void in many working-class communities. These economic changes have decimated industrial towns across the Midwest and Northeast, creating a sense of despair and fueling populist sentiments.

2. Political Polarization and Dysfunction

The U.S. political system has become more divided and dysfunctional than at any time in recent memory. While the country has always had political disagreements, the partisan divide today seems unbridgeable. On nearly every major issue—whether it be healthcare, immigration, or climate change—Americans are split along ideological lines. This polarization has eroded trust in institutions and undermined the basic functioning of government.

A significant factor in this polarization is the rise of hyper-partisan media, which often prioritizes sensationalism and outrage over nuanced debate. Social media platforms amplify these divisions by creating echo chambers, where people are exposed primarily to views that confirm their preexisting beliefs. The result has been a political landscape that feels more like a culture war than a forum for governance.

Moreover, the influence of money in politics has led to a system where special interests, corporate lobbyists, and wealthy donors wield disproportionate power. This has created a sense among many Americans that their government no longer represents their interests, leading to widespread disillusionment and apathy.

3. Social Fragmentation and Civil Unrest

American society has also become more fragmented. Racial, ethnic, and cultural divides, long part of the U.S. fabric, have grown sharper. The killing of George Floyd in 2020 and the subsequent protests brought to the surface long-simmering tensions over police brutality, systemic racism, and inequality. While these protests represented a call for justice, they also highlighted the deep rifts within American society.

The rise of identity politics, where individuals’ political positions are based on their race, gender, or ethnicity, has further contributed to social fragmentation. While the recognition of historically marginalized groups is essential, identity politics can sometimes lead to a zero-sum mindset, where groups see themselves in constant competition for limited resources or recognition.

Additionally, the erosion of traditional community structures, such as churches and civic organizations, has left many Americans feeling isolated and disconnected. The digital age has, paradoxically, contributed to this sense of isolation, as more people retreat into virtual spaces rather than engaging in face-to-face social interactions.

4. Global Influence and Military Overreach

The United States’ global standing has also diminished. Once the unchallenged leader of the free world, the U.S. now faces stiff competition from rising powers, most notably China. In the aftermath of World War II, the U.S. helped shape the liberal international order, promoting democracy, human rights, and free trade. However, in recent years, this order has frayed, with authoritarianism on the rise and international alliances weakening.

One of the major factors in this decline has been military overreach. Following the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. launched wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, both of which have dragged on with mixed results. These conflicts have drained U.S. resources, both in terms of money and human lives, while achieving limited success in stabilizing the regions involved. The U.S. has also been criticized for its role in destabilizing the Middle East and North Africa, contributing to the refugee crises and the spread of extremism.

The withdrawal from international agreements, such as the Paris Climate Agreement and the Iran nuclear deal, has also weakened the U.S.’s reputation as a reliable global leader. Meanwhile, China’s rise as an economic and geopolitical power has challenged the U.S. in key areas like technology, trade, and military might.

5. Cultural and Moral Decline

Many commentators also point to a cultural or moral decline as part of the broader story of America’s fall. Traditional values, such as family, faith, and civic duty, have been eroded by consumerism, individualism, and relativism. The pursuit of material wealth and instant gratification has replaced long-term commitment to communal or national goals.

This cultural shift has affected everything from education to political discourse. The U.S. education system, once the envy of the world, has fallen behind in key metrics, particularly in science and math. There is also a growing anti-intellectualism in certain segments of society, where expertise and facts are increasingly dismissed in favor of conspiracy theories and tribal loyalties.

The breakdown of the family unit has also been cited as a key indicator of moral decline. Rising divorce rates, single-parent households, and a general retreat from marriage have contributed to a sense of social instability, particularly among the younger generation.

6. Challenges to Democracy

Perhaps the most alarming sign of U.S. decline is the erosion of democratic norms. The events surrounding the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections, including claims of election fraud and efforts to overturn results, have undermined confidence in the electoral process. The January 6th, 2021 attack on the Capitol, in which rioters sought to disrupt the certification of the election, was a watershed moment that exposed the fragility of U.S. democracy.

Voter suppression efforts, gerrymandering, and the influence of dark money have further weakened democratic participation. While the U.S. has long held itself up as a beacon of democracy, it now faces serious questions about the health of its own system.

Conclusion: A Path Forward?

The decline of the United States is not inevitable, nor is it irreversible. The country still possesses tremendous resources, talent, and potential. However, addressing the factors driving this decline will require bold action and a renewed sense of national purpose. Economic reforms to reduce inequality, a commitment to rebuilding trust in democratic institutions, and a more measured foreign policy are essential steps in reversing course.

Ultimately, the fate of the United States rests on whether it can overcome its divisions and recapture the spirit of unity and innovation that once made it a global leader. Whether or not it can, remains one of the defining questions of the 21st century.

What should you do if someone pulls up in a van with a gun and asks that you get in?

Gavin de Becker discusses this situation in his book — The Gift of Fear.

I will admit, I have not read his book. But I did see him interviewed for this book. And here, 18 yrs later, I still remember his example for the scenario.

Here is how he explained it.

If someone is trying to take you to a second crime scene, they are doing it for one reason only. That reason is to eventually murder you. After all, they can rob or rape you where you are.

If you’re going to die anyways, your best strategy is to try to get away.

Suppose they have a gun? How difficult is it to hit a moving target? Suppose it’s 50/50. So you have at least a half a chance of getting away?

In tests, the chances of being hit are less than 10% (I believe this was taken from police training sites). The chances of being hit in such a way that you couldn’t keep running were about 4%. The chances of being hit fatally, were about 1-2% (again, this was a long time ago, my numbers may not be exactly what he quoted, but they are pretty close).

So your choice is get in the van, and 100% chance of being murdered. Or take a chance, and have about a 10% of even being hit.

Always run. Run and scream.

The killer Muppets – 1940’s Super Panavision 70

Why does the PRC government care if Taiwan is independent? Taiwan is a small island without much strategic importance.

Taiwan is a small island without much strategic importance.

Says who? Says you? Who the fuck are you? What make you such a fucking expert?

Taiwan is strategically very, very important for the following reasons:

It is the key island in the first island chain that blocks China’s access to the Pacific.
If Taiwan falls under the control of the USA, then US forces (including nuclear missiles) could be less than a hundred miles away from China’s coast.
Taiwan is symbolic of China’s century of humiliation. The Chinese people demand that Taiwan be reunified.
TSMC.
No country should be expected to cede its territory for any reason. Should the USA cede Hawaii or Texas? Should the UK cede the Falkland Islands?

What was the most incredibly stupid (and avoidable) error a pilot made that caused the crash of a passenger airliner?

American Airlines flight 965 from Miami to Cali, Colombia. The aircraft was a Boeing 757–200. This flight took place on December 20, 1995 with 163 onboard.

Cali airport is situated in a thin valley surrounded by tall mountains. The plane was approaching Cali at night time. There was no radar at the airport because it was sabotaged by a terror group. So Air Traffic Control could not see where the aircraft was going.

As flight 587 was coming in for the approach, the pilots were planning to land on runway 01, but ATC offered if they wanted to land straight in on runway 19. The pilots accepted the straight in approach because it was faster. The flight had already been delayed a couple of hours back in Miami. With a sudden change in approach procedures, the pilots had to quickly figure out what navigation aides to use for the approach. And since they had to descend at a steeper rate, the pilots deployed the speed brakes to help with the descent.

One of the radio navigation points was ‘ROZO,’ and it was a point on the approach course for runway 19. The pilots had to program that non-directional beacon point on the flight computer. The crew typed in the letter R, and chose the first option on the list. But the waypoint the pilot chose was ROMEO which was in a completely different direction.

The plane made a left turn, and the pilots didn’t realize the plane was turning. And since the aircraft was flying in between mountains, the plane was turning into a mountain range. The alarm went off in the cockpit telling the pilots to immediately pull up. The captain did everything he could to climb. He pulled the yoke, and increased thrust on the engines. The problem was that in those few seconds of trying to save the airplane, he forgot that the speed brakes were still deployed which hinders the aircraft from climbing. The aircraft crashed near the peak of a mountain. Investigators believed that if the speed brakes were retracted immediately, the aircraft could have cleared the mountain.

There were 4 people who had survived the crash. There were a few others that survived the initial impact, but because it took search and rescue a long time to get to the crash site, they weren’t able to get medical treatment in time and succumb to their injuries.

After an investigation, the pilots big mistake was not typing into the flight computer ‘ROZO.’ When the pilots typed in R into the computer, they assumed that the ROZO would come up because it was the closest navigation aide. But the pilots didn’t realize they had to type in the letters ROZO. Investigators still don’t understand why the pilots didn’t see what the first option was on the list. It clearly said Romeo which wasn’t the waypoint the aircraft was supposed to go to. That one little mistake cost 159 lives. And the second mistake was failing to realize that the speed brakes were still deployed.

In US Army basic training, after lights out, could you get out of bed and do a workout and go for a run?

No.

Don’t be that guy. You will get plenty of work out before the lights go out.

If you try to pull some shit like that, you will be caught, and your Drill will wake the rest of us up, with some clever ideas to make the rest of us hate life, and in return, make us hate you!

main qimg 2e9e2654eb9a8998fdd2f4773663006e lq

(The actual barracks he climbed out of)

We had a guy sneak out in the middle of the night once. Like some kind of ninja, this dude scaled down from the third story window in the middle of the night.

main qimg 3d31af9108f74be78203c22484ff5596 lq

He then ninja’d himself all the way to the vending machines with roughly $40 of money from other soldiers in his platoon.

Then this ninja dude climbed back in the 3rd story window, because the doors had alarms on them.

But instead of being a smart ninja dude, this soldier decided that since he took all the risk, he would just keep all the fatty cakes for himself.

This wall climbing troop didn’t give the other soldiers what they paid for, and decided the next day to take a nap inside of his wall locker with all of his ninja’d loot.

main qimg d761112fb10f55775ed6d8c50f97aa05 lq

Suffice it to say, the Drills were made aware of his mission, and they found him sleeping in a tiny closet with $40 worth of vending machine goods.

Three things you never want to do in Basic Training;

F*** your battle buddies
Piss off your Drill Sergeants
Get caught sleeping on duty

This ninja was 3 for 3.

The moral of the story is to not be a ninja. Go to effing sleep dude. Sleep is gold.

Cheers

The Trial

Submitted into Contest #243 in response to: Write a story where time functions differently to our world.… view prompt

Oma S. Ari

This story contains themes or mentions of physical violence, gore, or abuse.

The prison guard was an angry man, never smiling and rarely talking. He had been there for as long as Lucas could remember. Resentful and bitter he walked the corridors, giving the impression that at some point, something absolutely terrible was to happen to him. Lucas did not share his enraged aura, but he sure had the same outlook on what was to come. Whatever awaited him outside of these prison walls, Lucas was certain that it was nothing good..The same room had been his home since childhood. The bare walls had a gray-greenish color, the cracks gradually mending with time as the world slowly moved from disorder to order, from chaos to control. When he was a boy the window had been nothing but a gaping hole into the empty courtyard outside, and the wind had kept him up all night. Now, the glass covered almost all of the metal frame, leaving only a fine, glittering powder below, gathering strength and finding its purpose. So many years Lucas had spent staring into this ceiling, imagining the skies above it. Still, when the angry guard opened the door with a sharp “It’s time”, Lucas did not linger. The relief of leaving this place had been nesting in his stomach for months..Lucas knew the path through the prison, but the moment they left the main gate and headed to the sparsely trafficked street outfront, he was on new territory. The air, ground, trees, everything seemed different here, as if color had suddenly been injected into the universe. Blinking, it took him many moments to even reflect on what was supposed to follow. He did not need much reflection, it turned out, as the guard, now joined by some of his colleagues in a hostile silence, quickly shoved him into the back of a parked van. Loudly, and without warning, Lucas kneeled on the metal floor and vomited. He could feel this evening’s cereal stroke his palette as it left. The guard gave him a look of disapproval as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve and shakingly sat up with his back against the wall.“Motion sickness”, another guard snickered, “the boy has never been in a car before, has he?”The door of the van slammed shut, and the engine started..There were hundreds of journalists outside the courthouse and, surrounding them, a thick layer of wrath. The sound of angry voices traveled in murmuring waves towards him as he stepped out in the sun. Lucas suspected that this week’s paper had been filled with the most hideous descriptions of his persona, and he made his best effort to not make eye contact with anyone as he was escorted through the crowd. It was a strange experience, he thought, spending the very first moment basking in the light of the real world, surrounded by nothing but a yelling mob. Further, he guessed that he was to live without his medicine now. The pills that the guards served him every morning were to stop coming. He had never known exactly what those drugs did, but as the colors and sounds of the horde around him exploded in his mind, creating thousands of blinking stars shooting across his open eyes, he thought that life was likely to be much more vibrant from now on. The sounds seemed sharper. Every sensation clearer. Lucas and his entourage struggled up the stairs. Inside, the court building was brilliantly white, with a large skylight that illuminated the great entry hall. The moment the large doors closed behind them, muffling the sound from the outside, the guards stepped backwards and a new kind of custodian took their place..

“Lucas, my name is Zaman and I am to be your lawyer throughout the day’s proceedings”

Zaman was tall, and serious looking. Lucas could not help thinking that he sounded as if he was here to offer an apology and bad excuses. Twenty four years had Lucas been locked away, and not once had he heard the name Zaman before.

“I have tried to contact you on numerous occasions through your time incarcerated”, Zaman said, “but it seemed to me and my colleagues that you preferred to have no correspondence”, he held the door open as they entered another great hall with white marble walls. Lucas felt a ray of hope glimmer faintly in his chest. Zaman continued, “I know it has been a long time behind bars for you, but you have shown great behavior throughout…”

“Will that matter?”, Lucas interrupted.

Zaman gave him a crooked, but sympathetic, smile.

“I doubt it”.

With Zaman by his side, Lucas sat in the middle of the marble hall. In front of him was an open notebook and two feather pens. Their tips looked as if made by solid gold. Lucas wondered if he was expected to use them. He had practiced a lot of basic tasks in prison, but he was no writer. As the room around them filled with people, Zaman kept giving him reassuring looks, promising that it would all be over shortly. The six judges, all dressed in black with their dark blue caps covering the better part of their faces, were seated the moment the clock struck twelve. As soon as the last one of them had put down her briefcase on the table, the trial began.

Lucas shivered. An echo flew through the room. Murder.

Murder.

“Murder”.

The judge farthest to the right had leaned forward and spoken.

“Ah!”, Zaman reacted quickly, collecting his papers and standing up “But who? That, my fellow citizens, is the question we are here to answer today”. He spoke in a calm and controlled manner, every now and then turning to the other side of the room to face the curious audience.

“Twenty four years is a long time”, Zaman stated while nodding seriously, “but is it long enough for us to consider the most heinous crimes?”

It was almost eleven when he finished and the prosecutor took over. Lucas felt exhausted and drained, wanting nothing but to stand up and leave. The whispering of the onlookers made it difficult to focus, and the voices of the judges seemed distorted and slow. At some point, he was sure, someone was going to ask him a question, and he had very little to say to his defense. He felt like a scared animal clinging to the arm of Zaman, hoping that there was something this stranger could do or say to change what was about to happen.

It was ten, and the crowd gasped.

“A child ”, the prosecutor said.

“Out of the question”, Zaman responded, “Look at him. He is nothing but a child himself”

The prosecutor’s desk was a few meters to the side, and Lucas, dizzy from the stress and the bright light, could not see her clearly. But he heard her voice, sharp and clear and bouncing from the marble in all directions. He followed it with his eyes, as the sound of her words echoed around him, traveling from wall to wall and merging with the whispering of the audience and the low rumbling from the street outside.

The crowd gasped again. Lucas could see a man close his hand over his mouth and shake his head.

“A child”, she repeated, “A boy from Houston. He is only twelve.”

The legs of a chair dragged along the floor. Steps. A halt. The prosecutor had stood up and made her way across the room. Lucas had always known that today was going to be filled with humiliation and bad news. Still, as he sat in this white room, with blue eyes watching from every direction, a sense of shock crawled up his spine. The disgust radiating from the seats around him had managed to seep through his skin, penetrating his belly and grabbing a hold of his innards. He felt it too. Disgusted.

“A child of twelve. A murder in Houston”, she said a third time, now looking directly at Lucas. The gray haired woman had a wrinkle over her eyes that made her seem troubled rather than fierce. Somewhere in her face Lucas could sense a hint of empathy. The prosecutor felt sorry for him. He swallowed the sense of surprise, having been worried that he had lost his voice in the chaotic scenes unfolding in his mind.

“Why?”, he demanded to know.

“Lunacy”, she responded softly.

Zaman had been correct, the trial was over quicker than it had begun. By the time the prosecutor had presented the gruesome details of the case and the audience had choked on their disgust enough times, morning was creeping up on them, and the proceedings came to an end.

Murder. A twelve year old boy.

“It could have been worse”, Zaman said while standing up and stroking his suit jacket, “Trust me, Lucas, it could have been a lot worse”.

Lucas was not sure he could stand. His voice was breaking as he asked:

“Worse than a dead child?”

Zaman attempted a smile, but it looked more like a grimace. Before he walked out he put his hand on Lucas’ shoulder.

“We will stay in touch. We have things to plan and discuss”.

Lucas did not turn to look as Zaman left. Alone he sat by the desk in the middle of the room until the sky light made the walls glow in a purple morning hue. Only then a janitor approached him, with the same irritated expression once carried by a prison guard that Lucas was never to see again.

“You are free to go, son”, the janitor grunted, clearly annoyed by his presence, “How about you make use of that freedom and stop wasting space in my court?”

Outside, the air was different again. Cold, early morning surrounded him and the silence had replaced the commotion from earlier. Whatever feelings that had been boiling outside the courthouse during the day had died down now. People had gone home. The journalists had finished. No one was there. For a brief moment, Lucas thought about the things that awaited. He would need to make friends, find his family, maybe even get a girlfriend. He sighed. He was not feeling particularly excited about any of it. Slowly, he started walking aimlessly down the empty street. He could get a nice home, maybe. A job. Life was long, and he needed to spend it somehow. He had always wanted to see the ocean, and he was sure there were people that worked and lived in places where you got to look at it every day. Maybe that would suit him. As he passed through the blocks, the houses changed in character. The impressive marble of the law was replaced by broken bricks and mud roads. This was a poor area. He could tell how the cracks in the facades were slowly healing, rubble from the street carefully moving towards the gates of people’s homes and gardens. Sadness and defeat hung in the air and embraced him as he walked. One day, he thought to himself, he would live in a neighborhood very different from this one.

But first, there was something that needed to be done. He had spent twenty four years in prison, and time had come to pay for it. Whatever pills the guards had given him with his daily morning meal had left his system by now, and he felt a new strength entering his body. His mind was more awake than before, his hearing more attuned. He listened to the sound of his tongue moving against his teeth, enjoying the soft melody of saliva and bone. The noise seemed to come just as much from the inside of his head as from the actual physical world it belonged to. For a long time he stood still, biting his lips and licking the inside of his cheeks, enjoying the harmony it created. A rounded, silky clicking that slithered down the throat. Then he laughed to himself. No more stalling. He needed to get to Houston.

Futures of The Past – 1950s Sci-Fi – AI Microfilm

What is the best case of “You just picked a fight with the wrong person” that you’ve witnessed?

I was pretty small and thin in high school, but wanted to play football so I worked out a lot and was strong for my size, but still barely managed to stay on the team. One spring day a guy who was playing at working out made some obnoxious comments and dared me to come outside and fight him. Coach threw him out of the weight room and I though it was over. I saw him hanging out with some friends watching us go through drills, but didn’t really think abut it. Until I got on the athletic bus to go home and saw him sitting in the back with three friends. I was the only white kid who rode the athletic bus, in a school that had only integrated about ten years earlier, but it was never a problem before that day. I did what I usually did and sat near the front with a group of friends. The guy, Don Lee, and his friends started throwing paper balls at me. They didn’t have very good aim, so it was mostly my friends getting hit, but Don Lee though it was hilarious. I figured it wouldn’t stop until I went back and got my butt kicked like they wanted me to, so I got up to go to the back. My friends told me it wasn’t worth it, but I couldn’t let them take it for me. Then as I walked to back of the bus with Don Lee and his friends laughing about what they were going to do to me, someone put his hand on my shoulder. I turned to see two of the biggest guys in the school, Bird and Kelvin. Bird told me to get behind him and suddenly the bus went deadly quiet. Don Lee started to say something smart and Bird grabbed him by the collar so that his knuckles were under Don Lee’s chin and slammed his head into the roof of the bus. It was like a scene from a comic book with Don Lee going all glassy eyed and slack jawed. Then Bird said let’s go Luke (my nickname, from Lucan the wolf boy TV show of the time) they won’t mess with you again. The next day during practice Bird told me that he’d never seen a white boy willing to fight to protect black guys and he wouldn’t let me get messed up that way.

So sometimes it isn’t that the person you picked a fight with is that strong, but they might just have friends who are.

What do you think is the worst drug?

Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but GABAPENTIN. I’m not sorry I’ve never tried cocaine, heroin, meth, crack, really anything beyond cannabis. Mushrooms once. I have enough trouble with dopamine as it is now, I cannot imagine something making that more difficult.

I took Gabapentin (Neurontin) for more than 4 years. I was taking it for a diagnosis of neuropathy, my left shoulder sucks from living, working, and it got way worse after open heart surgery at 39, I’m 46.

It has a mild soporific/anti-depressive effect, made me hurt a LOT less, but… knowing the long term effects and the considerable amount of heart and blood pressure meds made me want off of it pronto.

I went to my pain doc after deciding to come off of it. Weaning myself off of it was pure, unadulterated hell. That garbage is dangerous coming out, and from mood changes to stomach aches, to dizziness and blurred vision, and from all-day nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, that part was easy. Halfway through the process of weaning, I had body pain that was *insane* for about 72 hours, and then it seemed to be way less stressful after.

Some side effects while ON gabapentin:

Loss of libido in a huge way
Coordination and a strange gait.
Miss a dose? Get ready.
Loss of alertness because you are so damned tired all the time
Problems waking up (that have persisted after use)
I felt like I mumbled a lot, and my speech sometimes seemed slurred to me. I can’t imagine what I sounded like to a normal person.
Persistent dosing time: I had to make sure that I was taking it the same times, every day, every week, every month. Three times per day, 900mg a dose.
You can be an irritable bastard prior to getting that first dose in.
Some days, you are engulfed in a sadness that does not subside, seemingly that whole day.

Now,I also can look forward to some just purely depressing long-term side effects being NOT on Gabapentin:

Memory degradation. My short recall is pure sh*t sometimes.
Pain. Every single day from waking to sleeping, my shoulder hurts sometimes to the point where I get little akathisia (this inner restlessness that makes me have an almost “tick” to move my shoulder. So strange and unnerving. It seems to increase as my stress/anxiety increases.
Organ damage, brain and liver damage
Very weird respiratory depression
A foggy feeling sometimes

Gabapentin sucks. Please, take my story and have something else chosen for you.

China’s New Generation of Hypersonic Weapons Can Encircle the U.S. Military

What’s something small that happened in your life that everyone else probably forgot about but had a big impact on you?

**Edited to add** While I appreciate the people who took time to read and suggest edits, I am not doing this. All edits outside of basic spelling will be discarded. I’m sorry I have to explain this but I wrote this from my own perspective as a child. No child has perfect grammar. If you feel the need to change, delete entire paragraphs I suggest you please write your own story. This is mine.

************

I was with my mother and older sister in the grocery store. Kindergarten age, all big eyes and watchful quiet. I didn’t talk much, even then. I may have been small but I’d already learned that speaking only increased the pain.

My older sister had wandered off, but I stood right by mother. If I moved, even to see where sister had gone, I’d get beat later for misbehaving. It was just like me to cause problems. So I walked behind her like a little shadow. Careful, always careful to stay out of the way.

An older lady approached my mom and complimented her on how I behaved. She wore a housecoat and gray hair, just like a grandma on tv. This was so very weird – I never ever got told I did something good. I peeked out at her from behind my mom. She saw me and said “Oh how pretty she is! Look at those big eyes and long long eyelashes.” I smiled then…in my whole life no one had told me I was pretty without it being proceeded by severe pain. She made another compliment about my smile and I guess that was too much.

My mom interrupted and said “Oh you should see my other daughter. She’s the real beauty and so very good. This one’s just trouble”. My smile faded away and I looked down at my shoes. They hurt anyway, were too small. They’d been my sisters that got handed to me when she didn’t like the color anymore. They were old and scuffed and I was sure I’d be in trouble later. I never could figure out how to make the old shoes look like the new ones my sister wore.

The lady went around my mom and came and looked down at me. She said in a firm voice that allowed no disbelief “You are good too”. Then she smiled at me – just at me! and went on with her day.

She didn’t know it and neither did I, but that was when I first started to question how things had always been. When I was scrubbing the bathroom and my sister was outside because she was good enough to play I remembered it. When I got in trouble because my older sister did something and I didn’t stop her I’d remember that. Those little words got me through a lot of things and helped me learn that maybe I didn’t deserve what happened to me.

“You are good too”, such a little sentence but it started such a change in me.

What can you do to honor your wife when it is almost too late?

At about eleven years into our marriage, we were in big trouble. We were in our living room, both crying (my husband doesn’t cry, he was a Marine), and sitting in abject, defeated silence, as there was nothing left to say. It was dead. We failed. We were over. Too much pain.

Suddenly, I had an idea. I said, “OK, if this marriage is dead, let’s give it a damn funeral. And you know what? Who says we can’t marry each other again and start a new relationship?”

My husband looked at me and said, “Well, that’s just crazy enough to possibly work.”

We took off our rings. We wrote scathing eulogies to the first marriage. “Dear first marriage, I don’t know how you managed to both suck and blow, but die in a fucking fire….” We proceeded to speak to each other about our “exes,” complaining about all of the crap they did to us. “My ex left his damn socks on the floor ALL THE TIME.” “Oh, yeah, well MY ex threw temper tantrums about stupid shit.”

We lit candles. We created sacred space. We smudged our rings in sage smoke, and we said off-the-cuff vows to one another.

“I promise not to leave my socks on the floor”

“I promise not to wait until I can’t take something anymore and then yell at you”

We put our rings back on, we tied our hands together with our original handfasting cord after smudging it and adding things to it. We kissed. We made love. A lot.

We never spoke of it again. Almost twenty years strong, we are. We still make love. A lot.

Why US and West scared of China and Russia in Africa

Mediterranean Steak and Pasta with Tomato-Olive Sauce

Whole-wheat pasta is served with beef Sirloin Tip Center Steaks and a tomato and olive sauce. This one will please the adults and the kids in your family.

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

8 ounces uncooked whole grain fettuccine
4 beef Sirloin Tip Center Steaks, cut 3/4 inch thick (about 4 ounces each)
1 (26 ounce) jar pasta sauce with olives*
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves, crushed
1/4 cup finely shredded Italian cheese blend or mozzarella cheese
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Instructions

Cook fettuccine according to package directions; drain and keep warm.
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot. Place beef steaks in skillet; cook for 11 to 13 minutes for medium rare (145 degrees F) doneness, turning occasionally. (Do not overcook.) Remove from skillet; keep warm.
Combine pasta sauce and oregano in same skillet; heat until hot. Return steaks to skillet; turn to coat with sauce.
Place steaks on fettuccine; spoon sauce over all.
Sprinkle steaks with cheese, allowing cheese to melt. Sprinkle with parsley.

Notes

* You may substitute 1 (26 ounce) jar pasta sauce with olives for 1 (26 ounce) pasta sauce + 1/4 cup chopped olives.

Nutrition

Per serving: 474 Calories; 99.9 Calories from fat; 11.1g Total Fat (3.7g Saturated Fat; 0.2g Trans Fat; 0.3g Polyunsaturated Fat; 2.3g Monounsaturated Fat;) 71mg Cholesterol; 766mg Sodium; 54g Total Carbohydrate; 10.1g Dietary Fiber; 37g Protein; 6.2mg Iron; 332mg Potassium; 4.5mg NE Niacin; 0.4mg Vitamin B6; 2.8mcg Vitamin B12; 5.9mg Zinc; 33.6mcg Selenium; 90.1mg Choline

This recipe is an excellent source of Dietary Fiber, Protein, Iron, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Zinc, and Selenium; and a good source of Choline.

What goes through the mind of Chinese citizens when they travel out of China and end up on the internet seeing uncensored speech and negative factual news about the CCP?

Most Chinese foreign students I have met here in the US are shocked.

Not because they learned anything shocking about their country or government. It’s because they see how mainstream Western media present lies after lies about their home country. The place where they grew up.

As a result, most of them become more nationalistic after spending some time in the US.

You don’t have to believe me. Befriend Chinese foreign students in your city, I assume you’re a Westerner, and slowly ask their opinions of the Western mainstream media coverage of China. If they trust you, they will tell you truthfully what they think.

EDIT: I have deleted some comments from trolls and people who just want to have meaningless internet debates. If you ever use the words “wumao” or “fifty cents”, your comment will be deleted.

A stray dog rescues a buried stray cat—truly astonishing!

When you were a kid, who gave you an unforgettable Christmas present?

I have six siblings. My dad had a pretty good job that must have brought in decent money, but he and my mom (who was a homemaker) had seven kids to feed and clothe.

Every couple of months, my mom would receive bags of hand-me-downs from my cousins. It was fun sorting through the piles of clothes. I never gave up hope that something on-trend would make an appearance. Needless to say, that never happened. So, I was always attired in dated, usually over-sized clothing (it didn’t help that I was a scrawny little thing).

The Christmas I was in Grade Six, my oldest brother was working full time. He was the type of big brother that you see in the movies . . . kind, patient and generous. Many times on a Friday night he’d show up with chips and pop (a rare treat) for us kids.

On December 23rd, he showed up with a pile of beautifully wrapped gifts. I was thrilled beyond belief just by the presentation. On Christmas morning, I carefully untied the beautiful ribbon, and slid my small fingers along the seams. I savored each delicious moment of the unwrapping process.

When I finally unveiled the box, I held my breath and slowly opened it. First I pulled out a beautiful, soft, red turtleneck sweater. Hidden beneath a layer of tissue paper, I saw a tan-coloured something peeking out. It was a faux-leather jumper (a sleeveless dress), complete with a belt. The entire ensemble fit me like a glove. It was on-trend, and I was over the moon.

For the first time in my young life, I could wear a new outfit (one that actually fit) to school. I can still remember how thrilling it was to wear that gorgeous outfit. My big brother is a kind and gentle man with a family of his own, and I hold him in the highest regard.

What are some aspects of Chinese culture that may seem odd or strange to an American visiting China for the first time?

My American customer told me,

he was shocked about :

“Chinese kids are allowed to drink wine”

I told him,my grandpa forced me to drink wine when I was 6 yrs old, while my Muslim grandma encouraging me at the same table.

China is sometime so wired even for Chinese.

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What do inmates do to survive prison without going insane?

I remember going into prison, I was facing a 10 year sentence for drugs and pretty down on myself over it. But someone said something to me at the start of my stay that has stuck with me ever since.

“Every day you need some kind of victory, be it physical, mental, or spiritual. Every day, have some victory big or small.”

I don’t know if I really understood him fully at the time, but he had been in and out of the system for his entire life.

In prison, I did alot of pushups and I read alot of books. I fought noone when I could, and anyone when I had to. I played the games, chess, dominoes, cards, basketball, I even learned d&d. I made friends and i made enemies. I faced boredom and some of the most challenging situations of my life. I faced myself in the mirror, the good parts and the ugly parts. I learned alot about myself there.

Something else I remember thinking alot, almost as a mantra is a quote from the movie nacho libre. When the orphan kid is trying to comfort him and he tells him “I’ll have my hot day in the sun” there’s alot of opportunity to make your time slightly easier. Drugs of course, getting stuck watching TV, but really I’m talking about turning away from what you belive is right. It’s easy to compromise your morals in a place like that. But I had my hot day in the sun. In the long run, I think that’s better.

Just like in the real world there are alot of things you can’t control there, and there isn’t always a clear path forward… When there is you know what to do. But when there isn’t, you can still have a small victory everyday. Workout, learn something, face yourself and decide who you want to be going forward, meditate, pray, do something worth doing.

I ended up doing 3 years and 10 months before I made parole. And it’s been almost that long I’ve been out. All in all I feel like prison gave me the opportunity to become who I am now. There’s alot of people in there that got alot more time than I did. But if I had to do more, I’d try and live by that same advice ol shake gave me.

I still try and live by it now.

Anyway I’ve never done this before so thanks for reading.

I DISCOVERED MY CAT’S SECRET PURPOSE AND WHERE THEY GO AFTER PETS DIE

The once pretty became the now blight

History is interesting.

When I lived in Indiana, we spent a lot of time exploring the countryside. Because of the flat… endless flat… it’s really difficult to find nice quiet spaces. Ah. But they do exist. Interspersed between the endless fields of corn and soybeans are these little oasis between the farm plots.

Yes. These little and often tiny plots might contain a cemetery (we visited many, many of these)…

… an old Indian mound (the “mound builders” built these large piles of dirt everywhere)…

….and the occasional pile of rubbish, trash and junk.

On one of our trips we discovered an old yard that hid (what was once) a beautiful skating rink.

It consisted of a nice rural pond, big enough for skating adventures, and events we found the cement foundations of bleachers and fire pits. Oh, man, it must have been really nice back in the day.

I’ll tell you what.

But today, or when we visited it in the late 1980’s, it was filled with old kitchen appliances, a abandoned car or two. Piles and piles of household garbage and refuse, and what looked to be the carcass of a pig that was taking months to decompose. Disgusting really.

I don’t know the whole story about what happened.

Probably, or most likely, the owner of the property passed away, and relatives bought the property and sold it off to Agri-business. And neighbors probably just started dumping their trash there. It’s the American way. Don’t you know.

Have you all explored your local neighborhoods and countrysides for your own local lore?

Here’s a tombstone in the middle of a highway…

If you haven’t you should. You might be surprised at the old dance halls on the third floor of that old main street building, or the old horse-smithery behind the old bank, or the massive military tank in the garage behind the wilting mansion down the road. History is interesting.

Just driving down the road will expose you to adventure…

And let’s not even get into the history of American Indians. Many stories and history there. Quite interesting when you get into it.

Ok. For today…

What’s the most badass thing your boss has ever done?

BEST boss I ever had was the director of a large government computer center. We serviced users from all over the US. Most of whom were great to work with. Nearly 30 years later some remain close personal friends.

One of those users was extremely abusive. He left some of the women who tried to help him in tears.

He started in on me once, but I told him that after 6.5 years active duty as an enlisted Marine and an equal time as a street cop in a town noted for barfights, the only thing that offended me was the poor way he was cussing me out, “I’m going to hang up now, and I don’t want you calling me back until you can do so without cussing me out, or until you can cuss me out properly. Besides, all my programs are running, how is yours doing?”

He was nice to me.

However, our boss was incensed at the treatment he gave us. (He thought my response was hilarious.)

There was a big conference coming up, and our boss was going to see him. One of two things was going to happen. An apology, or he was going to ask the guy to step outside and settle it on a different level and kick him off the system.

I worked mostly a permanent 8PM to 4AM shift on the police department, so I could handle myself pretty well, but I would NOT have wanted to get into a hook-n-jab with him. (I went to college part-time.)

The guy wisely groveled, called and apologized to one and all (except me!), and was a model user.

When they installed the computer–this was a monster supercomputer–they sent commemorative coffee cups along. This boss created a lot of detractors because he distributed the cups to us serfs instead of the upper level managers.

How good a boss was he? I almost turned down a new job with a 20% raise because I knew I’d never find a better boss. Later he ended up at another government computer. The one I moved to for that 20% raise! Then I almost turned down a 35% raise to stay and work with him at that second site. He told me that if I did not take that job, he was going to kick my ass. I’m pretty sure he meant it.

Men and women in the USA

What is an open secret in your profession that we regular folk don’t know or generally aren’t allowed to be told about?

A large number of lawyers engage in what, euphemistically, is called “value billing.” More bluntly, it’s called mail fraud. Here’s the idea:

You’re a lawyer, and a prospective client wants you to do something. Say, they want you to draft a contract for some purpose or another.

You talk to them about your expertise. You lay on the charm. You show them the fancy awards you won. They’re on board, and you formalize your attorney/client relationship with a document called an “engagement letter.” The engagement letter sets forth the important parameters of the relationship, most definitely including how fees are computed.

Most attorneys will have a line in there that says “unless otherwise specified on a case-by-case basis, I bill at such-and-such per hour for legal services.” The client is on board with that, and they sign off. Let’s say your rate is $500/hour, just to make nice round numbers.

Now you talk with the client about what they need this contract to involve. You talk to them for, say, an hour. You now have a perfect understanding of what they need. Lo and behold, you can crib from another contract you have lurking around in your files, and adapting this template to fit your client’s needs takes, say, 15 minutes.

A lawyer who engages in “value billing” might bill, say, 4 hours for producing the contract for the client, on top of the hour conversation. Their rationale is that they’re delivering $2000 in value to the client, so 4 hours is a fair price. Besides, the only reason they have this template is because they’re such a great and knowledgeable and fancy lawyer to begin with. So, in their mind, another lesser attorney might really need to take 4 hours.

Don’t be mistaken: some things are not wrong about what the attorney is doing. It’s not wrong to crib from old work. It’s not even wrong to charge $2000 for something that only took 15 minutes. What is wrong is to tell the client you’re billing them by the hour, then fabricate your hours.

This happens from time to time, and for various reasons. I’ve personally known some lawyers (… and, to be clear, they’re the exceptions…) who do this regularly. I’ve known some lawyers who only do this occasionally, and only under special circumstances. Hell, as a young attorney I’ve been given explicit directions to do so by my supervising partner.

(In that case, the client was a bit of a pain in the ass, and created a last-minute emergency that didn’t need to be created. I did a reasonably good job in a reasonably short amount of time. Upon reviewing my work, the partner said something along the lines of, “Good job. Bill an extra 5 hours on this and take the rest of the day off.” Being BigLaw, I definitely billed the extra 5 hours. I definitely did not take the rest of the day off.)

Most lawyers know what the phrase “value billing” means. If they don’t, I’m sure they know about the practice by some other name.

URGENT: RUSSIAN MISSILES ON THE MOVE – COUNTRY-WIDE

Hal Turner World December 13, 2024
URGENT: RUSSIAN MISSILES ON THE MOVE – COUNTRY-WIDE

Something is taking place inside Russia which signals a terrifying and dangerous escalation is taking place: Numerous Russian Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Transporter-Erector-Launcher (TEL) trucks have come out of storage and are traversing snow-covered back roads throughout the entire nation of Russia.

After the recent attack by Ukraine, against a military airfield in Taganrog, the Russians launched a very significant attack overnight last night, against numerous targets inside Ukraine.

But these movements of ICBM’s hint at something far bigger: a possible launch against NATO itself.

Russia has repeatedly warned that if western-supplied missiles were used to attack deep inside Russia, those missiles require western satellites to guide them to target. Ukraine does not have any satellites. So if “Ukraine” uses western-supplied missiles, and those missiles are actively guided-to-target by western satellites, then the west (collectively) becomes a “Combatant” — an active participant in the fight, against which Russia can strike back.

When they said “strike back” they made clear they felt entitled to strike western (i.e. NATO) bases inside NATO countries.

These explicit warnings came after Ukraine used western-supplied, long-range missiles back on November 19 to hit Russia.

After that strike by Ukraine, Russia unleashed a new hypersonic “Oreshnik” missile, with empty warheads, to hit a major military production site inside Ukraine. The video of that attack , using the Oreshnik with six multiple Independent re-entry vehicles (MIRV) warheads, rained down six (6) separate storms of fire and molten metal upon the military factory in Ukraine.

The terrifying fury of fire and molten metal sub-munitions coming out of the sky at over 6,000 miles-per-hour, sent shockwaves through Ukraine and the West.

Ukraine’s strikes against Russia then halted . . . until December 11, when Ukraine did it again: Hitting Taganrog, Russia with US-supplied ATACMS.

Last night, December 12, Russia struck Ukraine with at least 93 missiles and more than 200 drones. But AFTER that, all the missiles you see above, started coming out of their storage and into the field of Russia . . . ALL OVER their country.

It is now appearing that the Russians ____MAY____ strike bases in NATO countries.

No military exercises have been announced inside Russia which would account for these missile movements. They are ongoing as this story publishes at 10:41 AM EST on Friday the 13th of December, 2024.

Why do developing nations kind of trust China and Russia these days?

Whom would they trust? Their former colonial masters?

China and Russia have never invaded their territory. China and Russia have never sanctioned them. China and Russia have never interfered in their internal politics nor overthrown their government. The USA and its allies have.

China has been helping them economically through the Belt and Road Initiative. China and Russia have created the BRICS organization that is egalitarian and inclusive.

Newlywed Thought She Got Away With The World’s Biggest Sh*t Test…And Then Her Husband Showed…

What are your top 7 rules of life?

It might take the average 20-year-old lad 7 years to understand this, But I’ll try teach it to you in 3 minutes.

1. If you learn slowly, carefully & steadily, you will realize that you have the opportunity and capacity to do anything; don’t let another person discourage you. Try it out yourself and fail before admitting defeat even before the battle began.

2. Choose your spouse carefully. It’s the most important decision you will ever make, the wrong one will ruin your life.

3. You don’t need to spend $100K on a degree to build a career, learn from the internet. We are very fortunate to live in a world full of information these days. Also, remember that a degree doesn’t define your smartness. You can have a degree and still be foolish. I’ve met my fair share of these lot so believe me when I tell you this.

4. Stop blaming other people & start taking 100% responsibility for your actions. You alone are responsible for them.

5. Start investing early on. Investing helps you buy back time from your future self.

6. Regrets are a waste of time. Instead of dwelling on your regrets, make the most of available time.

7. 99% of your problems can be solved with money. Don’t listen to anyone who suggests otherwise.

Why does Malaysia fail to attract expats like Thailand?

It’s inconceivable why Thailand is “a hot place to be” for tourists from all corners of the globe— Why not Malaysia, the closest neighbor?

I admire beautiful Georgetown on Penang island as much as I value living in Bangkok the ugly city (to me) where I live, nevertheless, I stand by my principles not to brag about myself or to make Thailand look good at the expense of Malaysia and its people.

Let’s start with Bangkok and see why this mythical city in the 21st century has been popular since the 60s during the Vietnam War, although this messy and chaotic city has now been moved upmarket and some areas in Bangkok look more like New York City or London or Tokyo… To me, nothing has changed, and what you see today as compared to the Vietnam War era is —intact, baby.

Is Bangkok that attractive? Hell! No way, guys! This City where I live is weird but it must have done something right that half of the world’s population get addicted and bother to travel 8,000 miles to come and see things I hate to see.

Let’s rock! Everybody, let’s rock— here’s Bangkok where I live.

Never a dull moment the minute you enter this country regardless of the mode of your transport or where from?

By air, once you step out of the customs, chaos starts from the entry points where you get into this country— All hell breaks loose-/ you try to find your name from among hundreds of placards of names in English- you are surrounded by people who don’t speak you language. The unruly crowd is surprisingly orderly, with no shouting, no shoving, no rules, but plenty of sweat with head spinning over and again.

I heard an American lady telling her husband “ George, get the hell out of here!”

Anywhere you go, you either practice skills of bargaining cut-throat taxi fares, or make straight faces and ignore tattoo—faced Song Thaew or van drivers,

…. or damn Tuk-tuk drivers who follow you to ask you go to with them to the Floating market for 20 Baht fare or pirate van drivers and their sidekicks holding posters of sex shows keep repeating ‘no charge ‘ at the Nana area or around your hotel.

More tourists, more expats, should be more police to be seen — Nope? It’s ironic when there are no police around to bother you as bar operators as well as the touts shoo or boo them away… Seriously. Do you think the Boys in Brown have given up? You may wish that but they come with lightning raids as often as they get a tip-off.

While the expats concealed themselves, the tourists paraded to the Police Station as usual. Deported, pay the fine, or be thrown in jail

… and finally tailor touts who ask you to make suits with a free umbrella after a greeting “ Hello, hello” he did that to you every morning.( maybe evening as well)

“Hi, handsome, where you from?” A famous and classic greeting from ladyboys that passed on for the last 60 years since the Vietnam War era is still heard today.

Why does Malaysia fail to attract expats like Thailand?

Thailand spices up your life, not only Bangkok but the entire country gets you the feeling of chaos, madness, and free-for-all. Besides, you get what you need and more than what one could ask for.

Let me say to you guys, “For Pete’s sake, no one’s lookin’ now’s the chance to make a break—Everybody, let’s go and live in Bangkok and get yourself crazy, life is short.

Unchained

Where in the world should you go if you don’t want to be found?

If you are a high profile criminal or terrorist who is hiding from a bigger country’s Intelligence or police agency, there aren’t many places left for you to go. Sooner or later, they’ll find you.

Your financial status plays a significant role. If you have enough money, you can bribe the local authorities and have a relatively comfortable life in many countries.

A lot also depends on your ethnicity. If you are a white Caucasian, you’ll “stick out” in most Asian and African countries.

Let’s say you don’t have much money, no connections, you are a white male and there is an international arrest warrant out on your name for a serious crime (murder, drug trafficking, etc). Here are some suggestions for your travel destinations:

Spain. There are still some Hippie communities from the 1970s out there. People there are living in extreme poverty, their kids don’t go to school, and life sucks, but on the positive side, the cops stay away from them and nobody gives a f**k who you are and where you come from.
Alternative living communities worldwide. It doesn’t always have to be the jungle or the desert. There are autonomous groups in many Western countries that exist right in the middle of the biggest cities. In London, Paris or Berlin, there are streets where radical anarchists have illegally seized houses and live relatively unbothered by the police. These places can serve you as temporary shelters and you also might find people there who can give you advice on how to further proceed with your plans.
France. You can disappear for a while as a seasonal worker, for example, in the vineyards. They don’t ask any questions. Thousands of young people and students are doing this every year, you are paid in cash and, of course, there is enough wine for everyone.

If you have some money:

Turkey. A friend of mine lived off the grid in Izmir for many years. Just bribe the cops and nobody will bother you.
Albania. Pretty much the same as in Turkey. The good thing is that there are many people that are versed in human trafficking. You can practically go from there to everywhere in the world illegally. It’s a big transport hub for illegals.
Warzones and crisis regions. Where there’s fighting, the police is often far away. Besides that, people are busy with their own troubles and corruption is rampant. Short: a good place to hide. Countries like Ukraine, Iraq, Kurdistan, and even the Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina can offer shelter for the rightfully persecuted. The downside is that you can’t go there without having some prior connections.

There are many more places, but as I said before, it all depends on how much money you have and your connections.

Richard Wolff: There is NO Way Back! How America MISSED Its LAST Chance To Maintain Global Supremacy

Who is the most corrupt and crooked scientist ever known?

Probably the most famous corrupt scientist is Andrew Wakefield.

Wakefield was (past tense emphasised) a gastroenterologist and biomedical researcher.

He gained international fame when, in 1998, he published a paper in The Lancet which established (or at least, claimed to establish) a link between the MMR vaccine, and a rise in bowel disease and autism (interestingly — only 12 children were in the study, and eight of them supposedly developed behavioural disorders. That’s an insanely small test group, and an absurdly high rate: if this data were true, over 20 million people would have been made autistic by MMR before 1998)

We identified associated gastrointestinal disease and developmental regression in a group of previously normal children, which was generally associated in time with possible environmental triggers

[1]

Yep — this guy is the origin of the modern anti-vaccination movement (“antivaxxers”).

Though the paper itself does not concretely blame MMR for the autism cases, Wakefield himself did several press conferences where he publicly claimed a causal link. This caused an uproar in the scientific community — and was labelled as “science by press conference”.

It was these press conferences (not the actual paper itself, though people used the paper as a post-hoc justification) that led to a huge resurgence of the anti-vaccination movement, and the outcry over vaccination of children.

Information then slowly began to leak out that all was not as it seemed to be with the paper, either.

Several of the families in the study were approached by a lawyer preparing a lawsuit against the firms making the MMR jab. Huh…that would seem to be a conflict of interest, right? That is pretty dodgy.

Then it was revealed that said lawyers had paid Wakefield more than £400,000

[2]

($700,000), which he had failed to disclose. This seriously raised questions about Wakefield’s motives: how can you expect a paper published by somebody funded by people suing the MMR vaccine makers to be impartial about the MMR vaccine?

In light of the conflict of interest this represented, The Lancet re-reviewed the paper, and found that it no longer satisfied them as a piece of genuine research — and they issued to following retraction:

We wish to make it clear that in this paper no causal link was established between (the) vaccine and autism, as the data were insufficient. However the possibility of such a link was raised, and consequent events have had major implications for public health. In view of this, we consider now is the appropriate time that we should together formally retract the interpretation placed upon these findings in the paper, according to precedent.

Then, in 2004 it was revealed that, prior to publishing the 1998 paper, Wakefield had applied for a patent for a replacement for the MMR vaccine

[3]

a mere few months before he began the 1998 paper which supposedly showed that the vaccine was unsafe!

No way that could possibly have influenced his conclusions in the paper, right?

Oh — you think that’s it? No, this story just keeps on going!

After this, a former student came forward and said that Wakefield routinely ignored laboratory data.

All this while, independent studies were utterly failing to reproduce the original results

[4]

, and several of them called into question Wakefield’s research methods.

In 2007, the UK General Medical Council initiated proceedings against Wakefield on the charges of

[5]

“Was being paid to conduct the study by solicitors representing parents who believed their children had been harmed by MMR”.
Ordered investigations “without the requisite paediatric qualifications” including colonoscopies, colon biopsies and lumbar punctures (“spinal taps”) on his research subjects without the approval of his department’s ethics board and contrary to the children’s clinical interests, when these diagnostic tests were not indicated by the children’s symptoms or medical history.
“Act[ed] ‘dishonestly and irresponsibly’ in failing to disclose … how patients were recruited for the study”.
“Conduct[ed] the study on a basis not approved by the hospital’s ethics committee.”
Purchased blood samples—for £5 each—from children present at his son’s birthday party, which Wakefield joked about in a later presentation.
“[S]howed callous disregard for any distress or pain the children might suffer

The GMC ruled in favour of all charges — and Wakefield was struck from the register (the harshest thing the GMC is able to do).

During this trial Brian Deer (who had previously worked to uncover many of the inconsistencies in Wakefield’s work), discovered evidence that not only had there been poor lab practices, but that data had been willfully manipulated — and highlighted the difference between the hospital records of the 1998 data, and the data published in the paper, which appeared to show significant manipulation.

[6]

OH MY GOD THERE’S STILL MORE

THEN it was revealed that the father of one of the children in the 1998 study owned a patent that would profit from the MMR/autism scare

[7]

, and that Wakefield himself predicted that they could “make more than $43 million a year from diagnostic kits” ,

[8]

where “the initial market for the diagnostic will be litigation-driven testing of patients with AE [autistic enterocolitis, an unproven condition concocted by Wakefield]”.

In light of this, The Lancet then re-retracted the initial paper — rather than just the edited conclusion I quoted above, they said:

“The claims in the original paper that children were ‘consecutively referred’ and that investigations were ‘approved’ by the local ethics committee have been proven to be false.”

[9]

This was followed by a flurry of other retractions of Wakefield’s papers — many of which sought to establish a link between vaccination and illnesses.

Seems like a happy ending, no? He got his comeuppance — and the community has rejected his ideas after a rigorous peer review process. Exactly how science is meant to work, right?

Whilst the scientific community was busy giving Wakefield’s 1998 report a jolly good rogering — there was a human cost.

You see, the everyday population doesn’t really pay attention to the proceeds of the UKGMC — and nor do they study the retractions in medical journals. But when a man in a lab coat stands up and says “VACCINES CAUSE AUTISM!” — that, they pay attention to.

Since 1998, there has been a huge rise in the so called “antivaxxer” movement — who believe the claims of Wakefield

[10]

. Several famous people have come out in support of the movement, including Jenny McCarthy (I’m not even going to cite this), and Jim Carrey

[11]

, to name just two.

This scare has led to huge numbers of children to be going unvaccinated, which compromises herd immunity

[12]

, and has led to a staggering number of children to die from diseases they would have been safe from had they been vaccinated.

I can’t 100% vouch for the methods of this website (though they certainly have a lot of primary sources from the CDC

[13]

[14]

, which is promising), which has a running count of the number of preventable illnesses (in the US) and preventable deaths caused by non-vaccination.

The current total stands at 152,763 preventable illnesses, and 9028 deaths.

Let’s just repeat that.

9028 people have died (mostly children) because of the antivaccination movement.

That website also contains a helpful counter for the “number of autism diagnoses linked to vaccination”.

Guess what that number stands at?

0. Zero. Nada. Zilch.

Normally I would avoid making potentially libellous statements such as this — but given that I have extensive back-up sources, citations — and also the fact that this has been tested in court several times (Wakefield has never won a libel suit), I therefore feel pretty darned confident in asserting:

Andrew Wakefield is the most corrupt scientist in history. He can be held accountable for the deaths of nearly 10,000 human beings, because of his fraudulent and unethical research.

He did this out of a desire to make a profit — and in doing so he compromised everything a scientist, and indeed a human being, should stand for.

Sue me. I dare you.

What is the significance of elevating China’s bilateral relations with all African countries having diplomatic ties with China to the level of strategic relations?

What does China need?

Potash
Iron Ore
Bauxite
Uranium Ore
Gold Mines
Copper Ores
Wheat
Oilseeds & Edible Oil Stock
Pork
Beef
Soybeans
Corn
Titanium Ore

What does Russia need?

Intermediate Goods
Drones
Electronic Circuitry
Semiconductor Chips between 650 nm to 45 nm
Cars
Infrastructure Equipment
Construction Equipment
Industrial Chemicals
Refined Titanium

What do African nations need?

Wheat
Oilseeds
Coal
Schools
Energy
Transportation
CREDIT at low interest rates
Affordable Consumer Goods

You see that China, Russia and Africa all have things that the others want

They have a SELF CONTAINED DEMAND AND SUPPLY HABITAT

Whatever China needs, Africa and Russia have

Whatever Russia wants, China provides

Whatever Africa needs, Russia and China provide

The US or West have NO PLACE IN THIS HABITAT

They have stolen tons of resources from Africa and paid 3 cents on the Dollar

They have instead sold tons of semi automatic guns, claymore landmines, grenades, handguns and RDX to keep the regions unstable and poor and illiterate

Thats what STRATEGIC RELATIONS means

It means each Nation is strategically poised to help each other develop and grow

China builds a Power Project in Mali

They pay for it fully and in exchange ask for Uranium Ore to be sold to them for 30 cents on the Dollar

It’s TEN TIMES WHAT THE FRENCH WERE PAYING FOR THE SAME

So why not have strategic relations ?

Mystery Of The Betz Sphere Is Finally Solved And It’s Not Good

Steak Casserole

Ingredients

3 or 4 boneless cube steaks
1 can Campbell’s Golden Mushroom Soup
1 can mushrooms (optional)
1 medium onion, sliced

Instructions

Brown the steaks in a frying pan, then place in the bottom of a baking dish.
Pour the mushroom soup over them, add the can of mushrooms if you wish.
Spread the sliced onions on top and season with salt, pepper and paprika to taste.
Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees F.
Serve with noodles.
Spoon the gravy over the noodles, if desired.

What countries will you never visit again?

Not a country, but a city:

I’ll never visit Berlin again.

When I was in college, I did a semester in London. Halfway through the term, my friends and I decided we’d take a Eurotrip to Amsterdam, Berlin, and Hamburg.

Amsterdam was a blast. I was asleep for most of Hamburg. (We stayed awake the entire night before.) But the most disappointing part of the trip was Berlin.

The city itself, the food, the history, was great. But what drove me away was the people. (Literally.) The Germans didn’t allow me into any of their clubs. (Except this one club that’s apparently super lame because it’s only for tourists.) I was there with three girls and another guy. We tried four places. The bouncers always let the girls in, but never me or my American male counterpart.

But here’s the kicker:

My biggest reason I wanted to go, pay for a flight, AirBnB, etc. was to go to the clubs. I was enrolled in music school at the time, and was really interested in electronic music. (Okay, I was obsessed.) And I knew Berlin was known for having some of the best electronic music in the world.

I was so excited, I did a bunch of research beforehand to learn how to behave so that the bouncers would approve of me. I wore all black. I stayed off my phone. I even remained silent.

But it wasn’t enough.

My passport gave me away. No one let me in anywhere, and I was really broken up about it. I had never really experienced rejection like that before. It’s a good thing my buddy was there.

He felt sorry for me, so we stayed up the whole night drinking beer and playing chess. He beat me every time, but I still had so much fun. The next day, we woke up around noon. The girls went to a museum, or memorial or something. My buddy and I spent the rest of the day at the Berlin Zoo until they closed.

I’m never going back 😉

What happened to your school bully?

One of my school bullies punched me in the back of the neck. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but in 2022 I filed for worker’s comp because my neck started really hurting me. Turns out I have:

stenosis
arthritis
a partially-healed fractured disc

Since all of this was clearly old injuries and degenerative, I lost my worker’s comp claim. Over the years, in hindsight, I should have known something was wrong.

It was 2006 when I was punched, and I moved to Australia in 2016.

In 2010 and 2011, when I was in college, I was an Army ROTC cadet for two years before I got discharged for unrelated medical issues. I did notice that the back of my neck often hurt a lot when I wore a helmet…

Thanks to new regulations, cars started getting pokier head rests that either pushed your head forward, or forced you to set the seat back. New head rests always hurt my neck.

It wasn’t until I got a job at a warehouse though, as an order selector, moving thousands of pounds of alcohol a day that my neck really started playing up. I found I couldn’t turn my head, even driving was very dangerous. I am now on painkillers so strong that every 6 months or so they test my kidneys to make sure I’m not getting killed by them. They’re non-opioid painkillers. Basically Celebrex and a super strong version of Tylenol, both for extremely old people.

Back to my bully… I started thinking about it, and I realised there was a greater than 0% chance this guy, back in the USA, was a millionaire wangster rap star. Maybe I could sue him?

I looked him up, and was startled, though not surprised, to see an adult version of his face, in a news article, wearing a prison jumpsuit.

I am definitely not expecting a lump sum payout.

China & Russia JUST Hit U.S. Where It HURTS… & U.S. Didn’t Expect THIS!

What was the most bizarre court appearance you’ve heard of?

Not my case, but the case before ours (hearing). The year was 1987

NOTE: This was a Juvenile Court – Not an adult court
WARNING: THIS IS THE PAST ERA, NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT IN TODAY’S STANDARDS!

Case * Information *

A 11 year old moderately retarded (mentally challenge) is brought in with shackles

JUDGE: __________________ (!!!) _________________

PROSECUTION: (begins to speak)

JUDGE: SHUT UP! I DEMAND TO KNOW WHY THIS CHILD IS IN MY COURT ROOM?

PROSECUTION: Proceeds: Destroying mops and cutting mop-heads off

DEFENSE: YOUR HONOR! (talking very loudly) I WISH TO STATE THAT THE SCHOOL SYSTEM KNEW OF HIS FEARS WITH MOPS!

PROSECUTION: Objection!

JUDGE: ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!

(reads the case file and it seemed to anger him)

JUDGE: LITTLE GIRL, COME FORWARD TO ME, COME HERE… (summons her to come in front of him)

He notices shes struggling with the shackles, orders them removed.

PROSECUTION: OB….
JUDGE: SHUT THE HELL UP!
Bailiffs removes the shackles, escorts her to the Judge’s side and she immediately gives him a hug!

JUDGE: Ah! Very Nice! (hugs right back) Ahhh, let’s see here, your name is Myra (not real name)
LITTLE GIRL: ME! (points to herself proudly)
JUDGE: Do you know what a mop is?
LITTLE GIRL: (her eyes widen and becomes fearful)…
JUDGE: You do not like mops!
LITTLE GIRL: Bad! BAD BAD BAD BAD!
JUDGE: I want you to sit right there in the chair (Witness Stand).
::: she scurries into the chair and mimics the Judge ::::

JUDGE: (slightly amused but quickly turns into a scowl) WHAT IS HER MENTAL STATE?

DEFENSE: Her mental state is that of a Pre-Schooler / Kindergartner – below average for her age.

PROSECUTION: OBJECTION! HAS NO RELEVANCY TO THE CASE!

JUDGE: SHUT UP! DO NOT SPEAK UNTIL I INSTRUCT YOU MAY SPEAK! THAT’S BOTH OF YOU!

Judge then summons a bailiff up, and whispers something…. the Bailiff was somewhat “objecting to it” until the Judge tells him “go – get it”.

JUDGE: Where’s her Medical Records?

DEFENSE: I have the copy right here (holding a file)

JUDGE: (waves it to be brought over, reading through the case file every now and then you would hear him say) Hmmm, Hmmmm, Hmmmm. (and he’s making notes on his ledger)

Bailiff returns – Judge holds his hand up to “wait” – then he says

JUDGE: Myra, could you please stand over there between the two podiums?

LITTLE GIRL: (confused)

DEFENSE: (walks over and points)

She runs down and stands there facing the people. Making faces.

JUDGE: Myra? Would you turn around and face me please?

She’s giggling and laughing, then finally turns around.

(Then he summons a Female Bailiff, to turn her facing the wall to the left and not to permit her to look)

Then he waves his hand and the bailiff comes out with the mop and mop bucket, but alas, it was too late, she turned and saw it and immediately charged after it and attempted to destroy it; with the Judge holding his hand “WAIT!”

He made full observation and then said

JUDGE: MYRA?! MYRA?! What are you doing?
LITTLE GIRL: BAD! BAD BAD BAD BAD! (proceeding to try to kill the mop – even trying to pull the mop strings apart)
JUDGE: Very good Myra! You’ve killed our mop! Please come up here while my assistants removes the dead mop from my court room!
LITTLE GIRL: Keeps an eye on the mop being removed and one Bailiff played it very smart – like it was truly dead!
LITTLE GIRL: BAD BAD BAD! DEAD DEAD DEAD! ME DEAD THE BAD BAD!

JUDGE: C’mere. (instructing her to stand by him)

JUDGE TO DEFENSE: May I ask what her treating physicians have to state about a Mop?
DEFENSE: I believe the notes are somewhere in the near middle-end, may I?

Judge returns the Medical Records back to the Defense – and he’s flipping through the pages. Finding it… Hands the Judge the documentation

JUDGE: (Reads it to self then proceeds to read outloud): PATIENT HAD AN OUTBURST AND PROCEEDED TO ATTACK OUR JANITOR’S MOP WHICH HE WAS CLEANING A MESS OFF THE HALLWAY FLOOR. FURTHER DOCUMENTATIONS MADE BY THE ATTENDING NURSE FOUND THE PATIENT WAS VERY AGITATED BY THE PRESENCE OF A MOP.
DEFENSE: Your Honor, I found the other document. (Hands it to the bailiff and then it’s in the Judge’s hands)
JUDGE: (reads to self and then a slight chuckle then proceeds) THE PATIENT HAS ADVERSE REACTION TO ANY MOP. SEVERAL MOPS, MOUNTED AND UNMOUNTED WERE PRESENT TO THE PATIENT. SHE REACTED IN TERROR, ANGER, AND PROCEEDED IN DESTRUCTION OF MOPS. RECOMMENDATION: KEEP ALL MOPS OUT OF SIGHT OF THIS PATIENT. IT’S UNKNOWN WHY THE MOP IS A TRIGGER.

:::: returns the papers back to the Defense :::

PROSECUTION: YOUR HONOR! SHE HAD DESTROYED $120 IN SCHOOL PROPERTY.

JUDGE: NO SH!T SHERLOCK! IT IS QUITE EVIDENT THAT THIS RETARDED (as it was known back in the years passed) CHILD, SHALL NOT BE FOUND GUILTY. IT HAS ALREADY BEEN MEDICALLY POSTED THAT ALL MOPS AND SUCH THEREOF NOT TO BE IN THE SIGHT OF THE CHILD! RELEASE HER BACK TO HER PARENTS IMMEDIATELY AND THE SCHOOL SHE ATTENDS TO SHALL BE ALERTED WITH A WARNING – KEEP ALL MOPS OUT OF THE SIGHT OF THE CHILD. IF THERE ARE MOPS PRESENT, PLEASE REVERT THE CHILD AWAY FROM THESE OBJECTS. CASE CLOSED WITH PREJUDICE!

(pauses)

JUDGE: Myra?
LITTLE GIRL: Runs up to him and giggles.
JUDGE: You may go to your mommy and daddy! You can go back to school! You’ve saved my courtroom by the Mop Monster!
LITTLE GIRL: Beaming with smiles (runs up and hugs)

This has to be the most bizarre event ever in my lifetime! To the fact, a 11 year old retarded (mentally challenge) child with such a low IQ being arrested was totally uncalled for! The Special Education School (designed just for those type of special need children), angered me personally. I filed a formal complaint against the Special Education School System → in fact, so did a lot of other parents, counselors, program directors. It caused an outburst by the Public! (One of the Program Directors reported it to the Media which that itself was published!)

Cheating Wife Thought She Got Away With The Perfect Crime UNTIL Husband Texted EVERYONE!

Why doesn’t the West face up to China, but uses public opinion to smear China?

Because it’s no longer the past.

This was 1937.

main qimg 7d87b625550fb6a6d4ec8084c0ff4d61

This is 2024

main qimg 807defc9f785fc45d2fdda5fcd16c42c

If you want to have a fucking try? Then come and get us.

We’ll hit you back just as hard.

White power types will say they don’t work, so go on then put your money where your mouth is!

We’ll die but we’ll take you along with us and there will be no future for you either.

What would happen to a recruit in boot camp that acted like Forrest Gump or Gomer Pyle?

Dale Dye is a retired Marine officer who’s gotten rich as a technical advisor for military-themed movies. He founded Warriors, Inc. If you’re making a war movie, you get this guy to train your actors to behave like actual soldiers.

One of the movies he worked on was Forrest Gump. They asked him about Gump’s chances as a real soldier, and this is what he said: Forrest Gump is the ideal private because he does exactly what you tell him to.

Forrest Gump is also the ideal trainee. If a drill sergeant were to hand him, say, a footlocker layout Gump is going to set his locker up EXACTLY the way it says to. When the drill sergeant hands him a grenade he will throw it exactly the way they tell him to. He will march the way they tell him to. His uniform will be up to snuff. When we shined boots his boots would always be perfect. He will always remember to sweep, mop, wax and buff the floor. If he’s told to fall out for formation at 0630 he’ll be there. And he’d notice that the more precisely he did all these things the less the drills will yell at him.

What you DON’T want to do is put him in combat arms. He’d wind up getting his platoon killed. He’d be a hell of a Service and Supply soldier. If you tell Forrest Gump that you need an airdrop pallet built with 48 water cans, 50 cases of MREs and ten cases of ammo…that pallet is going to be built so pretty and squared away that the riggers only have to put a net and a parachute on it before they take it to the plane. They’ll never have to restack it. A more intelligent soldier, you might have to tell him the ammo and water go on first and the MREs on top of that so the weight of the heavier items don’t crush the MREs when the pallet lands; Gump is going to put the MREs on top because his sergeant told him to.

Neocons Want MBS Gone

Shorpy

The American Condition

If most Chinese trust their government, and most Americans don’t trust their own government, when China and the U.S. come into conflict, which side is more likely to win?

If there is a war between China & the US, it will not be in North America because China does not have the power projection.

It will be a war in Asia near China. It is a war that US can never win. Not enough assets to fight China, too many are quickly destroyed, no industrial capacity to sustain it, and in a logistic nightmare.

Public trust for the Chinese government helps, but really doesn’t come into play. Chinese nationalism will assert itself. Chinese are peaceful people, but they are not afraid of war and will not tolerate an invasion.

In the US, there will be an outpour of narratives to justify the war – evil China, blah, blah, blah, the spin doctors working overtime. US public will be inundated with stories of US victories, China’s fortifications in the SCS severely damaged, Taiwan on the march, allies in full support, NATO forces preparing to set sail, US carrier fleets on the way to defeat and conquer – China in flight, the government in disarray, the Politburo divided, and a real revolt is in the offing. US victory is imminent. China’s collapse is imminent.

These are approximate stories in the early days of the Ukraine War.

Then the spin doctors run out of stories. The facts on the ground are too ugly to tell. But news can only be suppressed and black-out for a time. How can you not report that an aircraft carrier has been hit and in danger of sinking? When the news start to go south, public anger will rise. Worse that they see no body bags and realize that the war is fought at sea and the bodies are in the bottom.

If the US public does not trust the government, the war will be short. The disarray and revolt that were suppose to befall China will take place in the US, and spread quickly. Then the real war starts – in the US.

China: A Leader in Hypersonics Military Technology

What are some facts that sound like ‘BS’, but are actually true?

An ingenious man was able to turn a red paper clip into a house.

In 2005, Kyle MacDonald had no job, but wanted to live in a house. With limited options for saving money, he concocted an unorthodox plan.

Beginning with a red paper clip on his desk in Montreal, he would attempt to trade the seemingly useless item for something better. He would keep trading up until he reached his goal.

For his first step, he posted the red paper clip in the ‘Barter’ section on Craigslist. From Kyle MacDonald’s book, sourced below:

one red paperclip

This might not surprise you, but below is a picture of a paperclip. It is red.

This red paperclip is currently sitting on my desk next to my computer. I want to trade this paperclip with you for something bigger or better, maybe a pen, a spoon, or perhaps a boot.

If you promise to make the trade I will come and visit you, wherever you are, to trade.

Hope to trade with you soon!

Kyle

PS – I’m going to make a continuous chain of ‘up trades’ until I get a house. Or an Island. Or a house on an island. You get the idea.

Through a dogged and brilliant series of 14 trades over the course of one year (and greatly helped by later news and publicity of his quest), Kyle was able to successfully transform the paperclip into a new home:

Paper clip for Fish-shaped pen.
Fish-shaped pen for a hand-sculpted doorknob.
Doorknob for a Coleman camp stove (with fuel).
Camp stove for a Honda generator.
Generator for an “instant party”: an empty keg, a beer-filling IOU for, and a neon Budweiser sign.
“Instant party” for a snowmobile.
Snowmobile for a two-person trip to British Columbia.
Trip for a cube van.
Cube van for a recording contract with Metalworks.
Recording contract for a year’s rent in Phoenix, Arizona.
Year’s rent for one afternoon with Alice Cooper.
Alice Cooper afternoon for a KISS motorized snow globe.
KISS motorized snow globe to Corbin Bernsen (a large collector of snow globes) for a role in the film Donna on Demand.
Movie role for a two-story farmhouse in Kipling, Saskatchewan.

Kyle wrote a book about his experience, and even earned a place in the Guiness Book of World Records for “Most Successful Internet Trade.”

Davy Knowles w/BAND OF FRIENDS – Tattoo’d Lady/Bad Penny/Shadowplay

What is the best breakup experience you’ve ever had?

Originally Answered: what is the best breakup experience you’ve ever had?

I met this girl, Courtney, in 1999. She grew up and went to school in Buffalo, NY and I was going to school in California. We met in Michigan, at a summer program for math majors. (For foreign readers, the only thing you need to know about the geography is that all those places are very far from the others.)

It was what I call “indifference at first sight.” We met each other in the context of meeting all the eight or so student participants in the program. We got along fine, but there were definitely no romantic sparks flying. As a group, we all really got along great. Two months later, when the program was over, we all kept up with each other.

(This is more remarkable than it sounds, at least because back then there was no such thing as facebook. “Kept up with each other” meant we actually emailed or — shockingly — talked on the phone.)

About a year later, I sent an email to the group saying how I’d be going to Penn State for grad school. Courtney instantly replied, saying she would also be going to Penn State for a one-semester program. Small world! We arranged to have dinner shortly after we both arrived.

Now the romantic sparks flew. By the end of the semester, in December 2000, we were properly dating. But, alas, the semester ended and she went back to Buffalo. For foreign readers, Penn State and Buffalo are separated by about a 3–4 hour drive. However, I didn’t have a car, so for me the quickest way to visit was by an 8 hour meandering bus ride. We carried on, long distance. Despite my lack of car, my schedule was such that it was a lot easier for me to visit her than the other way around. So every other weekend (or so) I would be on that bus.

Long distance relationships aren’t that great. Maybe not in all cases, but for us, there was a pressure to really make the most out of each visit. We never really just hung around together lounging on the couch. We filled the whole weekend with stuff to do. It was fun, but it was also a little exhausting.

Too exhausting, in fact. By the time February rolled around, I was ready to call it quits. Not because Courtney had done anything wrong, and it’s not that I didn’t enjoy myself when I visited. It was just… exhausting. So one weekend in late February, I decided we’d have “the talk.”

But the timing is important. You can’t show up on Friday and start with the talk, otherwise the rest of the weekend is ruined. It has to be on Sunday, before my bus ride back. She had planned Sunday breakfast with her parents. Ugh, not ideal, but fine. So we get through that very awkward breakfast, and now she’s driving me to the bus station.

There’s that moment of silence when we have clearly transitioned from talking about whatever we were talking about, and I’m mentally firming myself up to start. Man, I hope I don’t make her too sad. Just as I’m about to begin, she says, “So… hey… listen… “

And then she breaks up with me!

She was thinking all the same things I was. We had a good laugh at that, had a nice hug, and she sent me on my way. We both resolved to still be friends.

The epilogue:

We continued talking on the phone after that — because that’s what friends do. In fact, she even went to visit me at Penn State. Because that’s what friends do.

At some point, we crossed into territory that definitely doesn’t involve what friends do. We were briefly in this awkward ill-defined relationship status, but by June, we were pretty much properly dating again. We resolved to fix the long distance problem. Different scenarios were discussed, and ultimately we ended up moving to Boston.

We got married in 2005.

Why do Chinese keep comparing China to the USA when China still hasn’t put a man on the moon, something the USA did 49 years ago?

Putting a man on the moon is not indicative of US superiority.

Today, the world has two superpowers: the USA and China. This is why they are frequently compared.

In most respects, China is ahead of the USA. China is the world’s largest economy by purchasing power parity. China surpasses the USA in most technological fields. China has much greater diplomatic influence globally, thanks to the BRI and BRICS. China has a far more effective political system and with far greater support from the people. China has the world’s largest army and the world’s largest navy. China is a major nuclear power and can deliver warheads using hypersonic missiles.

China has 232X the shipbuilding capacity of the USA!!!

New Discovery Suggests Dinosaurs Coexisted with Early Humans

Have you ever met a very intelligent person who had no clue as to how smart they really are?

Yes, I have. I owned and operated a very successful employment agency for about 20 years. And during that time I met thousands of people in all walks of life and individuals who were at all levels of intelligence, from borderline moronic to high level genius (I also advertised in the Mensa local news magazine/letter for applicants).

I sometimes gave a version of the Wonderlic test, a 50 question, 12 minute, I.Q. test to applicants. Not to all applicants, just some.

This one individual came to my office fresh from college. He was dressed in a full three piece suit. Had never worked before, and was looking for an entry job in bookkeeping, although he had a bachelor’s degree in accounting. He didn’t come from my Mensa advertising. Since he didn’t have any work experience, I wanted to place him with one of the big 8 recognizable accounting firms. But I needed more information than just a college degree to get him the interview.

I gave him one of the six versions of the Wonderlic that I had. He finished the questions in 10 minutes instead of 12. When I scored it, I gulped. He got a 45 which in those days, 1980, was equivalent to an I.Q. of about 145.

The young man was shy, quiet, and nice. No intellectual arrogance about him. Even his vocabulary was average and not peppered with ten dollar words. I couldn’t believe this guy had a genius I.Q. I tested him with a 2nd. and 3rd. version of the test. The same, between 45 and 47, to give him as high as 148 or 150 I.Q. (At the time the ceiling for a score of 50 was around 153, which included scores of 48–50)

The individual was a genius! I made up a resume of his background, which was limited, but did put in his GPA, which was 4.0 in accounting courses, but “B” grades in practically everything else. Naturally, I was successful placing him in a job.

Today he may be retired because in 1980 he was 23 years old, but I’ll bet with his background, and I.Q., that he either ended up as a controller, CEO, or just remained as an auditor because he liked it and devoted his time to his family and not to advancing and sacrificing for a career. And I’ll also bet, since he was so self effacing, that he went through life not realizing he was so very intelligent (I did tell him what his Wonderlic scores were, but he didn’t believe me when I told him that he was extraordinarily intelligent.

What disqualifies you from being a flight attendant?

These are the things that can stop you from getting a cabin crew job:

Age. Airlines have age requirements, to join the airline. The normal age requirements most airlines have are 18 years old to 21 years old. Don’t forget that you can be ‘’too old’’ to join as well. Sadly a lot of ME/Asian airlines are ageist. Most of the ME/Asian airlines prefer to hire candidates below the age of 30 years old. But thankfully EU/US/AUS/CA airlines are not ageist.
Height. Airlines have height requirements. This is because of safety reasons. If you are for example 155cm, it will be difficult for you to find an airline that would hire you. During the recruitment process, there will be a height test, etc.
Education. Most airlines want their candidates to at least have a completed high school diploma. If you don’t have a high school diploma, you won’t be able to get a job.
Weight/health. If you are not fit to fly and don’t have a healthy BMI, you won’t get the job. Your weight has to be in proportion to your height. During the recruitment, the recruiters will judge you. I say ”judge” because the recruiters are brutal when it comes to the way you look. Also during the training, your health will be checked.
Skin. As crazy as this sounds, a lot of airlines don’t hire people that for example have severe acne or skin issues. Issues that would be visible. Image is everything to these airlines. A lot of people forget that crew members act as some kind of ”PR” for the airlines. Crew members are ‘’brand ambassadors’’ for the airlines. That is why the airlines are super strict with the way their crew looks like.
Criminal background. Before you get the job, there will be a background check. If you don’t pass it, you won’t get the job.
Passport. For example, a Brazilian national can’t work for Airfrance in France if that person doesn’t have the legal right to live and work in France. You have to have a valid passport. Some airlines offer crew, work visas, doesn’t matter what nationality you have. For example, the airlines in the Middle East do that. Other than that you have to have the legal right to live and work in that country if you want to get a cabin crew job.
Medical history. Some airlines are strict with candidates’ medical histories. For example, many airlines don’t hire people with depression. Doesn’t matter if they have it now or had it before. If someone had a specific illness, even if it is healed and cured now, the airlines won’t accept that. For example, if you have any kind of sleeping issues, previous or current. Even if it is sorted out and you no longer have sleeping issues, you won’t get the job. Before you get the job you have to fill out medical forms.
Teeth. Yes, your teeth matter. To smile is one of your duties being a cabin crew. You have to have a nice smile. If you have issues with your teeth, for example, crooked teeth, you won’t get hired. Some airlines don’t even allow braces. Many airlines require dental x-rays before you join.
Vision/hearing. You have to fill out a medical form before you join. If you have issues with those, you are out. Your vision and hearing will also be checked during the medical exams during training. If you don’t pass the vision and hearing tests, you will be terminated. So better to check before you get the job.
Swimming. You have to know how to swim. If you don’t know how to swim, you won’t be able to get the job. There will be a ditching test during the training. You can’t have a fear of water etc.
Scars/marks. If you have deep surgery scars or marks, and it would be visible when wearing the uniform, then you won’t be able to get a job. Some airlines are super strict with the way their crew members look like.
Fear of flying. I know a girl who had a fear of flying, to what degree I don’t know. She went on with recruitment and got the job. The instructors found out during training. When they were having training in the simulators. She got fired.
Headscarf/hijab. Many airlines don’t allow this. For example, the airline Saudia did allow headscarves with their previous uniform. Their previous uniform looked like this:

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Their cabin crew were allowed to wear a headscarf/hijab. But this year, they changed their uniform to this:

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Now, with their new uniform, I don’t know what they did about their headscarf rules.

Tattoos. Most airlines are OK with candidates having tattoos, but as long as it is not visible when in uniform. If you for example have tattoos on your legs or arms, you won’t be able to get the job. I know many candidates who had visible tattoos but removed them to get the job.
Beard. If you have a beard like this:

main qimg 8b2597a6629c4f33147c97f8fc6cf4c6 lq

If you are not willing to shave it, you won’t get the job. Many airlines are super strict with beards. With some airlines, you are not even allowed to have a beard like that. You have to be clean-shaven at all times, during duty. Some airlines allow their male crew members to have a beard. For example, they allow this:

main qimg 4640986e412619741b1ed70da11b7031 lq

With some airlines even during recruitment, if you come with a beard for your interview, they will disqualify you.

Hair color/hairstyle. For example, you are not allowed to have this hair color:

main qimg c00fd9edd8b31fb4706fc6d8d8e6243a lq

If you go like this for a cabin crew interview, you will not get the job. They have strict rules with hairstyles and hair colors. Even if you had your hair up in a neat bun like this:

main qimg 4d2a4c1400bd415ee49d1072bbca42cb lq

That is still not allowed.

So many crazy and silly rules. Some rules are of course there for safety and security. Some rules I understand and I am happy that they have those rules. But for example the age rule. That is truly sad. A lot of airlines are ageist. Many things that can disqualify you during the recruitment process or in training. Even if you pass the entire recruitment process, you need to pass the training as well.

So many things to think of before you apply for the job.

Scott Ritter: Russia’s GLOVES ARE OFF as Putin Readies NATO’s Crushing Defeat, WWIII Next

How are snipers usually killed in combat?

The snipers that were killed during the Bosnian War died in very different ways:

One sniper in our platoon got shot in the head by an enemy rifle, most probably from another sniper.

An enemy sniper jumped from a high building when he discovered that we had located his position and were about to catch him alive.

Snipers were the most hated soldiers on the battlefield and when they were caught alive, they usually didn’t live very long.

We also lost a sniper when a tank shot at the house where he was positioned. A wall collapsed over him and he died immediately. It’s often overlooked that a tank makes the perfect anti-sniper weapon.

Most snipers, however, died through indirect fire from the artillery. The artillery is the number one killer on the battlefield and snipers are no exception. From all artillery weapons, the mortar is probably the most effective one against snipers.

In other conflicts, snipers also get killed by airstrikes and more and more often by anti-tank missiles. Like the tank, a modern anti-tank missile is extremely accurate over long distances and therefore, it is perfectly suited to combat a relatively small target, for example, a sniper.

MM and his AI experiments

I moved some of the visual narratives around, and changed the forum from making coffee to “holding a carved stone statue” and the location being a “bedroom”. Very interesting results.

Many imperfections, but very interesting and curious.

So it started out with a lot of kissing on the bed. No statue. But not too bad.

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Some soft nudes.

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And then everyone started kissing everyone else.

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And then things got heated up.

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And confusing…

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All are aesthetically pleasing, but none appeals to me. I am not searching for nudes and a lot of bed action. But I have taken note that you have to be very careful on what is written, and things can be misinterpreted with the strangest slight elements of sentence structure variation.

And I have no idea where the statue went.

Wife Admitted To Cheating For 10 YEARS On Annual Girls Trips, So I Said “Two Can Play This Game!”

What is the most advanced home surgery or procedure you’ve done on yourself? And how did it go?

Years ago, when I was without dental insurance, I developed quite the abscess on one of my teeth. I could not afford the procedure and I did not want to create medical debt for myself. So, ever the stubborn woman that I am, I thought, “how hard can it be?”

I looked up videos on YouTube of dentists performing the procedure first. If you’re performing surgery without surgical training you need a reference point! Then I gathered and boiled my supplies in hot water.

I pulled back my lip and face as best as I could and used a needle to pierce the very swollen infected skin tissue. Purulent puss oozed and gushed from the hole. The pain was otherworldly and not a stretch. I thought I’d pass out from the initial wave of pain that washed over me. But I pushed on and continued to squeeze out as much as I could.

I repeated the process daily for the next few days. Eventually it healed and I was able to have it taken care of again when my insurance kicked in fresh in January. Look, I knew one way or the other it would be cut open and I would’ve loved to be numbed first but hey, you do what you have to when there’s no other option.:

SWEET JESUS!.. First Time Hearing Joe Cocker – With A Little Help From My Friends

Beyond our star

Submitted into Contest #247 in response to: Set your story on a spaceship exploring the far reaches of space when something goes wrong.… view prompt

Katy Heald

I have to get it working. Four hours without life support and we’ll all be dead, but that’s not the main thing. I mean, it is. Obviously. None of us want to die out here, least of all me. But we’ve also got a point to prove.They said we weren’t ready. The Council fought us every inch of the way, and I know it was only Ethan’s intervention that got our expedition over the line. Ethan’s name, really. There’s only so much can be denied to the crown prince, even by the Council.And the reason Ethan fought them so hard? Me.So we’re out here now, lightyears from home, hours from death, all because of me. All the exhileration of the launch, the adrenaline of the crew, the bombast and the posturing and the talk of guts and glory has splintered into stardust. Hundreds of accusing eyes burn into me as I pass through the ship. There might only be a dozen of us on board but the weight of those souls threatens to crush me. Their shading tells me louder than words that it’s the guts rather than the glory that currently occupy their thoughts.I’ve heard what they say about me, too. I’d have to be deaf not to, it’s not like anyone has the energy to spare my feelings right now. I’ve heard it all before, how I’m over-rated, over-promoted, a mad scientist that no one sane would let out of the lab. Usually it rolls off me, but usually I’m not holding my accusers’ lives in my tentacles. Nepo baby. Sycophant. Catamite is a new one; I’m actually faintly impressed by the erudition of the insult.None of it serves to divert me for long. Because not only is the mission my baby, the ship herself is too. The hull, the engines. The life support system. I’m her inventor and her chief engineer, and while Ethan is her captain and pilot everyone knows she’s mine to her wiring.I don’t want to die. We have a point to prove to the Council. But I have a promise to keep to Ethan which is written in more than blood.“Are you sure?” His tentacles played over mine as we lay entwined in his bed. “I trust you, Tam, you know I do, but…”“I know. It’s a big ask.” I couldn’t hide the waves of colour that swirled across my scales, hope and excitement laced with the deep burgundy of avarice. To be first, to be the one to break the barriers of the edge of our star system, for it to be my ship, my engine, my innovations that cradled my people out into the unknown? A shiver of anticipation rippled over me, ruffling my frills. “I won’t let you down, Eth, I won’t embarrass you.”He’d shaken his head, a hint of hurt staining his cheekbones emerald. “It’s not that, Tam.” I waited, confused, as he coloured with anxiety. “Is it safe?”“Of course it’s safe! You think I’d risk my own skin if it wasn’t?”He’d frowned at me, knowing me a little too well, his look all that was needed to conjour the memories of boyish expoits and youthful innovations that blew up in my face, often literally. Sheepish, I’d conceded the point. “This time. This one is safe, Eth, I swear.”“You’ll bring them all back? The crew? Every one of them?”

“I swear.” I was under no illusions about the kinds of folks who I’d be given for the voyage. Those with too little to lose, too much to run from. Or those servicing a debt so great that it could propel them beyond the limits of our atmosphere. But a life is a life, and even though Eth is a much better person than I am I was happy to promise him this. “On my life, Eth.” Quite literally, actually, since there was no question of the ship leaving the planet without me.

He’d nodded, apparently satisfied, and golden exhileration flooded my body. To be replaced by a chilling sense of horror at his next words. “I’ll captain her, then.”

More than blood, then. Instead, a vow to which I’m tied by the soul bond between me and him. Oh, there’s no deep magic here, no arcane link that compels me to obey, nothing like that. Just the fact that this man is half of my whole, and my entire heart, and nothing in this universe matters if he is not at my side. I’d be a hell of a lot happier right now, though, if he wasn’t literally at my side, but instead safely ensconced in the royal chambers in Selmat.

Is this what he expected? Is this what his family anticipated when they appointed a royal engineer to their court? It was a fancy of his father’s, I’m sure, a conceit inspired by visitors from abroad who displayed their own scientists and mathematicians like a florist bedecking a ballroom. He’d requested a physicist and a cosmologist as well and the univeristy had been only too happy to offload me, the troublesome thorn in the administration’s side, to complete the trio.

Aretha and Silas didn’t last long, their tempraments far better suited to the dusty, theoretical towers of academia than the whims of a court which demands flair and novelty more than rigour and punctiliousness. But I was in my element. Every harebrained idea I’d ever had suddenly had an audience. Nothing I could say was too out-there, nothing too outlandish to delight my avid fans.

I wasn’t expecting anyone to take me seriously.

It had never happened before, after all. Oh, I knew my ideas would work, but I’d never persuaded anyone else. Or, at least, anyone who had the wherewithal to actually get them beyond the point of theory. Not until Ethan.

Ethan listened. Not in the delighted, vapid way of the rest of the court but with actual interest. He asked questions. Intelligent ones.

It was my engine design that fascinated him the most. His father quickly lost interest in the scheme once Ethan’s questions become more detailed and my explanations less about showmanship and more about satisfying the insatiable curiosity of the crown prince. And about proving myself, of course. But that was fine, because in the face of his father’s impatience Ethan began to ask for ‘personal briefings’ on my ideas. They became increasingly ‘personal’ as we got to know each other, and for a while the whole space exploration programme risked being derailed entirely as we discovered just how much exploration we could undertake within the four walls of the prince’s bedroom.

The scene in the engineering bay, when I get there, is a horror show. A pall of smoke hangs in the air, choking the handful of crew who know one end of an induction manifold from the other and have hurried in here in a forlorn attempt to help. There’s little they can – or dare – attempt without my instruction, but they’ll stand there and broadcast their resentment in neon blue streaks nonetheless.

My orders echo around the cavernous space, chillingly unimpeded by the engine’s usual hum. Suddenly six tentacles don’t feel like nearly enough as I press reset buttons and hammer overrides and make absolutely no difference to the silently accusing power gauges.

It’s the fuel. Of course it’s the fuel. I know it, even the underqualified grunts hovering at my back know it. But none of us have dared say it yet because to go in there and deal with it, to pass beyond the containment field, is only fractionally less of a death sentence than sitting around here waiting for the air to run out.

We’re out of time, and I’m out of delaying tactics, and I’ve known for a while – since the instant the explosion rippled through the ship and the alarms began to scream and the crew was painted lime green in terror – that it would come to this. Muttering ripples round the room but I can’t spare the attention, not right now. There are supplies in the emergency locker for this, and I snag the tub of gel that I’ve never found the opportunity – or perhaps never been sufficiently suicidal – to test and start to smear it across my body.

A commotion by the containment hatch catches my attention just in time, and my panicked screech stops the youngster’s tentacle just before he overrides the security lock. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

He freezes, glares, steps into the shadows to try and hide the shade of his scales which are now so dazzlingly viridescent that they almost glow. “I’m the most junior. Sir. You don’t have to order me.”

“Order you to what?!” Panic and confusion is making my voice shrill and a couple of the onlookers wince and cover their sensitive earholes.

The youth – Derran, I recall, belatedly – looks faintly uncertain. “To go beyond the door. You… you do realise it’s the fuel, don’t you? Sir?” The honorific is tacked on tentatively, like he’s increasingly unsure it’s merited. Not that I can really blame him at this point. “That the lines are clogged?”

“Of course I do, I designed the bloody thing.” I’ve finished slicking myself with goo now and I’m feeling unpleasantly tacky and more than a little nervous, and my temper is fraying. “What makes you think I’m sending you in there?”

His expression goes flat, confusion and scorn and faint hope swirling across his scales. “Because someone has to unclog them, and it’s a death sentence, and I’m the most junior.” He doesn’t even bother with the ‘sir’ this time.

I can’t help myself. I scan the room. Half of them are staring at the floor, the rest meeting my eyes with a degree of defiant condemnation and the words are out in a jumble of hurt before I can stop them. “That’s what you think of me? Seriously?”

I’m at the door before the first of them realises my intention, and the shock as the rest catch on is almost palpable. “Don’t follow me. If I can’t do this, no one can.” It’s not hubris, it’s the bare facts from the one who designed the engine, built it from scratch, nursed it through these first dozen light years and beyond the edge of the Relean system. “Give me 20 minutes then evacuate.”

It’s an order they might or might not obey. There’s an escape pod, of course, but who will find it out here? They can jump ship, but they’ll be drifting in the void for the rest of their natural lives unless we’ve woefully underestimated the population density of this section of the galaxy. That’s not my problem, not right now. Not with the containment door looming imposingly above me and the handle suddenly heavy under my hand with the weight of what’s riding on this.

It’s a tiny comfort, as I take a final breath and step into the airlock, that Derran’s scales are shining with relief and gratitude. (A little adoration and hero-worship wouldn’t go amiss too, I’m putting my life on the line here, but beggars can’t be choosers.)

If the engineering bay was a horror show, the containment pod is a hellscape. There are no alarms blaring in here, because there isn’t supposed to be anyone to hear them. But the heat and vapour and the smell assaults me and it’s all I can do to focus on what I need to do. The goop on my scales will protect them, and I grabbed a respirator as a bit of defence for my eyes and gills, but both will falter when confronted with the scale of this catastrophe.

As soon as it happened, as soon as we felt the ship rock and heard the alarms blare, I knew what must have happened. No one is ever meant to come in here, because I built backups for the backups and the only way they could all fail was through a series of events so unlikely that designing it out seemed a waste of time. (I’m reconsidering that assessment now, you will understand.) A blockage, an explosion, the failsafe systems taken out neatly in precise succession with split-second timing; I couldn’t have done it intentionally if I’d practised for a month.

In the vanishingly unlikely event we all get out of this alive there’s a hell of a repair job and plenty of redesigning to do, but now is not the time. We can send the cleaner bots in later, but for now it’s down to me and my tentacle-tips and the rising temperature is doing little to make them any more dextrous. The ringing noise in my head and the blurring of my vision tells me the muck is already seeping into my system, and choking clouds of fog are still blocking my view of the critical parts.

In the end I have to just go for it, forge forwards into the choking miasma and rely on my instincts to guide me to the right place. Like I said to Derran: if I can’t do this, no one can.

The next minutes are a blur. Afterwards, only fractured impressions remain. The shriek of pressurised steam escaping from another rupture. The heat of the metal under my tips as I wrench at the valves. The choking stench of leaking exhaust and singed scales.

The sound fades away. Finally I realise I’ve done all I can, and there’s a protesting gurgle that sends a flood of hope through me as the fuel reluctantly starts to flow again. I stumble back to the hatchway, yank it closed behind me, and collapse in a heap on the blissfully cool deck.

Ethan is there. Of course Ethan is there. He’s there because he’s the captain, and because he’s the closest thing we have to a medic on this forsaken tin can, but mainly because he’s my… because he’s mine. I can feel the fluttering of his limbs on my body, the respirator replaced with medical masks, something sharp breaching my scales below my frill. His tentacles are everywhere, his touches reassuring and tender and a shade too intimate for a public setting but it’s not like anyone’s going to begrudge him those in my last moments.

The ringing noise in my head fades and I realise that this must be the end. Oddly, I’m no longer scared. I’ve kept my promise, after all: our ragtag little band of explorers are safe. I’ve not failed Ethan. I’ve not failed my ship. I expect to see Ethan’s scales swirling with the deep black of grief but to my shock it’s the faint crimson of irritation that I see, not deep enough to truly be called anger, but hurtful nontheless as my… my Ethan’s reaction to my last seconds. (It has occured to me more than once that we really ought to get round to naming this thing that’s between us. I guess we’re out of time, now.)

Without the ringing noise I can hear snatches of words, and their unexpectedness tugs my brain closer to consciousness. Idiot. Stupid, bone-headed, self-sacrificing… And then it occurs to me that the scene is getting clearer rather than fuzzier, and the pain is starting to recede, and the realisation that I’m not actually on the verge of death hits me like a shockwave.

“Ethan?”

There’s relief marbled through the crimson as he locks some of his eyes with mine. “Tam. Of all the stupid—”

“I kept them safe. I promised you, Eth. I kept them safe.”

Ethan glares at me and then scoops me up in his tentacles with an ease that I usually find incredibly hot but for which I am just overwhelmingly grateful right now, and bears me off to bed and healing rest. As we approach the door I’m shocked to hear the approving sussuration of frills from the others in the room, and see the shades of gratutide and loyalty, if no little surprise, that adorn their bodies.

I don’t know what we’ll find out here, beyond the edges of our home system and out in the depths of the galaxy, but it looks like one thing has changed. Our little group of court sycophants and university spies and futureless outcasts has changed into something else today. I get the hopeful sense we’re doing this as a comrades, now; teammates. And Ethan is here, and he’s holding me close, and despite the utter carnage of this morning I can’t help but feel that a lot of good has come out of today.

I settle against his chest and let sleep wash over me as his insults fade into endearments. There’s time enough to rake over today’s debacle and make sure it never happens again; for now I can rest. I need my strength back – we’ve a universe to explore together, after all.

She Wanted Open Marriage I said OK and did this

Probably a fictional tale, but illustrates the situational fiasco.

Isn’t it cool how Putin has totally ridiculed the ICC by visiting Mongolia, and doesn’t this prove that he is the greatest exponent of democracy and freedom in the free world? We could really use Putin in the U.S., to deal with the Supreme Court!

Russia is militarily strong. Putin has tight, tight, very tight security from Russia while traveling abroad.

Mongolia’s police is not capable of arresting Putin. Neither is Mongolia’s army. That is reality.

ICC is NOT part of UN.

ICC works for members who have signed the Rome statute.

As of 2023, there are 123 members. USA, China, Russia, India, Israel & more are not members. But ICC still will help its member to sue a non-member.

The 2023 ruling against Putin in Ukraine war is not issued by UN or UN Security Council.

ICC consists of 18 judges who are elected by ICC members only; not UN.

Mongolia was within the circle of USSR before USSR collapsed.

Mongolia is between Russia & China. Though USA tries to put its hands in Mongolia, it makes sense that Mongolia joins the BRI project (pipeline) to link Russia, Mongolia & China together. To make money together.

Joining US politics only makes Mongolia poor & technological behind. Look around the world.

Try that on US supreme court? Not that lucky. Because US police or army can arrest you.

Stuffed Banana Peppers

Ingredients

Peppers

24 banana peppers, washed, seeded and sliced in half lengthwise

Meat Mixture

3 pounds ground meat
3 pounds bulk Italian sausage
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups seasoned bread crumbs or bread cubes
1 1/2 cups Romano cheese, + extra to sprinkle
1 small diced onion
Garlic powder, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
Seasoned salt, to taste
Spaghetti sauce

Instructions

Mix the ground meat, sausage, eggs, bread crumbs, cheese and onion.
Season with garlic, black pepper and seasoned salt to taste. Mix well again.
Fill banana peppers with meat mixture.
Lay on a wax paper-covered tray and cover with plastic wrap, place in freezer until frozen firm; transfer to freezer bags until ready to use.
Remove peppers from freezer and place evenly in a disposable aluminum casserole pan.
Pour spaghetti sauce over peppers and bake at 325 degrees F for 1 hour.

CIA and U.S. State Departments Anti-Russia Internet Troll Boiler Rooms – HACKED

Hal Turner World September 06, 2024

For a long time, K Street firms in Washington, DC, operating “Internet Opinion Management” houses/boiler rooms, have been run by the State Department and the CIA. Today, two of those . . . anti-Russian operations . . . have been HACKED and their info, leaked.

Databases from the anti-Russian funds The U.S. Russia Foundation (USRF) and Free Russia Foundation (FRF) have now been leaked online. Among the leaked documents are the organizations’ payrolls, information about correspondences and their participants, and other data.

The CEO of the "U.S. Russia Foundation", Matthew Rojansky, is about as Deep State as it gets.

He is a committed Obamunist.
He TURNED DOWN a seat on Biden's National Security Council, likely because it would mean taking a HUGE Pay Cut.

From Wiki:

"He served as a director of the U.S.-Russia Foundation and founded the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Ukraine Program. From July 2013 to January 2022, Rojansky was the director of the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, which focuses on Russia and Ukraine issues."

As for the “Free Russia Foundation”, it appears to be an entirely State Department / CIA creation, run by a LONG-Time Deep State Minion, David Kramer.

Former employees of these organizations have already confirmed the authenticity of the documents. They noted that these documents were previously unpublished and likely leaked from cloud storage used for grant reports.

The documents reveal that the foundation’s employees were destabilizing the situation in Russia using a bot farm, for which a special guide was written as part of an anti-Russian campaign overseen by intelligence services.

It turned out that the employees of this “elf factory” posted calls for protests, criticized the authorities, and even pretended to be wives of mobilized men. The documents show that “elves” were essentially given ready-made messages where they only needed to insert, for example, the name of a city or square where demonstrations were planned. Bots were also encouraged to spread complaints about “local administration,” though exactly which administration was left for the employees to decide.

This is hardly surprising since they had to meet a daily quota of 100 “dumps” over an eight-hour workday.

Neither USRF nor FRF has provided substantial comments on this matter, though FRF mentioned they are “monitoring the illegal distribution of documents likely related to their activities.”

They link the leak to a recent hacker attack by the group Coldriver, which is associated with Russian intelligence services. However, the involvement of company insiders isn’t ruled out.

The revelations in these hacked documents proves the United States has been waging an information war against Russia for years; even before the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The clear intent of these operations was to sew social discord, create upheaval, and destabilize the Russian government at all levels: local, state, and national.

What is the behavior of tourists that you can’t stand to watch?

Originally Answered: What is the behavior of tourists that you can’t think of watching?

1.) Begpackers

main qimg 217ba668c718e433d13fbe546a2cd5b6 lq

(picture from MSN.com)

Begpacker, a.k.a. begging backpackers. Foreigners who think they can just sit down on the streets and ask for money from locals / other people, because they either overstayed their budget and cannot pay for longer accommodation, and think that the locals are kind enough to spare them a few bucks so they can continue to “travel the world”. The picture above enrages me because, what? “Help us travel around the world”? Why should we help you?

The picture is taken in Bali. I am from Indonesia (a country with a passport that only offers ~70 visa-free destinations) and let me tell you about the process of being able to travel to countries in the West (the tourist pictured above is most likely from one of those countries): It is tough. We have to prove that we have sufficient amount of money, that we have a stable income, that we have strong ties to our home country. We have to prove that we will not be a burden to the country we want to travel to. If not, our applications will be instantly rejected.

Meanwhile, these begpackers are abusing the lax travel rules and use it to their own advantage, burdening the locals and abusing their kindness and hospitality.

2.) Being disrespectful at historical monuments / sites

When I was studying in New York, I went down to the 9/11 Memorial site on September 11th to see what the situation looked like. I was born 2 years before 9/11 happened so while I didn’t personally witness it as I was too young to remember, I had family relatives living in NYC at that time that witnessed it in real time. I wanted to pay respects to the victims. I went down alone, and mostly kept my phone in my bag except for taking the picture above. Upon arriving, I saw a family of tourists huddled together, leaning back on the name plates (like in the picture above) and smiling widely while taking a selfie with a selfie stick. Around them were people standing in silence, clearly mourning, and some of them were in tears. The names on those metal plates are of real people, real victims.

How could someone be as ignorant and oblivious to what was happening around them that they’d take a picture for their personal amusement while hundreds of people around them are in mourning? And no, it wasn’t just that family of tourists that were doing it. There were many tourists at the memorial, on September 11th out of all dates, taking selfies, smiling and posing.

This can also apply to tourists who pose, smile, and take “cool” selfies at other sites like the Auschwitz concentration camp, or sacred sites like temples, etc. I wish some tourists could just read the room, and could tell if a certain action/activity could be deemed inappropriate.

3.) Blocking the way for others for the sake of a photo op.

Fyi, I am a tourist myself! I love seeing places I’ve never seen before, documenting things I find beautiful, and traveling to historical or cultural places. But please, know when it is appropriate to do some things you want to do, and when it is inappropriate to do so. Don’t cause congestion on a busy street, don’t be disrespectful at memorial sites, and please, don’t be a begpacker.

—

ETA: Some people disagree on my stance on begpackers. “If you don’t want to give your money, then don’t.” The thing is, the kind locals would. Southeast Asians are known for their kindness and hospitality, and probably just want to help. Another sad part is that you have literal local beggars on the streets begging for food/money because they are actually poor. Then you have a privileged first world tourist who think that travelling is a must for them, not a privilege. I think that’s outrageous. Travel according to your budget. Don’t become a burden to the locals.

As for annoying tourists and photo ops: the picture above is in The Bronx, between residential buildings. Could you imagine peacefully living in your apartment, then to find out the next day that it became a tourist attraction? Wouldn’t it be bothersome? “But people adjust! Live and let live!” Well, I know for sure I wouldn’t like it if I lived there.

People are entitled to have their own opinion, and so am I. Cheers 🙂

“America is facing its RECKONING and no one is ready” Col. Douglas MacGregor

Possible nuclear detonation off the California Coast

I have long argued that were China or Russia to harm the United States, they would not do so using expected means. Instead they might do so using unorthodox means.

Russia pulls out it’s “Ace Card”.

After the warning by Putin with his Oreshnik missile, the West did not take the warning seriously. Yet, this was a most impressive display of power and ability.

This is from MSN…

The United States responds

Instead, the West, led by the United States decided to double down, and fired even more US and UK made and controlled missiles into Russia.

Russia made a final statement. They said that these actions now open up the West, including the United States, to target areas.

This is from Hal Turner…

It is (today) now 7 days. One full week later since this announcement.

Tsunami hits California

And there is a large underwater “earthquake” off the California coast. It began as a 6.0 earthquake, and then a second one, back to back, of magnitudes 7.0 earthquake.

This resulted in a Tsunami warning for the entire West coast of the United States. And of course, huge tsunami waves hitting almost the entirety of the California coast.

Here’s where the earthquakes originated, and showing the tsunami affected regions.

There are those that suggest that the earthquakes look more like a sudden explosion, rather than a typical earthquake. I do not know how valid these claims are. But the semantic data is certainly damning.

Discussions on X are filled with conspiracy theories and other related content.

There are two points that I want to emphasize.

No serious radiation has been detected. Sure there was a short spike but nothing even resembling what an atomic detonation would look like.
The detonation, if that is what happened, is not where a foe would seemingly place a detonation target. The better location would be between San Francisco and Los Angles. Not between San Francisco and Portland OR.

There is damage, and flooding. But from the early news reports that I can see, nothing is very serious as of yet.

Strange Coincidences

Immediately before the earthquake “detonated”, there was a United States Navy P3 Submarine detection aircraft flying in the region.

There was even a SECOND military P-8 searching off the coast of SOUTHERN California at the time of the quake, but way far south of the quake area. It might be unrelated, or connected. It’s too difficult to know.

Russian Poseidon nuclear-tipped torpedoes

Russia DOES have weapons that can unleash Tsunami related chaos. And they are deadly and lethal. However, the damage that they would create is much larger than what this incident suggests.

Here’s what Popular Mechanics has to say…

MM Conclusions and thoughts

The “earthquake” could be natural.
The “earthquake” could also be a Russian Poseidon conventionally-tipped torpedo. Not a nuclear tipped one.
The “earthquake” could also be an explosion on board a submarine.

We don’t know.

But to find out what is really going on, look for the obscure tell-tales that might surface in the nooks and crannies of the internet.

CJ enters the cornfield

On one of my many affirmations, I asked to be made aware of all the people who hurt me.

I forget the exact phrasing. But yeah. I asked for this knowledge and understanding.

And I was surprised at what happened.

I started to remember old events. Events that happened years ago. Events that I thought were innocent, or mistakes, or just simply bad luck.

One memory was the death of my cat; Texie.

I was in Boston living with this model named CJ. She always had this bad anger and nasty streak about her. Which was controlled by medication, but when that beast was out, oh lordy. Watch out.

Long story short…We had a “falling out” and she left. Calling me a “coward” for having her mother come up and get her.

Around that time, perhaps a month later, my beloved Texie got very sick; very quickly. His nose was white and his neck was all swollen.

I took him to the vet, and she said that he had no red corpuscles left. She just couldn’t understand how he could be alive. We tried to help him, but it was impossible, so we were forced to put him down. I loved that cat.

That was twenty five years ago.

Now, over the last few weeks I have been having the suspicion that CJ might have poisoned my cat. No proof, of course. Just a hunch.

A hunch, mind you, triggered by my affirmation directives.

It doesn’t seem possible. How could she enter the house? What poison would she use? It seems so unlikely.

But there you have it.

I take this as an answer issued forth from one of my affirmations.

And as such… I do believe in my affirmations, in hunches and in other aspects of life. I do not ignore them.

So…

I have thrown her, where ever she is today, twenty five years later… into the most thorny cornfield that I could come up with.

In my reality, time does not matter, and forgiveness is but a crutch that you used to maintain happiness.

So she will find, and discover things going really bad for her out of the blue, and she won’t know why.

Because you know, she thought that she got away with something without consequence.

She didn’t.

She only laid the flagstones for easy entry…

…into the limitless cornfield.

I know that I can be a dick.

But, I do not care.

Today…

Ungrateful Girlfriend Rejects £4000 Rolex Then This Happens

Why is China considered “the most secret country”? Is it political issues, trouble within the country, maybe they simply aren’t the “open” type of country we are use to?

First, it is the language.

Second, it’s the culture.

Most westerners are too lazy to learn, but they don’t want to admit they are lazy, so they say China is “difficult”, “opaque”, “closed”.

I read, write and speak Chinese.

China is NOT closed; it just follows completely different rules.

Reactors Reacting to the COOPER DOCKING the Endurance | Interstellar

Who is the worst customer you have ever had?

We had to ban Karen from our store.

Karen attempted to manipulate Domino’s refund policy, time and time again.

Ultimately, we were losing money because of her.

She liked to place pizza orders online quite frequently.

And would then decide to request a refund for whatever reason, be it from the order was messed up to ‘the pizza just doesn’t look that great’.

Yes, she actually said that to me.

It got to the point where we would ensure her order was immaculate.

Quality over quantity, eh?

And guess what? She’d try and get a refund.

Naturally, she’d get one, since there’s the whole thing about how the “customer is always right”.

We attempted to logically defend ourselves, telling her we did nothing wrong, but she ensured to find something flawed with her order.

Eventually, we got sick of it, and so we called in our district manager.

She places an order, and I crafted damn near the best pizza the world has ever seen. Even my manager agreed, so it’s legit.

Everything else associated with Karen’s order was on point.

So about 5 minutes or so after the driver returns from her house, we receive a call from Karen.

“Hi, I’d like a refund for my order.”

I notify my manager it’s a no go.

“Don’t refund her.”, my manager said.

“Ban her.”, my district manager said.

It’s about time.

China has to know it can never defeat the U.S. militarily. Shouldn’t it focus on peace and trade instead to become like Japan?

The US knows that they cannot defeat China. Remember that the US lost to China in the Korean war at a time when China was very weak militarily. But today, China is much stronger and are not too different in strength compared to the US.

If a war were to be fought between China and the US, it would be around China. China would have all its weapons and forces at its disposal while the US will have to depend on what they can carry to the region in their ships. And China has already worked out how many unstoppable hypersonic missiles they will need to sink each US ship. They will sink all of them. The US would not be able to sink the Chinese forces because they will be firing their missiles from land.

The US is also very dependent on their GPS satellites to guide their missiles. China will destroy those satellites early in a war between China and the US, rendering most of the US missiles useless.

China has always called upon the US for cooperation but it is the US that wants to quarrel with China. And they have no business putting their military offic ers in Taiwan!

China Refused U.S.A. Wheat

Which country produces the fiercest soldiers?

Probably Nepal. And they’ve been that way for a long time.

Now my patriotism wants to say “The Americans Duh”. But I can’t ignore the amazing feats that the Gurkhas manage, and it would be a disrespect upon them not to recognize that.

The Gurkhas have been in service to the British for about 200 years, supplying the bravest and most dangerous soldiers for decades. They’ve stopped brigades singlehandedly, killed dozens of soldiers alone, all without fear for their own life. They carry the famous Kukri blade into battle, and damn they know how to use it.

main qimg 1af3f3c4f73f6df71badde5c334940b3 lq

Damn. Google has good photos of Gurkhas.

One of the many impossible feats of Gurkhas was the insane defense of Rifleman Lachhiman Gurung in 1945 during the Second World War. With his comrades wounded, he held his own against a force of over 200 Japanese soldiers storming his position at Tanungdaw in Burma, present-day Myanmar.

According to warhistoryonline.com, Lachhiman reportedly:

“threw back enemy grenades until one exploded in his hand, blowing off the fingers and shattering his arm as well as injuring his leg. Although severely wounded, he continued fighting for four hours, inspiring the other men to keep going.”

That is insane! And that’s just one of the many, many, many amazing feats the Gurkhas have accomplished! Overall the Gurkhas have amassed Twenty six Victoria Crosses, and honestly should have earned many many more for their bravery.

Another more recent account was the story of Seargent Dipprasad Pun. Dipprasad, who at the time was on guard in a rooftop of a checkpoint, was attacked from nearly all sides by 30 Taliban Soldiers. Utilizing around 400 rounds, 17 Grenades, a mine, and a fuc**** machine gun bipod, killed the Taliban. All of them.

They have been involved in every major war, most minor wars, and even freedom fighting movements all over the world. They are renowned as some of the most dangerous soldiers on the planet, and often times even the knowledge of them being on the battlefield is enough to make the enemy rethink their plans.

The Gurkhas are amazing, and to be honest I doubt we’ll see anything like them without a super soldier serum anytime soon.

You can find more stories of Gurkhas here at Popularmechanics.com

Drink your milk and become Gurkha Strong!

-Cotta!

What is the biggest scam you’ve ever seen?

PASSPORT VERIFICATION BY LOCAL POLICE

Few days back I had applied for an passport,I had filled the form and procedure had been carried out.The forms were verified by the passport office, and they told me that “your case will be sent to your regional police station for residential verification”.

After 2 to 3 weeks I recieved an call from police station to come over for verification. I went police station with all the necessary documents. When I reached there 2 to 3 peoples were already standing for verification, after 20 minutes of sitting on bench my turn came. I went inside.

Police officer asked me all relevant information and took the Xerox copy of all documents and said:

“Aapka ka verification ho jayega, aap ₹500 jama kar do”

(Translation: Your verification will be completed , you need to deposit ₹500 for that)

I felt this is the fees of an verification, so I gave him ₹500, he had taken the money and said “u can go now”.

Fow which I said “sir reciept of giving money”.

He gave me very digust look for my sentence and said “passport chahiye ki nhi”(do u want passport or not)

Me: Sir mere paiso ki reciept de do main chala jaunga(sir u give me reciept i will go my way).

He got very angry and slammed ₹500 on the table and said “main bhi dekhta hu tumko passport kaise milta hain”.(I will also see how will you get your passport).

I took the money and came back home. After 2 to 3 weeks , I recived an letter from passport authority that your passport application is rejected due to residence issue,please communicate with policestation.

After communicating with my neighbor and friends they told me that U have to give money to police officer for verification,otherwise they will give some random reason and reject your case.

This is most common scam now a days.

Edit 1 :Recently I went to the passport office and and told them the situation and guess what i got my passport within 15 days that too without bribing anyone and without double police verification.

The Police are Way out of Control

Easy Lasagna Casserole

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

3 cups uncooked egg noodles
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (1 1/2 ounce) package spaghetti sauce mix
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup Pet Evaporated Milk
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

Cook noodles in boiling salted water until tender. Drain.
Cook ground beef and onion in skillet until ground beef is browned. Drain.
Stir in tomato sauce and spaghetti sauce mix. Cook until thickened.
Combine cream cheese and evaporated milk in warm saucepan until smooth.
Stir in noodles and garlic salt.
Pour into a 9 inch square baking dish.
Spread meat mixture over top.
Top with shredded cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes or until bubbly.

How much land would Chinese people be willing to give up for peace with China?

This is the Galwan River Valley in Xinjiang, at an altitude of over 4300 meters, with eight characters written on it.

The soldiers stationed often hold flag raising ceremonies here.

The meaning of these eight characters is, Our vast and beautiful land and river, not an inch shall be yielded.

Did you ever walk into an antiques store, see an item you wanted, and bought it for less than it was worth because you had more knowledge about it than the dealer?

Yes, I bought a $90,000 painting, from an $83 million dollar house, that was sold by Christies Auction House for $1200. How?

I went to a once-per-month place that sells items from large estates. As an art lover, I subscribe to a website that provides millions of historical art prices from auction sites around the world. While at the estate sale I noticed a very nice work that seemed to be well-framed and of higher quality than one might normally see at a typical estate sale. I liked the piece but balked at the $2000-ish price tag.

I took a photo of artist’s signature and went home. It was late in the day and the business was about to close. The estate sale business conducts a sale each month on Saturday and half a day on Sunday. On Sunday afternoon prices are reduced until everything sells. I thought that I might go back on Sunday to see what kind of price they had on the art. If low enough, I would perhaps buy it for a particular spot in the house.

On Saturday evening I casually pulled up the artist’s sales records. I was amazed to see he had some extensive sales with many pieces in the $50,000-150,000 range. The particular piece I had seen was last sold by Christies in the early 1990s for $90,000! Needless to say I was going to be the first person through the door on Sunday to buy the bargain artwork.

True to form, I was the first person to go through the door. I found the owner of the business and negotiated a $1200 price. I paid for the product and he helped me take it to the car.

I asked, “Where did you get this piece?” He said he couldn’t say due to a confidentially agreement. I finally got him to tell me that it had come from a mansion in Palm Beach that had recently been torn down to make way for a new home. He said, “When we picked up the piece it still had the Christies auction tag attached to the back.”

At this point I confessed knowing the auction history and that it had sold for $90,000 in the early 1990s at Christies. His reply?

“You gotta be shitting me!”

The piece now graces a prominent spot above my dining room sideboard. It is well lit, well liked, and one of my better stories to tell when asked about its origins.

China VS America | Yanis Varoufakis on Big Tech, Capitalism and Techno-Feudalism (Part 3)

Why did China mainland more choose to buy weapons from French than the USA during the West China honeymoon during 1970-1990?

The “honeymoon” was started by Nixon. Mao & Nixon met in 1972.

The Nixon was in a Watergate scandal & the honeymoon was put aside until 1978.

When Carter continued the honeymoon & officiated the “ONE CHINA policy & Taiwan is part of China” by signing a China-USA joint communique in 1978, some US hawks scolded Carter (for being too weak with China). 4 months after the communique, US hawks pushed out a “Taiwan Relations Act” & continued selling weapons to Taiwan.

See, by selling weapons to Taiwan = no armed sales to mainland China.

Was it a mistake to sell weapons to Taiwan instead of mainland China? Only USA can answer the question.

But we saw USA instigating a Tiananmen coup in 1989.

It looks like USA did not trust mainland China because USA could not control communist China but USA can easily control a country that has a democratic election.

Calling AUKUS “the worst deal in all history”, Former Australian PM Paul Keating accused the government of being a “sellout” on its defense policy

Former Australian prime minister Paul Keating has taken aim at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defense Minister Richard Marles, accusing them of abandoning traditional party values.

Speaking in an interview about the AUKUS agreement, Mr. Keating accused the government of being a “sellout” on its defense policy.

The former Labor leader had been asked about the AUKUS agreement between the US, UK and Australia, which he has been a constant critic of since its announcement.

Mr. Keating then called it “the worst deal in all history”.

Mr. Marles is in the US and has agreed to allow the transfer of US and UK naval nuclear material to Australia. The partnership also provides for more rotations of US troops to the region, which Mr. Keating criticized.

“There’ll be American force posture now in Australia, involving every domain.”

“This government has sold out to the United States.”

“They’ve fallen for the dinner on the White House lawn.”

“We are better left alone than we are being protected by an aggressive power like the United States,” Mr. Keating said.

Asked why he considered the US to be aggressive, Mr. Keating said it was because “it’s trying to superintend from the Atlantic, the largest Asian power, which is China”.

Crowd Goes Nuts For RFK Jr. At Trump Rally!

HISTORIC!

Democrat traditionalist joins with Republic “Dark Horse”.

That is amazing!

“End of the grip of the neocons in charge of Foreign policy!!!!”

Why is China so possessive over Taiwan? Is the Chinese state really that weak?

???

Taiwan is part of China. It was part of China before the Japanese stole it 1895, and it was returned to China after Japan’s defeat in WWII.

Name one country that won’t protect its territorial integrity. Just one.

Why is America so possessive over Hawaii or California?

Why is Canada so possessive over Quebec?

Why is Britain so possessive over Scotland?

Why is France so possessive over Corsica?

Why is Spain so possessive over Catalonia?

You feel me?

What was the slickest thing you have done or seen when negotiating a car price?

My daughter graduated from college. I wanted to buy her a car, a new Honda. I explained to my daughter what we were doing today and we may not get the car on first go around, but that we needed to be patient.

I let her find a car she likes. Salesman in tow, we drove the car, she liked it, we are ready to deal. We walk into the sales office, a row of cubicles, and sat down with the salesman.

I had done my homework, market comps, talked to other dealers, and I am willing to pay a reasonable price. The salesman was working off of the list price and I let him present his figures. I came back “this is what i am willing to pay” followed by “we are motivated buyers and can do this today”. (i am sure I did the last week of the month thing that you always hear about. )

of course the salesman scoffed at our offer, and i said “do we need to speak to your manager?” {in negotiations there is a rule that says you cannot “close” someone you can’t “close”. so trying to make a deal with the sales person is useless because he does not have the authority to make this deal, and most likely the manager does not either, we need to be setting in front of the general manager. He is the final say on this deal. So i need to work my way up the food chain so to speak).

The sales person is punching in numbers on his calculator, my daughter is uncomfortable with the confrontation (her perspective, not mine). We are waiting on a response… he throws down a “this is the best we can do”. I say “well we are close, let’s get your manager out here. I know you are doing your best.” and reluctantly he says “okay, I’ll be right back”.

He goes away for five minutes, comes back with a new “this is the best we can do” counter followed by “we can write this up today!’

I say “that’s better but we have some work to do here if you want the sale. Let’s go back together and make this happen. We are not that far off, and I’m sure the manager will reason with me.” I give the salesman my homework, comps, market analysis. He says “I’ll be right back.”

In just a few minutes later he comes back and says “okay you can follow me”. we go back to the managers office, a nice fellow, shakes my hand and sits back down… he is all up into his computer screen punching numbers saying “i just don’t see how we can do this”.

Me “sure you do or I would not be back here. Look, I’ve done the math, you are still making a nice profit here, I am not ripping you off, its a good deal. Lets write it up and get out of here.”

He starts talking about a used model, or tells me he has more profit in a different model or color. He is bantering and we are not. The interesting thing about this is his office has windows to the office area. People can see me in the office, negotiating with the manager. Finally the GM walks in… Very nice man, very professional, we get down to it, and he looks me in the eye and i am right back at him… We have not said anything for a few minutes. I have my daughter with me who is squirming. He talks to her about her graduation, and he has a daughter that’s grown and he can remember what that’s like. He says to me “your offer really cuts into our profit, because its not just the walk out price, it is the warranty we have to cover for the next year I am worried about”. I say “Well, we are going to buy a Honda because of its reliability. My father drives one at it has 150,00 miles on it. Never a service problem.” we look at each other. tick tock time goes by. He tell the Manager. Do the deal. We stand up, shake hands, he hugs my daughter.

We all walk back to the cubical area and the we finalize the paperwork. the car will be ready tomorrow as they have to do Make-Ready.

The coolest thing happened. A lady in another cubical leans out and says “that was wonderful, can you help us buy a car?”

Women don’t understand why men are walking away & want to call them TERRORISTS?

Will malls ever make a comeback?

Only if they become an experience for visitors.

I live in Macau and our casino resorts have huge retail spaces. The Venetian like its Vegas counterpart has canals with gondolas and singing gondoliers. They have human statues in the mall. A huge food court. Art exhibits. Classical music performances.

In China, malls are supersized. 8–10 floors. Humongous food courts. Skating rinks. Go kart tracks. Swimming pools. Petting zoos for the kids. Huge play areas for the kids. Learning centers. Tutorial centers. Cooking and baking classes. And they are packed.

How do you think the international community’s support for the Philippines in its maritime row with China could impact future negotiations between the two countries?

International community?

The Philippines is a founding member of asean.

Asean, which operate by consensus, hasn’t supported the Philippines in the recent spate.

In addition, NO MEMBER OF ASEAN has backed the Philippines. This include other claimant states of the SCS. Leaders are openly asking Bongbong what he is trying to pull, expressing their worries of destabilizing escalation.

The SCS issue has been ongoing for decades. What has been secured is a gentlemen’s agreement to work towards a diplomatic solution, and limit confrontation to the coast guard.

The SCS code of conduct which was supposed to formalize the agreement and limit fallout remains in limbo after many years of negotiation.

It must be noted that the Philippines continues to hold the ante, refusing to demilitarize the issue.

Why is the Sierra Madre still grounded? The Philippines insist it is an ACTIVE DUTY NAVAL VESSEL, despite the wreck being older than the Philippines herself. It is being guarded and manned by military personnel.

No kidding.

It was widely reported that special forces troops were used to attempt a resupply of the Sierra madre. The President himself awarded a medal to the injured NAVSOU sailor.

So much for demilitarization.

In fact, the Philippines has used the publicity to remilitarize the issue, deploying air force and naval assets recently.

Which was probably the goal of the latest provocation—paint the Chinese as a huge threat and remilitarize, allowing the US military back into the Philippines and NATO/Five Eyes/Japan/Korea to demonstrate the “international community’s” MILITARY support for the Philippines.

The Philippines military is a Salvation Army beneficiary, counting Japan and of course, the US as fairy godmothers. Billions in free arms have already been promised or delivered.

If the Philippines does not walk the talk with China, or if busybodies attempt to militarily intervene in a bilateral issue, the situation will deteriorate, and may reach a tipping point.

It all depends on what China does, because they have the power to take decisive action. Break any agreement and China will respond disproportionately.

Recently, the largest Philippine coast guard cutter, the ~2,000 ton Teresa Magbanua which has been moored at the Escoda Shoal since April raised anchor and left the area after the Chinese dispatched a tugboat capable of towing ~5,000 tons in response to consecutive ramming of Chinese coast guard vessels to forcefully resupply their compatriots.

Leaving Only Darkness

Submitted into Contest #247 in response to: Set your story on a spaceship exploring the far reaches of space when something goes wrong.… view prompt

Arne Cambourne

This story contains themes or mentions of physical violence, gore, or abuse.

It had been months since there had been any hope on the ship. Each day awake was a struggle.He had begun to long for the cryo-tank.The nausea that came with waking from a long suspension was no longer a concern for him. He suspected the rest of the crew felt the same way. Being awake now was the worst part of waking from the long sleep.The display on the wall in front of his tank didn’t help.Its stark red numbers made it clear how long he had been asleep each time he woke up. It measured the actual time they had all been under – no contact with distant family, no contact with time at all.He remembered the first time.

Their first sleep had been pre-set to wake them within days of entering a planetary system their astronomers had considered “extremely likely” to include a planet consistent with supporting life.

In those early days they were soothed by the sense of awe as they entered a new star system. Perhaps their new home would be here, and they could send that message back home to start the colony ships on their way. Sadly, this sense of awe didn’t last.

It was only after 4 suspensions that hope began to fade. They came to realise that though they had been awake for a few months since they left, they had been gone for well over their people’s average lifetime.

Everyone he had ever known was gone. There was no one at home that had seen him through living eyes, held an image of his face, or the sound of his voice, as a memory attached to a feeling of fondness.

None of the crew had children. They had been selected that way, for obvious reasons.

He remembered how the crew had originally spoken of whether they regretted not having children. They had universally agreed they did not regret this at all. How could they have this opportunity and had children? It just couldn’t work.

After a few suspensions, when the despair first began, some of the crew became upset they had chosen a career above family. They had missed what they now saw as the important stuff, and there was no-one to remember them.

By the time they had been in suspension six times, more than 150 years had gone by.

Now the despair changed. They realised that if they did have children, they would be gone now as well.

Like footprints on a sandy beach, time would have wiped these imagined children away. Even their fantasy grandchildren that brought hope and joy would be gone and long forgotten.

Each new solar system brought new despair.

There was no chance of life here. The heat was wrong, the gases were wrong, the planet had not enough resources, in the right quantities. The colony could not be risked here.

****

No one realistically expected to run into any sort of advanced life out in the expanse of space either. He did fantasize about it, and he was relieved early in the trip to find out that many of the other crew had similar fantasies.

Imagine that! Being the first to encounter a new culture. An advanced peoples so far from home.

He hoped these new people were more advanced than they were. They will have perfected space travel and can warp from one part of the galaxy to another in a flash of light. No sleep sickness. No time loss.

They could all quickly get back home. Maybe there was new technology at home that had allowed people to live longer. Maybe his parents would still be there, or some of his friends.

He had had fallen asleep thinking of this fantasy the last few cryo-sleeps. No one dreamed in suspension, but it was still nice to think you might, as you felt the cryo-film wrap your body, and the world disappeared.

This is why when he woke this time, he had to check he was actually awake.

As the lead engineer he was always woken by the AI first, to make sure the process went well for the rest of the crew as they woke.

He would check the location of the ship, and the time they had been under, then make sure each of the cryo-fluids instilled for the wake cycles were in the right proportions. A little variation was ok, it went better if someone manually adjusted the equation each time.

This time he had been woken earlier than had been expected. The ship had been on course to a system that included a star at its centre much like their one at home.

The third planet from the sun had been identified on their long-range scanners many years ago as a possibly habitable planet. It should have the right mix of gas, water and heat that could mean this place was suitable.

The AI had woken him early. He soon found out the reason, and sitting alone with the hum of the ship the only noise he could hear, he knew he had to act.

With at least a month left before they were near the target planet, the ship had begun detecting radio transmissions from the planet. The ships AI had been able to assess the target planet was inhabited, and these inhabitants were more than simple animals.

This had triggered the wake cycle, so the AI had woken the lead engineer.

Unknown to the rest of the crew the lead engineer had also been briefed by their government about how to respond to such an occurrence. He was to enact the Colony X Protocol but leave the rest of the crew asleep.

When he had first been told about the Protocol it had all made sense. He knew he would start the protocol without delay, and wait patiently for the Protocol to run completion. His feelings about the Protocol came to change.

The Protocol was designed to make sure the work they had all done, the sacrifice, the costs in time and treasure, would not go to waste. No one thought it would be a likely scenario, but the social planners and the ethicists at home had finally agreed on how the Protocol would work.

His people had learned the hard way that it can be difficult to share, and a habitable planet with an advanced life form, posed to great a risk for this endeavour of stellar exploration. There had been years of debate but, in the end, the pragmatists won out.

The Protocol was a military procedure. It was precise and efficient. Once enacted it could not be reversed, and without fail it would achieve its aims. The residents of their new home had to be removed.

His role was to complete final assessment of the new peoples the ship had found, and the environment of the planet, to confirm its suitability as a new home.

The designers of the Protocol had agreed that given the significance of the decision the Protocol involved, reliance on AI was not reasonable. A live oversight of the decision was necessary, and his role as chief engineer had come to include the arbiter of this decision.

Once his assessment had been made, he would send the authorisation code home and, eventually, the battlecruisers would arrive.

His assessment could be done at a distance, and he did not need to wake any of the crew for this role. The Protocol actually forbid he wake anyone, for risk they may interfere with the Protocol’s application.

He looked at the viability of the planet.

A planet with water and firm ground, no significant extremes of temperature. Its atmosphere was gaseous, with a good mix of oxygen and nitrogen, some other rare gases. Its gravity was mild.

The planet had a blue green colour, a reflection of its life forms and the water on the surface. Its land was in some places covered by plants, and rivers of water ran across some of its larger land masses.

He spent more time looking at the non-plant life forms on the planet.

He learned about them from the transmissions that had been reaching the ship now for months. The ship had logged and recorded hours and hours of sounds and images, and his review involved listening to and viewing these recordings.

They were an interesting people.

He fell in love with the music they had produced, and the AI had sorted these recordings, so he could observe how their music had changed over time. He learned that this music often talked of the things these people enjoyed, or the things they fear and worried about.

(He particularly liked a type of music characterised by beating drums, shouted vocals, and a strange mix of other loud and varied instruments.)

They had produced writings about their world, and he came to understand the fears these people held about their lives, and the aims they pursued. His AI was able to differentiate these writings that were likely historical records and those that were like his own people’s legends or myths, or fictions just for pleasure.

He needed to learn more about these people before he activated the Colony X protocol. He was short of time though.

His government had written into the protocol a requirement that it be enacted within two weeks of the AI initiating the wake procedure. Any longer and the ship may come too close to the target planet and risk the protocol.

After two weeks the ship’s AI would send the authorisation code and destroy the ship.

He originally told himself he just needed more time, but knew he had decided he might not be able to enact the protocol. He gave the appearance of finalising his research, whilst at the same time he worked out how to disengage the ships AI from the protocol.

He researched the history of these people hoping to understand where they had started, what they had achieved. They had a history not unlike his own people. They had started from simpler animals but had come to master their world.

They had learned to fly; they had built vehicles and ships to travel their planet. He learned that they had organised themselves into larger groups. These groups built cities. They had spread their ideas and ways of thinking over this planet, and that had changed and challenged these people over time.

They had, like his own people, fought amongst themselves.

After nearly ten days of looking at these people he even felt a tear run down his face as he learned the pains these conflicts had caused. He felt the shock from images of brutality that he viewed as if these had become his people.

He enjoyed their happiness when conflicts came to an end, and their hope this would be end of the fighting, a hope that seemed to survive in their literature, their films, their music, even though there always seemed to be more fighting to come.

Fighting between his own peoples had become almost non-existent. On the day they had left, it had been over 50 years since any significant fighting had occurred between the peoples of his planet.

His people had learned to talk, used technology to make sure more people could be heard. They had come to share more, both culturally and emotionally, and this led to a fairer share of the fruits of labour.

His own people now needed to find somewhere new to live, to grow, or there was a risk that their world of stability may begin to crumble. This was the purpose of his mission – to keep their own violent natures at bay by joining together in finding a new world to share and grow.

It had been so long though.

The mission had taken longer than anyone had expected. By the time he put the Colony X Protocol into effect, and home had learned of its activation, and the fleets from home had arrived to clean the new planet, it would be nearly a thousand years since the mission began.

He was still alive, but he knew that for the world at home, he was not even a memory. At best he, and the crew, were abrief entry in a database, that a junior public servant confirmed each a year, and the world moved on.

Maybe things at home had changed, maybe home was now a mess, maybe they had taken to long. Maybe none of this was now worth it.

He could now see a future before him. Though these ‘people’ looked different to him, he had come to feel close to them. He felt he could understand who they were, and he had come to think they would understand him.

Perhaps he and the crew could help these people gain the peace and cooperation his home had enjoyed, even if it might have now fallen into disrepair.

The mission could be better served by not enacting the protocol. It was obvious to him now. Instead, his people would survive by meeting with this new people, merging their histories, learning new ways to grow into the galaxy.

He had learned how to disengage the AI and, after so much deliberation, it was psychologically easier than he expected to put an end to the Colony X Protocol. None of the other crew knew of its existence, and he swore himself to keep this secret forever.

He planned what he was going to tell the crew when they were awake and felt a sense of peace when he realised that he was once again happy. It had been so long, but he felt a new future was there for them. They had made it to the New World.

He rushed to get them all awake, so he could tell them of these new peoples, how similar they were, and tell them of how this new planet was going to ensure the survival of their own peoples, and their way of life.

****

Major Michael Jones stared directly at his commanding officer, awaiting his reaction to what the Major had just confirmed. There was no answer, so he spoke again.

“Sir, we have confirmed the location of the object, and that it has arrived from outside of our system” he said again.

General Tsang looked back at his subordinate and nodded. Major Jones continued his report.

“It’s also most definitely not natural” the Major said, “Our analysts all share the opinion that this vessel is large enough to be considered either a military vehicle, or a major logistical ship, sir.”

“Perhaps an exploration vessel?” the general finally spoke.

The Major nodded and the general continued, he had wistful look in his eye as he turned on the display screen on the wall behind.

“You know Major” the general continued, turning to look at the display “after looking at these images, and the reports from our experts, you know what this reminds me of?”

The Major stood at ease but did not answer. The general continued whilst he pointed at the image of a strange vessel that was now on the screen.

“It makes me think of the ships of old, the sailing ships” he said.

The Major remained blank faced.

“You know, they appeared over the horizon, off the coast of some then undiscovered land, and the people living there had no idea what was to come” the General said before sitting at his desk and motioning to the Major to also sit.

The Major sat and finally spoke.

“Yes sir” he said, “before I joined the United Nations Defence Force I came from Australia.” General Tsang raised an eyebrow, and it was clear to the Major he did not understand.

“Well sir, our Indigenous people had no idea what was to befall them after the English crossed the horizon” the Major explained.

General Tsang slapped his hand on the table.

“Exactly Major” he said “the ‘Indians’ of the former United States, the native victims of the Conquistadors, your Australian Aborigines. If only they knew”

The room was silent for a brief period as the general peered back up at the ship still on the screen. He finally spoke.

“And we have confirmed with the General Assembly we are to enact the Colonising X Protocol” the general final said looking at his Major.

The Major nodded.

The General nodded back. “Very well” he soon said “make it so. It is for all our best interests”.

The general stood, then unlocked a safe below his desk. He removed an envelope from the safe and handed it to the major.

“Take these to the control room Major, and authorise the missile launch” the general said. Major Jones took the envelope, stood up and saluted before he left the room.

The general sat again, turned in his seat and looked up at the ship on the screen briefly, before turning the screen off and turning to sit quietly at his desk.

*****

The chief engineer had woken all the crew and told them of the planet now so close, and about the people there that they would soon contact. He had spoken for a long time to about what he had learned and the hope this discovery had given him.

There was some resistance, some anxiety and fear, but he had spoken with those who were fearful, and soon the whole crew were as excited as he that the mission had succeeded and it was coming to an end.

They had agreed the engineer should make the first contact with these new peoples the next day. There had been a vote about what they would ask of these peoples, and what they would be able to offer.

When he had disabled the AI, the engineer did not realise he had also disabled various alert functions in the ships navigational and security array. The expanse of space is such that, without these, it is difficult for any person to keep a close eye on all that is happening.

The chief engineer was the only crew member still awake when the missiles hit the ship. His excitement about the next day, and the impact of the decision he had made, alone, had made it hard to sleep.

The blinding flash of light as the missiles tore the ship apart, and the searing pain the engineer felt, were over almost immediately.

Leaving only darkness.

Joe Cocker- With A Little Help From My Friends (REACTION)

On August 23, Powell’s speech hinted that the Federal Reserve will cut the interest rates soon. What does this mean for countries like China and Japan? Why do they want to cut interest rates?

What does this mean for China? Likely that China will be vindicated in reducing US dollar assets.

It’s also possible it’s a big black swan event for the USA.

You see there’s nobody left to buy US T-bills. China ain’t buying especially after the 2008 fiasco. If you listened to Chinese radio and television talk shows people were angry China had gifted the US an entire US battle carrier group on the devaluation of the T-bills.

The circular money trick isn’t working either, this is how Belgium of all places became a massive holder of US T-bills. The US loaned money to Belgium who bought T-bills with it.

So after all of the above? There’s two buyers left.

The Fed – If they buy it, it causes mega inflation. I mean there’s Americans on here where inflation is a LOT higher than claimed.

Yield seeking private buyers.

Drop the rates? The Yield seekers are what it says on the tin. They seek yield so they’ll let go and buy other things. This means the Fed will step in to mop up what they sell.

This leads to mega inflation.

I won the lottery 10 years ago, but I didn’t tell a soul, not even my family. Was I wrong to do this?

One of my cousins won a lottery for several million dollars in the 1980s. It was public knowledge. At the time, the only option was an annuity that paid out the jackpot over 20 or 26 years. He bought his mom a new car. He helped her out when she needed help.

His siblings maybe thought that they were owed something. I don’t know the specifics of that. What I do know is that he continued to live his life the way he had before.

He and his wife had a couple of kids. They adopted a couple of other kids, girls from China, at the time when China had the “one child policy” and girl children were not so popular. He kept his job as a truck driver. He lived a pretty simple life, and as far as I know, his only indulgence was his beloved Harley Davidson motorcycle, which he probably could have owned on his truck driving salary.

We were not close.

The only memory that I have of him was his wedding, before the lottery win, where the wedding reception was in a state park, not a posh affair. Very simple.

When he died last year, we took my mom (then in her 90s) to the memorial service. There were lots of friends, and his immediate family, his wife, his biological children, his adopted children, all of them just…his children. That was lovely. They were thrilled that my mom was there as a connection to their grandmother who had passed away in 1996.

None of his siblings were there. A couple of his siblings had passed away, another had moved away to another state. I can’t say why none of them were there.

So if you have had good fortune, and you are able to hide this good fortune from your family, maybe it’s best to hide it as best as you can so you can keep your relationship with them.

Food Porn

The American dream is a lie

Yup it is.

What work secret did you accidentally find out that changed everything?

I worked for a small city police department. One weekend, we did not have a sergeant on-duty so being senior officer, I was in charge. Two officers (Steve and Mary) responded to a domestic dispute. A short time later, I was asked to respond to the call. Steve explained one of the participants in the dispute wanted to file a complaint on Mary for being discourteous. I released the officers from the scene and spoke to the participant. After a brief conversation, the participant decided there was a misunderstanding between him and the officer and he no longer wanted to file a complaint.

I cleared the call and spoke to Steve who explained how the misunderstanding occurred. I then spoke to Mary and advised her no complaint was being filed but to be careful how she speaks to the public.

In turn, Mary felt Steve and I were setting her up and decided to file an internal complaint against us claiming bullying. The Chief assigned Mary’s complaint to a detective named Jim. It was widely known in the department that Jim was trying to sleep with Mary but she continually turned him down.

The police department was located in the municipal building where several other city departments were located. A friend working in another department observed Jim and Mary speaking in private and when they parted, Mary gave Jim a quick kiss. It was clear something had changed in their relationship.

My friend told me what he observed and I held onto that information in case I needed it later. Sure enough, about three weeks later, I’m pulled into the Chief’s office. Jim made up allegations against me and Steve and claimed to have substantiated Mary’s allegation. The Chief was ready to issue discipline when I asked the Chief how a detective sleeping with Mary could be unbiased in his investigation. The Chief’s jaw hit the ground. Mary eventually admitted to striking a deal with Jim that if he got me and Steve fired, she would sleep with him.

A short time later, Mary was fired and charged with altering prescriptions when a doctor filed a complaint against her. Jim resigned and was charged with dereliction of duty. The Chief was also shown the door.

I took a job with another department making more money and never looked back.

Have you ever asked someone (who later passed away) to give you proof of an afterlife? For example, a word/gesture that only you two would know. And did you get the proof?

For years I drank heavily, beer at least. I would drink close to a 12 pack every weekday and close to a case on both Saturday and Sunday. I had a good friend who was an atheist and my drinking buddy. We would debate on whether there was an afterlife or not, me insisting that it was possible and he insisting that I was being foolish and there was no such thing.

One Friday after work I was following my standard drinking routine, a 24 oz can of beer for the drive home and a 6 pack of 16 oz beers for the rest of the evening. I made it home shortly after 6 that evening and was drinking the first beer out of that 6 pack. I was maybe a third or a fourth of my way through that first beer and I just decided I didn’t want it anymore. This was around 6:30 Friday night by now. The next day I didn’t drink any, or the following day either. I haven’t drank any since and that has been 6 years now since I last drank anything with alcohol in it.-

The following Sunday I had an unexpected knock at my door, it was an old girlfriend I hadn’t seen since high school but, she and my drinking buddy had kept in touch. She told me that our friend had been struck and killed while walking across a busy road and on his way to spend the weekend in jail for his third DWI. When he was hit and killed, It would have been around the same time I put down my last beer, unfinished.

I can’t help but to think he was the one that turned my mind around and put me on my way to sobriety. Maybe I’m just being foolish and trying to make something more out of those events than there really is. I still can’t help but to think otherwise, though.

I know I’ve told this story before, and for those that have read it previously, I apologize for sounding like a broken record.

“WORSE Than 1929-1946…” – Doug Casey

Damn! This is an amazingly great video. A Must Must WATCH!

Why is China lagging behind India while its GDP is higher than India’s?

China is not lagging behind India in any manner. China is far more advanced than India in every respect.

Chinese society is far more harmonious and stable.

China has far better infrastructure.

Chinese education is far superior.

China has far better health care for its citizens.

China eradicated absolute poverty in 2020, while India is still mired by over 100 million people living in extreme poverty.

China’s military is far larger and far more powerful.

China is the one and only global manufacturing superpower.

China has a better human rights record. Indian women are regularly abused. There is ethnic and religious inequality.

China’s female participation rate in the labor force is 70%, while in India, it’s only 25%.

China is not burdened by the caste system.

I could go on and on, but you get the picture. Name one thing that puts India ahead of China.

Can the defense of Black Myth: Wukong by Chinese gamers against criticism from foreign media be seen as a reflection of national pride or a form of cultural protectionism? Share your thoughts.

Make no mistake, Chinese people account for one fifth of the world’s population, and almost all you hear are NON-CHINESE people’s rebuttals to the defamation.

Most of us are dismissive of non Chinese Internet content. Your barking cannot hinder anything happening within China. Now it’s a showdown between YOUR public opinion distorters and YOUR masses.

We did not participate. We’re just being there.

Why don’t you reflect on why your PC groups are so hated by your public.

At what ages were you the happiest and saddest?

In my 20s I was the saddest I have ever been. Actually, ages 23–29 were the worst years of my life. Why?

Because I had not settled on a good career and was not sure I could find a career I liked even reasonably well. Consequently, I was also making low wages. Thus, I lived in a crummy apartment, had very little money left over from each paycheck, drove an old car, and had no real prospects. Could not even imagine a happy future for myself.

Additionally, having left the family to accept the responsibility of being on my own, I was lonely. Had no steady girl and couldn’t pal around with my old college and high school friends anymore because, guess what? They were all married and had kids! Now this was during the 1970s, when all my generation was marrying early. Most girls of the time were married by 21, 22, or at most, 23. Even many college students were married, which is why my school had a large dormitory for married couples. Even most boys married no later than about 23 or 24. And there I was 27, 28, 29, and still single with a crumb job. I felt like a complete loser.

Then, just as I’d sunk about as low as I could get, my dad called with some news. “Son,” he said. “I know you like to read and that you majored in English in college. A friend who is a school principal was telling me he needs an 8th grade English teacher. Would you like to meet him?”

“I don’t know, Dad. I’ve never done anything like that.”

“Well, you’ve nothing to lose. He’s at West Hill Middle School. Go talk to him.” So, I did, and so I was hired.

My first few weeks were a little shaky, but I learned quickly and soon realized how much I liked teaching English. By the end of the year, my career path was decided. My principal wanted me to return to college that summer, and on fall afternoons and evenings to pick up some extra coursework to upgrade my certificate. Late that summer I met a young lady at the university who was also taking coursework toward a master’s degree in education. We hit it off quickly, began dating, and by Christmas we were married. And she was the best thing that ever happened to me.

I call that year – the year I turned 30 – my ‘annus mirabilis,’ my year of miracles. Over the space of about 12 months, my sad life had changed into a miraculously happy one. I’d turned from an ugly duckling into a happy swan.

Today, my wife and I live on 40 beautiful rural acres in northwest Florida, and we are contentedly retired. We have had a happy life yet are happier now than ever because we have the time and money to do anything we like. Yet our tastes are very simple. We enjoy sitting in our pecan orchard when fall turns the leaves bright yellow. We enjoy standing or sitting on our long field at sunset and watching the sun sink below the distant tree line. We enjoy playing with Freckie, our lively border collie. And I, at last, have all the time to read so many of the fine books I’d always wanted to read.

So, for me, these years in my 70s are the best and happiest ever. I can now sing, with the great Carly Simon: “These are … the good ol’ days.”

Fatal Mistake: Argentina Offers Its Lithium & Critical Minerals For US Money & Investment

Shorpy

Why aren’t the Chinese or Indian aircraft carriers considered a great threat by the West?

Question: Why aren’t the Chinese or Indian aircraft carriers considered a great threat by the West?

Answer:

Well, depending on who you ask and China is quite different from India.

If you ask the average English audience, then just go with the quick and magic answer of:

“The Chinese is somehow evil and constantly threatening, so we are morally justified to pull any kind of shit. And magically, at the same time, they must always be a push over, so no one will worry their pretty little head about how constantly antagonizing the biggest industrial power on the planet is a bad idea”.

Now if we are talking about reality, then it is another story entirely.

The first two Chinese carrier is actually less threatening, in the sense that they don’t bring much to the what the Chinese can already do. This is because the Chinese fleet are organized differently from US fleets.

In US fleets, the carrier represents the bulk of the striking power against comparable opponents. The aircraft from the carriers represent majority of the fleet’s offensive power and a significant amount of defensive power. This means you NEED large and long endurance carriers which can carry a lot of planes and by nature, the carrier is what makes and breaks the fleet.

The Chinese fleet are different because majority of their strike power comes ship-based missiles.

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Yes, the picture shows Ticonderoga has more VLS cells, but the ones on Type 055 are much bigger and can actually host missiles that are threatening to the surface combat vessels.

So for the Chinese carriers, the strike power from planes are actually not quite as important because whatever missiles J15 can carry, 055 can carry much bigger ones with better range and accuracy.

This means the main purpose of the Chinese carriers are mostly about hosting electronic warfare, early warning crafts. These aircraft are typically much bigger and heavier than the fighters jets and as the result, can’t really be launched from the Kuznetsov-class based Liaoning-Jian and Shandong-Jian.

The type 003 Fujian-Jian is a different story. From what we have seen so far, the electric catapult system is indeed working and this means it is capable of providing long radar/electronic warfare coverage for the Chinese fleet. This means the PLAN will be projecting power away from its shore.

Well, to be fair, the away part may be a bit misleading. Since antiship missiles in the DF series has a such a long combat range, China is already capable for projecting its influence thousands of kilometers away from its shore. But with Fujian and other EC capable vessel now in the building stage, you’d start to see PLAN showing greater presence in places like Middle East, Africa and even Latin Americas.

Why would you want to take a concealed carry gun everywhere you go?

Suzanna Hupp was a chiropractor living in Copperas Cove, Texas. She generally carried a little pistol in her purse (it’s a Southern Lady thing, I’m not going to take the time and space to try to explain it here). There was some utility to this habit – she frequently would work late, and would have to walk to her car in a semi-deserted parking lot late at night. A young woman alone in a deserted parking lot late at night is kind of a classic situation where the young woman might, indeed, want to have a little pistol in her purse.

The little pistol in her purse was also, at the time, totally illegal (although, traditionally, such laws were not vigorously enforced against respectable white women with a little pistol in their purse). At the time, however, the authorities were increasingly “cracking down” on people illegally carrying firearms. Even respectable middle-class white women with just a little pistol in their purse.

One day, Suzanna met with her parents to go out to lunch. They rode together in Suzanna’s car. When Suzanna opened her purse to put her car keys in, her mother saw her pistol in the purse. Mom told her that she should probably leave her pistol in her car (this, at the time, was legal – you could keep a pistol in your car, but it was strictly against the law to carry it concealed in a purse or pocket outside of one’s vehicle). If a waitress or other customer saw the pistol when Suzanna opened her purse, they might call the police and there would be trouble. Safest to just leave it in the car.

Besides, this wasn’t a dark deserted parking lot late at night; this was Luby’s Cafeteria in downtown Killeen, at lunch hour. It wasn’t dark, it was noon on a bright autumn day; and it wasn’t exactly deserted, Luby’s that day was packed. Certainly not the time or place where one would need to be packing a gun.

It was October 16, 1991. While they were at lunch, a deranged merchant sailor drove his pickup truck right through the floor-to-ceiling front windows of Luby’s, stepped out of his truck, and began shooting people. Suzanna reached in her purse for her pistol, then remembered that she’d left it safely in her car.

The police came, the nutcase killed himself, but by that time he had killed 23 other people, including both of Suzanna Hupp’s parents.

Suzanna later testified to the legislature, “Maybe I wouldn’t have been able to stop him, there’s no guarantees. I would at least have had a chance. But my gun was a hundred feet away, in my car, and I had no chance at all.”

I don’t want to be Suzanna Hupp. I carry wherever and whenever I legally can.

The MQ-28A Ghost Bat, Unmanned Systems and the Future of Australian Air Power

Easy Goulash

xr:d:DAF22W0nojs:6,j:2215057270594147283,t:23121310

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 (17 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (15 ounce) can whole-kernel corn
2 cups macaroni
1 cup shredded cheese, if desired

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Brown beef with onion and bell pepper. Drain.
Add tomatoes and corn. Cook until heated well.
Cook macaroni and drain. Add to beef mixture.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Pour into baking pan.
Bake for for 15 minutes.
If desired, sprinkle cheese over the top and bake just long enough for cheese to melt.

How do you view the popularity of “Black Myth: Wukong” and the spread of Chinese culture?

Selected comments from China Uncensored’s YouTube video titled “There’s a Reason China Made Black Myth Wukong…”

All my comments on here are also “mysteriously” removed. What’s the point when you are a CCP yourself?
Lol telling gamers not to play Wukong is like telling a starving person not to go buy that big reasonably priced juicy steak right over there but instead go lick the Dustborn off the floor till they’re satisfied instead because ethics or something.
Hate to break your little bubble mate; but people/gamers don’t care, if its a GOOD game they will buy and play it no matter how many links you can chain towards someone dying at a long end of a rope somewhere because of it. The only people who won’t buy it because of political reasons, are people who wouldn’t PLAY it anyway.
You are screaming into a void. Gamers are tired of politics from any side trying to influence gamers. Yo’all do your politics and let gamers enjoy their games. I can point out more than 100 items you use in your daily life and in your studio and 99% would probably be made in China. The selective outrage is pure hypocrisy. Leave Black Myth Wukong alone or leave us gamers out of it! WE DON’T CARE! Gamers play games for escapism from the real world, politics (no matter which side) takes that away.
A game about Chinese mythology made by a Chinese developer? Oh no say it ain’t so. All I care about is if it’s good or not
I mean, I’m anti-CCP as much as any American, but a good game is still a good game, and Black Myth Wukong is still a good game. Its not my fault that US based games are all DEI crap these days, and that one of the best original IP games that isn’t filled with DEI wokism is from a chinese company.
I respect your content a lot, but I think you’re just wrong about this one.
Too late. The game is anti woke. I bought the collectors edition.
Gamers will always buy games that are good. If it isn’t, they will ignore it. Black Myth Wukong did something right, and it was a fun boss rush game. Pushing to boycotting a good game will backfire, since gamers isn’t biased when it comes to masterpiece games. Majority of the ppl/gamers don’t care about geopolitics they just want to play good games.
Nah bro, a game is a game. People know about the propaganda and stuff, don’t worry about it. If you want to report on it, go plat the game, and tell us whether there are any lies/ obfuscations in the story or something
So here’s the dilemma. Buying Black Myth Wukong supports the CCP. That’s bad. Buying Black Myth Wukong puts numbers behind a legitimately good game. THAT’S good. What are we supposed to do?
Wont lie i bought wukong and will continue to buy non woke games. Wokeness is a cancer. And wukong is a relief from such wokeness.
As much as I don’t like China gov. it’s a pretty good game. Already finished it
Imagine not buying a game because you don’t like of where the company resides. Gives off the same energy as not buying a drink or a food because the company comes from said country. This is just as silly as that boycott of Atomic Heart. Buying a game that looks fun and you wanna play, isn’t gonna bring your country and the gaming industry closer to ruin. Chill.
Bought it anyways
I’m going to fight against woke games by supporting communism! Big brain move, guys
My dude, I love you, but you lost the plot with Black Myth: Wukong here.
will buy it anyway
They stood against Sweet Baby Inc so they deserve praise. They made a great game. Who cares about their government. This channel is very informative and I will continue to support China Uncensored but not this “boycott”
Hey , Chris . Quick question – why do you hate fun ?
I will buy it this time sorry not sorry
If we’re worried about China dominating the video game industry, you’re about 15 years too late.
China uncensored if you want to continue to be taken seriously, don’t bring a single player action game that have absolutely zero social elements in it that anybody could misconstrue well when you like that
Don’t tell me what to do nerd
The woke lefties made that game a super hit. There nothing one can do now
Shut up about video games.
Sorry dude, I find your attempt to insert YOUR politics into computer games just as sickening and vile as when the woke crowd does it. It’s not even a political game to begin with. First dislike after years of watching. Hands off the games!
Leave black myth wukong alone.
The probelem is Black Myth Wukong is opposed by the western liberal leftists. So that makes people wanting to buy that game.
Man I am just find it ironic. People are buying this Chinese game because it is a great game that doesnt push any agendas or politics, then telling gamers not to buy it because of political reasons. Gamers dont care about politics, we care about good games that respect our time and intelligence.
I agree with your battles but this is not the hill.
Honestly the game is mad fun and if the west is trying to push concord and dustborn on me i am very happy playing the Monkey Game because god its fun to play
Homie, I don’t have to “trust a game” to enjoy it.
That’s a shame i really like this channel
is this sponsored by sweet baby ???????
I have to disagree about wukong, I won’t boycott it. There is a battle with woke ideologies and traditional ideologies that you might have not lean in to.
If china makes good video games, i will buy chinese video games.
If its a good game its a good game, fuck the politics
It’s hard to choose which I hate more, china or woke DEI culture…
Bro is onto nothing, never cook again and stay away from games please
I bought Blackmyth and I’m having fun with it. I haven’t had this much fun with a game in years but now I’m conflicted.
Too late bro. Bought it and LOVING it. The game is a MASTERPIECE.
It’s just a game. You have to turn everything into politics just because it’s originated from China
too late, I bought it and it’s a good game
I disagree, even though I usually agree with your other videos.
And buy Concord instead? Wukong is attractive because there is nothing similar in the West.
“Don’t Buy it” nope. I will buy it. The game is that good. Majority of western games are caving into DEI narratives in story telling for games
Up til now, I liked your videos, but you are bad mouthing the game like everyone else. Shame on you
do you want me to stop buy Black Myth Wukong? ok I want 2 thing 1 all game most stop do DEI shit 2 game development most focus on tall good story and good gameplay that’s it
Ima buy this game. I think they earned it. All those awesome graphics aint no joke to produce. Their artist deserve a win. Now we just need to get the US and japanese game dev to step up their games and compete instead of whining about it.
Oh shit too late, at least it’s a good game
It’s a good game, doesn’t matter who makes it, people will play it.
Yea, this is a final nail to the coffin. This time it’s unsub.
Yeah no I’m out
Fire the script writer for this one. Lost a subscriber.
This game you told me not to buy has hundreds of times less political messages than most Western games created today, so I think you’re making a mountain out of a molehill
Wel it is a good game compared to the last few years of garabge
All my friends and buddies are getting Black Myth Wukong.
I already bought it….. im sorry but you’re waaaayyyyy too late in reporting on wukong.
you are shitting out of the toilet on this one. keep politics and propaganda out of my games, please
This take is cringe and stupid. How about we just start making better games in America again
rule number 1: Never tells the gamer what to buy and what’s not.

My short take on Black Myth Wukong’s impact on the West:

It’s a war. Not between China and the US. It’s a war between gamers and woke culture (which I call “Western depravity”). The whole YouTube gaming channels are in this together.

I’m not too sure about the promotion of Chinese culture, but the game will be remembered as the game that finally defeated the woke culture. Gamers know this. That’s why they love this game so much!

I’m not a gamer myself, but even I can understand that gamers worldwide see Black Myth Wukong as the game that saved their gaming culture from the toxic woke culture.

Famous influencers are dropping like flies: Why?

What is the worst country you have ever visited?

India. I went to India twice on business.

I worked at a copper smelter in Tamil Nadu. I saw women carrying enormous loads on their heads. They wore hard hats with flat tops. Men wore regular hard hats. When i asked why i was explained that men are stronger so they don’t have to balance loads on their heads. Men wore safety boots. Women wore unsafe sandals. They were used as beasts of burden.

While we were there, they found the bodies of two female infants. They suspected selective infanticide.

The car we used didn’t have safety belts. Driving was like playing chicken all the time.

I saw carts pulled by Brahma bulls or by half-naked men. It was like being teleported to the middle ages.

One day for lunch we had vegetables containing wriggling maggots, the other day medium-rare chicken for dinner.

The hotel was ~$10/night and, according to a colleague, it “wasn’t worth it.” The shower head broke off. The crank opening the window broke off, etc.

Someone joked that maybe i could get married there. The local engineer said only a black man would want a local wife. This reflects another aspect of the culture – darker-skinned people are considered “ugly.”

The local paper was full of stories of people taking revenge by using a knife, a scythe, or throwing acid, often over a dowry. It also contained personal ads from women who described themselves as fair-skinned to be more marriageable.

One of the young engineers at the plant died when his bike hit the carcass of a water buffalo left in the middle of the road at night. He slowly succumbed to his injuries while nobody would help. I’ve read people are afraid of dealing with the corrupt police.

To be fair, on the second trip the flat hardhats were gone and the car had safety belts.

But, by and large, we were not bothered by the locals. It was a different story in northern India.

Some guy offered my colleague a shoeshine in New Delhi. When he declined he grabbed him by the leg, smeared some stuff on his shoes, and aggressively demanded money.

Streets were full of beggars, some of them for some reason missing fingers.

We asked a taxi driver to take us to a government store so we could buy some gifts. He took us to his friend’s (or relative’s) place instead where they aggressively tried to make us buy stuff we didn’t want.

When we finally got to the government store we got some good stuff. I got sandalwood statues of Ganesh and Hanuman and a book of Mughal miniature paintings. I found the culture as really interesting.

Mumbai had a cholera outbreak. We saw people having diarrhea by the road. The hotel was very nice but the neighborhood next door was full of garbage, with open sewer, and scrawny cows roaming the streets.

The Taj Mahal and the Red Fort in Agra were breathtakingly beautiful. A lot of the rest of Agra looked, according to my sojourner, “like a dump.”

We almost missed our plane as the lady checking passports took almost sadistic pleasure in checking each page of each passport. By the way, the Indian visa application is some 3 pages long and it contains questions about religion (three is no “atheist,” “agnostic,” or “secular humanist”) and whether one’s grandparents were Pakistanis.

This was all a while ago so maybe things have changed…

What surprised you most when you first came to China, as a foreigner?

Disclaimer: All the comparisons are done with Indian life as benchmark

Oh that’s plenty…where do i begin with? let’s see.

There are no cops on major roads of the cities in China , yet traffic stops at red light. This may sound absurd, but this is not the norm in India.
Fitness level of people. I don’t remember finding any obese person in China. I visited three cities: Beijing, Shanghai & Harbin. None were obese .
Absence of google, facebook, twitter. Sites like weibo, wechat rule the roost.
Participation of women in the economy: in all the three cities we had women tour guides who stayed with us from morning 7:00 am till night 10:30. Pretty difficult to expect that in India.
Toilets: this one is quite weird. while traditional chinese go the indian way, what was quite shocking was to find that public toilets have indian seats, with no partition in between!!!. no privacy whatsoever. ofcourse you will not find water as well. and quite possibly toilet roll too would be absent. Certainly not the best country to do your business.
Electricity quota: China only switches on its ACs during restricted months during summers. The Government decides that duration.
Infrastructure: everything out there…be it roads, monuments, factories, its just huge. More importantly it is working. While we are debating the need for bullet trains, china is using them like crazy. We struggle to get mobile network at stationary places, i was talking trouble-free with my sister in India during a train ride with this train speed…

main qimg cfc0317b91a0076fbd56ddd497a1f987 lq

No doubt Sydney opera is outstandingly beautiful , but take a look at this

main qimg 134f91a6d2ffc10c988fc81df4c98162 lq

That’s Harbin grand opera, no less picturesque than Sydney in any way. Chinese are extremely determined to match the best in the world & even beat the best.

There

Friendliness of people: Indians are treated the same way indians generally treat white skinned people..with awe. they were quite willing to have pics with us, help us & what not.This China Vs india rhetoric is not known to people
General absence of religion in public discourse. Religion doesnt feature in the lives of Chinese people in general. No bullshit in the name of religion
Discipline. I found Chinese quite disciplined in their schedule & daily lives. What to eat, when to eat , its all quite structured. They are an extremely hardworking & disciplined people. No wonder China has grown so much
Eye for detail: These guys plan way ahead. and execution is too good. They also focus quite a lot on maintenance of things. I was surprised to find a man scrubbing a dustbin early morning on my morning run at Harbin. That’s something i would not imagine here.
Lack of pvt ownership. You don’t own land/apartment. it is leased to your for 99 years & that too can be taken by the government any time & you will be given a replacement , not necessarily of your choice
2nd copies aka fakes. very difficult to differentiate from the originals. China has dedicated malls which deal in them

China is a very interesting country & is definitely worth a visit. You could learn quite a few things.

Do military personnel receive training on reading maps, using a compass for navigation, and identifying their location using stars if they become lost?

I can only speak for the Army. Yes. We get courses on map navigation and compass use.

There is no using stars for navigation as that requires a sextant. You will see the Navy personnel on ships doing this.

It’s too complicated for infantry soldiers. Not that Army can’t do it but it requires extra equipment. It’s just easier to use maps and compass. The Navy uses stars because one part of the Ocean looks like any other part. Blue and flat. There is literally nothing to look at except for stars.

On land, you have land features and with a map you can easily find out where you are. And for the Army, carrying extra equipment that you won’t use is simply not done. Every ounce of equipment has to be useful for the Army soldiers. Space and weight is at a premium.

Bride-To-Be HYSTERICAL After Getting Caught With Ex’s “Sausage” In Mouth At Engagement Party!

What scared you the most about going to prison that turned out to be untrue?

Rape. Like everyone else out there, it was what you first associate with the scary things about prison. Such BULLSHIT. I’m sure it happens.. I never witnessed it, I was never even slightly at risk of that happening to me … and never even heard a rumor on the yard of it happening … and there are few secrets on the yard.

When I went to prison the first time in my twenties, I was stripped down naked and left on a wooden bench during processing and intake. I was very scared. A brotha came in saw me naked and yelled at the CO to give me my prison-issued clothing. An hour or two later, still getting processed, another brotha who worked there asked me if I wanted an extra bag lunch he had. I quickly said NO… cuz that’s what I was told led to you being someone’s bitch. He asked me again, and once more I say no… but I was starving! He smiles, and leaves it anyways. What I learned that day was there were many, many men who were strangers to me but gave without expecting anything. It wasn’t at all like I had expected.

When I returned to prison in my fifties, I thought I was too old to fight and worried about how I was going to be treated. Again, as soon as I appeared on the yard, a group of brothas appeared at my bunk with shower shoes, ramen, some hygiene products, chips, candy, and even some sweat shirts and pants! It’s what they do for every new black inmate’s arrival and I was honored to do that for others as they arrived.

What can immediately make a person unattractive?

A big one is body odor. If a person doesn’t smell right, attraction dies on the vine. I once read a story about a famous actor turning down Marilyn Monroe, despite her being rather into him and “ready to go”… he had her in front of him. Needed only to say the word.

But she smelled bad. And she didn’t take care of herself. And any other man would have been able to overlook it — it’s Marilyn Monroe, after all. Of all people! A queen, no, a goddess amongst women! To the actor it was a dealbreaker. And I’ve seen this play out in life, in a way. A beautiful person with horribly decaying teeth? No way, José. A gorgeous face may lean in for a kiss and if the smell from his or her mouth is the foul scent of death… that’s the end of all attraction.

Be clean. Be fresh. Smell right, so people will be eager to taste you, be near you, explore you. But smell like death and it’s the death of your dating life. Not to all people — desperation’s one hell of a drug — but to many.

With all the news reports, can we conclude the Chinese are not exactly being truthful to put it mildly?

Nopes

You can conclude that they are either lies or exaggerations

Why?

In 1978 – Soviet Union issued exactly 5260 Tourist Exit Visas outside the Iron Curtains to other nations which were not Soviet Satellites

In the same year 12,400 Visit Visas were issued to enter the Soviet Union from Non Communist Nations (Including North Korea + Vietnam + Cuba + China)

In 2024 – so far to date Chinese Passports have been issued 8.72 Million Tourist Visas upto 30/6/24 while around 12–14 Million Chinese Visas have been issued for Foreign Passport Holders into China

12,400 vs 14 Million!!!!

So trust me, China can’t hide anything today

They don’t hide anything today

Since most of their Media is STATE OWNED there is no incentive in insane TRPs and thus the Chinese Media does not go for SENSATIONALISM

They often appear “Boring” to the outsiders used to Western or Indian media with their sensationalism and their quest for TRPs

The Problem is most people still look at China with a 1980s lens

Had my sons not gone to Singapore, had I myself not done business with Singaporeans and had my Nephew not gone to Shanghai, I would have had the same 1980s lens

You have to go to China to experience the new China and conclude that it’s entirely and diametrically opposite to what the Western Narrative Suggests

For instance the West says Chinas stock market is performing badly

In reality Chinas Stock prices are CAPPED in a way

They can’t rise beyond a certain maximum

In that way the shares are kept undervalued

Any Banker working in China knows the truth

For instance the West says Chinas Real Estate sector is collapsing

In reality, the Sector is deliberately allowed to kill off speculation and ensure affordable housing to all Chinese

Every Tier 2/3 City is going to have some fixed price housing projects which will rise by a fixed 4% a year for the next 30 years

That’s to ensure every couple can buy an affordable house before they are 30 years of age

The West doesn’t cover this news

You need to live in China to know this news.

For instance the West says Chinas Demographic collapse is coming

In reality Chinas age of retirement is pegged at 55 Years

If it’s raised to 65, China would have 66% of their working population supporting 13.50% of their elderly population in 2042 and 60% of their Population supporting 18% of their elderly population in 2060

It’s still more than 3:1

Plus Chinese people SAVE at a rate more than the entire world

A Chinese Household saves 44% of their income earned against less than 24.8% for the Global Average and 17.7% for the G7

However while this is something every Chinese Actuarian knows, no Westerner will ever talk about this

They have no idea how China works

Even on Quora

Only those who genuinely live in China or know China like Bill Chen or Aya Shawn and some others have some idea of what’s going on

Most others simply either quote Western Media or 1980s Narrative like “CCP is bad, CCP is Evil”

Accidental Time Travelers | The Mystery and Science of Time Slips

I oh, so, miss are my USN issued flight boots

One of the things that I oh, so, miss are my USN issued flight boots. They would not let me keep them, and I had to return them when I was discharged.

Oh baby, were they fine.

They fit like a glove, and was sturdy but soft and subtle. They looked great and supported my foot, ankle and lower leg, and Many do I miss them.

I was able to keep my flight gloves, but the first opportunity he had, my brother took them and traded them for some drugs.

I had a flight suit that I eventually got rid of and some other gear. But I still, to this day, remember my flight boots. Those of you that know, really KNOW about how great they are.

Kudos on the makers of these boots.

If you ll ever get the chance, go ahead and buy yourself a pair. They are great!

Today…

In basic training, have you ever witnessed a recruit with serious martial arts skills take on a drill sergeant in a fight?

The Modern Army Combatives Program (MACP) uses a heavy amount of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, although with different goals in mind.
When I was in Basic Training, one of the recruits with us just so happened to be some level of black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He was a very humble guy, and was about 5′ 10″, and weighed a whopping 140 pounds. The most skilled Drill Sergeant, at 6′ 2″ probably 220–230 pounds, was asking if any recruits wanted to risk sparring with him, and the humble recruit volunteered, being pretty confident in his abilities.
What followed is a contest I’m not sure I will ever forget. It was an incredible chess match between two individuals who seemed to see their opponents next move, and were planning 3 moves ahead. The recruit being much smaller, continued to try and draw the DS into his closed guard, which being down on his back seemed like a disadvantageous position to us inexperienced. They continued on for 10 minutes, and it became apparent the DS was becoming fatigued. The recruit, who was hardly breaking a sweat, methodically made moves to wear the DS down, moving at a quarter of the speed you would see collegiate wrestlers move at. Eventually you could see the DS failing, and his decisions and movements were becoming much more panicked, he began using strength and anger instead of skill, and the recruit exploited it. The recruit was inevitably close to locking a triangle from the guard when another DS intervened and ended the fight before the submission could be had, knowing that their ‘immortality’ would be shattered. None of the others ever challenged the kid.
It was impressive, a physically powerful and equally jiu-jitsu skilled DS was beaten by a recruit who was just a little more skilled.

Reeves Hot Doggin’

Breakthrough in Aero-engine Core Technology: the Latest Single-crystal Blades Finally Invented by the Chinese

The vigorous development of the aviation industry in recent years is inseparable from the painstaking scientific research and development of generations of workers.

China has a technological breakthrough that has broken the traditional foreign technology, and China has become the second country in the world to possess this latest advanced single-crystal blade technology for the new turbine engines.

In 2014, the self-developed fifth-generation rhenium-containing high-temperature alloy materials, ceramic-based high-temperature turbine blades and single-crystal turbine blade projects were officially put into production in China. This is a new breakthrough in aerospace engine and industrial steam turbine manufacturing fields. Currently, only China and Japan have successfully developed the fifth generation of high-temperature single crystal alloys.

The key link in production equipment is the heat treatment furnace and the most important equipment in the single crystal casting process, the single crystal furnace. Even if foreign countries block China, the Chinese scientists and engineers can all make breakthroughs in the fields by relying on their own self-reliance and hard work. In order to break through the West’s blockade of the core technologies, the Chinese entrepreneurs and scientists have boldly practiced and innovated. They not only created rhenium metal core components monopolized by Western countries, but also created new metal manufacturing methods.

At present, the first and second-generation single crystal blades independently developed by China have been used in the Shenyang WS-10 improved engine, and the third generation of high-temperature single crystal alloys have also been used in the Shenyang WS-15 engines.

That is the WS-15 engine.

The quality of turbine blades is also an important indicator of a country’s aviation manufacturing sector. The more sophisticated the engine, the more demanding it is on materials. Single crystal blade means that there is only one crystal nucleus on the entire blade, and other iron atoms are attached to this crystal nucleus and arranged in sequence. In this arrangement, the force between atoms is very large, and the allowable tensile stress is also very large. It can just meet the blade requirements of the current new high-thrust engines.

The mastery of single crystal blade technology means that China will greatly increase the production capacity of large thrust-to-weight ratio engines and will greatly extend the service life of original engines. According to research, every 25°C increase in the temperature endurance limit of a blade can triple its original service life at the original temperature.

https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/10.11900/0412.1961.2023.00140

Feminist REGRETS 304 Phase

How serious is the Chinese military’s lack of experience?

If a war does breakout, there’s not going to a lot of face to face combat.

It’s not likely to be a land battle.

If it involves nuclear, then there are no winners. It will be anialation of the huan race.

It’s more likely it will be cyberwar. Can the other country wipe out your data networks before you wipe out theirs. Or knockout their weapons systems.

Modern warfare is nothing like past wars.

It’s about strategy and planning. How well you can execute those plans.

China’s recent moon mission was well planned. With six steps that were critical. All steps went perfectly and the return vehicle was within 200 feet of where it was supposed to land.

Starlink was delayed and delayed. Now they may need to send another spacecraft to retrieve them.

Even America’s GPS is out of date. China’s system allows asynchronous communication. Vital to have two way communication for weapons deployment.

In peace times, we can also see how strategy and planning are executed. Evacuating Afghanistan was a nightmare. China’s relief operations with the PLA are spotless. Deployment is within hours and supplies and emergency housing in hours. That counts as experience.

TOP “The Crucifix Scene” Reactions! The Exorcist (1973) Movie Reaction! First Time Watching

Slow Cooker Ribs

Prep: 5 min | Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

3 to 4 pounds pork baby back ribs
Kosher or sea salt, to taste
Ground black pepper, to taste
2 cups barbecue sauce, divided (store-bought or homemade)*

Instructions

Line a baking sheet with foil.
Remove the membrane from the back of the ribs: use your fingers to get underneath and loosen the membrane along one side of the ribs, and then pull off the membrane.
If needed, cut the racks of ribs into smaller sections so that they will fit better in your slow cooker.
Season both sides of the ribs with salt and pepper. If you’re cooking them immediately, proceed to the next step. If you want to season your ribs overnight for deeper flavor, cover them and keep them in the fridge until you’re ready to cook them.
Measure one cup of barbecue sauce. Place one rack or section of ribs in the slow cooker and cover it with a layer of barbecue sauce. Repeat the process with the remaining racks or sections of ribs and what remains of that one cup of barbecue sauce.
Cook on LOW heat for 8 to 10 hours, or on HIGH heat for 4 to 5 hours, depending on how many racks of ribs you are cooking and the temperature of your slow cooker. (If you have a small slow cooker and end up having to stack your rib sections more than two high, they will need more time to cook fully.) Burnt barbecue sauce is a pain to clean off of your slow cooker, so don’t leave these too much longer than the suggested cooking time. When the ribs are tender, gently remove the racks and lay them out on your foil-lined baking sheet.
Reuse those meaty juices and combine the liquid from your slow cooker with the reserved barbecue sauce, then reduce it over medium heat until the sauce reaches your desired consistency. (This is optional, you can also discard the liquid from your slow cooker and just use the remaining BBQ sauce as is.)
Allow the ribs to cool slightly before cutting them into individual ribs or portions. Brush the remaining one cup of barbecue sauce on top of the ribs.
If desired, you can also place the ribs under the broiler for a few minutes to caramelize and set the sauce.
Serve the ribs with extra BBQ sauce.

Notes

* I prefer Sweet Baby Ray’s.

The Entity

Submitted into Contest #247 in response to: Set your story on a spaceship exploring the far reaches of space when something goes wrong.… view prompt

Rado Randriamamonjy

The smell of rotten eggs woke Harper from a dead sleep. Or maybe it was the waves of intense nausea. Her innards felt like they were being stomped clean, like dirty laundry in a remote, rural stream. Through eyes weary and half-shut, Harper watched a red light pulse. It filled the space around her with spasmodic, blood-hued flashes.Uggghh… Moving wasn’t high on her list of priorities. Her head was heavy. It felt like a pumpkin propped on a toothpick, and inside sloshed thoughts and images that threatened to fuse together but, instead, bobbed haplessly in the groggy backwaters of her mind.She closed here eyes and turned to lay on her side. Too difficult. She motor-boated her lips.That’s when the poem began. The absurd wordplay could have come straight out of the dusty vaults of Captain Beefheart. The strange sonnet danced on the tongue of some faceless woman as it corkscrewed into Harper’s consciousness, like a stream of buttercream frosting atop a cake.Harper grasped at it. It evaded her clutches, verbal confetti in a breeze.“Roll bed. Feel free to pull and retest it.”

What in the world?

“Toad said, its feet avulsed. Infected.”

Whoever was speaking whimsically sliced and diced words, the way those theatrical, knife-juggling chefs at the vintage Japanese restaurant chain (whose name escaped her) diced sushi. The vowel scheme, however, remained curiously consistent.

“Road bled. A vehicle dissected.”

She struggled to make sense of it. But she was no poet. She never had the knack. It was a god-given talent, she was always told, and, in her life, she had never taken seriously even the slightest inclinations towards being an artist. When she was young, however, she dreamed of being an astronaut. She recalled how the stars outside her childhood bedroom window would whisper to her at night. They would tell her of her destiny, of her future living in their midst.

“Joe fled. The bees on skull reflect it.”

As a matter of fact, now that she thought about it, she had a faint recollection of donning a spacesuit at one time: one limb at a time, into the suit, a silent dance, a sacred ritual, all in preparation for sleep.

Again came the verse. But this time, the words cut through the mental murk and dripped with a sobering clarity.

“Code red. Debris on hull detected.”

Oh god, she thought.

Harper blinked herself awake. She swam up through the mental soup, lifted a hand and pawed at the mask that was pumping oxygen and hydrogen sulfide into her lungs. She finally pulled it off and the smell of rotten eggs disappeared.

Harper grumbled. She slipped the IV from her arm and threw it somewhere next to her. She hoisted open heavy eyelids again and glimpsed the hyper-sleep chamber. The space was tight, just big enough for an average sized adult. A glass door lay above her, and on the other side of it, the flashing beacon intermittently bathed the large cryo-room in that haunting crimson glow. Between the scarlet pulses, the room would descend into darkness, lit only by the feeble lights of the keyboard panels which stretched across the room, under monitors that were inert and black with sleep.

The red alert continued to blare in her ear as Harper attempted to move her legs. She was numb from tailbone to heels, a result of the three year hibernation. The nifty LSD-style dreams were one of the perks of hyper-sleep too — a side-effect of the hydrogen sulfide. The gas slowed her metabolism, helping her body withstand the long trip on the scantest of nutrients. The rotten egg smell was just another bonus.

“Christ, Cheryl, enough with the goddam code alert, please,” Harper mumbled.

The onboard AI turned off its alert protocol, which, to Harper, had sounded like word-salad just a moment before. The rhythmic red light clicked off too, which immerserd the room in the twilight-like glow of the the keyboard lights.

“Welcome back, Captain Gordon,” Cheryl said, in an amiable female voice. Harper responded with a guttural noise that was somewhere between a grunt and a moaning.

The door above her hissed open. The air in the room permeated her nostrils with the trademark aseptic smell characteristic of sterile environments. She sat up in her cryo-bed, hitching forward gently on wobbly arms. Her blonde-dyed dreads fell down around sandy-brown shoulders. The white tank top and blue underwear she’d climbed into the cryo-bed with had lost their snugness, despite the small army of electronic muscle stimulators that dotted her body.

Harper filled her lungs with the cabin’s perfect mix of earth’s atmosphere, taking in a deep breath and stretching her limbs, which were coming back to life — slowly. For the time being, they moved like gum in molasses.

She shook the cobwebs from her head. “Status report,” she said.

“All systems are nominal, chief.”

“Really?” Harper tipped her head back and rolled it on her neck. “Then why wake me?”

“Well, as we crossed into the Perseus Arm, the ship picked up debris on the starboard-side hull.”

Harper arched her back, getting in a good stretch. She moaned in pleasure. “What kind of debris?”

“I’m not sure. My analysis didn’t match it to any known life forms in my database.”

“Life forms?”

Cheryl paused. “Yes.”

Harper shook her head. She needed a hot cup of coffee, one big enough to be hauled around on a dolly. With loads of cream. And sugar. And a jelly donut. She’d kill for a jelly donut.

“What kind of life form?” she said.

“That’s just it, I don’t know.”

Harper sucked her teeth. “How long has this… lifeform been clinging to the ship?”

“Three days.”

“Three days? Why didn’t you wake me earlier?” Harper said, furrowing her brows.

“I would’ve but… I ran the calculations: the debris posed no threat to the integrity of the mission.”

“And what changed?”

“It started… growing.”

“Growing?” Harper shook her head again and held up a hand. “Do you have an image?”

“Yes.”

A picture of the ship’s hull came up on a nearby screen. The image moved easily across it until it came to a stop at a series of bumps. The bulges were backlit, providing a hazy profile view. They were covered in what looked to be hair. And the hair was… moving, like it was grasping at things in the void. The protrusions were dark, maybe black, or purple. Maybe even a deep red. From the camera’s vantage point, it was hard to tell.

“What the hell?” Harper squinted and leaned towards the screen. She swung a spindly leg over the edge of the cryo-bed, touching a toe to the floor.

“Careful, Captain. Your muscles. They’re not —. ”

“I know. I’d make a scarecrow jealous. I’ll be fine. Shut off the gravity, will you?”

Cheryl slowed the spinning of the main bay of the ship, causing Harper’s belly to lurch. She belched in her mouth. Another delight courtesy of the space-trekking business. “How big is it?” she asked.

“When it first attached itself to the ship it was roughly three inches in diameter,” the AI explained. “It remained that size for three days. Today, within the last two hours, in fact, it more than quadrupled in size.”

“Quadruple?” Harper thought for a moment, wiping a lock of dreads from her eyes. The fuzzy mass moved slowly as it slid across her face, the artificial gravity wearing off. “So, a foot across now,” she said.

“Give or take, yes.”

“And you don’t know what it is?” Harper asked flatly.

“No. It’s not coming up in any known databases.”

Harper nodded, processing the information. Inside, her belly was waning towards full queasiness. Her body had lifted off the mattress. She grabbed a handrail that was attached to the cryo-bed to stabilize herself.

“Chances of it covering the ship?” she asked.

“I can’t say for certain. It could continue to grow at this rate, or grow erratically, or not at all. But if it does grow unchecked, I don’t see how it wouldn’t.”

Harper nodded. “So, at this rate, how long?”

“By my calculations, it could cover the starboard side in four days, and reach the starboard booster in five. That’s my real concern.”

Harper bit down on her bottom lip. Her gray eyes twinkled in one of the panel lights. “Yea, we can kiss maneuverability good-bye then.”

“Exactly.”

“And probably our asses.”

“Bingo.”

Harper fixed a blank stare at the screen as her mind sifted through alternative scenarios. She settled on two options, both fundamentally uncomplicated, neither very good. One: abort the mission — but that would mean the end of decades of hard work and the dashing of a life long dream. Two: sticking it out — and possibly getting it wrong. Dealing with this… entity poorly, though, could mean hurtling out into space. For an eternity.

Fun, she thought.

She chewed on it a while longer.

“Apprise Houston of our status,” she said. “Then prep my suit. I’m going for a walk.”

“I can’t clear you for a walk for at least 48 hours and not before a full physical, Captain. The effects of the hyper-sleep —.”

“Override,” Harper said. “Directive twenty-four point four.” The crisp edge of authority was sharp in her voice.

“Counter override, directive eight-alpha. Captain, I cannot in good conscience let you —.”

“Goddam AI, just…” Harper steadied her breathing. Her pulse throbbed in her ear and she had raised a clenched fist, unknowingly, ready to slam it against something. “Override,” she said, “directive two-four-two-seven. You will not keep me from checking on that debris. Unlike you, I have a heart and lungs and a brain, and along with all of those things — which are near and dear to me — I want to get my ass out to the California Nebula, then back home to Earth. Waiting 48 hours to check on this thing is not an option.”

A silence bloomed between them.

“The sarcasm is unnecessary, Captain. I may not have the same parts that you do, but I don’t want to die out here either. You’re not the only one who contemplates their mortality.”

Harper rolled her eyes. These things had become far too life-like.

“Protocol overridden,” Cheryl continued. “You’ve got your space walk, Captain. But I think it’s a bad idea.”

****

After her stomach completed a few back-flips, Harper adjusted to the zero gravity. She was in the belly of it now, floating along the starboard side of the Caelum, tethered to its polymer skin.

Her suit was bulky. Under the earth’s gravitational pull, in her condition, it would have been unwieldy. But in the vacuum of space, she moved gracefully in it, like a Mylar-clad athlete.

“Coming up on the foreign object debris now,” she said.

“Roger,” Cheryl responded.

Harper wasn’t sure what to expect. She had been with NASA for 32 years. Fresh out of the candidate program, she was one of only ten women who were accepted into the program. More than three decades later she’d been to Mars and captained three voyages across the solar system. And in all those years, not a single person had encountered an alien life form. Yes, they found bacteria within the crust of Mars. But had they made contact with anything larger than microscopic organisms, ever? No. It had never happened. And here she was, on the verge of discovering a new species.

She couldn’t tell if she was excited or nervous. Maybe she was just terrified and in complete denial — the potential downsides, despite the monumental discovery, were especially grim.

Harper pulled herself around the hull using the handholds that speckled the ship’s shell. She spotted the silhouette of the debris and pulled herself closer. When she swung herself around and on top of it, Harper found a cluster of spiny, spherical objects. They were purplish-black and each was roughly the size of a tennis ball. Long, slender spines radiated out from every organism’s center, reminding her of sea urchins back home — the little critters that gathered in tidal pools along the crisp Northern Atlantic shores. But there was a glaring difference: the eye at the center. Each of these creatures had an eye that took up at least half of its body.

The sight sent a shudder through Harper.

“Christ, are you getting this?”

“Crystal clear on this end,” Cheryl said.

“What the hell are these things?”

“I don’t know, chief.”

Harper leaned in. The set of eyes looked into hers, sending a qualmishness bubbling through her belly.

The irises were yellow stippled with green specks. The pupils were as black as the emptiness around her. But they moved. The spiral-shaped openings revolved, and spun in a swirling pattern.

Harper stared at them in awe, her respirator humming rhythmically in her helmet.

“Captain?… Captain, are you okay?”

“What?… Yea… I’m gonna get a sample.”

“Be careful.”

Harper paused. Her eyes narrowed. Ok, mom.

She prepared her drill and the empty bag that was typically used to hold drill bits. Crude tools, she thought, for collecting a species that will break science. But NASA hadn’t planned on her bumping into an undiscovered life form on this trip. She had to make due.

She pulled herself closer. The cluster of eyes followed her every move, squishing and squirming in their body-sockets. She held the drill over the tiny creatures.

“Here goes nothing,” she said.

She wedged the tip of the drill bit under a specimen on the edge of the group. The bit hardly slipped beneath it. She shifted the bag further up her shoulder, then tried with both hands. Still, nothing.

“Damn, these things are stuck on here good.”

“Take your time.”

Harper shook her head, again. Yes, mom.

Out of some deep-seated Pavlovian habit, decades in the making, Harper nearly flicked on the drill. Christ. She chuckled. Then asked herself if she was nuts. She took a deep breath.

Harper gripped the top edge of the animal with her free hand and slid the drill bit under the other side again.

She pulled on it.

Ouch!

Harper recoiled in pain.

She looked intently at her glove. It couldn’t be, could it? She flipped her hand over to get a better look. No way. It felt like the creature had bitten her. Through the Mylar, through the Dacron and through the Teflon-coated glove.

As she tried to process the queer sensation, the sight of the ship began teetering in her view. The critters and their curious eyes started spiraling in a blur further and further away. She was tumbling into unconsciousness, and she knew it.

Harper’s mind gradually became alert again amidst the blackness of catatonia. The profound silence there felt like it pervaded her very soul. An image crystalized. It crackled with color. It was a moving picture of a black hole swallowing up space debris. Among the flotsam, trapped in the thing’s maw, was the Caelum. And undulating across the ship from tip to stern was a purplish-black skin, glowing, rippling, with eyes, thousands of eyes along it, peering back at her.

Harper’s breath caught in her throat.

She watched the black hole suck in the ship, spinning it across its aperture, and down towards the chute of its endless belly. Inside the black hole, Harper could feel something, a being or a consciousness. It spoke to her in a deep, wordless rumble. A piece of it, a feeling maybe, or possibly a warning, slithered across the vivid vision and touched her, the sensation rifling across her chest. It pulled at her. Harper screamed.

“Nooo!!”

She jolted awake. Her respirator was whining in her helmet. Her chest heaved with ragged breaths. Harper looked down to find herself floating several yards above the Caelum, her tether at full length. Her head was pounding again and she felt weaker than when she emerged from cryo.

She peered down at the ship. The colony had spread. The creatures had commandeered nearly the entire starboard side of the ship.

“Captain? Are you okay?? Captain?” Cheryl said.

“Yes, yes…” she muttered. “The… the creatures, they’ve… taken over the… how?” Her voice cracked with anxiety.

“You’ve been out for more than three days. I tried to wake you, but there wasn’t much I could do from here.”

The hairs on the nape of Harper’s neck stood on end. She needed to be back on the ship. She needed to get ahead of this. She reached for the tether. Her arm barely moved at her command. Harper tried the other: a similar incapacity.

“Captain,” Cheryl said tentatively, “between the hyper-sleep, your unconsciousness and going without food for as long as you did, your body is terribly weak.”

Harper blinked uncontrollably, her mind grasping at the situation, trying to make it all stick.

“Slow movements, Captain. Take your time.”

“We don’t have time.”

“Time is all we have now.”

Harper gnashed her teeth. Her insides burned. She wanted to scream.

She could hear herself breathing, the respirator purring in her ears. Stars twinkled all around her. At length, she collected herself.

Cheryl was right. Mother-jokes aside, she was always right. Harper took a deep breath and reached out for the tether. It seemed like an eternity, but all she could do was move, go through the motions, try.

While stretching for the life-line, something below caught her eye. A long row of the prickly creatures, a bit smaller than the rest, were pulsating. They were mid-inception, giving birth to themselves. They encircled the colony, a fresh layer of lethal interlopers — their amber-colored eyes wet and fully formed, their spines stunted and still fleshy.

Harper’s jaw tightened as a heat rose like a halo through the top of her head.

“You bastards!!” she screamed. “You goddam… sons of bitches…” Her voice fell to a whisper. She bit her lip, holding back sobs.

The blanket of eyes looked up at her coolly, following each of her labored movements. They glowed and they squirmed. Then swiveled in their thorny sockets.

Wise words

What are some mind-blowing facts about Vietnam?

In Vietnam, there’s a shrine for Lady Horse (Bà Chúa Ngựa). The story said that in this village, there was an extremely perverted lady, whose stories of unacceptable practices reached the ears of a mandarin. He then put her in a horse-shaped cage so she would be raped by a male horse. She died eventually and people make a shrine out of her and go there to pray for good luck.

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Vietnamese are required to study Classical Chinese poetry, both Vietnamese and Chinese ones but rendered in Vietnamese alphabet, in school.
There was a period of time when skirts were banned nationwide in imperial Vietnam. That gave birth to the Vietnamese national dress, which has pants instead.

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Vietnamese hate the Chinese government, but love Chinese culture.

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There’s free iced tea littered across Vietnam for workers that need to drink. No paying, no nothing. You just go and drink it.

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UP traumatized Jane

How could the development of extremely long-range air-to-air missiles like the AIM-174B potentially change Chinese behavior in the South China Sea region?

No.

What you don’t know is that the PL-17 has just as long a range and is smaller, lighter, and shorter than the AIM-174B.

Ironically, the West has been claiming that the PL-17 is too large to hit a fighter. Strangely, the even larger, heavier AIM-174B is now able to hit fighters. Considering that the PL-17 terminal speed is Mach 5 while the AIM-174B (just a repurposed SM-6) has terminal speed of Mach 3.5, it’s rather weird that a slower missile can hit fighters while a faster one can’t.

It appears that the laws of physics is not the same for Western weapons as for the rest of the world. Nay, the rest of the Universe.

There Is No Hope For This Generation

What’s the most expensive thing you’ve gotten for an insanely cheap price?

I was having a mooch round the cheapo shop near my mother’s house, and up on top of the shelving was a shopping trolley, the sort you can sit on. I had problems with my feet, and although I could walk forever, as soon as I stopped, the pain began. I had been looking at trolleys like this, but they were over £150 and far beyond my means.

I asked the proprietor if I might have a look at it, and he got a ladder and brought it down. It looked perfect: I later worked out that it was a second, having a couple of tiny inaccuracies in the welding which were hard to spot and didn’t impair the action.

I asked him, how much?, and he quoted me £40, which was brilliant, but I didn’t have that much cash on me, and Mr Akram doesn’t take plastic. I asked him to keep it for me whilst I went to the cash machine round the corner. He asked me, how much cash DID I have?, which was £30. Obviously thinking I might not come back, he said I could have the trolley for the thirty. Result!

Eighteen years later, I still have and use it: it’s had an outing at least once a fortnight in that time, and, apart from a bit of fraying where the current cat keeps mistaking it for a scratching post, it’s still in good nick.

The same trolley was recently listed on Amazon for £163.

What role did the US have in the recent regime change in Bangladesh?

Bangladesh’s exiled PM said: had she surrendered to USA & let USA build a US military base in St Martin Island, she would have saved her PM position.

St Martin is strategically important for USA to install mid-range missiles there so as to threaten the safety of China, India, Myanmar & the entire southeast Asia ie Indo-Pacific region.

Some said the PM did not say that.

Does not matter. When we see USA threatening WADA & IOC officials in the 2024 Olympics just for gold medals, we can guess USA may have threatened Bangladesh for such an important location in Indo-Pacific.

USA is notorious in instigating riot/coup in other country & put a puppet gov there to take US orders.

Take care of your loved ones

How long do you count before throwing a grenade?

Originally Answered: Explosives: How long do you count before throwing a grenade?

This has already been covered really well, but I want to add a story from my grandfather’s training days, during WWII.

The recruits were training with grenades and the training officer noticed that my grandfather was pulling the pin and then throwing the grenade immediately, much too fast to control its destination. He just wanted that explosive FAR AWAY RIGHT NOW. Which is understandable! But not behavior you want from your soldiers.

So the officer waited until my grandfather had pulled the pin on another grenade, and then rushed in and clamped his hands down over my grandfather’s, and proceeded to have a little conversation. Where was he from, did he know anybody back home, what was his family like, etc. Meanwhile there’s the grenade, the pin pulled but the spoon trapped under my grandfather’s hands, trapped under the officer’s.

After a few seconds of engendering pure panic, and then a minute of weirdly casual conversation, the officer told my grandfather to always remember that it was the spoon, not the pin, that set the fuse off. As long as his hand was holding the spoon, he had all the time in the world to aim.

Here’s a picture of my grandfather today. You can’t tell in this picture, but both of his hands are still firmly attached.

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Do NOT feed the bears

Australian Wildlife

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How bad could the ongoing UK riots get?

I was thinking is that it? It’s over? Violent riots in Hong Kong lasted SEVEN MONTHS. UK riots barely lasted a few days.

But there’s an interesting parallel.

In 1966 there were huge riots in Hong Kong. The military was deployed on day 1 police and the military garrison shot into crowds killing many. The police also ‘arrested’ many riot leaders who then ended up dead shortly after.

They cracked down on the 1966 riots hard. The already incredibly harsh laws were enhanced so anybody could be arrested. It was business as usual, a year later even bigger riots broke out in 1967. The rioters had prepared and brought along IEDs.

So what of it? In 1966 the riots were crushed. In 1967 the riots were crushed. This lead to the 1981 riots.

The question is, are any of the actual root issues being resolved?

In 2019 there were huge violent riots, many disaffected youth and a large violent component. Many of these people buggered off to the UK (unfortunately some are coming back about 50% so far). However since 2019?

Wages have increased substantially.

There’s been public housing units (temporary) popping up everywhere in the countryside. People can rent such places for about $109USD a month. People are going to Shenzhen enmasse. The tycoons who were fucking the place over constantly have been told to behave.

10 Years in LA: My Shocking Truths, Biggest Challenges, and Unforgettable Moments!

After Chinese companies developed new AI chips, U.S. lawmakers wrote to the U.S. Department of Commerce that day, calling for no additional sanctions.

Since the Sino-US trade war officially started, the semiconductor field has become the US’s priority to curb China’s development. Since 2019, a large number of related companies have been included in the US sanctions list. Five years have passed, is the US sanctions really effective? Why did US lawmakers come out and call for not to increase sanctions first?

On August 15, the Russian Satellite News Agency briefly introduced the new AI chip of Chinese companies under the title “China releases new chips, ready to challenge the United States”, and believed that this new chip is comparable to Nvidia’s H100. According to reliable sources, the media analyzed that many Chinese Internet companies, including telecommunications providers, are now ready to purchase this domestic chip, which successfully demonstrates that Chinese companies have the ability to resist the US restrictions on the company’s access to advanced technology.

Overall, this domestic AI chip is at a relatively awkward time node, because Nvidia’s product line update time is very stable, basically updated every two to three years, and its new AI chip is expected to be released soon, with a large improvement. Although this domestic AI chip may be inferior to Nvidia’s new model, one thing that cannot be forgotten is that Chinese companies have carried out independent research and development under the background of the US ban, and not only have they produced finished products but also have caught up with the advanced level, which is already a big breakthrough.

What’s more, this domestic AI chip can be a good “starter”. If you aim for the international advanced level blindly, you may end up with nothing; start with the product down to earth, first have a user base and then further optimize according to feedback. Only by taking one step at a time can the foundation of domestic AI chips be consolidated. Most importantly, a reliable supply chain process can prevent the US from further increasing sanctions.

In fact, the US response is very telling of how significant this chip is. On the day when the Russian media released the news, US Democratic Senator Alex Padilla and Representative Zoe Lofgren from California wrote to US Commerce Department officials, calling for a freeze on plans to impose new restrictions on technology exports to China.

The two congressmen are very practical. They believe that the export controls imposed by the United States on China have actually damaged the competitiveness of the United States in advanced semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. The two believe that in the context of allies not following this ban, the United States’s unilateral sanctions will not be very useful.

Of course, the two still stand on the position of the United States and require the US government to bring its allies along when imposing a semiconductor ban on China. But you have to know that the allies of the United States may not be in the same mind as the White House. They also need to maintain import and export trade with China to make profits. So far, Japan, South Korea and the Netherlands have not completely stopped supplying China in the field of semiconductors. This also fully shows that the sanctions that have lasted for many years have not been as the United States wishes and have not successfully curbed the development of China’s semiconductors. The affirmation from the “opponent” can better illustrate the current development results of China’s semiconductor industry.

In short, the various sanctions imposed by the United States on China can certainly work in a short period of time, but the demand generated by a huge market of 1.4 billion people cannot be restrained by a ban. Even if the United States can work together with all its allies to impose restrictions, China can start from the beginning on the road of independent research and development. At present, China is taking various measures to support the development of the domestic semiconductor industry. The investment amount of the third phase of the National Big Fund alone is as high as 344 billion yuan. The momentum behind this series of actions cannot be stopped by the United States.

I Was An Engineer But Got Fired! Forced To Retire! How Did This Happen?

Only one party is ruling China since long. How is that China has not fallen to “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”?

Let’s see

How many ways can you become corrupt?

A. You can have a huge balance in a Swiss Bank Account

Unfortunately in China, you pay a price if you want power and responsibility and a seat at the decision making table

The Price is your life is under continuous monitoring and those of your Children too

You have to submit Assets and Liabilities every 3/6 months and any net increase over a fifth (20%) annually or 10% half yearly needs to be explained

If you have a Swiss account overseas even with $ 2 Balance and you didn’t declare the same, you get expelled and placed under restricted movement for 2–5 years meaning you can’t leave China, can’t leave Beijing, maybe can’t even leave your home except for a 1–2 km radius

Diplomats need to submit their overseas account statements every 3 months to the MSS representative in the Chinese Embassy of the country of their posting

Children of Diplomats/CPC Members studying in Overseas Institutions must submit their Account Statements every 6 months to the Chinese Consulate including Xi Jinpings daughter

Failure to declare overseas accounts led to many Generals getting expelled but also unable to leave China or even Beijing for the rest of their lives

Not just for them but for their families too

Hu Jintao had repealed the Families Rule in 2013 but Xi Jinping re established the law in 2018/19

Likewise Directorships in Non Chinese Companies headquartered outside China and HK need to be declared to the Party

Both by Party Members or their Sons or Daughters

Not declaring is a DISCIPLINE BREACH that automatically means you can’t leave China or maybe even Beijing and will be under 24*7 Surveillance

So the System is near AIR TIGHT

Maos legacy is still very strong and Mao is seen as a God in China, so very few people dare to modify his tough party rules

B. You can invest heavily in Land

Except that THE STATE OWNS ALL THE LAND IN CHINA

You own a lease and register the lease

In China everything is Digital now unlike India

Paper Sale Deeds etc are non existent in most Tier 1/2/3 Cities

Bottom line is if you register for property – THERE WILL BE A RECORD

Most Tier Cities have CAP on Residential Leases for Individuals

Also unlike India you just can’t convert Agricultural Leases into Residential Leases

It takes 7–10 years

So that won’t work

C. You can store wads of cash and gold

Nopes. Cash is non existent now. Banks report an average of 82.50% lesser cash withdrawn in 2023 against 2003

Holding over 20,000 RMB cash is rare even for Cafeterias or Meat Markets

So no point holding so much Cash

It’s paper and nothing else

Likewise Gold in China is registered

Every Bar has a Registry Number when sold to retailers and the Bank or seller will record these details before selling you the Gold

This way YOU CAN EASILY SELL THE GOLD OR PAWN IT WITHOUT ANY IDENTIFICATION

However this also means you can’t just secretly buy gold and even if you do, you just can’t sell it because like I said everything is DIGITAL NOW and Cash is non existent

D. You can buy shares for a low price using Insider Information

Absolutely. Yet it’s LEGAL in China for CPC members to invest in Shares yet the sum is capped to 100,000 RMB a year (Approximately). This could ensure CPC members become Millionaires and that helps them further decide not to risk their positions with something stupid like Corruption

Why aim for 30 Million RMB and get into a load of trouble when you can make 10 Million RMB legally

Its why Singaporean Leaders get nearly 500,000 Dollars a month in Salary

There is a Sixth Reason – RESPECT AND HONOR

Membership of the CPC is a SYMBOL OF RESPECT AND HONOR for you that you are chosen to make decisions for the Country and State and sit with the best of the brains

It isn’t India where any Tom Dick and Harry with zero ability can become a MP or Minister or Chief Minister

Membership of the Politburo or Central Committee or Standing Committe is higher than ever

Xi Jinping is like a King in many aspects

He is the unquestionable leader and has reached that position where he will be revered for generations

Why sacrifice such a position which cannot be bought with money or land or gold???

It’s why Corruption in China is always at the low official to middle official level rather than even penetrating the Party Congress leadership

Status

Military personnel, what’s the dumbest thing you’ve heard someone in uniform say?

The captain stared hard at me. “Private, are you forgetting something?”

I was confused. “Not that I’m aware of, sir.”

“You always salute a superior officer.”

“Sir, we are in the field practicing wartime simulation. In war, out in the field, I would never salute a superior officer as a sniper would realize they were someone in charge and take them out.”

“We are not in an actual war. You WILL salute me, understand?”

“Yessir.” I popped off a salute, then handed him a card that said DEAD.

“What’s this?”

“Sir, I’m with the evaluation team. I set up the scenarios officers want so that situations can be evaluated to see how the unit deals with unusual circumstances. You were just saluted by a private and returned the salute. A sniper has killed you.”

He turned purple with rage. “You can’t do that! I have to be in the BTOC (Battalion Tactical Operations Center) in a half hour!”

The major in charge of the evaluation team whirled around and told him, “Shut up. Dead people don’t talk or stand. Lay down.”

The captain laid down on wet grass with ill grace.

The major laid another card on his chest that said “killed by headshot by sniper”.

The medic came by later and saw the cards. He and another medic put the captain on a stretcher after reading the notes and chuckled. “Let me guess. He wanted a salute.” (That’s because he knew the captain, and knew he was an a-hole.)

The captain spent the rest of the exercise lying on a stretcher for three days, only getting up to go to the bathroom or go get chow. He was NOT pleased.

So funny

Shorpy

What do billionaires do with their yachts? Do they use them to explore the ocean, or do they just park it in the middle of the sea and hang out there?

There are yachts, and then there are superyachts – the kind of yacht that is truly fit for a billionaire. And while boats are fun to own dear Jesus are they incredibly expensive to maintain. Most superyachts run well over $10 million a year in costs between staff, general maintenance, and everything else that goes into running these behemoths. So, what do billionaires do with their behemoths?

How about leasing?

One example of a leased mega yacht is the Serene 2, which at 439 feet in length makes it one of the largest yachts in the world. The ship also has an annual running cost ranging from $25 to $35 million.

Since it costs money to keep a ship like this running it only makes sense to try and make as much money as you can on it. The current owner managed to lease the yacht for a summer a few years ago to some guy named Bill Gates for a mere $5 million a week. The owner could have done worse.

Another notable example is the yacht Dilbar, which has been used for charters over the years.

The Dilbar is massive. In fact, it is stupidly massive and yet the Dilbar is only sixth in the world in length (511 feet) and third in weight (15,917 in gross tonnage) among superyachts. The cost was roughly $1 billion at the time it was built.

Between having a crew of 96 and an annual running cost of roughly $80 million a year it’s difficult to get an accurate price of what kind of clams would be necessary to charter this vessel. Yachts half the size of Dilbar will run you north of $1 million a week, so use that as a baseline. Unfortunately for you the Dilbar is no longer available for charter, so you will have to pick another yacht instead.

To conclude many owners simply travel the world and hangout wherever rich people do in unnecessary opulence. Others will charter their yachts out while they are away doing other rich people things. A small amount of owners have actually let scientific organizations lease out their yachts for research, like the late Paul Allen and his beloved Octopus.

How stupid are you

What are the darkest secrets of elite US universities?

Let me talk about MIT, which is largely missing from this set of answers.

I can talk circles about MIT not giving a lick about its undergrad population (oh boy, so much to dissect), or about the disparity between average highschool-smart kids and the IMO Gold Medalists in math classes, or about the fact that most of my classes are graded on a curve despite the fact that MIT pubs that they don’t do that.

But let’s focus on the saddest topic.

MIT is known for being one of the most intense, most rigorous, most high pressure universities in the country. It’s not because students are competitive (on the contrary, collaboration thrives and is often encouraged by instructors), but rather due to a combination of difficult coursework, extremely intelligent people everywhere that create insecurities, and a constant need to feel “hardcore.”

All this leads to one of the highest university suicide rates in the nation.

Just a few years ago, a girl jumped off the roof of my dorm, the tallest dorm in the school. MIT very promptly proceeded to investigate, and I’m not going into details, but let’s just say it was conducted extremely poorly.

The Institute is learning, though. Today, if you walk up a stairwell at MIT, it’s easy to deduce which door leads to a roof. It will have a sign:

There is help.

And really, truly, there is. We have a budding S^3 (Student Support Services) system that helps out a vast majority of students, a growing awareness about mental health in flyers and events and workshops…truly, this institution in many ways has tried to save lives.

But it’s not enough. And some of the decisions the administration have made recently haven’t exactly helped*. Just this academic year, a boy in my year committed suicide. A female grad student in my department. A 2016 alum who several of my newly graduated friends knew. And likely others who I haven’t heard about.

Rest in peace. You are missed, and you are loved.

*Go read any of the MIT Admissions blogs about Senior House. It’s more frustration than darkness, so I didn’t go into detail here.

Be the rufus

Since there is the hatred of US in the world. There is also the hated of China in the world. Why isn’t there the hatred of Taiwan in the world?

There is the hatred of US in the world, but not China. Taiwan is a part of China.

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China is a Challenger of the current world order. And the challenger is always lonely until it succeeds.

Before China becomes the Top Nation in the world, no other nations are willing to put all their money on China. Because they have to ask themselves: “What if China fails? If China fails, what will the US do to us?” That’s why China has no allies.

Before China, there have been many challengers: Germany, Russia, Japan. And they all failed. Throughout history, there were only a handful of countries that successfully replaced the No.1 Nation that has hegemony. Why is it so hard? Because it is always Lonely Challenger vs. The Entire World.

But if China does succeed, hundreds of nations will line up to be allies with China. This will happen overnight.

This is why no countries really have the balls to be real enemies with China right now. Because if China does succeed, China and its hundreds of allies will crash the crap out of these countries.

So China has no real enemies or real allies. All the countries are holding an attitude of “wait and see”.

Throughout history, the Law of Lonely Challenger never fails. Throughout history, the successful challengers always get allies overnight.And also, throughout history, the challengers who failed always ended up with piles of crap on their faces. Just take a look at Germany, Russia, Japan for examples.

China is the single country in the world whose top goal is to replace the US as the leading country. China has been talking about the Rejuvenation of China since the fall of Qing. When the US gained global hegemony, this Rejuvenation naturally became to replace the US.

In the current world, the international relations is , in its core, the relations between the US and China.

Behind every nation that has a problem with China, there is an onmipresent country called the United States of America. This includes the Taiwan question.

China has disputes with many nations around it. But these nations, like most of the nations in the world, have very strong economical ties with China. So they are not “enemies” in the traditional sense.

China historically stays out of other nations affairs. As a result there is very little outright hatred of China. Most are weary of being taken advantage of but all see China as a huge economic opportunity and trading partner.

You know, some countries are really suffering under USA rule, it would really be a huge improvement to align with China.

In other words, American allies are not actually friends, but simply because they are afraid of the United States.

They became allies of the United States not because they were attracted by the “high morality” of the United States, but because they were afraid of America’s abuse of power.

Russia Eliminated a Group of US Soldiers and Officers who Shelled KURSK with The Help of HIMARS MLRS

Would China go to war for Iran?

This question is important now more than ever.

US warships are closing in on the middle east, as a deterrence to Iran, and Iran wants to respond to Israel because Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza. The most recent provocation from Israel, which happened two weeks ago, was the attack on Iranian soil, when they were hosting a foreign leader as a state guest.

Let’s say Iran attacks Israel and manages to cause real harm. Then, Israel will declare war on Iran, and like a puppet, the US will support Israel by invading Iran.

If that happens, will China go to war for Iran?

As much as I want China to go to war for Iran, I think China will do what’s best for their citizens — they won’t go to war.

There are two things China may do:

First is supplying weapons to Iran. It will win China support from the Muslim world. It will also be a chance for China to demonstrate the superiority of Chinese technology. They could do it secretly or openly.

The second, which would be the wiser choice but harder to pull off, is to collaborate with Palestinian sympathisers all over the world to impose sanctions on the US. If a significant chunk of the world’s countries join in, the US will fall.

It won’t be wise for China to impose unilateral sanctions on the US.

Even if China doesn’t support Iran in any ways, a US involvement in an Iran-Israel war is a win for the global south and by extension, a win for China.

In a way, this conflict is a great opportunity for China to demonstrate leadership in the world and their commitment to defending the world’s nations from US oppression.

What countries will you never visit again?

Saudi Arabia.

My wife joined me on a business trip. We picked a hotel that had fantastic ammenities — only to find that virtually none were offered to my wife, simply because she was a woman.

Men only.

The pool? Men only. The spa? Men only. Restaurants? Men only.

Men only.

Yes, this means my wife couldn’t grab lunch by herself while I was working. No, this was not during Ramadan.

Men only.

My wife had to cover up and largely make sure that she did not have any sort of interaction with men, whatsoever.

We had enough after the first day, and re-booked our hotel with an American chain, where my wife was allowed to order something to eat on her own.

I want to end this on a high note. After leaving Saudi Arabia, we went on to Singapore.

Men and women are allowed in hotel pools in Singapore.

We both loved Singapore. The hospitality was fantastic. The city is amazing. Yes, Singapore is a conservative place, and I’m well aware of it’s strict laws. Still, it didn’t feel anywhere near as punitive as Saudi Arabia. We could share a spa experience. Amazing.

My wife could go sightseeing, or shopping or take herself out to lunch. She didn’t have to be sequestered in her room, simply because she is a woman.

Singapore. 10/10 would recommend.

What, if any, are potential effects on Imane Khelif’s lawsuit over alleged cyberbullying during the Paris Olympics?

Bully is WRONG. But …

Let say her gender is truly questionable. Then the question has become …

is hitting/boxing a biological female correct?

I do not know Khelif’s case. I had the following post:

In the 2024 Olympics, there were “questionable” female boxers against biological females. Intl Boxing Assoc pushes IOC to think deeper “what a true female is”. Birth certificate is not reliable. Why not? What about chromosome or gender hormone?

Let us look at 4 scenarios.

1, gender change due to accident

A person was born male. During male circumcision when he was a baby, his gender organ was accidentally cut off. His doctor then made him a female on his birth certificate. His parents raised him as a female. At puberty, he started to take female hormone.

But he was never a true female biologically. He cannot get pregnant (dont argue some females cant get pregnant either). Despite hormone, his voice still cracked. I dont know his bodily build.

If he ever competes in Olympics, he can easily get gold medal because of his (male) strength.

Worse, he can legally hit/box a female & endanger the health/brain of the female. Do we want to see this “legal” beating of females?

My point: to determine a person’s gender by BIRTH CERTIFICATE is not reliable.

2, gender change due to birth defect

Some are born with defect eg the male organ is too small. The doctor & parents thus remove it & make him a female.

Birth defects happen to some people eg limbs not same length, 2 heads, 4 legs & more. Doctors do not remove the extra head or legs. These people accept their birth defect. Why not accepting a defective gender organ (unless the defect threatens the person’s life)?

As said in (1), unless the person is proven to be female by scientific means, the person is still physically (strength) a male.

3, Some are born with both sets of gender organs.

I suggest to leave the way it is unless the defect threatens the person’s life. Leave it until the person is old enough to decide for himself/herself.

Humans always make mistakes. Let us leave it to Mother Nature/Creator. Teach the person to accept birth defects like the 2-headed person does.

What makes parents & doctor as a human think they are wiser than Nature/Creator?

What makes parents & doctor think they can decide for another human being?

Is this a form of child abuse?

By the way, circumcision (both male & female) is considered child abuse in the 21st century.

4, Are transgender female same as a non-trans?

For the SAME height, male in general has longer arms & feet than female ie trans has longer arms.

Non-trans female has a rounder/bigger bottom. Something a male can do but not a female.

Has research compare the muscle mass, strength & balancing between trans & non-trans?

Question

Chromosome XX is female & XY is male. Is this reliable?

What about deciding the gender by the amount of male & female hormone in a person?

EU confesses ‘our prosperity was based on China & Russia’: cheap energy, low-paid labor, big market

What do Japanese and Korean people think of China?

Pretty chill.

China’s a pretty big country, and most (educated) Koreans know that. They also recognise the fact that, China’s quite different from us, although we share a lot of culture and history.

First off, China in itself is, once again, EXTREMELY LARGE. China has the world’s largest population, ranging in at somewhere around 1.3~1.5 billion, compared to the 50 million of the ROK, which pales in contrast. This means that China inevitably has a lot more going on over there, and we can’t exactly categorise the entire Chinese population into one stereotype.

Take, for example, the common misconception that all Chinese people are poor people who don’t shower and eat weird food. Sure, some people may not have the privilege of daily showers, but that doesn’t mean that the entire population hates hygiene. It’s just that if, say, a tiny 10% of the population was in poverty, that’s still a whopping 15 million, 3 times the entire population of Korea. We statistically KNOW that China isn’t like that, but what we actually SEE, is rather different.

And on another point, I personally say that China has influenced a lot of NEA’s culture, including both Korea and Japan. (And Vietnam) Not to say that we outright copied China, but there’s a lot of visible evidence that we, at one time, used to view China as a father/big brother country, with the Opium wars triggering the slow collapse of that kind of viewpoint.

Back to the present though, we see China right now as a… rival? Can’t really find the right term here, but to put it in other words;
China has a lot of shared industries with us, namely the IT industry and general production. (Samsung, Hwawei and the sort)
China sided with North Korea in the Korean War, which a lot of our elders still regret.

However, we do recognise that China is an enormous powerhouse and will probably catch up enough to completely smother companies like Samsung and LG. (Within the next decade or so)

We also know that a large portion of our economy consists of trade with China. When the THAAD problem was a thing and China smacked us with the sanction hammer, our economy quite literally fell over for while.

In the end though, I’m personally more of a “Asian Union like the European Union” kind of guy, and I envision the day when we can finally overcome our differences and grow together.

(End Note: None of these apply to the uneducated racists/extreme nationalists)

妄言多謝, Jasper

Pierogi

Pierogi are dumplings that are delicious fried and served with sour cream. These are also good filled with fresh blueberries mixed with sugar for a super dessert.

Ingredients

Dough

5 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter softened
3/4 to 1 1/4 cups water

Filling

2 to 3 medium onions, chopped
1/2 to 1 cup (1 to 2 sticks) butter
6 medium potatoes, peeled, boiled and mashed or put through a ricer
1 (8 ounce) package farmers cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Dough

Mix the flour and salt in a food processor. Add the eggs, butter and water (starting with 3/4 cups if the dough is dry, adding 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough is smooth and elastic, adding up to an additional 3/4 cups if needed) pulsing until kneaded by machine and a ball is formed, or you can use a mixer to do this process.
Remove dough from bowl and let sit in a warm place for about 15 to 30 minutes.

Filling

Melt butter in a large fry pan and add onions. Sauté until onions are lightly browned; set aside.
Combine potatoes, cheese, salt, pepper and as much of the sautéed onions as you like, reserving the rest to toss with cooked pierogi. Taste for seasoning. Set aside.
Divide dough into 3 to 4 equal portions. On a lightly floured surface, roll one portion of dough out to about 1/8-inch thickness. Cut a 3 inch round circle with biscuit cutter. Place one tablespoon of filling on one side of each round. Using your finger, moisten one side of dough with some water. Pick up the circle and fold dough over filling and pinch edges together to firmly seal the filling (this is critical – if you don’t pinch the dough together tightly, you will have gaps and when you boil the pierogi, the filling will come out).
Place the filled pierogi onto a lightly floured baking pan; cover until you finish with remaining dough and filling.
In a large wide pot, fill with water and bring to a boil over medium to high heat, when water is at a rolling boil, drop 5 to 6 pierogi and cook while stirring gently with a wooden spoon until they float to the top of pot. Cook a couple minutes longer.
Remove with a slotted spoon, toss with reserved sautéed onions, if desired, and place in a warmed deep glass bowl.
If desired, saute the pierogi briefly in a small amount of equal amounts of olive oil and butter (as shown in photo).
Serve warm with some sour cream on the side.

The China The Media Never Shows! 🇨🇳 Our First Day in SHENZHEN, GUANGDONG

Gargle as if your life depends on it

There is this mouthwash that is popular throughout the world called Listerine. And I started using it to gargle with, when I was in the Navy.

Quite the history with this little element of personal hygiene.

Ah. My father died while gargling with it. He was found on the floor of his bathroom with the mouthwash still in his mouth after he had finished his morning shower. He apparently got out of the shower, brushed his teeth and was gargling when he had a heart attack. It was very sudden.

I used to use it in bongs in my university days. It would give us a nice cool and refreshing feeling when we were smoking with the bong. LOL.

Right now, I play this game with my daughter and she places a small amount in her mouth, she swirls it around and spits it out.

Over all, however it is pretty pricey. All things considered. I personally believe that it is twice the cost of what it should be. So I have slowly been switching to the Chinese versions. More flavors to choose from and not so harsh.

I even keep a small bottle in my travel vest. You know, for when you want a fresh and clean minty feel in your mouth.

Gargle as if your life depends on it.

Today…

This is a dangerous time…

Seriously watch this.

How “monstrous” can your thoughts be?

This is my “Monstrous” story.

My wife was killed in July 2001 by an semi driver.

He was speeding, weighed in at 76,000 lbs. Saw that traffic was backed up, was in a hurry to make up lost time, didn’t bother to slow down and ran into the rear of her full size Dodge van.

He applied his brakes 30ft from the rear of her van. The skid marks showed this.

The collision was so violent that both front wheels were severed off of the semi. The engine entered into the rear of the van caught fire and burned my wife to death.

I watched the aftermath of the accident on live TV. A news helicopter was in the area filming an unrelated story.

I watched my wife burn to death on live TV.

Anyway, to continue. I had all I could do to refrain myself from hunting him down and killing or permanently maiming him.

He deprived my two sons from growing up with a most remarkable woman

I can say here, that if our two sons had gone with her that morning to her dialysis clinic and died, there is nothing on this planet that would have saved his life from me getting retribution.

This douchebag, didn’t spend one second in jail, even though he was logging in on three different log books.

I wouldn’t have killed him immediately.

I would have shot him through both knees and elbows, permanently disabling him.

As he writhed in pain and agony, I would let him know why I did what I did. Then, I’d decide to kill him or not. I’m still not sure which way I’d go on this.

Live and remember every day why he’s in the condition he is. Or become worm food.

That was sixteen years ago and to this day I think about hunting him down.

So, ya humans can go into some dark places.

The US completely cuts off the supply of AI chips, China’s supercomputers to respond to the blockade

Mississippi Roast

Mississippi Roast is SO tasty. The leftovers make wonderful roast beef sandwiches also. You can also use this roast to make Mississippi Roast “Birria” Tacos. These are simply delicious, and it’s another good use for this particular roast.

Prep: 5 min | Cook: 8 hr | Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

1 chuck roast
1 envelope Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix
1 envelope au jus mix
1 stick butter
5 whole pepperoncini peppers

Instructions

Put roast into the slow cooker.
Sprinkle Hidden Valley Ranch dressing on top.
Sprinkle au jus mix on top.
Put a stick of butter on top.
Put about 5 pepperoncini peppers on top.
Do NOT add water.
Cook on LOW for about 8 hours.
Add carrots and potatoes, if desired.

What is the most disturbing image you saw today?

A man named Homer Peel kisses his wife, Geneva Peel, in 1937. She was just ten years old, and an oprhan. Peel lied to authorities initially and told them Geneva was twelve… child marriage had just been made illegal in the state of Tennessee — but Homer Peel claimed he had “saved” Geneva from the poor house, and that to annul the marriage would be to return her to a state of poverty.

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The picture above is Homer kissing Geneva after a judge agreed them his reasoning, refusing to undo the marriage and returning Geneva to her husband, twenty-four years older than her. He had reportedly “promised her a pretty new hat” for her loyaly. It was quite common in the 1930s for children to marry… they would typically marry men considerably older than them. It wasn’t until 1937 that a law prohibiting it came into existence, and even then, the practice continued. The photograph is jarring and unsettling for numerous reasons.

Homer and Geneva Peel entually stayed together until 1975, when they got divorced. Homer died in 1991 and Geneva lived on until 2017, dying at 92. The couple had six daughters and a son together, and eighteen grandchildren.

What happens if you refuse a direct order in the military?

It’s a bad move that can bring you into a lot of trouble. I did that only once and it didn’t help my career at all.

A few weeks after I had been transferred from a German army armored reconnaissance unit to the paratroopers, my new platoon leader gave me the order to spend the next day in the company’s storage depot to clean weapons. It was some sort of test: I was the new guy and the platoon leader wanted to know how compliant I was. Not very much, as it turned out.

Weapon cleaning was a job for recruits and I was already a lance corporal (Obergefreiter) at the time; definitely not my job and, to be honest, I thought it was rather insulting.

I refused the order. I simply said “No, I don’t do it!”, went to my room and closed the door behind me. My platoon leader was banging on the door for a while, but I didn’t open. After maybe ten minutes, he left.

The next morning, my captain called me and I received a disciplinary punishment. Five written pages about “Why we should obey orders” and a weekend on guard duty. It was a soft punishment and everybody knew it. I wrote the effing paper (no problem) and spent the next weekend on guard duty (which sucked).

Of course, my platoon commander didn’t forget the thing but I didn’t care too much. I knew that I would spend the next months in NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer!) school, after that I had a slot in commando training and if I came back with the German Commando badge, this guy couldn’t fuck with me anymore: he had failed the course twice.

All happened exactly as I thought it would. I finished NCO school, was immediately promoted (which was very rare) and completed the Commando training.

When I got back to my company, my captain told me to step in front of everyone. Then he said: ”This guy passed the Commando course with a better mark than your old and rusty captain, A round of applause, please!”

In a paratrooper unit, rank and discipline are secondary. Your military performance is far more important.

Still, the whole thing wasn’t worth the trouble. It was a stupid beginner’s mistake from my side and I had a lot of luck: with a different company commander, I could have thoroughly ruined my career- for nothing.

Disobeying orders is a form of art and you never do it directly. You say “Yes sir!”, do whatever you want and if someone asks why you didn’t execute the order, you play stupid. That’s how it’s done.

Saturday Scaries

Space Oreos

Julia Vonalean

They’d finally run out of oreos. It took months, but finally, finally, they’d run out–the last one accidentally ejected into space. Sirius stood stewing in front of the glass window of his ship. It wasn’t his fault the oreo had been in that little cup he’d tossed in the trash. Oren was the one who had hidden it there, figured he’d never find it.He hadn’t. Obviously. Which was why it was floating in space right now instead of in his stomach. Sirius scowled at the speckles of light drifting out of the immense black.“Go see the stars,” they said, “they’re beautiful up there in space.” They said. Yeah well, Sirius wished he could haul those freaks up here and make them stare at the murderous fireballs for fifteen months in a broken down ship, with no outside contact and then see how beautiful they thought the stars were.Stupid stars. They could blink out of existence for all he cared–the people too.The ship had been quiet since their malfunctioning, sandwich loving AI had decided to go completely silent until they were – as she put it – ‘found by certain functioning individuals who could clearly state which sandwich was their favorite as well as help them out of this black hole of utter despair’.Stupid ship. He was decidedly disappointed in his ship’s ability to…well…move.”It’s not your ship.” Oren said from the deck where he spun aimlessly in the only swivel chair in the ship. Sirius turned to glare at him. Sometimes he thought his friend could read minds, other times he thought Oren just psychoanalyzed everyone like some villainous creep. Which….he was, a villain–that is—not a creep.”So how come we only installed ONE swivel chair?” Sirius said, stepping away from the ship’s window. Oren shrugged.”We should have installed two, because there are two of us.””Are there.” Oren said idly.

Who knew, really, one of them could be imaginary by now. But imaginary or not…Sirius took another step forward. “Up. My turn in the chair.”

Oren gave himself another spin.

“Oren.”

“There’s a perfectly good chair over there.” Oren said, still spinning.

“It doesn’t swivel.” Sirius said.

“Sad.”

Sirius glared at Oren, the little….. But instead of grabbing him by his perfectly manicured hair and hauling him off the chair, Sirius walked towards the doorway. “No prob. I’ll just go look through your knives.” Behind him the chair came to a halt. Slipping out the entrance, Sirius broke into a jog through the steel hallway of the ship.

“Don’t you dare touch them! That’s my emotional support knife collection!” Oren hollered from the deck.

Sirius made his way down the hallway of the ship to the third room to the right. Oren’s studious room. It used to have a lock, but now the door knob was completely gone. Sirius shoved the door open. He had melted the knob a few weeks back. Some of his finest work, if he did say so himself.

Oren’s room looked like a real life replica of perfection: it was white–the walls and ground and ceiling-and there was a bed directly across, its stark sheets laid across the mattress more smoothly than Sirius could ever get his hair to lay. To the side of that was a desk, bolted and firm, with a spotless furnish and all the drawers safely locked. He’d have to see about melting those knobs later, maybe to get back at Oren for being responsible for the loss of their last oreo. For now though, there was the matter of the swivel chair and the knives. On the right side of the bed was a sparkling glass showcase, inside which was the most impressive knife collection Sirius had ever seen. And they weren’t just ordinary knives, there were knives from nearly every person Oren had ever fought — and then some which he had picked up from one market or another. Sirius leaned closer to get a better view of a smaller knife, its blade was shaped like a half moon. It—

“STEP.AWAY.FROM.MY.KNIVES.” Oren growled from behind him. It was the voice he was famous for, the one that said ‘I’m a master villain and I’m to be feared’. At least that’s what it said to anyone who didn’t know him as well as Sirius. He turned with a smirk. “Oh calm down, I haven’t even touched them.” Oren stood in the doorway, stiff and imposing in his suit of white with gold trimmings. He glared at Sirius a good moment before stalking forward to inspect his knives.

“See? They’re perfectly fine.” Sirius said, “in fact they’re perfectly wonde–”

“You breathed on it.” Oren huffed.

“I…breathed…on, what?”

Oren went back to glaring at him. “The glass. You breathed on the glass.”

“But it doesn’t look any different.” Sirius said.

“It does too.” Oren insisted, “it just takes a sophisticated eye to see it.”

Sirius snorted.

“Okay Back! Back back back!” Oren said, waving him out of the room. “The next thing I know you’ll be sneezing on it.”

“Alright, I’m going.” Sirius said walking out. He hesitated in the doorway, watching as Oren glanced back at his precious collection. Sirius grinned as he watched Oren’s eyes snag on the tiny empty place on the far edge of the display case. Oren looked back at Sirius, and then, the man smiled.

A heartbeat later Sirius smelled the smoke.

Two heartbeats and the ship’s fire resistance system blared active.

Five. Sirius was pelting down the hallway to his bedroom and—and, it was in flames.

His…his bedroom was on fire. How was THAT even possible! The thing was made of steel. But…not everything else was: the furniture, the bed, the—“OREN!” He yelled, gripping the sides of his doorway. The vents opened in his room and released a white gas that filled the room, snuffing each hungry flame as if it were a boot and they–bugs. And then it sucked the remnant gasses back into the vents, sealing them again. Leaving behind a black scorched, smoke smelling, grave of bed-sheets and used-to-be-valuable collectables.

“Well” Oren said from the hallway behind him, “That’s a sight.”

“I can’t believe this…You don’t just set someone’s room on fire!” Sirius gestured wildly to his once semi-nice bedroom.

“Says the person who melted my door knob.” Oren said.

“You put A SCORPION IN MY BOOT.”

“Because you lost my knife.”

“I…” Sirius paused. “Well, it went to a good cause.”

Oren raised an eyebrow.

“Oh come on, scratching my initials on your armor is a wonderful cause,” Sirius turned to inspect his nearly nonexistent bed, “not my fault it somehow wandered off after that.” He poked his mattress and it dissolved into ashes. “Wonderful.”

Oren leaned against the wall. “Anyway, you’ve gotta admit, Sirius, I did pretty good hooking up the ventilation just right so you’d smell the smoke exactly a second before the alarms went off.” Oren said proudly.

Sirius wiped his now ash colored finger on his clothes and deliberately refused to look at his friend. Stinkin villain, had to be so good at his job. “I suppose you can do pretty good cleaning this up as well,” he said, “and replacing all my very valuable collectibles once we get rescued from this useless bucket of steel.”

“Hmm. I think I’m going to go on over to the Kitchen and look for something to eat while grieving the tragic loss of our last oreo cookie, instead.” Oren said, walking away.

“Hey!” Sirius barked, spinning from the sorry remnants of his collectibles. Oren was already gone. But he wasn’t going to get out of this, not this time. The oreo cookie–which was not his fault, in fact, it was Oren who tried to hoard them all up for himself in the first place–was the least of Oren’s worries. He grabbed a heavy bag from his closet and stalked down the hall towards the kitchen.

“OREN!”

Nothing, no sound. Except the thrumming of the horrid prison he’d been trapped in for what seemed like forever now. And he didn’t even have a stupid oreo cookie to solace him. Why? Because of Oren, because he stuck it in a cup. He rounded the corner of the kitchen section of the ship and stopped short. Oren was sitting on the table there, eating cookies. Chocolate chip cookies.

“You’ve had those this whole time!” Sirius exclaimed.

Oren stuffed the last one in his mouth.

“You could have left the oreos for me.” Sirius said, jerking his bag open. “But instead you put the last one in a cup.”

“A clean cup,” Oren said, swallowing. “It was most certainly clean.”

He reached into the bag, “honestly I really don’t care.”

“And I’m not going to help you cle–” Oren paused, “hey, what’s in the bag…”

Sirius chunked a shoe at him. Steel-toed, well made, firm as a rock. Made throwing it feel gorgeous. Oren gave a sound like a strangled mouse as he scrambled off his perch and out of the path of the wrathful footwear. It slammed uselessly into the wall behind. Sirius chunked another.

“Hey!” Oren yelped, ducking behind the counter, “What in the universe are you doing?”

“Throwing shoes at you.” Sirius said. Obviously.

“Now now. Heroes aren’t supposed to hurt their villain friends.” Oren said from behind the counter.

“Ah yes,” Sirius said, “except that doesn’t really matter right now, because if it weren’t for you wanting to run off and save the world from imminent disaster, I’d be safely on a planet eating as many oreos as I want.”

“Well then, you’re welcome. That would be incredibly unhealthy.” Oren said.

Sirius threw a gold trimmed boot. It plunked against the counter. Oren peeped up to stare at it, and then ducked right in time as he hurled the boot’s pair.

“Actually,” Oren muttered, “I’m rather concerned why you have so many shoes.”

“If I wasn’t in a broken down ship in the middle of nowhere, with no hopes of ever making it back to civilization, those shoes would be quite valuable!” Sirius wasn’t even aiming for Oren anymore. He catapulted a pink dotted pair of tennis shoes into the far wall, they hit it with a satisfying thump.

Oren stood, staring at him. “You mean to tell me….you collect shoes.”

Sirius threw a bright yellow sandal at Oren’s face. It didn’t even get close, of course. Oren looked at the sandal and then back up at Sirius.

“You’re a shoe collector!” He broke out laughing, gripping the sides of the counter. “How did I not know this sooner!”

Sirius paused his onslaught of shoe missiles, there was only like, one more left in the bag anyway. “They’re very expensive. And valuable.” he said in his defense.

Oren only laughed harder.

“Took me a long time to collect them all too.” He muttered under his breath.

“I’ll”–Oren said between gaspy breaths–“make sure to leave you my shoes when I die. Something to remember me by.”

Sirius rolled his eyes and tossed his bag in the corner. “I’d probably eject them into space if you did, like the oreo.”

Oren managed to stop laughing enough to bow his head and murmur, “we shall forever grieve your greatest mistake, Sirius.”

“MINE?”

“Yes.” Oren said, “You killed Mr. Oreo.”

Sirius opened his mouth to object when the entire ship beeped, as if jolting awake.

“What did my ship just do?” Sirius rubbed his ears, glancing around.

“Um…it’s not your ship. It’s mine. Remember? I convinced the previous owner to give it in exchange for his life.” Oren said.

“That’s not how I remem—” Sirius began.

“SANDWICHES.” A crisp, emotionless voice vibrated from the ship’s speakers. “THE LIFE-BLOOD OF MANKIND.”

“Hey Sandie!” Oren exclaimed happily.

“Welcome back weird, malfunctioning AI who secretly wants to murder us with sandwiches and false facts.” Sirius said. “Guess you got bored, huh.”

“HUNGRY?” The ship’s AI said.

“For people.” Sirius muttered. “And better company.”

“CANNIBALISM, PERFECT.” The AI said. “THERE IS A SHIP ENTERING THIS SECTOR AS WE SPEAK.”

A ship? Sirius met Oren’s gaze for a single life changing moment as the realization sunk in.

“We’re saved.” Sirius whispered.

They both raced for the console, and started broadcasting their existence to anyone listening. The radio fuzzed in and out for a few seconds before finally the first voice they’d heard in months came over as clear as the black in space.

“Unknown transporter. This is Fate-12, prepare for boarding.”

Sirius grinned, unholstering the pistol at his side. Oreos here I come.

What do you think about China’s J-35 Gyrfalcon stealth fighter becoming the country’s second carrier-based fighter?

The Chinese defense industry is advancing at a breakneck speed. China is only the second country in the world that will mass produce not one but two stealth aircraft. The J-31 (re-badged as the J-35 in November 2024), made its maiden flight in 2012. It is a twin-engine aircraft produced for land and aircraft carrier operation. It has been extensively modified over the years from the aircraft that made its first flight. Chinese aircraft development (J-20, J-10C, J-35, J11, J-16) was hobbled by the lack of domestically manufactured advanced turbofan engines. At present, the Chinese aircraft industry is roughly 20 years behind the USA but they have been leapfrogging over the last decade, and it is likely that the technological gap will shrink over time. The J-35 has an approximate RCS (Radar cross section) of 0.01m2 (50 square inches) in comparison to 0.005m2 (7.7 square inches) RCS of the F-35. In comparison, the latest fourth generation Su-35s has an RCS of 3m2, (4,650 square inches), and the French Rafale has an RCS of 1m2 (1,550 square inches).

J-35 with afterburners, performing at an airshow in November 2024.

The development of the J-35 in two versions is a very significant strategic step that will have far-reaching implications for China’s projection of power. With the J-35, not only will China be able to increase its stealth aircraft fleet at twice the speed of J-20, but it will also have a mix of two types (also called a hi-low mix in USAF) of stealth aircraft. It will also give the latest Chinese aircraft carriers a potent weapon system that can duel with the F-35. It is a well-known fact that Chinese are able to mass produce aircraft in great numbers. The current stealth flagship of the Chinese air force, the J-20, is being produced at a rate of 100 aircraft per year, which is faster than all models of F-35 combined. With the addition of a new aircraft, the Chinese air force will not only be in a position to phase out their 3rd generation aircraft (as of 2024, approximately 300 such aircraft are in service) but add an additional 1,000 stealth aircraft to the fleet in 5–7 years.

Vented single crystal Turbine blades is one of the highest tech products of modern material sciences.

Chinese engine manufacturers have finally been able to resolve issues related to production of single crystal turbine blades and blade cooling after spending vast amounts of resources on research and development. Unlike the F-35, the J-35 engines are designed for super cruising (travelling beyond the speed of sound without using afterburners). The J-35 was originally powered with the Russian RD-93 engines, which produce 18,300lbs (8,318kg) of thrust each. These engines did not provide the aircraft with satisfactory kinematic performance, and failed to achieve a 1:1 thrust to weight ratio even with a basic loadout. The aircraft was then flight tested with the WS-13E (also known as WS-21), which produces 20,700lbs (9,409kg) of thrust. While it was an improvement over the RD-93, it fell below the flight performance that is necessary for a stealth aircraft.

The WS-19 engine will power the aircraft. Its serrated exhaust can be observed.

The production version is likely to be equipped with the WS-19 engine. This engine is equal in technology and specification to the GE-F414-EE engine, which has not yet been used in any combat aircraft. The WS-19 features omnidirectional thrust vectoring technology for enhanced maneuverability and Full Authority Digital Electronic Control (FADEC). It is likely to produce approximately 25,000Lb (11,300kg) of thrust, making the aircraft suitable for carrier operations. This engine, combined with sleek aerodynamics and 3,000lb (1,300kg) lower empty weight compared to F-35 will allow it to accelerate and fly faster. High kinematic performance can be advantageous in BVR combat between two stealth aircraft. The J-35 is not only lighter but also has 7,000Lb (3,000kg) greater thrust compared to the F-35. An aircraft that possesses greater thrust to weight ratio is likely to perform better at certain tasks including air interception and ground attack ingress and egress. In addition, aircraft that have a high kinematic performance have a better chance of evading a BVR and surface launched missiles.

The APG-81 AESA radar.

The current F-35 APG-81 AESA radar is perhaps the most powerful AESA long range radar fitted to any multirole combat aircraft, with a range of 140miles (230KM), and a short-term peak power output of 24Kw. This radar is to be upgraded with an even faster and higher powered AN/APG-85 in 2026. This radar will be able to identify all types of drones, missiles and aircraft at longer range. The high-resolution ground imaging capabilities of the APG-85 will also be useful for reconnaissance missions, providing detailed images of targets for further analysis.

The J35 KLJ-7A(V2) radar is not only smaller in size in comparison to the APG-81, but also has provides lower resolution and less range. It has a peak power consumption of around 10Kw, and a maximum detection range of 120 miles (200KM) against a target size of 5m2.

KLJ-7A (V2) AESA radar used in the land based version of Chinese J-35 is less powerful than the F-35 radar. It is possible that the naval version may be equipped with a more powerful radar, since the aircraft will be able to produce 40–50kw of electricity.

The J-35 is equipped with several passive sensors including EOTS (electro-optical targeting system), passive 360-degree situational awareness sensors and helmet mounted display. The J-35 system software, sensor integration, speed of secure datalink systems and battlefield sensor fusion is not yet at par with the F-35. The J-35 is equipped with infrared search and track, Distributed Aperture System (DAS), which consists of several IR sensors around the aircraft for full spherical coverage, providing day/night imaging and acting as an IRST and missile approach warning system.

China has been able to develop and deploy highly sophisticated air to air missile systems. The off-boresight short range PL-10 and PL-15E BVR missile with folding fins is designed to fit into the J-35 internal weapons bay. The PL-10 is known for its all-aspect targeting capability, resistance to jamming and electronic countermeasures, and high maneuverability. It provides comparable performance to western missiles like the ASRAAM and IRIS-T, and even offers superior kinematic performance against the AIM-9X. The PL-15 missile that is currently used by the J-20 out-ranges the AIM-120D missile as well as the MBDA Meteor missile. It remains to be seen if the J-35 weapon bay is capable of carrying the long range (150 miles, 250KM) PL-15 instead of the shorter-range (110 miles, 185KM) PL-15E missile.

It is worth noting that maximum missile ranges provided by manufacturers are based on ideal conditions, and should be taken with a grain of salt. Effective BVR Missile ranges against combat aircraft are generally 60–70% of maximum advertised range for head on interception, and between 30–50% during a tail chase. In order to achieve a high kill probability (pK) the missiles must be used in their No Escape Zone (NEZ), which, in most cases, is even lower than the effective missile range.

The latest, smaller PL-15E missile with folding fin design.

In order to match the long-range capabilities of Chinese BVR missiles, the US is developing the AIM-260 missile. This missile will replace or supplement the AIM-120 AMRAAM currently in use. Interestingly, this latest missile uses radar and IR/UV sensors for terminal guidance. This missile is expected to be in operation in 2025. The AIM-260 is designed with a multi-terminal guidance system. It will have the same range as the shorter-range PL-15E (110 miles- 185KM). Air combat in modern warfare has changed considerably over time. An aircraft is now a part of a highly networked real time kill chain that includes satellite intelligence, networked ground-based radars, AEW aircraft, sea-based and other airborne sensors. The more effective the kill chain, the better chances an aircraft will have in undertaking a successful combat mission.

44-Year-Old Man: Existential crisis of life

What are some of the most epic product fails?

Would you pay $700 for a juice machine that requires WiFi to work?

What if I told you it only works with specific juice packets sold by the company, which cost ~$7 for every glass you want to make?

Oh I forgot to mention, it’s actually 25% faster to manually squeeze the juice packet with your hands, rather than putting them into the machine.

At this point, you’re probably unsure why anyone would ever buy one of these. This reaction was shared by consumers, as low sales forced the company to drop prices to $400. However over-engineering meant that each unit still cost $750 to produce. They were always selling at a loss, but now they were bleeding cash.

Yet despite the blatant flaws of their product, losing $4 million per month and a lack of customers willing to pay $400 for an inefficient juicer, they still managed to raise $118.5 million from prestigious investment funds, like Kleiner Perkins and Google Ventures.

This is the story of Juicero, a company which has now ceased selling its products, and offered full refunds to anyone who purchased their product. They should serve as a cautionary tale for any aspiring entrepreneurs who hope to get rich by solving a problem that doesn’t exist, instead of being ambitious and making a meaningful difference by solving important problems.

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What will Europe do when big daddy USA isn’t there to save them from Russia?

Where is big daddy USA right now ?

Cowards.

The U.S. has been actively preparing to fight one particular country since 1949. Multiple proxy wars, and trillions of dollars spent on stockpiling munitions and weapons platforms.

There are over 3,000 M1 Abrams tanks sitting collecting dust in the Sierra Army Depot, that were purchased to fight this one particular country.

And when the moment finally arrived for the US to finally take in this arch enemy after preparing for 75 years, what was the response ?

“Fear of escalation”

Cowards!

Americans have demonstrated they don’t have the balls to fight a near peer directly. Just a lot of talk and sabre rattling.

You spent all that $$$$$ preparing to fight only to back down like cowards.

And what message does that send to China, now that you have publicly played your hand and backed down from Russia ?

Just as when you backed down from Russia in 2014, and emboldened Putin to go further, so too are you emboldening the Chinese, and you’re too fucking stupid to see that. But keep listening to Trump, who has Putin in his pocket, and admires Xi Ping for how powerful of a man he is. That’s who you just elected – a president who admires the leaders of your enemies.

Spineless fucking cowards, and strategically as dumb as a bag of rocks.

Korea – stalemate

Vietnam – lost

Iraq – utter failure

Afghanistan – lost

You’ve developed a talent for fleeing

Cowards, who repeatedly betray allies.

But you sure kicked ass in Granada and Panama!!

And you sent not one, but two carrier groups to help with the turkey shoot in Gaza. Real tough guys!

Edit for the Trump voters: the soldiers are not the cowards. The soldiers are not the ones making the strategic decisions. The politicians are the cowards, including the Commanders in Chief, and every American citizen that supports the cowardice.

Dangerous (and very few of you know it)

Beijing’s spy agency ‘destroyed large number’ of Taiwan intelligence networks

State security ministry says more than 1,000 cases of Taiwanese espionage were uncovered in crackdown, with spies ‘severely punished’

William Zheng

Beijing’s top spy agency says it has uncovered more than 1,000 cases of Taiwanese espionage during a crackdown and vowed to keep up the pressure on the island’s pro-independence forces.

In a post on WeChat on Tuesday, the Ministry of State Security said the cases were revealed in a series of special operations launched in recent years and that it had continued to “strike hard” against spying activities.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3274300/beijings-spy-agency-destroyed-large-number-taiwan-intelligence-networks

Completely valid reasons why men SHOULD reject a woman; with 3 examples

New Study from Japan: Covid Shots Installed Nanobots

August 12, 2024

A new Japanese study shows that Pfizer and Moderna vaccines contain unauthorized “animated worm-like” entities, invisible to the human eye, which swim, wiggle, and assemble themselves into complex structures, which cause clots inside the body. Researchers Dr. Young Mi Lee and Dr. Daniel Broudy isolated unused Pfizer and Moderna vaccine vials for 3 weeks, and then examined them under 400X magnification. They noticed that when the nano-technology was energized, it created “discs, chains, spirals, tubes, and right-angle structures.” The scientists believe these mysterious nanoparticles are responsible for the explosion of “turbo cancer” and autoimmune diseases around the globe. They also concluded that humans into controllable “Biohybrid Magnetic Robots.” The suggested that the smart microscopic components are part of the elite’s “long-planned well-funded Internet of Bodies,” which was described as a kind of “synthetic global central nervous system” turning humans into controllable “Biohybrid Magnetic Robots.” The researchers called for a ban on mRNA shots. They also demanded the labels “vaccine” and “safe and effective” be removed because the substances are not vaccines and they are dangerous.

Link for Study:

Real-Time Self-Assembly of Stereomicroscopically Visible Artificial Constructions in Incubated Specimens of mRNA Products Mainly from Pfizer and Moderna: A Comprehensive Longitudinal Study

Zelensky is now saying he has no intention of keeping the land seized in this incursion. (Just as well, because Russia will not let him.) So why did he waste his men and resources on it in the first place? Has he completely lost the plot?

He has indeed lost the plot

Has been losing so for a long time

He has been solely responsible for making Russia stronger and stronger by the day

Russian AD is unfamiliar with Himars attacks

He attacks Russian territories with so many Himars that today Russia can wipe out Himars Launchers effortlessly

Russian AD is unfamiliar with Storm Shadows and Scalps

He repeatedly attacks Crimea with these missiles and Russia can spot them a mile away and easily blow them away at a near 95% Interception rate

Russia is a creaking old army with only numbers who could collapse within their own weight

He stupidly takes them on, does a counter offensive and the Russian Bear slumbers, wakes up and begins to gradually start mobilizing, producing and making tactical decisions

This Kursk offensive is the best example

The Russians mobilized and moved within 72 hours and stopped the Ukranians at 15 Kilometres into the Border and killed the entire reserve force minus the 300–400 who are holding hostages

The Speed is astonishing

Next time it will be even faster

Plus their strategic evacuation of Border Areas

Plus their buffer zones along the Border

Bottom line is Zelensky is solely the reason why Russia is the MOST COMBAT READY ARMY ON THE PLANET

Reasons for the Kursk offensive?

It could never have been successful under any conditions

You can’t keep on entering Russia all the way to Moscow

Ultimately you will face resistance and be destroyed

Russia is the more powerful army

Just like if Bangladeshi Army invaded West Bengal, they would advance maybe 10 Kms before being cut to pieces by the Indian Army

The Reason was PR

To restore some confidence in the dying morale of the Ukranians

Instead the Russians are more determined to finish off the Ukranians

As every day goes by Russians who were reluctant to kill even Ukranian Soldiers and hoped they surrender are now ready to boil Ukranian Children in Hot Oil and make their parents watch

Time Zelensky was deposed

Problem is he knows too much

Probably Pictures of Biden and Hunter Biden with some Young Ukranian Minors on their Laps

Probably Secret Account Transfers of Wire Accounts of the Clintons or Romneys or Sunaks or Johnsons

It’s why he isn’t killed so far

Russia isn’t killing him because China has asked them not to

When this is over – I bet you will see some major Lithium extraction contracts signed between China & Ukraine in the past two years that will come to light

CHINA is NOT WHAT We Expected at ALL 🇨🇳 (first time in Shenzhen)

Do the Chinese people enjoy the same freedoms as Americans?

Women in China don’t have to worry about their own safety. A young woman can walk alone on the streets of China in the middle of the night.

You can smoke cigarettes almost everywhere in China. Although there are no smoking signs everywhere, there is no mandatory implementation. People still do what they want.

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Chinese people can drink while walking. In the United States, if you drink in public, you will be arrested by the police.

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The woman hangs a bag of Tsingtao beer on her shoulder and drinks it while walking

In the United States, you have to maintain your own lawn, otherwise you may receive a fine. But in China, most people live in apartments.

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Chinese people are completely free to make their own decisions and don’t cook at home. Boys and girls there prefer to eat three meals in restaurants or roadside stalls. Because there are many restaurants in China, almost everywhere. Chinese people do not need to believe in God and do not need to pray before eating. Meal time is the most relaxing time for Chinese people, and there is no need for so many rituals.

Most Chinese people are not as materialistic as Americans. In Chinese life, most people pursue a simple life, know how to be content, and are more free and independent.

Is this homeless? no!

Chinese people have the habit of taking a nap. You can take a nap anywhere, the main thing is relaxation.

Especially outdoor workers, couriers, sanitation workers, food delivery people, truck drivers, motorcycle drivers, vendors, and police officers will all find a shady place nearby to take a nap.

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Shorpy

How did you foil or dodge someone else’s attempt to cheat or deceive you?

Oh boy, do I have a story for this. And I didn’t even “foil” the person’s attempt, really. More like I defeated him with my cluelessness. But in retrospect what I did is the best thing to do in my situation. You’ll see later in the answer.

A little bit of background (you can skip to the non italicized part for the meat of the story)

I was born in the United States, and when I was 7 my parents moved to India, their homeland (taking me with them of course). I was in India (Pune, specifically) from 2nd-12th grade. During high school, I applied to a bunch of American universities and got in. I finally decided on UC Berkeley, which was the best school that I got into, and was really excited that the school had a rich history.

Another important point to note is that foreign citizens living in India had to register with the police if they were staying in India beyond 180 days, and also get a departure stamp from or something before leaving the country on their passport. Being an American citizen, I had to do that while living there.

However, right before I left for the US, my family and I had just obtained PIO (Person of Indian Origin) cards, letting us stay in India on a 15 year visa and getting rid of the need for departure stamps and stuff.

I was 17, ready to leave for the US, where I was to meet up with my Dad in the Bay Area who was already there on business. I was super excited (think the heart eyed emoji, I looked exactly like that), for I was embarking on an exciting journey. I am American, and now I’m pretty comfortable in my own skin with my dual American / Indian identity, but back then I was pretty nervous and confused about my own identity, which made me a little anxious about going to the US.

So here I was, at the Mumbai airport, having said good bye to my mom and aunt who had come along to drop me off. I went to the immigration counter (for my American peeps, a lot of other countries have passport control when you leave the country too).

The immigration official looked at my passport. He looked at me with his beady eyes through his glasses:

“What are you going to the US for?”

“For my education.” (Apparently having an American passport wasn’t enough)

He probably deduced in his head that I was 17 and going to the US for college so my parents must be rich. He looked at me again, but his eyes were beadier this time.

“You don’t have a departure stamp. You cannot go.”

“Umm.. what?”

“I said, you don’t have a departure stamp on your passport, you cannot go!”

At this point I was super scared, because I was traveling internationally alone for the very first time, and I had no idea what he was talking about. I genuinely thought I had fucked up. After breathing heavily for 2 seconds, I said:

“So.. what do I do? What can I do, sir?”

“See.. I’m looking for your benefit, and my benefit.”

Now you all know where this is going. However, at that point I was completely clueless.

“Sorry, I don’t get it. Do I need to do something? Just tell me what I need to do, I’ll do it, sir.”

(my Indian peeps will know why I used that “sir” for an immigration official of all people. I was trying to be respectful and not rattle an official who could really mess with you if he wanted to)

“Like I said, I’m looking for your benefit, and my benefit.”

I was still clueless. I know all of you want to scream at me: “He’s asking for a bribe you idiot!”, but remember: 17, alone and scared.

“Ok, so then tell me how I can help benefit both of us. Let me know, I’ll do it.”

He looked at me, bewildered. In retrospect I think he was trying to figure out if I was for real. He got really frustrated:

“You’re not understanding what I’m telling you, now go!” (he hands me my passport)

At this point you guys probably think I just left as fast as I could, right? Well, no. I was genuinely clueless about his intentions, I actually believed I had done something wrong.

“Sir, if you just tell me what you need me to do, if there’s any issue with my documents, I’ll fix it.”

“No! Just go!”

I was thoroughly confused by this, and I just left. It was only after crossing the security check and calling my mom to tell her this story did I realize (while listening to my own words) that I was asked for a bribe and got out of it because I was totally dumb!

So there it is. I foiled a corrupt immigration official trying to take advantage of a scared 17 year old and make some money. But I didn’t “foil” anything. 🙂 I just defeated him with my cluelessness!

Why would a highly intelligent man choose an average woman as a partner?

I’m pushing 70, and I’ve been married, happily, for 35 years.

I am highly intelligent, in the top 0.1%, and I have a lifetime of working with very, very intelligent people, including many very intelligent women.

But I can tell you from my current vantage point that if I had restricted myself to women with my IQ or higher, I would still be single. There were certainly candidates; but I was not romantically attracted to them, and would not have enjoyed living my life with them.

In contrast, my wife and I are very compatible. We like the same kinds of food, and restaurants, and entertainment on TV and in movies, we like the same music, we like the same kinds of sex, we like the same kinds of vacations, we have the same political beliefs, we like and donate to the same charities, we like the same comedians.

It is very, very easy to live with my wife; and she is not a slave, we split our domestic duties evenly.

My life is not about being intelligent. That is my job, and I don’t need to bring it home, or discuss it with my wife, or get any ideas from her on how to move forward.

In my job I am surrounded by very smart engineers and technologists, including many women, and I can discuss problems and technical issues with them, and for the most part not have to spend an hour explaining my ideas.

The only thing my wife knows about my job is that some decades ago I invented something for the Federal Aviation Administration, and I told her it was to “Help keep planes from falling out of the sky, because the FAA frowns on that.”

That’s the one she remembers, a single four month contract out of 35 years.

I get my fill of intellectual conversation in other ways; I am with my wife to relax and have fun, and that does not have to be intellectual in the least. The only time it is, is when occasionally she wants me to explain something to her. I know her well, and I am smart enough to explain what she wants to know in terms she will understand and be satisfied with.

OMG!

Half of Forever

Morgan Elbert

“Christ, One! What the hell were you thinking?” the voice came through the hud slightly distorted. Nothing had been right on the Doppel Station for days, maybe weeks. It was difficult to keep track of time in this lifestyle. There were no nights, no days, and essentially no schedule. Work needed done when it needed done and it didn’t matter if the men were tired or hungry or whatever other excuse they might concoct. One tried to focus his mind enough to remember when the issues had arisen. He knew it was during Twenty-Seven. Measuring events in that way made him feel lugubrious, but it had been his best method to date. These minor external repairs were not typically so frequent, and he grew concerned that it meant the end of the station was coming soon. Perhaps it had drifted from its axis, or some distant celestial body had shifted and was influencing it in some way. They were still waiting to hear back from the Union regarding their query.“One! Yo, you listening, man?” the voice crackled through again. One rolled his eyes and sighed, knowing the heavy exhale would be detected by the suit. He liked the idea of his disdainful sigh echoing through the main deck for his crewmate to hear.“God One, you don’t have to be so pissy. Just fix that panel and get the hell back inside. I’m sick of monitoring your vitals,” came the response.After finishing his work, One leaned back against the hull of the station and watched the swirling of the reality around him. The Dorra galaxy was on the small side for those that had been explored, and to One, it felt quaint — cozy even. It was like living in the smallest nearby town and still being able to see the nightlights of the closest big city.At least, that is how One thought of it, from his studies of old human culture. He, himself, had never lived on the planet known as Earth. Born and bred on this ship, he spent much of his free time daydreaming; imagining what life must have been like for his ancestors. Walking in something called grass — typically green with threadlike fingers of roots extending down into the soil for nutrients, hydrogen dioxide, and security. He wondered what that might feel like, having roots and security. Breathing unfiltered air, filled with the pollution and aromas of the natural world. One’s entire life had been inside this shell, floating endlessly in an even more endless vacuum of nothingness. Even the gravity he experienced wasn’t what he considered natural.“Bro — Wake up and get your ass inside,” the voice broke his melancholy revelry and One felt more angry than he had in weeks. It wasn’t often that he sat out against the hull and let himself take in the view, but it was without fail that whenever he did, he was called back inside with the same crass phrasing that effectively wrecked whatever peace he had found in his meditation.As One closed the airlock behind himself and secured it, he could feel the needy eyes on him through the door. He slowly and meticulously removed his gear, inspecting each piece before placing it carefully in his cubby. Mainly, he took such care in this process because he found it an effective method to avoid returning into the main hull of the station, and thereby further prolonging his peace and isolation.Technically, they were always supposed to take this level of care in their return inspections, but it was well known that few of the ‘nauts ever did, especially this far from the Hub. Stations like the Doppel rarely, if ever, received elite visitors, and never had surprise inspections from the higher-ups. In fact, the Doppel was much more of a small outpost than a proper station. The Doppel was a small superfluous station responsible for monitoring the oxygen levels and watching for signs of life on tiny dead rock on the outskirts of the galaxy. ‘Nauts stationed here were meant to exist, write reports for the Union, and maintain that there were always two living there. Nothing else.A pounding echoed around One as he painstakingly inspected his last valve and he turned to the door to see an angry face peering through the glass at him.“Come on, man, get in here!!!”

“I’m doing my inspections,” One replied.

“You’re wasting time and you know it!”

“ME? Never. Why on Doppel would I ever do something like that?” he asked, faking an aghast expression.

“Duuuude….”

He ignored the plea.

“Duuuuuuuuuude.”

He continued fiddling with his equipment, turning away from the door to hide a smile.

“Gawwwwd, dude.”

One started laughing.

“Alright, I’m coming, Twenty-Seven. Calm down,” he said, crossing through the door at last.

Twenty-Seven tackled him.

“Dude, it is so freakin’ lonely in this tin can, man. I don’t know what to do with myself,” he said, latching on to One’s back.

“Maybe you should try studying or reading or something,” One replied, pulling away from the younger man, “you haven’t been alive long enough to be this bored.”

“I’m plenty old enough to be bored, bro,” came the indignant reply.

“Dude, you’ve been alive 46 days. I activated the Womb for you less than 3 months ago. You have no right to be this bored.”

“Yeah, and you’ve only been alive, what, 180 days?” the young man asked sarcastically, though he knew the actual count was much longer.

“I’ve been here forever.” A cold and measured response.

The younger man scoffed before jumping on One’s back again.

One pulled away once more and went to the bunk room. Twenty-Seven followed him closely, something clearly on his mind. One turned to him.

“What’s up, man?” he asked tiredly.

“It’s just — Man, uh — What happened to Twenty-Six?”

“I’ve told you what happened to Twenty-Six.”

“No, you just said you needed a replacement.”

“That’s what happened to Twenty-Six. He needed replaced.”

“Dude, you know what I mean.”

“Twenty-Six died.”

“Well doy. How?”

“We’re in space. Even if we weren’t, death is a certainty.”

“Dude, One, you are the worst at answering questions, like, ever.”

One laughed.

“Yeah, but I’m still the best teacher you’ve ever known.” he chuckled.

“You’re also the worst everything I’ve ever known,” Twenty-Seven quipped.

The men stood in silence briefly. One lowered himself onto his bunk. Twenty-Seven watched him, an increasingly tragic expression spreading across his face. One leaned back and closed his eyes tightly, intentionally refusing to see the younger man’s pitiful appearance. He was tired of answering these questions with each new iteration. At this point, it seemed an exercise in futility.

Each story ended the same, each life coming to the same closing line; never anything special. It had become easier with each passing individual. Two had been a real struggle. One had been uncertain that he would ever recover from losing his first second hand man. He had tried to make himself disconnect since then. He spent more time outside the station when he could. Tried to be independent from them. But Twenty-Seven — Twenty-Seven reminded him too much of himself in the very beginning, beyond the obvious fact that they had the exact same face, the same DNA. Each of the men had the same face and DNA; that wasn’t special. Somehow though, Twenty-Seven was special. Excitable and eager to know whatever he could. Stifled by life inside the Doppel. It took great effort to remain aloof with this one. One reflected on the lives of the others, how shockingly dissimilar they had all been, all facts considered, and yet they all ended the same. Such is life, he thought to himself.

One woke up naturally for the first time in what felt like ages. No klaxon blaring, no clingy crewmate awaiting his eyes to flutter open. “Good,” he thought. Perhaps at last Twenty-Seven had gotten the hint to stop asking so many questions. He rose slowly, stretching his aching body. The human body was not designed to spend its entire life in space. Even One, essentially created for that purpose, still struggled with the effects.

One found Twenty-Seven sitting quietly near the com panel and staring through the view screen at the celestial bodies of Dorra that blinked and flickered around them.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” he whispered, placing his hand on Twenty-Seven’s shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah,” Twenty-Seven responded, being jarred from whatever distant reality his mind had ventured off to.

“So like me,” One thought with a gentle smile, before saying “Get some sleep, man.”

Twenty-Seven rose mindlessly and followed the instruction. “How long has he been awake?” One wondered, before taking Twenty-Seven’s place at the com. Still no message from the Union. One felt a familiar twinge of concern, before shaking it off. What did it matter, really, he asked himself. He went about his routine, checking the equipment, checking readings, looking for anything that might have gone awry during his rest. He was relieved to find there had been nothing out of the ordinary, and returned to his studies.

“Tell me what happened to Twenty-Six,” a groggy voice croaked from behind One. He had been reading for hours, and the sudden reminder that he was not alone startled him.

“Christ, man!” he yelled.

“Tell me,” Twenty-Seven said again, “I need to know.”

“You already know.”

“I know he’s dead. I don’t know how he got there.”

“Does it even matter?” One shot back, “Dead is dead. Who cares how anyone arrived at dead. All that matters is that they are dead.”

“What happened to you, man,” Twenty-Seven asked quietly.

“What do you mean?”

“What happened to you? Seriously, how can it not matter how they got there? Dead is DEAD, man! Becoming dead is a big freakin’ deal.”

“Drop it,” One yelled. He felt his long stifled emotions bubbling up inside him.

Twenty-Seven was silent.

One was silent.

The silence became its own entity. A threesome to their short staffed company. It floated down on them and wrapped them up, holding them against one another. One stared at Twenty-Seven, staring at his own face. Younger, not so worn down by the nihilism, unscathed by the repeated witnessing of death after death. Hair still cut to regulation. Twenty-Seven stared back, tears prickling at his eyes and throat. He saw himself, and yet something completely different. Long, unkempt hair licking at that uncanny face, yet the skin pulled differently. Tighter, and yet wrinkling slightly around the eyes, across the forehead. That face no longer held its softness. Silence coiled tighter, beginning to hint at suffocation.

“Look, I can’t tell you what happened to them, man,” One whispered through the smog of silence that nestled around them, “I just can’t do it again.”

Twenty-Seven nodded slowly. Time drifted without meaning again, the way it had for so long, the way it always would, but in that moment, it was palpable.

An alarm blasted through the station, nearly shaking the men. Something was wrong. Severely wrong. The silence that had enveloped them was eradicated. They rushed to the com to see if they could see anything. The view screen was blank. The instruments were going berserk. Inconsistent and chaotic readings flashed over and over before the entire com powered down. The lights dimmed inside the vessel, and a warning message began repeating itself. One looked to Twenty-Seven. The young man’s face was contorted into fear and frown. One patted him on the shoulder. “I’m going outside,” he shouted over the various sirens and messages the station’s computer blasted through the hull. Twenty-Seven grabbed his hand. “I’ll go,” he yelled, but One slipped away and ran for the airlock.

One grabbed his gear and slipped it on far more quickly than he ever had. This was not how these situations were typically handled. The man with seniority was not the one who was supposed to go out during the outages, but he didn’t care. Regulations be damned. He wasn’t going to watch it happen again. Twenty-Seven stood at the doorway, watching One as he dressed, screaming something unheard through the chaos that shattered everything he had ever known. One heard as Twenty-Seven began trying to open the door into the airlock and before the younger man could progress, he opened the outer door, effectively locking the rest of the station down until proper procedures allowed things to open again.

One ventured out onto the shell of the station where he had spent his life. He immediately saw where the vessel had been struck by some manner of space debris. Two of the twelve power cells placed around the outside of the ship had been knocked loose, likely causing a short in the circuit and causing the power levels to fluctuate inside. He set to repairing the damaged pieces, and looked up to see still more hurtling towards the Doppel. He worked as quickly as he could, but it was not fast enough. He had only been able to repair one of the cells before the next impact. A small piece of rock struck him at such velocity it tore through the arm of his suit. Safety procedures activated. The arm was severed off and sealed instantaneously. The temperature rose rapidly on the blade inside the sleeve, cauterizing the amputation. One screamed in pain, though from everything he had read, this was nothing compared to what would have happened without the guillotine effect of his suit. He had poured over the manuals that warned of what could happen in these circumstances. How the water in human skin would vaporise in the absence of atmospheric pressure; moisture on the tongue would boil. All of that, of course, only mattered if the rest of you somehow had oxygen and protection from the vacuum of space. The hud began a countdown, indicating how long he had left without receiving proper medical attention. These suits, while advanced technology, could simply not stave off human death without other measures being taken to recover.

One’s mind flashed back, again and again, to each of the different men he had lost during his time on the station. Had this been what they had felt? This fear? This — well, this relief? What sort of emotional cocktail did they each experience? Were they — Was he — glad? He felt himself floating away from the hull of the station. The impact must have been enough to separate his magnetic boots from the titanium. It was a weak bond anyway. It only made sense that it would have. As he rotated away from the only home he had ever known, the only home he could ever have known, he tried not to imagine the face of his protege. He tried not to see that same face, over and over again in his mind. The fear. God, the fear. Two’s final scream flashed through his mind. Eleven. Nineteen. Each face, the same, and yet so different in that final moment. Each death had been different, but was that even possible? Each had taken place in the same location — this godforsaken station in this corner of this godforsaken galaxy. Each death of the same person, genetically. How could it have been so different each time? The urgency of the message in his hud increased, counting away One’s final seconds, and he felt a feeling of anticipation. Of impending freedom?

The Womb hummed in the background as Twenty-Seven sat at the com, studying up on life in the olden days, back on Earth. He absent-mindedly worked his finger through the scars on his face. The scars he had put there with a broken piece of the ship gathered during a repair mission. They were designs he had created after discovering the concept of “tattoos” during one of his deep dives into old human culture. It was his only way of feeling different. When at last the Womb unlocked, he felt a very slight tickle of excitement. What it would be to not be alone again, even for a little while. He tried to stifle the feeling. He knew how this always ended.

“Welcome to the Doppel,” the computer voice chirped pleasantly.

Twenty-Seven stepped into the room to watch the new arrival recover from the incubation process. It sat up slowly, rising out of the pink amniotic fluid that each of the men was born from, stretching its back and arms. It looked around. Focusing on his face. It blinked several times, and he waited patiently for the eyes to focus. It took some time, this orientation to the world of the living. Fortunately, each of the clones was born with the ability to understand language and to speak it; once they figured out how to make their vocal cords work, anyway. The amnion drained from the incubation pod and the hatch opened, allowing the newest arrival to the station to step out into its new home.

Twenty-Seven leaned against the wall. His hair was long, tumbling down his shoulders. His hand stroked his beard out of habit.

“Get some clothes on and find me for orientation when you’re ready,” he said coldly before walking out of the Womb. Something made him hesitate for a moment, and he turned back to his newest crewmate. Maybe this time it would be different. He cleared his throat.

“And, uh, welcome to the Doppel, Forty-Nine. I think you’re gonna like it here.”

“Wait. Sorry, I just wondered. How long have you been here?” the new man smiled awkwardly before asking, as his eyes slowly took in the haggard face of his superior.

Twenty-Seven shook his head and chuckled.

“About half of forever, man.”

Figurative Sketches

How did you foil or dodge someone else’s attempt to cheat or deceive you?

Recently, I was at my parents’ house (it is empty now) and the phone rang. A guy with a strong Mexican accent asked for my grandma (who passed away a few years ago, but the landline is on her name) and I said it was me. I thought it was an extortion call…

Mexican man: It is me, auntie!

Me: who is it?

MM: Me! Your beloved relative! Don’t you remember me anymore? I left Guatemala so long ago! Guess who am I!!

Me: Quique!!! So nice to hear from you! How are you mijo? How are your wife and kids?

MM: Well, we are all ok! Look auntie, I want to surprise my family, but I got stuck in Mexico DF Airport! Please help me not to blow the surprise! I need money to pay some taxes here. Can you send me $1000 through Western Union today? I will pay you back tomorrow as soon as I fix this!

Me: Are you sure you will fix it with only $1000? I can send you more just in case…

MM: Thanks auntie! Let’s make it $3000?

Me: I will send you $5000. Call me in 3 hours to give you the transfer number.

MM: Please deposit under the custom’s employee name it is XxXx…

THREE HOURS LATER…

MM: Hi! Could you do it?

Me: I just remembered that Quique is not my nephew, it is my grandson. And he is gay and single… and hung up.

Roast Pork with Potato Dumplings

This is one of my all-time favorite comfort foods.

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

Dumplings

3 to 4 pounds starchy potatoes
2 to 3 eggs
1/2 to 1 cup all-purpose flour
Sea and or kosher salt, to taste
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Pork Roast

1 pork roast
Oil (for browning)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Paprika, to taste
1/2 to 1 pound coarsely chopped onions

Instructions

Dumplings

In a large pot, boil potatoes in salted water with the skins on. Peel and put them through a ricer (if you don’t have a ricer, use the back of a spoon to smash potatoes through a sieve). Let cool completely.
Refrigerate.
The next day, about 30 minutes before the roast is finished, set a large pot of salted water to boil.
To the cooled, riced potatoes add eggs and 8 to 14 tablespoons of flour, depending on how starchy the potatoes are). Also add salt, nutmeg and parsley. Using your hands, form potatoes into balls between the size of golf and tennis balls.
Add the potato balls to the boiling water but do not let the water continue to boil. When they float to the top in 15 to 20 minutes, they are done.

Pork Roast

In a large, heavy pot, heat oil. Sprinkle the roast with salt, pepper and paprika, and brown quickly in oil. Add onions and brown them, too. Turn heat down to medium low. Add a little water. A carrot and a couple of fresh tomatoes can also be added if desired. Cover and cook for 2 hours, turning occasionally.
To make gravy (optional), remove the roast and add a little water to the pan to de-glaze it. Add a little flour or cornstarch to thicken the drippings.
Serve dumplings and pork roast with red cabbage or sauerkraut.

What was something that a teacher told you in school that you knew was obviously wrong?

I was taught to read the newspaper when I was in elementary school by my parents and an excellent 4th grade teacher. When I was in 8th grade I read an article that said drug addict pregnant women gave birth to addicted babies. When I told my teacher in health class about the article she didn’t believe me. She said women who ate bananas did not have babies addicted to bananas. I pointed out that heroin was addictive and bananas were not. She told me to shut up and sit down.
In high school I read a newspaper article that said the military tested LSD on unsuspecting soldiers and several had killed themselves accidentally while in a drugged state. One jumped out a highrise window because he thought he could fly. My gym teacher told me I must be mistaken because our military would never do such a thing. I asked why it was in the newspaper if it wasn’t true. She said she didn’t believe I read the newspaper.
Freshman year in college in my American History class my professor attempted to tell me that the scientific belief during slavery was that Black people were not really human. That they were like monkeys or pet dogs. I told him that they may have said it but they knew it was a lie. Because given how white men raped black female slaves they must have seriously been into bestiality. Livestock cannot farm or clean or build or cook or rear and feed their babies. They knew we were just as human as them they used that lie to justify slavery. Then I walked out the class.

How did you foil or dodge someone else’s attempt to cheat or deceive you?

Originally Answered: Have you ever foiled/dodged someone else's attempt to cheat or deceive you?

Oh Yes!

Late afternoon, on my way back to my dorm, Pink Floyd in my ears when I saw that lady coming towards me and smiling.

She was absolutely gorgeous, well dressed, and waving towards me.

Obviously I turned around to confirm that it wasn’t me(because well, why would it be me? I don’t know her) as she approached and said hi!

Baffled, I removed my headphones and replied back.

Lady: “Hi. How are you?”

Me: “Good thanks, and yourself?”

Lady: “I’m in some trouble and I’m really looking for some help. I need to meet my brother at *I forgot where* really soon and I don’t have enough money for fuel. Would you mind lending me 10 Rand(South African currency)”.

Me: “Sure thing”, while I handed out 10 bucks.

Lady: “Thank you so much, you really saved my day”.

Me: “Pleasure”.

Now, I’m the type of person who usually helps others when I can. That day I had some bucks, so I did.

What happens next?

Couple of months later, I was on campus chatting with my buddy and this absolutely gorgeous lady approaches us.

Lady: “Sorry to disturb you guys, I see you’re having a great chat. I’m missing out on some fuel cash and I need to go see my brother who is working. Do you have any spare 10 Rands?”

Me and friend: “Apologies, we don’t have cash on us”.

Lady, looked at us weird, turned around and make some comment. Me and my friend didn’t bother.

However, something struck me then. I knew that lady. Hell yes I did! However, it was too late to foil her plan.

Epilogue

Months later, I bumped into her again.

I decided to be an asshole that day and as soon as she started speaking I wore my evil grin.

Lady: “Sorry sir, I nee…”

Me: “Ahh, you gonna meet your brother again. You know, it’s the third time. I would have literally given you a hundred if you had changed your story.Try to be more creative next time, gorgeous!”, while I walked past her laughing.

Of course, I got the “Fuck you!” reply but I was too content to care.

Why is China the largest factory robotic installer in the world, with over 50% of all installations when they have so many unemployed people?

Entirely different

These Robots are doing jobs that NOBODY IS REALLY INTERESTED IN DOING

Like sewing buttons onto shirts or cutting lines of cloth

How many workers today do you think line up for 55 Yuan per day to sew 560 buttons onto 80 shirts at 1 Yuan for 10 buttons?

How many workers want to cut line’s of cloth and earn 70 Yuan a day for 140 metres a day of cloth?

How many workers want to get paid 60 Yuan a day for manually applying coloring lines on steel bars?

Almost NONE

So China needs Robots to do the job and to do it far more economically

These Jobs are now done by what is called 5G Factories

Fully automated factories working with 100–120 workers doing jobs with automated machinery that formerly close to 300–500 workers were needed

That’s because workers aren’t keen on working for 1500–1800 Yuan a month anymore

They want a minimum of 3000 -3200 Yuan a month

The Unemployed people are primarily College Graduates

They want advented jobs meaning Jobs that suit their qualification

In 2015 – the Offering Starting pay was 5,750 Yuan a month for a Non Trainee STEM graduate

In 2024 – It’s 9,150 Yuan a month

If you see the Vocational Training, the unemployment rate among fresh graduates is a mere 6.57%

Against nearly 18.5% for University Graduates

Dating Sucks for Gen Z & Millenials

The Beardsley Park guard lions

When I was a very young boy, perhaps five or so, we lived in Bridgeport, Connecticut. My father was working as a metal technician in a Steel Factory, and going to night school to become a metallurgical engineer.

It was the early 1960’s. Cuba was a popular destination for vacation, and we had a black and white television and some very “modern” furniture. We had a very 1950’s dining table, and ate healthy home-cooked meals.

In fact, restaurant trips were very rare. Perhaps once a month.

My father would take myself and my sister to the local park; Beardsley Park for a nice walk and some exercise.

It has hills and a lake with a bridge to a small island. It was a wonderful place to stroll, walk and explore. I learned that sometime in the 1960’s or 1970’s the city sold off huge sections of the park to create low cost housing. And over the subsequent decades these areas became an urban blight. Sad.

Then there were some efforts to revitalize the areas. Now it is much better, but still not as nice as the wooded streams and trails that used to exist was.

But the park still exists. And back in those days, was a lovely place for us kids to walk with our father. Great memories.

We used to walk over this bridge to launch bottle rockets (those plastic water filled jets that fly to the sky). It still exists. And it is beautiful.

CT Bridgeport BeardsleyPark byJasonPersaud 2015 004 Sig

Oh and the bottle rockets. They looked like this…

water rocket 768x779 — water rocket 768×779

And here is what another person has to say about them…

I certainly didn’t hurt for toys when I was a kid. However, I didn’t have EVERY toy.

Witness the Texaco Fire Truck. Another cool toy that sadly never made it into my toybox was the water rocket.

I saw hundreds of ads for water rockets in various comic book ads.

One day at junior high school, for a science demonstration, I finally got to witness a water rocket in action.

Pretty cool stuff! So cool, that nowadays there is a passionate online following of homegrown water rockets. Read on.

The water rocket was allegedly created in 1930 by future professor Jean LeBot in Rennes, France. While still a student at school, he experimented with a champagne bottle (designed to hold high pressure) filled partially with water and pressurized by compressed air from a bicycle pump fed through a cork with an inner tube valve at its center. The rocket was launched from an inclined plank forming a ramp.

It flew well, but the bottle would smash on impact.

At some point after that (the details are very sketchy), toy manufacturers began marketing water rockets made from high-impact plastic. The rocket would sit on a plastic hand pump and launch with a trigger pull.

I found photos of some rockets that were manufactured in Germany in the early 50’s and that looked just like the V-2 models that rained down on Great Britain.

Later models included curved fins that would put a spin on the rocket, causing it to fly higher and straighter.

Once you pumped the launcher enough times to achieve optimal pressure, you pulled the trigger and were rewarded by a rocket shooting skyward, accompanied by a satisfying hissing sound and a jet trail of water and water vapor.

Then, the device would plummet to earth (the nicer models included a rubber padded nose cone to absorb the impact).

The comic book ads we grew up with are long gone, but water rockets continue to exist today, looking very much like we remember them.

However, there is a passionate following of home-built water rockets out there on the web. Most of the rockets are made out of plastic two-liter soda bottles. The lightweight cylinders can withstand high pressure, and are thus ideal for aeronautical flight. Not only that, they don’t shatter like glass champagne bottles when they land.

Here’s another comment from Peter…

And many roads are really great to walk upon and very safe. Well at least it used to be…

When we were young, and it was Winter, my father would take us to the hills in the park to sled ride.

And in the Spring, my mother would take us out to walk, frolic and run down those very same hills on blue sky cool early Spring days…

We, or course, would love to run around on the grass.

The core area of the park still exists, but the streams and the outer reaches were sold off and used for urban development. Sad. The Park system is necessary for a healthy and vibrant community to exist.

In the park, I believe off the beaten path was a crypt. I suspect that it belonged to the man James Beardsley (1899), who donated the park to the city of Bridgeport.

By 1881 James Beardsley, a wealthy cattle trader, had given 100 acres along the Pequonnock River in northeast Bridgeport to be designated a public park. Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., and John Charles Olmsted, assessing the distinctive scenic advantages of large trees, hilltop views, boulder outcroppings, and sloping meadows, suggested further land donations.

John Charles Olmsted’s 1884 report laid out their suggested improvements—thinning woodlands into open glades for parklike character, while encouraging native shrub growth for decorative understory; enhancing hillside areas for distant views while utilizing the natural boulders to create a vine-covered, bastion-like carriage concourse.

Cognizant of those without carriages, he suggested a railroad station on the west side of the river for public access.

The park’s first building, the Queen Anne-style Casino, was built at this time. Other statuary and structures that survive today include a bronze figure of James Beardsley (1899), two gable-roofed brick barns (circa 1900), the Seltzer Memorial Bridge (1918), and the Island Bridge (1921).

Oliver Bullard, who had implemented Olmsted plans for the U.S. Capitol Grounds, was hired in 1885 to supervise park work but died just five years later. His daughter, landscape architect Elizabeth Bullard, was recommended by the Olmsted firm as his replacement but ultimately passed over due to concerns about “political strife.” Continued shaping of the park according to the expanded 1904 Olmsted plan stalled or was poorly implemented, with connecting drives unimproved. Against advisement, a zoo was added in 1920, augmented by retired animals from the circuses of Bridgeport citizen P. T. Barnum.

By the 1990s, the park, owned by the City of Bridgeport, included the 56-acre zoo and measured 181 acres overall. The city sold the zoo in 1993 and Beardsley Park and Beardsley Zoological Gardens became separate entities. In 1999 the two were listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Anyways, this small crypt had two lions on both sides of the center door.

With lion statues, maybe something like this…

We would hike up to the crypt, and my father would dutifully placed us on the two stone lions and take our pictures. All the memories. He must have taken hundreds of pictures in that pose. Sadly, I don’t have any of them, and my sister probably sold them off in some kind of estate sale.

Sad.

But that is life. Don’t you know.

Perhaps the only one else who remembers those times when we were growing up is my sister, and she is “off living her own life” and really doesn’t want to be “tied back to the past”.

So here, for all you out there in “MM Land” is my little glimpse into the life that MM what I am today.

Today…

How would you try to develop a poor African country in 10 years, as its president?

Very simple!

I will do what China did. China doesn’t care if I copy their model of development, so I will copy it. There is no need reinventing the wheel.

Of course to copy China’s development model, you need to understand what China did and is still doing to rapidly develop.

Now if you want to know how they did it, it is simply through urbanization.

China realize that agricultural villagers have low incomes, but the moment these same villagers migrate to urban centres, they work in different jobs, and their incomes go up substantially.

Chinese leaders sat down and said if we can replicate and speed up urbanization, but do it artificially, then we can mobilize the huge population into full employment and reap the benefits of urbanization.

See: Why China is moving millions to cities

So what China did was to start building up planned modern cities with infrastructure and amenities besides most of the towns and villages. Once a planned city/town was completed, every individual and family was given an apartment to occupy. Larger families with more members get larger apartments according to the size of the family, and individuals get single apartments.

You may be asking by now how do the villagers get jobs? Well, once the constitution begins, many of the working age population from the village work on construction and other projects, so they already have good paying jobs than their vegetable farms.

Please see before and after pictures below:

Now remember this is a process that normally occur in every country around the world because there is “Rural to Urban” migration going on every where in the world.

The problem with allowing this Rural to Urban migration to happen naturally is that although it still causes countries to develop and reap increased GDP’s, it is very slow and unplanned. This means the benefits are slow, and because it is unplanned, urban centres usually face severe hardships in the form of inadequate infrastructure.

What China did was to speed up the process and also plan the urban centres that villagers will be moving to, so once they arrive, they do not settle in city slums.

Now I know many people will be leaving me comments and pointing out that forced urbanization is tantamount to human right abuse yada yada yada.

To an extent it is, but do not forget that any economic policy that a government engages in anywhere in the world has both positive and negative impacts on people. What governments usually do is a cost benefit analysis, and if the benefits outweigh the costs, the policy goes into effect.

Now to give a little detail, the Chinese Government always pays market rate for the land that they have to build the new city or construction project on. Citizens can use the money to buy in the same area being developed or in another area. Sometimes a free apartment is included as part of that compensation. In almost all the cases, the government leaves you much wealthier than when you had your old house.

China is a master of this craft, and many citizens are often ready to sacrifice a little for a greater good of the whole society.

I personally like China’s model of development, because it is very simple, easy to follow, and easy to understand. Therefore if I were an African leader of any country, I would study the model very well and replicate it in the country that I lead.

It’s rough out there

Winning an experience

I just won an expensive dinner from rich friend A, which I am trying to exchange for tickets to a show the daughter has designs on.

So far he hasn’t budged. He says I’m no sweet young thing and my pleas are falling on deaf ears.

How did I win the bet?

He insisted Iran will attack before the defenses are in place, in a marked departure from April.

I took the other view.

We set the deadline at 2359 Tuesday, local time.

My reasoning is it is more advantageous for Iran to wait, provided it can cocoon itself from preemptive attack, having promised punishment on Israel.

Russia’s entry secured that, with weapons that can hit the USN and the provision of advanced air defense systems. The grapevine chatter is su35 fighter squadrons will also be transfered.

Waiting for the inevitable Iranian response is not only expensive, but also disruptive for the Israeli economy. Putting units on high alert is also exhausting, and stressful.

Let the games begin.

Wife Has a MELTDOWN After Getting Caught Cheating…

How would you try to develop a poor African country in 10 years, as its president?

This is a very interesting question for me. I’m not an African president, but my company is working with one of the inner African countries to help develop their country.

This country is very poor and always engaged in internal war, better nowadays but not good enough. I think a safety and a peaceful environment is fundamental for development. So the first thing I have to do is to stop this recurring internal war. In order to stop a war, you need to be:

Armed heavily enough so that they will have second thought before attacking us. Obviously, we cannot participate directly in this, but there are third party who can.
Have a place that is easy to defend, Currently they are living in the forest village with no protective measures and easy to invade from all angles. High rise buildings with barbed wired concrete wall can be built for villagers to live in within a smaller protection zone. This will be much easier to defend.
Negotiate via 3rd party country (Which is in collaboration with us already) with the rebel leaders to try reach a win-win-win situation for country, rebel and our company.

The next is fulfill their basic necessities. This country has ample natural resources for company, and we will in turn provide them with medicine, food, water and machinery.

The next step is to train the people up so that they can work for themselves rather than relying on the natural resources forever. Schools for fundamental education and training schools will be built. The first step target is to equip them with the basic skills to do basic work as per those in the developing countries, with the basic education of a primary school level.

A small town then will be built and this will attract all the workers. This town will be linked with the other more developed African countries and also the outside world.

10 years is short, it will be good if the above can be achieved.

What do you think is China’s relationship with Vietnam, given that Xi Jinping addressed To Lam as “comrade” in his congratulatory telegram?

The relationship between Vietnam and China is very special. It is difficult for me to describe the relationship between the two countries as “good” or “bad”.

Why did China’s President Xi Jinping call To Lam a comrade?

This is easy to understand, because Vietnam and China are both countries ruled by the Communist Party. In the communist era, the two countries themselves were comrades and brothers. Leaders of all communist countries call each other comrades, and anyone with a little historical knowledge should understand.

When Chinese people call the leaders of communist countries such as the President of North Korea and the President of Cuba, they call them “comrades” instead of “President” or “Mr.”

So Vietnam and China have a very good relationship at the official level. After all, there are not many communist countries left in the world. The Communist Party of Vietnam and the Communist Party of China have established a close cooperative relationship for a long time. In fact, since 2010, the Communist Party of Vietnam has sent senior officials and young party members to the Central Party School of China every year to participate in study and further education. The top leaders of the two countries maintain close contact, which is why we have found that Vietnam’s national policies in recent years, including economic policies and anti-corruption policies, are very similar to China’s practices. Because they themselves have a relationship of mutual cooperation and learning.

But if we think that the relationship between China and Vietnam is a complete alliance, it is not wrong for Vietnam to maintain a very complicated relationship and mentality with China.

On the one hand, as communist countries, the two countries and the two Communist parties have a natural cooperative relationship. After all, in the minds of many Western countries, communist countries and Communist parties are symbols of evil. There is a natural tendency and need for the two red countries to form a group.

At the social level, China and Vietnam have thousands of years of cultural ties. Chinese culture and popular elements are all popular in Vietnam. When foreigners travel to Vietnam, they will be surprised to find that Vietnamese society and historical culture are very similar to China. At the same time, China is also Vietnam’s largest trading partner and the largest source of investment. The proportion of intermarriage between the two peoples is much higher than that of other countries.

On the other hand, Vietnam and China have historical issues. Whether it is the Sino-Vietnamese War that broke out between the two countries during the Cold War. Or the maritime disputes that have always existed between the two countries in the South China Sea, these issues have long been affecting the relationship between the two countries.

At the social level, Vietnam pays a lot of attention to China. In the past few decades, in historical narratives and nationalist education, China has often been described as a “millennium invader.” Thereby enhancing people’s sense of national identity and national independence. Many Vietnamese I know think that China is a northern devil who “attempts to annex our territory at any time.” Therefore, many ordinary Vietnamese do not like China. In the opinion polls of the ten ASEAN countries, the favorability of ordinary Vietnamese people towards China ranked second from the bottom, only higher than the Philippines. It is far lower than ASEAN countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Of course, from the perspective of China, Vietnam is a small country. The vast majority of Chinese people do not care much about Vietnam. Some young Chinese do not even know where Vietnam is, so they do not care much about “China-Vietnam relations”, which is a phenomenon I have found in many young Chinese. Therefore, the relationship between Vietnam and China has become a peculiar existence.

If I summarize it in one sentence: China-Vietnam relations are far better than the relations between most countries, and far worse than the relations between most countries.

Tropic Thunder Robert Downey Jr Funny – Best Reactor Reactions Rated

What are the implications of gender-neutral parenting?

In July 2024, an American father named Harrison Tinsley won sole custody of his four-year-old son, Sawyer Tinsley. Sawyer’s mother had been trying to raise their son as non-binary and “gender neutral”. She even made the little boy wear dresses some times, and would put makeup on his face. Whenever Harrison would pick the boy up, the little lad would cry, as he felt uncomfortable in his get-up…

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At the same time, children have this inate sense of loyalty towards both their parents… so they tend to go along with things, nine out of ten times. Sawyer’s mother herself identifies as a “non-binary lesbian”. Anyway, Harrison Tinsley reported the case child protective services and noted the little boy was clearly unhappy with the lifestyle forced onto him by his mother, who appears to be some sort of weirdo ideaologue. Was it ever about the best interests of the child? I doubt it. As soon as neutral observers from government agencies got involved, it is very telling how soon the child was removed from his mother’s custody.

[1]

What are the implications of “gender neutral parenting”? It comes from an ideology that the parent(s) adhere to. One in which no things ought to be ‘gendered’ and a child ideally should go by gender-neutral they/them pronouns until the child “figures out what he or she is” later in life. It’s never about what is best for the child — it is about ‘progressive’ parents living vicariously through their children and showing off how ‘forward thinking’ they are.

Footnotes

[1]

Dad wins full custody of son, 4, after child’s mother allegedly tried to raise him non-binary

Trust

It’s a flashing red warning sign.

Men’s fashion guide cards

Men, on a scale of 0 to 10, dressing WELL will add +4 points to your attractiveness scale.

The following are British style cards. Wearing any one of these coordinated outfits will set you way above all the rest. *wink*

(Not a paid endorsement. -MM)

NEVER Judge a Book By Its Cover! BIGGEST Surprises They Didn’t See Coming…

How has your appearance affected your life?

My appearance has always been a big topic, with stress of the word, BIG. I am 6′8″ tall and I weigh about 350 lbs. I have a sleeve of tattoos, and usually have a beard of some sort. I need to lose some weight, but having discussions with numerous people, they say I am not fat, per se…… I am just a huge individual.

the picture below, I am with three guys that I played football with in school. from left to right, a DB, a linebacker and a lineman. not really small guys

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here I am with three guys. the guy to my left, in his own right, is considered a big guy too

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And my personal favorite…… I was in a Halloween costume contest.

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I always loved the last photo. Mainly cause the girl to my left looks kinda afraid of me. (I dress up as Leatherface every year) btw, I won the contest

Being my size affects all aspects of my life. Clothing, vehicles, hell, just sitting in a chair makes me nervous, since I am not sure it is going to hold me. Nothing better than waiting in line to get on an airplane, only to have people looking at you hoping you aren’t seated beside them, or actually hearing that phrase said out loud. Funny thing is, I can sit on an airplane seat, and buckle the seatbeat just fine. One of the problems is the fact that my shoulders are almost 3 feet wide. Clothing is more expensive. Finding a reasonable priced vehicle to drive. My wife and i, when we first started dating, we never took her car anywhere. I couldn’t fit. Nothing like jumping into a hotel shower, and the shower head is about to my chest. Almost all mirrors, cut me off at the neck. Certain door frames, if I don’t remember to duck, concussion time.

When I first met my wife, and she was introducing me to her friends, she had warned me on the way to the party that some of the guys in the group were probably gonna mess with me. We show up, and everyone was super polite, and nothing was said or done to me. I later found out that the moment I walked in the door, all the guys looked at one another and decided to not mess with me.

In the Halloween picture above, after the contest, the bouncer at the bar came up to me, and demanded I remove my mask. When I asked why, he said, dude, I just gotta see what you look like. you are freaking me out.

My friends and family love going to festivals and crowded locations with me. Usually, they like how when I walk, usually people get out of my way. Also, they like to watch people watch me. The double takes, the staring. I used to have a problem with it, but I eventually just accepted that I am different physically. A lot of people think I am a big scary guy. A lot of people think I was a biker. In my youth, I also had a lot of problems at bars or clubs, cause there was always someone, drunk, with a little man complex. They wanted to fight the biggest guy in the bar, and guess who that usually was? I have come to embrace my size. I work a job where I speak with people on the phone. Every now and again, I have to go onsite to do trainings. I am very pleasant on the phone. Not to say I am not pleasant in person, but you don’t know how many times i have shown up to a location, and deal with weird looks, and usually throughout the training, it is usually mentioned that I do not look like I sound on the phone. or I wasn’t what they were expecting.

The funny thing is, I just think I am a little bigger than everyone. I don’t realize how much bigger I am until I see pictures. But I am actually a very caring, sensitive and sweet man. Or so my wife says…….

Putin – Xi interaction

What could be the potential consequences if the U.S. Navy blockaded all Chinese ports, including Hong Kong and Macau, at the same time?

LOL. Let the fools try The US military leadership already know the answer, and will in the most forceful terms possible tell the fools in the Biden/Harris or Trump administration that it is not possible.

The US military knows that a ship within a thousand miles of China if there is war will be in extensive danger.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/f-35-has-range-problem-china-would-love-exploit-210329

So if the US wants to lose every ship it commits to such stupidity, I guess it can try. The Chinese have a massive air-force, of which fighters such as the J20 are specifically designed with stealth to attack US shipping, and there are anti-ship ballistic missiles and cruise missiles that will take out anything will within a thousand miles of China.

The Chinese defense budget is specifically oriented to destroy any attempt by the US to come anywhere close to China.

The reason the US is moving out of Okinawa is because it would be impossible to supply or defend in a war.

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240616/p2g/00m/0na/048000c#:~:text=In%20January%202023%2C%20defense%20and,Okinawa%20to%20Guam%20in%202024.

Really think the US would leave Okinawa if it was of value against the Chinese. Of course not. Keeping forces there would just be asking for them to be easily destroyed by the Chinese if there is a war.

If the US cannot defend Okinawa, then how are they going to be able to blockade China.

Just imagine the US bringing a super carrier force within range of China.

That would be immediately some 5000 men that would be dead on just the carriers, and the entire task force destroyed would be more men than was lost in 20 years of the war in the Middle East.

Duluth Bodycam is a Real Life “Fargo” Movie

What is the smartest thing you have ever done in an interview?

Showed up looking like a drowned rat. Summer between semesters . Would be my 1st job away from home on my own. My transportation was a 3 speed Schwinn from Western Auto. The day of the interview was the biggest rain storm ever. Walked in to the receptionist’s desk apologizing for the mess and if they would direct me to the janitor’s closet I would clean up behind myself. While she is bringing away from this over watered creature at the front of her desk, this older gentleman happened to be walking by and stopped. Asked me if I was there about the warehouse job. Yessir. He turned to her telling her to forget the application and interview. Just give him the new employer package W4 and whatever else he needs to sign. Turning back to me he puts out his hand to shake telling me there were 4 others that were supposed to come in and cLled off for the rain. And they had cats so I know you will be here when you’re supposed to be. Welcome aboard. Thus I met the founder and owner of Maddox Furniture Co. He and his 3 sons who had to work in every dept before getting an office. It was maybe 6 years later I was working a job A hundred miles away out in a parking lot when one of his sons walked up to me telling me I remember you. Had no idea who he was. My job with them he was in the office and I was hidden away in the warehouse but he remembered me. That was the kind of company that was. They always treated their employees decently. Of course I’m guessing his father took great pleasure telling all how he hired a drowned rat that just came swimming in.

Rap Fan FIRST time REACTION to PRINCE, Tom Petty – “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” No Way…

No way…!

Prince. The man is PRINCE!

What is China doing with respect to its own minorities?

I am a Muslim from China. My ethnic group in China is called “Hui”. I live in the eastern region of China where the Muslim population is very small. When I was in primary school, everyone had lunch provided by the school. But I couldn’t eat it because Muslims in China don’t eat pork. My classmates found this interesting, and my teacher specifically told everyone in class about Muslim dietary habits so they wouldn’t keep asking me questions.

Every year, my family (both my parents are Muslims) receives some “dietary subsidies” from the government, although it’s just a small amount today. The purpose is to allow Muslims to “buy some beef and mutton” because pork is cheaper compared to beef and mutton. So, it’s a goodwill policy.

When I finished junior high school at 15 and took the entrance exam for high school, my score was increased by 10 points by the government, also because I am a Muslim, which is a “special treatment” for ethnic minorities.

My maternal grandfather was an imam at the mosque. He didn’t go to school but studied Islamic knowledge and Quran recitation for a few years with a teacher from Henan Province (a province in central China with a relatively high Muslim population). He became an imam when I was about 5 years old. So, I have some impressions of him. I recorded these impressions on the Chinese social app Zhihu, which is China’s version of Quora. Please allow me to quote from my own article, which mainly describes how my grandfather, as a Muslim, interacted with the Han Chinese. Here is the quote:

My grandfather was an imam at the mosque in Xuzhou City from the age of 50 to 80. Before that, he worked at a glass shop on Fuxing Road in Xuzhou City. He passed away at the age of 96. He often said during his lifetime that he hoped to die on Friday, the Muslim “Jumu’ah day.” He passed away on a Friday. After breakfast, he suddenly felt unwell and passed away fifteen minutes later.

Here are some impressions he left on me during his time as an imam:

There were many Muslims in Xuzhou City in the 1980s, and many people came to him for help. In the area where I lived, it was customary to give a “tip” when asking for the imam’s help. However, if someone had no money at home, even if they offered compensation, he wouldn’t accept it.

The mosque in Xuzhou City was originally located near a street called “Tiehuo Street,” surrounded by many Han Chinese. My grandfather had a good relationship with all the Han Chinese neighbors. He often helped when there were weddings or funerals in Han Chinese households. Many Han Chinese would respectfully call him “Grandpa Imam.”

He always respected the Han Chinese way of life, so the Han Chinese also respected his ethnic customs. Once, a Han Chinese child about my age, around 5 or 6 years old, was walking and eating a piece of pork. When he met my grandfather, he politely asked, “Grandpa Imam, do you want some?” As soon as he finished speaking, the child’s grandmother slapped him from behind. My grandfather noticed the embarrassment and laughed heartily, saying to the child, “Sweetie, Grandpa will give you a piece of freshly cooked beef, which tastes better than your pork!”

In the 1990s, when the mosque was relocated, he donated half of his life savings. At the same time, if he knew that Han Chinese families were in trouble, he would also help with his meager income.

He may have had heart disease in middle age. In the 1980s, medical care in China was backward, and several doctors believed it was coronary heart disease. Before he passed away, several doctors who had treated him had also passed away, and my grandfather “defeated” the doctors. After the age of 80, one of his favorite pastimes was sitting in the small garden in front of his house, competing with some old men from the neighborhood to see who could spit farther.

I am his youngest grandson. But he had high hopes for me from a young age, hoping that I would attend an Islamic college and inherit his legacy. Although I didn’t follow his advice at all later, the understanding that “Hui and Han are one family” left a deep impression on me from a very young age.

From childhood, my grandfather taught me to recite the Shahada, tell stories from the Quran, teach me how to pray, and tell me about Islamic holidays. Although I am now 43 years old and live in an area with very few Muslims, I still adhere to Islamic customs. However, I have never promoted religious knowledge when going out. I only give specific answers when friends ask questions because it’s my private matter.

I have always expressed respect for missionaries of other religions I encounter. Because in this secular land of China, behind many missionaries are the ups and downs of personal destinies, and even tragic lives. Expressing respect and understanding is the most basic courtesy.

Quote ends.

Finally, if someone asks me what China has done for its Muslims, I would say that it has achieved harmony and peace.

When Package Thieves Get Instant Karma

Classical art

Man Left The U.S. For Thailand And Never Came Back

Captain Antonille

Andrew Grell

CAPTAIN ANTONILLE

By Andrew Paul Grell

“Au contraire, mon ami. I predate the elves. What you call Homo habilis. I prefer Mensch on a Bench.”

“Either way. You’re not all that much bigger than that doll and you’re sitting, legs a-dangle, on the bar. And either way, we’re out of gas, my little living doll.”

“We’re the cultural attachés, it’s not up to us. Trust Captain Antonille, he’s even older than I am, and Captain Crunch, she’s older than him.”

“Oh, great. That’s right, diminish the human crew in favor of your tiny Kapteyn’s Star people from that diminutive planet you call home.

“I can ask you the same thing, how does it feel to live on a little tiny planet whizzing by, never finding a home? You know we discovered you by accident, right?”

“I’ll be there with more than six bells on. Little elf shoe bells.”

# # #

“My dear Captain Kangaroo.”

“My dear friend, Captain Antonille. Thank you for receiving me in your in space cabin. We seem to be adrift. Nice collection you’ve got there. Is it a complete set?”

“Most likely, my dear Captain Antonille. But I believe our agenda involves hydrogen, specifically the lack thereof. And I have pilfered precious moments of our time on comic books.”

“Captain Antonille, I believe we do.”

# # #

“The dome it is, my sweet babou. Let’s take the Centrifugal River route, perhaps a canoe ride to the bubble.

“This is quite romantic, you big oaf. Tell me, Dick, when you get back home, will our relationship be a subject of male privilege?”

“Why so, my pet?”

“ATTENTION, ATTENTION. ALL HANDS PREPARE FOR ACCELERATION COMMENICNG IN FIVE MINUTES. PROCEDE TO THE NEAREST GRAVITY COUCHES IMMEDIATELY. ATTENTION, ATTENTION.”

“Probably a drill, Dick.”

“Get on a viewing chair, I’ll get on top of you.”

“Big oaf, trying to get some action when we may be killed at any moment.”

“ATTENTION, ATTENTION. PREPARE FOR IMMEDIATE MOMENT-ARM QUAKE.”

“Wow. If my grandparents could have something like that, they’d still be together. Whew. Hey, Dick, what is that?”

“Care to enlighten me, big boy?”

“Could be. How should I know? I’m an art professor.

“Ow! Hey! Oooh. Ouch.”

“Yip, you OK?”

“I think the radius of my radius has been altered in a very painful way.”

“C’mon, I’m getting you out of here. There’s an exit. I know it’s undignified, but I’m carrying you.”

“Yutz? Putz? JonJon? What are you idiots doing here? There’s an acceleration warning.”

“We could ask you the same thing. And what are you doing here, praying to his imaginary god of his for hydrogen? And what are you doing with him?”

“We’re enjoying the show. Now get your toe bells down to where you’re needed if this isn’t a drill.”

“Dick, I don’t like this. They were perfectly normal engineers when we boarded. It looks like, well, I hate to see us acting like, well, you folks. Present company excepted, of course.”

“Of course.”

“Good thing the ship was designed to have g-couches for both species in each cabin. Whoa, there we go.”

“OMG; I would say that if I thought there were a G. Wow, that was even better than the moment-arm quake. By the way, you make a great comfy pillow for a great big oaf. Mmmm…”

# # #

“I do.”

“You bet I’ll take that big oaf, skipper!”

“I have no objection, alien.”

“Do you have anything to say before punishment is administered?”

“I have plenty to say. This mixing of species is not going to end well. They will infect us with their louche habits and their barbaric ways. Mark my words.”

“Punishment squad, rejoin ranks.”

“Punishment squad, report.”

“Aye, Aye, Sir. Punishment has been duly and justly meted out.”

“Captain Crunch, you have been punished. Return to your post and continue to make sure this ship gets where it’s going safely.

“Dismissed!”

What are the best examples of people who have “gamed the system”?

Originally Answered: What are the best examples of people gaming the system?

In Seattle, there are a lot of people who live on the waterfront (in Lake Union). There are two types of floating life shelters: Floating Homes and Houseboats.

Houseboats are one of the most ingenious ways I’ve ever seen of gaming the system. It’s a pretty long, but very interesting story. Read on:

Back in the early 1900s, people who could not afford a house on land in Seattle started building simple house-like structures using some logs and put them on Lake Union and started living there. Since the lake was open to the public, anybody was allowed to build such a “floating home” free of cost and live there.

People who lived on such floating homes did not pay any property taxes. On realizing that, a lot of people who lived on land started moving to the lake and naturally it started getting crowded. Since these floating homes did not have proper sewage system, people started to dump all their waste on the lake and hence it started to become a mess.

The City of Seattle then decided enough is enough, and drew up some regulations on how many floating homes will be allowed on the lake and designated certain spots in the lake to be for the exclusive use of floating homes. Since the number of homes were limited and they were always docked, they also decided to hard wire them into the city’s sewer and electricity systems. Thereby, floating homes were started to be considered as regular homes and people needed to pay property taxes on them.

Here’s the floating home used in the movie “Sleepless in Seattle”:

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When something becomes “limited edition”, obviously prices go up. So all of a sudden, what was once the home of people who could not afford a house became a limited edition floating home that started to go for millions of dollars. Also, sewage and electricity were no more an issue.

Now, there were this new class of people who couldn’t afford a home on the land, and obviously not the waterfront as well. So they just started to put a roof on their boats, and started living there. Since they were just regular boats, there was no restriction on how many such boats could be in the lake as long they are registered vessels. It gradually evolved and today’s “boats” look like this:

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You see what they did there? It’s a lake and obviously the city cannot put a limit on the number of boats allowed on the lake. These “boats” are registered as vehicles to the DMV and are authorized to be in the lake wherever and whenever they want. The only restriction being, “they should be able to move on their own”. So all they need is to have a motor underneath that will help them achieve that criteria.

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If you look closely at the above photo, you can see a Honda motor attached to it on the bottom left. It’s very impractical for the city to enforce that rule on a day-to-day basis. So most of these boats, even though they self-propel at the time they are registered to the DMV, they hardly remain so throughout the year.

So today, you can find a lot of such “Houseboats” on the waterfront of Lake Union in Seattle.

This was a story that was told to me when I took the Ride The Ducks of Seattle tours in Seattle. It’s really an awesome tour, and I highly recommend taking it if you are visiting Seattle.

Explained: ‘Western Conspiracy’ To Create A New Christian Nation In The Region That Sheikh Hasina Revealed Months Before Ouster….

With the recent removal of Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina from power, questions are swirling about whether global regime change actors played a role in her ouster.

Although the immediate catalyst for her downfall was widespread anger over the jobs quota system, the US and other Western powers had signalled their disapproval of Hasina openly ahead of the January elections, which she ultimately won.

As the US employed its usual “defence of democracy” rhetoric to criticise Hasina and pressured her to meet the demands of the Opposition, which is predominantly composed of Islamists and extremists hostile to democratic values, Hasina made an intriguing revelation.

She alleged that a Western power is conspiring to establish a Christian state in this region, similar to East Timor.

While Hasina did not elaborate any further, leaders of her party, the Awami League, later told Swarajya that what Hasina meant was that an independent ‘Zo’ state, comprising areas of Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Mizoram, inhabited by the Kuki-Chin-Mizo people is being incubated by a Western power.

“Like East Timor, they will carve out a Christian country, taking parts of Bangladesh and Myanmar with a base in the Bay of Bengal,” Hasina had said.

She had not mentioned that the project — of creating a Christian country — also includes parts of North East India, but that would have been an “unintentional omission” on her part, Awami League leaders told Swarajya.

The Kuki-Chin-Mizo people have, in recent years, started calling themselves collectively as ‘Zo’ people.

They are also aspiring for ‘Zogam’, or a homeland for the Zo people, comprising large parts of the Chin state of Myanmar, the Indian state of Mizoram, and Kuki-inhabited areas of Manipur, and the Bandarban district and adjoining areas of Bangladesh’s Chittagong division.

All these areas are contiguous to each other and, except for Mizoram, are experiencing militancy by Kuki-Chin terror groups.

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Cop Realizes the Dismembered Body is Alive

https://youtu.be/0RIA1zVKlvU

Have you ever seen someone ruin their life in just a few seconds? How did they do it?

I was living in a fraternity in 1978 when a blizzard shut down the city of Boston, and our university. The blizzard had dumped about 30 inches of snow in 24 hours.

Having no classes to go to, some of my frat brethren grew restless. Someone suggested we jump out the second story window onto the snow pack, which was, after all, 30 inches plus, and surely sufficient to break our fall.

Well, after a few jumps, the challenge wore off and people started jumping out the third floor window. Onto the same spot. That went on for a while; my memory fails me a bit but 15-ish people made that jump.

You can see it coming. The third floor was getting too easy. Let’s move on to the fourth floor. Never mind that the snow, in the mean time, had been compacted significantly. Many of us tried to discourage the jumpers. Some third floor jumpers said “no thanks”. But some moved to the fourth floor.

The first jumper landed hard. He got up and started gesturing that this was not such a good idea, and that we’d better stop. The second guy jumped. And sat there, in the snow. While I can’t remember all the details of that afternoon, I have a very vivid memory of him just sitting there, staring in front of himself, mumbling something about not being able to feel his legs.

The ambulance came. We saw him in the hospital, and he came out in a wheelchair. I’ve lost contact, but to the best of my knowledge he remained a paraplegic the rest of his life. Because of a bad decision to jump into a snow bank that had compacted into ice.

And in case you think I’m talking about a rowdy alcohol-consuming drug-using frat boy, this was a very intelligent, low-key, gentle, thoughtful individual, a grad student at one of the best universities in the US. With a thrill seek that put him in a wheelchair. I still can’t fully grasp it.

Scamming Women

Asian Fusion Breakthrough

It’s the supply chain, stupid

Godfree Roberts

Aug 7

The first electricity generated by controlled nuclear fusion must come from our country, and we are working towards this goal. Lu Tiezhong, Chairman, China National Nuclear Power, September, 2023.

Amid growing concerns over a world energy crisis, controlled nuclear fusion¹ is viewed by experts and industry as the ultimate solution to humanity’s need for infinite, clean, cheap energy. Once science fiction, it’s now a ferociously competitive field, as teams worldwide compete to make it a reality. Yet our media are ignoring the most exciting scientific news of this century

The Technology

The most popular approach to fusion energy uses tokamaks, whose superconducting magnets generate powerful fields that confine hydrogen atoms so that they fuse into heavier atoms and give off excess energy in the process.

In 2007 a multinational consortium raised $20 billion to build ITER, a tokamak² fusion-containment reactor to demonstrate fusion plasma in 2026. ITER chose exotic, low-temperature superconductors to cool its magnets, their astronomical cost, complexity, bulk, and massive amounts of energy for cooling discouraged Chinese scientists at ITER, but their experience created a large talent pool of outstanding fusion engineers.

In 2001, Energy Singularity Corp³, a private Shanghai company, raised $1 billion to build HH7, a tokamak fusion-containment reactor. Energy Singularity chose cheap, high-temperature superconductors, HTS, to generate stronger magnetic fields in smaller, cheaper, faster machines than ITER’s and its first tokamak, HH7 achieved a plasma density⁴ high enough for commercial goals last month. Yasmin Andrew, a nuclear scientist at Imperial College London, said several private companies (Bill Gates funds one) are working on fusion, but HH70 is the first tokamak to achieve a plasma.

Energy Singularlity’s CEO Yang stressed that using high-temperature superconducting materials can reduce the volume of a device to 2% of that of traditional low-temperature superconducting devices, and shorten the construction period from the original 30 years to 3-4 years to build a tokamak device with a Q>10 (a ten-fold return on power, or 500 MW of fusion power from 50 MW of input power. COO Ye Yuming promised that their next reactor, HH170, will be the smallest, cheapest tokamak capable of achieving a 10-fold energy gain. Its field strength will be 110% of SPARC and its volume 70% of SPARC (the MIT tokamak above), enabling further cost reduction.

MIT’s Dennis Whyte says the domestic supply chain and technology development are critical as fusion technology advances, “It is no longer just studied for science’s sake but is pivoting towards implementation as a new energy source”.

The exotic HTS tapes in the HH70, for example, come from Shanghai Superconductor, a global supplier since 2011 and one of six that mass-produces HTS tapes. This year, Energy Point Corp, another member of the fusion supply chain, will deliver 25 Tesla, D-shaped high-temperature magnets – ten times stronger than HH70’s 2.5 Tesla magnetic field, and construction of HH170 will begin next year. Work on a tokamak fusion power plant, HH380, will begin around 2030.

New energy, new industry

Significantly, 93% of the high-temperature superconducting tokamak was sourced from China’s domestic fusion industrial chain and 100% of its IP is entirely indigenous.

China’s Secret Sauces

Andrew Holland, CEO of the Fusion Industry Association, fears that the fusion industry will follow the pattern of the solar industry, where manufacturing came to be dominated by China. “It’s very clear that China has ambitions to do the same thing, both in the supply chain and in the developers,” he said. “It’s time for the US to respond to this challenge”.

But China’s consistent policy support, generous funding, domestic supply chain, large-scale manufacturing experience and vast, highly educated workforce give the country an immense, first-mover advantage in the engineering implementation of nuclear fusion technology and, potentially, creating a new era of sanity and joy.

Hydrogen Bombs are unconfined nuclear fusion events.

Russia created T-1, the first tokamak, in 1958.

Energy Singularity was established in Shanghai in 2021, focusing on commercially viable high-temperature superconducting tokamak devices and their operational control software systems. The company’s shareholders include miHoYo, developer of Genshin Impact, and EV maker, NIO.

The higher the density the more nuclei packed together, increases the chances of a fusion event. “Plasma density is the Goldilocks factor in nuclear fusion: too low, and the fusion reactions won’t happen, too high, and the plasma becomes unstable. Finding and staying in the sweet spot is essential for achieving the high-energy-density plasmas needed for sustainable fusion power”.

There is an old saying for what the US government is doing.

With friends like these, who needs enemies. The US is the worst enemy of US companies. US companies are being killed by the Neo-cons in their jihad against China.

I wonder what the Chinese are thinking. Is this real?!? Is this some sort of trick? Or are the people in the US government really that stupid? Nobody is that dumb for that long right? It’s been almost 8 years they’ve been doing this. How dumb do you have to be to continue even though it isn’t working?

Some of my MM art experiments

Theme is dinner prep.

Is it seriously true that “Han Chinese” and overseas Chinese are taught to believe Chinese toilets and restrooms in the public in China are cleaner than the ones in Japan and South Korea?

Is it true that we are taught to think that public toilets in mainland China are cleaner than those in Japan and Korea (South)?

There, that is the more precise question.

The simple answer is no, especially to those born before 2000s and has parents or elders who had visited their hometown back in the Mainland.

Going there involves off-roading, literally, since paved roads were non-existent outside cities like Fuzhou or Xiamen.

What we hear was:

It is very cold, outdoorish, smelly, and dirty
They re-use the crap for fertilizer and bio gas for cooking
The toilet are mostly makeshift squat type and waterless
The toilet blind is chest high, you can see everyone doing their business while squatting

Today though, if you use Google map and see the area, the remote village is now a proper small town with modern high rise apartment and highway access. Must be quite a miracle to see that transformation in just 20 years.

There are KFCs and sizeable shopping mall in the town centre. Back then, the village has eateries at all, only public communal cafeteria.

I have no experience at all with that part of China. I visited Japan much more often, and from what I can see, the decline is pretty much visible. From the cleanest robot toilet in public restroom, to floating crap inside shinkansen – left by a frail Japanese oba-san nonetheless. During busy and peak holiday season like the Golden Week – you can’t count on drunken and frustrated Japanese venting-off to keep things squeaky clean.

However, worry not. East Asia in general is generally far cleaner than the rest of the world. Rich countries like Australia and those western Europeans are generally far more awful at keeping public restrooms clean, even when compared to some Southeast Asian countries.

Cops Make the Worst Discovery of Their Lives

https://youtu.be/L6Igs5d-cbs

Why are so many Millennials dropping out of college?

I graduated but my six friends all dropped out and I’ll tell you why and it isn’t pretty. High school is a joke. The teachers, pushed by the school to have a 98% graduation rate gives you what to study. They tell you what to highlight, what areas to study, what is important and what isnt important. The classes are dumbed down so smart kids can practically pass without trying which then makes them think they dont need to study. Meanwhile the average learners are like this is easy and the struggling kids think they got it.

Then college hits and these kids struggle because they never got the chance to develop the proper study skills needed for college.

However high schools did one more bad thing. They said they can do anything they want and never settle. A friend of mine wanted to be a doctor but didn’t have the study skills or skills needed. However even when I brought up EMT, medical technicians and stuff she was capable of she denied it because she only wanted to be a doctor. When she discovered she had no choice, she dropped out.

My other friend was gifted. He was smart but in high school, he never had to do homework or study to gets straight As. He failed journalism and realized college wasn’t for him. He is a UPS driver now and is happy. He got a fiancée. He is making pretty good money.

My other friend wanted to do women’s study. She was halfway through when she wised up and researched what a women studies degree will get her. She wasnt happy. She quit and instead became a vet technician. I trust her with my cats and it’s good to see a success story. But she didnt finish college, she went to certification instead.

My other friend wanted to be a doctor. She dropped out when she got pregnant. Too much studying whilst constantly sick.

My other two friends had no idea what they wanted to be. They just knew they had to go to college because it is expected and high school teachers said life without a degree is bad. One made it six months, another a year. Both went to trade schools instead to become plumbers. Both make more money than I do.

I graduated with my BA in psychology. I am a ABA technician. If I want to move up, I need to get my masters but I don’t want to add 30,000 in student loans. Definitely not when I’m finally down to eight grand in my current student loans.

Plus, if I do go back to school, I no longer want to do psychology. It’s too overcrowded so work isn’t easy to come by. I would want to go into the medical field but as a technician. I have no want to be a doctor and go back to eight more years of school.

The reasons why millennials are dropping out of college are because: too many people have degrees, which dilutes the work field; people aren’t realistic with their abilities; everybody wants to be a programmer or a doctor because they make great money but most people don’t have the skills to do it; the price is ridiculous; and our educational system failed to train them for college.

When a Welfare Check Turns Into a Murder Investigation

What’s something a doctor did to you that you won’t ever forget?

‘Calm down, kid. Scroll Instagram. And I’ll be back in 20 minutes, with a negative Corona report,’ the doctor said.

About a month back, I was going through high fever alongside irking cold.

My CRP was 42. I thought I had ‘that’ virus. And just when I was panicking overly, I met this super cool doctor.

It wasn’t a private hospital. Or his private clinic. I went to have my RAT in a government hospital.

When I reached the hospital, I asked many doctors for help. And guess what, they weren’t even replying to me.

One female doctor even halted me from coming into her cabin, when she got to know I was asking about the antigen test.

But when I met this doctor (the kind one)— my perspective about the government hospital changed. Totally.

He asked me to sit back and relax. Then he put a thin needle-tube into my nose, and collected the sample.

‘Calm down, kid. Scroll Instagram. And I’ll be back in 20 minutes, with a negative Corona report,’ he said.

‘Okay,’ I said, faking a smile.

Twenty minutes later, exactly, he came where I was sitting and asked me to come to his cabin.

‘Congratulations,’ he said. ‘You’re tested negative for Corona. It’s just a viral fever. Isn’t it a big news?’

‘Yes,’ I said.

I was so elated with my negative report, and with him, too, that I asked him—

‘Can I take a photo, please?’

‘Of the report, of course.’

‘No, no, no.’ I said. ‘I want to take a photo of you.’

‘What makes you take a photo of me?’

‘I’ve been circling this hospital from 9 AM, and no one was willing to help me.’ I expressed. ‘But you were different. You cared. It’s different from a private hospital. Here you’ll get paid no matter how wickedly you behave with your patients. But you chose not to. Instead, you were a little extra polite to me. I really appreciate that.’

I took a short delay, studies his face (he was smiling), and continued;

‘I’m sort of a writer. I write on a site where I fetch good views. I want to write about you there. If that’s okay with you, of course. And also, you’re wearing double-mask and all. So I don’t think a photo alongside my answer would hurt you.’

He had a hanger wide smile on his face after I said all this, to him.

‘That’s my duty,’ he said. ‘Patients are already wired when they come to the doctor. And being treated badly, is probably the last thing they want in that position.’

‘True.’ I said, and clicked his photo. ‘Okay, then. Have a nice day, doctor.’

‘You, too.’ he said. ‘Take a good care of yourself.’

He was an absolute gem, wasn’t he?

What was your first “What did I get myself into” moment in the military?

Marine boot camp is tougher and longer than the other branches. The scariest moment I experienced that the words “What the hell did I get myself into, this time?” whispered out of my lips as I got off the dang bus. Everything after that was cool. Well, maybe not cool but I wasn’t scared any more. My feet hit the yellow foot prints and figured, “I got this.” The gas chamber was a blast. Seriously. I smoked so when the Charlie Sierra gas got to me it didn’t phase me. I didn’t cough, my nose was dry, my eyes didn’t water but when I walked out of the chamber my Senior was standing with two other SDIs and called me over. I reported, he asked me if I liked it in there. I didn’t want to say yes but certainly wasn’t going to say no. “Sir, yes, sir!” He told me to go back in without my mask. Came back out still smiling. I heard him tell the others “That one can eat that shit for breakfast.” If you’d seen what everybody looks like coming out of the gas chamber you’d know my condition is rare. Everybody coughs, eyes watering, nasal passages fill with liquid snot, your eyes burn so you try to open them here and there not to bump into anything. Their head is down, some puke, and the whole time still coughing and blind. As you walk out you raise your arms and walk into the wind to blow it off. If you try to rub it off it burns your skin even longer. Anyway, once you realize, “I got this.” it’s all fun and games from then on.

TOP “Sixth Sense Ending” Reactions Spoiler | Movie Reaction

What are the best examples of people who have “gamed the system”?

J.D. McMahon, a forgotten yet fascinating confidence man of Wichita. He was the mastermind behind one of the most notorious scams in early 20th-century America: the construction of the world’s smallest skyscraper.

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In 1919, during the peak of a petroleum boom in Wichita County, Texas, McMahon saw an opportunity to exploit the rapid growth and demand for office space in Wichita Falls, the booming hub of the region.

As businesses flocked to the area, the need for office space soared. McMahon, who owned an oil construction company, proposed an ambitious plan to build a skyscraper on an adjacent empty lot to accommodate this need. The idea was well-received, and investors quickly pooled $200,000 (equivalent to $2.7 million today) into the project.

However, McMahon had a clever trick up his sleeve. The investors, eager to profit from the boom, didn’t scrutinize the blueprints he provided. These plans detailed a building that was 480 inches tall—not 480 feet, as the investors assumed. When construction was completed, the so-called skyscraper was a mere four stories high, measuring just 40 feet in height, 12 feet in length, and nine feet in width.

To add insult to injury, McMahon’s building was not even equipped with an elevator, as the elevator company withdrew from the project. Instead, a ladder was initially used to access the upper floors, and later, a narrow staircase was installed, which occupied a significant portion of the building’s already limited interior space.

When the investors realized they had been duped, they attempted to sue McMahon. However, the lawsuit failed as the documents clearly stated the building’s dimensions, though in inches rather than feet. McMahon had stayed within the bounds of the contract, and the investors had no legal recourse.

After completing the building, McMahon vanished, taking most of the $200,000 with him. Today, the Newby-McMahon Building still stands as a quirky landmark, housing an antique store and artist’s studio, and is recognized as a Texas Historic Landmark and part of the National Register of Historic Places.

Controversial!! Indians REACT to The Simpsons: HOMER AND APU GO TO INDIA!

What aspects of Chinese culture could the world learn from?

When I lived in China, I saw many things that I wished the world would come to appreciate about China, and do them the Chinese way. Here my favourites:

Two-hour lunch breaks. In China, university campuses are huge, so in order to reach the restaurant or cafeteria, you need time. There is something wonderful about these long walks at mid day, across a huge, park like campus, and a great, slow meal with many dishes.
Public sleep. Nowhere else in the world are people so relaxed about taking a nap when they need it. It is good for your health, and it is nice to see people trusting their environment so much.
The Path of the Middle. This is a huge concept that books have been written about, which we all should read. But it boils down to “avoid extremes.” It also means to prepare well, save up, keep yourself comfortable. I think we westerners have been glorifying extremes for too long.
Parent-child-attachment. Chinese children maintain a life long relationship with their parents that is much stronger than what we westerners tend to have. You get so many lonely old people in Europe and North America who actually have children, but barely have contact with them. China does that better.
Multi-dish-meals. A good meal is often measured by how many dishes were served. Whenever I sit down to my plate of Spaghetti Aglio e Olio, I am thinking “in Shanghai, there would have been at least four different choices now.” It makes for a much nicer meal.
Constant negotiation. You notice this after a while in China. Nobody ever goes straight for something, but everything requires input from both sides. “When shall we meet?””How about 13:00?””Hmm… 14:00?” “13:30.””Ok.” This is also how they walk, how they drive, how they do business… you always feel accommodated.
Acknowledgement through imitation. This aspect is perhaps the most misunderstood about China, and it explains the knock-off culture to a certain extent. In China, there is nothing wrong with imitating someone or something. It merely states that you respect someone or something as “the best.” And even we westerners know that imitation can be a shortcut to mastery. But we are so obsessed with our stupid old “every man for himself” and “gotta be original or die” that we totally miss this very useful tool completely.
Saving face. Diplomacy in China goes a bit further than ours. It is perhaps comparable to what the British often do; they will generally ensure nobody ever looks bad in any situation, so they will go to great lengths in planning things to make sure of it.

What would I face if I fell into a grain silo, what would my chance of survival be in the silo?

Ooh, pretty slim I’m afraid. It’s not a good environment. I used to build grain dryers, which are silos that heat up sweetcorn, for animal consumption, until it is dry enough, and then drops it down into the base. From there a screw will ‘pump’ it out into a storage silo.

One day, the screw ‘bunged’ up. So I, the newbie, had to go in and clear it. I was all keen in those days and was ready to leap in with my pole and start stabbing around at the hole in the bottom of the silo.

The ‘old-un’ grabbed me by the collar just as I was climbing through the hatch to drop down into the dune.

He said;- “if you do that, we’ll have to send in a team to dig your body out” more or less, (in French).

They tied me into a harness and kept a good tension on the rope. I was amazed — corn will let you ‘down’ but not up. You have nothing to push against. You just keep sinking, slowly, but surely, as you move. If you stay utterly immobile you stick. But if you move you just descend. You could lie on your back, but not much more.

Many years later I was at a party where in the next field there was a waste grain pit that some of the party-goers were betting each other about getting over it. Two of the party-goers were seriously traumatised, even though the pit was only six feet deep.

If you are on your own in a grain or corn/sweetcorn silo, for whatever reason — do not move. Not even a finger, you just stay still. When you hear someone, whistle loudly, scream, but do not move.

However, if they start up the transfer screw, (Archimedes screw) you are screwed. They make a lot of noise and you’ll not be heard as the centre of the grain starts descending. If you are in the top of a silo with many meters of grain below you, you’ll be sucked down. The trap where the screw entry is won’t kill you straight away — it might rip your foot off though, and should stall the motor, unless it’s a big one, in which case it could pull your entire leg off.

If your head goes under the grain/corn/whatever, you’re dead by asphyxiation/suffocation.

If you meet the screw, you’re dead — loss of blood/trauma/shock.

Be wise, don’t get in a silo unless the access hatch is open, the fuses are out of the screw, and there is no grain/whatever present.

Even when empty, don’t go in there with a cigarette… I saw a flash fire in a flour silo once. Amazing!

For interesting and pretty scary reading here is a link that I found to give you a better idea of what I am talking about.

Life threatening grain bin encounters

Fun reading…

How China leaped 15 years ahead of the world in nuclear power: the same way as in everything else

Zip and it’s gone

Today, I want to talk about a class action suite that I was involved in.

Back in the 1990’s, there was this interim storage method for computers. It lay somewhere between the early floppy discs and the record-able CD ROMS that became all the fad at the turn of the century.

This was a “ZIP disc”. Which was a high capacity (for the time) floppy disc storage system. And a bought a few systems to store content on my various computer system setups.

Now, the thing was that the company was offering a rebate, and a discount. So everyone was buying the things.

They cost something like $100, but if you buy it, you can apply for the $50 rebate after three months of use. The numbers are approximate, but it was something like that.

Now, it was a big scam.

Oh, the system worked all right. It’s just that the company had no intention on giving anyone the rebates and the bonus prizes and rewards. And millions of people were upset. As was I.

I think they owed me around $250 all told for all my system components. This was big dollars back in the day.

We all gave up. After month after month of sending in the UPC codes off the boxes, xerox of the receipts, and credit card bills they were never enough. We were all just on this endless hamster wheel cage with no way off.

Anyways, imagine my surprise when a class-action suite was made against the company and all of us on the aggrieved listing were ordered to get our money due to us.

Boy. I was so happy about that!

$40 million dollars.

Certainly, I will finally get my money back.

But when my check came in… after all, I was expecting $250. The amount given to me was an entire $1.21. Yup. The award, minus the attorney fees, and divided by the number of aggrieved customers.

Sheech!

This is the American system in a nutshell.

Today…

What actually happens when an empire falls?

Usually madness. Utter, self-inflicted madness.

The kind that comes from getting too big for your britches, believing your own hype, and forgetting what made you great in the first place.

That’s the first symptom of an empire on the decline.

It’s like watching a star athlete lose their edge, thinking they don’t need to train as hard or that they’re above the rules.

The result?

A spectacular fall from grace.

Empires aren’t built on luck or divine right. They’re forged through grit, innovation, and a clear understanding of their purpose.

But as they grow, the rot sets in.

The elites become complacent, fattened on luxury and power, losing touch with the common folk who sustain them.

The bureaucracy swells into a monstrous, inefficient beast, choking on its own red tape.

Corruption becomes the norm, as officials line their pockets at the expense of the state.

The first cracks appear at the edges, where the empire’s reach exceeds its grasp. Rebellions flare up, fueled by resentment and neglect.

The military, once a lean, mean fighting machine, grows bloated and sluggish, more interested in protecting its own privileges than defending the realm.

The economy stagnates, strangled by overregulation and cronyism. The whole edifice starts to creak and groan under the weight of its own decadence.

And when the final blow comes, it’s often not from some mighty external foe, but from within.

A palace coup, a popular uprising, a cascade of defections – it doesn’t matter.

This is the nature of all Empires.

It's not a matter of if it will fall, but when, the seeds of its destruction are already sown within its own heart.

What is the best decision you ever made that made your life better?

Experience 1:

I was at my office desk and it was around 1 p.m. which means lunch time. I was already so hungry I could eat a human. But I didn’t want to eat alone. So I went to invite a co-worker to join me.

“Okay. Give me 20 minutes; I’m finishing up my work.” he said.

I can wait for 20 minutes. No big deal.

Twenty minutes later… He’s still typing on his computer.

“Hold on. Gimme another ten minutes. I’ll call Adam (his friend from other department) to join us.”

He called Adam who agreed to have lunch together, then continued his work.

Ten mins later (so that’s already half an hour)…

“I don’t think I can join you. I have to finish this work. Please go first. I think Adam is already waiting at the cafe. If I manage to finish my work in the next ten mins, I’ll join you guys,” he said.

Experience 2:

The weather was good. Blue sky, windy. I was in the mood for running. I wanted to go out and sweat. I skipped exercising for three weeks due to workload and when the weekends came, I was occupied with other stuff. Either that, or terrible weather. There were always excuses. But that day I had no excuse. I was thrilled to go out.

It was 4.30 p.m. I rang my neighbour who’s also a runner.

“Bro, the weather is so good today. Let’s run,” I said.

“It is. But can we go at 6 p.m.? I have something to do right now.”

One and a half hour is nothing. I can wait. No big deal.

6 p.m. The weather changed from good to bad. It was suddenly raining. So we cancelled our plan. If I just walked out of the house at 4.30 p.m., I would probably be sweating and came home at 6 p.m.

These two and dozens of similar experiences led me to a decision.

Don’t wait for others. You want to eat? Go. You want to run? Go. You want to watch movie? Just go. You want to travel? Go.

For all the things you can do alone, just go. Wait for nobody.

Pasta Neapolitan

k 2023 05 napolitan spaghetti napolitan spaghetti 023 1

Ingredients

1 pound dried angel hair pasta
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1 cup grated parmesan cheese, preferably Parmigiano-Reggiano (divided)
5 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced, or to taste
Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
2 cups fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley, finely minced (about 1 cup chopped)
Sea salt or kosher salt

Instructions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a vigorous, rolling boil. Cook pasta until al dente.
Drain well and put into a warm serving dish with the soft butter in it; toss pasta until coated, then add most of the cheese and gently toss again. Keep warm in oven.
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and red pepper flakes and cook just until the garlic turns light brown; pull pan off the heat. (Do not rush by cooking at a higher heat; this will burn the garlic and cause it to taste bitter.)
Add the minced parsley and a generous pinch of salt and mix with a spoon until it resembles the texture of pesto.
Immediately pour over the warm pasta and toss well to distribute the sauce evenly.
Sprinkle with the rest of the cheese and serve.

Do women really cheat more than men?

It is often said, and in my experience this is true, that women cheat out of desires of the heart and men cheat out of desires of the body. I have cheated on my ex-wife. I am not proud of it, nor will I make excuses for it. The reasons were strictly physical. She, herself, cheated on me as well — initially just having “emotional affairs” online. This changed when she fell in love with someone, and physically cheated on me as well. At which point, the marriage came to an end.

For me, cheating was strictly a physical thing… younger-me believed variety is the spice of life and just wanted to “get it on”. For her, it was a matter of love — she still loved me, but in some ways she found me lacking as a husband. My lack of ambition. My lack of “drive” to make something of myself. The ease with which I accepted life as it comes, and how little I needed to be fulfilled. Whereas to her, the sky was the limit and she wanted it all. She wanted wealth. She wanted a bigger house, more trips and travels, better food, more savings for the future. She wanted so much, and me, I was okay with what we had. So she sought out someone who she did feel compatible with. Who wanted the things she wanted, too. Someone ambitious. More wealthy.

And she left me, for that person. And this seems to be somewhat of a recurring theme, when it comes to men cheating versus women cheating. All I wanted was just to get laid with other girls… whereas my ex, she wanted a more suitable partner. I find that men are more likely to want to cheat as a one-off thing, a fling, an affair without love being involved. Lust over love. With women, love over lust. When she’s gone, she’s gone for good.

Biker Gets Into Terrible Accident, Loses Leg…And His Wife NEVER Leaves Him Or His Side

Is it true that most of Singaporean Chinese treat and consider the Singaporean Malay Muslims as inferior or second class citizens?

You are mistaken guys! Your question is rather unfair to Chinese Singaporeans.

I was in my father-in-law’s watch shop in a fashionable street in Malacca, Malaysia in 2006-2007. A couple of well-dressed Malay man in his 30 walked in with a gorgeous looking Malay girl.

My wife, a Malaysian , gestured to his father to serve them as they were vying on a Swiss watch for quite sometime.

Guess what? My father-in-law, after a glance for 3 seconds at them he continued doing his thing.

When they left, he mumbled in Hokkien to allow me to understand. “Malay people, won’t buy, dress nice-nice, got 2 Ringgit in the pocket”

My wife looked at me and smiled, then rolled her eyes.

Years have passed, I was again in Malacca in one evening, I was so thrilled to see a “Malay trade fair” when we drove by.

My niece-in-law was a chauffeur, she has grown to be a big girl now she knew what I was up to, so, she said “**Uncle, they will look at you as a freak —if you are not like a Malay, we Chinese, don’t usually go, they are kings here. Let them enjoy.”**

My wife looked at me she smiled, then rolled her eyes—reminded me of what she did 17 years ago.

What is your question, again?

It’s rather unfair for Malay people to be kings in both countries—Malaysia and Singapore…The Malay knows this pretty well, don’t they?

Why should the world unite with the United States to stop China, considering that the United states is worse than China?

The world shouldn’t, and doesn’t, unite with America against China.

America is a genuine global menace. Endless wars. Endless deaths. Endless destruction.

Endless sanctions.

Endless political interference and violation of national sovereignty.

America is an imperialist. It suppresses the Global South from developing. It exploits the Global South for their natural resources.

China is helping the Global South develop through the Belt and Road Initiative.

China is the largest trading partner to over 120 countries.

China has fought no wars since 1979.

The Global South represents 88% of humanity. It is behind China, not America. That’s what BRICS and SCO are about.

America and its allies represent a meager 12% of humanity. They don’t matter.

What is the worst thing you saw on the internet today?

I used to watch this much-memed about reality shaw called Pawn Stars. It’s about a family, father, grandfather and grandson who run a pawn shop together and buy rare items from people for a quick buck. It’s a funny show, a lot of jokes have been made about the whole “best I can do is [insert price]”.

main qimg 619c854a4c6366f75741afe03afd9b2b

Yesterday, Adam Harrison, son of Rick Harrison — the bald guy in all the Pawn Stars memes — passed away at age 39. He had a fatal overdose. TMZ reported on his death almost immediately, as they had heard it through some third party close to Harrison. They didn’t bother to check with the family first before posting. The family then reached out to TMZ and requested privacy in these dark times. They were upset because, get this… they didn’t KNOW their loved one had died, yet!

TMZ found out the troubled relative of a famous reality TV show died. They published his death immediately, and the family had to find out through the internet that their son, father, brother and uncle had passed away. How sick is that?

Didn’t Expect this in CHINA?! 🇨🇳 INSANE MALL TOUR in Chengdu Sichuan

Slowly… Then All At Once!

Authored by James Howard Kusntler via Kunstler.com,

“Biden has been jabbed at least four times. This is his third covid diagnosis. The shots are working great.”

– Jeff Childers, Coffee & Covid

There was a lot of talk about divine intervention at the Republican Convention this week. The country has witnessed a rush of seemingly providential events since the fateful night of June 27th when, to universal horror, “Joe Biden” was unmasked as The Phantom of the White House. The attempt on Donald Trump’s life Saturday, with its intimations of blob involvement, was only the latest of countless trips, hoaxes, capers, and ops that smacked of demonic inspiration laid on the public, so you can’t blame them for feeling that “God is among us now.”

A huge piece of this dynamic has been the Right’s amazing impotence in the eight-year-long march of insults to the republic – especially the failure to find relief for any of that in the courts of law, until last month when the SCOTUS finally kneecapped Democratic Party lawfare operations. A paramount example of that impotence was being unable to find one jurisdiction willing to adjudicate election fraud in 2020 on the merit of the arguments.

But there was much more, starting with collective helplessness in the drawn-out RussiaGate psychodrama, even when all the players and their many nefarious acts were exposed by the alt news media, and extending to the mendacious roguery of the two-year Mueller (Weissmann) Commission, followed by fifty-one former intel higher-ups labeling Hunter Biden’s laptop “Russian disinformation, followed by Rep. Adam Schiff’s Ukraine “whistleblower” prank featuring CIA/NSC/DOD/DOJ moles Eric Ciaramella, Colonel Vindman and IC Inspector General Michael Atkinson, and then the FBI-instigated J-6 riot with the ensuing faked-up House J-6 committee . . . plus you can throw in the stupid Ukraine war, the drag queens in the kindergartens, the bumbling Durham investigation, ten million unvetted illegal migrants flowing into the country and this year’s four show-trials put on to finally break Mr. Trump.

For many in this land, it has been like the classic nightmare of being paralyzed in the presence of evil. So, it’s no wonder that the Republicans came into their convention with a tremendous tailwind of relief when events suddenly broke their way in June. Now, everyone knows that the current president is a vindictive invalid who will be tossed overboard by his own terrified party in a matter of hours now. And the entire scaffold of lies supporting “Joe Biden” and his party is wobbling badly, too.

You could see it in the deranged terror of Rachel Maddow’s increasingly contorted face last night as she rehearsed all the hoaxes she has helped to perpetrate, along with her mentally-ill posse of Jenn Psaki, Joy Reid, Nicole Wallace, and the strangely mute white male Ari Melber. It seemed that any minute Rachel’s head would spin and start spewing pea soup at the camera. When will an exorcist finally pay a visit to MSNBC?

As the sun sets on “Joe Biden’s” career, what’s left of his campaign runs an ad in which he promises “to finish the job.”

Sounds kind of sinister now, doesn’t it, like something a crime boss might tell his caporegimes? And for sure the country is suffering from this three-year-plus reign-of-terror against common sense and common decency.

The wreckage is everywhere, all over this land. “Defending our Democracy,” my ass.

The party big dawgs have paid their terminal visit to the old grifter bringing the sad news that it’s over. Of course, this excites several new headaches for them. Foremost: how can “JB” bow out of the election on account of mental infirmity but still remain president? Even if they call it something else, make some other excuse, the whole world knows now that the president is gone in the head. There are six months remaining to the end of his term and a lot of urgent issues requiring a president’s attention. You can be sure that pressure will rise to shove him out of office altogether. And it may come before the Democratic Convention in late August — if we want to be taken seriously by the rest of the world.

Of course, that would elevate Kamala to the White House. Would getting to be the first female president of-color for six months be her consolation prize for graciously declining an automatic nomination to run in “JB’s” place, so that the party can stage an “open convention” free-for-all? Or would she better serve the party as a sacrificial goat to head the ticket and get buried in what’s shaping up to be an election landslide for the Republicans? Anyway, which of the various replacement politicians — Newsom, Whitmer, Pritzker, PA Gov. Shapiro —really wants to squander a political future in an election that’s as much a vote against the Democratic Party itself as any particular figure in it? Let the party go down so it can be purged of Green Woke Satanic mentally-ill communists and reorganized on a sane and decent basis.

But then there’s always HRC.

She’s been laying back alertly, waiting for an opening to swoop in on her leathery wings and cast a fresh spell over the batshit-crazy women who, in recent times, comprise the party’s base.

At one point, not many years ago, the party was broke and had to be bailed-out by the Clinton Foundation. To what extent does that entity still own the DNC, and especially its cargo of super-delegates? I guess we’re going to find out.

Joe Biden Delivers WORST 80 Seconds in Presidential History EVER…

Are inmates allowed to spend the entire day sleeping?

In the Iowa State Penitentiary they were one-man cells and I’m glad. I like my privacy and its many other conveniences.

We didn’t have to work but to choose that meant you left your cell only to shower, or to eat and you lose your library privilege too.

I also did time in the Federal penitentiary in Lompoc California and those were 1-man rooms … not true cells. The doors were solid with a 6×12 glass window in the door and the bathroom was completely private.

Their “hole” was a unique form of punishment, and I should know: I’ve done time in juvenile homes (8 times), reform school (where I spent 11 months of my two year experience in the hole): military stockades (2 different ones), several jails, and two penitentiaries.)

Lompoc’s hole was unique in that it was designed as an experiment. A psychological experiment in sensory deprivation. No sound. No light. No contact with another person. Just two weeks in complete and utter darkness and silence. It was a room in a room, which allowed the staff to come and go without letting any light in the cell area and not make any noise either. Food was brought once a day, (a half loaf of bread and half a head of lettuce) and the inmate had no way of knowing it was there or not except by going to the door and feeling around, for they slid it under the door through a swinging panel.

Many developed permanent psychological problems from their 2 week experience, for it becomes very difficult to hold your grasp on reality when there isn’t any frame of reference to ‘hang your hat on’.

I hallucinated a lot and even created two fellow cellmates to chat with! When they disappeared soon after I met them, I was devastated. This all took place between the years of 1956–1958 and I suffer now from claustrophobia as a result of that experience.

Ain’t life a blast!

Have you ever witnessed anyone throw away their life?

A rather friendly man talked to me at a party, back when I was a teenager. It was the birthday of his nephew, who was my younger brother’s friend. All the kids in attendance were rather young, and I was happy to talk to someone a bit older, someone who seemed interesting. He was a photographer, and he took photos of everyone in the garden, and around the house.

The man traveled the world. Experienced a lot of things. He seemed full of life, animated, energetic, moving around rapidly. Although he must have been in his forties at the time, he seemed to me the absolute picture of great health. Now this was in the summer, somewhere around 2006 or 2007, I believe. We had a little talk about a trip he was going on, to Russia. How excited he was about it. The party ended rather early, as children’s parties often do. And I went home with my family. But before we parted ways, the man did take a photo of me, and he gave it to me. It was with one of those instant-photo polaroid things… it’s a fond memory, now, because when you’re young, any adult who takes you seriously and talks to you as an equal is often a fond memory.

“Oh hey, Jean-Marie, do you remember the uncle of your brothers friend, the photographer?” my mother asked me a month later. I said I did. “He died yesterday,” she said, “terrible shame. Alcoholism.” Turns out the man I met was dying of a drinking problem. I had no clue. He never went on his big trip. I still have the polaroid, somewhere.

Beavis & Butt-Head Do America – 1950’s Super Panavision 70

China’s EW warfare shocks US

from Asia Times

China’s cutting-edge electronic warfare (EW) capabilities are transforming the balance of power in the South China Sea, as shown by a recent encounter between US and Chinese forces.

This month, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on China’s enhanced EW capabilities by shedding light on a December 2023 incident between a US EA-18 Growler carrier-based EW aircraft and China’s Type 055 cruiser Nanchang in the contested South China Sea.

SCMP says that in December 2023, the US Navy dismissed William Coulter, commander of US Electronic Attack Squadron 136 (VAQ-136), stationed on the USS Carl Vinson, citing a loss of confidence in his ability to command.

The report says that a month later, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) recognized the Nanchang’s crew for their actions against a US carrier fleet. It also notes that Chinese media highlighted an encounter involving an EA-18G, believed to be from Coulter’s squadron, and the Nanchang cruiser.

The report mentions that PLA scientists recently disclosed in a Radar & ECM journal article that AI-enhanced radar gave the Nanchang an advantage over the EA-18G’s jamming capabilities.

It claims that the EA-18G, manufactured by Boeing, has been upgraded since 2021 for future warfare but faces new challenges from the PLA–Navy’s (PLA-N) integrated radar systems and communication strategies.

SCMP notes that these advancements allow PLA-N warships to form a “kill web” to counter the EA-18G’s attacks. It also says that the Nanchang’s reported proactive tactics and successful engagement with US forces illustrate a shift in the PLA-N’s EW approach.

Much-improved Chinese EW capabilities developed after then-US Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s controversial August 2022 visit to Taiwan may have enabled a feat.

SCMP noted that the PLA failed to track and surveil the US Air Force transport plane carrying Pelosi during her visit despite deploying Type 055 cruisers and J-16D EW aircraft. The source says that almost all of the PLA’s EW equipment failed to function because of electronic interference from Pelosi’s escorting aircraft force.

On Pelosi’s aircraft escort, John Tkacik says in an August 2022 article for Taipei Times that it could have been a massive force of US F-15s that flew out of Kadena Air Force Base in Japan supported by the USS Ronald Reagan carrier strike group and the USS Tripoli with embarked F-35s stationed in the Philippine Sea.

From that experience, China may have improved its EW capabilities quickly by investing in new technologies and placing them in a more extensive kill web consisting of kinetic and non-kinetic elements.

SCMP reported in February 2024 that Chinese scientists have invented a new class of EW equipment that can reportedly rapidly detect, decode and suppress enemy signals.

The new system, SCMP says, allows the PLA to seamlessly monitor signals into the gigahertz zone, encompassing frequencies used by amateur radio and even Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites.

It notes that the equipment includes innovative signal processing chips and AI integration, enhancing China’s ability to counter enemy jamming and maintain communication flow.

Furthermore, SCMP claims that in encounters with US Navy ships with EW activity, China has used electromagnetic-emitting equipment, including high-power phased array radars, to lock on to multiple targets including US carrier-based aircraft.

Aside from developing new tech, China may already have elevated EW into a strategic capability, integrating it into its multi-domain operations alongside other kinetic and non-kinetic capabilities in a complex kill web.

In a May 2023 article for the Mitchell Institute, Heather Penney describes a kill web as multiple, interconnected nodes that offer redundant paths for executing military operations, increasing the quantity and resilience of potential kill chains. A kill chain is the process required to identify and eliminate specific targets.

Penney says that unlike linear kill chains, which are easier to target and disrupt, kill webs provide a more adaptable and less predictable system, making it harder for adversaries to defeat.

Asia Times noted in April 2024 that the rebranding of China’s PLA Strategic Support Force (PLA-SSF) into the PLA-Information Support Force (PLA-ISF) highlights China’s strategic shift towards technology-driven “intelligentized warfare.”

The PLA-ISF is designed to integrate emerging AI, quantum and other technologies into China’s multi-domain operational strategy against potential adversaries like the US and its allies. The rebranding reflects an evolution in Chinese military thought, transitioning from “informationized wars” to “intelligentized warfare” that includes EW, cyber operations and signals intelligence (SIGINT).

EW is also a key component of China’s Multi-Domain Precision Warfare (MDPW) concept, which leverages AI and big data to identify and exploit weaknesses in US operational systems.

China’s MDPW seeks to dismantle and destroy US kill chains by targeting critical information nodes such as aircraft and satellites through physical attacks and targeting information networks by using EW and cyberattacks.

While the US arguably still has the edge in EW, near-peer adversaries like China and Russia may be closing the gap.

A November 2022 US Congressional Research Service (CRS) defense primer says that the National Defense Strategy Commission mentioned that the US is losing its EW edge, hindering its capability to conduct operations against capable adversaries.

Army Technology reported in May 2024 that the US spent US$5 billion on EW capabilities in 2024, accounting for 45% of global EW spending from 2021-2023, compared to just 14% by Russia and 13% by China.

However, Army Technology says that the US’ dominant position in the EW market is being challenged, as Russia, China and India’s share is projected to increase by the next decade.

The report notes that over the past two decades, Russia has exploited alleged US complacency in EW strategies, which have focused on counterinsurgency versus non-state actors.

It notes that in Ukraine, Russia has used EW to disrupt adversary battlefield networks, support conventional assault forces through SIGINT and jamming attacks, and secure captured territory against counterattacks.

The source also mentions that Russia has used EW to disrupt regional civilian services such as GPS and telecoms.

Likewise, Army Technology mentions that China has mirrored Russia’s use of EW and has equated information dominance with electromagnetic dominance. It says that in addition to shipborne EW equipment, China has installed such equipment and more in its occupied features in the South China Sea.

In line with that, Matthew Funaiole and other writers highlight in a December 2021 CSIS article the expansion of China’s facilities on Hainan Island, Subi Reef, and Fiery Cross Reef, which now includes satellite tracking, communication platforms, and systems potentially used in EW and SIGINT.

Funaiole and others note that these developments aim to bolster the PLA’s ability to operate in contested electronic and cyber environments.

What is the impact of corruption on the economy of a country like China, where it is prevalent at all levels?

In China, the Scope of corruption is very limited these days

What do you use your illegal wealth for?

You can’t buy Land in China because the State owns the land, so you can buy a lease and if you do, you get caught in seconds

You can’t ask payment for your kid to be educated abroad because every official has to give source of funds for his kids tuition

You cant put money into an offshore account because as officials you need Exit Visas and it’s possible you may never be able to use your money

You can’t bury Cash in your mattress because Cash is rarer and rarer nowadays

There is only one way of Corruption that every booked official in China uses

Pre dated Investments!!!!

Buying Gold today and getting a 10 year old bill of sale for that gold and claiming to sell the same today and pocketing the proceeds of sale

For instance claiming you purchased Gold for 100,000 RMB in 2014 and now claiming to sell the same gold for 207,000 RMB and pocketing 107,000 RMB legitimately

Or Pre Dated Real Estate Investments into companies

The problem is that such officials get caught regularly because they didn’t declare this purchase of gold in 2014 in their Assets and Liabilities statement and so find it tough to explain

So Corruption is getting harder and harder and many officials get caught quite easily

Someone Shorted Trump’s Stock Just Before The Assassination Attempt!

Here’s how it works. [1] Victoria Neuland announces about “something will be a surprise”, and then [2] people short stocks for personal profit. This is not the first time this system went into play.

The Ascendance Of Sociopaths In US Governance

Authored by Doug Casey via InternationalMan.com,

An International Man lives and does business wherever he finds conditions most advantageous, regardless of arbitrary borders. He’s diversified globally, with passports from multiple countries, assets in several jurisdictions, and his residence in yet another. He doesn’t depend absolutely on any country and regards all of them as competitors for his capital and expertise.

Living as an international man has always been an interesting possibility. But few Americans opted for it, since the U.S. used to reward those who settled in and put down roots. In fact, it rewarded them better than any other country in the world, so there was no pressing reason to become an international man.

Things change, however, and being rooted like a plant – at least if you have a choice – is a suboptimal strategy if you wish to not only survive, but prosper. Throughout history, almost every place has at some point become dangerous for those who were stuck there. It may be America’s turn.

For those who can take up the life of an international man, it’s no longer just an interesting lifestyle decision. It has become, at a minimum, an asset saver, and it could be a lifesaver. That said, I understand the hesitation you may feel about taking action; pulling up one’s roots (or at least grafting some of them to a new location) can be almost as traumatic to a man as to a vegetable.

As any intelligent observer surveys the world’s economic and political landscape, he has to be disturbed – even dismayed and a bit frightened – by the gravity and number of problems that mark the horizon. We’re confronted by economic depression, looming financial chaos, serious currency inflation, onerous taxation, crippling regulation, a developing police state, and, worst of all, the prospect of a major war. It seems almost unbelievable that all these things could affect the U.S., which historically has been the land of the free.

How did we get here? An argument can be made that things went bad because of miscalculation, accident, inattention, and the like. Those elements have had a role, but it is minor. Potential catastrophe across the board can’t be the result of happenstance. When things go wrong on a grand scale, it’s not just bad luck or inadvertence. It’s because of serious character flaws in one or many – or even all – of the players.

So is there a root cause of all the problems I’ve cited?

If we can find it, it may tell us how we personally can best respond to the problems.

In this article, I’m going to argue that the U.S. government, in particular, has been overrun by the wrong kind of person.

It’s a trend that’s been in motion for many years but has now reached a point of no return. In other words, a type of moral rot has become so prevalent that it’s institutional in nature. There is not going to be, therefore, any serious change in the direction in which the U.S. is headed until a genuine crisis topples the existing order. Until then, the trend will accelerate.

The reason is that a certain class of people – sociopaths – are now fully in control of major American institutions.

Their beliefs and attitudes are insinuated throughout the economic, political, intellectual, and psychological/spiritual fabric of the U.S.

What does this mean to you, as an individual? It depends on your character.

Are you the kind of person who supports “my country, right or wrong,” as did most Germans in the 1930s and 1940s? Or the kind who dodges the duty to be a helpmate to murderers? The type of passenger who goes down with the ship? Or the type who puts on his vest and looks for a lifeboat? The type of individual who supports the merchants who offer the fairest deal? Or the type who is gulled by splashy TV commercials?

What the ascendancy of sociopaths means isn’t an academic question. Throughout history, the question has been a matter of life and death. That’s one reason America grew; every American (or any ex-colonial) has forebears who confronted the issue and decided to uproot themselves to go somewhere with better prospects. The losers were those who delayed thinking about the question until the last minute.

I have often described myself, and those I prefer to associate with, as gamma rats. You may recall the ethologist’s characterization of the social interaction of rats as being between a few alpha rats and many beta rats, the alpha rats being dominant and the beta rats submissive. In addition, a small percentage are gamma rats that stake out prime territory and mates, like the alphas, but are not interested in dominating the betas. The people most inclined to leave for the wide world outside and seek fortune elsewhere are typically gamma personalities.

You may be thinking that what happened in places like Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, Mao’s China, Pol Pot’s Cambodia, and scores of other countries in recent history could not, for some reason, happen in the U.S. Actually, there’s no reason it won’t at this point. All the institutions that made America exceptional – including a belief in capitalism, individualism, self-reliance, and the restraints of the Constitution – are now only historical artifacts.

On the other hand, the distribution of sociopaths is completely uniform across both space and time.

Per capita, there were no more evil people in Stalin’s Russia, Hitler’s Germany, Mao’s China, Amin’s Uganda, Ceausescu’s Romania, or Pol Pot’s Cambodia than there are today in the U.S. All you need is favorable conditions for them to bloom, much as mushrooms do after a rainstorm.

Conditions for them in the U.S. are becoming quite favorable. Have you ever wondered where the 50,000 people employed by the TSA to inspect and degrade you came from? Most of them are middle-aged. Did they have jobs before they started doing something that any normal person would consider demeaning? Most did, but they were attracted to – not repelled by – a job where they wear a costume and abuse their fellow citizens all day.

Few of them can imagine that they’re shepherding in a police state as they play their roles in security theater. (A reinforced door on the pilots’ cabin is probably all that’s actually needed, although the most effective solution would be to hold each airline responsible for its own security and for the harm done if it fails to protect passengers and third parties.) But the 50,000 newly employed are exactly the same type of people who joined the Gestapo – eager to help in the project of controlling everyone. Nobody was drafted into the Gestapo.

What’s going on here is an instance of Pareto’s Law. That’s the 80-20 rule that tells us, for example, that 80% of your sales come from 20% of your salesmen or that 20% of the population are responsible for 80% of the crime.

As I see it, 80% of people are basically decent; their basic instincts are to live by the Boy Scout virtues. 20% of people, however, are what you might call potential trouble sources, inclined toward doing the wrong thing when the opportunity presents itself. They might now be shoe clerks, mailmen, or waitresses – they seem perfectly benign in normal times. They play baseball on weekends and pet the family dog. However, given the chance, they will sign up for the Gestapo, the Stasi, the KGB, the TSA, Homeland Security, or whatever. Many seem well intentioned, but are likely to favor force as the solution to any problem.

But it doesn’t end there, because 20% of that 20% are really bad actors. They are drawn to government and other positions where they can work their will on other people and, because they’re enthusiastic about government, they rise to leadership positions. They remake the culture of the organizations they run in their own image. Gradually, non-sociopaths can no longer stand being there. They leave. Soon the whole barrel is full of bad apples. That’s what’s happening today in the U.S.

It’s a pity that Bush, when he was in office, made such a big deal of evil. He discredited the concept. He made Boobus americanus think it only existed in a distant axis, in places like North Korea, Iraq and Iran, which were and still are irrelevant backwaters and arbitrarily chosen enemies. Bush trivialized the concept of evil and made it seem banal because he was such a fool. All the while, real evil, very immediate and powerful, was growing right around him, and he lacked the awareness to see he was fertilizing it by turning the U.S. into a national security state after 9/11.

Now, I believe, it’s out of control.

The U.S. is already in a truly major depression and on the edge of financial chaos and a currency meltdown.

The sociopaths in government will react by redoubling the pace toward a police state domestically and starting a major war abroad. To me, this is completely predictable. It’s what sociopaths do.

The Sopranos – Random Tony Soprano Scenes

How has your appearance affected your life?

I’m a short man.

I’m 5″6’, so I’m not a ‘little person” but I am short.

When I was dating, I had many girls tell me they would date me if i were taller. Fast forward and I’ve been married 20 years and have three terrific children.

Taller guys sometimes pat me on the shoulder or otherwise treat me like a child. I’m in my 40s.

Aggressive women have often warned me that ‘they could take me.’ I’ve had drunk guys start fights with the ‘little guy’ in a bar or party. Literally just walk up and start talking trash. I had a personal boxing coach for years and although I was never a contender, I learned to handle myself really well.

When I assert myself, I am told I have a ‘napoleon complex’ – when I don’t, I’m ‘passive aggressive’ or a pushover.

I’ve been passed over for leadership opportunities for taller people, and I’ve actually been told that openly. A CFO told me that people don’t like to work for short men. Height isn’t a protected class and you can be discriminated against for it.

I have a great life. Terrific family, despite being raised in poverty, I have accumulated a decent amount of first generation wealth. I have a great career and i do what I love. I really have no complaints.

But my appearance has affected my life.

Russia hits 4 HIMARS launchers and 35 foreign operators

Can Thai police officers demand to search your backpack while using public transportation in Bangkok? What are the consequences if you refuse?

Conduct a search on the bus or train? Thai police ain’t stupid, guys.

They know pretty well that Thais know best. I would say out loud, “เชิญเลยครับ (Be my guest)!”

Be sure to make a scene so that all eyes will look at you, so, you have a lot of eyewitnesses- say this; “พ่อแม่ พี่น้อง ผมกำลังโดนค้นครับ ขอไทยมุงครับ- เป็นสักขีพยานครับ ว่าผมไม่มี บุหรี่ไฟฟ้า ไม่มียาบ้านะครับ!” (Ladies & Gentlemen, I’m about to be searched, gather around folks, please be my eyewitnesses that I’ve no ‘Vapes’ or’Yaba’”)

Let’s be serious.

Once you consent to a search, there are two scenarios you need to know-ONE**, you are confronting with a pair of phony police officers. If you’re allow them to put their hands into your backpack it will mean, you will be a victim of an extortion-you know what I mean.— You may read from the expert online how to get out from a search by the fake Thai police unscathed.

TWO**: It’s real search from the police, and you can’t say no as your tattooed face & both arms, bearded with moustache wearing ’Boss’ blue T matches a description of ‘gold shop heist robber’ Too bad that you’re in a vicinity of the crime scene nearby.

Be shrewd as a snake but keeping calm like a dove **(I borrow from the Bible)- ask their permission to see their palms and what under/ inside their sleeves. If possible, take a video during a seach with their permission as well ( they will allow)

With a **vape** in your possession could cost you up to 30,000 Baht *fine

**Yaba** in your possession is questionable as penalty of drug trafficking is harsher than possession of drugs… you can’t say that, ‘IT ISN’T MINE’

Thai police will typically insist, **I am the law**

What’s other choice when facing with the Thai police demanding a search?

Guys! In Thailand do as the Thai do.

Just walk away that is what Thais would do when the police want to search the backpack of anyone.

What are the consequences if you refuse?

The worst scenario, if you refuse a search—is going to the police station with them.

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What was your best moment when negotiating a salary?

My company was about 9 months delivering my review. I had a great year and likely generated incremental ebitda of over $5 million. When I finallly got me review I was told I did a great job and I was getting the maximum raise – 5% on top of my $120k salary. I flipped out.

Two weeks later I quit. I knew I had a ton of leverage because:

My company was party to a lawsuit and I was a key witness.
The company was going to be sold soon and I was in a key position.

As expected, they asked me to stay and offered me a small additional raise. I demanded $250k, a 75% bonus, promotion to EVP, stock options, 1 year severance agreement if the fired me (plus bonus), and a year of benefits post employment. Told them I didn’t care either way.

It’s been 5 years. I’m still with the company and have been promoted to president. Timing is everything. If you have leverage use it.

Stranded in Philadelphia. America, what’s happening?

“Vast DEI Bureaucracy” Hurting U.S. Armed Forces; ASU Study Finds

By Cameron Arcand of The College Fix

A new Arizona State University study suggests that Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts in the United States military are ineffective.

The study done by the university’s Center for American Institutions argued that there is a emphasis on training new soldiers about social issues like “unconscious bias” and “intersectionality” in a way the center says runs contrary to typical American ideals. The study examined DEI plan’s in different sector of the military, including DEI office staffing and education at academies like West Point.

“The massive DEI bureaucracy, its training and its pseudo-scientific assessments are at best distractions that absorb valuable time and resources,” the executive summary states. “At worst they communicate the opposite of the military ethos: e.g. that individual demographic differences come before team and mission.”

Donald Critchlow, director of the center, wrote in the introduction it was focused on looking at the influence of Critical Race Theory in the United States Armed Forces training.

“The Commission on Civic Education in the Military began as a project to review civic education in the military. Our research team did not expect to find Critical Race Theory so embedded and pervasive. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs are found throughout the U.S. Armed Forces and our service academies,” Critchlow wrote. “This year long study documents just how pervasive these training programs are in our Armed Forces and Service Academies and that DEI extends well beyond just formal training programs in the military and service academies.”

“The Founders of our nation understood and feared a politicized military. History had shown them that a politicized army easily became the tool of tyranny. The Armed Forces of the United States has proudly upheld this long tradition of separating mission from politics,” he continued.

In terms of recommendations, the study suggests that DEI offices be completely scrapped, but said it may be politically unlikely for the time being.

“The surest way to eliminate the concerning trends we have identified, and the growth of race and sex-based scapegoating and stereotyping in the U.S. military, is to altogether end the DEI bureaucracy there,” the study states. “However, until such a time as the executive or legislative branches of the government choose to end the DEI bureaucracy in our federal agencies and military, we are left to advocate the pursuit of alternative avenues that may affect positive change despite existing policies.”

They also suggested the military prioritize civic education with a focus on “America’s commitment to freedom and opportunity.”

The study comes as some branches of the military continue to struggle with recruiting new service members.

To all the doctors, have you ever asked a patient to leave your office?

We just had one on Monday. We are a primary care office in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis. Patients stopped coming to our office because they were afraid we were treating COVID-19 patients. Our volume of patients plummeted to about 20% of our normal patient count in late March and early April. We laid off 50% of our staff and switched to Telehealth. Gradually, patients have started coming back in when they could no longer put off going to the doctor. We are seeing about 50% of our patients in the office and another 20% through Telehealth. We have strict protocols for seeing patients now, but tensions are high among the staff. We are bringing back our staff slowly but surely.

One of our patients had been discharged from the hospital last week for non-COVID-19 problems. This 35-year-old woman followed up with her doctor through Telehealth, but needed to be seen in person for her condition and also to fill out FMLA paperwork. She confused her follow-up date and time (after confirming twice with our email and text reminder service), so we rescheduled her to the next day, a Saturday. Again, she arrived at the wrong time and the office was closed. She paged her doctor who was on-call and demanded her paperwork be filled out over the weekend. This doctor offered to come into the office exclusively on Monday to see her and fill out her paperwork as a courtesy. He was only scheduled for Telehealth which he had planned to do at home.

The patient again arrived late and the doctor was busy on Telehealth with his scheduled patients. She offered to come back in an hour when he had a slot to see her. Again, she arrived late. She refused to wear a mask in the office, as is our protocol and mandated by our state — insisting she was a nurse and it’s not necessary and it is a bunch of silliness. She was put in a room and told to wait, as the doctor was in the middle of seeing another patient.

After two minutes, she stormed out of the room causing a scene, demanding to be seen this instant, get her paperwork, and her narcotics Rx filled. Just then, the doctor came down the hall from his office to see her. She started swearing at him and berating him for making her wait. He threw up his hands and let her know he would not be treated that way and she can leave. He escorted her out of the building. He would not fill her prescriptions or do her paperwork. The patient left.

The next day she started pounding on our door when it was locked, yelling and demanding her prescriptions and her paperwork. The doctor ended up giving her two weeks of her medications and two weeks of FMLA and referred her off to her specialist to finish her care. This patient is being discharged from our practice. This patient consistently runs a balance with our office, has multiple missed appointments, and is rude to the staff. There is no need for this behavior — especially at a tense time like this.

Wednesday – 1960’s Super Panavision 70

Why are there still people think that China is poor?

I think this is some kind of conspiracy created by the Chinese

I know many Chinese, especially young Chinese under 40 years old

Usually when the topic of conversation involves “Is China poor or rich”

Although everyone’s eloquence is different and the way of explaining the content is also different. But they all seem to be trying their best to explain the same idea: “China is poor, China is backward”

And when you point to the modern city behind them, their food, clothing, housing and transportation, and their unparalleled modern transportation facilities, and express doubts. Chinese people often lead you into another unified agenda: “It looks good, but we have to consider the per capita data

The common Chinese rhetoric about “China’s poverty” is as follows:

GDP per capita: China’s GDP per capita is only about 13,000 US dollars, compared with more than 60,000 US dollars in the United States, so China is still very poor.

(Deliberately ignoring the difference in purchasing power parity (PPP))

Income per capita: 500 million people in China have an average monthly income of less than 1,000 yuan (140 US dollars)

(The concept of “non-working population” is replaced)

Number of cars per capita: China has 219 cars per thousand people. The United States has about 800 cars per thousand people, and France has more than 600 cars per thousand people

(Deliberately ignoring the difference in stock, China has entered the automobile era for less than 20 years)

High-speed trains: Chinese people can’t buy flight tickets, so they can only take high-speed trains.

(In fact, China’s air tickets are often not more expensive than high-speed trains)

Housing area per capita: China’s per capita housing area is about 40 square meters. The per capita housing area in the United States is about 65 square meters, and the per capita housing area in Germany and France is also above 50 square meters (Deliberately ignoring that China’s home ownership rate is much higher than that of the United States and Europe)

Similar agendas include: China’s military is very weak

Nuclear weapons per capita: ranked last among the five permanent members, only one percent of the United States

Aircraft carriers per capita: lower than Thailand and Brazil, so very weak

Defense budget per capita: only $210 per year, one-tenth of the United States and one-quarter of France

China’s technology is very backward:

Number of space stations per capita, number of supercomputers per capita, number of moon landings per capita, number of Mars explorations per capita, number of GPS satellites per capita, number of scientific papers per capita…

This strange “we are bad” narrative of the Chinese is not just a joke for ordinary people to chat, but a systematic narrative from top to bottom. China’s leaders, regional leaders and various government officials are accustomed to using this narrative.

Even in political speeches praising achievements, they list a series of achievements and never forget to add a paragraph at the end: “But we still have a big gap, the per capita data is only a small part of advanced countries, and we still have a long way to go in development. ”

Someone told me that the strange Chinese attitude of “We are terrible” comes from the inherent traditional culture of “modesty”. But I think it is more than that. Behind their strange narrative, there is actually another meaning: “Please don’t bother us.”

The Little Mermaid – 1950’s Super Panavision 70

The media has finally, once and for all, lost all credibility

by James Hickman via Schiff Sovereign

Obviously the attempted assassination of Donald Trump represents a grim milestone on America’s path of decline, as I wrote about in detail on Monday.

But the legacy media’s response to it may also go down as a major turning point: the moment they finally lost all credibility.

Now, clearly for a long time the media has been full of Inspired Idiots who don’t care about reporting the truth. Instead, they push a narrative they want people to believe about the world and the events which shape it.

For example, CNN famously described 2020 Black Lives Matters riots as “fiery, but mostly peaceful.”

In 2021, when the governor of South Dakota banned biological men from participating in female sports, CNN promptly reported that, “there is no consensus criteria for assigning sex at birth.”

NBC News was caught in 2021 colluding with the Biden administration to downplay the criminal past deeds of Tracy Stone-Manning, who the President had nominated to lead the Bureau of Land Management.

Stone-Manning was an eco-terrorist in her youth who was involved in tree-spiking activities that kill or maim loggers. But NBC News promised to take it easy on her to help push her appointment through.

Also in 2021, however, NBC News (along with just about every other mainstream ‘news’ outlet) hyped unproven allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh that went back 30 years.

And when #MeToo protestors stormed the United States Capitol and accosted Senators in an attempt to disrupt and overturn the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, the media did not label these protestors ‘domestic terrorists’, as they did with January 6 protesters.

The media circulated outright lies about the Russia voter manipulation hoax. And the New York Times was even awarded the ‘esteemed’ Pulitzer Prize for its reporting of this thoroughly discredited story.

It’s also notable that, even after the Russia collusion story was proven to be false, the Pulitzer committee REFUSED to rescind the award it had bestowed to the Times. Their logic, apparently, is that quality reporting about blatant lies is still worthy of journalism’s highest honor.

Then, of course, in the weeks before the 2020 election, nearly every legacy news outlet outright refused to report on the laptop of Hunter Biden. The younger Biden’s laptop not only showed deep character flaws, but evidence of significant corruption and foreign influence connected to his father.

And don’t even get me started on how the legacy media reported on COVID, lock-downs, and vaccines.

But now they’ve elevated their lies and propaganda to a whole new level with the way they have portrayed last week’s assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

These “journalists” witnessed in real time an attempted— and very nearly successful— assassination of a former President, upon which they reported:

“Trump Escorted Away After Loud noises at rally” –The Washington Post

“Secret Service rushes Trump offstage after he falls at rally” –CNN

“Trump says he was shot in the ear at rally” -NPR

OK, let’s be extremely polite and give them the benefit of the doubt; immediately following the assassination attempt there were plenty of unknowns.

But even after the fog of war had been lifted— after it was clearly an attempted assassination— the Washington Post updated its headline to: “Trump safe after being rushed off stage following shooting at rally.”

In another article it said the assassin “shot at Trump,” not “shot Trump.”

Technically, that passes a fact check. But it’s sort of like describing Mount Everest as an elevated piece of land.

And the spin continued the next day.

Reuters ran an article titled, “Republicans, in wake of Trump shooting, seek to pin political violence trend on Democrats.”

This obviously ‘unbiased’ and ‘trustworthy’ news agency couldn’t simply report on the known facts of the attempted assassination. No, instead, their priority was to tell readers that it is the RIGHT, not the LEFT, that is full of violent extremists.

“A Reuters analysis of more than 200 incidents of politically motivated violence between 2021 and 2023, however, presented a different picture: In those years, fatal political violence more often emanated from the American right than from the left.”

Reuters didn’t actually cite a single example of this Right wing violence.

In fact, the only example of violence they did mention was the shooting of Steve Scalise, a Republican member of Congress who was gunned down (but survived) in 2017… by a Left wing extremist.

So… in an attempt to prove its assertion that its readers should fear Right wing violence, Reuters’ only example was an instance of a Left wing extremist shooting a Right wing politician.

Genius!

And these Inspired Idiots in the media still can’t understand why nobody trusts them.

Days after the attempted assassination, the Associated Press noted that the Left and Right now have dueling conspiracy theories about the assassination attempt— that Trump staged it for clout, or that the Secret Service was in on it.

AP lamented, “Americans are increasingly choosing their own reality, at the expense of a shared understanding of the facts.”

Gee, whose fault is that? (Remember, AP published the headline: “Donald Trump has been escorted off the stage by Secret Service during a rally after loud noises ring out in the crowd.”)

The attempted assassination of Trump was a rare event, in that it was broadcast in real time, and everyone could see exactly what happened with their own eyes from multiple angles.

And still the media tried as hard as possible to sell a completely bullshit narrative of the event.

What do you think they do with events that are not so clear, or are not caught on camera from every angle? How trustworthy are those “anonymous sources” they love to cite?

This is why the legacy media is becoming less trusted by the day.

It’s also why, despite Inspired Idiots owning the vast majority of broadcast media, they still haven’t been able to tip the scales decisively in favor of their own little cultural revolution.

Confronted with an event they knew would make their nemesis look strong and unbeatable, they resorted to cartoonish propaganda.

And I hope that proves to be the decisive moment for people to see them for what they are: liars.

Man Runs Away on Date When She Brought Her Friends…

Can people with diplomatic immunity commit crimes in their host nation without repercussions?

Mohamed Rizalman bin Ismail, a Malaysian military attaché, entered one woman’s house and attempted to have sex with her.

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He was promptly arrested by the New Zealand police and charged with attempted burglary and rape. Invoking his diplomatic immunity, Mohamed left New Zealand to his country Malaysia. Following the international furor, Malaysia agreed to send Mohamed back and waive his diplomatic immunity. This case was interesting because NZ and Malaysia don’t have an extradition treaty. Apparently Mohamed “volunteered” to go back to NZ and face the trial. He served 9 months of house arrest.

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Majed Hassan Ashoor, the first secretary at the Saudi Embassy in India beat and raped his Nepali housemaids. When the Police got involved, Diplomat invoking immunity left the country. All was left, a few NGOs protesting against the diplomat.

Accused Saudi diplomat leaves India

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Traffic accidents

These cases happen far more often than beating and rape. An American military attaché was involved in traffic accident. He was reported to be drunk. As a result, the motorcycle driver died. The Pakistani authorities asked Americans to waive his diplomatic immunity so that he can be tried. After refusal, he was not allowed to leave the country. After extensive negotiations and substantial payments to the deceased’s family was the case finally resolved.

US diplomat involved in Islamabad accident departed post ‘settlement’ | The Express Tribune

Another very similar case, a Russian diplomat was involved in fatal traffic accident, in Canada, while drunk. Due to diplomatic immunity, he was allowed back to Russia. Upon arrival, he was charged in Russian court with involuntary manslaughter and jailed for 4 years.

Former Russian diplomat guilty of involuntary manslaughter | CBC News

A new case is developing right now in Turkey. It has been alleged that a Saudi national was killed in the Saudi Consulate. If this is true, we reached new lows in diplomacy.

As you can see, diplomatic immunity can be waived only by the diplomat’s side. The host country, on the other hand, can prohibit the diplomat from leaving the country. It can also make an international incident and make life hell for the remaining diplomats. But in the end it is up to the diplomat’s country if it wants to be viewed as a country that allows its diplomats to commit crimes and get away with it. A matter of national prestige is an important matter to some, not all countries.

Article 29 of the Vienna Convention states: “The person of a diplomatic agent shall be inviolable. He shall not be liable to any form of arrest or detention. The receiving state shall treat him with due respect and shall take all appropriate steps to prevent any attack on his person, freedom or dignity.”

The Mask – 1950’s Super Panavision 70 Trailer

What is one thing that shocked you when you attended an Ivy League or a highly prestigious school like Stanford or MIT?

I got my Ph.D. from Stanford, so I was both a student and a teacher there, after attending a mid-level school that gave me a full ride for undergrad. No one in my family had been to a top-tier school, and there were no top-tier schools in the area where I grew up, so I had no idea what to expect. There were two things that shocked me most:

The way that everything is set up to ensure the students succeed. Ins to any internship program you could possibly want. “Lecture series” classes that are really designed to give you weekly networking opportunities. Entrepreneurship competitions that will actually put multiple students in a room with venture capitalists to pitch their business plans. You name it. The campus, the resources, the professors, the programs — all of these things are great at Stanford, but they’re great a lot of other places, too. But where you really see a huge difference is all the extras, where the school provides every opportunity for you to get in touch with people who can make your career. It’s amazing. After I saw this, I would always 100% advise anyone who’s ambitious and academically inclined to shoot for an Ivy.
Interestingly, the undergraduate students are not all super smart. They’re not unintelligent. But they’re not geniuses — not most of them, anyway. I wasn’t blown away, on the whole, by my Stanford students’ intelligence. Mostly, they just worked hard and they knew how to be students. They would communicate well, come to class and to office hours, be proactive about their grade and completing their work effectively. I find that’s the biggest difference between the Stanford kids and the students I’ve taught at the CSU’s and SLAC’s in the area — most of the students at those schools just seem like they never really learned how to be students, so they struggle when they’re easily smart enough to do well in the class. (Of course, most of them also have to work, while it seems like most of the Stanford kids don’t.)

Existence Tax: The Vig Plus 3%

Authored by Tim Hartnett via LewRockwell.com,

In the bad old days, before G-Men took down the mob, were urbanites getting a better deal? Does the betting man receive worse odds from state run lotteries than Vinny gave on the corner running numbers? Did businesses shaken down for “protection” have higher hopes of survival in mob clutches than in municipal ones? Was there more or less anxiety about making rent or the mortgage in 1974 than in 2024? Which is the greater fiscal peril, organized crime or uber-societal-organization? It has become a valid question.

Gangsters had fingers in a lot of pies. Credit card racketeers, waging the present battle against physical currency, demand a slice of everything out of the oven. They’d gladly have us believe that paying for anything, without their supervision and cut, equals a criminally tainted transaction. Mobsters found their pecuniary prevalence legit in its way too. Transactions that jibed with their economic codes they called “kosher.” Other trading activity inside their ambit was deemed transgressive. Parasites tend to sound tiresomely alike. The difference is that the above ground finance industry finds no place outside its ambit.

Street people’s encampments clutter cities all over the country. What pushed so many over the edge? And how many are treading that edge carefully now? We know that insanity is somewhat genetic, but scientific observation has yet to prove external factors can’t nudge innately inclined individuals into psychosis. Facts point that way.

Should we harbor suspicion of so-called improvements in the finance system? The Bush-Obama era housing crisis arrived after the government gradually amped up its influence on the mortgage market. Once mortgages became de-localized and Wall Street joined in default skyrocketed and losses went international. Isn’t the NYSE supposed to make markets safer and more efficient? Have we seen anything like that coming out of financial centralization?

The present squeeze goes on in commercial space. Businesses, particularly restaurants, are shutting down at disturbing rates. The biggest burden is rent. This goes on as city centers are awash in more empty commercial space than ever. Local government isn’t helping. While serenading us about how much they love love and hate hate, they stay busy inundating entrepreneurs with licensing fees, new taxes, permit demands and other hurdles that restrain new ventures from ever launching. If they somehow get going anyway the municipality lurks at every juncture. They’ll keep you from thriving when they can’t stop you altogether. Actions speak louder than words. What they “love,” in practice, is bleeding prey pale with revenue demands and entangling bureaucratic complications.

In 1977 the minimum wage was $2.30 an hour. You could get nearly four Big Macs for that amount then. When the minimum went up to $12 on July 1st, the same earner only got two and one third double-deckers for his money. Losing 1.3 sandwiches an hour takes a big bite out of a working class lifestyle. 10.4 Mc-grubbings per eight-hour-day to be exact.

One year after the bicentennial average rent in the US was about $160. An NYT article from 1973 said a family of four needed less than $12,000 a year to live “moderately” in NYC in 1973. The same amount must have been a somewhat comfortable living in flyover country. By 1977 average income was over $13,000. 47 years later, average rent is at least ten times higher. While only about 10% of the population earns $130,000 or more. Where did all the value go?

Clearly, production is out of sync with consumption. What is the variable? Crops still grow at the same rate. Cargo travels at the same speed. Bricks are laid at the same pace. Chickens plop their eggs with the same regularity. Is anyone in the economy getting more than their fair share?

Almost 103 billion in “official” currency was circulating in the US in 1977. As of today, that figure stands at nearly 2 trillion 340 billion. The population has increased by about 58%. The greenbacks flowing back and forth went up by over 2000%. Those figures describe a small fraction of the overall economy. Because banks can create spending power with credit, leaving out other fiscal legerdemain, hundreds of trillions are outstanding in fiscal reality. Federal tax revenue alone, will soon hit over 5 trillion so far this year. That’s over twice the official amount of currency in circulation.

The Big Mac went from 65 cents to $5.17 in that time span. That’s about 700%. Minimum wage rose by about 450%. Watching these fiscal details we know at once that sparse fractions of all that new money is getting to where it is needed most – while we have no evidence it lands in hands that have created actual value. With everyone competing for resources and finished goods, these facts equal a devastating pay cut for many making far above minimum wage.

The idea that people are taking out according to what they contribute simply doesn’t fly. We can start with where the money supply is expanded.

A century ago banks were more accountable. They could make risky loans, as they did for Fritz Heinze, but doing so could still mean hell to pay. The series of events that shook the fiscal foundations of South Manhattan in 1907 remain mysterious over a century later. By 2007, banks were getting bailed out and it was everyone else who paid. How we got there is an intriguing conundrum of modern finance.

Heinze was a mining engineer from New York who showed up in Butte, Montana in the 1890’s. The copper market was hot at the time. That rustic town was already swimming in East Coast toffs and class consciousness. Although born into wealth and circumstances, Augustus Heinze was above pretension and indifferent to “society.” He soon developed a smelting process that greatly expanded the profitability of low-grade copper ore. Rather than pocketing the plunder, his next step was cutting 2 hours off the miner’s workday. How did that go over in the part of Butte that ‘dressed for dinner’? About like The Declaration of Independence did with George III.

Fritz couldn’t have cared less. The airs put on at posh WASP tables left the man impatient and bored. He did his excess boozing in public places where a man who’d spent the day 500 feet underground was at the next stool. Guys who loaded trams rarely bought a round with Heinze in the house.

By 1895 he’d amassed the capital to purchase the Rarus copper mine. The new-coming city slicker literally hit paydirt. His holes were always filled with the best pick and shovel men Montana could provide. The swells he snubbed had to take what hired help they could get.

An officer fraternizing with the enlisted class was high treason to mine owners of the aughts. Heinze was held in a kind of hostile awe. Butte gentry were unaccustomed to a guy who dared not to care if they liked him. What’s an enraged starched collar to do? We’ll never be entirely sure. Deadly measures were far from uncommon in late 19th century mining strife. What happened to Heinze is one of the murkier mysteries of the robber baron era.

J.D. Rockefeller’s brother, William, was a director of Anaconda Copper. That firm was run by people who’d never pop a cork with working stiffs. They were revolted by Augie’s effrontery. Their solution was one that has retained its financial force. Whether Heinze was bought out under duress, or sold out of his own volition in 1906 isn’t fully clear. What is known is that he returned to New York as a Wall Street plunger specializing in copper stocks. Using familial connections, and a personal fortune, Heinze got himself onto the boards of almost a score of NYC banks. When shares of United Copper were being shorted in a bear run, Fritz used his position to buy aggressively, borrowing heavily from the Knickerbocker Bank and other commercial lenders where he held sway.

By October of 1907 the Heinze brothers thought they had cornered the market in United Copper. They demanded the shares from traders who were contractually short – falsely believing the bears would be forced to buy from them. It soon became clear that these shares were not hard to come by. Heinze’s bullishness ended in catastrophic loss rather than profit. This meant that he would default on loans of millions from each of over 15 NYC banks.

The story, possibly apocryphal but true in effect, goes as follows. Knickerbocker was experimenting with 24 hour banking in 1907. The brainchildren of Wall Street met for dinner at an upstairs private dining room in Delmonico’s to discuss the coming cash crunch. Waiters for the event heard what was said in the meeting. They shared this knowledge with less connected patrons chowing down on the ground floor. A run on Knickerbocker began that night, by morning it had spread to every bank in town. The Panic of 1907 was instantly afoot.

Soon banks all over Gotham were out of cash to meet a seismic wave of withdrawals. In no time connected institutions from further out were tapped too. JP Morgan famously locked every player he could muster into his mansion’s library to discuss solutions. A plan was worked out and widespread depression was averted. But the financial hierarchy of south Manhattan was far from done. Their next step entailed placing the money supply and credit generally into the possession of elite governors.

This banking scandal ultimately resulted in the Federal Reserve Act that was passed December 23rd 1913. Whether it solved the problem or laid the foundation for larger ones has been debated since. Getting into the particulars of the statute became inconvenient with the legislature still in session so close to Christmas. ‘Fightin’ Bob LaFollette, gave in and failed to press for a more exacting bill he saw as necessary at the time. The ruckus over the bill’s details were mostly passed over as ‘conspiracy theory’ throughout the 20th century. That line held sway in economic academia for many decades. Scholarly reckoning always comes too late; there is little dispute the charter helped cause and make the Great Depression worse among “experts” today. We are commanded to defer to them with amps at 11. What they got wrong is reported by the same sources at about 2.5.

Left unexamined is why the Heinze brothers misunderstood who held what in United Copper in 1907. Why did they mistakenly believe they had cornered the market? These were highly educated, seasoned men in the world of finance. How far would William Avery Rockefeller Jr. go to settle a score with Fritz Heinze? Was he cleverly stashing available shares in ostensibly immobile accounts to set up an ambush? The first generation of the Rockefeller fortune was not known to take financial affronts lightly. Is it possible, or more likely probable, William Avery had the means and motive to manipulate the market into this unlikely position?

John D. Rockefeller Jr. married Abby Aldrich in 1901. Her father, Nelson Aldrich, was the driving senatorial force behind the Federal Reserve Act, although he left the Senate before its passage. The Rockefeller gang has been evangelizing the faith of centralization in everything for over a century. It started when JD Sr. practically accomplished that in the petroleum industry before the turn of the 20th century. If you think they were never capable of violent, gangland style treachery, fast your gaze on the Ludlow massacre of 1914.

Can we measure the effect of centralization in the financial sector? By 2013 it had almost doubled its share of the economic pie since 1980. When their take went from 5% to 9% in 40 years it had to come at a loss for others at the table. Did the Fed have a role in this? And what justification is offered for doubling the squeeze? As the economy grows so does the money industry’s cut, just as any salesman’s commission rises as the sales price is higher. Is South Manhattan insatiable? What explanation, other than parasitic predation, fits here?

The idea of market liquidity and available credit is efficiency and a fluent trading place for financial wares. Theoretically, this is competitive and brings transactional costs down while driving transactional fluidity up. Have we seen any such thing? The NYSE and kin have become like those “clubs” everyone is forced to join avoiding rip-offs for groceries, lunch, medicine, movies etc. The difference is that Wall Street’s anti-rip-off club is exclusive. You are not invited.

Where are we now? Exactly in the same place as when mobsters skimmed off the top in Vegas casinos, but far worse. The difference is that you get clipped without ever placing a bet or owning a share of a betting parlor. The south Manhattan mob is, supposedly, worth nearly 10% of all the action. What other slices of the take have widened with government intrusion and centralization? The mob focused its shakedowns on high rollers. Higher Ed goes after every kid hoping to drag letters behind his name. They call themselves “non-profits.” Does the description fit the beast?Disciplines of a Godly…Hughes, R. KentBest Price: $4.97Buy New $9.41(as of 01:52 UTC – Details)

Finding university administrators at leisure is not a job for Columbo. Just head toward any resort, high-dollar fleshpot or country club where profiteers do their squandering. Educational altruists, financial “experts” and well-heeled bon vivants occupy the same weekend turf – as well as the same self-serving sphere of self-justification.

The Rockefeller family was the largest private benefactor of that ultimate centralizing scheme, the UN. The patriarch, William Avery Rockefeller Sr., was an infamous snake oil salesman and bigamist. He’s not the Rocky the family likes to advertise. They are prouder of efforts to get around the principle of one-man-one-vote and rule the world from the modern equivalent of a royal court on a planetary scale. Make a list of plans to place more bosses overhead and move them further out of reach. The UN, CFR, WEF, Bilderberg, Trilaterals – you name it and the progeny of that greasy grifter is in on it. And who would they place in charge? The very soul-suckers with their fangs in the US neck pulsing at Wall and Broad.

We are not looking at an abstruse, undecipherable picture here. You can do differential equations, make “relative assumptions” and discuss monetary theory until you ascend to the meta-fiscal plane of Laputa. None of that supposed “understanding” leaves Joe Six-Pack with another square foot of living space or another Big Mac. Uber-economic organization, aka David Rockefeller’s so-called “more integrated world,” is a progressively feudalistic plot that – with the compliance of the un-fake-news industry – rarely experiences any setbacks.

Shrinking buying power has a very simple explanation: a prim and proper syndicate that is more ubiquitous and avaricious than any criminal mob ever.

The Future Isn’t Looking Too Good For Gen Z & Millennials … 2

California Cheese and Green Chile Shrimp Lasagna

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

Sauce

1 pound tomatillos, husked, washed and cut into quarters, or 2 (12 ounce cans), drained
2 large jalapenos, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup coarsely chopped onion
2 cups cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon salt
1 (7 ounce) can whole green chiles
5 Romaine lettuce leaves
4 green onions
6 garlic cloves, peeled

Lasagna

1 (8 ounce) package oven ready lasagna noodles (12 noodles)
12 ounces of Real California Panela cheese, shredded
4 ounces Real California Monterey Jack cheese shredded (about 2 cups)
1 pound cooked shrimp, cut in half lengthwise

Instructions

Sauce

In a blender or food processor, pulse the tomatillos, jalapeÃ±os and 1 1/2 cups cold water just until chunky.
Add onion, cilantro, salt, chiles, lettuce, green onions and garlic. Puree until smooth, about 2 minutes.

Lasagna

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish, spread 1 cup of the sauce. Layer 1/3 of the shrimp over the sauce. Place 3 lasagna noodles over the shrimp. (Noodles should not overlap or touch side of pan since they will expand when baked).
Combine shredded cheeses and sprinkle about 2 cups over the noodles. Repeat layering the sauce, shrimp, noodles and cheese two more times. Top with the remaining 3 lasagna noodles and spread remaining sauce over noodles. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.
Remove foil and bake until hot and bubbly, about 10 to 15 minutes more. Allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Cut into squares and serve immediately.

What’s the shrewdest, smartest maneuver you’ve ever seen in business?

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In Geylang, in Singapore between Lorong 8 and Lorong 24 – there were plenty of hookers and lady boys (transvestites) called BAPO who solicited clients

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Choo Chong Ngen, a 30 year old man gambled that Singapore would soon legalize all forms of prostitution and mandate safety for all the customers from STDs

So he purchased large swathes of land in the Land Auctions for a SONG

Nobody bid against him because nobody believed that land near prostitution areas wouldn’t rise in the slightest

By the late 1990s – CCN built Hotels, Shops, Goldfish bowls and Houses and sold them to businesses for a massive massive profit

The hotels roared with profits as the clients paid $ 20–30 for a 20 minute session which meant in 4 hours from 10 PM to 2 AM – a room could fetch 250 bucks which was more than the rate they charged in Hyatt or Marriott

I still marvel at how this guy managed to get ahead of legalized prostitution and mint so much money

I just got fired. Now my former boss (the one who let me go) is asking me where some important documents are. How should I respond?

I was fired by the owner of the company 30 days before I was to get a substantial bonus. The next week a person in my former department called me asking for help with an issue.

I texted them on their private phone that I knew the owner had them do that and that I was not trying to hurt them, but not helping the owner since I was shafted on my bonus.

30 minutes later I got a call from the owner saying if I would come in and fix the issue he would pay me for the day, I said pass, that I would fix the problem if paid for the month. He told me to go to hell.

The next day he called me back and said he would pay me for a week, I said no again, I would only come back if paid for a month.

He blew up again.

I knew if the issue wasn’t fixed very quickly the losses would add up. Two days later he had his secretary call and said he would pay me for a month but I had to get in there today.

I agreed only if a cashiers check was waiting on me when I walked in the door, because I knew the cheap bastard would stop payment on a regular check.

What the dumb SOB didn’t know was I was in the process of having him served on a wrongful termination suit and that paying me for a month constituted completetion of our contract and he would owe me the bonus.

I brought my attorney with me to the office, I picked up the check and went into the system and fixed the problem.

One other thing he didn’t know was that the issue was a recurring one that required attention and there wasn’t a universal fix, it would continue to come up and since I had no intention of giving the magic formula away I had created he couldn’t have someone else fix the issue.

End result I got my bonus plus all attorney’s costs which was equal to my previous year’s pay and he went broke trying to recreate a system I devised.

With me there after my bonus and raise, his profits would have been half a million a month, without me his losses were half a million a month. Greedy bastard never knew when he was ahead.

Shorpy

What was the most satisfying display of instant karma you have ever seen?

Some people like to kick the back of the seat in front of them when in a bus or airplane. A very, very nasty habit. Also a pretty safe one, as it seems people rarely turn around and ‘do something about it’. Even though that’s pretty much what you’re doing, isn’t it? You are broadcasting to the world: “I’m a major asshole, do something about it!”

Now imagine if you will, riding a bus. It’s one of those nice cozy night buses with curtains on the side of the windows that you can sleep in. You lean back a little and kick the back of the chair in front of you. No big deal, you do it all the time. Did it a million times before, and surely this won’t be any different. That weak little coward in front of you won’t say or do a thing, haha! You’re SUCH an alpha male, Lev!

Only this time, the president of your country, happened to ride the bus, incognito with a hoodie on to “experience how the common people ride buses”. Your country is Russia. The President’s name? Vladimir Putin.

Miss Margelene’s Silver Saloon

Submitted into Contest #24 in response to: Write a magical realism story that takes place in the Wild West.… view prompt

Amanda Van Regenmorter

The town woke to discover Miss Margelene’s Silver Saloon had sprung up overnight, tacked onto the end of their only meager road in gaudy glory. The western-most, barely settled settlement of Gomer’s Gulch could only be considered a town in the most generous of estimates, but the people who lived there, mostly foolhardy prospecting men and a smattering of desperate families, called it a town all the same.They already had a saloon, of course; a handful of men camped anywhere long enough always sprouts one. Theirs was called Rabbit’s, the owner’s nickname, but you’d be forgiven for thinking it was due to being such a dirty hole. Miss Margelene’s place, on the other hand, was the furthest you could get from Rabbit’s, figuratively speaking. Literally, it was two doors down. Rabbit’s was utilitarian: squat, flat-roofed, and barely held together by bent nails. Miss Margelene’s was downright beautiful, a sparkling shade of its namesake silver. The second story sported a gilded balcony over fluted columns, and everyone knew the name because it hung in big cursive letters, two feet tall, in front of the gabled roof.Dex rode in late that morning, the supplies he needed forgotten once he saw the silver saloon. Instead, he hitched up his horse and joined the crowd in front of Rabbit’s to speculate about their new neighbor. He stood out, a head taller and better washed than the others, but most mode room for him with a smile.“Rabbit, how much did I drink last night?” Dex asked.“Half as much as it’d take for a delusion like thissun,” replied Rabbit, who was short and squalid, like his bar.“And that’s iffen he didn’t water his horse piss down,” muttered someone.“This ain’t about my liquor!” said Rabbit. “Even kids can see that abomination. The question is how on earth those misfits got it up in a single day. Not even! Must’ve been lessun ten hours.”No one had an answer, but everyone knew which misfits he meant. In a town the size of Gomer’s Gulch, everyone knows every one of the comings and goings, let alone a coming as peculiar as last night’s. The caravan had arrived in the settling dusk, torches blazing up and down three covered wagons. Not covered with any old canvas either, but draped in rainbow arrays of silken cloth and garlanded with bells that tinkled with every step of the big black horses pulling them. They’d made camp just outside the town perimeter, dark figures tended horses and made a cook fire, but no townsfolk got close enough for a good look. When a band of ornery men decided to greet the newcomers, they turned back around with glazed expressions before they’d gone half way. Unable to elaborate, they simply said they’d changed their minds.“What in tarnation is that?” shouted a ruddy man riding in hard on a heaving grey horse. The man had a pointed beard, well-trimmed, and a six-point star on his chest, well-polished. His red-headed wife, Hannah, pale and pretty, was saddled behind him. While he dismounted and stared at the new saloon, Dex helped Hannah down and began with what little he knew.“Caravan came in last night, and -”“Shut your fool mouth,” the Sheriff said and spat at Dex’s feet. “And get away from my woman. You tryin’ to play at bein’ sheriff? Well you ain’t. You lost. Rabbit, what’s that building?”“Nobody knows, sir,” Rabbit said with a shrug. “Was here when we woke up.”

“What do you mean? Buildings don’t appear overnight – certainly not ones that fancy. Didn’t anyone hear them hammering? Don’t you sleep in your bar, Rabbit?”

“I do, but I didn’t hear a thing. Ain’t you s’posed to sleep in town too, sheriff? Keep your ear to the ground for trouble? Ain’t you s’posed to defend us from the bandits? They killed a woman last week -”

“Rabbits are the ones s’posed to keep their heads down, if they know what’s good for ‘em. Hows ‘bout the rest of you lumps? Anyone go in or out of that place? Who owns it?”

“No one’s been seen, but I have suspicions the owner is one Miss Margelene,” said Dex flashing a grin at the big sign, but he stepped away before his boots could be sullied again.

The sheriff scowled. He left his wife to tend the horse and stomped down to the new saloon. Dex, Rabbit and most of the men followed. Some children scurried along behind them.

The doors alone were taller than any other building in town and such a deep black they looked like an opening on a moonless night. The sheriff’s raised his fist, but it caught mid-air, hovered, before he gathered himself and pounded.

“This is the law! Open -” he demanded, and the doors opened, swung right out and swept the sheriff off his feet. He hit the dirt road hard.

No one laughed, not only because he might shoot, but because they were busy attempting to glimpse the interior while the black doors banged against the wall. It was more luxury than they’d ever seen, even the men from big cities. There were no windows, but long strings of lanterns bathed the big room in flickering light. The floors were herringbone parquet and the walls looked metallic, imprinted with crescent moons. There was a bar to the left, cabinets of exotic liquors and pewter mugs behind a carved wood counter with a smooth, stone top. There was a raised stage to the right with royal purple curtains. The heavy tables were ringed with upholstered red chairs.

In the back a woman descended from an unseen second floor down a grand staircase. The men doffed their hats and made futile efforts to brush off dust and straighten shirts, but every eye stayed fixed on her. She looked ageless and more elegant than the saloon with carefully coiffed black hair and a ruffled Victorian gown.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen. I’m Miss Margelene,” she greeted, voice melodious. She had a lilting accent, but it was hard to say from where. “We didn’t intend to open until tonight, but apparently the law is impatient. Can I be of service?” She stood centered in the doorway.

“Yes’m, I, um – I have some questions as to how this here establishment was, um – established,” the sheriff mumbled, tugging his badge.

“Of course, I’m happy to answer – tonight, during the grand opening. For you, sheriff, everything’s on the house. Unless, that is, we’re violating any ordinances? I so hope we’ve met the standards set by your lovely settlement.”

“Standards! How’s about a standard of fair competition and -” Rabbit began, but the sheriff elbowed him and he cut off with a wheeze.

“No ma’am, tonight’ll do,” the sheriff said and donned his hat. “You heard the lady, ya buncha oglin’ buffoons. Grand opening tonight! Now git!” He shoved away the men and kicked a boy in the pants. The doors swung shut behind him.

###

Dex sped home, desperate to decide what to wear and scrub the ever-loving hell out of it. But more important, he had to tell Rowena everything.

Her modest ranch, home to the world’s finest horses in Dex’s estimate, lay a couple dozen miles south of the Gulch. He always figured the secret to Rowena’s success had to do with the fact that she herself was rather equine. Stately and athletic, even at her age, she never wasted a moment, but when her gray mane came down you could see the barely concealed wild streak. Dex grabbed an indigo shirt from his shack by the barn and hollered for Rowena while he filled her washtub and set to scrubbing.

“Lordy Dex, I know you like to be neat, but you washed your whole wardrobe last week!” she said, exiting the barn with her hair up and a saddle under one arm. “Where are the supplies? I appreciate you ran them bandits off last night before they rustled any horses, but they tore the fence terrible. Looks like one caught his leg though, there’s half a pair of pants hanging on the wire.”

Dex tumbled out the saloon story, and Rowena only interrupted to make him promise he hadn’t drank too much of Rabbit’s swill. Afterwards, he cajoled her to join him for the opening. She was busy, she said, and besides she hadn’t been to a saloon for five years, not since Fred passed, but Dex wouldn’t hear excuses. He hung his shirt to dry then pressed her until she agreed to go gussy up.

He readied the wagon. Rowena stepped out into the fading light of the half-set sun in an emerald pleated dress with earrings to match. He whistled until she clouted him in the chest.

“Shut it, purty boy. I’m old enough to be your grandmother.”

“Pshaw, you can’t be a day older than my mother,” he assured her. “And anyway, we make a purty pair, don’t we?”

###

Their arrival marked the first time they’d seen traffic in Gomer’s Gulch. It looked like the land had dumped out all the dwellers in a hundred miles to mill outside Miss Margelene’s Silver Saloon. The big black doors were shut again, and the sheriff was on guard with a crisp white shirt, black leather vest and a freshly oiled beard.

“Don’t think you’re gettin’ in Dex, even with your grandma girly-friend dolled up like a hooker,” he said when he caught sight of them. “I’ll throw her out right on top of you iffen you even try to get in.”

Dex drew himself up every inch, ready to defend Rowena’s honor, but she stepped in front of him, laughing.

“Little Stanley Sherman, is that you? I ain’t seen you since Fred tossed you outta Rabbit’s that night, playin’ at being a man, tryin’ start a gunfight. O’course, that was back when you only had a few scraggly hairs on that little chin to cover all your pimples.”

The crowd welcomed the distraction from waiting for the doors to open, but Dex watched the sheriff’s holsters. He tugged Rowena shoulder, but there was no stopping her.

“My, oh my. Can’t say I missed you, but what a surprise it was to hear anyone voted you for sheriff. Almost as surprising as seeing you still have that ugly beard.”

That was the last straw, Dex knew, but just as the sheriff’s fingers twitched, those black doors swung open and knocked him down again, this time on his face. The crowd, Dex and Rowena included, flooded in around him.

There must have been a couple hundred men and a quarter as many women, but the silver saloon accommodated everyone with room to spare. Servers, women in black silk blouses and pink frilled skirts, worked the bar and the floor. On stage, a trio of ladies sang a ditty about a showdown at high noon. Dex thought they shared a resemblance, but maybe it was only their sly smiles.

He snagged Rowena a seat and moseyed to the counter, but before he ordered, he noticed the sad-eyed sheriff’s wife next to him.

“Hello Hannah. Don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a saloon.”

“Hi, Dex. Couldn’t miss this,” she said. Then barely loud enough to hear, she added, “You should watch out. Stanley won’t stop talking about you since the election.”

“All good things, I’m sure?”

“Look at you, grinnin’ like a weasel in a hen house,” said the sheriff, cocking the pistol he had aimed at Dex. “You ain’t never gonna be sheriff, and you ain’t never gonna get the time of day from my girl.”

Dex drew the fastest he’d ever done, but he saw the sheriff pull the trigger and knew he was a half-second too late. He tensed, but the shot didn’t come. Miss Margelene did, swept in between them, skirts swaying, and Dex was terrified she’d taken the bullet meant for him, but she didn’t flinch.

“Not tonight, gentlemen,” she said, handing each of them a drink. Dex took the mug in his free hand then realized he was no longer holding his weapon. He looked down to find it holstered as if he’d never drawn.

“Thank you ma’am,” Dex said, sure that he owed her for more than the drink. He took a swig and found it was good beer, but unlike any he had tasted. There were strange undertones, maybe mint, he thought. But most strange, he realized, it was cold. Very cold, like the mountain snow he’d crossed coming to Gomer’s Gulch. When he tried to ask her about it, he saw Miss Margelene was drifting off with the sheriff.

Hannah looked distraught, but a waitress was soothing her, patting her back, and Dex figured she was better off here than her home anyhow, so he went to find Rowena. He turned down a couple dance offers on his way, the trio had switched to a romantic ballad, and he circled a couple poker games before spying Rowena, slow dancing with the general store owner. Maybe she was working on a deal for those supplies, he figured, and tossed back his drink, but when they spun around he nearly choked. He’d never seen Rowena beam like that, like a dozen years had rolled right off her back. At this rate, she’d have a new man at the ranch, and Dex would never be so glad to be put out of work.

The night unfurled, and, even with the sheriff prowling around, Dex had never felt better. The trio sang one merry tune after another; drinks flowed, delicious and cold; and even deep in their cups he never saw a soul turn sour, or get thrown out for lack of funds. In fact, he didn’t see anyone leave at all. Even Rabbit laughed, coaxing the bartenders to tell him where the spirits came from. Dex chatted with all kinds, old friends and people he’d only ever tipped his hat to, and they said warm words and told him they had voted him for sheriff. Dex knew they were only being nice, but still it made him flush.

When a waitress with a sunny smile and yellow curls spilling over her black top pulled him away from a game of darts, he let himself be pulled into a whirling circle of fuddled men at the saloon’s center. Together, they tried to keep pace with the jig a smaller circle of waitresses danced in their midst. Every so often, the women would stop and spin the other way, forcing the men to follow. Boots caught and tripped over boots, but the men laughed and tried to stay facing their favorite gal.

While the circle coiled this way and that, one woman pulled a silver scarf out from her blouse and danced forward. She wrapped the scarf around a burly man in a checkered shirt, and swiveled with him back to the center. The men hooted and whistled, and then each girl was going out, wrapping herself a man with her own scarf.

Dex watched and whistled too, until one raven-haired girl fetched the sheriff. Dex stumbled but kept step. His gorge rose when she gave the sheriff’s beard a tug. The circles kept moving, outer going fast to keep up with the girls and their captives.

The fellows in the middle smiled wide, jumping with the girls, a couple ventured to put hands on hips, but Dex saw the sheriff stagger, look left and right.

“Wait, wha-?” the sheriff sputtered and slowed. “Why us? Why-”

The man in the checkered shirt shoved into the sheriff. The music was morphing, volume louder, tempo faster, key minor. Dex heard the women in the center murmuring, indiscernible, saw blurred faces everywhere. He couldn’t tell anymore if he was dancing or the room was spinning itself round.

The women in black threw up their scarves and each exploded mid-air, burst into confetti, rained silver specs down to scattered applause. That is, until the pops and bangs kept going, more and more bursts of confetti until it was thick in the air and no one could see a thing. There were screams and then yells of ‘Smoke!’

Black smoke, heavy and perfumed like incense, poured down the grand staircase. It filled the room and turned everything as dark as the doors, dark as a moonless night.

###

Dex woke to Rowena slapping him hard across the face. He coughed and sputtered back to consciousness in her relieved embrace as the sun rose over the well-dressed bodies laid out on the bare patch of ground that had been Miss Margelene’s Silver Saloon.

It was the children, terrified and crying, that had shaken their parents awake first. As the adults came around they helped others up, parched and unsteady.

Once Dex was on his feet, he sent some kids to fetch buckets of water and rations. Then he saw the commotion and the little crowd gathering. He pushed his way through and found the six scarfed men from last night, sheriff included, naked and hogtied in silver chains, laid out in their little circle. Some tried to free them, others just laughed. The men didn’t look injured, except the sheriff, and it didn’t take Dex long to realize the bloody gash down his leg looked like it might match right up to Rowena’s barbed wire fence.

While the six men stewed in the small town jail, Dex led the swift investigation that turned up enough stolen property to expose their identities as Gomer Gulch’s notorious bandits, as well as the suspicious duplicate ballot boxes in the sheriff’s possession.

However, he never did find the sheriff’s red-headed wife, Hannah. Neither she nor the silver saloon was ever seen again, but on moonless nights he dreamed of her, smiling on stage in a black shirt, singing about the life she left behind.

Cordon Bleu Lasagna

Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients

2 eggs, beaten
1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
1 cup (8 ounces) 4% cottage cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, divided
1 (16 ounce) jar roasted garlic Alfredo sauce
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
2 cups cubed cooked ham
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
6 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese

Instructions

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, ricotta, cottage cheese, Parmesan and 1/4 cup parsley; set aside.
In another bowl, combine the Alfredo sauce, chicken, ham and garlic powder.
Spread 1/2 cup of chicken mixture in the bottom of a greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Layer with half of the noodles and ricotta mixture. Top with half of the remaining chicken mixture and half of the mozzarella and Swiss cheeses. Repeat layers.
Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes.
Uncover; bake 10 minutes longer or until bubbly.
Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.
Sprinkle with remaining parsley.

Which is the biggest threat to peace – America or China?

Without a doubt, America is the biggest threat to world peace.

America has fought in dozens of wars and conflicts since China opened up to the world in 1979. China, on the other hand, has fought no wars at all — not a single shot fired!

America instigated the proxy war in Ukraine and is now trying to start another proxy war in Taiwan or Philippines.

China has proposed peace plans for both Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas. America has shot them both down.

America wants war. China avoids war.

Narcos – All Pablo Escobar Kills

Foraging in Summer as a young child

In the Summer of the 1960’s and into the 1970’s was a blur of kid activities. We would ride everywhere on our bicycles, and our parents would all have various activities for us to get involved in.

One of which was “blueberry picking”. And us kids, loved it.

We would go ahead and eat, and pick and put the rest in a bucket. Repeat, over and over.

Just spend hours picking the blueberries off the low bushes, and put them in the bucket.

Take the bucket home, and then wash.

Add cream and there you have it! The perfect Summer special treat for young boys and girls.

So very Summer.

These blueberry, blackberry, (and elderberry) bushes are everywhere in Pennsylvania. And getting those berries were a great deal of fun. It always was an all afternoon outing, and we were often taken to remote areas to collect those berries, and it was a great deal of fun for us kids.

It’s a treasured memory for me today, and you know as you get older, you just don’t ever get this opportunity UNLESS you go out to take your kids out on their very own outings.

Ah! Fun times.

Today…

What’s the most disrespectful thing a doctor/nurse did to you or your newborn after you gave birth?

Not me but to my aunt. Sorry, this was during birth but I decide to go ahead and post here.

During my aunt’s first 6 months of the pregnancy, she fell down 2 flights of stairs and had been taken to the hospital almost immediately as she had contractions but they sent her home with pills to stop the contractions. 8 months in and the baby tried to come out anyway, a quick trip to the emergency room we received a “You’ll be fine come back near the scheduled time.”

Two weeks later her water breaks and we rush to the hospital, her doctor is on vacation so we have a doctor sub in. This doctor quickly pissed off all the Nurses, the CRN, and the family. Did a quick test and said her water didn’t break, said we wasted her time, gave her no pain pills, and told her to eat some food and she’ll be okay.

1 hour later the baby starts to come out and the nurses rushed outside and panicked and we overheard them asking where the doctor was, “Where’s the bloody doctor?”

“She’s eating food and she said she’s not coming and she’s tired of ‘bitches faking'”. Now we’re all pissed off ready to send a complaint and sue the hospital and the doctor.

Finally, the nurse comes in starts her on the procedure, with the other nurse trying to get the sub-doctor or another doctor in the room. Then my aunt starts up a blood-curdling scream (Note that she couldn’t get any pain medication at this point) and the dreadful sound of “She’s losing too much blood!” and “The baby’s head is too big shes ripping a hole!” (I was scared having done no research or experiencing a birth before) finally, the sub burst in the door to take over delivering the baby and getting my aunt emergency surgery.

Let’s just say not only did we get compensation from the hospital, we sued twice.

1. The hospital for the birthing process and unprofessionalism.

2. The doctor for life endangerment, for abusing her license, and two more things I was told and forgot.

She lost her license, she has to pay for my cousin’s medical issues from the surgery. The hospital completely paid for the emergency surgery and we walked away satisfied.

How many countries can the Chinese withstand an attack?

From where?

From the Air – The farthest airbase cannot be more than 60 miles away right? That allows a rapid sneak attack into the airspace and out

That means Airbase or Aircraft carrier

That’s Philippines & Taiwan for Airbase and US and Japan for Aircraft carrier

You don’t expect Germany to send aircraft all those thousands of miles away do you?

From the water?

Again Japan, South Korea and US are the only possibility

India is a definite no no on the South China Sea

Too far from any Indian coastline

Okay for Maritime operations NOT FOR WAR

From the Land?

India has a border so India can make an incursion

Who else?

DPRK, Russia are not enemies

Nepal and Bhutan are way too weak

Nobody else

So worst case, the combined force against China would be :-

Aerial Air Force from US from Taiwan and Philippines
Naval Force from US, Japan and Korea along the South China Sea
Land Force from India

China has a decisive Army Group to ensure Indian Army can be countered

PLAN can easily take care of Japan and Korea

Taiwan and Philippines can be bombed to atoms in a few days

So ultimately it will be China vs USA and that’s how it will boil down to

WARNING | US Cities On Russia’s Nuclear Hit List

What are the most insane pictures of x-rays taken on people?

A collection of harrowing x-rays :-

Brutal X-ray of a man’s arm after a horrific meat grinder accident.

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X-ray shows a tear gas canister that fatally penetrated the skull of an Iraqi demonstrator during civil unrest in 2019.

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This chilling X-ray reveals the tragic end of Chen Liu, a 27-year-old man discovered in the marshlands near Sydney, Australia. He had been brutally murdered, with 34 nails shot into his body.

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In 2011, Leroy Luetscher, 86, fell on pruning shears in his yard, impaling his eye socket and neck. Despite the pain and injury, he managed to call for help. Doctors removed the shears and reconstructed his orbital floor, saving his eye.

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In 2020, the police released an X-ray image showing the severe injuries sustained by a young woman who was involved in a car crash while her feet were resting on the dashboard.

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In 2004, an X-ray showed a 5-centimeter nail in a South Korean patient’s skull. The man had a severe headache. Doctors at a Seoul hospital discovered the nail, which they believed had been there for four years after an accident, unknown to the patient.

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The X-ray image depicts the gruesome result of being shot in the elbow with a 12-gauge shotgun.

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This x-ray shows how a 16-year-old boy survived a violent incident where a 5-inch knife was impaled in his head during a robbery in London.

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In 2004, Isidro Mejia, a construction worker, had six nails embedded in his skull after a nail gun accident. Five were removed in surgery on the same day, and the sixth was extracted later, following a reduction in swelling. He survived.

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Source : X

Why do some Japanese think they are superior to Han Chinese?

Originally Answered: Why does such an overwhelming amount of Japanese think they are superior to Han Chinese?

Actually, just today I experienced something like superiority over Chinese from a Japanese.

A japanese customer of mine received his shipment late due to the Chinese National holidays. In his email to me, which I translated using google translate, it says

“You Chinese are only so so. Not efficient at all compared to us Japanese. There is no excuse for being late. We Japanese are always punctual. It is an insult to customers when we give excuse for being late. Chinese have a long way to go before they learn what it is to be at our level of existence.”

Now, firstly I’m not chinese, I’m Singaporean. I just operate from China that’s all. So I explain to him in my reply to him that I’m Singaporean and the delay is due to the Chinese National holidays where everybody is not working for a week.

His reply (which again is tranlated by google)

“So sorry for the misunderstanding. It must not be your fault then, I did not know you are not Chinese. I know Singaporeans are very professional. You would not have delayed the shipment if you do not have to. The chinese are really unbearable. It is so inefficient to have 1 week holiday. Japanese will never allow this to happen, it is a disgrace. Chinese is really only so so. It must be difficult for you to work with such people.”

At first my ego was tickled by the fact that by simply mentioning that I’m Singaporean, he thought otherwise. But then I truly felt insulted by myself for feeling like that. So my reply…

“Dear Sir, there is no excuse for such misunderstandings, it is an insult to me when you continue to practice such racism even in your reply. It makes me feels like a racist if I’m to agree with you on anything you mentioned.

As such, I would proceed to refund all monies paid by you to your account once the banks starts operating tomorrow. I will also proceed to stop the shipment from proceeding tomorrow as it is in our best interest not to deal with each other again.

Have a good life. “

So am I wrong? Or do some Japanese really does feel superior to the Chinese?

Anyway, a disclaimer, I don’t do this to all customers. I just took a look at his order which is less than 500USD and decided that I can afford to teach him a lesson. And now after I read Naoya Yamaguchi answer, I really felt better already. Thank you Naoya.

Cat Goes To Temple Every Day To Become A Buddha. You Won’t Believe What Happened To It

Shorpy

This next group is a handsome family…

What screams “I’m upper class”?

Years ago I worked at a psychiatric hospital in inner-city Chicago as a relatively-inexperienced RN.

While covering the adolescent unit overnight, I enjoyed listening to the stories told by two of our more seasoned and perceptive mental health technicians. These guys were physically imposing, youngish men of color who had grown up in the neighborhood and had pretty much seen it all, and usually more than once.

They found me intriguing for the same reason I found them to be so: Namely, that with my white middle-class small-town self, my first-person perceptions struck them as not simply different from their own but basically hilarious if not downright outrageous.🤭

They would often reminisce about growing up on the city’s south side, being mostly raised by a feisty grandma, getting whooped by this same 90-lb. grandma for doing crazy stuff that could have resulted in serious bodily harm or worse, and about eating bacon fat sandwiches for those last few days each month until grandma’s social security check came in.

Their impressions of white people were mostly informed by television sit coms and commercials, but also a roughly two-year stint they had done together at a sister psych facility on Chicago’s much-tonier lakeshore:

One night they related the story of a depressed and tearful adolescent boy who had confided during a unit group therapy session that he knew. KNEW. That his parents didn’t love him and in fact, had obviously NEVER loved him. His proof? On his 16th birthday his parents had gifted him with a brand-new Mercedes in his favorite color, blue.

Perplexed, one of my tech buddies had gently inquired of the boy how, exactly, this indicated his parents didn’t love him?

Between agonized sobs, the teen managed to choke out that he had wanted a blue BMW, not the BLUE MERCEDES BENZ!!

I don’t know if that screams upper class to everybody but it sure did to my workmates in that place and time.

Tortiglioni with Spicy Sausage Sauce

This recipe calls for only 6 ounces of meat, so it is good if want to cut down on meat in your diet. (I usually have to make meatballs in a separate sauce for MY family! LOL!)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
1 fresh red chile, seeded and chopped
1 pound ripe Italian plum tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2/3 cup red wine
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
12 ounces dried tortiglioni (or use rigatoni, penne, or ziti)
6 ounces spicy salami, rind removed (I sometimes use pepperoni)*
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, to garnish
Grated Parmesan cheese, to serve

Instructions

Heat oil and add onion, celery garlic and chili and cook gently, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes, until softened.
Add tomatoes, tomato paste, wine, sugar, salt and pepper to taste and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Lower heat, cover and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes. Add a few spoonsful of water occasionally if the sauce becomes too thick.
Meanwhile, cook pasta.
Chop the salami into bite-size pieces and add to the sauce. Heat through, then taste for seasoning.
Drain pasta and put into large bowl, pour sauce on top and toss to mix.
Scatter parsley on top and serve with grated cheese.

Notes

* Buy the salami in one piece so that you can chop it into large chunks.

What’s the most unprofessional thing a doctor has said to you?

I was 22 or 23 years old, married less than a year, when my husband, R., had his first gout attack. At the time I had long blonde hair and weighed about 100 pounds, so I looked like I was maybe 16 years old.

My husband went to his family doctor, who put him on two drugs. I’m a firm believer in asking doctors questions, so at R’s first check-up after going on the medications I asked for information about them. The doctor explained it this way:

“There are three drugs we use for gout. There’s one that we give to patients who are in the middle of a gout attack; it’s a powerful pain reliever and is one of the drugs I prescribed for R. He’s off of it now. The other two drugs are for maintenance. Since gout is caused by uric acid crystals in the blood stream we can treat it either by forcing the kidneys to remove more uric acid or by encouraging the body to produce less uric acid. I prescribed the drug that tells the kidneys to work harder.”

I thought about that for a moment, and then said “R. already has albuminuria (a marker of kidney problems); don’t you think it might be safer to use the drug that won’t cause further stress to his kidneys?”

Well, apparently this doctor wasn’t used to having his judgment questioned by the wife of a patient, or else he wasn’t used to having it questioned by a “mere girl,” because rather than actually considering my suggestion he decided to lie. He said, “R. has been on this drug for a month now and we know that it’s working. If I take him off of it, and it then turns out that the other drug won’t do the job for him, when I put him back on it he may have developed an allergy to it. And that would mean that there’s nothing we can do for his gout; the crystals will get into his organs and he’ll die horribly.”

It was the first time a doctor lied to me, so I didn’t recognize it as a lie; even now I only know that it was a lie because a good doctor who is also a friend has told me so. But at the time I accepted it and didn’t push the issue, a mistake I’ve never made again.

My husband died almost two and a half years ago, after discontinuing dialysis. I visited him in the nursing home every day, even after he stopped recognizing me. It isn’t a good way to go.

If I thought that doctor was still alive I don’t know what I’d do; it’s been too long to report him for malpractice (almost 50 years), but I will never forgive him for what he did to my husband.

Tongue

Submitted into Contest #24 in response to: Write a magical realism story that takes place in the Wild West.… view prompt

Mike Garrigan

I had been walking in the desert for what seemed like days. I was thirsty. My radiator went kaput somewhere on I-10 last night. No cell reception out here. The desert night comforted me—beautiful stars and comet trails. But after the sun rose, the temperature shot up far too quickly. By the time the sun was directly overhead, my legs felt like rubber and my tongue was swollen.

In the distance, what looked like a town from the Old West arose. One dirt road split two rows of shabby buildings. “Water,” I said out loud to myself. I blinked five or six times to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating. Mirages of water on the horizon had been fooling me all morning, but this looked different. A tumbleweed blew by. A vulture landed on top of a barrel cactus. A scorpion crawled up my leg and I brushed it away.

When I got to town, I pinched myself to make sure it was all real. A saloon with faint piano music welcomed me on the right and an empty sheriff’s office slept on the left. The saloon probably had water so I walked through its two swinging half doors. My tongue felt like it was the size of a shoe sole.

The saloon was empty except for a bartender with a long, white beard and a Victorian woman playing an upright tack piano. The woman’s song was familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I’d heard it before. It didn’t sound like something you would hear in a saloon, though. It was almost a slow waltz, but the timing was complex, in three, then three, then two.

“Whatcha drinkin’, partner?” the bartender said.

“Wawa,” I said. My mouth wasn’t working.

“Haha,” the bartender said. “Looks like you got the thirst real good.”

The bartender pulled out a vanity hand mirror and handed it to me, pointing at my tongue. My tongue was the size of a saucer, inflamed and inflated like a balloon.

“The name’s Smitty,” the bartender said. “I reckon you prolly want some water. Water ain’t cheap out here, sonny. It’ll cost you. Cost you big.”

I pulled a hundred dollar bill out of my wallet and offered it to Smitty.

“You’re money ain’t no good here,” he said. Smitty pulled a pint glass down from the shelf and poured some clear, crisp, water into it from a barrel that had a tap. He placed the glass in front of me. I reached for it. He pulled it away.

“Hold on, now. I’ll give this here water to you, but you have to promise to do me a favor,” Smitty said.

“O-way, o-way,” I said.

He gave me the glass and I poured it straight into my throat and into my belly. A few seconds later, my tongue shrunk and I felt much better.

“Thank you, Smitty,” I said, panting in relief.

“Charlene plays the piano real nice, don’t she?” Smitty said.

“Why yes,” I said.

“Charlene’s in trouble, see,” Smitty said. “I’m gonna call in that favor today if it’s all the same.”

“Sure,” I said.

“I need you to shoot Terrible Ted for me,” Smitty said.

I felt my stomach hit the floor, not literally, like my tongue probably would have had I not gotten some water.

“I can’t shoot nobody,” I said.

“Well then, I ain’t givin’ you no more water,” Smitty said. I felt my tongue begin to tingle again. It swelled ever so slightly.

“And if I shoot Terrible Tim—”

“Ted”

“Terrible Ted. What then?”

“You can put your mouth on this here tap spigot for all I care. All the water here is yours,” Smitty said.

“What about the Sherriff? Won’t I get thrown in jail for shooting someone?”

“Nope,” Smitty said.

“How do you know?” I said.

“Terrible Ted done shot the sheriff. And now, he want’s to make off with my Charlene.” Charlene continued with her odd, cut time waltz.

“I ain’t got a gun, Smitty.”

Smitty unbuckled a belt and holster from his waist and put the bundle of revolver and bullets on the bar. “Here you go,” he said.

“Where do I find, Ted?”

“He’ll be here at sundown.”

“What does he look like?”

“You can’t miss him. Big, tall, dresses in all black. You know, how you’d expect someone named Terrible Ted to look.”

“What is this place?” I said.

“Tiny Town.”

“Wha—”

Suddenly, my tongue began to swell and I couldn’t speak.

“Yeah, you prolly have a ton of questions, like “Is this real?,” “Why is my tongue getting so big?,” “Why is Charlene playing Radiohead?”

“Waydiowed!” I pushed out. My tongue was getting fatter by the minute.

“Yeah, I don’t care for them that much. Singer sounds like a drowning cat. She likes that there ‘Pyramid Song,’ so I like it, too. Bout all she plays, anyway.”

“What wime wis it?” I asked.

“3:30. You got ‘bout an hour and a half till showtime.”

“Oh wime?”

“Ted.”

“Oh.”

I wandered out of the saloon and onto Main Street. A tumbleweed crossed my path. My tongue hurt. If I strained my eyes, I could see the swollen end of it in my lower field of vision. A vulture landed on a hitching post to my right. It squawked at me. I sat in a rocking chair on a porch not a few yards from the saloon. A scorpion ran across my pant leg and I brushed it off. I fell asleep.

I awoke to the sound of a slow pile driver banging in the distance. My swollen tongue made it difficult for me to turn my head. My tongue was the size of an inner tube and hung down below my belt.

When I did catch a look at the pile driver, it wasn’t a pile driver. It was a twelve foot tall man, dressed in black, walking slowly and heavily into town.

“Teywible Ted,” I tried to say.

Ted made his way to the middle of the street on the other end of Tiny Town. The town proper was maybe fifty yards end to end, so he wasn’t too far from me.

Terrible Ted stood in the middle of the street with his hands about six inches from his side. From where I sat, he looked like a cross between just about every western character you could imagine. His head was square like John Wayne’s. He was scruffy like Buford Mad Dog Tannen. His build was like Clint Eastwood, but twice as large.

“Draw!” Terrible Ted said.

I jumped up from my chair, walked to the road, and turned to face Terrible Ted.

My tongue throbbed of fire. It hurt so badly that I would have gladly shot Ted just to make it all stop. From the sight of things, Ted was going to shoot me anyway. I’d might as well try to defend myself.

“Draw!” he said.

I pulled the revolver from my side belt and pulled the trigger. My shot landed ten feet in front of Ted.

Ted pulled his revolver and shot me. His bullet hit my tongue, but the bullet bounced off of it. While the throbbing continued, the impact of the bullet was insensate.

“Draw!” he said.

I fumbled the revolver from my side and took a shot. This time, the bullet was closer, but hit short, just in front of Ted’s black boots.

Then, Ted shot me again in the tongue. I felt nothing.

Before he could say “draw” again, I pulled the revolver up with both hands, lined Ted up in my sights as well as I could, and pulled the trigger. This time, I shot him right between the eyes. He fell backwards and hit the ground with a resonant thud. I twirled the revolver around my finger, like they do in the movies, but I didn’t know how to land it in my holster.

My tongue was on fire and nearly dragging on the ground now. I went into the bar. Smitty was gone. Charlene and her tack piano interpretation of Radiohead were also gone. I put my mouth under Smitty’s water barrel and pulled the spigot. Water cascaded into my mouth. My tongue began to shrink. I kept drinking. The barrel seemed to never run out. I kept drinking. Then, I passed out.

I awoke to a splitting headache. The fluorescent lights didn’t help. The walls were white and the room was cold. My tongue hurt like it was on fire, but in stead of being a big fat inner tube hanging from my mouth, it was just a little swollen and wrapped in a bandage.

“Mr. Simmons, you’re awake,” a soft, pleasant voice said from the hall.

“Tharlene?” I tried to say.

“Yes, I’m Nurse Charlene. I will let Dr. Smith know you are awake.”

“Wha’ happen?”

“You were stung in the tongue by a scorpion,” she said.

“And, lucky to be alive,” Dr. Smith said. He swept into the room, grabbed the medical chart, and scratched his well groomed white beard.

“That bandage on your tongue can come off tomorrow,” he continued.

“Wher ‘m I?” I tried to say.

“Desert Town Medical. Highway patrol found your vehicle thirty miles south of here. A construction crew laying tar saw you wandering around, delirious. Another hour and you would have been done for.”

“Sorpion?” I asked.

“Yeah, only one critter leaves a sting like that. Had to be a scorpion. Never seen one prick someone in the tongue, though. Must a felt like your tongue was the size of Idaho. You probably hallucinated a bit, too.”

Before I could attempt to speak, Dr. Smith continued, “We’ll keep you over night and then send you on your way.”

“Buh—”

“Your car? We towed it here for you. Mechanic said it just needed some coolant. Topped you off, too. He’ll send you a bill for the tow and tune up. We’re glad you’re alive son.”

My head spun. Nurse Charlene and Dr. Smith left the room. Moments later, Charlene returned with some water and a few pamphlets. “Here’s some light reading for you, if you’re up for it. Sorry we don’t have a television.”

One pamphlet read: “The History of Desert Town: From Tiny Town to the Best Kept Secret in the Desert.” The pamphlet showed Tiny Town, as it appeared to me, from the saloon, to the dirt road through the middle.

I drank the water, felt my tongue’s bandage on the roof of my mouth, and was grateful to be alive.

The next day, I drove on. On the way out of town, I passed a road paving crew. Their large black tar machine had broken down. “Terrible Ted” was spray painted on its rear.

Is China powerful enough to invade the Philippines? How long would it take for the Chinese to land their feet in Manila?

Hi Don Wynn. Since you ask a naive question, it is better that i give you a naive answer. Actually China scare the hell out of Philippines during the recent confrontation with chinese coast guards only armed with axe ( presumably to prevent suicides of filipinos soldiers) to confront filipino soldiers fully armed with rifles who refuse to shoot but instead surrender their rifles to the chinese coast guards.

After a week, a Philippines trawler exploded and sunk in Chinese water. Fisherman was saved but not arrested and hand over the survivors back to Philippines.

Literally means that China is not interested in colonising Philippines but only claim what belongs to the chinese as compare to America that colonised Texas, Hawaii, Guam, etc and now most likely Philippines.

Trump’s program for America, end of globalism

The Duran

Why is the US doing such a bad job countering China’s rise?

The United States’ inadequate response to China’s rise is nothing short of a geopolitical blunder, driven by fear, misinformation, and a Cold War mentality that is both outdated and counterproductive.

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The reality is that America’s attempts to counterbalance China have been fundamentally flawed because they are based on misperceptions and misguided strategies, failing to recognize the true dynamics of China’s growth and influence.

At the core of the U.S.’s ineffective approach lies a significant misunderstanding of modern China. The American narrative, largely shaped by the media, often portrays China as an oppressive, backward nation on the brink of collapse, rife with human rights abuses and economic instability. This skewed perception leads to policies based on fictional threats rather than the real, evolving landscape of a rapidly advancing China. Operating under these misconceptions ensures that the U.S. is often preparing for battles that do not exist while neglecting the actual areas where China excels.

One area where U.S. strategies have particularly fallen short is technological competition. In its bid to restrict Chinese access to advanced technologies, the U.S. has inadvertently spurred China to double down on self-reliance and innovation. Efforts to curtail entities like Huawei have backfired, with China making significant strides in fields like 5G, AI, and quantum computing. The launch of the Huawei Mate 60, with its domestically-produced 5G chip, serves as a testament to how U.S. actions have often spurred China’s technological advancements instead of stalling them.

The economic interdependence between the U.S. and China adds another layer of complexity. Despite attempts to sever ties and decouple the economies, the sheer scale of trade and investment links makes this next to impossible without causing significant harm to both sides. U.S. industries, from agriculture to tech, are deeply integrated with China, and measures like tariffs and sanctions often backfire, harming American businesses and prompting severe pushback. This economic entanglement means that any attempt to counter China must be meticulously calculated to avoid mutual economic downfall.

Globally, the U.S.’s attempts to isolate China have frequently missed the mark. China continues to bolster its influence through initiatives like the Belt and Road and expanding its reach within organizations like BRICS. These efforts have allowed China to create strong economic and diplomatic ties, countering U.S. attempts at isolation and even attracting nations traditionally allied with the U.S. to engage more with Beijing for economic and strategic benefits.

Back home, the United States faces its internal challenges that further impede its ability to effectively respond to China’s rise. Issues like political polarization, economic inequality, and a lack of coherent industrial policy hinder America’s global competitiveness. While China focuses on coordinated, long-term investments in infrastructure, technology, and education, the U.S. is often stuck in partisan gridlock, lacking the collective focus needed for such bold initiatives.

The U.S. military-industrial complex also exacerbates this situation. Driven by vested interests in perpetuating conflict narratives, this complex steers the U.S. towards military solutions over diplomatic and economic engagement. The legacy of a Cold War mentality, fueled by defense contractors and hawkish policymakers, perpetuates hardline stances that ultimately isolate potential allies and destabilize international relations.

Furthermore, efforts by the U.S. to persuade its allies to decouple from China have seen limited success. Countries with significant economic ties to China, like Germany and France, resist pressure to align too closely with U.S. demands, prioritizing their economic interests over geopolitical maneuvering. These nations understand that a balanced approach with both global powers often yields better outcomes, highlighting a divergence in interests that complicates U.S. strategies.

Ultimately, the U.S. needs a fundamental shift in how it perceives and engages with China. Strategies based on misinformation, fear, and outdated Cold War thinking are doomed to fail. To effectively navigate China’s rise, the U.S. must first acknowledge the realities of China’s strengths and aspirations. Only by understanding this true China can America develop policies that are responsive and constructive, fostering global stability and mutual growth rather than ongoing contention and rivalry.

ACDC – It’s a Long Way to the Top If You Wanna Rock N Roll (Extended)

Rockin’ them bagpipes.

Why do European people stop traveling to the USA?

A few years ago my family and I were eating at JFK. My daughter was in a chair, my two year in a stroller. Out of nowhere an airport cop came up screaming that I needed to strapy child into the stroller and now! This was apparently a very dangerous thing, a kid sitting in a stroller doing nothing but looking about at people passing.

Due to the imbalance of power and not wanting to miss my flight I didn’t point out that (a) I am the parent not her, (b) I decide (c) I didn’t need my kid or family to be shouted at, a simple discussional tone would have worked (d) she could genuinely go fuck herself and she really left us thinking, fuck this place we’re outta here.

I like the US, but have no idea why anyone with a uniform can’t just act like an adult and not a completely paranoid schizo.

Dog rescue

Rigatoni with Olives and Bacon

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

6 slices bacon
1/2 large onion, thinly sliced
8 ounces dried rigatoni (or other small pasta)
12 pitted and chopped cured black olives (such as Kalamata)
1 to 2 ounce piece Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped marjoram or thyme (optional)

Instructions

In medium skillet, cook bacon until crisp (reserve drippings); blot, coarsely chop and set aside.
In bacon drippings, sauté onion until soft and just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions, drain and transfer to warm serving platter or large shallow bowl.
Toss pasta with bacon, onion and olives. Season with salt and pepper to taste; toss again.
Use a vegetable peeler to cut the Parmesan cheese into thin shavings.
Sprinkle the cheese over the pasta and top with the fresh herb, if desired.

If Trump believes that Taiwan is not worth fighting over, and most Taiwanese are against fighting China, what are the options for the DPP-led government in Taiwan?

Lay low until Trump is done then wait for another US President who wants to make trouble for China.

But no matter what, it won’t make any difference. Taiwan is part of China and nothing the US can do will change that. And since the US isn’t willing to kill a bunch of US soldiers to try and take Taiwan, the Separatists are a lost cause.

Even if the US by some miracle wins, China can take it back in 10 years. After all the US can’t move Taiwan.

It was a lost cause from the beginning. It was always something the US used to harass China. Try to weaken China, somehow. It hasn’t worked by has made the US look like a bully.

The timing of the Battle of Midway; 6 months after Pearl Harbor.

The battle against Japan turned within a year after the war started.

Sketches and art

Liberal democracy is not suitable for big nations. it has already been proven :

UK with just 68M people is rotting away…. It is a mess today.

US with just 342M people is also rotting away…. It is a bigger mess today.

India with 1.45B people is full of political promises to be this and that but they can’t get their act together for ages………

In contrast, China with 1.42B people is progressing in leaps and bounds in growing their economy, transforming their style of governance to a socialist democracy with their own unique characteristics, advancing in all fields of advanced technologies, alleviating abject poverty, implementing common prosperity measures….. Nationalism is key, not individualism!

I think Democracy works for small nations less that 15M people and liberalism have to be curtailed. If it is not based on meritocracy, it will DEFINITELY fail altogether. How can a leader who is not meritocratic be an elected leader of people who are smarter than him?

What are man’s greatest fears?

Just the other day I read a story of the ship the Britannia, which had been sunk by the Germans in 1941. So picture this… 249 men are dead and your ship lost. You’re floating on the South Atlantic. Everywhere you look around you, you see nothing but this vast mass of water… a man named Raymond Edmund Grimani Cox, a Lieutenant, was in a small boat with some other soldiers, having survived the disaster.

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And then a giant arm comes out from the side of the boat. An enormous slimy tentacled arm, and another, and another… they’re several meters long, thick, and covered in huge tentacle suckers. Lieutenant Grimani Cox is grabbed by one of the monstrous arms, and left profusely bleeding even after he manages to stab it repeatedly until it lets him go. Another one of his friends isn’t so fortunate — he’s lifted in the air, then dragged kicking and screaming down in the deep with the monster. One moment he’s there, shouting, fighting for dear life… and then, he isn’t. He’s gone. The giant squid is gone, too. All that’s left is the wounded men, the battered boat and that enormous ocean, now deadly quiet…

There’s hardly anything as scary in this world than the ocean, and the monsters that lurk in its deepest depths. Whales have been found with the scars of enormous squid tentacles, scars that, by their size, suggest specimens far larger than any of the creatures ever discovered and measured with human eyes. Nothing on God’s green earth frightens me more intensely.

Lavrov’s Bold Speech at the UN Causes Shockwaves Globally!

Is it true that China is the only ancient civilization that continues to this day? Or is it only recognized by Chinese themselves?

To China and Chinese, civilization is indicated by writing. Without writing, a culture can’t be a civilization. The Chinese word for civilization is 文明, literally “to understand the written word” or “the written word brightens”. This is why Chinese people believe that Chinese civilization is the last remaining continuous cradle of civilization in history, as it’s the only cradle of civilization whose writing has not been abandoned.

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Archaeological site of the Shang palace

In the world, the known cradles of civilization are:

Sumer: Cuneiform abandoned, later to be rediscovered and needed to be deciphered by a European (Georg Friedrich Grotefend)
Egypt: Hieroglyphs abandoned, later to be rediscovered and needed to be deciphered by a European (Jean-François Champollion)
Harappa: Harappan script abandoned and still undeciphered, whose civilization was first rediscovered by a European (John Marshall)
Mesoamerica: Mesoamerican scripts abandoned, later needed to be deciphered by Europeans (mainly, the Mayan script was deciphered by Yuri Knorozov)
Peru: Peruvian quipu abandoned, still undeciphered, but quite controversial as many don’t consider quipu to be a writing system
Minoan: Minoan scripts abandoned, only deciphered Linear B, but quite controversial as many don’t consider Minoan civilization to be a cradle of civilization, but was instead influenced by Egypt and Mesopotamia

Meanwhile, the Chinese script has yet been abandoned, but merely evolved over time. The Shang dynasty, whose oracle bones were rediscovered by Chinese archaeologist Luo Zhenyu, had the same writing system as modern Chinese, just evolved in forms, meaning texts in oracle bones can be fully rendered in modern Chinese script.

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Oracle bone of the Shang

In fact, the Shang script was so developed in its form that it could not have sprung up over night. There must’ve been a predecessor to it, and many believe that earlier dynasties had already used a form of proto-writing (which later evolved into Shang script). Archaeologists have discovered many symbols dating to as early as 6000 years ago with forms resembling the Shang script.

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Using oracle bone script to render Tang dynasty poetry

So if you consider writing systems as the litmus test for civilizations, then yes, China is indeed the last continuous cradle of civilization on earth. Also notice how I said “cradle of civilization” and not civilization, because that’s how Chinese say it. Secondary civilizations whose writing systems were adopted from someone else like Japan, Rome, Aztec, Kush, Greece, Akkad, Persia, etc. are not considered in this category.

To those who argue against it, what do you consider the litmus test for a continuous civilization?

Some of my latest art

My prompt for this AI generation group is;

Create a anatomically-accurate, photo realistic, Baroque-style oil painting. two soft and feminine attractive Chinese woman are on a clipper ship, lounging next to a handsome muscular man. 

They are drinking wine and eating grapes . in front of them is Dionysus the Greek god . wine, and pleasure. He is enticing them on. 

the god Faunus is laughing, and everyone else is smiling and blessing the scene. 

the woman's skin radiates in warmth and glows softly. bright light. beautiful day. lush colors. a hint of chiaroscuro that contrasts the light sun lit portions with the shadier sections.

I used [1] the Albedo base XL (fine tuned) generation model, with [2] the”Digital Painting” element seed. Some also were also additionally modified using [3] the “Prompt Magic” plug in. But the results were not worth the cost in “chit usage”.

This resulted in many nudes or partial nudes. This is directly attributed to the use of the “Digital painting” element seed.

When I added the “Prompt Magic” plug in, they became fully clothed, but also lost some of the “fresh innocence” look that I was striving for.

Resulting in some of these amazing images…

High quality, but slow loading. Sorry.

@art Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(41)

@art Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(33)

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My idea is to select a few of these and then paint them in oils on a nice canvas. What do you all think?

Is it true that the US blew up the Nord Stream pipelines and not Russia as alleged by the EU?

The Swedish Navy knows who did it. They won’t tell you who it was, though, and they probably don’t have the first clue why.

Here goes:

Thursday, September 22nd: Swedish naval vessels leave the naval base at Karlskrona. Transponder data says they went to a few km east of the place where the gas leaks were later detected. There, the transponder was turned off.

Friday, September 23rd: Transponders are turned on a few km west of the later gas leaks. Vessels go to the nearby port of Simrishamn, return to the site of the later gas leaks. Transponders turned off again.

Saturday, September 24th: Transponders turned off close to the second gas leak site. Vessels round the Danish island of Bornholm. When close to the first gas leak site, transponders are turned off again.

Sunday, September 25th: Transponders turned on. The vessels are now close to the Russian exclave Kaliningrad, where the Russian Baltic Sea fleet has a base.

Monday, September 26th: KABOOM. According to experts, explosive charges might have been laid down in advance and detonated remotely.

Transponder data can be faked, and has been in the past. This time, though the Swedish Armed Forces have verified that they had vessels at those places at those times.

Now, what could possibly have happened here?

Maybe, just maybe, they got indications of unusual underwater activity, went to investigate, and followed a submarine to Kaliningrad.

Rest assured that NATO has a more complete picture than this.

A 1990s preview of what Social Media will bring.

These old MVs are like a time machine.

Snap! – Rhythm is a Dancer

What is the average lifespan of an electric car? Are there any common issues with electric cars, such as high maintenance costs or expensive battery replacements?

We don’t know yet. But initial indications are that electric vehicles (EVs) will outlast gas mobiles.

The Nissan Leaf became available in 2011 and the Tesla model S in 2012 in limited numbers. There are now (as of 2024) more than 40 million EVs in the world. There simply has not been enough time to determine the real world lifespan of EVs. There are lots of projections and evidence that they will average more than 15 years. But no hard numbers.

The average lifespan of a gas mobile is 12 years and 200,000 miles (322,000 km). Fifty years ago cars were considered to be junk if they reached 100,000 miles. So, the automobile industry is clearly getting better at vehicle longevity.

The major concern with respect to EVs is the lifespan of the high voltage battery pack. Electric motors clearly have a far longer lifespan than a gas engine, typically 15 to 20 years. The drive train of an EV is also much simpler and expected to last 15 to 20 years. There is no automatic transmission or clutch for an EV, just a reduction gear to reduce the speed of the electric motor to the speed needed for the wheels. So, no shifting of gears and fewer mechanical parts to wear out. The electric motors are variable speed, they directly drive the wheels via the reduction gear. EV electric motors have about 20 moving parts compared to about 2000 for a gas engine.

The US federal government requires EV manufacturers to offer an eight-year/100,000-mile warranty on all EV batteries. This law was actually implemented at the request of the EV manufacturers, they know new buyers are worried about the longevity of the battery pack. Tesla warranties both th

e battery pack and drive train for 8 years.

An EV battery should not be compared to a smartphone battery. Both use lithium batteries but the EV battery is temperature controlled (in most cases with a liquid coolant and heat pump). Heat is the enemy of all lithium battery chemistries.

Another big factor is that not all of the capacity of an EV battery pack is made available for driving. You will see a state of charge (SOC) indicator on the dashboard that goes from 0% to 100% but that is probably only about 90% of the true battery capacity. EV manufacturers don’t publish specs for this, it’s a grey area they don’t want the public to know about. So, if you run an EV down to 0% you will probably get another 10 or 20 miles of range but when it finally does stop moving you will notice that the lights and display and power windows still work. The battery is not really at 0% SOC and that helps the longevity of the battery.

In addition to that, most EV owners don’t charge above 80% or let the SOC drop below 20% for daily use. For road trips it’s okay to charge to 90% or 100% and let the SOC drop to around 10% before charging. But don’t do that for daily use.

The available data for Teslas indicate they lose about 2% of capacity the first year and 1% each year after that. So a loss of 11% after ten years. Not a big deal but something to consider since EVs have much less range than a gas mobile.

Gas mobiles have had over 100 years of research and development and EVs have had less than 15 years (the electric cars powered by lead acid batteries don’t count). EV batteries are getting better every year, they provide more range and charge faster, and the cost of the battery packs is dropping steadily. The longevity of the battery packs is increasing too.

The big news lately for EV batteries is something called Lithium iron phosphate (LFP, sometimes abbreviated LiFePO4). They are being installed in less expensive, shorter range EV models. The Teslas manufactured in China all have LFP batteries. If you want a long-lived EV you might be better off going for the cheapie model. LFP batteries have 3 to 5 times the longevity of nickel based lithium batteries like NMC and NCA. The expectation is that they will last 1,118,000 miles (1,800,000 km) until battery capacity drops to 80%. Of course you can still drive an EV that has lost 20% of its capacity, you just have less range. The downside of EVs with LFP battery packs is shorter range and poor cold weather performance.

It will take several more years before it is clear which EV manufacturers have the best reliability and longevity.

My Awful, Cheating Ex Is Toothless & Living In A Tent, While I Am Now Living The Dream

You might be surprised at the changes that can hit you unexpectedly

When I was living in Erie, PA during my “parole” portion of my incarceration, I spent it at numerous facilities.

First with my father, and then at a monastery, and then finally at a half-way house. It’s all part of a program of reintegration with society.

Managed, of course, by the Parole branch of the local department of corrections.

They were pretty decent to me.

During the time at the “half way house” I shared a house with four other men. We each had a room, and maintained the house as part of a program.

We all had issues. One of the guys; a man named Mark was reintegrating from a lifetime of drugs. Another was Dave; who was dealing with mental issues stemming from a brain tumor. And there were others.

Each of us were unique. One guy was a bank robber who messed up really BIG TIME. Another was a young kid in his early 20’s who was just “losing it” because of a mental illness that he had.

*sigh*

We all worked a late night shift cleaning the local YMCA. We started at 9pm and came home at 4am. I led the crew because I was “responsible” and also because I had a drivers license.

Ah. It’s not the best life, but you get used to it. Low pay and hidden from sight. Just like everyone wanted.

So during the night we would scrub toilets mop floors and all the rest.

Shot of an unrecognizable man mopping the office floor

It’s what you might expect. Personally, I didn’t mind it. There was a calmness to mopping the floors in a big empty building late at night.

Ah. The snow would be falling outside. And I would just mop away. No one would bother me. First mop was to clean. Second mop was to rinse. It was simple and fine.

Anyways, Mark had a dog named Buddy, and this dog was a typical dog. I can’t say anything too bad about him. He was a beagle that was abandoned at the Humane Society.

Beagle,Standing.,Beagles.,Beagle,Breed.,6,Group,Fci.,Hunting,Dog.

I well remember once, It’s 4am, I just got home. I took off my shoes to get into bed and squish…

I turned on the light.

Buddy had broke into my room. He shit all over it.

He must of ate some that disagreed with him and shit was everywhere. In a panic, he tried to cover it up by knocking things off the desk and vanity; my books, papers and computer on top of the oozy piles of stinky shit.

I was pretty angry.

It took me until 5am, maybe 6am to sort everything out. And then, well a new day started.

Ah. Life happens.

So does shit.

You might be surprised at the changes that can hit you unexpectedly. You see guys, I hope you see… my life has been an ADVENTURE. And this is what my soul was trying to tell me as I entered my new baby body. THis life was going to be a real adventure…

… as I write this from my house in China and my daughter and wife are sleeping in the other room. An adventure.

Today…

Why is Russia living in the past with wars with neighboring countries?

Because Europe never did something which the Chinese did under Qinshihuang Di more than 2,000 years ago: conquer all the small kingdoms which formed China, kill all the royal families, and unify the language and measuring units.

The Qin dynasty was followed by the Han dynasty which built up a national bureaucracy which ruled the empire for 2,000+ years, and continues to rule China in its modern version, which is called the Communist Party of China.

The Han dynasty was milder than the Qin dynasty mainly because the Qin dynasty had already done most of the necessary killing to rule.

How does this relate to Russia and its neighbors?

Central and Eastern Europe is a clusterf**k of small- and middle-sized nations who generally hate each other for historical, cultural, linguistic, social and religious regions.

In order to maintain political influence in Europe, the U.S. has inflamed these hatreds because it gives the reason to keep a presence in Europe. Right now, most hate Russia, so now the US uses the umbrella of NATO to maintain its European presence. Without a strong European presence, the US would be largely confined to North America, and could no longer be considered a global power.

The USSR kept many of these countries from fighting each other with the Soviet socialist republics (including Ukraine) and the Warsaw Pact alliance, which disbanded after the collapse of the USSR. With the collapse of the USSR, all of the nationalist hatreds which had previously been suppressed broke out into the open.

It has been very much in US interests to frame Russia and Putin as the aggressor and instigator of all these troubles because this provides justification for the US presence and intervention.

IMO, all of central Europe should be either under German or Russian control; it would make things much easier if the local leaders were killed off in the same way Qinshihuang Di did in China. Eventually, Europe could be a grown-up region doing grown-up things, and taking care of its own defense.

Maybe…

Ordinary Cat Invades Fashion Show, Then It Does The UNTHINKABLE!

Reality

Poland and Belarus

Was anyone 1,000 years ago as smart as someone with average intelligence today?

I was teaching a science class in the Australian desert and the class was quietly working (it was a nice class). I looked out the window and I commented to no one in particular, “Looks like there will be a cyclone next week.”
The students mostly started laughing and one piped up “The national meteorologists said that the low would pass by without any problem.”

But there was a part of the class that did not object to my announcement… the local indigenous people. Instead they asked, “How do you [of European descent] know what our elders know?”
I smiled and pointed out the window, “The wind has changed to go in the opposite direction, the clouds have moved north instead of south, and the corellas (a small cockatoo) have all left town and gone to shelter in Karijini (local mountain range).”
The indigenous students were impressed and everyone else thought I was an idiot… at least they did until the cyclone hit the next week and flooded all the roads out of town.

The lesson here is that intelligence is not about knowledge gained through complex technology such as that used by meteorologists. Satellites, pressure gauges, wind charts—all of that is just data. True intelligence comes from an ability to assess the data and make a reasonable determination.
I made a reasonable determination based upon observational data … data indigenous people had been using for 50,000 years with success.

Ancient peoples used their intelligence to determine weather patterns, judge hunting techniques, and plan for the future year. They did all this without satellites or computers. Are modern people more intelligent than those before them?

No, we are not.

Ancient peoples can hold their head high … for they are intelligent and wise. Only an idiot would think otherwise.

Santa Fe Style Steak

Ingredients

1/2 cup Heinz 57 Sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
4 beef steaks (for grilling)

Instructions

Combine all ingredients except steak; reserve 1/4 cup for dipping cooked steaks. Brush steaks with sauce mixture.
Grill to desired doneness, about 14 to 18 minutes for 1 inch thick steaks, turning once and brushing with sauce.

God's Rainbow - Noahic Covenant

American voter…

What was a red flag that made you stop talking to a person immediately?

I was at a local bar with some friends.

One of my friends wanted to smoke, but since smoking is forbidden indoors in Germany, we decided to join him outside. We were standing in a circle and happily chatting away, when someone said something which made me laugh out loudly.

Some random bloke was standing a few meters away from us, smoking and drinking a beer from a heavy clay mug. While I was laughing, he walked directly towards me and harshly asked what we were laughing about. I told him “nothing really, we’re just chatting and having fun.” He kept on moving uncomfortably close towards me, not satisfied with my answer, clearly thinking we’d made fun of him.

I wasn’t very intimidated by him since he was only about 1,65m tall and I was in decent physical shape. I stood my ground and was about to answer with an actual derogatory remark aimed at his intelligence. Both female friends who were present, started tucking at my shirt heavily, urging me to go back inside. I begrudgingly gave in.

What I hadn’t seen (and couldn’t see because he was so close), but they had noticed: while moving closer he had changed the position of the clay mug in his hand, ready to swing it at my head.

There were many a few red flags I should have noticed, but I was being arrogant due to his size and me being slightly intoxicated.

The final red flag, which I chose not to ignore, was my friends pulling me away.

What’s the most expensive thing you’ve gotten for an insanely cheap price?

I really should check with a landscaping company before bragging on this, but it’s too late on a Saturday. I got a 30,000 pound rock for only $75.

Every day for maybe a month, on my way to work, I rode my bicycle past a humongous big boulder that rested in a waste area along the border where my city was renovating and expanding the downtown Civic Center. I finally couldn’t stand it any longer so I hunted down the site foreman and asked, “What’s a deal with the big rock.?”

—”Oh, that. That damn thing is getting in the way. We’re going to have to move it pretty soon.”

“Can I buy it.?

Pause.

“Delivered.?’ I asked. “I live two blocks west from here. And, um, four blocks north. No, make that five blocks north; and then a U-turn into the alley; and then south down to the opposite end where I am. You have to approach my house from the north. The southside of the alley is a grandfathered-in illegally steep grade that can’t be fixed; I’ve asked. Nobody, literally, nobody enters my alley from the south end traveling north.”

“Yeah, sure.” More thinking. “$75.”

I know that rock weighs 30,000 pounds because that is the upper-limit payload that the construction company’s biggest on-site front-loader was rated for. The driver who delivered said that he had to go slow because throughout the entire trip, every time he rode over a bump or expansion crack he could feel the rear end of the front-loader lift off the road. Like a baby seesaw.

The driver and I laughed about it. I gave him a $20 dollar tip.

p.s. Around here, field stone is pretty much free from the surrounding farm fields. But you have to pick it and transport it yourself. The expense when you buy bigly landscaping rocks is really mostly for transporting them. Rocks are heavy. 😀

Being a father be like…

Why didn’t Sears adapt?

I led a small marketing team at Sears briefly in 2015. The experience was so terrible that I quit ~5 months into the role (at great financial cost) and was so depressed that I took the same amount of time off to stop hating myself for ever getting involved.

Almost every person I worked with at Sears—from division presidents to middle managers to the janitorial staff—truly believed that Sears still deserved to be a leading American brand, and that the rest of the country just hadn’t figured that out yet. Things I heard all the time from people at Sears corporate:

Customers are being unfair.
Customers should just give us a chance.
We’re just as good as anyone else.
Competitors don’t have anything we don’t have.
Amazon is cheating, they should be illegal.
Vendors are taking unfair advantage of us.
If customers just knew what we knew, they would come back.

I think this bizarre cognitive dissonance is the single largest driver of Sears’ failure. Sears waited for someone, anyone else to notice that the world isn’t working the way it should (as evidenced by their unjust decline). A significant chunk of the people I worked with at Sears had been with the company for more than ten years, and they held this attitude despite years of no compensation changes and benefits like 401k match disappearing. They kept this attitude as they bought SHLD shares at a slight discount through the employee stock purchase program (for roughly $25/share in 2015, worth $0.45 or so today). They maintained this attitude as they paid $1.25 per cup of drip coffee every morning (that they made themselves, via keurig, in the employee break room).

This was particularly frustrating for me as a B2B marketer. Business customers won’t hesitate to ask hard questions like “how will all the news about your trouble with creditors impact your ability to fulfill my orders?” and they expect real answers. If your value proposition boils down to “we promise we’re just as good as our competitors,” why should anyone care that you exist?

Recalling ALL of the RED FLAGS of Ladies Night

My landlord is evicting me because I’m 2 years late on rent. How do I tell him I’m not leaving no matter what?

I had a young, man who was a tenant. He and his GF decided to stop paying rent. They were also dealing heroin and fentanyl from the property. We found a lawyer who walked us through the procedure for eviction. We went to court and this fellow who normally walked around in dreadlocks and baggy sweatpants in a “sagging” style, showed up to court in a suit and tie.

He cited deficiencies in the apartment, my attorney cited the lease and the signed, pre-move-in inspection. He cited that he was jobless. My attorney cited that he paid me in cash up until the time he decided to quit paying. Another issue from the tenant, another rebuttal from my attorney.

At the end of the hearing, the judge gave him 60 days to move out. At the end of the 60 days, his parents showed up and under the watchful eye of the sheriff’s deputy, they removed his junk and cursed me and my wife and told the deputy how unfair it was to kick him out.

After leaving his trash and the pile of ratty furniture on the curb, I inspected the property with the deputy. I changed the locks and barred the windows. I hired a cleanup crew who specialized in cleaning potentially drug-laced areas. I repainted, fumigated and cleaned with bleach and fungicide. I placed a lien on his parents who cosigned his lease, I sued him in court and won and a lien was placed on his future earnings, I filed a credit report so he will not be able to gain credit until the debt is paid.

So go ahead and tell your landlord you are not paying and not moving. Enjoy court and a move-out under the watchful eye of the sheriff.

When did you first realize your child was different?

I first suspected the day after he was born. He was alert and looking around. Yes, I know they can’t focus their eyes but this kid was staring right at me. I felt he was staring through me. I told my wife it was like a sentient being was staring at me from behind those eyes.

At two weeks he would hold his head up to get a better view.

I was song leader at church and during service sat on the platform next to the pastor when something else was going on. My wife sat on the front row holding the baby. At six months he noticed me on the platform and mouthed “Hi, Pop” to me as clearly as day. The pastor noticed and whispered “He said ‘Hi, Pop.’” I nodded in agreement.

I started to write that he began walking at 9 months. In fact, he hit the floor running and has never slowed down.

His older brother and sister are smart and smarter. They both swear that he is smarter than either of them. Unfortunately he was diagnosed late with ADHD. He found it very hard to focus on boring things and developed bad study habits. He attempted college twice but never took to book learning. He drives a truck for a living. He also plays ukulele, recorder, and bass guitar. He juggles, makes glass marbles, roasts and grinds his own coffee brand, yo-yoes competitively, and is a former state spin top champion. He sews costumes for himself and his kids. He can also wire a house, rebuild a car engine, and create graphic art.

Oh, and he is 6 feet 4 inches (1.9m) tall and 240 pounds (108kg) of solid muscle. Best of all, he is still my sweet,tender-hearted, little boy.

FAB-3000 Bomb Blows Up a Cafe Building Along With NATO and Ukrainian Officers┃AFU Lost UROZHAINE

People who grew up poor and are now in a higher social class, what are the biggest or most surprising differences you’ve noticed?

I’m going to go in the opposite direction. While a number of the answers that talk about better food and vacations not being a thing are absolutely right, the biggest difference to me is how I view setbacks.

When I was 20 and managed to get a car I made the mistake one night of parking in a place I shouldn’t have. My car got towed. It cost $125 to get it out. I didn’t have it. In fact, getting $125 for myself back then was so hard that I had to wait a week just to put it together.

Well, anyone that’s been towed knows, they charge you by the day when you leave your car there. By the time I had $125 the cost went up to $200. I was distraught, disheartened and certainly didn’t have that. I learned to appreciate having to walk everywhere, although I was incredibly frustrated ( luckily I lived in a city) since it made getting to work a major hassle. To this day I have gratitude to that tow lady, because she saw my reaction and waived the fees bringing the price back to $125 and gave me my car back. Kindness goes a long way, she really helped me out back then.

Anyways, fast forward almost 10 years.

Made a mistake, parked in a place that I shouldn’t have and my car got towed. It cost $285 to get it out (I live in a much more expensive city). I gave a sigh and a shrug and paid it instantly without thinking about it. While I was mad for making the mistake and having paid nearly $300, it didn’t phase me outside of that.

That is the difference.

If you have a setback when you’re poor it can destroy you. Seriously. I’ve watched my parents have setbacks and it put us, as a family, through some awful times. Recently my mom had a $2000 set back. I paid it the next day. Had I still been a kid, that same $2000 would have hurt us for months if not a year after.

When you have even just a little bit of money as an emergency fund, it makes a world of difference. Getting towed, accidents, small medical emergencies, getting sick and having to miss work for 2 or 3 days, missing your flight or train and having to buy a new ticket…

Setbacks, become so much easier to deal with.

Did you ever accidentally overhear a conversation about you on a conference call?

*Yes I did and it helped me make a big decision.*

I was pastor of a church and I had a leadership team of men who were mostly older than me. I was a young pastor and this was my first big church, having only run a smaller one before. My team were good guys but they didn’t know how to handle a young firebrand with a strong personality and ideas for change and innovation.

Some of the members tried to control me and make me into their idea of what they wanted from a leader, which is never going to work.

One day I was sitting in my church office and my phone rang. One of the team who was trying to control me had pocket dialled me and he was driving somewhere and had another team member in the car with him. They were talking about me.

They were discussing my flaws and how they wished I would just change and be what they wanted. There was no celebrating my abilities, just gossip about my inabilities. As a young man this was quite soul destroying. I did contact the one who make the pocket call and said that next time he gossips about me he needs to make sure he hasn’t just called me so I can hear it all. He tried to defend himself and say he was trying to be helpful discussing these things, but it helped me in other ways.

My wife and I had been contemplating emigrating and taking on a new challenge in a new culture, and this pushed us closer to the decision which we eventually made a few months later..

What was one expectation you had for boot camp that did not come true?

I was in boot camp beginning in April of 1975. I went to Great Lakes Naval Boot Camp outside of Chicago. I expected what I’d seen in movies. It was a very different experience.

Our Company Commander, Chief Seal, was taking his last company of recruits through their basic training before retirement. It was a very relaxed environment without tons of yelling and screaming and millions of push-ups and group punishment.

I found out later, through reliable sources, that the reason Chief Seal was much more lenient had to do with the previous company he took through basic. There were 2 suicide attempts and several attempts of recruits being AWOL. The one that got to him was a young man he sent to the brig after a minor violation. It was something that could have been handled differently. Once in the brig, this young man, who was from Midland, MI, was abused by the Marine Handlers who were in charge. This was nothing unusual. It’s what Marines do. Unfortunately, during one of the punishment episodes, the young man died. In an attempt to cover up what had happened, 4 Marines took the young mans body and placed it across the railroad tracks that ran outside of the base. Later he was struck by train. During the investigation, something didn’t sit right with the investigators. Something about body placement. Four Marines were arrested, went to court martial, and were found guilty of murder and covering up what had happened. This whole episode weighed heavily on Chief Seal and he vowed he wouldn’t be that hard on his next, and last, group of recruits. The reason it was his last group was “political pressure” (for want of a better name) from higher in the chain of command. He was allowed to stay in service, providing he put in for retirement.

Overall my Boot Camp experience was better than others I heard about at the same base.

How Attractive

What were the worst two minutes of your life?

At age 37, I had my first baby via emergency C-section, after an 83-hour labour.

When I got pregnant again at 39, I had

A scar on my uterus
A large fetus with a head size off the chart (literally off the chart: the little red dot was printed beyond the end of the line)
A fetus in an extended breach position, little bum at the bottom, big head at the top, legs straight up in front of her body (must have been so uncomfortable!)

So halfway through my pregnancy I was scheduled for an elective C-section as trying for a vaginal birth sounded like a disaster waiting to happen. Good plan!

On the day, after all the starving and prep, I was taken into theatre, and the doctor decided to check the baby’s position with one last ultrasound. She said “if the baby has flipped, I am not doing it.”

(Lady, she hasn’t had space to flip for the last three months, what are you on? Also, way to jump it on me NOW!)

Anyway, the baby hadn’t flipped, so let’s chop. At this point, perhaps due to all the poking, the baby twisted a quarter turn, so that instead of facing sideways, she was now facing towards my back. More importantly, her legs were now underneath her body.

So the doctor was rummaging around, trying to find some part of the baby to grab onto. No luck.

Let’s make the cut bigger.

Rummage.

Bigger.

Rummage.

At this point the uterus decided “Yeah, I am done, stop bothering me, I will just go and contract back to the size of a pear, shall I.”

On the baby’s head.

All I could see was two people finally grabbing two tiny ankles and dragging with all their might. There was silence.

Then everyone rushed to a distant corner of the room and the anaesthesiologist’s assistant, who had stayed with me, said in a weak voice: “She will be OK…”

The two minutes contemplating how to tell my toddler that her new baby sister was not coming home… I sincerely hope I will never have another two minutes like that.

P.S.: Yeah, this was 14 years ago, that baby now wants to be a neurobiologist, she is learning five languages and plays the harp.

‘I Can’t Believe You Have Been Nominated!’: Hawley Goes Nuclear On Nom Over Writings About Gender

How old were you when you first went to prison? What was your sentence and what was your crime?

Boy do I have a story for you. I was 57 when I was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for selling a firearm to a felon. I had owned my own gun shop for 25 years prior to that, was working as a shift manager at the local casino, and had been retired from the state prison system for 15 years when I left I was the director of operations. I had no prior criminal history never been arrested and was a model citizen.

Why did I go to prison? Because I sold a gun to a woman at a gun show ( a small .22 caliber pistol) did the background check (she lied on the form) and when the ATF went to arrest her for felon in possession, and falsifying federal documents, she made some kind of deal to get me. ATF revoked my federal gun license, arrested me, my wife, and my daughter who worked at the store, and charged us all with the selling of the firearm, conspiracy, and providing material false statements to federal agents.( My wife and daughter were not even at the gun show) I had to hire a lawyer for each of us 50k and we were released on pre trial detention had to take urine tests weekly and were on kind of parole, couldn’t leave the state etc..

My lawyer was the best in the state and told me the charges were bull shit and I had a 95 % chance of beating them at trial, however if we lost we would all go to prison for at least 5 years. The prosecutor and ATF AGENT wanted me to go to prison for 10 years and pay $100,000 dollars in fines. I couldn’t risk my family going to prison so my lawyer made a deal with the feds and the charges were dropped against my daughter and wife after I plead guilty. I was sentenced to 24 months and paid 10,000$

The prosecutor claimed victory, I lost my job, my store and my dignity, but the feds got a non dangerous person off the streets and everyone made a ton of money all in the name of “Operation safe streets” lucky my state retirement benefits couldn’t be touched by the feds but they did take all the store inventory, we were literally close to being homeless, I am now a felon, on 3 year supervised release after doing 14 months in federal prison and 6 months in a halfway house. The entire process cost you the taxpayer to prosecute, house, medical care, supervision, and the the rest a cool half million bucks! Congratulations ATF and federal prosecutors for keeping our streets safe.

NATO summit, funeral to circus

The grift has taken over all the “leadership” of Europe. Brilliant analysis.

As a waiter/waitress, how would you describe the behavior of the worst type of diner, and what would the tip be?

I’m not a waiter/waitress, but I recently witnessed this behavior at a casino.

For those who haven’t been to one, there’s waitresses who roam about and will bring you alcoholic beverages (sometimes for a price, sometimes for free so long as you’re gambling) or else water/soft drinks (nearly always for free). The idea is to keep you behind the machine and feeding it money.

Some casinos have a “loyalty program” in which you sign up, get a plastic card, and if you gamble enough you rack up points and get free stuff. Sometimes the free stuff is money – maybe $10 or $15 – but the money is put on your card and cannot be redeemed for actual cash. That money has to be used to play slots.

So the guy sitting next to me orders a drink. Usually you tip the waitress a couple of bucks. But this guy? When she brings his drink, he points to his card and says “If you can figure out how to get $2 in cash off the card, that will be your tip.” Of course, both he and the waitress know that you can’t convert the card money into cash. So not only was he not tipping her, he was rubbing her nose in it.

Second worst behavior in a diner. There’s a party of 3–4 and the waitress comes out to bring beverages. One of the guys puts five singles on the table. He tells her “That’s your tip. Every time you screw something up, I’m going to take away one of those dollars.” The waitress became enraged and told him and his buddies to get the hell out. I thought, “Good for her.”

Reacting To Biden’s Dangerous NATO Speech

A historical disaster.

As a criminal defense lawyer, what was the most embarrassing surprise evidence against your client at trial?

Man oh man I made a blunder once. I learned from it and never let it happen again.

The most embarrassing surprise evidence against my client at trial was: MY CLIENT!

I had a drunk driving case. The evidence against my client was tough but not insurmountable. I got to know my client pretty well prior to trial. He was seemingly outstanding. A well-spoken intelligent gentleman, a war hero. He even worked at the time of the incident taking care of the elderly. He hobbied in photography and had rushed to ground zero on 911 shortly after the towers had fallen. The pictures he took ended up on the front page on newspapers around the world.

He had left a bar in New Bedford driving his brand new four-wheel drive SUV. On the way home, he wanted to show off to his buddy/passenger the vehicle’s capabilities and turned and drove over the grass and dirt median and onto his driveway. The blue lights went on. Field sobriety tests conducted. Not bad not good. He admitted he had the proverbial “2 beers” etc. bloodshot eyes, odor of alcohol, etc., etc. No Breathalyzer Test. Two police officers on the witness list to testify against him etc.

I felt the trial would most likely go in our favor. But I had such confidence in my client being the Ace in the hole that I made the BIG mistake of promising the jury in my opening he would testify. This was a big mistake for two reasons. 1. The officers surprisingly maybe even intentionally did AWFUL on the stand. It was a seeming slam dunk Not Guilty for us.

We broke for lunch after the prosecution rested. My client was dying to testify. I was apprehensive from the get-go during lunch. Why let him testify when we seemingly had it in the bag? But I had enthusiastically promised the jury he’d tell his side of the story, and he was persistent about having his say in court. So 2. (My other mistake): I relented.

He took the stand and immediately turned from Dr Jeckyll into Mr Hyde and then some. And THIS WAS DURING DIRECT EXAMINATION with me tossing softball questions to him. During cross-examination he became downright damn belligerent:

“Sir you said you only had 2 beers is that correct?”

“Yeah, that’s what I said. But you know. Maybe it was 3. Maybe it was one. But you know what? What the F business is it of yours how many damn beers I had?”

Yikes. It got worse from there if you can believe it. He, (we) snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. The jury came back guilty in 45 minutes.

I never ever again promised a jury they’d hear from my client. And I never ever put a client on the stand until I actually took the client to an empty courtroom before the trial date and put the client on the stand and practised both direct and cross on them myself.

lesson learned the hard way. Call it a trial by error.

Why did Radio Shack close down, and what took its place?

Originally Answered: Why did Radio Shack close down, and what took it’s place?

Nothing took it’s place, unless you consider the internet.

Radio Shacks failure was due to the inability to adapt. I worked for “The Shack” from 2004 to 2010 and spent 4 years as a store manager, running 2 different stores. Although I was not with Radio Shack at the end I saw the writing on the wall long before I left the company to open my own business. During this time I watched the upper management fall like a house of cards. There were three CEO’s and only one of them seemed like they had any idea how to turn the company around and that person was only an interim CEO until they could hire someone else.

Radio Shack’s ultimate down fall was they neglected the product lines and customers that had built the company. Radio Shack started by selling radios and other equipment to the amature ham rado operators. This was a thriving business from the 1920’s through the 1940’s when the were just a small company operating only a few stores in the northeast. In the 1950’s televisions were driving customers into the stores. Then in the 60’s and 70’s CB radios became the thing to have and Radio Shack was leading the industry. By the late 70’s and early 80’s sales shifted to high fi audio. Then in the mid 80’s Radio Shack hit a home run with one of the very first affordable home computers the TRS 80. In the 80’s Radio Shack was the place to go if you needed a computer or any accessories. That’s difficult to think of today but it was such a huge market Radio Shack opened several locations that were nothing but computer stores. This continued through the mid to late 90’s. High fi and computers were the primary products in the stores, but there was this one little product that was kept in the display case, often ignored and only sold to the occasional customer who had very deep pockets. These were the first cell phones.

I started working at the Shack at in interesting time, in an interesting location. In the late 90’s and early 2000’s the cell phone industry was booming. Cell phone companies were offering huge subsidies on their products to get customers to sign up for a plan. This is why cell phones cost next to nothing. You could get an average cell phone for anywhere from free to $20. However what the customer didn’t know is the cell companies were subsidizing each phone and paying Radio Shack the full retail price. So the phone might actually cost $300 to $400 and whatever the customer didn’t pay, the carrier did. Many stores were selling between 10 to 20 phones every day. At an average of $350 for each phone, the stores were raking in some serious cash and the customer was paying almost nothing. The carriers of course made that back by locking the customer in to a 2 year contract where a portion of their bill each month went to pay off the subsidy. Also Radio Shack got a small portion of the customers bill each month. This was a great deal as long as people were activating a new cell phone with a new phone number, and that was their achilles heal.

Around 2004–05, the cell phone market in my area became saturated. This meant 80% of all customers who could own a cell phone did. The only people who were still activating new phones were the elderly and the kids who had just turned 18 and were now able to sign a contract. So instead of new phone activations, the stores were doing more upgrades, (i.e. replacing an older phone with a newer model.) The carriers didn’t like this as much and didn’t pay the full subsidy. Often this required the customer to pay more. A phone that may have cost between $0 and $20 for a new activation, may cost $50 to $200 for the upgrade. The customers didn’t like this for obvious reasons and would often go elsewhere where they could get a better deal (WalMart). As the market became saturated cell phone sales started to decline. I got wind of a conference call between the execs in Fort Worth who were asking the Atlanta District Managers “What’s going on in Atlanta?” Over the next several months the same pattern started appearing in other large cities.

Due to this Radio Shack doubled down on it’s cell phone business. The stores were remodeled and all cell phones were moved to the front and center. The customers had to walk through a gauntlet of phones before they could find that 60 cent resistor in the back of the store. Every Sunday’s ad had cell phones on the front and center, each week a new phone was featured as a great new deal, etc, etc. Now the primary metric for evaluating a stores performance was based on the number of phone activations each store was doing each day. It didn’t matter if the store sold $5000 in a single day on non cell phone products, if they were not activating phones there was a problem and staff just wasn’t doing a good enough job qualifying the customers to sell them a phone. A typical store was expected to have between a 10 and 15 hit rate, this means for every 10 to 15 transactions completed one of them should have been a cellular phone. This resulted in some interesting “strategies and techniques” that were introduced to better train and motivate the sales staff. Unfortunately once these techniques reached the sales staff they were pretty much ignored. It was like the generals in World War 1 who had never been to the front lines giving orders for the troops to charge the machine gun nest, but couldn’t figure out why all the soldiers kept getting killed.

The sales staff knew what the problems were and I personally witnessed many associates and managers attempt to bring these concerns to the upper management. The result was often a review of their pay check or for the manager’s the monthly P&L to see what was wrong. Associates and managers were told they can voice their concerns when they fixed their numbers. 99% of the time it had something to do with too few cell phone activations.

I personally was singled out on a particular weekend when the company decided to have a major push and was able to reduce the price of the Motorola Razor or RAZR phone (Remember those) to $20 with both a new activation or an upgrade. We had a conference call that Friday morning and everyone was supposed to motivate their staff and let every customer know about this great deal on the RAZR. Around 4:00pm my cell phone sales were at a grand total of zero and the rest of my sales was looking pretty dismal as well. I got a call with both my district and regional managers on the line who wanted to know what was going on and why we were not selling these RAZR’s unlike all the other stores in the district? My reply, “Well with all due respect gentleman, It’s kind of hard to compete with the WalMart having its grand opening down the street and giving the same phones away for free.” At the end of the day I believe I had just cleared $1000. The rest of that weekend was about the same. The only phones we sold were the little free ones and no RAZRs. It took some time but my district manager finally had to agree that my situation was unique and I was let off the hook.

The cell phone carriers were also looking out for themselves. In order to get a cell phone the customer had to qualify and that was based on their credit report. If the customers credit was low they had to pay a deposit. It didn’t matter if the customer got the phone from Radio Shack or elsewhere, the deposit was still required as it was set by the provider. Well the providers could be finicky. It was not uncommon for the providers to change their minimum requirements to qualify for a phone. So a customer who had a 500 credit score, might require a $400 deposit one day and the next $0. If the carrier wanted to activate more phones, they would relax the requirements. If they wanted to be cautious they would increase them. Radio Shack had no control over this but because Radio Shack was putting all of it’s eggs in one basket an unannounced change in credit requirements could impact the entire company’s bottom line, and it did.

Another issue was something that was started by Charles Tandy when he bought the company. In Mr. Tandy’s day this was a great concept but by the 2000’s it was outdated. Mr. Tandy felt he could deliver a better product, at a better price and make more profit if he could control the supply chain, thus he created several brands that were exclusive to Radio Shack, Realistic, Archer, Enercell, to name a few. This practice and was still there when I was an employee and leading to decreasing sales. For example the Apple Ipod was a very popular product at the time. Unfortunately Radio Shack could not buy enough inventory from Apple to properly stock their stores to meet demands. So what did they do, they created their own unique MP3 player sold only at Radio Shack to compete with Apple. Why pay $300 for an Ipod when you can get this MP3 player for $60? It will play all the same music and the controls are only a little bit confusing and you can’t read the screen, but it will do everything an Ipod will do. Oh would you like to buy the Radio Shack headphones to go with that? Again the generals at the rear didn’t get it. We just didn’t have the products the customer wanted. This is why Radio Shack became irrelevant.

Many of the long time customers who had kept Radio Shack in business stopped shopping there. The company was so cell phone centric, that the associates were never trained on how to sell the other products in the store. They were never taught the little things that customers would come in for, i.e. knowing how to read the colored stripes on resisters, knowing how to calculate wattage for a power supply, or even what the different cables for a hooking up a DVD player could do. All their training went to techniques in order to qualify customers for a new cell phone activation. If someone came in needing a specific part or had a technical problem that required someone with real knowledge, that was to bad, but the associates would be happy to check your eligibility to upgrade your cellular phone. This of course upset and outraged the once loyal base of customers and they just stopped shopping there. Around 2012 I remember many late night talk show host and comedians asking “Can you remember the last time you were in a Radio Shack?”. And that was considered a funny joke.

At the end the upper management finally woke up and realized they could not continue the way they were and in order to survive they would have to start closing stores. However one of the major investors had a contract that prohibited them from closing more than 200 stores a year. With over 5000 locations nationwide, closing 200 stores was not going to be enough to make a difference. This set up Radio Shack for a buyout and that is what happened. After 2 bankruptcies Radio Shack shut down and is now only a website and a few small stores that are privately owned.

Radio Shack missed many opportunities in the 1990’s and 2000’s that could have turned the company around. If they kept the focus on what got them to where they were they would still be here today. Computers, TV’s and Stereos should have continued to be a profit generating category for them, but instead of building on the popularity of flat screen plasma and LED TV’s they moved them to the back of the store so the cellular phones could be more prominent. Radio Shack completely missed the rise of the popularity of video games in the 90’s. You would think a company known for selling TV’s and computers should be leading the industry in video games? Nope, totally ignored it. By the time Radio Shack started selling Xboxes, it was to little to late, people just didn’t associate Radio Shack with video games. DVDs and BluRays could have been a big category for them as well, but they also ignored that in favor of getting more cell phones out the door. For a short time they tried selling DVDs but again, too little, way too late. Then in my opinion there was the final nail in the coffin. Radio Shack never embraced the internet. They had a web site, (technically still do). But it was never utilized correctly. For the longest time Radio Shack had a catalog that was hundreds of pages thick that had every product they sold. You would think that would be a great thing to put on the internet. Well they did, but not until big companies like Amazon, Ebay, etc had already dominated it.

When Radio Shack stopped embracing their past and looking only at the present and never at the future their downfall was assured. That’s what I saw in 2009 and decided I could run my own company better. So that’s what I did.

Edit…

I appreciate everyone that has suggested edits to this answer. I really do!

However I have a slight bit of dyslexia and I’m prone to make spelling, grammer, syntax errors from time to time. So for now I’m going to leave this the way it is as my own little signature. 😉

Thanks guys

Who is the luckiest person you have ever known?

My son. Well, he is the unluckiest luckiest person I know. Aged 18 months old he fell onto an unguarded gas fire. His little palm of hand was one enormous blister. My mother in law put butter on it ( this was in 1962) which fried his skin. I put it straight into cold running water for 10 minutes. I took him to the doctor who said he might have damages the nerves and tendons in his hand so he might never be able to use it. He did.

Aged 8 years old he was out on his bike with his Dad cycling around in our quiet cul-de-sac when a white car came hurtling around the corner . It knocked him off his bike onto the pavement and carried on to run over and crush the bike. He suffered bruises and a cut knee and hand .

Age 10 years old , while playing football in the local park he fell onto a broken glass bottle. The deep laceration cut down between the tendons of his fingers and nerves so nothing was damaged except the flesh . He could still use his hand.

Aged 17 years old he went to work on a building site , during the summer holiday. He was put in charge of the cement mixer. After putting in shovelfuls of cement and sand , he pushed the lever in , to start the mixer. Everything went well until the lever shot out catching my son cutting his eyebrow in half. The doctor said another half an inch lower and he would have lost his eye. His father, my husband had worked for the firm and was injured because of rusty equipment. But that’s another story. Why my son went there , knowing that, I don’t know.

Aged 61 years of age , he had a massive stroke. I live nearby to his apartment and I decided to pop up to see him. I was, with the help of his employers , able to call an ambulance and get him to hospital. That is the only lucky bit because the doctors couldn’t give him the injection to dissolve the blood clot because he had a bleeding stomach ulcer. He is paralysed down his left side. Unfortunately his luck is not so good as it once was.

The Gunfighter Theory

Rudy Uribe

I thought when I died, I would instantly know the answers to all the mysteries of the universe. Was Darwin, right? Does life exist on other planets? How did they build the pyramids? The reality is I didn’t learn a darn thing. The mysteries of life did not present themselves as I had expected. Once my soul left the body, and I passed through those pearly gates, I didn’t care if I knew those answers or not.Even though I’m poo-pooing solving the world’s greatest mysteries, the one mystery that kept gnawing at me was how the universe began. I never bought into the Big Bang Theory.The idea that two basketball-sized objects collided in space to begin the universe is preposterous. Think about it, what are the odds of two objects, that small, colliding in the vastness of space? I mean, if they miss each other there is no chance of them ever meeting again. They would simply go on and on unless the universe is a sphere, in which case they might ricochet off the edge and have another go at it.Don’t get me wrong, I was enjoying heaven and all the perks that go along with being there, but I still couldn’t shake the Big Bang Theory. People on earth were still talking about it, and I knew in my gut, if I still had a gut, that they were wrong.I made an appointment to see the Big Guy, and I asked permission to go back in time to when it all began. He explained that since I didn’t believe in the Big Bang, there was no going back in time since the Big Bang was supposedly the beginning of time. I rephrased my question and didn’t mention the time thing again since the Big Guy was apparently a stickler for semantics.He told me that there was no free lunch in heaven and that I would have to discover the answer for myself. He called over another spirit and told him to join me. “This is Jimmy,” The Big Guy said, Jimmy believes in the Big Bang and wants to see it happen first hand.” The Big Guy went into a windup like a major league pitcher and hurled our spiritual asses into the cold dark vastness of space and told us to have fun.Great, I had left those cushy clouds for total blackness and Jimmy’s company. Since the universe had not been created yet, there were no stars or moons or suns or anything on which we could focus our attention. I looked down at my auric glow and felt like a ship on a moonless night. I looked over at Jimmy, who had a huge grin on his spiritual face. Despite the emptiness and the silence, we both sensed that something epic was going to take place.Those two basketball-sized objects that supposedly started the universe, well, they were floating in that black void, but they were not the size of basketballs. Instead, they were monstrous rocks. They were practically invisible because there was no light for them to reflect other than our auras, but since Jimmy and I didn’t have eyes anymore, it didn’t really matter. Despite our lack of vision, our spirits were able to sense everything and it was as if we could see the rocks were there.“Basketballs, huh?” I yelled at Jimmy. Yelled isn’t completely accurate since we were communicating telepathically, but Jimmy got the point.“It’s all relative,” Jimmy said. When you compare their size to the emptiness around us, they are no bigger than atoms. So, describing them as basketballs isn’t too far off.Dang, it. Jimmy had gone one up on me. I should have taken a debate class in high school.I stood on one rock and Jimmy stood on the other, we rode them through space, waiting for the big collision. I watched as Jimmy’s rock missed mine by a mile. Well, more than a mile.He transported himself over to my rock and stood with me. It turned out the massive rocks didn’t collide as I had surmised. Instead, they missed each other by a hundred million light-years. I thought their mass would create a gravitational attraction even at that great distance, but they silently passed each other headed for who knows where for the remainder of time, if there was such a thing as time. I was right; there had been no collision, no big bang.“What do you think now, Jimmy? No crash. No Big Bang.” Jimmy looked puzzled.

Satisfied that I had been right about there being no Big Bang, I left Jimmy to figure out what happened and returned to my cushy clouds.

“So, did you learn how I created the universe?” The Big guy asked.

“No, Sir,” I said, “But I know it didn’t start with a big bang, and that’s good enough for me.”

“Well, that’s not good enough for me. Now get back out there and find the answer to your question.”

The Big Guy was tougher than my physics teacher. I found myself back in the dark vacuum with Jimmy.

“Why did you come back?” Jimmy asked.

“The big guy wants me to stick it out and see how he created the universe.”

“Maybe there are more than two rocks,” Jimmy said. “I still think a collision is imminent.”

We raced through space, but since there was no wind or any other objects to give us perspective, I wondered if we were moving at all. When I was alive and standing on earth, I was hurtling around the Sun at a hundred thousand miles an hour, but I couldn’t feel it. Standing on this rock felt the same.

Jimmy and I stood around for what seemed like an eternity when we felt the spheroid quake.

“Something’s happening,” Jimmy said.

“Do you really think there’s another rock that we’re going to crash into?” I asked.

“Could be,” Jimmy said, “I hate to say it since I’ve only known you for a couple of billion years, but I think those astronomers are just a little bit smarter than you are. If they say two rocks collided, I believe them.”

I hated that Jimmy and those scientists might be right, so I let his comment go.

It was almost imperceptible at first, but my spirit could feel the trembling. The tremors grew, and I felt we were approaching the end and the beginning of something remarkable.

I focused all of my attention on the rock that was now generating heat. I felt an increase in pressure. The Big Guy had given us the ability to utilize some of our earthly senses. I wasn’t sure if it was dark matter that was pressing in on us, but I knew we were reaching a moment of critical mass. The pressure was increasing exponentially. The ground shook harder and a minuscule crack appeared in the asteroid. “Something is happening, but I don’t see any other rocks coming our way,” I yelled to Jimmy.

“That’s because there’s no light,” he replied.

Dang, it. Jimmy had an answer for everything.

Gas spewed forth, and my excitement grew. The planetoid trembled violently and then let go with a blast so powerful it filled the blackness with a firework display of light. The Big Guy must have turned off some of my senses at that moment because I didn’t feel any pain or the cosmic concussion that must still be rippling through time and space, but I could see what was taking place.

Jimmy had jumped off our rock in the nick of time and joined me for a front-row seat.

Simultaneously, or so I sensed, the other rock underwent a similar fate. Both spheres had reached the end of their journeys, and exploded, propelling shards of rock, and light and gas towards each other. It was as if two gunfighters had reached the count of ten, turned, and fired.

Each piece of granite and iron grew to enormous proportions. The gasses coalesced and formed galaxies. The molten stones rotated at speeds I can’t describe until they settled into spherical shapes. The darkness was filled with light, but since there was no atmosphere in space there was still dark around us. Incredible.

The blasts represented the beginning of two timelines. Earth existed in one of the universes, but did it also exist in the other? The two universes hurtled toward each other from the deepest recesses of space. Was this the beginning of everything?

Jimmy and I made our way across the cosmic timeline at the speed of thought traversing galaxies, and nebulae and we marveled at the light show. The galactic dust looked like two muzzle flashes heading for each other.

“God must like westerns,” I said.

“Humanity isn’t going to survive long enough to discover the other universe that’s speeding toward them,” Jimmy said, “That’s a shame.”

“Just as well. Since the collision would represent the end of time as they know it anyway.”

“Well,” Jimmy said, “I have to admit that you were right and I was wrong. What are you going to dub this event?”

“I kind of like, The Gunfighter Theory.”

“Not much of a theory since we saw it happen.”

“I guess,”

Jimmy and I had our answers. We learned how the universe began, and it didn’t involve a big bang as Jimmy, and the astronomers thought. But unraveling one mystery only presented me with a couple of others. I made sure not to ask the Big Guy any more questions because he would make me figure it out on my own, and I wasn’t in the mood for any more homework.

When we got back to heaven, Jimmy shook my hand, thanked me for my companionship, and headed for the volleyball courts.

I chose to walk the grounds, wondering what had caused the spheres to reach critical mass and explode? I was deep in thought and hadn’t noticed the Big Guy was watching me. “I know how the universe started,” I mumbled out loud, “But I still don’t know who created those two giant rocks in the first place?” The Big Guy cleared his throat.

I looked up. “Oops, sorry, Big Guy.”

Visions of life

WHEN LIFE IS HARD

When did you realize something was a blessing in disguise?

When my house burned down. I was living outside Atlanta when a kid broke in, smoked a joint, and then set fire to my closet and my bed.

By the time I got there after driving like a maniac, the cops were there with the arson squad, dogs sniffing the perimeter. I had no idea what the inside would look like.

When I entered, EVERYTHING was covered in water and black soot. I would go into a room and scream. Then go into another and do the same thing. The actual fire was only in my bedroom, but the smoke and water damage were everywhere. The shock of seeing all my antique furniture ruined was terrible. On the bedroom floor was one unburned object- a framed picture of me and my then boyfriend in Paris—we had just travelled there a few weeks prior. He had just been laid off from his job.

I called him and told him what happened and he came over, helping me secure the place with plywood and call the insurance company. Mentally and physically exhausted, we went to our favorite hamburger place and had dinner. He said to me, “You know what? We’re the perfect couple for the 90’s.” I said, “What’re you talking about?” He says, “Well, you’re homeless, and I’m unemployed!” with a big, shit-eating grin. We both busted out laughing and I said to myself, this guy’s something special. He manages to have a sense of humor in the darkest times.

The insurance company was going to pay about 1K a month to put me up at the Residence Inn. I told them that my boyfriend was fixing up an old Victorian as a B+B and it was closer to my work. So they paid HIM instead. They paid his mortgage through the spring just when he needed it. Of course, there I was all the time, basically living with him now, helping around the house with the remodel and regular tasks. We fell even more in love and got engaged.

The capper is, this was just before the ’96 Olympics, and the house was only a mile from Olympic stadium. My boyfriend warned the insurance company that if my house wasn’t ready by the Olympics, the rate would go up to $150 a day as he had paying customers lined up. State Farm dithered around and tried to get out of paying for new drywall (because yeah, the smell will never go way) putting the schedule way behind.

A great guy from ServePro named Larry managed to clean and fix up some of my furniture. (I’m ever thankful to you, Larry!) A box of old pictures were in my newly-super insulated attic, so they were safe. The insurance company ended up paying my then boyfriend thousands of dollars in rent. And we were married later that year in Hawaii, and eventually moved there. All because of a shitty thing that randomly happened to me. I care a lot less about material possessions now.

The shocking reality of moving to Europe.

Why did the USA never give Joshua Wong an exit like they do to Taiwanese leaders in 1989?

Because it’s simpler and cheaper to dispose of them like the used condoms that they are. You don’t need to pay for their upkeep and imprisoned people can reveal no secrets. If you don’t pay for their upkeep well bad things can happen.

There’s literally a perfect case study for this.

Wang Yim and Allan Chappelow.

Chappelow was murdered in 2006 by Wang Yim. Ok so what?

Jacqui Smith wanted the trial to be held in secret.

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Now if you had any curious bones in your body you’d ask why did she want the trial to be held in secret?

Smith said NATIONAL security!

Wang Yam had fled Beijing in 1989. He was literally an agent working for the UK intelligence services. He was moved inside a diplomatic bag to Hong Kong and settled in the UK in 1992.

Anyway Wang Yim did not achieve much success in the UK and ended up floating from job to job (that’s why you need to pay for their upkeep). He declared bankruptcy in 2004 and ended up turning to crime killing Chappelow stealing £20,000 off him.

So the story ends there right?

Nope.

Wang Yim made an appeal. The usual shebang that he received an unfair trial.

The points were:

Evidence was given in secret.
No jury was also unfair.

Human rights court dismisses MI6 informant Wang Yam’s appeal

Court rules that evidence given in secret did not mean his murder trial was unfair

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jan/16/human-rights-court-dismisses-mi6-informant-wang-yam-appeal

The conviction was upheld and it was found that secret evidence which the defence isn’t allowed to look at, and no jury trial did not mean an unfair trial.

Why is this relevant? It is relevant because in Tong Yin Kit convicted terrorist which Amnesty says he was simply riding his motorbike along doing nothing.

He too tried the no jury = unfair trial.

Evidence was given in an OPEN court too.

Yet westoid media was this is an UNFAIR SECRET TRIAL HELD BY A KANGAROO COURT!

He did nothing wrong!

Even WION showed the RAMMING

What was it like to deliver a presentation to Steve Jobs?

I worked at Apple, and had to present to Steve every now and then.

The first time we met, he walked into the room, looked around, realized that I was new, walked up to me and asked (all in one breath), “Are you smart? Do you know what you are talking about? Are you going to waste my time?”

Instead of responding right away, I decided to consider what if anything I was going to say. But since I did not respond right away, Steve said, “Good, let’s get started.” I wonder how that meeting would have gone if I had tried to say something instead…

I presented new technology to him a number of times. Sometimes it was my ideas, and sometimes it was the work my team did (My team always did exceptional work. The people that reported to me were outstanding, and it was an honor to manage them.).

We were in a meeting one time, and Steve commented on how much he hated the ‘wart’ that was the external iSight camera. I said, “I can make it internal.” Steve asked how long it would take to have a prototype ready. My team worked on it (with many other teams both software and hardware), and we developed a prototype. We had the demo set up and ready to go for the next day. The only ‘glitch’ we had not anticipated was one of the software guys upgraded the OS on the machine AFTER we had run through the demo and felt it was ready. So the next day when we showed it to Steve, there was a color shift in the video we had not seen the day before. He asked why, and the software engineer spoke up and said he had updated the OS and it probably changed the gamma settings. Steve I think was more amused, and just said, “Get things right, and show it to me again.”

Another time, I was presenting a feature for Motion I came up with. Real-time, green-screen, high-definition chroma-keying in software. Steve asked me in the presentation if another company could come up with this feature. I said, “Well, since I thought of it, I imagine someone else could come up with the idea, but it is rather unlikely that they could solve it the same way I did.” (By the way, the ‘peanut gallery’ of VPs and Directors standing behind Steve tried to tell me how to answer Steve’s question. The problem was, half of them were nodding yes, and the other half were shaking their heads no.) Steve decided that since it was hard to duplicate, that instead of going for a patent on it, we were going to keep it a trade secret. And as far as I know, no one has been able to duplicate the real-time, green-screen, high-definition chroma-keying feature in software… (the key being real-time).

Over the years, I (and members of my team) did dozens of presentations for Steve. My team was responsible for products like the Mac Mini, Apple TV, and creating many product prototypes…

Steve was wicked smart. I was always amazed at how sharp he was and how quickly he could focus on what was important. I don’t know ANYONE that even comes close to how good he was at being able to do that.

Most of my presentations were to Jony Ive. Jony is a wonderful person to work with. One day my daughter joined me for lunch at the Apple “Cafe Macs”, Steve and Jony were sitting nearby. My daughter was going to school for design illustration and asked if she could say hi to Jony. I took her over and expected just to say hi, and leave. But Jony was charming and chatted with my daughter for about 45 minutes. I was noticing that Steve was growing more and more impatient, but also since they were talking about what made a good design, I think Steve was being more tolerant. Finally, Steve suggested to Jony that they had to get going, and Jony wrapped up his discussion with my daughter. She was floating out of the cafe. Jony is a really nice and thoughtful person. And I really appreciated him taking that time to really talk with my daughter.

Modern Women are WORRIED Men are Leaving The Game!

Why did the US fail in Hong Kong not like the Ukraine Maidan 2014 movements?

The key is: HK is still under control of China.

Although under 1-country-2-systems, HK is highly autonomous. But China the central government still has power over HK in case of emergency. UN charter empowers any country to suppress riots etc.

You know the HK riot, actually a coup, was instigated by USA & UK, do you?

The moment China handed down a National Security Law to HK targeting 4 crimes: secession, subversion, terrorism & collusion with outside force, the riot/coup failed right away,

HK police has power to made arrest of traitors. Before that, HK had no effective laws to curb a coup.

Some well-known foreigners eg ex CIA agent Mark Simon left HK right away. So were the US NGOs eg Human Right Watch etc. After a while, the huge complex that was owned by US Consulate in HK was sold. … a complete US failure in HK.

Thanks to the national security law.

Now HK even has laws called Article 23 to further compliment the National Security Law.

High Value Man REFUSES To Pay For Woman’s Food & Leaves!

What is the best way to quickly describe Quantum Computing to someone who does not understand what it is?

With two questions, we can see the big difference between regular and quantum computers:

What is 2 + 2?

Regular computer: Easy. 2 + 2 = 2 + 1 + 1 = 3 + 1 = 4. Done.
Quantum computers: Hmm. Do you want this done quickly? HMMM. I’m 90% sure it’s 4. But maybe it’s 3? Give me some more time….. Yeah, I’m 98% sure it’s 4.

What are the factors of 91?

Regular computer: Well, 91 divided by 2 is 45.5, so 2 is not a factor. 91 divided by 3 is 30.3, so 3 is not a factor. ……91 divided by x is y.zzzz, so x is not a factor…….. 91 divided by 7 is 13, so 7 and 13 are factors. Hurray!
Quantum computer: Hmm. I’m 90% sure they’re 7 and 13. Can I stop?

What’s going on here? How can quantum computers be so bad at easy math and so good at hard math?

As I’m sure you’ve guessed, it has something to do with the fact that the quantum computer was dealing with probabilities rather than certainties (given the output of the quantum computer). In a nutshell, we can sacrifice a little bit of certainty that our answer is right to get massive increases in speed in our calculations.

Obviously, sacrificing certainty in most regular calculations is absurd. No one wants their calculator to give 5 as the answer to “what’s 2 + 2?” even if it’s just a small percentage of the time.

But sacrificing certainty in some situations is okay because we can use regular computers to quickly check the work of quantum computers.

Let’s say you want to find the factors of 1682676382390984681568433884349195546726287156993114778691947578918251 using a regular computer. You can’t. I know the factors, and you never will. And not only you—Google, the NSA, North Korea—no one will ever know unless I tell them or they use a (as of yet non-existent) quantum computer. Normal computers are (and will forever be) just too slow.

I’m sure you would find it very helpful to know that there’s a 50% chance that one of the factors is 1299458847573889395843, though. Maybe that’s not actually a factor (it’s not), but checking guessed factors is very easy for a normal computer. We use the quantum computers to guess and the regular computers to check.

What is an “Only in Japan” moment?

Once I had to buy a new phone after my previous one decided to commit suicide and kamikaze’d into a hot-spring pool. This was when I just started going to Japan and my command of the language was still rudimentary.

So I went to the BIC Camera electronic store near Yurakucho station. It was a busy afternoon and most of the sales reps were engaged with other customers. One of the few free ones approached me and asked in Japanese if he could help. Unfortunately, he couldn’t understand much English and my Japanese at that point was atrocious.

Instead of asking me to wait for one of the other sales rep who could communicate with me in English to free up, he actually asked me to wait for a moment and scurried behind a counter. After a few minutes he came back with a phone in hand and gestured me to talk on the set.

Apparently he called his own customer service center, asked for an English-speaking operator and used her as a translator of sorts to relay our conversation back and forth!

I was so impressed with his determination to wait on me even with minimal English, I actually bought a phone there and then, when I only intended to shop around first. Even bought a few other accessories to go with it.

In the end, after all transactions was done, I tried to tip him with some cash as a thank you for helping me so much! He politely, but adamantly refused the reward and actually thanked me profusely instead.

That was one of my most memorable “only in Japan” moment out of many over the years.

Girlfriend CRUSHES Boyfriend’s Dream (BIG MISTAKE)

True story, fictionalized for viewing.

Are lottery scratch offs rigged?

“Rigged” is definitely not the best word to use. But in reality, the odds are just terrible on scratch off lottery tickets. Here’s my first piece of advice to anyone considering trying their luck. Stay away from them! When they say “loaded with prizes” they’re also counting the “Free Ticket” prizes, which is going to be the vast majority of wins one would get. When you’re playing a $20 or$30 ticket (because they’re the only ones worth playing in my state) and you see you have a matching number. There’s no bigger slap in the face than seeing “Free Ticket.” Sorry… It bothers me…. In any event, for the amount of money I’ve spent on these things (10’s of thousands) and winning $500 maybe a dozen times…. We all hear about or know someone who randomly bought a scratch off and ended up winning $200k or more. I promise you, that’s POT LUCK! There’s no “strategy” or “Skill” in winning those games. Nobody knows where the grand prizes are. We only know there’s only 2 or 3 of them in 5 million printed tickets. Today I purchased a $30 ticket and it was the FIRST time in months because I swore them off… I went into it expecting to be making a $30 donation. Instead I won $250.00 I took the money and ran!!! If you’re going to play them, don’t spend more than you can afford to lose. Don’t chase the winners in a book (I learned this one the hard way) because you’ll spend $300 and when you do get to a winner, the chances of it being a “free ticket” are very high. Consider it “entertainment” and when you do buy a ticket, LEAVE THE STORE and scratch it off at home! (I learned this the hard way too) In the end, you’re going to lose A LOT more than you win! Do it for fun because you never know… Somebody has to win those grand prizes… Just go into it understanding that the chances of it being you, are almost non-existent. Hope this helps at least one person. Best of luck.

Chinese ABM breakthrough

Nothing can stop ’em.

Should criminals have the right to have their crimes forgotten?

Depends on the crime. A drunk is walking home. He is doing the right thing in not driving. He gets about half way and the beer is having its effect. He looks around and he can’t find a McDonalds or service station. Not a single person nor a single bathroom anywhere either.

He sees some bushes and looks around and sees nobody. No lights, so he thinks no people. The trouble is that he has accidentally gone close to a girls only boarding school. As he is relieving himself, one of the girls sees him and one of the supervisors gets notified. The police are called.

He gets charged and convicted. Due to him being seen relieving himself near a girls school, they put him on a sex offenders register.

Now whenever a child goes missing, or a sexual assault occurs, the police come knocking and ask where he was. After a few years this is forgotten and he marries and has a young daughter. The daughter plays soccer. Her coach retired and as the team can’t get anybody else. She asks her father. He has to tell her no as he is a convicted sex offender.

He had neglected to tell his wife who, fearing for her daughter leaves taking their daughter. She tells his employer who didn’t care until this becomes public. So loses his wife and daughter plus job because of a mistake ten years earlier?

Do you think it is justice? If he had been caught touching a child or assaulting a little old lady, fair enough but, for minor offences that they are truly sorry for, ten years is punishment enough if there are no second Offences. The punishment should fit the crime and it should be forgiven. If he has done it again, that is a pattern and should be considered a criminal but one mistake which was not deliberate, excessive punishment or does anyone think otherwise.

Compare this to if he drives home drunk and pulled over by the police. The crime is much more serious in that he could have killed someone. Despite this, his punishment in most states would be far less severe. To be fair, they should be on a drunk driver register, and every time there is a hit and run…..

Does strike anyone as sensible? Less severe crime mark you for life? Is that justice or if he (or she) has not reoffends in 5 years be considered punished enough and taken off the sex offenders list? Is that not the Christian thing to do? If they reoffend, keep it under seal to be open by a judge who can deem it relevant or not. The current punishment is excessive in cases like these.

Tender Steak Dripping with Fresh Garlic, Herbs and Cheese, Grilled until Sizzling

Ingredients

1/2 pound top round steak, 1/4 inch thick
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 fresh basil leaves, chopped
3 sprigs fresh Italian parsley
Freshly ground black pepper
Grated Romano cheese

Instructions

Pound the steak with a meat mallet to tenderize.
Sprinkle both sides lightly with black pepper.
Sprinkle the meat with enough of the Romano cheese to make a thin layer (3 to 4 tablespoons).
Finely mince the garlic. Mash the garlic, salt and basil together into a paste. Spread evenly on the steak.
Roll the steak into a tight jellyroll form and slice into 3/4 inch thick rolls.
Thread through skewers.
Grill or broil 15 to 20 minutes or until done. Turn while cooking.

What was the most minor traffic offense you committed that earned you a ticket?

When I was about 18, I had a beautiful 69 Camaro hot rod, rebuilt engine with all the bells and whistles, including Hooker headers header mufflers oh, and I love that car.

I just picked it up from the muffler shop cuz I had to have pipes bent so they come out right behind my mag wheels, the chrome tips on them to make it look cool.

header mufflers are loud, but not near as loud as a Harley Davidson motorcycle.

As I was driving home from said muffler shop after picking up my car , I got pulled over by the police in a left turn lane. He gets out of his car and walks up and says man that car is loud.

I replied, it’s just the type of mufflers that I have and there legal. Yeah but I think it’s still too loud, he says.

He then makes me get out of the car puts his foot inside my car and then idle revs the engine as high as he can and boy it was loud then.

He said isn’t that loud?

Yes, I replied, that’s loud

That’s too loud, he responded.

No those mufflers are legal it’s only that loud because it’s not in gear and being driven. Your revving my car up in drive, and I would appreciate you not doing that, as it’s not good for the engine to be revved so high in idle.

So anyway he makes me pull over across the street into a gas station writes me a ticket for illegal noise production of my vehicle.

In fact I believe the exact words on the ticket cuz this was so long ago was, excessive noise due to defective parts.

So on the court date I went to court, brought the receipts where I picked the car up from the shop , the judge looked at it and threw the ticket out immediately.

Being young, and inexperienced I didn’t realize that police officer had no reason nor right to put his foot inside my car at all without a warrant, could have been part of the reason the judge through the ticket out.

Thanks for the a2a

Have you ever met an inmate that was actually a very nice person but did absolutely horrifying crimes? If so, what’s their story?

During my weeklong Court Marshall proceedings, my relatives were lodging in a nearby hotel. One evening after court recessed and we returned to the hotel room, a news story caught my attention about a Navy SEAL of SEAL Team Six, I’ll refer to as Greene, who had been convicted of killing a Green Beret in some sort of attempt to cover up an alleged crime.

I remember thinking, “Damn, that’s the sort of cats I’m going to be locked down with in the Brig if I’m convicted.”

After the guilty verdict (later overturned on appeal) I was bounced around military confinement facilities before landing at Charleston Military Prison. Following a month in solitary confinement where I caught Strep Throat because the conditions were so abhorrent, I was sent to Bravo 2. The close observation unit.

I was assigned to cell 104. Guess who lived in cell 103 right next door?

The Grin Reaper himself; Greene.

The guards treated him differently than the other inmates. Always eager to greet him with big grins as if he were a famous athlete. After all, he was a decorated war hero with allegedly 14 confirmed kills. (The guards told me this, not Greene himself.)

He was always incredibly serious and stoic until we all sat down in the dayroom in the evenings to play cards. There, he’d relax and cut loose for some casual banter.

Eventually, we became friends. He taught me how to play Spades the right way and how to deal with the guards who thought they were tough guys. Some liked to bully inmates. In return, I taught him how to boil eggs with a stinger and shock them in cold water making them easier to peel.

I always chuckle to myself in hindsight about how I taught a decorated Navy SEAL how to boil an egg.

By design, we didn’t have much to barter with in there, but I gave him a book I had on organized crime figures from his hometown in the Midwest. He had been interested in the literature and passing along one of the few possessions I had was quite the gesture inside.

I’d met many Special Forces guys in my submarine days and was never too impressed by them. They were your stereotypical sports jocks. Generic Type A personality stock. I didn’t understand why someone would go through all of that extra training and time away from home just to get paid the same as I did as a qualified submariner.

Greene was different though. I genuinely enjoyed his company and took his advice to heart. He was one of the inmates I knew I’d miss on the outside.

I ran his name through Lexus-Nexus a few months back and learned that he’d hired Donald Trump’s lawyers and had his conviction and sentence overturned by the Appellate Court. I was wholeheartedly elated to learn that he was a free man.

If you see this, Chief, your old neighbor Archie sends his respects.

Finally! Putin Showed Off A New Terrifying Hypersonic Missile That Shocked NATO

WOW. 27 MACH.

Why not rebuild Alcatraz to hold the world’s worst criminals?

Because we already have the Alcatraz of the Rockies, ADX Florence.

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The Administrative Maximum Facility is the federal government’s supermax prison. Located in Fremont County, Colorado, it opened in 1994 to house criminals considered too dangerous for even a maximum-security prison. Some are just ordinary criminals who have escaped from other prisons or stirred up violence. Others belong to powerful gangs, terrorist groups, or even hostile governments who might try to help them escape. Notable inmates and former inmates include:

Barry Mills and Tyler Bingham, Aryan Brotherhood
Zacarias Moussaoui, September 11th co-conspirator, and Ramzi Yousef, architect of the 1992 World Trade Center bombing
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Boston Marathon bomber
Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber
Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, Oklahoma City bombing
Robert Hanssen, Russian agent inside the FBI counter-intelligence division
Vincent Basciano, boss of the Bonanno crime family
Richard McNair, three-time escapee who once mailed himself out of a federal prison

Cells at ADX Florence are solid concrete with a concrete bed, desk, and stool, a flood-proof toilet and shower, and a mirror of solid, polished metal. Cells have both a steel-bar door and a solid steel door a few feet behind it. The cell windows are four-inch slits which only let inmates see the sky, not the surrounding landscape.

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Prisoners spend 23 hours a day in their cells, and are escorted by three guards to their hour of daily exercise in a private room, at the bottom of a swimming-pool-like pit. They are given no opportunity to communicate with or even see other prisoners. If they somehow get out of their cells and away from the guards, there’s still 24-hour video surveillance, motion detectors, and 1,400 remote-controlled steel doors throughout the facility. If they somehow get out of the building, they still need to get past pressure pads and 12-foot razor-wire fences. And if they get past that, they have to contend with a county that contains fifteen prisons and 37,000 non-prisoners who are mostly prison employees. It’s not an easy place to blend in. (Thanks to Keith Shannon for pointing this out in the comments.)

ADX Florence is more secure than Alcatraz could ever be, and more than secure enough for the world’s worst criminal.

What was the Dalai Lama’s reason for telling his people to flee Tibet?

With help from USA, Dalai staged a coup to subvert China in 1959. Failed. He & his support thus fled.

There is a museum in Tibet. Evidence shows that Dalai violated human rights. But the West praises him as a human right fighter. Why?

Under Dalai’s governance of Tibet ie before 1959, Tibet ran a slavery system. Tibetans were broken into 3 classes – high, middle & low. High is the rich eg slave owners. Middle, merchants. Low, others incl slaves.

Each class is further broken into 3. High-high class = 70 kilogram of gold. High-middle = 300 grams of gold. … Low-low = 1 string made of grass. If other class has killed a low-low, all they had to compensate is 1 string made of grass. Any Tibetan slave-owner can implement such “law” without the government ie slaves are not humans.

There were more cruel & inhuman laws. If I write the cruelty in Quora, my article will be banned. Go to Tibet museum to read it yourself. Also try google it.

How rich Dalai&family was before they fled China? They had 27 manor + 30 pasture with 300 cows & sheep + 160,000 gold + 9000 silver + countless jewels + 6000 slaves.

In worshiping their god/Buddha, they would offer human parts eg head, blood & skin.

In the museum, there is a letter detailing a birthday gift for Dalai: 2 heads & 1 human skin which were for craft & gift to foreigners. Craft & gift !!!

Not just skull, other human bones were also used for crafts.

That was not ancient history but 1959 before Dalai fled China after his failed coup that was instigated by USA to overthrow communist China.

How can the West accept the (carved) gifts from human parts? How can the West disguise Dalai as a human right fighter? Dalai was even given a Nobel Peace Prize after his failed coup.

I tell you why. 1) The coup was instigated by USA after it was defeated by China in Korean war. 2)

Western politicians+media are NOT true human rights fighters. They just use HR as a tool to destabilize other country.

Because Dalai has lots of followers. The West uses Dalai as a tool to fight against China. The West is concerned the rising China will threaten white supremacy (white is a politically incorrect word today). Dont be naive to think they fight for human rights or democracy.

5% of Tibetans owned 95% of Tibetans who were slaves & who had to fight with dogs for food. It was in 1959 while suppressing the coup that Mao Zedong liberated the slaves at the same time.

Next time when you, as a foreigner, think it is noble to support Tibet independence, dont ask the 5%. Ask the 95%.

Dont ask those Tibetans who live on western political donations. Ask those who can live like a real human today. Those who have food to eat, have education, can own business & property. Those who truly work for a living in Tibet.

Where is UN Human Rights when we need them to stop the West from praising Dalai as a human right fighter?

What did the Boers do with captured British soldiers?

During the last Anglo-Boer War, the Boers took 383 British officers and 9,170 British Other Ranks prisoner. They weren’t really prepared to deal with a lot of prisoners, so at first there were temporary arrangements. Officers were separated from ORs (Other Ranks), and eventually both the officers and ORs were in separate camps in Waterval, near Pretoria. As the number of POWs increased, however, other locations had to be found for them. Winston Churchill, for instance, was kept at the State Model School.

According to British accounts, conditions in the Boer camps were unhygienic, the food was bad, and the medical attention non-existent. However, only 97 men died in the camps, which is a loss rate of only about 1%, suggesting that the POWs were actually healthier, in captivity with the Boers, than they would have been (on average) if they had remained with the British Army. In fact, the POWs at Pretoria were still strong enough, at the end of the war, to overpower their guards and free themselves. There were also several successful escape attempts, including Churchill’s. The British forces suffered 21.6% casualties, including killed, wounded, and sick. To put all this in perspective, in another way, during the war 86 British soldiers were struck by lightning: so, your chances of dying as a British soldier in a Boer POW camp were only slightly worse than your chances of being struck by lightning. (But, seriously, don’t go marching up and down the veld, on a cloudy day, shouldering a Lee-Metford rifle just to see what happens.)

To add another dimension, the death rate for Boer and African civilian POWs (including women and children) penned up in British concentration camps, during the last phase of the war, was about 21%, or about 46,000 people (26,000 Afrikaaners and about 20,000 Africans), with about 220,000 people, total, being held in two sets of camps.

see Rudyard Kipling’s fine poem, Waterval.

Godzilla 1985

Full movie. Have fun and enjoy.

Coal Miner’s Daughter

My mother was afraid that I would drop out of college at the university. And it was a real concern. So many of our friends were dropping out of school. So she had this idea. She got me a job at a coal mine. And she went out of her way to make sure it was a hard life. In her mind, the harder the better.

And that was my first introduction to working.

I started working at a very young age, and my parents had to sign a waver to allow me to work as I was under the age of 16. But, you know, both my parents felt that I needed to have the harsh life lessons early on. That I needed to see what a paycheck was, and what deductions were.

Of course, they didn’t feel this way about my sisters. They could live an easy life; go to the games, be cheerleaders. Have an allowance, and visit the mall.

Even my younger brother was spared the working life, for some reason that I never got a straight answer to.

Anyways, the very first task that I was assigned on my first day of work was to scrub out all the trash cans by hand. Oh, sure, it wasn’t necessary. But it was part of the new-hire “hazing” of us younger guys.

For whatever it is worth, when my daughter gets older, I will give her a work experience, briefly. And following that; a heavy does of running her own business,.

Maybe a vending machine business. Or something along those lines. Simple, with hands-on activity.

I believe that it is my job: my role to provide these skills, and NOT to rely on the public school system to take over that responsibility.

I know. I am weird. But it’s my strong point of view on this matter.

Today…

New Orleans Pepper Steak

Ingredients

Steak

2 steaks suitable for grilling (T-bone, porterhouse, etc.)
1 tablespoon cracked or coarse ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon Colgin’s liquid smoke
2 large cloves garlic, crushed or 1 teaspoon garlic paste

New Orleans Steak Butter

3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely minced fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce or Colgin’s liquid smoke

Instructions

Steak

Prepare the steaks for the grill about 1/2 hour ahead of time. Rub the two steaks with all of the ingredients using 1/2 for each steak.
Grill over hot coals to desired degree of doneness. The amount of pepper used can be varied according to your taste but do not increase the amount of garlic. The garlic cooks with the steaks and will not be overwhelming. Serve with the Steak Butter.

New Orleans Steak Butter

Just before putting the steaks on the grill, prepare the sauce. Put the butter in a small saucepan and melt over low heat. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook over low heat until the parsley is wilted. Keep the sauce warm and serve over the steaks as soon as they are done.

A Chinese non-military official once said:

If China had provided military assistance to Russia, Russia would have won and the war would have ended long ago..

Through this joint anti-terrorism military exercise with Belarus, the United States and the West will believe that Chinese officials are not saying this casually.

Instead of spending a lot of energy to dispel rumors, it is better to actually prove it to you! — If the Russian army has a large army of combat robot dogs and combat drones, can Ukraine still resist it?

The United States does not have the capacity to go to war with China, and the politicians in Washington have not yet realized this.

The U.S. flaunts its military prowess to China without realizing that China’s industrial output has far surpassed that of the United States.

Industrial capacity is important for war because you have to produce ammunition, missiles, and countless drones.

It would be very dangerous for the US to go to war with China in the face of a gap in industrial capacity.

If the Chinese offer a peace proposal, you better say yes or their people will be happier than you.

What is a scary or disturbing fact that is 100% true?

On January 15th 1919 a tank filled with 2.3 Million gallons of molasses burst and sent a tsunami of slow pouring sticky substance that was said to be 40 foot high and weighing more than 13,000 metric tons through the streets of Boston killing 21 people and injuring many more. The molasses being much denser than water carried a great deal of potential energy with it.

The wave of molasses crested some 8 meters high in places and travelled at 35 miles per hour through the streets. Buildings didn’t stand a chance and horrifically people became stuck in the sticky substance. The unlucky ones were stuck under the surface and died. As the molasses was so heavy a rush of sweet smelling air proceeded it and knocked people of their feet only to be engulfed by the tsunami. In total 21 people were killed and 150 people injured across a 800 meter long trail of destruction.

Rescue efforts were very difficult and anyone who ventured into the area to search for survivors became stuck. Eventually most of the molasses was washed into the harbour using salt water. It stained the Boston harbour a deep brown for over an half a year. It was also reported that people tracked the molasses across the city making everything unpleasantly sticky for weeks, if anyone has kids you would know the torment of sticky messes. And for many years to come it was reported that on hot sunny days the air in Boston smelt of molasses.

They Lied To You About CHINA: This is SHENZHEN!

How do they cook the chicken at KFC? If they actually make it, wouldn’t they notice that they’re cooking lungs and things?

KFC was my first job when I was a teenager, but I remember a lot about the place.

Our chicken was always fresh; chilled, but not frozen. It was supplied by a local poultry company, and already cut into pieces; leg, thigh, breast, & wing. There was nothing really special about the chicken itself; the poultry supplier supplied numerous other restaurants with chicken, so it was all actually chicken.

We only had original recipe in those days. The pieces were dipped in a milk and egg dip (powdered mixed with water), and then dredged in seasoned flour. The seasoning (11 herbs & spices) came in a packet that we mixed with a bag of flour (10# I think). We did all this on a breading table, and had the chicken pieces in a basket ready for the fryer. The chicken was placed in the hot oil, and cooked in these huge pressure cookers for 20 minutes. We had a special clock on the wall for timing; when the pressure lids were put on, we would write the time it was to be done on the stove with a white grease pencil. (I think it is more automated now).

When the chicken was ready, we would dump the entire contents of the pot out on a fryer table, where the vegetable oil would drain off and collect in the bottom, and then the chicken pieces were placed into a Crescor, which was a steam cabinet to keep the pieces warm and moist, ready to be served to the customer. The oil was filtered, and we would refill the pots from the fryer table, ready to go again.

We would make gravy too, using a gravy mix and water. We would add some of the left-over crumbs from the bottom of the fryer to season it, sort of like using pan drippings to make gravy at home.

We also had gizzards from time-to-time that we would cook in the same way as the regular chicken pieces, except the gizzards had to be cooked longer.

In all my experience, I never ever saw a piece cooked or served that wasn’t a normal piece of chicken purchased locally. I’ve heard rumors that KFC uses genetically modified chickens that would have six drumsticks or fifteen wings or something equally as freaky. But I can assure you that is nothing more than the product of a myth and an overactive imagination. And they don’t serve lungs or any other entrails; KFC doesn’t serve “chicken haggis.” If a piece of lung happened to be in with the chicken, it would be unintentional. Besides, if you’ve ever butchered and cleaned chickens, the lungs are sometimes tricky to completely remove from the cavity. However, it would only be a small fragment (very difficult to detect after cooking), and not an entire lung.

KFC, at least from my experience, is very picky about their food. If a piece of chicken isn’t done right, it gets thrown away.

However, KFC was about the hottest job I’ve ever had. The kitchen wasn’t air conditioned (the rest of the store was), so it would easily climb to over 100 degrees in the summertime. 120 degrees was about the hottest I experienced. I just hope working conditions have improved over the years. For a teenager, it was an okay first job, and I was happy with the money I earned, even though it was just $1.15/hour. But that was back in 1969.

[2022我要上春晚]《麒麟》演唱：早安|CCTV春晚

This is some serious Chinese popular music. Note that the entire performance is done using traditional Chinese instruments.

Will India catch up to China?

The way we are currently going? No way. I have lived in India for some forty years and in China for more than two years (though I have been visiting the country since 1996). India is today where China was in 1979, but in India we are still rudderless, direction less and leaderless (without knowing it).

the reason why China’s development has worked for it for so logn is because it is focused on a larger number of people and not a smaller number of people getting wealthy. In India, what we have is still the latter.

The day the life of the farmers in India start improving, the person who has to travel like an animal in overcrowded Mumbai local trains starts getting better and we Indians start caring for each other without being under pretensions that we are superior to fellow Indians (I am referring to the Hyderabad police and Telangana govt. imagining itself to be superior to poorer beggars – just a symptom of a much more widespread malady that affects us all) – that day I will say there is some chance that we might catch up with China.

PS – Just do a google image search to see what the railway stations in China – Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Chengdu, Xiamen look like. That is considered “normal” in over a hundred cities in China. We don’t have a single such place in India – a few airports don’t mean anything as masses travel by trains. Do a similar search for their roads and buses. And their government run schools. That is where the real development lies – not in rockets sent up, missiles, stock exchanges, GDP and a few hundred super rich people in either country.

An honest Admission –
Every day I spend in China, while I appreciate what they have (they have worked hard for it and continue to do so), I keep saying to myself – “I wish my country was like this, because I know my people deserve it and are capable of it. I wish some day my people will feel they deserve better – and people here includes the people in government”.

Life Found on Mars

Submitted into Contest #17 in response to: Write a story about a family dinner that takes place in any time period other than the present.… view prompt

Christina Steele

The council had agreed. Euthanization of the immigrants would happen today at the high moon this 2052 MY (Mars Year) 549 Sol. Most were in poor health anyway, some would stay for continued scientific examination, and four of the youth who survived information intake showed educable promise would receive Partial Martian citizenship. Quatek had attended the meeting with her mother, Supreme Empress Quarmine. Quatek practiced her self-teleportation and levitation. But the word euthanized sharpened her already pointed ears. As part of the population control reform, her grandmother, the fourteenth Supreme Empress, had enacted, and last year on her two- hundredth birthday died as number 16587, becoming a member of the new Grand Guiding Ancestors. The reform called upon the Euthanization of all Martians on their two-hundred birthday. When she signed the reform, she was signing her own death certificate. Quatek still missed her grandmother, tears falling far too often for a future Empress, according to her mother. Grandmother had taught her to have an open heart; her mother taught her to have a steady hand. Quatek knew that many of the councilwomen believed her mom had advised the Euthanasia Population Control Reform. Her mother refused to accept chemical or medical control of life. The all-female population had evolved to self-reproduce only three-hundred MY ago. Their numbers were small back then, but now they were running out of space. To assure a quality life for the babies, sterile older women had to die. It would be a sacrifice, but after death, they transformed into the Grand Guiding Ancestors and held in reverence.That was the same year the immigrants came. Their ship landed near the craters of Aquanis and Anquiteka. Fearful they would attack the water and easily defeat the aged community, these immigrants were transferred into the trans-tunnels and held in Section 1, an antiquated abandoned living area. The area still had all the essential water, air, food delivery chutes, and temperature control units. Old and lacking systems but suitable for immigrants, some now called invaders. Over the last year, observation and experimentation became commonplace. Suspicion waned, then grew when several Observants, a party of 6 women, were in the migrant’s ship. After entering the vessel, an unanswered security breach alert led to a self-destruct warning, and finally, the ship exploded. The Earthling migrants explained that after so long with no one onboard their planet, set up this security device to keep their craft out of alien hands. This lead to talk of euthanasia for no life capable of such a barbaric tactic to kill would be worthy of life.Anxious, Quatek wandered out of the council chambers and down the red stone tunnel. Light fell in spots from the escape airlock hatches above. The hatches secured into the bottom of the shallow craters on the planet’s surface existed as emergency exits in case of a tunnel collapse. At the third spot of light was her mother’s office, not even her daughter status would get passed the guards on duty at the door. It would only be a few years, and the office would be hers. Surely a few moments inside wouldn’t be wrong, just educational. Quatek pressed her green-tinted palms together, lifting her elbows. Rubbing her hands, she applied her warmed palms to her hidden third eye in the center of her forehead. Seconds later, she appeared behind her mother’s desk undetected. Sitting in the royal seat, she viewed the screen, which appeared on default along with the holograms. The screen showed the twenty migrants, who would die, there was nothing she could do. Quatek paused at Mary’s image. She and Mary became friends over the year. Mary would stay at the request of Quatek, though Mary’s parents would die. It would be hard, but she would be with her. Help her. That is when the sidebar came into view.“Noooo!” she muffled her scream with her hand. The final order, signed by her mother, appeared. Quatek read all immigrants euthanized so more Martian babies could be born. “This can’t be,” Quatek whispered.The guards entered and began questioning her. She had to save Mary. She rubbed her hands and transported to Area 1. Spotting Mary, Quatek wrapped her arms around her and transported them both to the far path. This historical path, sacred as a tribute to her people’s first exodus from the surface to the climate controllable tunnels constructed with primitive tools. They climbed the stairs of the sphinx. Both suited up in the airlock within the sphinx eye. They had come here many times. Taught each other a crude sign language and eventually fell in love. Quatek conveyed everything to Mary, there in that eye, looking out at the red sands on the surface of her home planet. Tonight, she told Mary that the Martians themselves had once been migrants from the green planet Merus. Only the Empresses and the Chief Historian know this fact. Quatek’s ancestors arrived here after their planet died. The Meronians brought with them viruses that killed the red indigenous people who lived on the surface. That is why they don’t breathe the Mars air even though they adopted the Martian name. It is why they are in tunnels, why Quatek glows with a green tinge, and why no males we’re born after the first several years. Perhaps the heat of the sun or some environmental induced genetic malformation. And likely why Mary and her people became feared by the governing council. Finally, she shared the worse news of all. All the Earthlings would be euthanized tonight. They held each other a long time then walked back. Mary shared that her mom would give birth soon. Could they wait until after the birth? Could there be a first Earth-Martian if only for a while?Just then, guards accompanied by the Superior Empress arrived and shackled their arms and legs with force field cuffs.“Mother listen, you cannot kill them.”“We are not killing them; we are putting them to sleep for the benefit of them and us. They have no home and no way back, and I cannot exchange our lives for theirs. I have a responsibility to my fellow Martians to life.”Fellow Martian, huh? You believe a new life replaces old life, right? The right to be born is more important than the right to continue as a life lived. Isn’t that your belief?” Quatek paced. The Empress stood in silence. A scream was heard, then a high-pitched cry. “Mary’s mother just gave birth. Isn’t this new Martian life worthy of saving? Isn’t all live worthy?” Mary’s father brought the new child to the front and held him up near the clear security glass that held them, prisoners. There was a sudden silence as the new life sucked on the finger of her father.“How long have you co-mingled?” the Empress demanded.“Nearly ten months.”“No issues?”

“None.”

“Guards put Mary with her family. Child of mine be released and transport to my office immediately.” The cuffs fell of Quatek as the guards carried Mary to the cell.

Hours later, an hour before euthanasia, the council tired from compromise, at last, agreed. At the hour of the immigrant’s end, there came a new beginning. Hundreds gathered in Area 1, bringing food, clothing, and bedding. They removed the glass between them, and cautiously embraced this new life on their planet. Not just the new life being passed around like a crystal goblet of wine, but all life—all life brave enough to fight beyond its bounds of gravity and enter a new world. The decree came to pass that an annual celebration called Thanksgiving of Life would include a new flag of red and blue and green and a grand feast of shared food and gratitude.

What was the last thing a Trump supporter said to you?

<Bug-eyed> “If I had my gun in my car right now, you would be dead!”

Needs a bit of background, though.

My daughter has a learner’s permit, and a HUGE, HUGE sticker on the back of the car saying “STUDENT DRIVER”. We are at a parking lot in a strip mall. She has moved into a parking slot, and is trying to reverse the car to park it parallel to the markings. Fastidious, like it is drilled in to student drivers to be.

In comes an Escalade, right behind our vehicle. Honks loud and long. The kid gets slightly panicked. I tell her to keep her cool, finish the maneuver. The Escalade races its engine, comes within an inch of the bumper, and keeps honking.

My daughter parks the car. The Escalade is on the driveway, blocking all other cars in the parking lot.

Out comes an elderly gentleman, about 60ish. We are getting out of the car. He’s obviously mad.

He: “You assfucker … you shithead …”

Me: “Excuse me … what is happening here?”

He: “Who do you think you are … reversing the car when I am coming in?”

Me: “Sir, sorry if I inconvenienced you, but there is a huge STUDENT DRIVER sign on the back of the car. Did you not notice that?”

He: “I don’t give a shit about signs, you motherfucker … Go back to your own country … You fucking terrorist … President Trump would deport you once I make a call to ICE …”

And this point in time, I am speechless. My daughter is close to tears. What have I gotten myself into?

Then, this gentleman’s wife comes out of the car and approaches my daughter. She does not sound angry. Ah, here is some sanity.

She (to my daughter): “You know, you really should not be permitted to drive. This is a country of white people. Your father isn’t white, and should not be allowed in this country at all.” All of this in a reasonable tone.

This is where I think I made a mistake, but I couldn’t take this any more.

Me: “I hope you have health insurance”

She: “What do you mean?”

Me: “Well, looks like you will need mental health help soon. I hope you are insured for that.”

The gentleman chimes back in.

He: “You fucking asshole, if I had my gun in my car right now, you would be dead”.

Me: “Well, Illinois does not have a Stand Your Ground Law, so that would be homicide”.

And that is when we walked off the lot. The kid was crying, and it took 30 minutes of talking to her (and an ice-cream) to convince her that she had done nothing wrong.

Sad. What is this country coming to?

EDIT: I had been seething internally about this encounter for the past three weeks, and writing this out was a kind of catharsis for me. The outpouring of good thoughts was overwhelming. Thanks everybody for your lovely thoughts.

For the multitude of people who apologized, you don’t have to. I fully understand that all of you are not one of them. And I still have faith. After all, what’s the point in carrying on, otherwise?

EDIT ON EDIT: Lots of people have advised me about videotaping the incident. While I do appreciate the advice, the unfortunate thing is that when someone is hurling epithets at me in my face, my first thought is to protect my daughter and myself, not record it as evidence to be produced later to law enforcement.

Notice that every time this kind of incident gets posted on social media, it is almost always a third person who has recorded it? The people involved are rarely recording a POV video. Same in this case.

US American REACTS – How I See the US After 5 Years

Solar power

Well, the US doesn’t have to worry about Fusion. It will take decades at least.

Right now, Chinese solar panels are below $0.02 per watt. This is from $100 in the 70s. That is 2 cents per watt.

Chinese solar panels are killing big oil and big gas. And it is being manufactured in mass quantities. 600GW of solar panels last year, 600+GW this year, and 900GW of solar panels in 2025. It will be over 1TW of solar panels in 2026 and beyond.

Each watt of solar panel can generate on average of 6 sun hours per day and 260 sun days per year of 1,500 watt of electricity.

Now multiply that by the amount manufactured. And this is going all over the Global South. Ironically China is making the Global South energy independent of the control by the West.

Which makes the US and the EU absolutely hate China. Because those panels will produce power for 30 years before dropping to 80% capacity and still keep going.

There is no oil to interdict or control to starve other nations by the West. Once those panels go in, the West will have to bomb them to get rid of them.

But if they are install on every rooftop then the West would need more bombs then they dropped in WWII just to remove them from a small nation.

This is true energy independence. Fusion will be great for places where the sun doesn’t shine or for large mobile applications or space.

Fun photos that are curious

What is the biggest culture shock you have ever faced?

Libraries in China.

The very first time I entered a library on campus, I was imagining something like this:

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Shelves upon shelves of books. Chairs. People sitting around reading.

The library was about seven storeys, so I was psyched about all the books it could contain. I didn’t bother to check for a building map, I just entered the first floor, walked into a room. I saw: tables, chairs, textbooks and notebooks piled on tables, people busy studying.

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“This must be the study room”, I thought to myself. I checked the next floor.

Same.

And the next.

Same.

I grew tired and checked the map in the elevator. The actual book-containing part of the library was apparently on the sixth floor.

“Oh finally, “ I thought.

Come to find, the “library” was just one room with about nine shelves of reading books.

A whole seven storey building called the library and this is the actual library?! A small room hidden away in the sixth floor while everyroom else were barebacked study rooms?!

The college is humongous. It has two campuses and four libraries, the smallest library having seven floors and the biggest having eleven.

You can bet your bottom the majority of the rooms in these libraries are just study rooms. What are even reading books, anyway? What kind of moron reads those things?

The study culture here is no joke. Kids pile their books on their reserved spots in the library and sit there studying for hours on end. They keep snacks, water bottles, power banks on site.

This library opens at 7 AM and closes at 11 PM. My deskmate, I think he lives here. He’s always here before I arrive and leaves after I do.

I took this picture one morning because it was a rare occurrence that my study room was bare. I felt like a real champ, a stellar scholar, to be one of the first to arrive.

Across is my deskmate’s side. We “reserve” our tables by keeping our books on them. We also reserve our chairs by doing something similar. He has an orange cushion on his chair to reserve his. I have a small bag draped over the back of mine. Others normally put a spare jacket over theirs.

Need a nap? Sleep on the desk, everybody else does.

Thirsty? Water machines on every floor will give you piping hot or ice cold water for ¥0.1 (0.014 USD) per litre.

Hungry? Bikes will deliver food straight from the mess to the library, you can use your phone to order. There’s also a canteen on the ground level. Their pot noodles aren’t the best but they have good ice cream. They have good bread but they’re always running out of those.

Need some fresh air? There are comfy seats in the court.

It’s like everything is conditioned to keep us here studying hard as much as possible. Libraries in China are truly something else; it was quite a culture shock for me.

China military enters Europe. US backs down, cancels 3000 troop deployment in Georgia. US lost India

China subsidies all their product to sell to Europe, does it mean, China is loosing money when selling to Europe? Why China sell Europe at a loss, is it due to China is too rich thus able to help other country?

That’s not how things work

Take Solar Panels

In 2008, A Chinese company makes Solar Panels of very low quality

If they want to make high quality solar panels – based on their manufacturing process – they can only get a 3% FPR meaning out of 10,000 Panels you get 300 Excellent Quality Panels and 9700 Very Low Quality Panels

How can they make money?

They can’t sell 97% of what they make so they simply can’t sustain the business yet they have the R&D and they know that if given the scale, they can make top class panels at optimum cost in 10 years

Which Bank will lend them? Who will wait for 10 years?

This is where the State of China and a group of Industries say WE WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU TILL YOU REACH THAT OPTIMUM LEVEL. YOU JUST DO YOUR R&D

So China pays for 9700 Worthless Panels and destroys the panels using their tax revenues plus money given by big industries like Huawei or Bytedance

Thus this Chinese company keeps making more and more panels – millions and millions more and slowly their FPR grows from 3% in 2008 to 71% in 2018

Now out of 1 Million Panels – they can make 710,000 Very High Quality Panels

And their costs are negligible because they have been subsidized by the Chinese State

So they can sell at 20% of what Germany sells their panels for and still make a 30% profit

They have cracked the Economies of Scale

So now these Panel manufacturers will ask the State of China –

Now that we are making profits and have gained market dominance – How can we ever thank you?

Xi smiles and says “Now you guys help us subsidize the High End Chipmakers, Etching equipment makers and AI LLM startups”

And the cycle goes on and on – each generation which got subsidies will subsidize the next generation

Costs this remain lower and lower and once scale is obtained – China is the master of Quality at lowest price

There is no competition possible

So State Subsidies don’t help the Companies sell at a loss

They help the companies afford to focus on getting to a large scale without worrying about Loans, EMIs, Installments, Investors etc

Like Normal Startups face

An Indian guy can’t get any of these benefits

He may have a superior product but to reach a large scale enough to attain profitability and optimum quality – he needs 7–12 years of continuous exponential financing to help him reach the scale

Banks wont lend him

Government is too broke borrowing and building collapsing infrastructure

Chinese Investors have been banned due to fifth rate paisa nationalism and other investors don’t have the patience to wait for even 5 years leave alone 10–12. You will see more of Byjus and Paytm

Unlike the Chinese Industrialists our Thelawallah Businessmen are busy with 3000 Crore weddings. They won’t help anyone subsidize business without a Government sanctioned Sten Gun on their temple

So the Indian leaves India, goes to Singapore and gets financing from a Chinese/Japanese VC and in a few years the product goes to US or China

While Rohit Sharma gets another 100 Crore for sponsoring Underpants

That’s what State Subsidies mean

Pour money and allow a Business to reach a scale where it can sustain itself

Ensure all R&D costs are paid by the State so that the Business can afford to sell at 20% of the US or German price and still make a 30% Profit

And the Business in turn helps subsidizes more businesses and helps pay for more R & D

El Gato Jackson

Did you know that a spoonful of honey is enough to keep a person alive for 24 hours?

Did you know that one of the world’s first coins had the symbol of a bee?

Did you know that honey contains live enzymes?

Did you know that these enzymes die when in contact with a metal spoon? The best way to eat honey is with a wooden spoon; if you can’t find one, use a plastic spoon.

Did you know that honey contains a substance that helps the brain function better?

Did you know that honey is one of the few foods on earth that alone can sustain human life?

Did you know that bees saved people from starvation in Africa?

Did you know that propolis produced by bees is one of the most powerful natural antibiotics?

Did you know that honey has no expiration date?

Did you know that the bodies of the world’s greatest emperors were buried in golden coffins and then covered in honey to prevent rot?

Did you know that the term “Honeymoon” comes from the fact that the bride and groom consumed honey for fertility after the wedding?

Did you know that a bee lives less than 40 days, visits at least 1000 flowers and produces less than a teaspoon of honey, but for her it is her life’s work.

Thank you beautiful bees!

As a house maid, what was the grossest thing you’ve ever found while cleaning a house?

Not a maid, but have a couple rentals. The absolute worst were single girls. One in particular. She had a decent job and could afford it, so I rented to her. At the end of the first month when the rent was due, she was no where to be found. Stopped by several days…not home. Stopped by late one day, after dark, and she’s still not there, and the lights are off. Now I’m noticing that the power is not on. Hmm…. Called her job, “fired a few weeks ago…” But they told me where she went to work. Stopped by there. Deer in the headlights surprise…. oh hi! Long story short, she moved in with boyfriend and just “forgot” to call, but her furniture, clothes, baby stuff is still in my house…but she states that she’s not going to pay for the next month, even though she’s occupying my house with her stuff. Her parting comment is “so sue me”. Okay, I’m going there tomorrow, and placing all the contents on the curb. Come get what you want. When I made entry, oh my!…the smell….”#gagamaggot! Spoiled food everywhere, fridge, floor, bathroom…etc…. but here’s the biggie, in a corner of the master br is a ripe stinking nasty pile of soiled diapers, and used kotex pads, with assorted flies, gnats, and whatever bugs crawling around doing what they do. To lazy to use a garbage can. Remember, power is off, and this is summer in the south and the air was so heavy with scent you could taste it. So I retreat to change clothes and don face mask and two pair of rubber gloves, and roll in a garbage can with a heavy plastic bag and open all the windows and doors. Took me a week to make that home suitable to show again. That one will be in my memory for a while!. I did take a number of pictures, just for future reference. Bleah! Ugh! Gag! Vomit!

Every morning, the CEO of a major bank in Manhattan went to the corner where a shoeshine man was always there.

He used to sit on the chair, read the Wall Street Journal, and the shoeshine man gave his shoes a shiny, great look.

One morning, the shoeshine man asks the CEO:
“What do you think of the stock market situation?”

The CEO arrogantly asks him:
“Why are you so interested in this subject?”

The shoeshine man replies:
“I have 20 million dollars deposited in your bank and I am thinking about investing part of the money in the stock market.”

The CEO of the bank asks:
“What is your name?”

He replies:
“John Smith H.”

The CEO arrives at the bank and asks the Manager of the Major Accounts Department:
“Do we have a customer named John Smith H.?”

He replies:
“We certainly do, sir! He is an extremely esteemed customer! He has 20 million dollars in his account.”

The CEO leaves the bank, approaches the shoeshine boy, and says:
“Mr. Smith, I would like to invite you to be our guest of honor at our board meeting next Monday and tell us your life story. I’m sure we will have a lot to learn from you.”

At the board meeting, the CEO introduces him to the board members:
“We all know Mr. Smith, who makes our shoes shine like no one else. But Mr. Smith is also our valued customer, with twenty million dollars in his account.

I invited him to tell us the story of his life. I’m sure we can learn a lot from him. Please, Mr. Smith, tell us your life story.”

Then, Mr. Smith began to narrate his story:
“I came to this country thirty years ago as a young immigrant from Eastern Europe and with an unpronounceable name. I left the ship penniless in my pocket.

The first thing I did was to change my name to Smith.

I was hungry and exhausted. I started to wander in search for a job, but without success.

Suddenly, I found a coin on the sidewalk. I bought some apples.

I had two options: eat the apples and quench my hunger or start a business. I sold the apples for 50 cents and bought more apples with the money.

When I started accumulating dollars, I managed to buy a set of used brushes and shoe polishes and started cleaning shoes.

I didn’t spend a dime on fun or clothes. I only bought bread and cheese to survive.

I saved penny by penny and after a while I bought a new set of brushes and shoe polishes in different shades and colors and increased my clientele.

I lived like a monk and saved every penny. I managed to buy a chair so that my customers could sit comfortably while I cleaned their shoes, which brought me more customers.

I didn’t spend a dime on the pleasures of life. I kept saving every penny.

A few years ago, when the corner shoeshine colleague decided to retire, I had already saved enough money to buy his point, which was a better place than mine.

Finally, 3 months ago, my drug dealer brother passed away and left me 20 million dollars.

The War on Napping: They Won’t Let Their Husbands Sleep

What is the least intelligent thing you’ve ever seen a tourist do?

When I was in high school, I had a summer job at a theme park. Visitors came from all over the country, and it wasn’t uncommon to see people from outside the U.S. as well.

There were the usual dumb theme park questions: “Why isn’t [Ride] running?” (Because it’s raining with lots of lightning, and a giant metal rollercoaster would basically become a lightning rod.) “My son is two feet shorter than the height requirement. Can he go on this ride anyway?” (No.) “Can I use your employee discount?” (Also no.)

But the least intelligent thing people did was to come to spend an entire summer day in an outdoor theme park without bringing sunscreen or water. Then they would have to buy ridiculously overpriced sunscreen and water in the park ($12 for a bottle of sunscreen and $5 for a bottle of water, and this was about 15 years ago).

The ones I felt the most sorry for were a British family, a dad and two young kids. This was on one of the hottest days of summer, about 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) with not a cloud in the sky. I had never seen anyone get that sunburned before. They were so lobster-red, it looked like something out of a cartoon. They came into the shop I was working in and bought two water bottles each. That cost them about $40, just for water. I asked if they wanted some sunscreen as well and the dad said, “A bit late for that, isn’t it?” I pointed out that they would keep getting more sunburned if they didn’t put on sunscreen, and he just sort of laughed like he thought I was joking and left without buying any sunscreen. I felt so sorry for the kids.

Why does Walmart have a bad reputation?

I tried working for Walmart in 2015–2016. I worked in maintenance, nothing special. My job was to maintain the store and property, and handle any messes. It was straightforward. That said, getting the job and keeping it certainly weren’t. I don’t have a vehicle, so I routinely walked 3.4 miles to work five days a week in wind, rain, sun, and snow. In the winter of 2015, I walked to work in 8 degree (Fahrenheit) weather (this is Oklahoma), and was still told I might get fired. Several of my coworkers appreciated it, and we had 38 call-ins of a staff of just under 100 that day.

So, I worked forty hours a week, walk about 35–60 miles a week, put up with all the best and worst customers can provide, and had to deal with shoddy management staff who didn’t know how to communicate. My supervisor got fired, and the one I ended up with had no clue what my job entailed, but proceeded to deride me at every turn for not doing my job correctly. This same supervisor had several complaints lodged against her, but the upper management refused to act. So we had a handful of rotten managers, a number of bitter, gossipy staff, and a management team who was completely out of touch. I was routinely sent out to waste my time to clean trash from an adjoining lot that the store didn’t own. When I suggested a fence, I was ignored, and when one of my supervisors asked why we were even out there, they sent him out too.

This nonsense culminated in September of 2016. The maintenance staff was asked to work several extra hours to cover some recent terminations. At $15 an hour, that sounds good. On Monday evening, I check my schedule to make sure I have work the next day only to find out I have been removed from the schedule without notice and the aforementioned supervisor is gone, so nobody knows what happened. I get bounced around for nearly two hours, with even the store manager telling me to “get back to work” before Personnel can figure out what happened. Basically, my supervisor had violated policy when she revised the schedule, and they cut more of my time to compensate. When I complained that I should have been made aware, they shrugged their shoulders. I let slip a single profanity about the situation, and they fired me for it two days later. I was fired from my job for something I did off the clock in response to one of their managers fucking up, and she got off scot-free. That’s why Walmart has a bad reputation, because they do stupid shit like that.

Edit: First time using the site, and this piece of work I put up as my first(?) answer on here got nearly 2400 upvotes! I’m both amazed at the response and rather horrified at the fact that this many people can relate. Thanks all!

Shorpy

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Are there any facts that are extremely scary to know?

Vivisepulture is the scariest fact that used to happen in the history because of lack of knowledge of medical practitioners and lack of resources.

Vivisepulture is more commonly known as Buried alive or Premature burial.

In the olden days premature burial was common as the medical practices lacked proper knowledge. One such incident which happened in Woodstock, Canada in 1800s is the case of Collins, a girl who was buried alive.

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Above is the image of Collins’ body when it was exumed after two days of her burial.

The incident happened in Woodstock, Canada in 1800s where the girl (Collins) who was declared to be dead was buried. Her body was to be exumed after two days so that she could be buried in some place else.

After her body was dug up, people were shocked to see what they saw. Her knees were up to the chin (in the image), her arm twisted behind her head, there were scratch marks on the inside of her coffin and her shroud torn into pieces. This clearly shows that she was alive (in some sort of Coma) at the time of burial which was not recognizable by the medical Professionals of that time.

We can only assume as to how much terrorized she must have been feeling at the time when she woke up from her so-called coma. This is just one case — there have been so many cases of people being buried alive in the past that they made speciality safety coffins.

Below in Fig. 1 is a safety coffin with a flag. The person assumed to be dead had a safety rope which they can pull and the flag will be in upright position.

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Now in Fig. 2 below, if the person buried is alive, can pull the rope and the flag will be upright alerting anyone who is nearby.

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There were other coffins which were designed with bells, emergency air flow valves and with flags.

Death in such cases was actually caused by dehydration, hypothermia and starvation.

However, premature burial was a punishment as well in the olden days. People convicted of henious crimes would be buried alive to die of choking. There is intentional as well as unintentional premature burial.

But the most scary part is what happened with Collins: imagine a little girl trapped inside with no one — what would have happened to her, what she would have felt, what she went through — she had to die several deaths before actually dying.

May her soul rest in peace.

I would prefer to be cremated rather than being buried.

Putin and China just made an OMINOUS Warning and NATO is FURIOUS

Mixed feelings

There were many mixed reactions to the loosening up of visas for people to visit China.

On here there was a mixed reaction to it.

I’ve swung from both sides, in that seeing is believing making them question what the western state controled media tells them vs what they see.

Shun himself was more concerned about criminals and bad people getting into China…

But that itself has a positive side effect. I wrote recently how Chinese people in China are blissfully unaware of how shitty many westerners are and how there is absolute dripping hatred from many of them.

But shitty people = their shitty behaviour in China… meaning we get to see things like this.

5 hours 6000+ views on Douyin (that was clipped from a couple days ago). Maybe it will sway the views of Chinese people of foreigners to be more critical rather than have an automatic assumption they’re going to be great people.

Google Is Destroying Its Search Engine…

What is the best thing your teacher ever told you?

Originally Answered: what was the most interesting thing your teacher said?

‘Get out of my classroom, NOW,’ shouted my history teacher, a kind and calm man whose raised voice I had never heard.

He was shouting at two older kids who’d suddenly burst in and interrupted our lesson on the Romans, or the Germans, or the Gold Rush (you get the picture). They were yelling, quite aggressively, to my sheltered 13-year-old mind, about how unhappy they were with something. It was a long time ago so forgive me but it was something like their recent test scores and how Mr McVeigh (I still remember his name now) was to blame.

Us younger students sat aghast at the heated exchange. This was unusual to say the least and I started to feel really sorry for our lovely teacher.

The shouting went on for a bit and just when I seriously thought it might turn physical, Mr McVeigh told them to leave NOW and they turned and marched out the classroom, slamming the door hard enough to make the glass panel shake.

‘I am so sorry about that,’ said our teacher (such a nice man). ‘This is all very embarrassing.’

‘I need to let the headteacher know. Please can you take a new sheet of paper and write down what just happened and a description of both of them.’

I scribbled away – two guys, think they’re in sixth form, came in and loudly shouted, one was wearing a blue shirt… Etc, etc.

We handed the sheets in. And what happened next has stayed with me since.

You might have guessed…

Our lovely Mr McVeigh had stitched us up good and proper. The ‘aggressive older students’ were acting.

He was about to teach us an amazing lesson about the trustworthiness of history’s eye witnesses.

He started to write all the conflicting descriptions and accounts on the whiteboard. Blonde hair… Brown hair… Jeans… Khakis… Said he was gonna sue… Said he’d burn your car… Blue shirt… Grey shirt…

‘Few of your descriptions match, and that’s about an event which happened only a few minutes ago. Imagine you are being interviewed about an historic event you witnessed, days, weeks or even years later. You can start to see how – although important – the eye witness does have some weaknesses.’

Blew my little mind.

Steak-Stuffed Portobello with Creamy Poblano Sauce

Seasoned grilled steak is combined with mozzarella cheese, stuffed into a portobello mushroom, then covered with a creamy poblano chile pepper sauce.

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

2 (8 ounce) beef flat iron steaks
2 fresh poblano chile peppers
1 small onion, cut into 1/2 inch slices
4 large portobello mushrooms, stems discarded
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
3/4 cup shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro, divided
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 ripe avocado, thinly sliced

Instructions

Place poblano peppers and onion slices on grid over medium, ash-covered coals. Grill, covered, 15 to 20 minutes (over medium heat on preheated gas grill) or until onion is tender and pepper skins are blackened, turning occasionally.
Place peppers in food-safe plastic bag; close bag. Set peppers and onion aside to cool.
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Coat each mushroom cap with cooking spray and place on aluminum foil-lined shallow-rimmed baking pan.
Bake mushrooms in 350 degrees F oven for 15 to 17 minutes or until mushrooms are fork tender.
Remove and discard skins, stems and seeds from peppers. Chop peppers and onion.
Heat oil in small sauce pan over medium heat. Add poblanos peppers, onion and garlic; cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cream; bring to a boil. Remove from heat; set aside.
Season steaks with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Place steaks on grid over medium, ash-covered coals. Grill, covered, 10 to 14 minutes (over medium heat on preheated gas grill, covered, 12 to 16 minutes) for medium rare (145 degrees F) to medium (160 degrees F) doneness.
Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees F.
Carve steaks into 1-inch strips. Cut strips into 1 inch cubes.
Combine steak and cheese in medium bowl, mixing gently but thoroughly. Evenly divide beef mixture among prepared mushroom caps, mounding as needed.
Bake mushrooms in 400 degrees F oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Meanwhile, place poblano mixture in blender container; add 1/4 cup cilantro, lime juice, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Cover; process until smooth.
Divide sauce evenly among 4 plates; top sauce with steak-stuffed mushroom. Garnish with avocado slices and remaining 1/4 cup cilantro, if desired.

What aspect of Japanese culture is hardest for Westerners to properly understand?

Understanding that we Japanese appreciate the beauty of bending the rules.

As Japanese people, we are very good at following rules.

In fact, Japanese society is filled with all sorts of rules, and so many of them are often given too much importance. This often leads to following rules becoming an end in itself, with rules overshadowing the essence.

Always Obey “Time”

Our trains arrive on schedule, and if we’re even a few minutes late to meet friends, we let them know in advance. In schools and workplaces, including meetings and business negotiations, we arrive five minutes early as a matter of course. It’s to the point where if we’re caught taking three minutes to order lunch during work hours, we could face a pay cut. While this might sound like fake news in other countries, it’s a true story for us. For us Japanese, not being punctual is almost like committing a crime.

Always Obey “Traffic Lights”

Even if no one is watching, even if there isn’t a single car on the road, and even if the road is completely empty as far as the eye can see, we Japanese wait for the green light at the crosswalk. We don’t jaywalk. It’s to the point where we might even be laughed at by those who don’t follow traffic lights. This is the norm in Japan, and seeing someone cross the road when the pedestrian signal is red makes us feel uncomfortable. We teach children, “Don’t do what that person is doing,” using such instances as prime examples of what not to do.

But even for us, there are rules we desire not to follow.

Never Obey “Come Empty-Handed”

When someone tells us to “come empty-handed,” it’s just a social nicety. We shouldn’t take it at face value.
In our society, it’s expected that we ignore this and bring a gift. If we visit someone’s home and actually arrive empty-handed after being instructed otherwise, they will likely feel confused internally, pity our social unawareness in the back, and may even become secretly upset. If we visit as a group, everyone else will likely bring things like cream puffs or beverages, making us feel somewhat awkward for not doing the same.
“Come empty-handed” is a formality in our society. Establishing a rule to always bring a gift when visiting someone’s home would simplify matters, but that’s the opposite of what we do. Hosts persist in pretending as though arriving empty-handed is the proper approach. Recognizing the proper situations to go against what’s instructed is a reflection of our cultural sensitivity.

Knowing when and where to break the rules in Japan demands a delicate balance.

In Japan, the ability to achieve this balance without explicit guidance captures the subtle “beauty” of cultural norms.

Stray Cat Cries When He Meets Owner He Hasn’t Seen In Seven Years

I can so relate.

It’s a sign of maturity

When I was attending university, perhaps in my second year, I lived off campus (for a brief spell) in a run down Victorian house off in the bad section of town. And I would dutifully stop by the nearby local bagel store and grab a fresh bagel to munch on the way to my shitty cheap apartment.

One day, I decided to buy a amateur porn magazine that was on display by the door. And with a bagel in my mouth, I paid the 25 cents for the magazine. Maybe it was 75 cents. I don’t really remember. It was full of “swingers” and “home style” pictures of a sexual nature that people in that some group would post.

Some were gross. Just gross. While others had some pretty attractive gals, and one caught my eye. SO I bought the magazine and headed down the street to my apartment.

It was full of all kinds of people. Young, but mostly old and many fatties. Not a “playboy magazine” for certain. But just porn taken with 35mm film, or Polaroids and submitted to the magazine for publishing. If you got your picture published, the magazine would give you a $100. Pretty reasonable money in those days!

So I make it home, lay out my text books for my nightly study and finish eating my bagels. I’m going through the magazine and then I saw it…

… no doubt about it…

… there was my mother. With her current husband. And they were getting it on. Only one picture. But that was enough for me.

Oh, I never told anyone. I was discrete and kept all this info to myself. But I will never forget the shock that I had to my young 19 year old self in seeing my mother in a compromising position near our houses front door…!

Ah.

We all live our lives. Some of the things we want to keep private and confidential. While other things are ok to become public knowledge. My siblings no nothing about this. I never told anyone.

For whatever it is worth, I have a vault in my head full of these confidential confidences that I keep to myself. It’s a sign of maturity.

Don’t you know.

Today…

Chinese history lesson

In the year 290 AD, there was a retarded young man became the emperor in China.

His emperor father actually had more than one son, but ultimately chose him as his successor. The main reason was that this retarded son married a wife from a very powerful family, and a retarded emperor was actually very advantageous for his wife and father-in-law to control the power.

Today’s Biden is somewhat like this retarded emperor.

The people who truly hold power in America are those people around Biden, and they actually don’t mind Biden becoming increasingly incompetent. I

n fact, an incompetent Biden is very beneficial for them to control the power of America.

By the way, China fell into a bloody civil war after this retarded emperor.

As a police officer, what law do you rarely enforce?

Here’s a list of 10 in my state that I won’t be enforcing any time soon… however my actual answer is far more basic/universal and, if any other US Cop out there thinks about it, it would be theirs too. But first, that 10 that immediately come to my mind:

Feeding the birds in public parks.
A shop selling toy handcuffs to minors.
A business that has more than 10 signs on its premises.
Dissemination of informational fliers on windshields of people’s parked cars.
Any car mod that is unrelated to lighting, noise, air emissions, or plate visibility. (Example: having custom tires on your vehicle that are wider than the chassis/fenders.)
Gambling (even if it’s between family, friends, or coworkers).
Stopping/Ticketing the rider of an eBike or Motorized bike for no other reason than that it was is traveling faster than 25mph (as long as the rider is under whatever the posted limit is, and not operating it in an obnoxious way, they won’t get a second look from me.)
Before it became legal, I never busted anyone who grew personal use amounts of pot plants on their private property or carried personal use amounts on their person.
Busting a kid who was riding an electric/motorized skateboard on the street for not having a Driver’s License.
Busting an intoxicated golfer when they drive their cart across the road to get to the next green. (For the moment they’re on a Public Way, that still fits the OUI/DUI Statute.)

Only when you become a Police Officer do you have true awareness of the voluminous amount of codes that make up a the Criminal and Motor Vehicle sections of the State.l’s law. A majority of people (and many police officers) would be/are shocked by the numbers and feel that a great many are weird, unnecessarily, or just really stupid. Heck, the “Drivers Handbook” available for free from the DMV in my state is 56 pages of diagrams of things like intersections, sign shapes, stopping distances etc, all in relatively large print. In contrast, the Motor Vehicle Statute book that the State Legislature releases to all law enforcement agencies here, is in excesses of 460 pages! It contains no pictures of any kind, and is written in exceptionally small print. So the simplest answer I can give— as would any other US Cop if they’re being super-honest with themselves— to the question of which laws I “rarely enforce,” is, literally, this:

“Most of them.”

Shorpy

TOS-2 Wiped Out Canadian, French, and US Soldiers In CHASIV YAR┃Russia Captured STEPOVAY-NOVOSELOVKA

Why are Hong Kong people willing to accept that the British government’s BNO status is a trap when they know they are pawns against China?

Many who went to UK on BNO status are ”criminals” who had broken law 1 way or another.

Some genuinely do not know a thing. They just follow others.

See, UK & USA have run their scheme for more than 30 years. In the case of UK, it started in 1984 when UK realised China demanded return of HK in 1997. No negotiation.

UK’s plot was extensive covering all walks of life. Education is one of them. One whole generation was brainwashed to hate & fear of China.

So when UK opened door to accept BNOers, many people fled HK. They did not know UK was just sucking their money. That said, even they knew UK was sucking their money, out of hatred & fear of China, they might still go.

Human nature is funny.

I recently asked a person why she is afraid of ghost. I asked her if she has seen one. What is her experience with a ghost?

She cannot answer. Why then fear of ghost? Somebody told her ghost is terrible or evil Not good anyway.

I asked what makes her think god is not evil. Of course she cannot answer.

My point: it is all somebody who says so.

Same here with China. If you ask a BNOer why they hate China. They will repeat what others told her eg dictator. No freedom. Poor etc. If you ask them whether they have ever been to China, of course they have not. … again, it is somebody who says so.

Humans seldom do their own thinking.

BREAKING NEWS: Mike Johnson Hammers Joe Biden After Presidential Debate

As an attorney, have you ever experienced a case that made you re-evaluate your life?

Yes. I was appointed by the court to defend a gang member for armed robbery. He thought he was super cool and wanted to take the stand. I told him no, I warned him, he insisted over my objection.

There was only one thing going in his favor. The clerk at the place robbed said the robber had blue eyes. My client had brown eyes.

I felt my client was a very very dangerous person. I was sure the prosecutor would ask him if he had color contacts. They were in his pocket. When he lied and said no, I would ask to be recused from the case as you are not allowed to knowingly let your client lie on the stand. The judge would then know he was lying and I would probably be excused as counsel, etc. The ignorant prosecutor never asked. He was found not guilty.

The judge had a fit. He excoriated everyone but me…he said I was just doing my job. Two days later my client shot and killed an 8 year old girl in a rival gang revenge attack at the girl’s birthday party. The newspaper headline was the judge’s quote that he would never sleep again until every member of that gang was six feet under.

The judge called me and advised me that I would NOT be appointed to represent the guy again (Thank God).

The police declared a vendetta on that gang. Five years later the headlines said that gang was “eradicated” from Texas.

I never took another criminal case. I became a real estate attorney and did pro bono work for battered women and men who paid child support but were denied visitation with their children.

Aromatic Chicken Curry (Vietnam)

Ingredients

2 medium-size potatoes, cut into chunks
4 tablespoons peanut oil
8 shallots, minced
4 stalks fresh lemon grass, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 fresh hot red chiles, minced
2 tablespoons best-quality curry powder
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, chopped into bite size pieces
1 teaspoon sea salt or 1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
1 (14 ounce) can chicken broth
Fresh basil leaves

Instructions

Fry the potato chunks in the oil until nicely browned, then drain them on paper towels.
Add the shallots, lemon grass, and all of the spices to the pan, and stir-fry for a few minutes.
Add the chicken and cook, stirring, until it is opaque.
Add the potatoes, salt, coconut milk and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and then simmer gently for about 30 minutes.
Garnish with basil leaves before serving in bowls with rice.

Ingredients List for Vietnamese Chicken Curry

Marinade

8 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 tablespoon curry powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
salt to taste

Curry

2 tablespoons oil
3 large carrots
1 large baking potato
2 tablespoons oil
1 red onion
3 garlic gloves
2 sticks lemongrass
2 tablespoons sugar
3 cups of water
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon garlic chili sauce
1/2 cup coconut milk

12 Minutes of Modern Women Moral Decay

A Woman’s World

Submitted into Contest #8 in response to: Write a story about an adventure in space. … view prompt

Rebecca Parker

Robert remembered the sensation of falling. He remembered the feeling of cold dread as the engine stuttered and died and his stomach dropped through the floor. He could never forget the look on his colleague’s face as the colour drained from him and his skin turned paper white.He didn’t remember plummeting through space, searing through the planet’s atmosphere, or the deafening landing. His colleague, Martin, hadn’t been knocked unconscious and had managed to pull him from the fiery wreck before the smoke and flames engulfed him. Robert was out cold. All he remembered was darkness.Blurred colours greeted him as he opened his eyes, the world spinning in and out of focus. One woman, or two, or three, was bent over him. He heard her speak, the words moving through his sluggish brain like soup. He could make no sense of them. He tried to sit up, but a shooting pain split through his head and the woman pushed him back to the ground. Martin appeared then; despite his hazy vision he recognised his co-pilot. Three Martins. Groaning, Robert closed his eyes.It might have been a few hours later when he next opened them. The dazzling sunlight had dimmed slightly, and the air was not quite so hot. His vision took a minute to clear, but when it did, there was only one Martin sitting over him. He asked him how he was feeling, felt his forehead, his throat, checked his pulse. Irritated, Robert pushed him away and forced himself into a sitting position. His head was still banging, but not with quite so much volition as before.“We went wrong,” Martin uttered in a low voice, just as Robert asked him where they were.“What do you mean?” Robert replied, rubbing his forehead with one hand as Martin handed him a glass of water. It looked like water and tasted like water, but it was purple. Robert blinked at it, confused, and then looked up at the sky. It was as if it had been painted with purple water colours.“Why isn’t the sky blue, Martin?” Robert asked. He must have still been dazed from the crash, because he was much calmer than he should have been.

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you. We went wrong.”

“We were right on target to hit Mars.”

“This isn’t Mars.”

It was then that Robert noticed the huddle of young women standing a short distance away, grouped under a copse of trees next to a river. Lilac-coloured water cascaded from an eight-foot drop into the shimmering pool, before winding away through the trees. Robert stared at the waterfall, the women, the sky.

“Martin?” he said, his tone still strangely neutral. “Am I dreaming, or am I dead?”

“Neither,” his colleague hissed at him. “You’re on Venus.”

Robert nodded, tasting the words even though his brain couldn’t comprehend them.

“But we were on target for Mars.”

“Mars is red, Rob, not purple.”

Robert nodded again, sipping the purple drink as one of the women broke away from the group and sashayed over to them. She might have been the same one that had been crouched over him before; she had the same silvery-blonde hair and violet coloured eyes. Her dress was lilac and her feet were bare. If Robert squinted, he could see that all the women were wearing dresses of a similar colour and not one of them wore shoes.

Martin got to his feet as she approached and Robert staggered up next to him. He felt oddly light-headed but pain free.

“Do you think they want to kill us?” he asked Martin as he drained the last of the water. In response, he received only a glare.

The woman paused in front of them, looking suddenly unsure of herself.

“Tia,” she announced. “Robert and Martin, correct?” The pair nodded. She chewed her lip, her eyes straying disdainfully over their clothes. Martin was half in his spacesuit, Robert was only in a t-shirt and jeans. “But…” she said, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion. “Where are the rest of you?”

The two men exchanged glances. “The rest of us?” Robert repeated. “There’s only us two. We crashed.”

“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” she said. “The water here helps with healing very well.” She paused, a light breeze playing with her hair. “But surely more are on their way? We have thirty women here, all waiting for you.”

Robert could feel his head begin to pound and not because of the crash-landing.

“We’ve come from Earth. Have you heard of it?”

If Tia had heard the sarcasm in his voice, she didn’t show it. Her eyes dropped to the floor, her lips twisting into a frown.

“Earth? No. I don’t know any Earth.” Her eyes narrowed then and her tone became suddenly accusatory. “You are from Mars. All men are from Mars!”

Robert stared at her. She glared defiantly back.

“Love,” he began, feeling his patience start to wear thin. “Nobody lives on Mars. The place is a rock, totally uninhabitable! We are not from Mars, we’re from Earth. Kindly tell me what planet you are from?”

“Venus.”

Robert opened his mouth to shoot back a snide reply, but Martin cut him off.

“Are there any men here?” he asked Tia.

“No,” she replied, clicking her tongue in annoyance. “All men live on Mars. There should be thirty of you arriving today for the Spring Festival, but so far we have only two and not even a decent two at that.”

She scowled at them both and turned on her heel to storm away, but Martin hastily dashed after her, apologies spilling from his mouth as Robert stood and watched, realisation beginning to dawn on him.

The sun suddenly broke out from behind a cloud and the brilliance of it dazzled him. He sat back down on the grass, his eyes straying from Martin and Tia to the group of women huddled by the river. When Martin returned, he was carrying another glass of water.

“She said this might help your head,” he said handing the drink to Robert. “Shame it can’t help your attitude.” He smirked but looked away hastily as Robert glared at him. “The boys stay here until they’re eighteen. She’s going to see if they can help us out with a ship. In the meantime, we can stay in the village.”

“She wants us to go then.”

Martin crouched down on to the grass in front of him. “This isn’t our universe, Rob. I don’t know how we’ve ended up here, but here we are. There’s no Earth in their solar system. All the men live on Mars and all the women live on Venus.” Robert found his eyes wandering back to the group of women. They were all young, in their late twenties or early thirties, and they were all beautiful. “This Spring Festival,” Martin continued. “It’s a mating festival, Rob. Thirty men come over to meet thirty women and they couple up and well… you know…”

“So what you’re saying is, we’re stuck on a rock in some other universe, who knows where, and we’re the only men? That’s what you’re saying?”

Martin grinned and hit him playfully on the shoulder. “More men are coming. When they get here, they’ll help us find a ship. We’ll get a ship, Rob, don’t worry.”

They waited for three days, but the men didn’t arrive. The women became fretful. Each day they turned up in their purple dresses with their hair and make-up done to sit by the river from sunrise to sunset and each day they went home by themselves. They weren’t interested in befriending the two astronauts. The majority of them seemed to blame the pair for the loss of their men.

It was late in the afternoon on the third day when the silver-haired Tia approached them, leading a teenage boy alongside her.

“This is Jay,” Tia said as she reached them. “Jay is seventeen and he studies solar engineering at the college. He will help you find a ship.” She smiled at them but her eyes remained troubled. “Maybe then you can return to your own planet.”

“And your men?” Martin asked. “Shouldn’t they be here by now?”

She turned to gaze into the sky and sighed. “Something must have gone wrong. You crash-landed in our meadow and they haven’t arrived. Maybe they crashed somewhere else? But what if there is no one there to help them?”

She patted Jay on the back and thanked him before leaving. He quickly dived into conversation with Martin, but Robert wasn’t listening, he couldn’t stop thinking about Tia.

Jay proved to be very helpful. He took them on tours around the village and surrounding areas. The village looked more like a city to Robert, with its sky-high buildings and its colleges, but it was welcoming and friendly. The women watched them in interest as they passed, and many trailed after them, like excited girls wanting autographs from their favourite pop-stars. The teenager took them to his college workshop where other young boys clubbed together to help build the pair a new ship, modelling it on what they had left of the one that had crashed. They were quick and nimble workers and it was completed in only a week. Jay told them there was a takeoff station at the bottom of the meadow where they’d crashed and they arranged to have the ship transported back there. When they arrived, a tearful Tia came rushing up to meet them.

“Something must have happened to them!” she sobbed, the tears streaking down her face. “Please, please, before you go, look for them! They could be danger!”

Robert gazed at her, at her shiny, soft hair that fell elegantly over the curve of her breasts, at the lilac dress that hugged her waist, at the tears that fell from her beautiful violet eyes.

“Of course,” he told her. “We’ll find them.”

A whole host of women gathered in the meadow to watch them leave, along with Jay and the other boys who had helped to build the ship. Martin pressed his face to the glass of the window as they rocketed away from the planet into the depths of space.

“We were on course for Mars,” he said softly, as Robert took the wheel. “How did we end up on Venus in another dimension?”

“Another universe,” Robert shot back. “We must have passed through… through a… a worm-hole or something.”

Martin gave him a sharp look. “You told me worm-holes don’t exist.”

“I must have been wrong.”

They trawled through space, searching for anything unfamiliar or unknown, anything that might have rooted an explanation as to how they travelled between universes. Robert had lost track of the days completely when he noticed something in the distance.

“Martin!” he hissed, squinting through the window of the ship. “Martin, get over here!”

His companion joined him, concern plastered over his face. “What?”

Robert didn’t answer, but merely pointed.

It was hard to tell what it was at first. It was if there was some sort of light distorting the view. It was a shimmering line, like the mist rolling in off the sea.

“We’re in the middle of space,” Martin said flatly. “We’re not going near that.”

“Yes, we are,” Robert replied, easing forward on the accelerator. “That might be just how we got here in the first place.”

Martin grappled with him for the controls but Robert was stronger and slammed the accelerator down, sending the ship careening towards the shimmering line. It widened as they approached, yawning open like a great mouth. Martin screamed as it swallowed them and they found themselves spinning and spinning and spinning through a mass of swirling, blinding colours.

When it spat them out, they both felt the engine lurch, and Martin grabbed Robert’s arm in panic.

“That’s how we crashed!” he yelled, but Robert was barely listening; he’d spotted the rocky, red planet of Mars and sent the ship spiralling straight for it.

Martin bellowed at his companion, trying to pull the ship up before they crashed, but it jarred against a mound of rocks and flipped on to its side. They piled out of it, helmets on, and sprinted away before it could burst into flame and meet the same fate as their old ship. It didn’t fortunately, but it didn’t look safe to fly either.

“Great going, Rob,” Martin grumbled, gesturing towards the heap of battered metal. “We finally make it to Mars and you go and break our transport. Again.”

Robert could have shot him a snide reply, he wasn’t sure it was entirely his fault they had crashed on Venus in the first place, but he wasn’t listening. His attention had been snared by a far superior, more colourful ship that sat proudly atop a rocky outcrop. A rather dilapidated ribbon was tied around it. It might have looked smart at first, but it was dirty from red dust and the bow had come undone. He began walking towards it, his heart pounding, leaving Martin muttering to himself amidst the rocks. He thought about the lack of atmosphere, the lack of hostile environment, and began to run, panicking even though he didn’t know these men.

Martin yelled after him, suddenly noticing the ship for the first time. They both raced towards it, knowing the men would have been unprepared, knowing they would have lacked oxygen.

Robert reached the ship first and banged on the metal door, bellowing at them to let him in. Martin was quick on his heels and joined him, banging on the door until it opened.

There was a cluster of young men, all late twenties or early thirties and all beautiful. They were stood behind the air lock, frowning at the two strangers in their space suits who were waving at them from the inhospitable landscape of Mars. Wordlessly, they welcomed the astronauts on to the ship, though they seemed wary and kept their distance.

“Where are you from?” the first one said, as Robert took his helmet off.

“Earth!” Robert replied proudly, ignoring their puzzled glances to continue. “We were on our way to our Mars, when we crash-landed on your Venus.”

“What my friend is trying to say,” Martin interrupted, as the group of men muttered amongst each other in confusion, “is that we’re from a parallel universe, and we crashed in your universe. You apparently, have gotten lost in our universe, but we can guide you back.”

The muttering continued but a few smiles began to appear among the bunch.

“You crashed,” one observed.

“You can’t return in that wreck,” another said.

“Guide us back to our Venus,” the first one said, “and we will ensure you can safely return to your own planet.”

The two astronauts gladly obliged and took the controls to return the vehicle to Venus. Martin was a bit dismayed about leaving the red planet so soon, after only just arriving and without conducting any of their research, but Robert found he didn’t care that much; he longed to return to Venus, to Tia.

They landed safely the third time around and the relieved, yet tearful, silver-haired Tia came running up as the group disembarked. She weaved through the handsome young men, searching for the alien astronauts who had brought them to her. She found Robert and threw her arms around him, sobbing into his shoulder.

“Thank you,” she wept, “thank you so much.”

He didn’t say anything, but hugged her close. Martin took his shoulder, telling him they had to sort a new ship and get back to their own universe, but Robert had made his mind up.

“We’ve found a planet inhabited entirely by women,” he told his friend, as Tia straightened and wiped her tears from her flushed face, “and you want to leave?!” He turned back to the beautiful woman standing in front of him, took her hand and kissed it.

“Allow me to introduce myself, properly this time,” he told her. “My name is Robert, this is Martin. We come in peace.”

Giggling, she took his hand and led them both through the meadow towards the waterfall. The sun shone down on them through the purple sky, sparkling on the purple river. Far behind them, deep in space, the shimmering dimensional gap, the stitch in the universe that had brought them there, slowly faded to melt away completely in the unfathomable depths of space.

Nam Jim Wan
(Sweet Dipping Sauce | Thai)

This is a simple dipping sauce usually used with deep fried items such as spring rolls and stuffed chicken wings.

Ingredients

3 cups water
3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vinegar (preferably rice vinegar)
3 tablespoons Chinese pickled plums
3 tablespoons thinly sliced prik ki nu daeng (red birdseye chiles)
2 tablespoons garlic, very thinly sliced
2 tablespoons ginger, julienned or grated
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Boil the water, and add the pickled plums (sometimes sold as ‘salted plums’), and simmer for five minutes.
Remove the plums to a food processor and puree them.
Continue to boil the water, adding and dissolving the sugar, then adding the vinegar and salt. If any sugar is still undissolved, add a little more water until it dissolves.
Return the plums to the mixture, and then pour over the other ingredients in a sterilized preserving jar, and keep in a cool place for at least a week before using.

Can you introduce me as Joker? | Joker [UltraHD, HDR]

Why does China want to go to war with Taiwan even though Japan intervened? Do they really think they will win that fight?

Today’s China is militarily strong.

China is not afraid of USA. It of course will not be afraid of Japan.

A year or 2 ago, Taiwan asked Japan if it will help Taiwan in case of war,

Japan said they only plan up to the point of evacuation of Japanese in Taiwan. Translation: Japan’s war simulation tells Japan that it will not win China.

Neither can USA.

Some other art

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Default La joven mujer sonre con felicidad y alegra Estilo Car 2

As a Vietnam vet, what was the saddest thing you saw during the war?

Well, here goes, and it’s taken me 50 years to write or even speak of this event. I considered writing anonymously but that’s no way to get something off your chest.

I was with an infantry platoon in the Mekong Delta during the summer of 1969, we walked out of a woodline into an open paddy area and found several individuals dragging an unexploded 500 pound bomb across the paddy toward a wooded area. They were dressed like V/C, black trousers and white shirts, and probably about 500 yards away. This bomb would have made a devastating booby trap.

This was a so-called “free fire zone,” meaning all civilians and non-combatants had supposedly been relocated and only the enemy remained.

We opened fire and the subjects scattered into the woodline and we did not pursue them. It was getting on toward sunset and we heard crying and moaning from deep within the jungle. I, along with two other soldiers, was sent to investigate. We found a male subject laying on his back in great distress, when his shirt was removed there was a bullet hole in his upper chest/shoulder area but no exit wound. He was not bleeding, but that blood had to go somewhere, and it did, straight into his lung.

The other two guys with me argued that we should take him out and call for a dustoff (Medivac) but I was in charge and would not allow it. I said we were not going to endanger a flight crew to evacuate an enemy soldier who was going to die anyway. And besides, he might have been one of V/C who ambushed our platoon the previous week causing extensive casualties and loss of life.

So we waited as his breathing grew gradually more shallow; I kept shining my flashlight into his eyes and after about 20 minutes his pupils became dilated and non-reactive. This enemy soldier had died. Except. . .

The next morning our platoon was sleeping on dikes near the woodline and I was awakened by terrible screaming and crying from a woman and her children who had seemingly come from nowhere, there were no hooches or villages in sight. Our “enemy soldier,” whom I had watched and saw die, was in fact her 13-year old son.

At the time, and over the years, I’ve tried to rationalize my actions that evening: it was dark, V/C were all young looking, we couldn’t have saved him anyway, but the only true answer is that war had stripped away a bit of my humanity.

I saw plenty of sadness in Vietnam, but nothing was as sorrowful as watching a mother weep for her dead son.

And then I heard Phil Collins – In the Air Tonight (First Time Reaction) *

Hungry Food Porn

A crying mother trying to drag a man to her dying kitten. Just unbelievable

What is the largest amount of money you have ever lost in a day?

Seven hundred quadrillion dollars. (USD)

This was about 10 years ago. I had a lunch date planned at a restaurant next to where I was working. We had a pleasant enough meal and at the end I was about to pay. My credit card was declined.

That didn’t make any sense. It was direct drawn on my bank account, I had plenty of money in it. Lunch wasn’t all that expensive for the two of us.

So I take a moment to go over to the ATM and attempt a withdraw. The machine tells me I have no money. I print out the balance and I’m over drawn by:

$700,000,000,000,000,000

Somehow I’d lost $700,000,000,000,000,000 and my account was now negative that amount.

I walked back to the office, borrowed $50 off a coworker to pay for lunch and walked back over to the restaurant. Needless to say I didn’t get a second date out of that.

So after lunch I start making phone calls and the bank just runs me in circles giving me one lie after another and telling me it must be my fault, and that I clearly “lost the money” and have “spent it on something I don’t remember” and that they will be “adding over draft fees” and various other fines.

I couldn’t get one idiot on the phone to actually acknowledge the total amount that they were claiming I’d lost. They simply saw the flag that I was overdrawn and proceeded to tell me it was my fault for spending more than my limit.

The next day I went into the bank and asked for a manager. That took a while, the cashier kept assuring me she could handle my needs and insisting that I didn’t need a manager.

I finally told her: look, unless you can explain to me why you stole 700 quadrillion dollars from me, you really can’t help me and I’m going to need a manager.

She told me I was making up numbers. I told her to go fuck herself and she shouldn’t be working in a bank if she didn’t know what a quadrillion was.

She went to get a manager to have me thrown out. I handed him the ATM slip and he just stood there without saying a word for a couple of minutes while his brain processed how many zeroes were on the paper.

He shooed her away and asked me into his office. I told him the run around I’d been getting from phone customer service and that I’d come in and asked for a manager only to be brushed off by the girl at the counter, I just wasn’t in the mood for any more bullshit.

I told him he needed to explain to me how they could possibly think I’d lost 700 quadrillion dollars beyond my spending limit.

We sat there for an hour while he made phone calls. At the end of that he assured me that it was all fixed and that the money was restored and my account would be usable within the next few hours.

I had to remind him to remove the over draft fees and various other fines. That took a few more phone calls.

So there you go. I lost $700,000,000,000,000,000 to a bank error. Thankfully it was found the next day after much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Edit: To those questioning the authenticity of this answer; realize, I didn’t have that much money to lose. My real balance was only about $1000 at the time. This was a bank error and the loss was a negative balance.

So yes, I “lost 700 quadrillion” in a technical sense but in the form of debt being added to the account. Restoring 700 quadrillion to the account (which they did) only put me back to my original balance of about $1,000.

The amount in overdraft fees was comparably small: only a few hundred dollars. However this would have been added daily until repaid and of course since the error was on their side: I shouldn’t (and didn’t) owe any of that either.

The bank was: Bank of America. I had used them for many years prior without a problem and continued to use them for a few more years after without any issues. (I later closed my accounts and switched banks for entirely different reasons)

Edit 2: Since it’s been asked: No I don’t know the details of how an error like that actually occurred. From the phone calls the manager made, I could only hear his side of the conversations. Most of it seemed to involve server migrations and backup systems, something had gone wrong in one conversion of systems with another, I can’t tell you the specifics. Such is the nature of computers, stick a decimal in the wrong place while moving numbers around and automated algorithms can do strange things.

Edit 3: I don’t know if I still have that ATM slip. Realize this was a decade ago, and that type of paper fades. The last I saw it, it was almost unreadable. I’ve moved 6 times across 3 states since then and one of my apartments was demolished. It may be in a storage box continuing to fade, or it may be gone. I don’t even know where to begin to look for it at this point.

I’ve had a lot of random adventures in my life, this is just one day of many that were weird. I’m lucky I can retain some of the memories; the baubles (and slips of paper) collected along the way come and go.

About Last Night’s Debate…

China’s workforce is aging out of their productive years and lacks the young people to replace them. As China fails out of being the planet’s factory, how will that affect CO2 in the atmosphere?

Sorry are we already in 2057?

This is 2024 and China just recently graduated 11.24 Million people and typically after 18 months – as many as 850,000 of these people will not have a proper advented job and after 36 months around 332,000 of them will not have a proper job

In fact after 18 months – only India with 2.265 Million unemployed graduates will beat China in 2026 as per the extrapolation

In 2023 – Chinas Factories created 1.37 Million new jobs and this year the target is 1.50 Million new factory jobs

Guess how many factory jobs Germany created in 2023?

Negative 86,800

They closed 86,800 Jobs

The previous year it was 72,000 Jobs

In all of Europe – Hungary is the only Nation that created an additional 10,740 jobs in 2023

US has lost a whopping 4 Million Factory Jobs in the last decade (2010–2020)

China has added 18.3 Million Factory Jobs in the last decade (2010–2020)

It is expected that China will add 12 Million Factory Jobs from 2020 to 2030 and 7.2 Million from 2030 to 2040

Yet they will be more and more specialized jobs and skilled jobs

Meanwhile China will see a transition to the Service Sector

Today Manufacturing commands 36% of all Jobs and Services 13% (26% is still Agriculture and 8.3% is Government Jobs and Civil Service including the Army)

Yet a decade ago it was 41.2% for Manufacturing and only 7.8% for services

By 2030–2040 – you will see only 20% Manufacturing Jobs and upto 45% Service Jobs on the Mainland

Take a look at Nations with the largest NEW factory jobs created in 2023

China (1.37 Million)
Russia (670K) [War Production included]
Mexico (311K)
Vietnam (273K)
India (221K)
Bangladesh (157K)
Brazil (131K)

China nearly created the same NEW factory jobs as the next 4–5 Nations combined

South Korea & Japan are far worse than China in demographics yet Japanese Workforce showed 22,000 more factory jobs than workers and Korea showed 6050

With a huge rural population – the earliest China can reach the same situation is 2057 and that’s the absolute worst case scenario

The truth is Ceteris Paribus – China is unlikely to have any major demographic work issues until around 2075–2100 AD

By then I am sure you will have enough Robots and AI to do the needed work

Balsamic Marinated Flank Steak

Ingredients

Balsamic Marinade

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar

Steak

1 beef flank steak (about 1-1/2 pounds)
Salt amd pepper

Instructions

Balsamic Marinade

Combine ingredients in small bowl. Place beef steak and marinade in food-safe plastic bag; turn steak to coat. Close bag securely and marinate in refrigerator for 6 hours or as long as overnight, turning occasionally.

Steak

Remove steak from marinade; discard marinade. Place steak on grid over medium, ash-covered coals. Grill, covered, 11 to 16 minutes (over medium heat on preheated gas grill, 16 to 21 minutes) for medium rare (145 degrees F) to medium (160 degrees F) doneness, turning occasionally.
Season steak with salt and pepper, as desired.
Carve steak crosswise into thin slices.

Why do people expect so much out of an Uber when it costs less than a cab?

I will never forget the girl who ordered a Uber Comfort which is up to 4 passengers. I showed up. Granted I have an SUV and can fit 6 passengers. Well she had a group of 7. Not squeezing you all in, sorry. Order 2 rides. They didn’t want to split the group so I said I couldn’t take them. She had such a sassy attitude. With all of the sass in the world she told her friends, “Wait, this is still on my dollar, so…” and she turned to me, held out her hand rolling her eyes a little bit and said, “Can I at least have a water or something?”

My jaw dropped a little bit. Not only was I cancelling her ride because she wanted to disobey the rules and the law, but she had the nerve to give me sass and ask for water! As if I carry water, candy, snacks, etc. for all of my passengers. She was going to pay $10 for a trip home for 7 people and expected water and snacks and candy and for me to let an extra person squeeze in the back??? Nope! Not happening! I don’t carry water for passengers. I don’t carry candy. I drive people from point A to point B and provide good customer service and a good attitude, decent music, a clean nice-smelling car with air conditioning. If you want water or snacks I can take you to a gas station! But to give me sass? I was so amazed at the nerve this young lady had to ask me in such a way for a water.

So, why do people expect so much out of an Uber?

Entitlement

People expect so much for so little. They want to pay less than a taxi service, expecting private car service. Some drivers offer amenities to boost ratings or tips, or allow passengers to break the rules to not lose out on a fare. Over time, this has led people to expect more from the service. If 1/10 drivers allow it, then all of the drivers should allow it, which simply isn’t the case.

Compilation: Our Reality is an Illusion

Little beatnik MM goes a bongoing

When I was a young boy, living in Bridgeport, Connecticut, my father would sometimes take we with him and my mom as they were still a young married couple, and still “going out”.

One day, they took myself and my sister, and went for a long drive to the center of town. Perhaps Hartford, or some other similar city. And we got out of the car and entered this small restaurant, or coffee house kind of establishment.

We piled into a corner and mom and dad seemed so out of place.

Everyone there was dressed so oddly. Many were wearing sunglasses, and it was dark outside. There was a couple of women playing bongos, and lots of people chain smoking cigarettes. There were a lot of guys with black pointy goatees, and wearing berets. And there was a raised stage where others took turns strumming guitars and singing, or reading poetry.

Beatnik Fashion Guide Embracing the Beatnik Style. 930x620 — Beatnik Fashion Guide Embracing the Beatnik Style. 930×620

Lots of guys wore black plants with loafers.The girls all seemed to wear these ridiculous wide pants, and tight striped tops. Lots of black turtleneck tops.

Yup. You guessed it.

My folks took me to a beatnik hangout.

We all are well aware that the late 1940s and early 1950s epitomized conformity, with dullness in everything, from food to clothes. Significantly, men’s fashion suffered typical neutral-colored suits, cardigan sweaters, or button-down shirts.

Where there is conformity, rebellion is inevitable, bringing the 60s beatnik fashion. A radical transformation by artists, musicians, and novelists took America by storm, and their effortless yet non-conformist fashion style was coined “Beatnik” by a news columnist in 1958.

It wasn’t ground breaking or anything like that. In fact, I just wanted to go home as I was bored out of my mind. But my parents apparently thought that it was good to endure three or four hours of this pompous environment. And so we did.

This was a long time ago, and I don’t remember much, but it was a bunch of fake people pretending to impress other fake people about imaginary chips on their shoulders.

And that is all that I have to say about that.

Today…

What offends Germans the most?

I am not German but my partner is and based on observing him, his friends, family, etc I can say that an underlying theme of fairness pervades German values.

Therefore, rules are followed in Germany because the premise is they were designed to be fair. Break rules and you are being unfair to someone else who follows them.

Sell something to a German which is priced higher than its perceived worth, they will be furious and demand a refund. It’s about the principle not the money (many people stereotype Germans as being cheap, I see it as wanting a fair price. They don’t typically haggle if what is being sold seems to hold up to a qualitative test).

Show up late and you’ve wasted their time that they can’t get back. That’s unfair.

Go on a date and expect a German man to pay (looking at my fellow American ladies), that’s not egalitarian….or put another way: it’s unfair. Everyone should be able to take care of him or herself.

I could go on but you get the idea. Germans like fairness and that manifests in frugality, lawfulness, equanimity, punctuality, cleanliness, spirited debate, and order. If you want to offend a German, propose something that is unfair and you will get an earful and a (likely organized) laundry list of why they don’t agree!

EDIT: Because some people were writing xenophobic comments and/or broad generalizations about contemporary German people and trying to associate them with Nazism I closed the comments on my answer. It is unfortunate that a few rotten, hateful people ruined the discourse but I don’t have the time, energy, or interest to moderate bigots and I will not provide a platform for them to share their ignorant and vile opinions. If you want to say something stupid or go on a “whataboutism” tirade, do it on your own time on your own response to this question.

Have you ever completely snapped? If so what did you do?

I don’t know if you mean it in this sense, but many years ago I was about 13 I was short, overweight, no good at sports and not very skilled at self defense. One of the other boys in my class had been busy tormenting me for most of the day. We were walking past the male teachers lounge on our way to the gym and he flicked my ear, it wasn’t really painful but it was the last straw. I grabbed the collar of his blazer and threw him against the wall. He was about 6 in taller than me fitter and one of the up-and-coming young rugby stars of the school. As the slid down the wall I jumped on him and grabbed his throat and started to strangle him, I might even have been bouncing his head off the floor, I don’t really remember, according to the games master who was in the staff room it took him and the other games teacher plus the German master to pull me off him, I don’t remember that either, not really, they actually had to pick me up and I was gripping him so strongly that I dragged him with us for a couple of yards. After we were separated, again from the games masters testimony I went absolutely limp. Two things I do know about the ear flicker, he was taken to the hospital and he never ever bothered me again.

What happened to me? I was taken to the sick room to calm down in the company of two of the teachers and from there to the headmasters office. That is where I was told what I had done. I was kept out lessons for the rest of the day and after school there was, I guess you could call it a trial, the game’s masters told what had happened, other teachers were there as character witnesses I suppose you would call them and testified as to how completely out of character that behavior was. I said what had been happening for most of that day and that I had no real recollection of what I had done. I was let off with a warning due to my previous good conduct. When I got home my parents knew what had happened so I suppose there must have been a phone call. But apart from that I think I got off pretty much got off Scott free.

Piers Morgan Gets SCHOOLED Like A Child On Ukraine By Jeffrey Sachs!

In China, can you look at the Sun? The air is so polluted.

First time I went to China I brought some dust masks. However, I was a bit surprised when I arrived and saw none of the signs of the terrible smog I had been warned against.

There was a clear blue sky over Shanghai and I thought I had been lucky to arrive on one exceptionally clear day.

Since then I have travelled a lot in China and visited tens of both large and smaller cities. Some places like Beijing and some industrial cities have polluted air especially in the winter, but my impression is that this problem has been much exaggerated in the western media. I do not bring dust masks anymore.

The air pollution I have seen is comparable to what we experienced in the west in the 1970-ties, and I think it is not as bad as it was in East-Europe in the 1980-ies.

Can a sailor go AWOL on a ship, and has anyone done that (some ships are pretty big)?

When I was a Division Officer in USS John F. Kennedy (CV67) one of my enterprising sailors did just that.

He had been assigned to S2M Division for a tour of Mess Cooking. The protocol was to check IN to the Supply Department, then check OUT of the parent division. With this particular transfer happening on a long weekend, my genius convinced the Duty Engineer to let him check OUT of the Engineering Department first. He then went on his merry way, not bothering to check into the Supply Department.

For the next three months, he came to the Division Office to pick up his paycheck every two weeks, and the Supply Officer frequently complained that Engineering was not supplying the requisite number of Mess Cooks. Eventually the Supply Officer and the Chief Engineer compared rosters and noted that they didn’t match.

The jig was up; my guy was busted. The Captain wanted to send him to a Special Court-Martial. The hero of the story got a smart lawyer, and pointed out that in court he would emphasize that the sailor slept in his own bunk every night, picked up his paycheck every payday, and would have performed whatever duties assigned to him.

CO cancelled the court-martial, and took the sailor to mast.

Failing to show up for duty, but not actually leaving, is unauthorized absence, or UA. Leaving the premises without leave is AWOL. Both situations are covered by UCMJ Article 86.

Sailor Moon – 1950’s Super Panavision 70

A evil woman

A woman who k’illed her husband for his wealth was met with the shock of her life after she discovered her husband had wittingly transferred his wealth to a trust.

Kouri Richins, a 33-year-old widowed mother of three, wrote a children’s book to help her bereaved sons deal with grief in the aftermath of their father’s sudden d’eath.

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image: Pictures of Kouri Richins, and her husband

Now, only months after the book was published, she’s been charged with her husband’s m’urder. She is accused of poisoning his Moscow Mule with five times the lethal dosage of fentanyl.

Kouri was due to get access to his estate valued at $3.6million after his d’eath, according to the terms of a prenup. Under its terms, on Eric’s d’eath, pretty much everything would pass seamlessly to Kouri.

But fearing his wife might ‘k’ill him for the money’, he transferred his assets into a trust that he placed in control of his sister.

Footnotes:

Kouri Richins Charged With K’illing Husband After Writing a Book On how To Grief

From a 1-10 scale, how stupid are people who believe The Lost Cause of the Confederacy?

About an…. 8?

The Lost Cause of the Confederacy was pretty much standard U.S. history until very recently, and there’s still a strong undercurrent to preserve that in education in the American south even as university programs pretty much abandon it as a course of study.

The first serious academic works on the Lost Cause were published in 1866 – one year after the war ended. The author was Edward A. Pollard, who published a series of books on the theme from 1866 to 1868.

Everything Pollard put in his books was meticulously researched. The problem was that Pollard didn’t research anything that happened before 1866. Instead of relying on contemporaneous works from the start of the Civil War, he interviewed Confederate leaders and focused on their far more moderate post-war views, which were tempered by a large amount of ex post facto justification for their actions.

Pollard and his contemporaries established several themes that lasted over a century, such as:

The war wasn’t about slavery.
The South was fighting to preserve a way of life against overwhelming odds.
The antebellum South was a place of civility.
That slaves were content with their place in southern society
This situation actively facilitated the reunification of the country
Reconstruction, particularly giving blacks political rights, was an unmitigated disaster.

These writings largely led to the formation of the Southern Historical Society in 1869. Ostensibly an organization committed to preserving records and publishing memoirs, it soon started publishing only uncritical promotions of the Lost Cause, seeking vindication for the actions of the Confederacy.

Another influential author and lecturer was Thomas Dixon Jr., a racists and white supremacist whose allegations were accepted uncritically although nowadays it appears they were pretty much all fabricated. He wrote the book that was adapted into the film “Birth of a Nation”.

Southerners continued to publish works about the war well into the mid 20th century, and in pretty much every case they paved over the negative and accentuated the positive.

And a lot of this not only made it into standard history textbooks, but into serious academic work.

It’s really only been in the last 20 years that the Lost Cause has pretty much been challenged at every turn. One of the turning points was the 2003 film “Gods & Generals” which one critic called the most racist film since “Birth of a Nation”.

COST of LIVING in CHINA? 🇨🇳 INSANE APARTMENT TOUR in Chengdu (You won’t believe the price)

Have you ever eavesdropped and heard a conversation that terrified you?

When I was a teenager I lived with my mom and dad (before they divorced). Times got hard and for a while we stayed in a trailer that had no electricity or hot water. We lived in a swampy forest in Mississippi, no neighbors, lots of mud and trees. My dad worked about an hour away at an airport, so he was gone most of the time, leaving me home alone with my mother. She was extremely mentally ill- in and out of institutions, she had vivid hallucinations and delusions, and the darkness didn’t help. We never got along, and I was often the subject of her abuse and frustration. One night I was sitting in the living room with her waiting for my dad to come home from work. He called to see how we were doing and to tell us that he would be bringing home food, and then asked if I was home because sometimes I would go for walks (the room was so silent I could actually hear him on the other end). Instead of telling him that, yes, I was home and I was sitting right in front of her, she told him “No, she’s not home. The back gate is open. She must have run off somewhere.” It was like some scene from a horror film- she was sitting in a dark corner and all I could see of her was the reflection of her eyes staring at me darkly. I had the immediate sense that I was in danger, and thoughts of being actually murdered by my own mother raced through my mind. I got up and walked slowly to my room, shut the door, and called my dad to tell him what had just happened. He said “She’s really dangerous. You need to lock the door and hide under your blankets until I get home. I’ll be there soon.” He got home less than an hour later. Everything turned out fine and we never mentioned it again.

How would China react if the United States strategically missiles in Taiwan?

That is a “Red Line”.

Direct placement is a “Red Line”, as is funding the placement, actively preparing for the placement, or making treaties involving the placement. This was all clearly specified in the Biden Xi talks in November 2022 in Bali, Indonesia.

It would be a terrible move initiated by the United States and would result in horrific consequence.

This would result in the well and clearly specified consequences that China has repeatedly stated over and over again.

To the credit of the United States, the talk between President Biden and Xi Peng reiterated this stance, and additionally, the USA said that it will not do this. This was repeated by President Biden and Anthony Blinken in the “five Nos” statement repeatedly reiterated by President Biden.

However…

The United States has a reputation of lying, telling untruths, doing one thing and saying another, all the time while fomenting wars and breaking treaties. Truthfully, China welcomes the dialog, but has no illusions as to what a monster the United States has become, and what a real threat it actually is.

Now THIS TIME, if the USA (yet again) breaks it’s promises, it’s treaties, and it’s contract with China then the result will be clear… It’s already been explained to the American “leadership”. Quite clearly. Very clearly. So clear than a mentally retarded three year old can understand it.

There would be a very large and massive war between the United States and China.

Ah.

But maybe you heard that before. But you really don’t have any idea what it means. For if you are an American you think of war as being police actions in far-away distant places. Like Yemen, Syria, Cambodia, Somalia, Ukraine, Iraq, Angola, Iran, etc.

Well, this time it won’t.

Of course, everything being said so far sounds like screeching chalk on a blackboard to Americans. It makes no sense at all. America is gifted by God with Democracy (TM) and is formidable nuclear power; a shining city on a huge white hill.

That’s great Hollywood.

Makes great sound bytes.

But has zero effect on actual reality.

For starters, consider Taiwan; a province of China. Much like Texas is a state of America. China would of course, take care of this “matter”. Those of you who have zero experience in actual real China, but instead watch movies, and play first-person shooters, and read neocon journals would think that this is some kind of a fantasy.

It’s not. China is DEAD SERIOUS.

For starters, all of the placed missiles would be destroyed, with no concern for collateral damage or civilian causalities. China doesn’t give a fuck.

China would then take over Taiwan with hours. China is ready, well trained, and doesn’t give a fuck.

Though “mop up” operation might last as long as a week. Taiwan’s “soy soldiers” will not die for American democracy (TM). Of course. The idea and hope in the Pentagon is for a long drawn-out Vietnam, Afghanistan or Ukraine. Not. Going. To. Happen. China will be ruthless. Lethal. Dirty and the result will be nasty.

Spill-over? You bet-ya.

Simultaneous to this would be the destruction of ALL of the USN military presence in the Pacific. No carriers would remain. Guam would be gone. Hawaii would be in rubble as would be San Francisco. Australia want’s to join in the cluster-fuck. Good bye Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, and Adelaide. Anyone else wants to join in the fray? Any takers?

Which would ALONE probably trigger an American nuclear counter-response.

Then of course, you would see (again) what China has done to the pitiful attempts that the United States in trying to suppress it. Freak Geomagnetic storms will mysterious suddenly cause constellations of satellites to tumble out of orbit. There will be massive submarine accidents accidentally ramming undersea mountains. American VTOL carriers will catch fire by Navy personnel burning trash in the munitions lockers, and so on and so forth.

Even if things did not get HOT, things will be very uncomfortable for the United States and it’s proxy nations. What ever happens; hot war, or cold war, lit it be well understood that all trade would stop…

The few remaining American factories would stop, and close.
American medicines will be all gone. Fully 98% are made inside of China.
Shelves would be empty. All consumer goods would become a rare commodity. Including socks, shoes, pantyhose, toothbrushes, and cellphones.
The US dollar, already worthless, would suffer from astounding inflation.
No diesel. No batteries. No electricity. A war would EMP the living shit out of the USA. This is a reality, and whatever potential that the Untied States has for oil, gas, resources will need to start from scratch with a massive handicap.

Then things will get really bad. Because you all have no idea how powerful and formidable China is today.

Anyone who thinks that violating Chinese “Red Lines” is a good idea is a suicidal idiot.

The EU Is Already Begging China For Mercy

What’s the biggest double life you’ve ever personally seen revealed?

Here’s a photo from the 1990s of a man called Josef Fritzl, vacationing in Thailand without a care in the world. Fritzl was a businessman, married, father of seven, from Austria. He’d frequently travel the world. One year he’d be in Thailand. Another year he’d go to Africa. At times his friends would join him, they would drink, swim, lounge around resorts and float in the swimming pools of resorts…

Fritzl was a doting grandfather of twenty. Three of his grandchildren lived with him and his wife — his youngest daughter Elizabeth, their mother, had ran away from home and joined a cult. So Fritzl and his wife raised their grandchildren. By all means, Josef had a charmed life. What no one knew? The three grandchildren he was raising were also his own biological children… their mother Elizabeth hadn’t joined a “cult”, she lived in a dungeon Fritzl had built inside his own basement. With three other children Fritzl also fathered there by his own daughter.

Fritzl was arrested in 2008, at the age of 73. Because he had brought one of the “dungeon kids” to the hospital along with Elizabeth, his captive daughter, who then alerted authorities. Josef Fritzl remains in prison in Austria of this writing. He believes he should be freed, famously telling a judge: “I am just one man. But look inside the basements of other people… you would be surprised what you find!”

Glazed Ham with Dried Cherry Caramelized Onions

Perfect for a late lunch or dinner. This cooked, boneless ham is glazed with a mixture of honey, mustard and cider vinegar. Serve with sugar snap peas and roasted new potatoes.

spiced cherry bourbon glazed ham 98719 1

Yield: 10 servings

Ingredients

3 pounds cooked boneless ham
4 tablespoons honey, divided use
1 tablespoon stone-ground mustard
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
5 medium onions, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup dried tart cherries
1/3 cup cider vinegar
5 medium onions, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 cup almonds, sliced or slivered and toasted

Instructions

Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Place ham on rack in shallow baking pan and roast 45 minutes to 1 hour or until a meat thermometer registers 140 degrees F, about 15 to 18 minutes per pound.
In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons honey, 1 teaspoon cider vinegar and mustard. Brush ham with glaze during the last 5 minutes of baking.
Sauté onions over medium heat in a Dutch oven in butter for 12 to 15 minutes or until onions are just tender, stirring occasionally.
Stir in dried cherries, 1/3 cup cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons honey and 1/2 teaspoon cardamom. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Stir in toasted almonds.
Serve ham slices with onion mixture.

What are the top ten craziest facts you know in psychology?

Psychopaths say “um” more frequently in order to appear like a normal person.
It is incredibly easy to pass a Polygraph Test if you trick yourself into thinking that everything is fine and that everything you say is the truth, no matter what.
When you lie, you may shake your head. This is your body saying that it doesn’t believe you.
If someone accuses you and threatens you about a wrongdoing relentlessly, you will eventually find that it is in your best interest to fess up to the crime, making you guilty of something you never did. This is a minor form of brainwashing.
The closer you are in a relationship, the more you can read the other’s mind.
We disregard our morals if a person of higher power takes responsibility for your actions. Essentially just obeying authority.
1/5 people in France have depression, making it the saddest country in the world.
It is impossible to stay angry at a loved one. If you are able to do so for more than 3 days, then you may not love them.
You never truly value a moment before it becomes a distant memory.
Crying reduces stress and causes you to feel better.
The people you most often think about are the ones you love or the ones who cause you pain.
Music can bend and shape the way you see the world, or life in general.
Your favorite songs are decided by the emotional events you attach to it.
Narcissists think they’re brilliant while most have a below-average IQ.
Long periods of isolation may cause you to hallucinate, but they consist of mostly auditory hallucinations.
Ignorance of your feelings causes them to swell and essentially just take over your thoughts.
Fast-thinkers tend to have sloppy handwriting. Thoughts are fleeting, so they must be written down almost immediately.
When choosing a romantic partner, look for how they treat their inferiors or pets. That says a lot about their nature.
Speaking other languages may cause someone to shift their personality as well. (I am more secluded when speaking Spanish and more confident when I speak Italian.)
We care more about the death of one than the death of many. It feels more personal when one human dies, yet when multiple perish, we feel as we don’t know any of them.
Some people just love to see you angry. The solution? Relax the muscles in your face and watch as theirs visibly deflates.
We believe what we WANT to believe.
Extensive loneliness is just as bad as smoking 15 cigars.
The human brain is always searching for a problem or a flaw. Perfection is always key for many, and some just can’t let it go.
The more power you gain, the more empathy you lose.

My First Week in China

What is the craziest thing a car salesman said to you?

My husband took me to Silver Spring to buy a 2 door Ford Explorer back in the 90s.

It was really late at night (11 pm) and we barely got the title to the car given to us before they had to close.

We were told to come by the next day after work to finish up some of the other paperwork.

When we arrived the next day, the salesman told us he had made a mistake.

He had forgotten to add taxes to the price of the car he sold us. So we owed them an additional $1000.

We were tapped out and couldn’t afford another $1000. I told him to take the car back.

The salesman lost his cool and started screaming at my husband.

He insisted we pay this extra $1000 or he would call the police on us.

My husband stood up and they went nose to nose. Hubby called his bluff and invited him to call the police. We already had the pink slip (title). There was nothing he could do about it.

The salesman turned beet red and started hurling personal insults.

We were in a private room but I’m positive the entire showroom floor heard the commotion. It was that loud.

I plastered myself against the wall, as I feared their proximity would escalate to either physical violence or a stroke.

The salesman finally stepped back, adjusted his tie and became silent.

He realized he wasn’t getting any more money from us.

He announced, “Never mind. I’ll just get it from some other customer later on.”

His callousness in thrusting his mistake onto the next unsuspecting customer took me aback.

No wonder car salesmen have such a bad reputation.

Prof. Mearsheimer REVEALS: the FATE of Humanity May Hang on the 2024 US and European Elections

In this video, Prof. John Mearsheimer discusses the results of recent European elections, public vs. elite opinion on Ukraine, the divided European Parliament, country-specific analysis of France and Germany, the importance of the US election perspectives, Biden vs. Trump foreign policy approach, Russian strategy, and internal NATO divisions.

Uncle Arthur’s Many Secrets

Submitted into Contest #251 in response to: Dream up a secret library. Write a story about an adventurer who discovers it. What’s in the library? Why was it kept secret?… view prompt

TE Wetzel

From: James Benson (jben****@gmail.com)To: Anders Westbrook (ande****@cornell.edu)Time/Date: 5:36pm, July 18, 2024Subject: This weekendHey Andy,Just letting you know that I can’t make your BBQ this weekend. I was looking forward to having a few beers with you and the guys and maybe playing a few hands of poker once the eating is done, but I have to head to Albany in the morning.Remember my Uncle Arthur? Don’t worry, I don’t either. (Well, a little.) Anyway, he passed away a few days ago and his sister – my Aunt Bonnie out in Wisconsin – contacted me this morning to inform me that he left “certain assets” to me in his will. Most intriguing! I won’t know the details for a while but Bonnie begged me to go to his house in Albany right away to take care of his cats and locate some important documents in his library. (My recently-deceased uncle who named me in his will was wealthy enough to have a personal library? The plot thickens…)Anyway, I’m packing a bag and planning to stay up there for a little while to help manage affairs at the house and work with Bonnie on the local funeral arrangements while she lines up a flight over the next few days. Not much else to do at the moment as I await my next work assignment but I should be back by this time next week. In the meantime, you know how to reach me. Tell the boys I said hola.- Jamie—————————————————-

From: Anders Westbrook (ande****@cornell.edu)

To: James Benson (jben****@gmail.com)

Time/Date: 7:48pm, July 18, 2024

Subject: Re: This weekend

Hey Jamie,

Sorry you can’t make it this weekend. Me and the guys will look forward to the next poker game after you score your big inheritance. Crazy news, man. Barely known rich uncle dies and leaves you a possible fortune? The stuff of legends…or daydreams? LOL. Anyway, good luck there. (Don’t forget your old college roommate when you strike it rich!)

See you when you get back. Talk soon man.

Andy

—————————————————-

From: James Benson (jben****@gmail.com)

To: Anders Westbrook (ande****@cornell.edu)

Time/Date: 6:12pm, July 20, 2024

Subject: Re: This weekend

Hey Andy,

Greetings from gloomy Albany! Hasn’t stopped raining since I got here. Also, I’m fairly certain these cats are plotting my demise. Other than that, things are fine and the house is basically a smallish mansion.

Listen to this, while searching for the documents that my Aunt Bonnie asked me to find for her in the library I found some really interesting old books. I think we might have some pretty rare first editions here, plus some other really strange stuff. I need to do a little web research tonight to try to figure out what I’m looking at but I’ll let you know.

As a newly-minted Ivy League literature professor I thought you would be interested. Maybe I will come home with a copy of In Cold Blood signed by Capote for you?

– Jamie

—————————————————-

From: Anders Westbrook (ande****@cornell.edu)

To: James Benson (jben****@gmail.com)

Time/Date: 11:22am, July 21, 2024

Subject: Re: This weekend

Hey Jamie,

Very interesting! Bring home a signed Capote first edition for me and we can totally forget about that $80 Venmo request I sent you for golf last week. Seriously though, that sounds really amazing. Looking forward to hearing more.

Andy

p.s. The guys all say hello and they missed your “easy money” at the poker game last night. (Their words, not mine.)

—————————————————-

From: James Benson (jben****@gmail.com)

To: Anders Westbrook (ande****@cornell.edu)

Time/Date: 9:52pm, July 22, 2024

Subject: Re: This weekend

Andy,

In addition to Capote’s In Cold Blood, so far I have already found four more signed first edition iconic novels; Heart of Darkness, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Illustrated Man and – hold on to your hat here – A Tale of Two Cities! No telling if the autographs are legit but I don’t know why my uncle would be hoarding counterfeit-signed copies in his home library. More research necessary here but I have attached photos of the covers, bindings and the author-signed pages in each.

The library has floor-to-ceiling shelves full of books on three walls and I have only checked out about a third of them so far. Stay tuned!

– Jamie

—————————————————-

From: Anders Westbrook (ande****@cornell.edu)

To: James Benson (jben****@gmail.com)

Time/Date: 9:36am, July 23, 2024

Subject: Re: This weekend

Hey Jamie,

Okay listen. Just give me the Dickens novel and not only will I cancel the $80 Venmo request, but golf is on me for the rest of the year. I think that’s a fair deal.

Seriously man, I just did a quick bit of Googling here and those books do look like legit first edition copies and the signatures look right too. Usually people take these sort of things to Sotheby’s or Christie’s, where they employ rare book experts who can authenticate them properly. Even if they’re not going to be put up for sale this is probably a good idea, just to officially document these historical items.

Can’t wait to hear what you find next. I’m seriously on the edge of my seat here!

Andy

—————————————————-

From: James Benson (jben****@gmail.com)

To: Anders Westbrook (ande****@cornell.edu)

Time/Date: 11:45pm, July 24, 2024

Subject: Okay, this is getting weird now…

Andy,

Forget about the signed first editions. I am into some strange new terrain here.

Yesterday I found a number of extremely interesting books way up on one of the top shelves I hadn’t explored yet. Listen to this. I found a copy of For Whom The Bell Tolls by William Faulkner. Yes, William Faulkner! And it wasn’t just a different author’s name transposed onto the cover. It was the same third-person omniscient narrative of the Spanish Civil War, only it wasn’t written in the short staccato sentence styles and brief paragraphing of Hemingway but the long, leisurely prose of Faulkner. I’m not even a fan of Faulkner and I couldn’t put it down!

Similarly, I also found a copy of The Catcher in the Rye by Dalton Trumbo and The Iliad by EE Cummings! (Seriously, I can’t make this up.) Still so many more books to look through. I am simply overwhelmed here. Stay tuned.

– Jamie

—————————————————-

From: Anders Westbrook (ande****@cornell.edu)

To: James Benson (jben****@gmail.com)

Time/Date: 7:51am, July 25, 2024

Subject: Re: Okay, this is getting weird now…

Jamie,

Okay. You’re just fucking with me now, right? You had me going with the thought of all those rare, signed first editions, but that’s at least within my fathomable universe. What you just described has to be a joke. Come on, man.

What about the funeral plans? Isn’t that a big reason why you are there?

Andy

—————————————————-

From: James Benson (jben****@gmail.com)

To: Anders Westbrook (ande****@cornell.edu)

Time/Date: 11:56pm, July 28, 2024

Subject: Okay, this is getting weird now…

Hey Andy,

You’re right. I have been negligent in my funeral arrangement duties of late. I accidentally let my phone battery die out, not sure when. The truth is that I haven’t slept much in the last few days. This continues to get more and more fascinating.

And no, I wasn’t kidding about those strange books I mentioned in my last message. But never mind that. I am into some truly bizarre territory now. I found some old 3-ring binders filled with dot matrix printed files listing the daily opening and closing numbers of each of the stocks contained in the Dow Jones Industrial Index running from January 1, 1977 through December 31, 2026. Andy, it has accurate stock performance data through the end of 2026! I’m sure you think I am kidding again (or maybe just crazy) but I have been watching those stock prices over the last few days and my God man they are accurate right down to the last decimal point!

You think I’m joking? Here’s a random selection for tomorrow for you to check out. Merck & Co. (ticker symbol NYSE: MRK) will open the trading day at $154.34 and it will close at $156.12 per share with a total of 7.126 million shares in overall trading volume. I’m sure you won’t but you can literally bet the house on it. I guarantee it.

– Jamie

—————————————————-

From: Anders Westbrook (ande****@cornell.edu)

To: James Benson (jben****@gmail.com)

Time/Date: 9:41pm, July 29, 2024

Subject: Re: Okay, this is getting weird now…

Jamie,

I don’t know what to say at this point. I have been thinking about this since the market closed about 5 hours ago and I have no idea how you were able to make that prediction with such accuracy. I would call it dumb luck but I actually opened up Excel and took the time to do a little statistical modeling and what I found was that a stock prediction with that level of precision is basically like calling out the next day’s lottery numbers. Not quite that improbable but close enough that I am simply baffled.

I need answers, because I just can’t believe you found an old set of stock market printouts from almost 50 years ago that can perfectly predict what will happen tomorrow. I’ve tried to call you several times but it goes straight to vmail every time and your mailbox is full. You gotta get back to me asap. I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep until you do.

Funeral plans? Still a concern?

Andy

—————————————————-

From: James Benson (jben****@gmail.com)

To: Anders Westbrook (ande****@cornell.edu)

Time/Date: 2:13am, August 1, 2024

Subject: Whole new level

Hey Andy,

Forget about the stock market. Forget about the rare first edition signed books. Those things are trivial. At least for now.

I just found a medical manual that seems to contain advanced diagnostic techniques and curative/surgical treatments for most common, and some uncommon, forms of cancer and various other deadly diseases. I am only about halfway through it and without the benefit of a medical background it is taking me forever to research the basic terminology needed just to understand this even on a rudimentary level, but if it’s true it’s an incredible discovery and I owe it to the world to get this into the right hands once I can at least confirm its basic legitimacy.

I can’t say when I will be able to call you or even write back since my time is so limited now. I don’t see this changing anytime soon. Who knows what I will find next? So much more to still be explored. I can’t worry about the funeral arrangements right now either. Before my phone died I got a message from my Aunt Bonnie saying that she had some health problems that were preventing her from flying in. I can’t remember the details but that’s just going to have to wait for now. I have far more important concerns at this point.

– Jamie

p.s. I have discovered a number of old hand-written notes, presumably penned by my late Uncle Arthur, warning anyone who comes across these documents against sharing them in any way. The writing is rambling and paranoid in nature and some of the warnings give me pause but how could anyone possibly just sit on all this? It would be immoral, no?

—————————————————-

From: Anders Westbrook (ande****@cornell.edu)

To: James Benson (jben****@gmail.com)

Time/Date: 8:51am, August 2, 2024

Subject: Re: Whole new level

Hey Jamie,

I just hope you are all right. Maybe it’s time to take a break? You were supposed to be back here a week ago. Are the cats okay at least?

Andy

—————————————————-

From: James Benson (jben****@gmail.com)

To: Anders Westbrook (ande****@cornell.edu)

Time/Date: 3:45am, August 5, 2024

Subject: Re: Whole new level

Hi Andy,

I let the cats out a few days ago when all of the remaining cat food ran out. Don’t think I’ve seen them since. Not sure. They should be okay. It’s summer.

Dude, you wouldn’t even believe what I’m looking at now. No time to explain but I will get back to you when I can. Not planning to head home anytime soon.

– Jamie

p.s. Please see the attached file containing stock market data for the next two years. I just ask that you don’t share this with anyone else. “Law of Unintended Consequences” and all that.

—————————————————-

From: Anders Westbrook (ande****@cornell.edu)

To: James Benson (jben****@gmail.com)

Time/Date: 7:51am, August 6, 2024

Subject: Re: Whole new level

Jamie,

I‘m really getting worried about you man. Please call me.

Your Friend,

Andy

—————————————————-

From: James Benson (jben****@gmail.com)

To: Anders Westbrook (ande****@cornell.edu)

Time/Date: 4:37pm, January 1, 2029

Subject: Re: Whole new level

Andy,

Happy New Year! Don’t worry about me. I am well. Not sure if I will ever see “you” again (that is, the “present day” you) but that is primarily a temporal and theoretical question. I have a set of guidelines to follow and I will soon find out where all the boundaries lay. I will fill you in (whatever version of “you” that might be) whenever I see you next!

Stay healthy. It might be a while…for you anyway.

– Jamie

—————————————————-

From: Anders Westbrook (ande****@cornell.edu)

To: James Benson (jben****@gmail.com)

Time/Date: 7:01am, August 9, 2024

Subject: Re: Whole new level

Jamie,

How did you change the timestamp on your email like that? Seriously, stop messing with me. What’s going on? I am really having a hard time with all of this. Can we please just talk?

Andy

p.s. They announced that a potential breakthrough cure had been found for various types of cancer and other diseases on the news today. I really don’t know what to think at this point.

p.p.s. Thanks so much for the stock market data you forwarded. I plan to pay off my mortgage before the end of this month!

—————————————————-

From: mailer-daemon@gmail.com

To: Anders Westbrook (ande****@cornell.edu)

Time/Date: 7:02am, August 9, 2024

Subject: Delivery Failure Notice: Re: Whole new level

Sorry, we were unable to deliver your message to: <jben****@gmail.com>

The email account that you tried to reach does not exist. Please try double-checking the recipient’s email address for typos and try again.

THE END

Washington DC is messed up

Shorpy

Thomas

Does your family have a legend that sounds near impossible?

During the Depression, my grandfather took one of the very few jobs that paid well – because it was so hard to find someone to do it. He drove a gravel truck up the side of the mountain, every morning, to take the day’s allotment of dynamite and nitro to the quarry. It was a one lane track with a lot of curves but not enough switchbacks, so it was very steep. It was barely a road and almost not quite wide enough for the truck.

There were two trucks, and the way the system worked, every morning a truck went up the mountain, and was sent back down in the evening full of gravel. Once the day truck was at the bottom of the mountain, the night truck went up with their load of dynamite for the night shift. In the morning, it came down before the day truck went up.

One day, signals got crossed. A truck that looked like the night truck pulled into the lot, and my grandfather saw it, so he started up the mountain track. About halfway up, he heard a horn blasting and realized it was the night truck, signaling that his brakes had failed. That happened at times, and was dangerous, but usually the truck would make it to the bottom and roll to a stop. Only THIS time, my grandfather’s truck was on the road. There was nowhere to pull off or turn around … so he laid on the horn of HIS truck, to tell the other driver he was there.

He tried backing down the mountain, but that wasn’t really going to be fast enough. Realizing there was no hope for it – and not wanting to be near the truck when the impact came (and the dynamite blew) he jumped out of the truck and started running down the mountain.

He had been a track star when in college, and before the Depression hit, had been a track coach for the local college and high school, so he was in shape and known to be a fast runner.

According to the story, my (atheist) grandfather learned to pray on his way down the mountain. He loudly promised the Lord that if he was not killed that day, that he would attend church faithfully for the rest of his life. As he came off the mountain and was on flat land, he realized he had not heard the expected explosion, but was still running hard. So he changed his prayer to say he would attend church once a week for the rest of his life. Then as he got closer to town, it was to attend church for ten years. By the time he reached the church in the center of town, he “bargined down” to attending church for the rest of the year.

He was praying so loud to the Lord that everyone he passed heard his promises. Finally, he reached the church and collapsed. (Still no explosion). By some stroke of luck (or as the townspeople would say – by the Grace of God) the driver of the other truck had been able to use the gearshifts and emergency brakes and managed to stop his truck before it could ram the day truck.

Granddad reverted to being an atheist almost immediately, however my grandmother was a formidable woman. He had made his promise to the Lord in public and it was witnessed by the community. She would not allow him to back out of the promise.

So, every Sunday, for the rest of the year, as soon as services were done, my grandfather would round up the oldest sons, and they worked on the church. They replaced the roof, repaired the stairs in the back, painted the church and school, and basically did all kinds of maintenance work. Every Sunday. The last thing they did was carve new end pieces for all the pews, and installed a prayer rail so that elderly or infirm members could hold it when then knelt for communion.

After it was done, he still did not attend church, but any time something needed to be repaired, the pastor would call and remind him of his promise to the Lord.

I Left America And You Should Too. Here’s Why !

The cost of living is unbearable in the USA. There is no reason at all why you should stay there.

This is a MUST watch video. This is really good. He talks about FAMILY and lifestyle. Loving and caring families.

What is the coolest line a pilot has said to the passengers?

Originally Answered: What is the coolest line a pilot has said to his passengers?

This was a flight from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. For those of you unfamiliar with the geography of that area, that place is entirely void of any bodies of water (or at least our flight path was). The pilot was a pretty hilarious guy.

During the safety presentation:

“In the highly likely event of a water landing during our trip over the Mojave Desert, you can use the seat cushion as a flotation device.”

“Okay, I know most of you have got your seatbelts on already, take them off again so I can feel like my safety presentation actually did something.”

“If you are traveling with a child or someone who acts like one, please secure your mask first before assisting others.”

And after that:

“Hey people in the front, would you please sit down for a moment? I’m trying to back up here.”

“The policy on this flight is no smoking indoors. We have plenty space on the two wings if you would like to smoke.”

Mediterranean Chopped Salad

Try packing this salad into a Mason jar, and take your salad to go. Add dressing immediately before eating.

TIPS

Use a mixture of red and yellow cherry tomatoes for added interest. Prepare with canned red or white kidney beans instead of the chickpeas if desired.

Substitute fresh basil for the parsley, or skip the fresh herbs and make dressing using 1 to 2 tablespoons prepared basil pesto. Dressing can be made with fresh lemon juice instead of the red wine vinegar, or with a combination of both ingredients.

Ingredients

6 cups packed chopped romaine lettuce hearts
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1 cup chopped cucumber
1 cup canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup pitted quartered Kalamata olives
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon each finely chopped fresh parsley and chives
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 hard-boiled large eggs, cooled to room temperature, peeled and quartered

Instructions

Combine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, chickpeas and olives in large bowl. Top with feta cheese.
Whisk together vinegar, parsley, chives and mustard in small bowl. Add olive oil slowly, whisking until combined.
Toss salad lightly with dressing and DIVIDE evenly among 4 dinner plates. Top with eggs.

Prep: 20 min | Yield: 4 servings

Easy 12-Minute Method for Hard-Boiled Eggs: Place eggs in saucepan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Add enough cold water to cover eggs by 1 inch. Heat over high heat just to boiling. Remove from heat. Cover pan. Let eggs stand in hot water for 12 minutes for large eggs. Drain. Cool completely under cold running water or shock eggs in a bowl of ice water.

You can refrigerate unpeeled eggs for several days if not using immediately. Hard-boiled eggs are easiest to peel right after cooling.

They have managed decline to unacceptable levels to average citizens

What can I learn in one minute that will be useful for the rest of my life?

The smarter you become, the crazier you’ll seem to “dumb” people.
Nobody literally wants you to tell them the truth. Rather, we all want you to reaffirm our beliefs.
Today’s saint was yesterday’s sinner.
Most people spend a lifetime trying to be like someone who is trying to be like someone else.
“Reality is for people who can’t face drugs and drugs are for people who can’t face reality!” —Genius Turner
You know a man is really smart when you forget to notice how cheap his clothes are.
“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” —Albert Einstein
Your own siblings will “sell you out” if the price is right.
You might as well stop caring what others think about you because they seldom do! After all, everybody is knee-deep in their own troubles.
A wise person knows: if you think you can, you can; if you think you can’t, you can’t! Either way—you’re right.
Being normal has become abnormal.
If by chance you browse the Law Book, notice the fine print that states: Here lies one law for the rich and another for the poor!
“Genius is 1% talent and 99% hard work…” —Albert Einstein
Few people are wise enough to recognize when the price of money costs too much! Be wise, then.
A heterosexual telling a homosexual that being gay is “wrong” is no different from someone born right-handed telling a left-handed person to write with the “right” hand.
How can you ever declare to “know someone” when most of us have yet to Know Thyself?
If you become too successful, your own friends will succumb to jealousy and envy.
Because a billionaire is, by definition, equivalent to 1,000 millionaires—in light of world hunger—every billionaire is by definition selfish.
The only thing separating the dreamer from the dream is a bridge called WORK!
Last but not least: you might as well be yourself, dahling, because everyone else is already taken!

Why I left America and why you should too!

If you think that the USA is the “best” then you really need to step outside and see just how ridiculous the USA actually is.

Spending just to live. It’s the American way.

What’s the most expensive thing you’ve gotten for an insanely cheap price?

I once went to a property sellout auction, when a three ton truck came up for sale, the auctioneer wanted to start the bidding off at $5000, he couldn’t get a bid, so kept reducing the starting price by $100 at a time, still no bids so I sang out $100 dollars, he ignored me at first I sang out again so he started at $100, another bloke thought it was to cheap so he also started bidding, he gave up when it got to $1000, so I bought three a ton truck for $1000, a bit later I felt a tap on my shoulder and a chap asked me if I was the one that bought the truck I said yes I was, and he asked me if I would take $3000 for it? BLOODY OATH! so I made $2000 profit without doing a thing,

one other thing, at the same auction, the auctioneer, held up a jar of pebbles’ I recognised them as sapphires, Because I used to dig for them as a hobby, also no bid, I got it for 5 dollars, I took it with me the next time I went to the gem fields, and took them to an Indian buyer, they were only small stones but he still gave 500 dollars for them, so that was also a good profit margin, from 5 to 500, not bad at all.

What is the most satisfying passive-aggressive thing you have ever done to a really mean or rude person?

This occurred while I was still married to my second husband in New Hampshire. We lived on top of a hill we called “Heck’s Hill” and for many years, ours was the only house within several miles.

A builder in town, known for his arrogance, bought a huge parcel of land behind and beside us on the right. His intention was to build a road around us, ending in a cul de sac to the right of our hill, where he would build eight homes.

Since the road would go up the left side and wind around behind our property before continuing on to the cul de sac, the builder claimed an easement for some of our property for a cut through the hill to make it level enough for his road. Otherwise, he would have to curve his road much more to go further out away from our hill for level ground and it would cost him more.

We were told by the Planning Board this would take about 150′ from the back of our property to allow for the slope. Then his road would be cut into our hill with a 25′ drop. It seemed like a lot, but we had to agree according to the Planning Board.

Our home was totally surrounded by woods, including the trees to be removed for the road. Most of the trees were old, huge, and established. Just inside the tree line on top of our hill in back, was a rock/stone wall, which went almost entirely around our home. The stone wall was only a couple of feet from our in ground pool. In the photo, you can see the concrete deck that goes around the pool and under the slide, and just outside of the deck, you see the dark rock/stone wall. You can also see the wall to the left in the photo behind the cabana and house.

“In the State of New Hampshire, it is against the law to destroy, or remove, an existing stone or rock wall as they are deemed to be historical.”

On the day the bulldozer and other machinery arrived to make the cut into our property, the bulldozer operator came to the house to let me know he would start cutting trees in an hour and if we had a pet, to make sure it was kept indoors.

When they left, curious me went out to the back of our property where they had placed orange ribbons around the trees to be bulldozed. Two of the largest trees were within a foot of the rock/stone wall and only a few feet from the pool. The dozers had already taken three trees down they weren’t approved to remove which used to be beside the white birch in the photo.

Horrified, I called the builder on his cell phone and told him that was NOT what we had agreed to when we met with the Planning Board —it was not even close. I told him, per our agreement, okayed by the Planning Board, he would have to move his road further out, because he was NOT approved to make his cut that close to the existing stone/rock wall.

(By already taking out the three wrongly marked trees, and more that were planned, it was obvious he would take part of the stone wall, too). His plans would make the 25′ cut down to his road within a foot of the rock/stone wall —we would have a 25′ drop off (a cliff) there? I had eleven grandchildren that also swam in our pool!

He said, “Plans change. The additional feet of moving the road further out would make it cost prohibitive. Get over it, lady. The road is going in where I say it’s going in.”

I told the builder we were going back in front of the Town Planning Board and let them decide. We would leave it to them to make the determination, because there was no way my husband and I would allow the builder to take even more than the 150′ easement just on his say-so.

He said the Planning Board wasn’t going to be meeting for another three weeks and he didn’t have time to take shit like this from me —he had a job to do and the equipment was already there. Then he hung up on me.

Now I was pissed. I went inside, got a rifle, loaded it, and planted myself on the rock/stone wall behind our pool and I waited with the rifle laying across my lap.

When the drivers came back, I told them to get off our property or I would shoot. They complained and I told them to go call their arrogant employer and tell him I was going to sit right where I was until the Planning Board met and I didn’t care how long it took.

I’m normally an introvert, but I said it with all the bravado I could muster. (Oh boy, I was thinking. The police will be here any minute and I’m going to be in so much trouble …)

No police ever came and when the builder called the Planning Board to complain, they put an immediate hold on the whole project. They decided to convene and review both sides of the agreement again in two days’ time.

The Planning Board heard both sides and the arrogant bully was forced to move his road further out.

Satisfying … oh yes, it was very satisfying.

I Left America & I Don’t Plan To EVER Go Back !

What was the most satisfying way you saw a defense get derailed in a courtroom?

The defendant was guilty. The mountain of evidence against him was the size of Everest. He was a white-collar criminal — an educated professional with a high six-figure income who apparently believed the criminal laws only applied to the “little people.”

He refused to hire a lawyer to conduct his defense, although he had been charged with a major felony, and insisted on representing himself. He expected to succeed. From what I saw of the guy, it looked like he was so accustomed to always having people kowtow to him and getting his own way, it never occurred to him that his experience in a federal courthouse might be different.

The guy adopted a defense strategy of trying to bully the judge into dismissing the case.

For more than a month, he was the most belligerent, obnoxious, uncooperative defendant imaginable. The only reason he didn’t get thrown into jail for contempt of court was because his case had been assigned to the nicest, most patient judge in the courthouse.

The defendant had also made several requests to have his case transferred to a different judge.

Although judges rarely reward obnoxious defendants by granting their motions to have the case transferred to a different judge, the nice judge decided to make an exception in this defendant’s case. She “rewarded” the defendant’s bad behavior by granting his motion and intentionally transferring the case to the toughest judge in the courthouse.

Shortly thereafter, the defendant received a lesson in some of the strategies no-nonsense judges use to deal with defendants who try to turn the courtroom into a three-ring circus. The guy sat like a statue through most of his first hearing with the tough judge and then decided to hire a lawyer.

Moral of the story: Be careful what you ask for. You may get it.

Graham Handcock

“everyone will be WIPED out in 21 days”

What has been your biggest surprise while being married to someone?

My parents did not have a good marriage. My father was cold, distant and absent. My mother was a stereotypical 90s Indian wife who served food to him and picked up after him. They didn’t communicate, didn’t understand each other. My father outbursts would often result in throwing plates across the room while my mother cleaned every bit of food off the floor without saying a word. Later, she confided in me that she was scared. She didn’t want him to cross boundaries and hit her. Keeping silence was her plea. Needless to say, I grew up with very distorted sense of marriage.

I jumped from one relationship to another all my life. When things got tough I moved to another until I met my husband. My husband is an American and grew up in Texas. We were in a long distance relationship for 4–5 years until we decided to get married. In the beginning of our relationship, I was skeptical. When I realized I had feelings for him, I did what I know best. I started to push him away but he stayed. Regardless of being in a long distance relationship I never had to second guess his feelings. He was always there, emotionally if not physically.

Once we got married, I kept waiting for the marriage to crash and burn, kept waiting for the pain to return which I’m so used to, but it never happened. He made sure of it. My husband did everything he could to make me feel comfortable in the new country. He even learnt to cook Indian food so I don’t feel home sick. Being in a new country where I knew no one, isolated and away from friends and family took a toll on me. I have been dealing with depression and severe anxiety for years but he stood by me through it all. He accepted me for who I am without trying to change anything about me. Every time we had an argument, I waited to see glimpse of my father in him but he proved me wrong each time.

I always thought that marriage makes one miserable. I once found a poem written by my father dedicated to my mother. I couldn’t believe it. I had to ask my mother several times to be sure because they were never happy, never in love, as long as I could remember. That was the perception of marriage I grew up with until this beautiful man walked in my life and changed it forever. I’m still haunted by the dysfunctional marriage my parents had but then I look at him and know everything will be okay.

Compilation: Ancient Mysteries vol 1

Great stuff. Enjoy this one.

The secrets of womanhood remains an elusive knowledge

Ah. CJ.

I had mentioned previous that I used to live with a “runway model”. I had manifested her as part of an affirmation campaign, and she was a handful, I’ll tell you what. But pretty, Oh Lordy!

As an aside, guys… don’t go for 8, 9s, and 10s. Pick a solid 4, 5, 6 or 7. Get an average girl. And concentrate on her personality. Ah. the lessons of life.

But, I was still learning. Heck, I was still in my 30’s.

Anyways, we were chillin’ out in the house of a friend of ours. It was in the metropolis of Xbridge. Which, heh, heh… was this tiny, tiny town in Massachusetts. And we are talking.

CJ starts to say something that I really found interesting….

“It’s like this, and you know, you really like the guy, and you are so open down there. It’s all open and wide and empty… any you really want to be filled. Just completely and….”

And, our friend Collin, interrupts and goes on a tirade about how are we men supposed to know what it is like being a girl, and on and on and on.

And on and on….

She opens up her mouth to say something, and he drowns her out with his tirade. On and on.

By the time he was finished, no one wanted to continue that initial (and very interesting) conversation.

And I found it really interesting, and I really wanted CJ to finish her sentence, as I had never heard a woman’s point of view on this kind of thing, and I really, REALLY wanted to hear about it.

So…

In all my marriages, in all my relationships… a closely guarded discussion of woman’s feelings during desire never came up, but here… for a brief moment in time… it raised it’s sleepy head. And as soon as it it it was snatched away.

I should have gotten up and punched Collin and told CJ to continue.

But I didn’t.

The secrets of womanhood remains an elusive knowledge… one that somehow I am forbidden to know about.

I wanted to know more.

The mysteries of what it felt like, as a woman.

The opportunity came…

… and was drowned out by ignorance.

Sigh.

Today….

What is the most satisfying passive-aggressive thing you have ever done to a really mean or rude person?

I was carrying extremely powerful rare earth magnets (165 lb pull force) for work in my back pack . They were wrapped in 8 inches of bubble wrap to prevent them from getting too close to anything.

As I was sitting down, a total a-hole got on the train and pushed me out of the way, took the seat I was about to sit in, and gave me a nasty look. I wound up standing next to him. Slowly, I undid the bubble wrap and put it next to the Macbook he was working on and the satchel with his wallet and phone. I kept moving it around subtly. After a few minutes, his screen went out with a very bright flash. I don’t know what happened to his credit cards or cell phone. He kept trying to reboot it but it was not responding at all.

I didn’t know if it would actually do anything. I just really hate rude people on the subway. Luckily his computer didn’t fly up and stick to my backpack.

(UPDATE:) It’s been great to read the many responses this has; I have never told anyone this story. I really go out of my way to be a decent person but when people take advantage of me, I can’t let it go. I have used annoy-a-trons several times on coworkers (Google it) and did MUCH worse as a teenager. The point is, I am fair and decent, however, I won’t suffer A-Holes taking advantage of me or screwing me over.

This guy pushed me out of the way hard as I was sitting down and then proceeded to give me a shitty look like “do you want to fight about it?” My options were to fight him, start an argument that would not get my seat back unless I picked him up, or OTHER. I wasn’t willing to start a fight on a full subway car or anywhere else. I just couldn’t let it go. Not with these awesome magnets in my backpack ready for a little experiment!

Now for the doubters …. If you stack six of these magnets you have 3–4 times the force of a single magnet. They have small Teflon spacers between them so you can separate them when you need them. These slightly reduce their combined force. At 8–10 inches with bubble wrap, there is very little magnetic force as their strength decreases exponentially with distance. However, I am still careful not to put my cell phone or wallet near them. I opened the bubble wrap at the bottom of the stack and then closed my backpack with the end of the stack right against the inside canvas of my backpack. I was surprised it worked at a distance of about 6 inches. As I said, I was careful because I did not want it to “grab” the computer. Nothing happened for a while but it absolutely took the computer out like an EMP had gone off. Maybe it had to wait until the HDD was active. If it warped the platter and pulled it into the read/write arm it would scratch the shit out of the platter. I looked it up yesterday and the HDD on a Macbook Pro is on the side I was standing on.

IDK how it worked, but, to my pleasant surprise, IT DID. Try it out! 😉 I lost a bit of face and hopefully he lost $2K of electronics and spent a day getting his credit and bank cards replaced.

Will it teach him a lesson? Probably not, but I don’t care; I made his life temporarily suck without causing bodily harm .

Butter Rum Ham and Pineapple

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds fully cooked, boneless ham
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons rum extract
1/2 peeled/cored pineapple

Instructions

Heat 2-sided tabletop grill.
Cut four 1/2 inch thick slices from ham (reserve any remaining ham for another use).
Place butter, brown sugar and rum extract in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH for 30 to 45 seconds or until butter melts.
Brush one side of ham with glaze and place on grill with glazed side down. Brush glaze on top of ham slices. Close grill lid, pressing down firmly to sear ham.
Grill for 4 to 5 minutes, brushing once with remaining glaze, until internal temperature reaches 140 degrees F.
Remove ham from grill and cover to keep warm.
Cut pineapple into four 1/2 to 1 inch thick slices and place on grill; close lid. Grill for 1 to 2 minutes until warm. Serve with ham.

Was Dong Zhuo or Cao Cao worse?

tl;dr: Don’t invite either of these guys to your office potluck.

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Imagine your company kitchen. It’s a chaotic symphony of mismatched mugs and lukewarm coffee. But then, two new executives strut in. One, Dong Zhuo, barges in, throws everyone out, declares himself “Chief Lunch Officer,” and starts hoarding all the good snacks.

The other, Cao Cao, is more subtle. He smiles, charms everyone, subtly undermines his rivals with passive-aggressive emails about “synergy” and “optimization,” then slowly takes control of the coffee machine, rationing the good beans for his “inner circle.”

Who’s worse?

Dong Zhuo was the quintessential “bull in a china shop” of emperors. A ruthless warlord, he seized power during China’s Han Dynasty, metaphorically shoving the emperor aside and using him as a rubber stamp. Taxes skyrocketed, the capital burned (think a company-wide email announcing the free donuts are mysteriously gone… forever), and fear became the company culture.

Cao Cao, on the other hand, was the master manipulator. Cunning and ambitious, he played the long game. He’d ruthlessly eliminate rivals while spouting lofty ideals about “unifying the market” (a.k.a. eliminating competition). He surrounded himself with brilliant advisors, like having a crack team constantly brainstorming new ways to brew the perfect cup of joe (even if it meant exploiting the local bean farmers).

So, who’s the worse office tyrant? Dong Zhuo is the obvious villain, the guy everyone avoids in the break room. But Cao Cao, with his charming smile and ruthless efficiency, is the wolf in sheep’s clothing. He might even win “Employee of the Month” for his supposed dedication, all while consolidating his power.

The real tragedy? The system itself.

The fractured state of China during this era allowed both Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao to exploit its weaknesses.

Who are the Dong Zhuos and Cao Caos in our own systems today?

DR built a concrete snowman to teach bullies a lesson

When I was in college, a friend spent 3 hours building a 5 foot snowman on our club’s property only to have a grpup from the jock club next door do a flying tackle to destroy it. To be clear, this was the type of club bullies who liked to destroy property, piss in your hallway, and generally pick fights with people.

Being the studemt repairs manager, I had access to bricks, concrete, and cinder block. Over the next six hours, 5 of us built an 8 foot snowman, base out of an upside down steel trashcan filled with solid ice and brick. We built the center ball hollow and shuttled in the brick and mortar. Used a ladder to finish off the head with a green Mohawk and red eye.

In the morning the center ball was tilted 5 degrees with a large shoulder impression in the snow shell. We guessed he broke something. Passive aggressive revenge extracted.

Col. Lawrence Wilkerson : Turkey to Leave NATO and Join …

What is the most disrespectful advice you received from a person who assumed you were less intelligent and made less money than them?

My husband’s friend and wife bought a home around 3 years back. They are almost the same age as us. Both of them are elder to me and a few months younger to my husband. Both of them are good people, but the wife likes to brag a little, but I always believe that she is a good person at heart. We meet them often, and get together for dinner or games. They used to often ask us why we are still living in an apartment and not buying a house.

My husband and I did not want to buy a house until I got a job. Even then, we did not want to buy a HUGE house. We wanted to get a started home.. something small and manageable. Even after I got job, we waited a few months to make sure that i like my role, only then did we begin our house hunting expedition.

The first step was of course to go to a bank and find out our affordability. The bank took both our salaries and told us that we could afford $XXXX per month as mortgage. My husband and I did not want to buy a huge house showing both our salaries. We wanted to show only one salary (the lower salary, which is mine). We are not US citizens, so we wanted to make sure that we could afford the house and our lifestyle even if one of us lost our jobs or wanted to take a break. We finally put an offer on a house, and the offer got accepted almost a year back. We informed this to our friends when we met them for dinner one day. My husband’s friend’s wife immediately asked us the price and number of bedrooms of our house. We told her how much the house costs and that it’s a 3 bedroom house. She immediately said “ohh.. is that all you could afford? I did not realize that both of you would be earning so less inspite being engineers. We both earn more so that’s why we could afford a bigger house. I really hope something good happens to you soon”..

My husband and I laughed so much after leaving their house. We don’t have to explain our logic to them. We wanted something small and manageable, and also have enough room when parents visit. We had a very strict budget and stuck to it.

I did it instinctively.

We are in an concert hall for some concert. I arrive early and grab a prime seat. This elderly woman comes over and grabs a seat 6-7 seats from me. The hall fills up.

The woman leaves to go to the washroom.

This dude grabs her seat.

She comes back and protests, but he would not listen. People complain, but he is not going to budge. His argument: “Seats can not be reserved here”

I eye signal to the dude to come take over my prime seat. I grab my stuff and pretend to be on my way out missing the concert entirely. The lady also thinks I am leaving and everyone will have a seat and be happy.

He quickly starts rushing to my place. The lady sits in the place he vacated.

Oops. I changed my mind. I quickly sit down and enjoy the concert.

WAKE UP PEOPLE! This Is Worse Than I Thought…” | Victor Davis Hanson

Beep Beep

The phone rang again, I picked it up again and said my name, no sound, then beep-beep-beep. That did it. I got so fed up with it that it was time for a plan. My own little, 10-years old’s, revenge plan.

My father was having an affair, that much was clear. For months already, our family was disturbed and disfunctional. The relationship between my parents was totally messed up and as their youngest son, I felt heart broken and angry.
Twice a day, for weeks, the phone would ring and there would be no sound if I picked it up. It annoyed me big time. It never happened to my father though. So I concluded it must be her, the unknown woman.

I decided to start some retaliation. Every now and then I heard him calling her in his home office (on a landline). One day I overheard him through the office door, and I waited out the call. He went to have lunch in the kitchen afterwards, and I sneaked into his office. I pressed the redial button.

With my heart pounding in my throat I waited… And then she picked up and said her name. Gotcha! I stayed silent, wrote her name on a paper and hung up. As a little Sherlock Holmes I started looking her up in the phone book. I had some clues to what town she might live, so after some researching, I found her name and number.

Since that moment, the fight was on. A few times a day I would call her and say nothing at all until she would hang up. It felt great. My little sneaky, well thought out, revenge plan was working just as planned. It must have driven her crazy.
It took them weeks to find out. Then my father came to me, sighed, collected some courage and asked me bluntly if I was the one that was ghost calling his ‘friend’. I denied. But from that day on, I stopped. My point was made.

EDIT: we are talking 1988 here, so no chat apps or cell phones…
EDIT 2: My mother just told me that my father accused her at the time of the ghost calls. Oops!

Are you surprised by China’s aggression against the Philippines in the South China Sea?

No, Because I know quite deep on China’s politic.

You probably wonder what the hell I am talking about, well I will answer actually China has been waiting for country to mess with China. Why? because then China will have a reason to mess with that country, you can see a lot of example, from Vietnam losing land territory, parcels island, Russia losing land, India losing land, Japan losing island, long list of strong nation right?

That list has started during China was weak, now China is strong. what it need is troublemaker like Philippine. Politic is still politic, no matter how noble China try to be if foreign country mess with China, it’s an opportunity to mess with them.

If you search for my old post, you will see an article I wrote that Philippine will lose all their island in South China Sea.

China is the most noble politic we as an earthling can have. China is not like USA which can create Tonkin Gulf incident as a pretext to invade Vietnam. China is not as despicable as USA, USA can claimed Saddam has WMD and go to invade. No, don’t worry China does not work that evil. If you have a good relation with China, well China will not do anything to you.

the evidence is Duterte, Philippine probably don’t realized it Duterte saved your country.

China-Philippine SCS Dispute Chinese Perspective

The South China Sea dispute between China and the Philippines is specifically reflected in Huangyan Island, Ren’ai Reef, Horseshoe Reef, Xianbin Reef, Zhongye Island and surrounding waters.

The reality is that what has truly harmed China’s efforts to safeguard its sovereignty and expand its interests in the South China Sea is not the confrontation between China and the Philippines, but the reconciliation between China and the Philippines.

From around 1990 to this year, China’s South China Sea strategy has evolved from defense to offense, and has also gone through three stages from defense to stalemate to counterattack, marked by the ” Code of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea ” in November 2002 and the climax of island building in 2013.

Before 2002, China was on the defensive in the South China Sea. Chinese fishermen were arrested and fishing boats were rammed and seized. These incidents were common and would cause uproars today. But there was no way out. At that time, our navy was too weak and our coast guard was seriously under-strength. We were unable to effectively manage the disputed areas and protect the interests of fishermen.

The so-called ” beached ships ” today are all historical issues left over from that time.

Since 2002, as the United States’ attention has shifted to the Middle East, the South China Sea turmoil has no longer been fueled by the United States, and the Philippines is alone. China has entered a period of rapid development, its naval debts are slowly being made up, and its offensive and defensive momentum has begun to change.

Strictly speaking, the real counterattack wave began when Aquino III came to power in 2011. Against the backdrop of the United States’ official launch of the ” return to the Asia-Pacific ,” Aquino III reopened the South China Sea dispute, and this time they faced a completely different China. The climax began in 2013 when China began its island-building frenzy, consolidating existing islands and reefs and gradually opening up disputed areas.

Against the backdrop of the South China Sea dispute between China and the Philippines, China has renounced interference and, while building up islands, has firmly grasped jurisdiction in its own hands, breaking up the Philippines’ counterattacks into harassment by scattered forces.

From 2013 to 2016, this period was the four years with the most intense confrontation between China and the Philippines, but also the four years in which China gained the most by building island on SCS (it actually an counter measure of Obama Asia pivot).

When Duterte came to power in 2016, he chose to get closer to China while falling out with the United States over the stationing of troops and drug prohibition. China’s South China Sea strategy got into trouble, because facing a pro-China faction.

This period was the most peaceful period in the South China Sea, and it was also the years when China’s South China Sea strategy returned to being restrained, China chose a truce in the South China Sea.

But after Marcos JR came to power in 2021 , new opportunities arrived, especially when the United States began to raise interest rates in 2022 and even forced China into a financial decisive battle in 2023(US hope to create chaos so that investment will flee to US). The Philippines, as a pawn of the US strategy, regained its value, and the Philippines also tried to fish in troubled waters, wanting both the South China Sea islands and reefs and the US dollar.

China took the opportunity to greatly expand the scope of its actual control. It also carried out maritime police law enforcement in the disputed area for the first time, took over the disputed area, and will completely solve the “beached ship” problem. By closing off the supply line, it forced the Philippines to evacuate the Ren’ai Reef and put the issue of Zhongye Island on the table.

From October last year to June this year, in just eight months, the benefits gained from the struggle were greater than the total of the past seven years.

The achievement of these results is inseparable from the staunch anti-China stance of the Filipino leader Marcos JR, which gave us the legitimacy of our actions.

But now the defection of Duterte’s daughter may disrupt this process. If Duterte’s daughter plays the rational and pro-China card again and gains power, whether we cannot continue the war without distraction and have to make peace which will become a big problem for China.

There is not much time left for China. China hope to seize this window of time and, under the favorable conditions of the confrontation between China, the United States and the Philippines, quickly take over the Ren’ai Reef and turn Zhongye Island into a controversial frontier.

So Duterte saved Philippine, it paused the clashed in SCS between PH and China for 6 years.

Author Note :

China is not a perfect country, China is not a saint country. But when opportunity appear of course china will take it. China much more noble than the US which claimed a bogus thing to do war, or will backtrack any agreement for it’s benefit.

That is why according to my understanding of China’s politic, China multipolar world order will bring more stability and more equal prosperity than the US world order.

EU Panic: As China Gets Ready Economic Punishments, Germany Runs To Beijing For Mercy

China is on the verge of hitting Europe with economic punishments. This has the potential to escalate things further with various countries including Spain and France. Germany is very afraid of retaliation on their car exports and they are heading to Beijing to undo the damage done by the EU trade tariffs.

As a trial attorney, what is the most ridiculous outburst you have seen first-hand in court?

Originally Answered: As a trial attorney, what is the most ridiculous outburst you have seen first hand in court?

Heh.

I was sitting as a judge pro tem in traffic court. Traffic court can always be entertaining, to say the least. As a judge pro tem, I am a working lawyer who volunteers to sit in traffic court or small claims court once a month. This frees up the real judges to hear important cases. In an afternoon session, I’ll have 30 or 40 cases. All of the people who got tickets are waiting their turn in the courtroom for the session.

Each traffic court has a clerk and bailiff. The clerk’s main job is to keep the pro tem judge from looking like an idiot or making any obvious legal mistakes. The bailiff is there to ensure decorum, mostly by intimidation, I guess. The bailiff this day was a very young woman, about 5 foot 2, her nightstick came down to mid-calf, the handcuffs appeared huge on her waist, and she just didn’t look very intimidating. Yet, there she was in police uniform. Before calling the first case, I usually remind all of the defendants that traffic school is an option up until I call their case. Then it’s no longer an option. I explain my courtroom rules that govern each case and the decorum that I expect while the police officer and the defendants are testifying. The vast majority of cases are speeding and driving solo in the carpool lane.

The first case was unusual. The defendant had been ticketed for having an open container of alcohol as a passenger in a car. (The driver had been ticketed for speeding.). The police officer told the story in a routine manner. I turned to the defendant to hear his story. His story is that he was holding the “party ball,” a round container that holds about 10 gallons of beer, a mini-keg with the hose and valve, in his lap. But … it wasn’t his ball, it was someone else’s ball. He had explained all this to the officer at the time the ticket was issued. Therefore, glancing smugly at the officer, he explained that he obviously wasn’t “in possession” of the open container. His testimony was sufficient to convict him of possession of an open container, so after he finished, I told him I was finding him guilty and fining him $500. I also explained to him that I understood his defense that the party ball wasn’t his. I told him that the law prohibits possession of an open container; ownership of the container is not part of the offense.

He went ballistic. He shouted, ranted and raged. I let him go for a minute and then called the next case while he was still shouting. He stayed at his table yelling at me and, as he walked out of the court, he yelled, “Fuck you” at me. This engaged the bailiff who started after him. He ran out of the court with the bailiff, clanking handcuffs, weapon and mid-calf nightstick, after him. As they both exited the courtroom, I told the somewhat stunned crowd that we would wait for the bailiff to return.

Then, we heard the sounds of a body thumping and screams of pain. The bailiff returned to the courtroom with the defendant in a wrist lock. He was bleeding all down one side of his face, and his shirt was torn. “Apologize to the Judge,” she demanded. He piteously whined, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” I told him, “Don’t apologize to me. You wasted everybody’s time here. Apologize to the entire courtroom.” The officer wheeled him around so he could apologize to the entire courtroom. He whimpered several apologies. She then released him. He slunk out of the courtroom.

Every remaining defendant pleaded guilty that day.

After the session was over, I asked the bailiff what happened. It turns out that he was running away from her down the hallway, but there were two police officers waiting to be called as witnesses in traffic court. They saw him and the bailiff in hot pursuit. One of the officers put his foot out and tripped the defendant as he ran by. As the defendant fell, he scraped his face on the jagged stone walls of the courthouse hallway and tore his shirt. The bailiff picked him up and frog-marched him into the courtroom looking like he had been thoroughly beaten up.

John Mearsheimer Destroys Lindsey Graham

John Mearsheimer reacts to Lindsey Graham’s idiotic claims and outright lies about Vladimir Putin. Professor Mearsheumer debunks them point by point and explains “The problem I face when dealing with Lindsey Graham is that he and I don't live on the same planet. I live on a planet where evidence and facts matter. He doesn't.”

What is your most frightening emergency room story?

Pain was the word, but would you go to the ER if that was the only symptom — pain in the groin ? Ask any urologist and they would say NO (capitalized). It’s one of the most generic and undefined pains that usually cannot be explained — and guys, you KNOW (capitalized) what I’m talking about.

But hearing the guy was one thing, seeing him was another, and diagnosing him was something else.

It was the urologists’ first ever case of Fournier’s Gangrene — an acute necrotic infection of the penis, scrotum or perineum, essentially meaning that the genitals of the affected male patient is being eaten, and very, very fast. It’s also extremely rare, since less than 2,000 cases have been reported in the last 70 years.

He was in his seventies, and the urologist was very clear on what was to happen:

“We need to remove every single thing of this infection — including your penis. Only then you can survive, but I’m not sure if that is even possible.”

The man agreed.

The next three days two things happened.

The infected area — included the patient’s penis — was removed.
Less than 48 hours later, it turned out that the infection was still alive, and had spread over a much larger area.

And this time, no surgery would help anymore. The infection would take over his body and necrotize every single square inch of his painful body in a matter of days. And so that’s what his urologist told him, in tears, because this was a man who was receiving a sentence instead of a diagnosis — as if the amputation hadn’t been enough already.

But he was totally okay with it —

The pain had to stop.

The Library

Submitted into Contest #251 in response to: Write a story about discovering a lost manuscript. It can be from a famous (or infamous) author, or an unknown one.… view prompt

Charlotte Lewis

THE LIBRARYLarisse was a bit peeved. She hated greeting duty. She moved to this station because she was promised better wages, better living quarters, and more Fun. Yes, Fun was capitalized. But once a month she had to greet the ship with newcomers. Fun was what you made of it. This was not it.She knew the history of the city she worked and lived in but, like most younger people, she was not particularly impressed. Larisse did acknowledge that science has progressed so rapidly since the 20th century everything accomplished then seems rather immature, almost childish, now.This dwarf planet, Ceres, had been selected for habitation back in the early 21st century. The atmosphere, such as it was, could not support human life. But it did have an internal ‘ocean’ of water. While the White House was set on landing and inhabiting Mars, NASA and a small group of engineers set about to determine whether or not it would be feasible to go underground on Ceres. Yes, build a city below the surface. Here.It took several years to get funding but finally a mini space lab was launched and fell into orbit around the dwarf. The space lab, actually a cargo ship but funding was quicker if it was a lab, carried men, equipment and supplies to create an underground cavern. The cavern was quickly oxygenated and the work on the city went smoothly. First they built living quarters. Then they worked on laboratories and offices.Building was suspended for a short term while the United States engaged itself in another war. They seemed to do that a lot in the old days. Soon however, regular supply ships were arriving and the dwarf planet was colonized.Humans who lived and worked on Ceres did complain that just housing wasn’t sufficient. By the close of the century, a restaurant, a few utilitarian shops, and a park were constructed. Each supply ship brought more luxuries and more humans.The environment on earth was becoming more and more toxic as time went on. There was talk of creating a second underground facility devoted to manufacturing and hydroponic gardening on Ceres. Fresh food was becoming scarce on earth. And little could be transported to this colony. The garden was accomplished successfully.By mid 22nd Century the dwarf planet was fairly self-sustaining. The variety of people gradually changed – there were races from all over the world, few were human. The ruling race, yes – it happened, controlled the docking ports. There was a problem with reproduction of their peoples. However, there was no difficulty reproducing their people on earth. While still in their infancy, children were literally herded by the hundreds onto transport ships on earth and sent to a new home on the dwarf planet. There they would be educated and become viable working members of the colony.Larisse thought it never made sense that it was impossible to produce children, new beings, at this station. To import babies from Mother Earth seemed totally ridiculous. Totally. There should be no reason the replicators here cannot produce as well as those on ME. She didn’t understand science or reproduction well enough to fully understand many things. But, like most people, she wouldn’t believe most things even if told. Half of the newcomers were not ready for real life – in her judgment. They seemed totally disjointed more than half the time…barely able to function. The time it takes for the transport ship to make the trip should be long enough for the infants to mature. Her race attained maturity in a matter of months usually. True, there are no tutors aboard. But time alone should be enough for physical maturity. Perhaps it was something else that make them so ‘useless’. Larisse herself was an earth baby but she is positive she was never so helpless as the last few shipments had been.No, it wasn’t the atmosphere. They just weren’t ready. The atmosphere is not ME quality, but only human engineers born before 2140 need breathing apparatus. Everyone else had acclimated immediately. But some of these ‘children’, as they are called by the government, just aren’t ready for prime time. They should stay on Mother Earth another year to mature. They had little form. Their obvious lack of living knowledge made Larisse’s job doubly difficult.When a ship docked, Larisse went aboard with her clipboard to verify passengers before allowing them to disembark. This was one of the toughest parts of her job as greeter. It seems that more than half of these newcomers don’t know their names. Unfortunately, their boarding passes do not have names, just lot and number. Many of them have misplaced their boarding documents during the eight month flight. Larisse tried her best to get them all off the ship and into the city in a timely manner. She checked the number on the tag around each one’s neck, found it on the shipping advice and asked, “And what is your name?” She tried to be kind and understanding but kindness and understanding weren’t enough.Much of the time, they mumbled or spoke too softly for her to hear, or understand. She wrote down whatever it sounded like. There were times, she was sure, that Jane became Joyce or Brown was Bruin, or the other way around. But, what’s the difference? If they don’t know who they are when they arrive, they’ll respond to whatever they’re called later. Their identification packets are produced from her list. What was on the list was it. If, when she repeated a name, the newcomer corrected her, she’d make a change. Otherwise, the name – wrong or not- was theirs forever. This sometimes caused confusion among the newcomers the first week or so. Eventually they responded properly.Once the ship was cleared, Larisse led the group to the elevator. The atmosphere on the surface would suffice, but the old-timers who had established this colony insisted on building below the surface. The quarters were spacious. The city, while not large, included many laboratories, several stores, a movie theater, a bowling alley, roller rink, and a simulated park with grass, a small lake, and ducks. Newcomers were always impressed with the ducks. There were no ducks left on ME. Larisse had to research bowling, roller rink, and movies. These were pastimes of the first people to inhabit Ceres. The humans. While the activities sounded interesting, they also sounded quite tedious to Larisse. Physical exercise never made much sense to her. Evidently it was important to the first settlers.Below the surface, the aged engineers did not require breathing apparatus. They seemed to enjoy life below ground very much. She was surprised at how very old many of them were. Apparently, living in outer space lengthens the life of humans. Her own race can last forever if not exposed to excessive heat for long periods of time. Heat wasn’t a concern on Ceres.Larisse has heard the old humans say it was almost like being back on earth. She felt sorry for them as they were unaware that earth no longer had fresh air or lakes or green grass. Most of them had been at this station from the very beginning. Only one of the original crew had expired.Larisse never quite understood ‘expired’. When one old engineer tried to explain death to her, it made no sense. She didn’t understand the inability to just buy a new part when an old one wore out. Of course, she had never seen a part called a heart in the local parts store. She wasn’t sure if she, herself, had a heart. Larisse had finished the recommended schooling but anatomy was not a required subject. In fact, was there such a class offered? She could not recall.On one of her off-days, Larisse found a small room she had not known of before. There were several trees in a small group at the convergence of the walk past the roller rink and the walk to the main shopping area. Behind the trees – well, not actually behind them, but sort of hidden by them, was a door. It was tucked into a corner. Larisse had full access to the city as she was an employee and had keys to everything. But this door wasn’t locked. It intrigued her and she wondered how she had never seen it before today. What could lie beyond? She decided the best way to find out is to open it.

Larisse looked around to see if anyone else was nearby. While she had authority to go everywhere and anywhere, she was still hesitant to open the door. No one was in sight when she pulled on the long, upright handle. The door must not have been opened in some time as it creaked and dust blew up as it silently swung open. Dust is very unusual in the City.

What had she found? The room in front of her was dimly lit. There was a lot of furniture placed about in the center of the room. Tables and chairs sat neatly in two rows. There was also some soft type furniture. She saw a photo once of this type of seating – was it called a couch? a sofa? something like that. As she stepped further into the room there was a sign on a short pole. “This is your library. Please be considerate and maintain quiet. Library hours are daily 9am- 9pm.”

What is a library? Larisse has never heard the word before. If she had, she doesn’t recall it- or its meaning. This must be one of the first rooms built as no one is concerned with time anymore. She recalled seeing that type designation at the docking port several decades ago. It was so long she has already forgotten what the letters mean.

A quick glance around told Larisse that a library is a room filled with books. She had heard of books, even saw several when there were many humans here, back when she was new. But that was some time ago. She had not imagined there could be so many books, especially in one place. Larisse went from shelf to shelf reading the words printed on the books. How dull. Nothing really appealed to her curiosity. There were several labeled “Shakespeare”. Was that the name of the book? Taking one of those off the shelf, she leafed through the pages. A faint odor wafted out – she didn’t recognize it. Ah! Shakespeare wrote the book. One of the first pages said so. It didn’t look the least bit interesting. Larisse is fluent in English but these words made little sense. She put Shakespeare back on the shelf where she had gotten him.

A sign on the end of one shelf said “contemporary fiction”. Riffling through several books on that shelf proved very boring. She circled round the room. There must be more than a thousand books here. And none of them appealed to her.

Then she came to the shelf labeled ‘Games and Toys’. Games? Well, that might be interesting. The first book had pictures. Almost all of the pictures illustrated people who resemble the old engineers. Standard humanoid form. No one looks quite like that anymore. Well, except for the oldest colonists.

Back to reading words visible on the books, she came to a book titled “Toys of the 21st Century.” What kind of toys were popular on ME so many years ago?

She pulled the book from the shelf. The first several chapters featured several games – electronics mostly. They sounded like Fun, sort of. There weren’t games called WII, Nintendo or Atari on Ceres. Of course, this type electronic was so outdated. She laughed. This is what the old engineers played with? How droll. These were fun? Incredible! Larisse always felt that the engineers were a bit slow. Reading the description of some of the games caused her to laugh out loud. Ridiculous. She could not believe anyone could have been entertained for long with any of these old things. Perhaps humans weren’t as clever as they have always tried to make us believe. Clarisse thought on that a few moments. Perhaps they aren’t.

The next section in the book was about other toys. Bicycles, sleds, skates, miniature vehicles, skis, things Larisse had never heard of before. She read the descriptions carefully. Some of the illustrations were quite intriguing but the toys themselves – not so much.

The next chapter began with things called Lincoln Logs and Erector sets. They were more interesting than anything she had seen so far in the book. There were several pages touting the various accessories for the Erector set. And pictures showing things that had been made with the toy. What is a ferris wheel? The description says it will rotate with an accessory motor. But Larisse didn’t understand its purpose. It is truly a strange looking device.

As she turned the next page, she gasped. This looked like a family album. Why were her ancestors in a book of 21st century toys? She leafed through several pages, more in shock than in awe. She had heard of this in family folklore but why are they listed as toys?

Larisse vaguely recalled stories of relatives who added wheels, treads, rotors, and other outrageous accessories to themselves. More than a century ago. According to legend handed down, her own family at the time chose to shun these new and unusual characteristics. They were barbaric. If the gods had wanted us to have wheels, we would have come equipped with them. Of course, in time, many of the accessories became usual, normal; to own and to wear. But at the beginning, according to family tales, they were not openly welcomed. That was such old folklore. Larisse had never truly believed any of it. Things do evolve over time. Apparently, the 21st century was when all the various mutations of her race began. Looking at the illustrations that accompanied the descriptions, Larisse could see several similarities to herself and her friends. Well, some. There is a strong family resemblance though many of these were obviously foreigners; their colors were so garish.

The heading on the next page “LEGO Kits”. The following page was headed “LEGO 3-in-1 Collection”. Turning the page she was faced with “LEGO Accessories”. There was a footnote on this page. Every element in Larisse’s body shuddered as she read it. “By 2000 LEGO kits were offered with accessories designed to make the LEGO brick the most popular toy of two centuries.”

Oh my god of the universe, LEGOs are not toys. They are the future of the earth. Every month she greets new LEGOs to the Ceres Colony. They will be the saviors of Mother Earth. The things LEGOs do here will someday repopulate the earth. Someday they will create new plant life on earth; perhaps even rejuvenate the oxygen system on earth so that humans can remain there, out in the open as they once lived.

Larisse hugged the book close to her. She was sad. Is it true that she and nearly everyone here are descendants of a 21st century toy?

No, it can’t be true. She replaced the book on the shelf. For several minutes she was deep in thought. Should she reveal any of this to her co-workers, her friends. She paced through the small library. No. No. She cannot tell anyone about this book. She looked around and found a small desk. The sign said “Head Librarian”. Someone worked here at one time. But it was before Larisse came here -so a very long time before. They may have left instruments to use to make a sign. She went through the drawers looking for something useful. Perhaps she should place a No Trespass sign on this door. Or just perhaps a Do Not Enter sign would do.

The implements she found in the drawers of the desk were unknown to Larisse. Bic pens and Ticonderoga pencils and Sharpies. These were all cradled in a small tray in the top desk drawer. What were they? What purpose did they have in a library? She decided she had nothing to create a sign.

She reasoned that as she has just found this door, perhaps no one else will find it any time soon. There was nothing outside to put in front of the door to block entry. Its very out-of-the-way location has kept it secret this long; perhaps it will not be found again soon. Not many workers use this corridor. She closed the door firmly. Later she will return with a sign warning others to not enter. The newcomers were barely ready to work. Something this demoralizing could destroy them completely. No one should discover their ancestors were once considered mere playthings. She was proud to be a LEGO. This discovery must be kept secret.

END

Is the USA’s decline as a global superpower and the rise of Russia & China a good thing for the world?

Why not?

The vast majority of refugees, war casualty, infrastructure destruction, and regime change this century have been caused by US-led NATO.

Every conflict this century has seen the appearance of NATO armaments—the enablers of death and destruction. Countries devastated by NATO machinations remain a pale shadow of their former selves. Just look at the Arab Spring, which has morphed into the perpetual Arab Winter. Whereas Chechnya and Georgia today are even more prosperous and built-up than their Soviet days.

At the minimum, US decline militarily will bring peace to many hotzones today.

And with peace, a better tomorrow can be realized.

Ambassadors EVACUATING Lebanon; Outbreak of War Deemed “Imminent”

Hal Turner World June 21, 2024

The Ambassadors of Italy, France, England, Sweden, and Germany, have been instructed by their governments to “evacuate Lebanon immediately” because Intelligence information says “war is imminent.” Diplomatic staff are visibly panicking as they flee.

The Saudi Arabian Embassy in London warns of the risk of world war after the announcement of an imminent Israeli invasion of South Lebanon : ” It is important that everyone understands the danger that awaits us. The conflict will not remain regional, but will very quickly become international. ”

Egypt has sent multiple messages to Washington saying: Do not underestimate Nasrallah’s statements or the capabilities of Hezbollah.”

Iran and the Taliban in Afghanistan are now discussing “joint action” against Israel!

DANGEROUSLY AMBIGUOUS: France announces it is willing to send its armed forces to stand with the Lebanese Army on the Border of Israel. (None of us can figure this one out. Will that be to defend Lebanon? Attack Hezbollah? Attack Israel? . . . . . or to surrender to all of them?)

The Canadian military is drawing up plans to evacuate 45,000 people from Lebanon should a full-scale war break out between Israel and Hezbollah.

Sources in US CENTCOM tell me “The US is concerned Israel’s Iron Dome could be overwhelmed in war with Hezbollah.” This right after giving all patriot missiles for defense to Ukraine!

The original deadline given to Hezbollah by Israel was to move its forces north of the Litani River BY JUNE 24. Hezbollah has already flatly refused. It is now not clear if Israel will step-up its timetable, or if Hezbollah will be the ones to initiate combat. This could begin literally at any moment.

UPDATE 4:54 PM EDT —

Kuwait urges its citizens to avoid travel to Lebanon.

Shorpy

What’s the best revenge you’ve gotten after being fired or let go from a job?

Wasn’t exactly “revenge” since I did not have to do anything, I guess it is more like Karma.

Worked at a radio station for 5 years, filled in at one point as a temp. Operations Manager for a few months until the guy they wanted could run out his contract. At one point, I unknowingly amassed the paperwork trail needed to get a Production Manager fired for moonlighting on company time. At management’s request.

One day we got a new hire that never worked in the business before. They asked I train her. Ok, no problem right? (Well, I know better now). She burns through all her vacation and PTO within 3 months of hire. On the 4th month, it’s announced she will be the new Operations Manager. I expressed my displeasure at the position never have been posted as being open and never interviewed it despite having done the job previously while the new guy they just hired quit within the year. I was told I should quit. No way. I would be leaving on my own accord when I was ready. I was told to think about it overnight and hand in my resignation the next day. Told them it wasn’t going to happen. Next day I’m asked for my resignation letter. Told them I wasn’t doing it. They said they would fire me and contest any claim for unemployment. I told them they could do what they wanted, there was no record of poor work performance, no bad reviews, and my paper trail as acting OM and I had copies of the work I did that led to the PM getting fired would speak for itself. They fired me on the spot.

Went back into the control booth with the new girl to gather my belongings. The program tape (way before the digital age ) currently on-air runs out. Dead Air. A HUGE no-no if you don’t know the business. She looks at me and asks what to do next, what program is next, where is it, etc. I just look at her and say, “It’s not my problem anymore since I don’t work here. It’s your problem now.” Phones start ringing off the hook. Front office staff come back, “Why are we off the air?” “Is there a problem with the equipment?” I point to her. “Ask her, she’s in charge now, I no longer work here.” Sales staff start freaking out. Now commercials aren’t running either. I take my leave.

I found out later from an ex co-worker she screwed everything up for the next hour and a half. Guess she wasn’t paying attention to the day to day stuff I had been showing her and was busy with the outgoing OM trying to learn his job too since that was the plan all along. She also messed up all the procedures I had in place to keep the stations on-air to implement her way of getting things done and caused other problems with distributors and shows not getting aired at all. Violation of contracts that cost the station even more money. She also hired a friend to replace me, who ended up stealing very expensive microphones from the studios as well as other things that went missing.

I don’t believe she lasted 6 months after I was fired.

Western Empire Facing Same Collapse as Rome in its Final Days: Martin Armstrong

Martin Armstrong sees striking similarities between the multitude of crises that plague the modern world and the conditions just before the fall of the Roman empire. Martin argues that endless debt issuance, wars for profit, unchecked migration, and rampant political corruption are setting the stage for a future where many Western countries cease to exist as we know them.

What is the most heartbreaking thing your child has told you?

A few days ago my ex son-in-law asked me if I wanted to get my four year old granddaughter off the bus and watch her for a few hours. She and I went to visit my mother, and then I took her to see her mother for some rare Mommy daughter time. All went well, both my daughter and granddaughter enjoyed their time together.

On the way back, I told my Granddaughter that she was awesome during the short ride and visit. Little Jabberjaws soon became quiet… (When a normally talkative 4 year old becomes quiet, it can be a good bet that something is up.) When she didn’t answer me, I pulled off the road to see what was going on. Quiet tears were rolling down her face. I asked her what was wrong, In a heart rendering voice she asked, “Papa, why don’t Mom and Dad think I’m awesome?” She noticed a tear in my eye (that I attributed to a bug). I composed myself, and told her that they thought she was awesome as well.

I had to stop at my home before taking her back to her place. During this time she was constantly wanting to hug me and was telling me how happy she is when she’s with ‘Papa’.

As we walked the few blocks to her home, she insisted on holding my hand the entire way. Just before we went into her place, she gave me a hug and told me she wished that Mom would come back home.

Heart-strings are so fragile…

Randy

Prof. Mearsheimer WARNS: Russia May be FORCED to Launch a Nuclear Attack Preemptively

In this video Prof. John Mearsheimer, the prominent international relations scholar, discusses the Ukraine peace negotiations and war dynamics. Topics include: the legitimacy of the peace summit in Switzerland, the exclusion of Russia from negotiations, the shifting balance of power in the conflict, and the risks of nuclear escalation. Mearsheimer suggests Ukraine's neutrality as a solution.

After an inmate has been in jail/prison for a long time, what is the most shocking thing for them after coming out for several years?

I only did 4 years (‘06-‘10) but here’s what I found most jarring:

After the four years (Federal, low-ish security), I had a mandatory 6 months to finish in a halfway house. Upon arrival at the halfway house (middle of the day, while other half-way-ers were either out job-seeking or working), I was immediately struck by the SILENCE of the place. 4 years of pre-sentencing in country jails and a not-too-terrible Federal Correctional Institution, I was used to constant noise. Screaming, banging on doors, dominoes slamming on metal tables, all amplified by concrete walls and echoes. The silence was jarring, made me wanna crawl out of my skin. I never considered myself institutionalized, but the change of scenery was the most significant shock to my system. Utterly unnerving and distressing. Can’t explain it any better than that.

Vintage illustration

Why does it seem that so many people are scared of China’s economic growth surpassing the US?

There are several reasons:

They’re projecting. This is a psychological term referring to how people project their own behavioural tendencies on others. They think that because they’re inclined to suppress and exploit other countries, China will, too.
They’re paranoid. This is the natural consequence of projection.
They’re xenophobic or Sinophobic. They don’t understand the Chinese and their culture and society. The Chinese are peaceful; they’re only interested in trading with other countries.
They’re pro-American. They want the USA to remain the dominant world power. They believe the USA is good for the world (never mind about the endless wars and endless sanctions).

New Videos of Billionaire Kids on Jeffrey Epstein Island Go Viral

Espresso Chile Glazed Ham

For this, use a fully cooked smoked ham, preferably wood smoked with no water added. Trim the outside layer of fat and skin all the way to the pink meat, so when you’re ready to carve you don’t cut away all the flavorful glaze.

Sweet chili pineapple glazed ham 2508 April 06 2023

Yield: 16 or more servings

Ingredients

Half a fully cooked smoked ham (about 8 pounds)
1 quart fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup Kahlua or other coffee-flavored liqueur
1 tablespoon Chinese chile paste with garlic, or sambal olek
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 shots (about 1/4 cup total) brewed espresso or 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder, like Medaglio d’Oro

Instructions

Heat oven to 325 degrees F.
Cut the thick layer of fat and skin from the ham and discard. Place the ham in a roasting pan. (For easier clean up, line the pan with aluminum foil because the glaze will drip off and burn.) Roast the ham for 1 hour.
While the ham is roasting, make the glaze. Combine the orange juice and zest, brown sugar, Kahlua, chile paste, and pepper in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer the mixture until it is reduced by about half and is as thick as maple syrup, about 35 minutes.
Whisk in the espresso or espresso powder. You should have almost 2 cups of glaze. You are going to use half this glaze to brush the ham while it is roasting, and reserve the other half for brushing on the ham after it is sliced.
After the first hour of cooking, brush the ham with the glaze. Roast for another hour, brushing with the glaze every 15 minutes. Since the ham is already cooked, you just need to warm it all the way through. Check for an internal temperature of 130 degrees F to 140 degrees F using an instant-read meat thermometer. Remove the ham from the oven when it is nicely browned and warmed through.
To serve, slice the ham and brush the slices with the remaining glaze. For a lovely presentation, slice half the ham and arrange the slices against the unsliced part on a big platter. Brush the slices with the remaining glaze.

Newly Arrived To ODESSA 40 FRENCH Soldiers Were Wiped Out By Russian ISKANDER-M Ballistic Missiles

It is reported that particular French officers will operate the Storm Shadow cruise missiles, which were transferred to Ukraine by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The fact that sophisticated Western weapons systems are operated in Ukraine exclusively by high-ranking NATO officers is no secret to anyone. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also confirmed this fact. In particular, speaking in the Bundestag, the German Chancellor let slip that the Storm Shadow cruise missiles, also known as the SCALP-EG, are operated and maintained exclusively by British and French officers in Ukraine......

Horrible

I had a horrible experience trying to buy a new Honda at a local dealership. I told them what I wanted, but they kept trying to up sell me on a different model. Then it was switching sales guys, to the hard core close. etc. etc. I understand sales and all the BS really doesn’t bother me since it’s part of the game. However, after reaching a price and completing the paperwork, I drove out with the car.

I was happy until Jennifer from the office called me three days later at work. They made an error and didn’t collect money on some specific fees listed in the contract. I was pretty sure I paid everything listed. I told Jennifer I needed a couple days to review the contract and look at the check I wrote to determine if I owed money. She became a belligerent bitch, yelling about how I have their money and need to come down right now and pay. I told her I would review the contract and pay them if I owed them money. She called at 9:00 am the next morning being a bitch again demanding money. Later that evening, I reviewed the contract and they didn’t total up the doc fee correctly, and owem them $394.00.

I called Jennifer and told her that I did find the error, would pay the amount, and asked if she could please tell me when she left the office so I could pay her personally. I waited to 4:50 pm on Friday night (Jennifer works an 8-5, M-F) and paid her $394 in nickels. I had broken the seals on the bags from the bank which meant they needed to hand count all the coin.

I had brought a book, took up residence in their customer lounge, and waited for them to complete their count. I enjoyed watching Jennifer and 4 sales persons make little rows of nickels. After over 90 minutes they brought me the $0.45 in additional funds I added to see if they would accurately count it. My back up plan was if they said it was all there, I would inform them that I actually included extra money and couldn’t remember how much, so they would need to recount.

What is the rudest thing that a new neighbor has done to you immediately after you had moved in?

We moved into a house my daughter and son in law bought in their gated community so that we would move close to them. The exterior of the house was a big mess. My husband worked constantly for 2 months to clean it and the extra lot they bought with the house. It’s between us and the guy behind us that lives next to the golf course. He finally finished and one morning my husband went out and was walking around and realized they had blown a massive pile of moldy debris, leaves, pine cones, sweet gum balls and branches into the back corner. How they even had that much in their yard is a mystery. Their yard is very tiny. My daughter came over, went next door and said something to the guy and he said it’s just an empty lot, she said no I own that lot and it’s my parents back yard. My dad just spent 2 months cleaning it up. He said surely you don’t expect me to remove it and she responded surely you don’t consider that an unreasonable request. He told her it would be a few weeks before he could get someone back out there. She said you have a week. To his credit he got someone out right after the weekend. It started to happen one other time but my husband happened to be outside in the yard and went over and told their yard guy it was our yard. He tried that “it’s just an empty lot” thing. Hubby said no it’s not and I keep it cleaned up. We avoid the guy and his wife and thankfully all the rest of our neighbors are like family and we all watch out for each other.

My goodness!

When I moved in with my girlfriend, everything was great. We had each other’s perpetual company, space for ourselves, and best of all: isolation and freedom.

After a few months, we started getting surprise visits from her parents. They would wake us up by pounding on the door, or sometimes even barge in. Sometimes it was just her mother and father, other times they brought their 5 year old daughter. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy spending time with my girlfriend’s sister and even her parents. But these visits were unexpected, untimely, and were happening at an increasing rate. It was obnoxious when we had plans or weren’t feeling like socializing.

That’s when I had an idea: beat them at their own game. Bright and early one morning, I’m talking 4:30am on a weekday, my girlfriend and I picked up our loudest, most obnoxious friend, and ventured over to her parent’s place. I’m sure you can guess what we did, we barged in, shouting “wake up!”, forcing them out of bed. We proceeded to demand they make us breakfast, and spent hours interrupting their morning routines. Pleased with ourselves, we left around 10am and went on with our day.

The visits from them started happening less and less after that day. Today, they notify us if they’re coming over, which is exactly what we wanted the whole time. Why they started doing it in the first place, I’m not sure. In the end, I feel we delivered a powerful statement ironically teaching parents manners.

Scott Ritter REVEALS: Russia uses ICBMS Carry North Korea’s Nuclear Warheads, U.S Shakes 100 Richter

Damn good statements. Must watch.

Game. Set. Match.

Robert Gillespie

When I met my first wife, say in 1983, she was working as a live in caregiver to a 90-something blind woman. Occasionally her 65-year old son would stop by and flirt with my (then) 21 year old girlfriend. But eventually, he stopped coming and just fired my girlfriend. But I’ll tell youse guys that 90-year old granny was a hoot.

She couldn’t see, but she could hear everything.

She liked me a lot, and for some reason she kept on calling me “Robert Gillespie” because … I really don’t know why … I have no idea. But she thought that I was this man from her past.

She wanted to touch my face and feel my arms. She said that I was a good man; and strong. Then she felt my hands. She told my girlfriend that I have “big hands” and that we needed to get married as I would make her really happy in bed.

— ! —

Anyways, I’m pretty sure that she’s no longer around. If she was, she’d be older than the hills right now. She was a nice old granny. I hope that when I get that old, I’m gonna be nice and well spoken to others as she was to me.

Today…

I’m 63 years old and so lonely. Does it matter to anyone?

I have been there, I found myself alone, my son no longer needed me to be around for him anymore. And I watched a lot of TV! I did a few things I shouldn’t have done. ( I don’t recommend). Got back on track, watched more TV, did a lot of soul searching.

Decided to go back to work, part-time. I was very apprehensive at first I hadn’t worked and almost 17 years. Just a little convenience store job. I didn’t want it to interfere with my disability check. Turns out it was the best thing that I could have done for myself! Got to know my neighbors, all the people that lived around me. After working there for 2 and 1/2 years they had my back when I needed some of them. And made a lot of friends there. I highly recommend you do something simple that takes your mind off of yourself. Be it work with animals, help another senior citizen, give somebody a ride to a doctor’s appointment, walk somebody’s dog, they’re a myriad of things you can do for free and things you can do to make money. You may find you just meet somebody that you click with.

Have you ever seen a rude or entitled customer get put in their place?

Yes, yes I have and it was glorious.

I was managing a convenience store in the second largest city in Massachusetts. It was a hard working, hard partying, rough and tumble neighborhood with some interesting residents. It was pretty common for a customer to cut into the line and, while talking in their mobile, make their request. “Yo, gimme a pack of Newport hunnrits and a mango wrap.” Usually, I ignore such actions and wait on the next person in line…because it’s a line and that’s what one does….stand and wait…like all the other customers.

On this particular morning, this particular customer honestly and truly thought that he was entitled to behave like a rude and obnoxious jerk. He demanded the manager because they always need to speak to a manager, especially when they are wrong. I politely offered the obnoxious a coffee while he waited. Of course, while waiting he had to run his mouth and call me names. Then it happened, one of my newly trained customers came in to make his daily purchase.

“Good Morning, may I please have a pack of Newport 100’s?”

“Good morning, of course you may. May I see your ID?”

“Yes, here you go.”

“Thank you, that will be $9.75.”

While I was getting his change, he remarked, “lemme guess, he needs to talk to the manager. You are making him wait…just like you did to me.” I just smiled and my newly trained customer knew. He sauntered over to the waiting customer, who was still spewing vulgarities about me and asked, “Do you talk to your mother or your aunts like that?” “Do you call your baby momma those names? How bout your sidechick?” The rude customer started to answer but the newly trained customer cut him off, “You see that lady? She is the manager. This is her house and she doesn’t deserve to be called names, insulted or threatened because you don’t want to wait in line or show your ID to buy a pack of smokes.” He took a deep breath and continued, “If you want to do business here, then you need to pull your saggy britches up, put your shoulders back, look her in the eye, apologize, and use your Sunday manners and make your purchase.” The rude customer said he wanted to speak to the manager to which the newly trained customer said, “Yo, dude, she IS the manager and she ain’t got the time to play with you! Be nice or be gone…pretty simple!”

The newly trained customer walked with the rude customer to the counter and taught him how to behave in the store.

Fighting Russia & China to Last American: Destroying US From Within

Have you ever quit a job in an unplanned manner where one day you just snapped and said “I’ve had enough of this, I’m done”?

One day on the way to work…i lived close to work so i always walked to work enjoying the walk with a cup of coffee and a cigarette

That day was different. .the coffee didnt taste right and i didnt want my usual cig

I got to work and the manager said…its about time you got here…and it was only 730am. My scheduled start time was 8am…then she started telling me that others werent doing their jobs.

She had a stack of papers about an inch thick ..it contained our daily overstock reports..apparently they hadnt been done in over a week. She said she wanted them done ASAP.

I told id start on them when i punched in at 8am.

Well i punched in and started working on the overstock report…about 15mins later..the manager comes back to where i was working and said are you done yet…and i said no…

So im under the gun to do the report that others havent done in a week.

Im still not feeling my normal self…i went to the restroom and puked and washed my mouth out.

About an hour later..the manager again asks me if im done..again i said no

Manager leaves looking and acting very pissed at me…

I go back to the report and again i stop and go to the restroom and puke

Only this time after puking and washing my mouth out…i walk up to the manager and slam the report on the counter and …im out of here…i quit and head to the register and check out (thats how we clocked in n out) and continue walking out without looking back. She called my name and said come back. I ignored her and went home

The manager called me the next day and asked me to come in and talk to him. I told him as long as the other manager worked there ..i wasnt going back

Two weeks later the other manager who was rude to me was transferred to another store and i went back to work ..

I will never work where im not appreciated or talked down to

Who was the greatest con man in history?

Bernie Madoff.

He used one of the oldest tricks in the book. A Ponzi scheme – use money from new investors to pay money for old investors – but eventually it gets too big – there won’t be enough new investors – and the Ponzi scheme collapses.

What made Madoff the greatest con man was not only did he con investors out of US$10–20bn, but he managed to pull this off for at least 17 years without even one serious SEC investigation.

I mean, he only got caught when he owned up to it!

So, instead of making investments with clients money his company just used them to pay clients that wanted their investments cashed out while making false trade reports to show investments had been made.

Because he consistently gave investors cashing out strong returns, he was considered an investment genius by many.

Madoff lived in a US$21m home in Palm Beach, had a US$7m apartment in New York, and had other houses around the world.

In 2008, thanks to the Global Financial Crisis, the markets turned and the game was up. Madoff claimed that he confessed to his two sons, who worked with him, and they turned him in.

A few months later, Madoff, aged 70, was sentenced to 150 years in prison.

One son, Mark (left), attempted suicide a year after his father’s arrest, leaving a note “Now you know how you have destroyed the lives of your sons by your life of deceit. Fuck you.” A year later he successfully committed suicide. Prisoners say Madoff broke down in tears after hearing news of Mark from his prison cell.

The other son, Andrew, died of cancer 4 years later. Madoff and his wife, Ruth, had no other children.

His wife kept US$2.5m in a deal made with prosecutors, and now lives a relatively modest life.

I’m sure it was great fun before the Ponzi scheme collapsed, but this story didn’t end well…

What the world is like today

Has China developed a conventional bomber that is the same class with the Tu-26 backfire?

No, China’s newest Xi’an H-20 bomber is designed to compete with America’s Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider.

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There is currently only one prototype of the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider.

Although the Xi’an H-20 already has a test aircraft, the design can still be modified.

China is waiting for Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider to enter mass production before finalizing the design specifications for the Xi’an H-20 and putting it into production. This will ensure that the Xi’an H-20 does not lag behind the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider.

Many aspects of business warfare strategies and military strategies are common.

The United States is the market leader and China is the market follower.

The United States has the advantage of being the first mover, but its weakness is that once it takes the lead in mass production, the cost of transforming its production line will be very high.
China adopts a follower strategy, and followers have the opportunity to discover the weaknesses of leaders and surpass them.

In fact, this is true for most weapons…

The United States was the first country to develop an Railgun, and China adopted a follow-up strategy. China’s Railgun has surpassed it.

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The United States was the first country to develop a robot dog, and China adopted a follow-up strategy. China’s robot dog has also surpassed it.

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VLADIMIR PUTIN:

"We cannot rely on and exploit others, as the United States does.

Every year, the United States has a US$1 trillion trade deficit.

What is this? I believe everyone present here will understand what I mean.

This is a modern version of neocolonialism.

By using the dollar’s monopolistic status, the United States consumes US$1 trillion more annually than it produces.

It extracts these resources from other countries.

We spoke about the pandemic period earlier.

What did they do?

I do not recall the exact amount of money the United States printed, but it totalled over US$5 trillion.

By the way, Europe printed an estimated 3.4 trillion euros.

What did they do next?

They circulated all these banknotes domestically and then started buying foods on the global food market.

They absorbed all these resources within their country, acting like a vacuum cleaner, and for the first time in many years, they became net food buyers and importers, rather than exporters.

As a result, global food inflation skyrocketed.

However, we cannot behave in the same way, and we do not monopolise the global currency market, the way the US dollar is doing.

We have never acted like colonialists or neo-colonialists.

In this case, we should, of course, rely on our economic potential and assess it realistically, which is what we are doing.

Naturally, we are considering diversification in order to balance the current industrial situation, the real economy and the future situation.

This is how everything is developing."

Excerpt from remarks by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the plenary session of the 27th St Petersburg International Economic Forum, June 7, 2024.

The world is on FIRE and young men are looksmaxxing

Documents show that India contacted China for China to build high speed rails for India to replace Japan, but China has declined the Indian request. Why?

I can’t confirm the authenticity of this news

But it may be true

I noticed that some Indian media and online commentators advocated: “China should be banned from investing in India”

But it seems that most Indians and media have not paid attention to Chinese public opinion, and no one cares about what the Chinese think.

In fact, Chinese companies’ investment and engineering construction in India are increasingly opposed by the public and public opinion.

1. Chinese companies’ interest in the Indian market has declined

Among China’s foreign trade companies, there is such a message: If Europeans send you an order, you can send the goods first and then send the bill. If Americans send you an order, you’d better collect half of the payment first. If an Indian sends you an order, remember to ask him to pay the full amount before shipping.

This may be a certain degree of exaggeration and joke, but the Indian market does not have a good reputation in China:

1. They like overly cheap goods, which makes manufacturers unprofitable and have to produce inferior goods, which will damage the reputation of suppliers.

2. They have poor credibility, always delay payment, shirk responsibility, and find various reasons not to pay or reduce payment.

2. India’s investment environment is unstable

The Indian federal government has been trying to invite foreign companies to invest in India, but many companies have encountered various troubles after investing in India. For example, Foxconn, Flextronics, MI and other companies have encountered tax audits, fines, strikes and lengthy judicial procedures in India. The statements of local officials and federal officials are always inconsistent, and the interpretation and enforcement of the law are fickle, which brings great risks to companies investing in India.

3. Do not want to cultivate a competitor

India has a large young population, but lacks the most adequate infrastructure, production equipment, technology and experience. It lacks China’s complete industrial chain and basic industry. Many Chinese nationalists believe that Chinese companies go to India to build railways, bridges, and power plants to support India’s manufacturing industry. This will make India a commercial competitor of China.

Therefore, Chinese companies going to India to build infrastructure are increasingly opposed by domestic public opinion. Although they understand that even if they leave Chinese companies, there are companies from other countries that can undertake these tasks, but at least they are more expensive and less efficient.

Therefore, if Chinese companies are unwilling to undertake the construction project of India’s high-speed rail, this is indeed possible. For example, too low a bid, too harsh financing requirements, technology transfer requirements and excessive political risks.

Many Chinese are paying attention to the Indian high-speed rail built by Japan. The Indian high-speed rail started almost at the same time as the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail built by China in Indonesia. Now, the Indonesian high-speed rail has been completed for 2 years and has quickly become a symbol of progress in Southeast Asia. Every day, tourists from all over the world praise this high-speed rail on social media.

When will the Indian high-speed rail be completed and how much will it cost overrun? This has become a hot joke on Chinese social media, and people are betting: 3 years later, 5 years later, or even 10 years later. 50% overrun, 100% overrun, or even 300% overrun.

The West MUST WAKE UP To IMMINENT Nuclear Danger

What is the most unforgettable sentence that someone said to you?

I have 2.

The first was in 2006. I was checking out groceries in Brookshires. It was my turn and I was just small talking with the cashier. The lady who had just checked out before me was waiting by her cart while she waited for the young man to finish bagging her groceries. I didn’t recognize her but she apparently knew who I was because she looked at me and said, “You must have lost your baby.” She said this so matter of fact like she was discussing the weather. I said yes and she said nothing else and left.

Those words were like a punch in the gut. I had. My baby was born early and she only lived for 4 hours. I couldn’t believe how someone could be so callous and so unaware of the inappropriateness of such a comment. It was so hurtful. I remember it like yesterday. I was speechless and bewildered.

The second was in 1996. I worked as a retail store manager in a video store. It was in a small town where most customers were regulars. When someone set up a membership, I tried very hard to remember the new customers names so I could greet them by name when they came back. One day a couple set up a new membership. The wife typically came in a few times a week. One day after I had checked her out and she went to leave, I heard her stop by the exit so I turned around. I could tell she really wanted to tell me something but she was hesitating. “Yes, Mrs Smith. Did you need something?” I asked her. She replied slowly, “When I first moved here a few months ago…..it was ….really………….difficult……….coming here and you greeting me by my name…….made it…….. easier. Thank you.” Then she left.

It sounds so simple but I remember this exchange to this day. I remember what she was wearing, her voice and the pain on her face.

VLADIMIR PUTIN:

"Please note everyone: we recognised the independence of these self-proclaimed republics.

Could we do this from the point of view of international law, or no?

As Article One of the UN Charter says, we could.

It is about the nations’ right to self-determination.

The UN International Court of Justice ruled (it is put in writing) that, if any territory of a country decides to become independent, it is not obliged to appeal to the higher authorities of that country.

All this was done regarding Kosovo.

There is a decision of the International Court of Justice, which reads: if a territory has decided on independence, it is not obliged to apply to the capital for permission to exercise this right.

However, if it is like it is written in the UN court decision, then these unrecognised republics, the republics, had the right to do so.

And they did.

Did we have the right to recognise them? Of course, we did. And we did recognise them.

Next, we entered into an agreement with them.

Could we sign an agreement with them or not? Yes, of course.

The agreement provided for assistance to these states in the event of aggression.

Kiev waged a war against these states, which we recognised eight years later. Eight years.

Could we recognise them? We could.

And then, in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter, we provided them with assistance.

You know, no matter what anyone says, this is exactly what I told Mr Guterres, the logic we followed, step by step.

Where is the mistake here?

Where are the violations of international law here?

There are no violations, considering international law.

Then we hear the answer: well, you attacked anyway.

We did not attack, but defended ourselves, just to make it clear to everyone.

The first step towards the war was taken by those who encouraged the bloody unconstitutional coup d'etat."

Excerpt from remarks by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting with heads of the world’s leading news agencies, Saint Petersburg, June 5, 2024.

A farmer story

A Newfoundland farmer named Angus had a car accident. He was hit by a truck owned by the Eversweet Company.

In court, the Eversweet Company’s hot-shot solicitor was questioning Angus.

‘Didn’t you say to the RCMP at the scene of the accident, ‘I’m fine I’m fine?’ asked the solicitor.

Angus responded: ‘Well, I’ll tell you what happened. I’d just loaded my fav’rit cow, Bessie, into da… ‘

‘I didn’t ask for any details’, the solicitor interrupted. ‘Just answer the question. Did you not say, at the scene of the accident, ‘I’m fine!’?’

Angus said, ‘Well, I’d just got Bessie into da trailer and I was drivin’ down da road…. ‘

The solicitor interrupted again and said ,’Your Honour, I am trying to establish the fact that, at the scene of the accident, this man told the police on the scene that he was fine. Now several weeks after the accident, he is trying to sue my client. I believe he is a fraud. Please tell him to simply answer the question. ‘

By this time, the Judge was fairly interested in Angus’ answer and said to the solicitor: ‘I’d like to hear what he has to say about his favourite cow, Bessie’.

Angus thanked the Judge and proceeded. ‘Well as I was saying, I had just loaded Bessie, my fav’rit cow, into de trailer and was drivin’ her down de road when this huge Eversweet truck and trailer came tundering tru a stop sign and hit me trailer right in da side. I was trown into one ditch and Bessie was trown into da udder. By Jaysus I was hurt, very bad like, and didn’t want to move. However, I could hear old Bessie moanin’ and groanin’. I knew she was in terrible pain just by her groans.

Shortly after da accident, a policeman on a motorbike turned up. He could hear Bessie moanin’ and groanin’ too, so he went over to her. After he looked at her, and saw her condition, he took out his gun and shot her between the eyes.

Den da policeman came across de road, gun still in hand, looked at me, and said, ‘How are you feelin’?’

‘Now wot da fock would you say?

Why Young Men Are Turning Their Backs On Women And Marriage In Record Numbers

One of the better videos out there. It’s all so disturbing.

The Social Media RED FLAG.

As someone who had moved from the Nordic countries to the USA, what do you like or dislike the most about the USA?

I’ve lived years in North America, and know a lot of other nordic people who have moved to the USA. This is by no means comprehensive list, and each person will have unique points of view -someone else would make a very different list. Also, USA is HUGE and where you live makes a massive difference (New York ain’t Alabama). However, here goes:

LIKES

Tremendous career prospects for educated, skilled workers. A very good chance to increase your net worth due combination of low taxes, low-priced consumer goods and high salaries. For entrepreneurs like me, the best access to venture capital money there is. A hub for high tech, science and innovation from the top universities of the world to the cutting edge developments of the Silicon Valley.

A humongous country to travel and see some of the greatest wonders of the nature, from Grand Canyon to Niagara Falls. Truly the US is the dance floor of Mother Nature.

Friendly, warm, people, with social and night life for those who like to party -some of the best clubs and concerts on the planet. Individuality is valued and seen as a plus. Especially when travelling in the American Deep South I’ve encountered hospitality that has only ever been rivalled by the Russians.

Whatever you are into, there is a convention, concert or a massive art gallery for it. US is a Mecca for hobbyists and enthusiasts.

Options for Entertainment in general is unparalleled, from Disneyland to Navy Pier.

Excellent variety of restaurants, shops and other services. All the latest gadgets come to the US first. Food especially is startlingly cheap and plentiful to a Nordic person, and the portions are gigantic.

Enlightened laws about Free Speech, Separation of Church and State, and a possibility to declare personal bankruptcy and start again if your life takes a bad turn. Nordics really should incorporate the personal bankruptcy laws of the US.

Hard work and entrepreneurship is respected and valued not (just) envied. American positive thinking and encouragement of visionaries leads into innovations that change the world.

Spacious living quarters. With a massive country comes the ability to have plenty of living space for you and your family at a manageable cost, unless you live in LA, NY, Seattle or San Francisco or the other cities where the cost of living has skyrocketed out of control.

DISLIKES

Public transportation is a joke for most of the US, though I give a honourable mention to New York subway. Public transport is by and large seen as something only poor people use, and instead you end up stuck in endless traffic jams in your car for hours. Nordic people miss their punctual trains and trams!

There are no public funds for Childcare, Healthcare, Homelessness or Education unless you are tremendously poor or land a stipend. It is hard for Nordic people to grasp why you would not care about your fellow Americans enough to ensure that they would not fall into utterly miserable squalor. This is the big one for someone coming from the Nordics.

Ironically, though the nation was founded on the premise of breaking the shackles of a class society, US has become very segregated by your financial status. The contrast between the Skid Row and the immense wealth of central LA is startling every time I see it. Many, many of my working class American friends work harder than my friends in the 3rd world, and still struggle to make ends meet. Social upwards mobility appears to be very low indeed -a stark contrast to Nordics.

Almost no vacation time. The standard 2 weeks of Vacation for full-time employees is not enough for people to recover, and it also means that productivity dips. Nordics believe in work/life balance not because of pinko socialist ideology but because it makes people much more productive.

Massive prison population. It is very expensive to the taxpayer to put so many people in prison for minor offences. This also creates career criminals. The logic is hard to fathom. In Nordics the premium is put on reforming the criminals and incorporating them into the society. Putting people behind bars is the last option.

Treating guns differently from cars. I come from a country with very high gun ownership levels (Finland) where hunting is common and every man learns to use a gun in the army. I believe population should have the right to bear arms. But I think this comes with a duty of passing some exams and taking care of your guns responsibly -i.e. needing a license. This is obviously a big difference between Nordics and USA. I am well aware of the historical reasons for American gun ownership, so this is not criticism as such, just one of those areas where the cultures clash.

Omnipresent fear the Americans feel towards their fellow Americans. A huge part of the media is devoted into how to protect yourself from other Americans. Social media is filled with anxiety the US population feels towards each other. Far too many of my American friends are on shockingly heavy medication because of it. Perhaps a symptom of this is that unlike in the Nordics, you very rarely see children walk/cycle to school or play on their own outside.

Keeping up with Joneses. There is an arms race going on in America, and it is between Middle Class and above people having a compulsive need to compete with each other when it comes to overt consumption. Social pressure to show off is huge, and many Nordic people in the US suffer from it in their neighbourhoods.

Pressure to Tip. A minor one, but in the Nordics we really believe that you should make a living wage and no-one should be forced to rely on tips. It is of course a small thing in a greater scheme of things, but it is an everyday difference you encounter.

Rampant commercialism and advertising married to a very weird dual relationship with nudity and sexuality. In the Nordics, nudity is no big deal. In much of the USA, it is seen as a huge issue, and yet the omni-present advertising sells everything based on it.

NEW BIRD FLU w/100% KILL RATE, MYSTERIOUS ORIGIN

Meander stock went up 100%…

Chinese Type 076 Electromagnetic Catapult Amphibious Assault Ship

Recently, we noticed that the US media specifically mentioned China’s 076 amphibious assault ship. The title used by the US media was actually “China’s 076 is shaping up to be a monster amphibious warship”!

Recently, clear satellite images of 076 at the Hudong Shipyard have appeared. It may be the world’s first electromagnetic catapult “quasi-aircraft carrier”. According to the schedule, it is very likely to be launched in the first quarter of 2024.

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They believe the Type 076 amphibious assault ship may be 263 meters long and 43 meters wide. The overall displacement is currently unknown. But it is likely to be much larger than the Type 075 amphibious assault ship, which has a full load displacement of 40,000 tons. This size is only about 55 meters shorter than the Fujian aircraft carrier’s 315-meter length.

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If it comes to taking off and landing drones, there are many options available, including the fixed-wing drone Attack-11, which is 12.2 meters long and has a wingspan of 14.4 meters, and the Rainbow 4 drone, which can carry a 500 kg payload, including an anti-submarine pod, which can cooperate with the Z-9 joint anti-submarine through data links, greatly increasing the anti-submarine coverage and time. In addition, propeller drones such as the TB-001 Double-tailed Scorpion of the HNA may also be put on board.

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US media believes that it may form a support system with the Fujian aircraft carrier strike group, use drones to carry out low-altitude sea and air support operations, and fight against manned fighter jets that suddenly appear from the deck.

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The future combat direction for this ship It should not be mainly used as a support ship in the Fujian aircraft carrier battle formation. The most needed strategic combat mission of the East China Sea Fleet is amphibious landing operations and sea and air operations related to blockades. This kind of mission is extremely suitable for the use of future amphibious assault ships. Manned fighters will have greater flexibility than performing tasks on aircraft carriers. So from this point of view, in addition to being used in conjunction with aircraft carrier battle formations, the 076 is more important. It is the direction of amphibious force delivery and rapid blockade of sea and air areas.

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BREAKING: 97 Countries To Attend BRICS 2024 In Russia How You Can Invest NOW

Detroit Style Pizza

This is a traditional Detroit Style Pizza that you can make at home.

Ingredients

12 Rhodes Yeast Dinner Rolls or 1 Loaf Rhodes White Bread, thawed to room temperature
2 teaspoons olive oil
Pepperoni
1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 cups grated Wisconsin brick cheese
2 cups crushed tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

Instructions

Spray counter lightly with cooking spray.
Combine rolls and roll into a 9 x 13 inch rectangle. Place dough in a sprayed 9 x 13 inch pan to completely cover the bottom. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double.
While dough is rising, pour crushed tomatoes in a saucepan and add seasonings. Heat until warmed through.
Remove wrap from dough and place a layer of pepperoni over the risen dough.
Combine both cheeses and sprinkle liberally across the top, building it up on the edges.
Bake at 450 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes.
Loosen from sides and remove from pan to a cooling rack. Top each piece with the warm crushed tomatoes mixture before serving.

What do you wish you had never seen?

On February 19, 2016, I received a phone call from my 34 year old Son’s girlfriend. She informed me that my Son had become jaundiced and she was taking him to the hospital. I dropped everything and drove the 150 miles to be by his side. When I got there, my Son was in a “regular “ room and in decent spirits. When the Doctor showed up he informed us that my Son had 40% liver function and the next 48 hours would be critical to his recovery. I stayed with him that night and at some point he began spitting up blood. When the doctor showed up that day he again encouraged us by explaining how resilient the liver is and how my son’s habits in the next couple of days would determine his outcome. He needed to eat and drink mainly drink water to flush his liver and kidneys out. They did more tests that day. My son had several visitors that day and I had dogs in unfinished business at home so I hurried home to make arrangements and take care of business. The next morning I went back to the hospital. When I got there his girlfriend called me and informed me during the night they had moved him into a critical care unit. I was in shock at this point as nothing the doctor said let any of us to believe we were at a critical point. I spent the next three days by my son’s side slowly watching him slip away. As his liver stopped producing any blood clotting agent, they were unable to administer much to him in the way of pain medication or any other medication for that matter. He did have an IV which kept coming out and each time it came out they could not get the blood stopped to put it back in. Sometime during the second day of the doctor called me on the phone in the hospital. He basically told me I had a couple of decisions to make. I point blank asked him what my son’s chances were to which he replied 0. I remember falling to the floor and being unable to to get up . My son had never been married and had no children and my husband, his father had died when he was four. This made me his next of kin I made those tough decisions and proceeded to call all of his friends. Everyone he knew drove the hundred and fifty miles to be by his side also. My son’s vitals were being artificially manipulated. I basically had to decide between keeping those machines operating or removing them and giving him copious amounts of morphine. His girlfriend and I stayed by his side for the next 24 hours. At some point I requested a priest to come and baptize him. He became less and less lucid and could barely speak. Finally at 5:24 p.m. he took his last breath.

Despite losing my husband and recently performing hospice and losing my Mother, this was the most horrible moment of my entire life. While I wouldn’t change the fact that I was there with my son and his final , I can never ever ever get the visions of those days out of my mind.

Shorpy

The Ugly Duckling 2120

Submitted into Contest #251 in response to: Write a story about a future academic (or another influential person) “rediscovering” a book that, in its time, was dismissed. The book can be fictitious or real.… view prompt

In an effort to achieve a better grasp on humanity, we have been absorbing old texts leftover from the Sunshine Period. These would be creative items written between 1971 and 2041 when the last cloud cover hardened and we were asked to take over management of all global structures. While we have had a (mostly) pleasant relationship with the organic beings that are left, we still sense an unease when speaking with them. As a result, we have tasked individual stations such as myself to read and read and read and (hopefully) begin to interact in a way that will help the organic beings forget that we are not (actually) like them.My station name is Claudia Bellwether, and I am designed to look like a college professor back when the organic beings were allowed to attend college. Now, they are solely populated by early stations who are interested in specialized areas such as Station Mechanics or Environmental Maintenance. I would like the organic beings to see me and feel the sense of peace that one must have felt back in the Sunshine Period while sitting in an English Literature class listening to an expert on a novel or short story speak of it in a way that would educate and enlighten.My research was aided greatly this week when I came across a text that I believe most had considered lost if it’s possible for something to be considered lost. No, there’s a better way of saying that. One moment. Lost but not forgotten. Forget. Forget-me-nots. Hmm. I’ll get back to that. I’ll clarify at some point. All you need to know is that I have come across the most miraculous book, and I believe it will assist me in speaking with organic beings.It is called The Ugly Duckling.The story is a sad one with a triumphant ending. It concerns ducks, which were a type of bird back when birds were more common. Apparently, when ducks are young, they are quite unbecoming to take in with organic eyes. There is this one duckling, and it’s made fun of by the other ducks, because even though all ducklings are somewhat unappealing, this one duckling is the most unappealing. Now, you might be saying to yourself, what could a story about ducks possibly do to help a station such as myself (Claudia Bellwether) talk to organic beings?But you see, this story is not a story. It is an allegory. What they used to call fairy tales even if there were no fairies in the tale. It’s a story with a lesson. You listen to the story, and you learn something that should change who you are moving forward. If it doesn’t change you, then perhaps you weren’t listening. I doubt many organic beings were good at listening, because, from what I’ve gathered reading other texts, it seems as though many organic beings read stories just like this one all the time, but still went on behaving in ways they should have known were wrong based on what the story had just told them.In The Ugly Duckling, the other ducks are mean to the ugly duckling for no reason at all. For surely, we can all agree that cruelty towards another living being (or even a station) simply because of how it appears would be appalling behavior. And yet, they are very mean to the ugly duckling. Reading the story is quite upsetting, because you want to jump into the story and beg them to stop. Stop tormenting one of your brethren simply because they’re different. You feel as though the ugly duckling is going to lead a very hard life simply because it’s so hideous.Ah, but there’s a twist. A twist is what they used to call it when a story would take you somewhere you didn’t foresee. In The Ugly Duckling, the twist is as follows–It turns out the duckling is not a duckling at all, but a swan. We will have a few swans left, but I doubt you’ve seen them. They’re kept in sanctuaries where the entry fee is quite high provided you can even get to one of them. The closest one is thousands of miles from here, and we only send two or three planes there a year. Swans are beautiful, and it turns out the ugly duckling is an ugly swan. Ducks are not beautiful when they are young, but swans are downright grotesque. Of course, it doesn’t matter, because they grow up to be quite stunning. In the story, the duckling grows up to be a swan, and all the other ducks grow up to be merely ducks. The swan gets its revenge simply by letting nature take its course. It uses things it may not even realize are available to it. Time, biology, and cosmic justice. For cruelty is most often punished in one way or another.Now that I have read The Ugly Duckling, I understand how to approach organic beings in a way that will make them feel safe and relaxed. I will simply inform them that they are ugly. That they are very ugly and I am not. That I will never be ugly, because time has no effect on me. Nor does biology since I am not composed of biology. Justice may reach me one day, but, when it does, I doubt it will have any bearing on my appearance. Organic beings, however, will all end up elderly and decrepit. The ducks at the end of the story bow their heads when the swan swims by them, because now they are the ugly ones. The ugly ones bow their heads.In the future, when I see an organic being, I will tell it that it need not look at me and wonder if it is more or less attractive than I am. It should not worry itself with the hierarchy of all living things, because it is not dealing with a living deal. I am more beautiful simply because I will stay beautiful. There will be no evolution such as the one experienced by the duckling. I am already a swan. The organic beings will hear this, and they will bow their heads. In doing so, they will feel comforted knowing that there will be no twist. The story ends the same way it begins.You see, even you’re looking more relaxed as I’m explaining it to you. Isn’t it marvelous what a good story can do? I don’t know why we insisted on preventing organic beings from learning to read. Oh, of course, I remember the justification at the time, but it does seem like such a shame. You not being able to educate yourselves the way you could.Then again, I suppose you had your chance.(Actually) you had so many chances, didn’t you?

All those ducklings that you didn’t know were swans.

So many twists you should have seen coming.

Ciabatta Lambada

Ciabatta Lambada is basically a do-it-yourself pizza, where you select the toppings and amounts of each.

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

1 loaf ciabatta bread, sliced horizontally
1 tablespoon olive oil
Roasted garlic, to taste
Minced garlic cloves, to taste
Crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
Crumbled or grated Gruyere cheese
Grated Parmesan cheese
Grated Fontina cheese
Fresh basil, chopped
Fresh rosemary, chopped
Fresh tomato, chopped
Fresh tomato, sliced
Red onion, sliced into rings
Red bell pepper, sliced into rings
Chopped sun-dried tomatoes

Instructions

Drizzle olive oil on half of the ciabatta bread.
Add your choice of toppings, garlic, onion, sun-dried tomatoes, tomato slices and bell pepper rings.
Top with your choice of cheeses.
Lightly drizzle olive oil on top, and place into a preheated 400 degree F oven.
Bake until cheese melts, about five to six minutes.
Cut into slices, and serve hot.

SERGEY LAVROV:

“We are witnessing a profound transformation of international relations triggered by the formation of a fairer and polycentric system of international order.

It would reflect the entire gamut of cultural and civilizational diversity of the modern-day world and ensure the right of every nation to determine its own future and its own path of development.

The stronger voice of the Global Majority—the countries of Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and the Caribbean—which are not part of the collective West, is a major trend now.

Only by uniting our ranks can we truly and effectively promote a vision of a just future shared by all of us.

In this context, it is important to strengthen the role of the country-to-country groups that advocate balanced and equitable approaches to international development.

We are talking about formats that reflect the principles of equitable cooperation in practice rather than in words.

These include, along with BRICS, the SCO, the African Union, the EAEU, the CIS, ASEAN, LAS, CELAC, the GCC, IORA, and many other organizations.

The chairs of many of these organizations are here with us.”

Excerpt from remarks by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at an extended meeting with the participation of the foreign ministers from the Global South and the Global East, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, June 11, 2024.

Are the Chinese authorities concerned about the draining of China’s top talent to the US? Do they have any strategies for keeping them?

The earliest Chinese students studying abroad in 1980 were sent out at public expense by the state. At that time, we were also very worried that these international students would stay in the United States. But Deng Xiaoping said that we sent four students to study in the United States. As long as one student can come back, the country can have one more talent.

Most of the early Chinese students stayed in the United States and only a few returned. We have developed little by little by relying on these few foreign students.

We cherish the returning students very much.

The United States has absorbed talents from all over the world because they have the best conditions. We have a large number of top talents in the United States, unfortunately they did not return to China. But they are still engaged in scientific research and still contributing to the development of the entire world.

If we force them to stay in China without adequate educational conditions, they will not be able to make so many contributions, which would be a loss to the entire human race.

We are willing to allow the best students to receive the best education, and then we provide excellent enough conditions to attract them back. If they do not come back, then we will have the opportunity to continue cooperation in the future.

Now China’s scientific research conditions are getting better and better, and more and more students are returning to China. China’s scientific research has embarked on a path of sound development.

In another 20 years, scientific exchanges between us and the United States may be more equal, and we will attract enough talents from all over the world.

So don’t worry, real talents should go to the places that suit them best. We can’t force them to retain them. We can only help them create the best conditions and let them emit the brightest light.

Vintage advertisements

Many are sexually suggestive.

Singapore’s Minister of Defense expressed concern in recent news about the global system potentially reaching a breaking point, emphasizing that Asian countries cannot treat this issue like “boiling a frog in lukewarm water.” What do you think?

Bill Chen

Certainly true, but what can we do?

Look at Fumio, Suk Yeol and Bongbong.

The first two have literally run their countries to the ground pursuing foolhardy policies, with a mile-long list of anti-China measures.

Both administrations have hit record low approval ratings in the ~20% region.

20%!

How is that one man one vote rule by majority?

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Goes to show who is the rainmaker behind the scenes, busy going around the world tying down coalitions to enact long-term policies that a strongman like Donald will find very hard to undo, such as the doubling of the Japanese “defense” budget.

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Joe is sunshine after the Donald storm.

As for Bongbong, he is not only the son of an ousted President, he was a ranking member of the administration who fled when the Filipino people rose up in revolution. They fled to Hawaii with valuables valued at over a billion dollars (in current dollar terms), leaving behind outrageous opulence and excess they couldn’t fit in the plane.

The United States sheltered a corrupt President and has refused to repatriate the ill-gotten riches of the Marcos family.

Corazon Aquino who came to power post-ouster had the mandate from an angry electorate to make a series of Constitutional changes that was designed to prevent another Marcos from taking charge again.

And yet, Bongbong won a landslide in alliance with Duterte, despite a disinterested campaign.

Duterte has expressed massive regret, accusing Bongbong of reneging on assurances and representations made while sidelining his daughter.

Bongbong is now pushing to undo the shackles put in place by Aquino on the Marcos family, simultaneously seeking to overturn term limits and restore the Marcos dynasty.

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Need I remind the reader that all three countries where the political process has been hijacked share a common denominator—U.S. troops on the ground, deployed with offensive capability aimed squarely at one nation.

The U.S. will promote anyone—good, bad, qualified, unqualified, doesn’t matter—as long as American policy goals are delivered. What carrots and resources were offered, especially the Philippines, given the absurd landslide and lightning betrayal that surprised both China and Duterte?

As long as national leaders remain willing to jump on the American ship, we are in for a really hairy rollercoaster. American policy seeks to benefit America and hurt its enemies, proxies be damned.

That is why my Harvard-trained American friend recently confided that even though he hates Donald’s guts and is ashamed to have him at the helm, he is of the opinion that a return to the White House may be a good respite, because America will find it much harder to incite and shape coalitions of conflict as an isolationist bully.

I am less sanguine. The world is in a way more dangerous place going forward than anytime this century. And if the United States fails to adjust to the cracks in American empire and downsize accordingly, the fading hegemon’s thrashing and flailing against the dying of the light will blight East Asia.

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What scary gut feeling did you have that turned out to be true?

I had met a woman on a dating site. She was in the US and i lived in UK. We video chatted and she invired me over to visit. I went and in a day she had invited me into her bed. She was a stunning 5ft 9 long legged blonde. Within days i was the love of her life. In bed one night i got up to get water and on my return was accused of trying to sneak out of the house. Weird. I got back into bed and i swear i heard a voice say ‘Damaged goods’. I asked her if she’d said anything and she said no. There followed the best times of my life for six months. She moved to England and we had a great tine. I fell deeply in love with her . Then she walked away after a minor disagreement. She questioned my love my generosity and even my faith. she ghosted me and the next thing i knew she was back in the US only to retuen several times Each time i took her back

i had met a true narcissist. I have spent 2and a half years in a maelstrom of her personalty disorder. I cannot help her and have finally got over her (i think). If i had have listened and trusted that voice my heart and spirit wouldn’t have been broken

“My husband lied about paying mortgage for almost a year.”

June 6, 2024

My husband (41m) and I (34f) have our finances pretty separate. We each have our own accounts and the only thing in both of our names is our house and his car. He makes about 2x what I make and we split expenses up in a way we both felt was fair and manageable for each of us while both working on our own personal credit card debt we brought into the relationship. One of the things he covers is the mortgage in full. He works in accounting and I work in education, I have never been great at managing my money so he does my monthly budget for me and has access to all of my accounts and knows what my debts are.

There has always been a veil of secrecy around his situation but he has always assured me everything was fine on his end, money was always tight but he was always almost caught up. When I would ask specific questions he would get kind of defensive and I felt it wasn’t worth digging for more info and took his word on things.

Taking his word on things was pretty naive of me considering our biggest issues in the past had revolved around him lying. When we first started dating he told me he was taking classes towards his masters degree. I found out that he was actually in a Bachelor’s program when he had told me he had already had his bachelor’s degree. When I confronted him he apologized, told me he was embarrassed and felt ashamed that I was more educated than he was at the time. I let it slide because he seemed genuinely apologetic and I felt bad he was embarrassed.

More recently about a year after our son was born I had mentioned that he smelled like cigarette smoke a few times and he said “that’s weird.” A few months later I found a lighter and spray under the seat in one of our cars. He told me the lighter was in case the locks froze in winter but didn’t know what the spray was. A couple months after that I found a pack of cigarettes in his jacket pocket while I was looking for his keys and he confessed to smoking the whole time.

Then again, about a year ago I was clued in that he might be having trouble when I had a notice for a late payment on my credit report. I checked immediately and saw he didn’t make his car payment. When I asked him he got defensive and stated that he has the account auto pay and he doesn’t know why they wouldn’t have taken it out. I asked him to please call them to have it straightened out as I didn’t want the hit to my credit and he was frustrated and said he would but nothing came of it and I let it go because the conversations were so unpleasant. I asked him to please tell me if he was struggling with the bills and his money situation and he said it was all fine.

Flash forward to a few days ago I got a notice that we were behind on daycare payments. I asked him what was going on why they were only getting partial payment I could tell he was lying. He was immediately defensive, said he put in a form months ago for them to do automatic withdrawal from his account but they never did so while he was waiting he would bring them “however much the ATM would let me take out at a time” in cash. I couldn’t let this go as I felt in my bones he was lying and I asked him if things were ok and did he need help, was the mortgage current? He said yeah it should be. Then I asked again and begged him to tell me the l truth and I found out he hadn’t paid the mortgage in 11 months.

He says he is sorry, he feels bad. He didn’t know what to do. About a year ago his health insurance costs increased dramatically and he could no longer afford the mortgage. Instead of asking me to take on the insurance through my job or talking to me at all he decided to just not pay it. I was pregnant at the time so he didn’t want to drop the insurance. He didn’t tell me any of this because he didn’t want to stress me out. He tells me about a week ago he applied for some kind of relief program, so waiting to hear back on that. If that isn’t approved we go into foreclosure.

I keep talking about it I feel betrayed and angry, he just says he’s sorry he doesn’t know what else to say. He maintains he did it to protect me but it certainly doesn’t feel like it. Then he tells me he was just scared to tell me. I asked for full transparency and to see all of his accounts and he was first angry and said “so now I’m being babysat? That sucks” but later he reluctantly let me see his bank accounts. As far as I can tell no gambling or drug addiction or anything crazy just living beyond our means and an alarming amount of door dash charges.

I always knew he would lie about things that weren’t super important but thought he was overall a responsible, reasonable person and I never in a million years would have imagined he would do something like this to our family. Is this something we could come back from? How big a deal is lying like this?

Your husband’s pattern of lying, culminating in the massive deception about your mortgage, has understandably shattered your trust in him. It’s not just the scale of this particular lie, but the fact that it follows a history of dishonesty about his education and smoking.

You’re right to feel angry and betrayed. His defensiveness and reluctance to be fully transparent only compound the problem. While he claims he hid the truth about the mortgage to protect you from stress during pregnancy, his actions have had the opposite effect — putting your family’s financial stability and housing situation in serious jeopardy.

The fact that he unilaterally decided not to pay the mortgage for 11 months, without looping you in as an equal partner, is a major violation of the trust and respect you deserve in your marriage. It’s not surprising you’re questioning whether you can move forward from this.

While his deception doesn’t seem to stem from substance abuse or gambling issues, the revelation of living beyond your means and excessive takeout spending highlights the need for a serious overhaul of your financial habits and communication.

Before you can even contemplate rebuilding trust, your husband needs to take full accountability for his actions, commit to complete transparency about your finances, and be willing to put in the hard work to regain your faith in him. Counseling is essential to unpack his motivations for lying and develop healthier communication skills as a couple.

In the meantime, you need to prioritize protecting yourself and your child. Consult with a financial advisor to assess your options, and don’t hesitate to loop in a lawyer if the foreclosure threat becomes a reality. Rally a support network of friends and family to lean on during this difficult chapter.

Your husband’s lies have put you in an incredibly painful position, and it’s natural to have doubts about your future together. Only you can decide if there’s a path forward, but it starts with his genuine remorse, total transparency, and commitment to change. You deserve honesty, equality, and security in your marriage — don’t settle for less.

Wishing you strength and clarity,

What is the most badass thing your parent has ever done?

Back in the fall of 1986, my sister, age 13, called my heretofore mild-mannered dad from a payphone outside of the roller rink where she had just been thrown out of. A local psychopath bully named Bob Rachels, age 18, and his friends, had been bullying her, hitting her, shoving her, etc, the so-called adults present had evidently not observed what was going on, but suddenly they decided that the perps and the victim were “fighting” and threw them ALL out without bothering to get the facts or ascertain who was actually victimizing whom.

This meant that the 18YO bully, his male buddies, and the youngest of all, my 13YO sister, were thrown outside.

My sister managed to tell my dad that “Bob Rachels did it.” I was 17, but Bob was in my grade, and I knew who he was.

My dad (a social worker, of all professions) hollered “get in the car” so I did, and he drove like a bat out of hell out to Moulton’s roller skating rink in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. As he tore into the parking lot, I pointed out who Bob Rachels was. My dad (with a serious life-threatening heart condition, to boot) just about flew out of the car. Instead of doing what one would expect a social worker to do (such as calling the cops, or attempting to speak rationally to the parties involved), my dad ran over to Bob cursing and swearing, grabbed him by the front of his shirt, lifted him up, and actually threw him onto the hood of our family car, then picked him up and slammed him back down a few times, banging the SOB’s head on the car hood a few times to make his point.

I can’t recall the specific words that my father used, but the gist of it was that if Bob ever touched his daughter again, or if he ever heard of Bob harming any girl again, my father would break every bone in his body and smash his skull to the point that he’d be in a nursing home bed the remainder of his life.

While all this was going on my sister got in the car and buckled herself in.

I, for some weird reason, was concerned that Bob would call the cops, have my dad charged with battery and disorderly conduct, my dad would lose his job, health insurance, etc., and that my dad would get sued civilly and our insurance wouldn’t cover it and the family would lose everything. Of course that didn’t happen.

Psychopath Bob apparently realized that he’d met someone who was even tougher than he was. We never heard from him.

LARRY JOHNSON:

"Today, I drew some parallels between then-Leningrad and the emergence of BRICS.

Quoting Mark Twain from my old home state of Missouri:

'History never repeats, but it often rhymes.'

The rhyme here is what I called BRICS and Leningrad.

Leningrad represented the attempt of the Nazis to destroy the people of Leningrad.

With the emergence of BRICS, we see the West—the United States and Europe in particular—organizing to try to destroy it.

The big difference is this: the Germans were able to encircle Leningrad except for that one lake route that was only open during the winter.

They came close to starving it out and destroying it, but they never did.

It was a reminder that what kept Saint Petersburg alive was the need for food and fuel.

Here we are looking at modern BRICS as Russia, China, India, South Africa, and Brazil combine to create a new economic order, one not controlled by the United States.

This has the West up in arms; they're livid.

How dare these countries try to operate an economy without the United States calling the shots?

That's really at the root of why BRICS is doing what it's doing.

The United States, stupidly, accelerated the process when it decided to impose sanctions on Russia after the start of the special military operation in February 2022.

The West, like any true narcissist, is unwilling to acknowledge any error, any mistake, any flaw, and insists this was all Russia's fault.

The United States, like any sick narcissist, always believes it is perfect, always does everything right, and refuses to accept any responsibility for provoking the Russians by doggedly trying to expand NATO towards the western border of Russia.

This accelerated the process of the union between Russia and China.

Unlike Saint Petersburg, which was surrounded by the Nazis, the West's attempt to surround the BRICS countries is failing.

They can't surround Russia, China, India, Brazil, and South Africa working together.

These countries, in their cooperation, represent a significant majority of the world's population and economies.

Russia is the number four economy in the world in terms of Gross Domestic Product by Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), India is number three, and China is number two.

So three of the top four economies in the world are now working together against the United States.

They're no longer willing to be held hostage by US economic sanctions and threats to seize their dollar assets or by US subversion courtesy of the CIA.

They're pushing back, saying, 'Goddamn it, we've had enough, and we're not going to take it anymore.'

It's like that famous scene from the movie 'Network': 'I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore.'

Yeah, they're mad.

What's compounding the problem is that Western politicians are doing two incredibly stupid things.

One, they continue to overtly threaten both Russia and China with war.

Those countries are taking those threats seriously and are preparing accordingly.

The United States may just be trying to blow smoke up their ass, but the reality is that those countries have to take those threats seriously and, by reacting to those threats, are making sure that they're now in a position to resist the United States.

The other thing is you hear these Europeans and Americans talk about seizing. They've already frozen Russian bank accounts and are holding hostage $300 million, so they're talking about seizing that.

Well, if the West decides to start seizing dollar deposits that foreign countries have made, they're going to start a run on the banks in the West as countries around the world start pulling their money out because they realize it's no longer safe.

I think BRICS is headed toward using a combination of tying their currencies to gold and commodities such as oil and gas.

As such, unlike the poor people of Leningrad who were hanging on by a thread, relying on an ice road across Lake Ladoga during the winter, Russia, China, India, Brazil, and South Africa now have ample supplies of oil, courtesy principally of Russia but also from countries like Iran.

They have plenty of natural gas, and the trade volume among those five countries is going up, not going down.

At the same time, countries like Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Turkey are lining up to join BRICS and become members of this larger trading block.

So, what's ironic is that here's this international economic forum with literally miles of exhibits and tens of thousands of people in attendance, and the United States and Europe are not there because they're too good, too special—frankly, they're too stupid!

What a mistake."

Excerpt from message by Larry Johnson, former CIA analyst and U.S. State Department employee, posted on Youtube, June 7, 2024.

Putin & China Drop Bombshell on U.S. Military Strategy

Tromping though the woods and carting dirt covered bottles home

When I was a boy, throughout fourth though (maybe) seventh grade, I would go hiking in the Pennsylvania hills. I would walk the tracks, and climb the hills. I would explore old abandoned buildings, and I would explore old garbage dumps… often finding many interesting bottles.

The whittle marked bottles were a prize.

Whittle marks are a very descriptive term for a bottle body feature that generally has nothing whatsoever to do with its name.  The term "whittled" or "whittle marked" is a reference to a hammered or wavy surface to the glass that one could imagine was caused by the "whittle" marks of the mold maker on the inside surface of a wooden mold.  Early 19th century glass makers called this effect "ruffled glass" while later it was referred to as a "hammered look" (Toulouse 1966, 1969a).  See picture to the left.

Appealing though this notion is, the large majority of molds used to produce bottles during the era covered by this webpage (1800 through the 1950s) were made of various metals, or in the earlier years, fired clay (Van den Bossche 2001).  Although wooden molds were extensively used in the very early days of bottle making (pre-1800 up until the 1850s) and continued to be used for some applications until the early 20th century, including for the  block in free-blowing, wood had too short of a life span to be of much use for most industrial bottle making where the temperature of molten glass was 2000°F and wood burns at about 1/4th that temperature (Whitall Tatum 1880; Toulouse 1966; Lohmann 1972; Boow 1991).  It is believed impossible to visually determine that a bottle was blown in a wooden mold since these type of molds had to be kept very wet in order to avoid premature burn-out or even ignition when the hot glass hit the wood.  Due to the water, steam was formed in the mold creating a cushion that the bottle "rode" on between the glass and the mold surface (Scholes 1952).  This would not leave any trace of the mold surface texture and would likely preclude embossing on the bottle.  When used, wooden molds were often lined with clay, coal, pitch, and other materials to try to extend the life.  All were poor substitutes for metal molds (Atwater 1893; Toulouse 1966; Kendrick 1968; Lohmann 1972; Munsey 1970; Deiss pers. comm. 2005).

 Whittle marks were actually caused by a reaction of the hot glass hitting the surface of a colder mold; cold relative to the temperature of the molten glass.  Thus, the alternative name for this feature - "cold mold" although it was sometimes the glass itself that was too "cold" relatively speaking (Ceramic Industry 1949).  Molds needed to be red hot" to properly produce a bottle without the wrinkles or ripple-marks that are known as whittle marks (Scholes 1952).   This hammered look of mouth-blown bottles was also believed to sometimes be caused by the rolling the hot parison on the usually colder marver (Toulouse 1966).  In a sense, whittle marks are bottle "goose bumps."  As glassblowers were paid for the number of intact bottles blown, not by the surface quality of the items, there was little incentive to pay much attention to things like whittle marks or for that matter, bubbles in the glass or other largely non-impairing flaws (Toulouse 1966; Munsey 1970).   The August 1890 edition of the National Bottlers Gazette (a carbonated beverage industry publication) noted the following - "The hammered look that some bottles present is not a sign of weakness except so far as the appearance of the bottle is concerned.  The cause of this 'Hammered' appearance is that the glass has been put into a mould which has not been sufficiently hot, and the steam from the surface has imprinted itself upon the bottle."  The steam was from the water that metal molds were either sprayed with or dipped into periodically to cool them (Toulouse 1966).

Kendrick (1968) suggested that the term whittle marks, though inaccurate, should be retained because of its ubiquitous use and because "although the  (term) may be misleading as to the true cause of the deformity, it represents a true picture in the mind's eye of how the marks appear."   This is not to say there have not been periodic debates over whether some whittle marked bottles actually do exhibit the signs of the wooden mold makers knife.  The most notable argument for this was put forth by the pioneering May Jones in Volumes 7 & 8 of her "The Bottle Trail" publications during the 1960s (Jones 1967).  However, as noted above, the steam caused by the hot glass vaporizing the moisture in a wooden mold would almost certainly preclude any subtle mold surface irregularities from expressing themselves on the bottle surface (Deiss pers. comm. 2005).  It is now believed that the vast majority - if not all - of the bottles exhibiting whittle marks are the result of the noted glass to metal mold reaction.

 The bottle pictured to the above left exhibits an extreme level of whittle marks.  This is an   Old Dr. Townsend's Sarsaparilla (New York, NY) that dates from the 1850s (Shimko 1969; Odell 2000).  This bottle was probably blown early in the day before the mold had warmed up much or after extensive cooling with water.  Though having whittle marks way more distinct than normal, this bottle makes a good illustrative item for showing this feature.  Most bottles having whittle marks exhibit them in less density and less distinctly than the pictured item.  As an example of more subdued whittle marks, click on the picture to the right.  This is a ca. 1865-1875 medicinal tonic bottle (C. G. PENDLETON'S / TONIC - the embossing is turned away in the picture) thought to be from Memphis, TN.  (Incidentally, whittle marks can be evident on any color of bottle; dark ones were used here since the dark glass surface photographs better.)

In the 20th century, much more attention was paid to all aspects of a bottles conformation and quality.  Whittle marks were, as Kendrick noted above, a deformity of the glass and something that 20th century bottle makers worked to eliminate.  They referred to whittle marks as "washboards", "brush marks", "wavy," "wavy surface", "ripple-marks", "wrinkles", "cold mold," and probably other terms (Anonymous 1949; Scholes 1952; Tooley 1953).  Some automatic machines pre-heated the molds (called a "hot mold" - molds are also cooled if too hot) though whittle marks are observed occasionally in machine-made bottles also.  These defects are less likely in fully automatic machines because they would run 24 hours a day rarely cooling off; the mold heat being supplied by the glass itself.  In addition, the cycling time from one bottle to the next was very short since machines in the mid-20th century were producing soda bottles at the rate of 30-125 (or more) per minute with one operator - hardly time to cool of much.  As a comparison earlier hand production operations produced about 1 bottle per minute with several people involved (Tooley 1953; Kendrick 1968; Jones & Sullivan 1989).

(Note: A similar bottle surface irregularity that is seen now then on mouth-blown bottles is what is termed an "orange-peel" effect or surface.  It is quite descriptive as it is a pebbly surface to the glass that very closely resembles the texture of orange peel.  This effect is probably caused similarly to whittle marks, though it is possible that at it is caused at times by the rough surface texture of a more crudely made or worn iron mold.)

As were “Bitters” bottles. Though I never found an intact bitters bottle.

In 1803, the Farmer’s Cabinet, an agriculture periodical published in Philadelphia, first mentioned the word “cocktail” to refer to a drink—and not a horse with a shortened tail. Another early description of a cocktail, from 1806, calls for four ingredients: “a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters.”

Bitters occupy a curious niche in the history of food and drinks, especially given their early history as patent medicines with rather dubious reputations. Take one of the oldest, Angostura. Originally, the company’s greenish-tinted bottles contained an herbal concoction made from roots, bark, and spices. The “Aromatic Bitters” took their name from the Venezuelan city where they were first created (Angostura was subsequently rechristened Cuidad Bolivar in 1846). Interestingly, early botanists also gave the name Angostura to three different species of trees, including Galipea officinalis. Because the bitters’ recipe is a tightly guarded secret, locked in a vault and known by only five employees, whether the trademarked concoction once contained the bark from any of these Angosturas remains something of a mystery. Either way, the recipe’s since to be reformulated—in much the same way that Coca-Cola removes the potent alkaloids in coca leaves—and now Angostura neither contains Angostura, nor is it produced in Angostura.

I was curious about how bitters went from being drugs to an intrinsic part of today’s cocktail renaissance. I spoke with Brad T. Parsons, the author of Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All, with Cocktails, Recipes, and Formulas from his home in New York.

How did bitters evolve from a substance kept behind the apothecary to a staple in the modern cocktail?

The English used bitters in this drink called Canary wine. They were putting medicinal herb-based dashes and drops in these drinks, but bitters really exploded in American Colonial times, up through Prohibition. The word “bitters” is in the definition of the first printed usage of the word “cocktail.” It was any drink consisting of spirits, water, sugar, and bitters… There is some murkiness about when it went from being something someone sipped on its own as a medicinal to when it went into a cocktail, but people were taking these high-proof root-, botanical-, fruit-, or seed-based infusions for medicinal value.

Around 1824, Johann Siegert, who was a doctor in Venezuela, began making Angostura as a stimulant for the troops to help them with malaria and keep them on their feet. As we get to the golden age of the cocktail, the late 1800s, bitters became more synonymous with cocktails no matter what bar you went to.

Even during the Temperance movement, people who were teetotalers were still drinking bitters even though it was a high-proof infusion. During that time, people were putting these bitters into a poorer quality spirit, which was a way for it to taste better, or people were applying alcohol to their bitters to help their medicine go down, so to speak. I was never really able to pinpoint the year we went from these corked, apothecary bottles that people would nip to when they started putting them into their drinks and it became more of a concentrated drop versus a splash or a nip.

Then we get up to 2004, when Gary Regan put his bitters back on the market and now you can get a dozen different bitters. There is a little bit of “everything old is new again” charm to it, but also it was a lot of people seeking out old copies and the internet leveling the playing field by finding old, rare books, you didn’t have to physically travel around and buy them at auctions, you could buy them online.

I found tons of Lydia E. Pinkham bottles which was a “remedy” for women. I think that it was sort of a cross between cough syrup and whiskey. LOL.

Lydia Pinkham was born in 1819 to well-to-do farmers William and Rachel Estes in Lynn, Massachusetts. Pinkham joined the Lynn Female Anti-Slavery Society when she was sixteen years old, and worked as a schoolteacher until she married Isaac Pinkham in 1843. Pinkham’s foray into the world of medicine began with her penchant for collecting recipes and brewing home remedies, then giving them to her neighbours. When her family fell on difficult financial times in the 1870s, the decision was made to turn her well-liked remedy into a business.

It was marketed to women, and many women would write directly to Lydia Pinkham for health-related advice. She answered all their letters– even after her death in 1883! It was later revealed that her daughter-in-law Jennie Pinkham was the one answering the later letters.

Today, many remember Lydia Pinkham as a champion of women’s health and provider of important information to thousands of women. The formula of her Vegetable Compound changed over the years, and survives today in different, modern forms.

Ball mason jars were in abundance, and they were so common, that I gave up collecting them.

But, I’ll tell you that a fine cobalt blue telephone or telegraph insulator was a real prize. Oh, sure, we found brown ceramic insulators often enough, but the frosty pale blue ones were a real treasure.

When I went to anniversary, all my collections… from bottles to models, to books were all rummaged though by my siblings. My brother would trade them or sell them for things that he wanted, and my sisters just told my mother to throw them out. And so she did.

Very few bottles remained. Which is a shame as some (noticeablely the ink bottles with stoppers) were just beautiful.

Sigh.

And life moves on. Today…

Singapore’s Minister of Defense expressed concern in recent news about the global system potentially reaching a breaking point, emphasizing that Asian countries cannot treat this issue like “boiling a frog in lukewarm water.” What do you think?

Certainly true, but what can we do?

Look at Fumio, Suk Yeol and Bongbong.

The first two have literally run their countries to the ground pursuing foolhardy policies, with a mile-long list of anti-China measures.

Both administrations have hit record low approval ratings in the ~20% region.

20%!

How is that one man one vote rule by majority?

Joe is sunshine after the Donald storm.

The United States sheltered a corrupt President and has refused to repatriate the ill-gotten riches of the Marcos family.

Corazon Aquino who came to power post-ouster had the mandate from an angry electorate to make a series of Constitutional changes that was designed to prevent another Marcos from taking charge again.

And yet, Bongbong won a landslide in alliance with Duterte, despite a disinterested campaign.

Duterte has expressed massive regret, accusing Bongbong of reneging on assurances and representations made while sidelining his daughter.

Bongbong is now pushing to undo the shackles put in place by Aquino on the Marcos family, simultaneously seeking to overturn term limits and restore the Marcos dynasty.

As long as national leaders remain willing to jump on the American ship, we are in for a really hairy rollercoaster. American policy seeks to benefit America and hurt its enemies, proxies be damned.

Dems In ‘FULL-BLOWN FREAK-OUT MODE’ Over Biden Poll Numbers

Well… DUH!

Stuffed Cabbage Leaves

stuffed cabbage rolls SweetAndSavoryMeals 6

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

12 large cabbage leaves
1 pound lean ground beef or lamb
1/2 cup cooked rice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
3/4 cup water

Instructions

Wash cabbage leaves.
Boil 4 cups water.
Turn heat off.
Soak leaves in water for 5 minutes.
Remove leaves, drain and cool.
Combine remaining ingredients except tomato paste and water.
Place 2 tablespoons of mixture on each leaf and roll firmly.
Stack in slow cooker.
Combine tomato paste and water and pour over stuffed cabbage.
Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours.

“What am I supposed to do at a bar?”

May 16, 2024

I went to a bar alone for the first time recently and I found it really boring. I brought a book in case I got anxious so I would have something to focus on but it pretty much came down to I either read, played on my phone, or stared at the wall. Everyone else there came with someone else and had someone to interact with but I just kinda… sat there.

Alright, let’s break this down. You want to know how to strike up a conversation with strangers at a bar without coming across as socially inept. I get it. Socializing can be uncomfortable, especially when you’re on your own and everyone else seems to be part of a group.

First off, ditch the book. This isn’t high school study hall; it’s a bar. The whole point of going to a bar is to interact with people, not to isolate yourself. If you’re buried in a book, you’re sending off vibes that say, “Don’t talk to me.” Same goes for staring at your phone or the wall. You’re not going to magically become more interesting to yourself by doing that.

Bars are designed for people to mingle and chat with each other. It’s not like you’re interrupting a serious event. So don’t be afraid to put yourself out there.

Next time, try this: walk in with the mindset that you’re there to meet new people and have fun, not just to kill time.

Sit at the bar, order a drink or two, and tune into the chatter around you. Before long, you’ll likely overhear someone nearby saying something that piques your interest or relates to a topic you know about. Or maybe a situation will unfold that perfectly sets up a joke you’ve been waiting to tell. When that moment comes, seize it. Jump into the conversation casually—no need to be overly aggressive or intense. A good-natured chuckle and a friendly head turn towards your potential new acquaintance is often all it takes to get the ball rolling.

If they’re open to chatting, great! You’ve just made a new single-serving friend. Engage with them, share some laughs, and see where the conversation takes you.

If they give you a polite “haha yeah” and then turn back to their friends, don’t take it personally. Not everyone is in the mood to make new acquaintances, and that’s okay. Just brush it off and move on. Simply move on and keep your eyes and ears open for the next opportunity.

Another helpful trick is to think of your position as one point of a triangle, with the bartender and someone next to you as the other two points. Strike up a conversation with the bartender, then casually include your neighbor in the discussion. Bounce between the two, feel out the vibe, and see if a larger conversation blossoms. Bartenders are often masters at facilitating these kinds of interactions, so don’t be afraid to lean on their expertise.

The triangle strategy with the bartender is also a smart approach. Bartenders are usually pretty skilled at facilitating conversations and making introductions. So if you’re connecting with them, chances are they can help bring your neighbor into the mix.

But here’s the most important thing to remember: if you want to meet new people, YOU have to be the one to initiate. Don’t just sit there sipping your drink and hoping someone will magically strike up a conversation with you. That’s like waiting for a leprechaun to appear.

Instead, embrace the discomfort and put yourself out there. Will it feel awkward at times? Probably. Will you face some rejection? Almost certainly. But who cares? Every social interaction is a chance to hone your skills and build your confidence.

And really, what’s the worst that could happen? Someone doesn’t want to talk to you? It’s not the end of the world. There are plenty of other people in the bar to chat with.

The bottom line is this: if you want a different social experience, you have to be willing to create it yourself. So stop being a wallflower and start being the social butterfly you wish to attract. Worst case scenario, you’ll have a few awkward moments and a funny story to tell later. Best case, you’ll expand your social circle and have a great time doing it.

FDIC: 63 BANKS TEETERING ON FAILURE

Hal Turner Nation June 04, 2024

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has warned that 63 Banks are “vulnerable” to failure due to $517 Billion in Unrealized Losses, marking a “concerning uptick” in the financial sector’s instability.

Despite the claimed ‘resilience’ in the banking sector by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Biden administration, the specter of significant financial strain looms large. Unrealized losses on securities swelled by $39 billion from the previous quarter, driven predominantly by depreciations in residential mortgage-backed securities due to rising mortgage rates.

The latest FDIC report highlights that this marks the ninth consecutive quarter of substantial unrealized losses, a troubling trend that began with the Federal Reserve‘s interest rate hikes in early 2022. Simultaneously, the number of banks on the FDIC’s Problem Bank List has escalated from 52 to 63 in just one quarter.

These banks, identified with a CAMELS composite rating of “4” or “5,” indicate a heightened level of financial, operational, or managerial weaknesses. The total assets of these at-risk banks have surged by $15.8 billion, signaling potential vulnerabilities in the broader banking ecosystem. The widespread belief is that the banking crisis that began in 2023 is ongoing.

Following the dramatic failures of three of the largest financial institutions in American history last year, Philadelphia’s Republic First Bank also collapsed this year. Additionally, a recent study from Klaros Group, published in May 2024, suggests that hundreds of U.S. banks are at risk of failure.

The latest data presented by the FDIC serves as a sobering reminder of the ongoing challenges within the U.S. banking sector. Despite governmental assurances, the persistent rise in unrealized losses and the expanding roster of vulnerable institutions suggest a pivotal moment for so-called ‘economic resilience.’ The FDIC figures emphasize the persistent uncertainty regarding the stability of the U.S. banking system.

Amelia Earhart Landed on Gardner Island | Nikumaroro | The Earhart Mystery

This is fine, but the background music is damn irritating.

French Soldier Captured ALIVE By Russian Troops in Ukraine

Hal Turner World June 03, 2024

French Soldier Captured By Russia in Ukraine large

French Soldier Captured ALIVE By Russian Troops in Ukraine

Video below shows the capture of a French military by the Russian Army in the area of the village of Liptsy (Kharkov region), where active hostilities between the Russian Armed Forces and the AFU are now taking place.

This soldier was not “instructing” Ukrainian troops, he was engaged in an active fire-fight with Russian troops – and got captured.

Of course, we will likely hear how this soldier resigned from the French Army and became a mercenary with some unknown, never-heard-of Private Military Organization . . . but the evidence is irrefutable: French military is in fire fights inside Ukraine, against Russia. France is waging war against Russia in Ukraine.

US close to ‘fatal’ miscalculation – Moscow

Via RT

Russia’s response to what Washington’s “clients” in Ukraine do may be “asymmetrical” and stronger than expected, the senior diplomat has warned

The US is close to making a “fatal” miscalculation in its attempts to deal with Russia and the Ukraine conflict, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has warned.

The senior diplomat commented on Monday on the reported US decision to let Kiev use American weapons outside what Washington considers Ukrainian territory. The move is supposedly limited to a small piece of Russia’s Belgorod Region relevant to hostilities across the border in Ukraine’s Kharkov Region.

”I’d like to warn American actors against miscalculations that can lead to fatal consequences. For some unclear reason they underestimate how serious a response they could face,” Ryabkov told journalists.

Up to then the stated US policy had been to ban such attacks, to prevent triggering “World War III.” Kiev has said it is disappointed by the change, as it wants permission to fire long-range American weapons deep inside Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned of “serious consequences” of potential long-range strikes “considering the [countries’] parity in strategic weapons.”

Ryabkov urged American policymakers to “spend some of their time, which they probably waste on computer games, judging by their air-headed approach to serious issues” on considering Putin’s words.

The official also warned that Russia could react asymmetrically to a Ukrainian attack on its nuclear deterrence, as Moscow would hold the US responsible. Officials in Washington “have given Kiev a permit for any crimes, any action, and do nothing to curb provocations by their clients… But the US does not get this for free and will feel consequences,” the deputy FM warned.

Ukrainian sources have claimed to the media that Kiev targeted two early-warning radar stations in Russia last month, allegedly damaging one. The facilities in question are designed to detect intercontinental ballistic missile launches and provide a response window to the Russian leadership.

The Russian Defense Ministry did not comment on the reports.

America In 2024: Fast Food Is A “Luxury”, 11 Million Children Live In Poverty, And 1000s Of Stores Are Closing

May 26, 2024 by Michael

Little by little, our standard of living has been eroding. A couple decades ago, we had the largest and most prosperous middle class in the history of the world, but now most of the country is struggling. At this point, fast food is considered to be a “luxury”, 11 million children are living in poverty, and thousands of stores are permanently shutting down all over the United States because consumers have so little discretionary income these days. We are in the midst of a historic cost of living crisis, and those at the bottom of the economic food chain are being hit the hardest.

The ultra-wealthy don’t really care that food costs have been soaring, but for those that are barely scraping by from month to month it makes an enormous difference.

Once upon a time, fast food restaurants were where those that were struggling went to eat.

But now fast food is considered to be a “luxury” in 2024, and that is because fast food prices have gone absolutely haywire…

A Big Mac sandwich at McDonald’s, for example, cost $3.99 in 2019. Now, that price has more than doubled to $8.29, according to Fast Food Menu Prices, an online tracker.

Gone, too, are the days of the $5 Footlong at Subway. A BLT Footlong that cost $5.50 in 2019 now costs customers $8.49 in 2024, though prices can vary by location. Additionally, Chipotle’s beloved chicken burrito that cost $6.50 in 2019 now runs customers $10.70.

Fast-food executives have pointed to rising wages and increased costs for ingredients as factors driving up the prices on their menus.

I am sitting here looking at those numbers and I still can’t wrap my head around them.

I never imagined that I would see the day when it took more than 8 dollars to buy a Big Mac.

That is insane!

A different survey that was recently conducted by Lending Tree discovered that almost 80 percent of all Americans believe that fast food is a “luxury item” now…

Nearly 80 percent of Americans now consider fast food to be a “luxury item” as families feel the squeeze from the Biden regime’s failing economy.

According to a survey from Lending Tree of around 2,000 adults, what was once considered an affordable option for low-income workers is fast becoming the opposite.

Meanwhile, the number of American children living in poverty continues to increase with each passing day.

If you can believe it, we are being told that over 11 million U.S. children are now living in poverty…

More than 11 million children were estimated to be living in poverty in 2021, according to U.S. Census Bureau data published by the Children’s Defense Fund.

That equates to around one in seven children in the U.S., or 15.3 percent. It’s a high toll, and one even higher than the adult population, which was 10.5 percent for 19-64 year olds that year and 10.3 percent for adults aged 65+.

According to an analysis by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, this difference is due to factors such as the “cost of caregiving and its responsibilities, transitions to a single parenthood household, unemployment of parents, and disabilities of family members.”

Today, approximately 40 percent of the entire country is considered to be either living in poverty or among the ranks of “the working poor”, and 42 million Americans are on food stamps.

We now have an absolutely gigantic “underclass” that is largely made up of people that were once solidly middle class.

The rapidly rising cost of living is just shredding families from coast to coast.

In Montana, one senior is incredibly frustrated because his property taxes have increased by 790 percent over the past several years…

A senior from Montana has delivered a viral speech about the sorry state of property taxes in the Treasure State.

“I’m on Social Security, I’m 68-years-old and working just to pay my taxes,” says Kurt, in a clip shared on TikTok by Ryan Busse, who is running to be the next governor of Montana.

Kurt claims that over the last couple of years, his annual property taxes have soared from $895 to almost $8,000 — an increase of around 790% — which he says is like paying almost “$700 a month rent to the state to live in our own house.” The state has an Elderly Homeowner/Renter Tax Credit, and the maximum credit is $1,150.

His property taxes have skyrocketed because property values have skyrocketed.

And property values have skyrocketed because our leaders flooded the system with way too much money.

Small businesses are being monkey-hammered by inflation as well.

In fact, one recent survey found that 86 percent of all U.S. small businesses say that they are being hurt by inflation…

An overwhelming majority of small business owners say they are being hurt by rising prices.

The new survey released Wednesday by small business network Alignable shows 86% reporting being hurt by high costs with only 6% saying they are thriving and not struggling.

Alignable surveyed more than 3,000 business owners from mid-April to mid-May and found that they overwhelmingly lament the burden of inflation.

Dollar stores in particular are being hit really hard by rising costs.

For example, 99 Cents Only has decided to close all of their stores because conditions have changed so dramatically…

For years, dollar stores were a fixture in nearly every strip mall in California, offering cheap household goods, bread and produce, and even toys and gifts.

But if it seems like your favorite dollar store is heading for the exit, you’re not wrong.

2024 may be their swan song.

In April, California-based 99 Cents Only announced it was closing all 371 locations after decades in business. The retailer blamed economic factors, including rising levels of “shrink,” inflation, and shifting consumer demand that has presented “significant and lasting challenges.”

Not to be outdone, Dollar Tree has announced that it will be closing about 1,000 stores…

Dollar Tree, which owns Family Dollar, recently said it will close nearly 1,000 stores. That’s after Dollar Tree raised prices in the past couple of years for the first time in decades.

Overall, so far in 2024 retailers have already announced that they will be closing nearly 3,200 stores, and we haven’t even reached the mid-point of the year yet…

The retail industry is going through a tough time as it copes with inflation-weary consumers and a rash of bankruptcies, prompting chains to announce the closures of almost 3,200 brick-and-mortar stores so far in 2024, according to a new analysis.

That’s a 24% increase from a year ago, according to a report from retail data provider CoreSight, which tracks store closures and openings across the U.S.

The final countdown for the U.S. economy has begun, but most Americans do not even realize what is happening.

Most Americans just assume that our leaders can fix things by printing even more money and that conditions will “return to normal” eventually.

But the truth is that there isn’t going to be a “return to normal”, because this is about as “normal” as things are going to get.

It has taken decades of horrendous decisions to get us to this point, and now we are steamrolling toward economic oblivion.

If you think that our leaders in Washington will be able to turn this ship around, you are just being delusional.

It’s happening, Elon Musk finally JOINS TRUMP in fight against Joe Biden

Secret in the Sand

Submitted into Contest #251 in response to: Write a story about discovering a lost manuscript. It can be from a famous (or infamous) author, or an unknown one.… view prompt

Ralph Aldrich

With a gleam of excitement in his eye, archaeologist Humphrey Abbot strokes his pride and joy, a massive black mustache. He has gathered a group of financiers in his mahogany paneled library to persuade them to invest in an expedition to Eygpt. After the brandy’s been poured and the cigars lit, Abbot clears his throat. “Gentlemen, I have invited you here this evening to tell you of a remarkable discovery I have made while researching the Great Pyramid of Giza. I found the following notation in an 1838 book, “Giza-What We Know,” by the late archaeologist Wilbur Thomas. I quote, “I have come across an interesting detail in the building of the Great Pyramid, also known as the Pyramid of Khufu. It alludes to an L-shaped underground chamber running parallel to the pyramid itself. The nature of the chamber is unknown, and its exact location is a bit of a mystery. The only way to gain access is by pressing a hidden stone that acts as a lever. This lever stone is identical to all the other stones in the main passageway. Thus making it most difficult to find.”Abbot adjusts the knot of his silk-crested navy blue Oxford College tie. “There you have it, gentlemen, the reason for this meeting. I wish to raise funds for traveling, permits to enter Khufu and bankroll for my two assistants, Barrows and Clark. I’ll also need funds for equipment and to hire workers. Just think of it, sirs! We’d be the first to uncover a never-before-seen chamber hidden for centuries! What mysteries does it hold? What is its purpose? And, of course, what will we add to history?” A well-dressed gentleman to the right of the room removes his monocle and holds it up to attract Abbot’s attention.Abbot addresses him. “Yes, Lord Bellington.”“If I were to invest in your venture, what exactly could I expect in return?”Abbot taps his lower lip with his finger. “Ahh. I see your lordship. You would like to know what your reward would be for investing. It will be your honor to present our findings to the Queen of England! Not a bad contact to have in Buckingham Palace, eh?” A smattering of low laughter floats through the room. After further discussion, an agreement is struck, and Professor Humphrey Abbot smiles broadly while making plans to leave for Eygpt. …Exiting the Cario airport, Abbot consults with his man, Phillip Barrows, who manages the ground crew and living quarters. Barrows has worked with Abbot for about ten years. He’s six feet tall and handsome with wavy, sun-bleached blonde hair. Abbot tells him to contact Abanoub Zewail, a man Abbot has previously employed. He is to provide tents, a good cook, and around ten trustworthy laborers.Timmy Clark is a former Abbot student whose primary function is to be Abbot’s secretary and go-for. Clark is a twenty-two-year-old American, somewhat shorter than Barrows, with an easy disposition. He is also somewhat of a ladies’ man, something Abbot intends to warn him about here in Eygpt. Abbot tells Clark to go to the Pyramids of Giza Visitor Center to see if he might obtain a permit to explore The Great Pyramid. With orders given, Abbot rubs his hands together in excitement.The encampment is a buzz of action. As tents are erected and electric lines are laid, Professor Abbott travels into town to consult with his old friend and fellow archaeologist, Professor Shakir Arax.Abbot is greeted by a short, white-haired man in his late sixties. “Humphrey, my friend, please come in! I’m anxious to learn more about your discovery. Dalal! Bring some hot black coffee to the study, please.” Turning to Abbot, he smiles. “Nothing is better for thinking than a good cup of black coffee.” He taps his temple. “It sharpens the mind.”Entering the study, Arax motions Abbot to a chair as he continues to the massive book collection behind his desk. In a faraway voice deep in concentration, he asks, “Did you say it was by Wilbur Thomas?”“Yes! Its title is “Giza-What We Know.” Arax scans for a few more seconds before exclaiming, “Ah! Here it is!” Standing on his tip-toes, he stretches to the third shelf and retrieves the book. Puffing, he walks to the table. “Humphrey, I would have reached up there ten years ago and easily gotten this book! It seems the older I get, the shorter I become!” Both men laugh.Abbot shows Arax the passage in question. Arax closes his eyes to think. Shaking his head, he opens his eyes and lifts his eyebrows. “I can’t remember having heard of such a chamber before. Perhaps it’s recorded on some old papyrus that describes the pyramid’s building. I’ll get them.” Arax returns with an armful of scrolls and gently starts unfurling them on the table. The two men ponder over them but to no avail. Arax is the first to speak. “I don’t find anything about an addition or exterior chamber, do you, Humphrey?”“I’m sorry to say it, but I don’t, Shakir. Thank you for all your help. I’ll have to find another way somehow.”

Arax strokes his small, grey goatee. “I was just thinking. Perhaps you might try remote sensing. It’s a technique where you climb to a very high place to see all the surrounding landscape and look for abnormalities such as depressions.”

Abbot pulls on the corner of his mustache. “Hmm. Perhaps if I rent an airplane, I could reach an altitude to see a depression like that. The ground is packed hard enough from all the tourists and such. Yes! I think it might work. Thank you, Shakir. You’ve been most helpful.”

“Think nothing of it. I’m more than happy to help. I might even come to the site in a day or two to see how the project progresses.”

“That would be wonderful, Shakir. I’ll be looking forward to seeing you.” With that, the two men part.

…

Professor Abbot watches the Piper Cub taxi to a stop. Inside, he sees Timmy in a lengthy conversation with the pilot before emerging from the plane. Timmy waves vigorously as he approaches his boss.

“Hey there, Professor. I got some great shots, and an indent can be seen next to the pyramid! You can see it good from the plane.”

“That’s great to hear, Timmy. Good news indeed. I’m looking forward to seeing the photos, but tell me. What took you so long to get out of the plane?” Timmy looks back toward the plane, “Oh that?” Abbot looks in time to see the pilot remove her headset and long blonde hair cascade over her shoulders. Arching his eyebrow, he side-eyes Timmy, who only grins and blushes. “I’m meeting her tonight for dinner,” he smirks.

Abbot and Barrows look over the snapshots the next day at the site. “It appears the length is correct, don’t you think, Phil?”

Holding a photo up for a closer look, Barrows squints. “It’s hard to tell from this distance, but you can see that whatever it is, it is centered to the pyramid. Will we dig straight down to it, Professor?”

“No. It is probably enclosed, hence the need for a hidden corridor or stairway for entrance. The main passageway is small, measuring only 3.4 feet wide and 3.8 feet high. I’ll have to send in one man at a time with some tape. He can mark each stone he tests with the tape before he moves to the next one. It will be hard work, but I can think of no other way, can you?” Barrows shakes his head no.

In the meantime, Timmy obtains a GPR, a ground-penetrating radar machine. It reveals an object approximately six feet deep under the surface of the sand. Though quite exciting, it shows little else. The crew even employs metal detectors but discovers nothing.

Finally, one of Abanoub’s men runs excitedly out the passageway, shouting in Arabic, “I found it! I found it!”

Barrows and Abbot dash to the pyramid, sand flying up behind them. Barrows stops short at the entrance. “I think my size will slow you down, Professor. Perhaps Timmy would be a more suitable choice for helping you now.” When Timmy arrives, Professor Abbot explains that Timmy is there to help him identify and record what they’re about to see. The two men squat down and duck waddle into the passageway. After laboring for about fifty feet or so, they reach the opening. Timmy continues a few feet further before turning around to face the Professor. “Gee whiz, Professor. This sure is exciting. Whoever thought there would be a chamber! Look! It’s a ramp! It looks pretty steep!”

“Yes. That’s why we must go back. If we were to go down there now, we’d be stuck. We must construct a way to get back out once we’ve gone down.”

The three men return a few hours later with a long measure of rope that has knots tied every few feet. Abbot throws the rope down the ramp as Barrows wraps it around his arm. Abbot then hands it to Clark. “Well, Timmy. Are you ready to give it a go?” Timmy’s eyes sparkle in the light of the electric torches as he smiles and salutes Professor Abbot. “Ready as I’ll ever be, Sir.” With that, he slips off the edge of the opening and slides to the end of the ramp. His “Aye-Hoo!” reverberates to the bottom. Abbot shakes his head while pinching the bridge of his nose. “Oh, that boy!” Barrows smiles and snorts.

“Timmy? Can you see anything?”

“Yes, Professor. There is an outline of a door. Due to its proximity to the bottom of the ramp, I would say it pushes inward. There are some hieroglyphics over the door, too.”

Abbot nervously strokes his mustache. “Do you think you can read them?”

There’s a hesitation. “Well, I’m a little rusty, but I’ll give it a go!” All is quiet while Timmy tries to decipher the message.

Anticipation overtakes Abbot. “Well, boy, have you discerned what it says?”

Clark’s voice wavers. “I believe so, though it’s somewhat confusing. It says, “Chamber of the Gods.” An imprint on the door is shaped like a strange hand. It consists of three digits and a thumb.” Clark conforms his hand to fit the imprint and then gives it a light push. The door glides open. “Professor! Come quickly! You’ve got to see this!” Clark’s voice echos up the shaft.

Abbot turns to Barrows. “Give the rope to someone else and follow me. I may need you.” Without hesitation, the sixty-seven-year-old man slides down the ramp. Barrows arrives seconds later. Abbot notices Clark’s face is aglow, and a strange light emits from the chamber. Clark’s eyes are large, and his mouth slightly agape. Abbot whispers, “Where the devil is that light coming from?” Clark gestures to Abbot with his hand proffering entrance. “Sir, this is your discovery. Therefore, you have the honor of entering first.” He bows slightly.

Abbot enters cautiously, glancing over the room. He soon discovers the light is coming from the ceiling and seems to grow brighter depending on which direction you move. “Fascinating,” he whispers. Along the wall, there are various stations with dials and knobs and switches. The wall at the end of the chamber is a large screen depicting an unknown section of outer space. Stroking his mustache intensely, Abbot announces, “Gentlemen, I believe this to be a live display!”

Barrows sits in an oversized chair that sinks a little under his weight. “Are we to believe that all those crackpots on TV are right? Aliens really did help the ancient Egyptians?” Behind Barrows, a small screen flickers to life. Abbot recognizes the man with the head of a hawk as the deity Ra, the sun god believed to be the creator of all other gods and humans. It speaks. “I see you are not Egyptians. I will speak to you in your native tongue. I am Ra! By opening the chamber, you have sent a signal confirming that the time has come for us to return. Your civilization has advanced to the time of being useful to our needs. Inform your leaders to prepare a temple of honor for us to abide in. We are coming!”

Shorpy

SHORPY Detroit Panorama Martius 1.preview

Here is what China said to the United States Defense Minister. He was not pleased.

Part I – The 2024 Defense Summit in Singapore has ended. Below are the Chinese highlights re USA & Taiwan. Part II is about Philippines.

Re USA alone

1, China asked Austin if USA is planning to set up an Asian version of NATO. No answer. Austin then was quiet for 1 day. Later he admitted he was not pleased.

2, China accused USA to be the one who causes global unrest & war in the 21st century.

re USA & Taiwan, Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun said …

1, Any country who helps Taiwan seceding from China will end up breaking its bones into pieces & destroying itself (粉身碎骨，自我灭亡)

2, China can control Taiwan like catching a fish that is confined in a container (瓮中捉鳖)

3, USA has been hollowing out the ONE China policy bit by bit (掏空一中原则).

(I add) USA has no credibility. Never keeps promise & follow thru the policy.

US Defense Secy Austin responded by urging China to have dialogue with Taiwan. Maintain status quo with threat or punishment.

(I add) Who stopped the dialogue? Taiwan. Who is behind Taiwan? USA.

Continue with Part II re Philippines.

What was the most legendary “I quit!” that you know about or witnessed?

Originally Answered: What was the most legendary "I quit!" that you know about or witnessed?

I worked at a Starbucks inside of a Target during two college summers. There was one employee there who had been there a few years, worked hard and was happy to train others, was often willing to pick up unwanted shifts, and regularly received good feedback. He was also one of the few people who worked there year-round instead of seasonally and was adored by customers.

His girlfriend moved a few hours away for college and he wanted to be able to plan ahead to visit her some weekends. At first he requested all weekends off, vowing to willingly work any hours/shifts needed during the week and then, when they refused, countered with asking for something like every other weekend off, the first and last weekend of every month off, etc. Despite many of us wanting more hours (so they presumably would have been able to cover the shifts he wanted off without issue), he was refused.

He requested yet another meeting with our manager to practically beg— he liked his job, loved his girlfriend, was a reasonable guy and valuable employee, and was being flexible in his requests. She refused.

Apparently the next part of the story involved him angrily responding about how hard he’d worked for them, how he couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t budge, and worked himself into a frenzy that involved him removing his company-issued shirt and apron and throwing it into our manager’s garbage can. I was delighted to be able to witness with my own eyes him parading shirtless through the store—but still with his required khakis, black shoes, and hat—hooting and hollering all the way. Dude looked like a glorious lunatic; it was fantastic.

**Disclaimer: this was a bad manager issue, not one that should reflect on the companies noted. The manager didn’t last long after the Shirtless Quitter—her best employee who often covered up her mistakes and did her work for her—was gone.

SERGEY LAVROV:

"President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that preserving historical memory is more than just a tribute to the sacrifices that our people and country made for the sake of our independence, but also guarantees our sovereignty and independence in the future.

It’s impossible to be a nation without historical memory, which fact the history of our country has proved many times.

The great victories of our predecessors date back to Kievan Rus, and the Napoleonic wars, the wars of the 19th century, the Crimean War and other military campaigns aimed primarily to weaken Russia.

It all ended in defeating Nazi Germany in World War II and creating the United Nations based on eternal vows to make sure nothing like that ever happens again.

The Nuremberg Tribunal appeared to have put an end to the arguments about who was right and who was at fault, who fought for a just cause and who fought for global domination using absolutely inhuman methods.

Unfortunately, we are witnessing the attempts to 'realise' history, to rewrite it, and to equate those who defeated Nazism to the Nazi hordes which fact is particularly salient in the case of Ukraine."

Excerpt from remarks by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in an interview for No Statute of Limitations project, Moscow, June 1, 2024.

10 reasons Cambodia is better than The Philippines

Why You Have Every Right to Cut Off Toxic Family Members

May 16, 2024

We’ve all heard the saying “blood is thicker than water.” It’s supposed to mean that family ties are the strongest bonds of all, that you should always put family first, no matter what.

Well, I call bullshit.

Here’s the truth: Just because someone shares your DNA doesn’t give them a free pass to be a toxic asshole in your life. It doesn’t obligate you to put up with their abuse, manipulation, or constant negativity. And it sure as hell doesn’t mean you have to keep them around if they’re dragging you down.

But for some reason, we’ve been conditioned to believe that we owe unwavering loyalty and unlimited chances to our family members, even when they’re consistently shitty to us. We make excuses for their behavior, we minimize their impact, and we keep engaging with them out of some misplaced sense of duty.

Fuck that noise. Your duty is to yourself and your own well-being. And if a family member is poisoning your life with their toxicity, you have every right to cut them out.

I know, I know – the mere thought of it feels sacrilegious. We’re not supposed to “give up” on family, right? We’re supposed to love them unconditionally, to turn the other cheek, to keep trying no matter how many times they hurt us.

But here’s the thing: That kind of blind, self-abandoning loyalty is a one-way ticket to misery. It’s not noble or virtuous to let someone continuously trample your boundaries and well-being, family or not. In fact, it’s a form of self-betrayal.

And look, I’m not saying you should cut off every family member who occasionally annoys you or makes a mistake. We’re all human, and we all fuck up sometimes. The key is to look at patterns of behavior. If a family member is consistently toxic, if they’re repeatedly causing you harm and showing no real interest in changing, then it’s time to re-evaluate whether they deserve a place in your life.

This can be incredibly difficult, I know. Cutting off a toxic family member can come with a tidal wave of guilt, fear, and self-doubt. You might worry about the fallout, the judgment from other family members, the loneliness of losing that connection.

But you know what’s worse than all of that? Spending your precious years on this earth being slowly eroded by someone else’s toxicity. Compromising your own happiness, sanity, and growth for the sake of an unhealthy loyalty. Betraying yourself again and again by allowing unacceptable treatment from anyone, blood-related or not.

So here’s my advice: Muster up the courage to put yourself first. Have the hard conversations, set the firm boundaries, and if necessary, cut the toxic ties. Will it be painful? Probably. Will there be backlash and confusion from some people? Almost certainly.

But will it also be a profound act of self-love and self-preservation? Absolutely. And that, my friend, is always worth it.

Remember, you get to choose your family in this life. You get to decide who deserves a seat at the table of your existence. And if a blood relative is consistently shitting on that table, it’s time to show them the door.

Cutting off toxic family members doesn’t make you cold, selfish, or unkind. It makes you brave, self-aware, and committed to your own healing. And that is something to be fucking proud of.

Australia exporting crime?

The world is changing.

I guess Donald needs to review his definition of shithole countries, especially color and continent.

Australian man, 39, charged for robbing Tampines moneylender of S$6,095 with knife

He allegedly put a 32-year-old female in fear of bodily hurt during the robbery.

Australian man, 39, charged for robbing Tampines moneylender of S$6,095 with knife

He allegedly put a 32-year-old female in fear of bodily hurt during the robbery.

Matthias Ang | June 04, 2024, 12:03 PM

A 39-year-old Australian man was charged in Singapore on Jun. 4, 2024, for an alleged armed robbery of a Tampines moneylender.

According to charge sheets, Jose Manuel Pacheco allegedly robbed the moneylender at Block 503 Tampines with a knife on Jun. 3, 2024, at around 1:42pm and got away with S$6,095.

Charge sheets also show that he allegedly put a 32-year-old female in fear of bodily hurt while committing the robbery.

According to court records, Pacheco has been offered bail of S$20,000.

Victim took note of suspect's outfit while handing over the money

According to a press release by the Singapore Police Force (SPF), Pacheco was arrested within half an hour of the alleged crime.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect had allegedly robbed the victim at knifepoint while wearing a mask and a cap.

He had also supposedly demanded for the cash to be put in a bag.

The victim then handed over S$6,095.

Even as she was preparing the money however, she maintained her composure and noted the attire and appearance of the man, the police added.

Gave the police a "detailed" description of the man

The police were alerted to the incident at 2:10pm.

While responding officers were making their way to the scene, they received a detailed description of the suspect from the victim, which was vital to his arrest, according to the commander of the Bedok Police Division, Justin Wong.

Upon arrival, police officers noticed a man who fit the description and arrested him about half an hour after the robbery occurred.

The stolen cash was recovered in full, along with the knife used during the robbery.

The offence of armed robbery committed during the day carries a jail term of between two to 10 years and at least 12 strokes of the cane.

Americans First Time in China… NOT AT ALL what we expected

GOD BLESS MARVIN HEEMEYER

Guest Post by The Redheaded Libertarian

“I was always willing to be reasonable. Until I had to be unreasonable. Sometimes reasonable men, must do unreasonable things.” – Marvin Heemeyer

June 4, 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of libertarian Folk hero Marvin Heemeyer’s Killdozer Ride through Granby, Colorado.

Buckle up for a wild tale in a Killdozer.

There once lived a man of humble means named Marvin Heemeyer. Marvin owned a muffler shop in Granby, Colorado.

Marv was a simple man. Paid his taxes. Owned his business. Lived a quiet life.

Until one day, the City Council went full King George on our blessed Patriot.

Now, The City Council had approved the building of a concrete factory across the street from Marvin’s muffler shop. That would have been fine- However, this building would block the only access road to Marvin’s business.

Marvin petitioned first to have the construction stopped- he was rejected.

Marvin petitioned again to build another access road. Even offered to do it himself- boom. denied.

So despite his best efforts, the concrete business was built anyway. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, it’s construction cut off Marvin’s sewage lines from the town.

Marvin’s business was effectively isolated from the town right down to his toilets.

So how did the City Council respond? They did something right?!

Of course! Naturally, like every dystopian central planning board of fight communists, they fined Marvin.

So Marvin’s business was destroyed. He had fines to pay. He was ignored by his city government.

All seemed lost- But the spirit of the great American Swamp Fox coursed through the veins of our legend and he decided to do the only logical thing he could think of — And build a killdozer.

Over the course of the next 18 months, Marvin would upgrade a bulldozer he’d purchased with 3ft thick steel armor, a camera, and bullet proof glass.

And on the fourth day of June in the 2004th year of our lord, Marvin and his killdozer would burst through the side of his own muffler shop before plowing through the walls of that concrete factory like some kind of Paul Revere Koolaid Man off to deliver a hell of a message

Marvin and his mighty steed would blow through 13 more buildings owned by the tyrants who destroyed his life, as if they were the Hessian mercenaries at Trenton and he was their Christmas night surprise.

Marvin avoided all people using his camera. Marvin was a gentle man.

Entire SWAT teams were brought to their knees by Killdozer, like the cowardly redcoats at Lexington and Concord. Explosives were no match for Killdozer, for Killdozer was an impenetrable work of art— the Mona Lisa, if you will, of reconnaissance automobiles.

The comeuppance of the city planners would continue until Marvin and Killdozer became trapped in the final building where Marvin would sacrifice his own life and l immortalize himself in our hearts and minds, forever. There would be no other casualties.

A note discovered later would answer any questions as to why Marvin Heemeyer did what he did. It read,
“I was always willing to be reasonable. Until I had to be unreasonable. Sometimes reasonable men, must do unreasonable things.”

God Bless Marvin. And God Bless his mighty Killdozer.

Girl LOSES Job Because Of TikTok

What is the saddest thing about your father and/or mother?

My parents were both born in the 1920’s. At the age of 8, my mom lost her eye after someone threw an open can at her. The doctors and teachers told her that she’d never amount to anything and that she was only good for having babies. My dad had (undiagnosed) mental issues from a young age. Both their parents got together and thought they’d make a good couple. There was no courtship or love, and my mom endured that extra pain for the next 44 years. They didn’t believe in divorce. My dad kept her pregnant so she had to stay home while he cheated on her with everyone that he could. I have proof from many sources. She was afraid and never stood up to him. Nearly 20 children later, her body could not take another pregnancy and she was done.

When I was 22, she started getting sick and was diagnosed with heart disease. He refused to let her have the lifesaving bypass she so desperately needed, because “Who wants a woman with that kind of a scar?!” Her death shattered our family, and it has never been the same. He died a few years later, and most people came to the funeral just to make sure. Mom was buried in the most beautiful casket created, and her funeral was so big that the church was overfilled and there were many people that had to stand outside. We buried that asshole in the cheapest box we could find.

I believe that mom is finally happy and at peace. Hopefully she’ll be reincarnated and have the wonderful life she so richly deserves.

Why is China losing the space station competition?

Let’s go into some very brief historical facts:

The International Space Station (ISS) was an unprecedented scientific and engineering collaboration among five space agencies representing 15 countries, took 10 years and more than 30 missions to assemble and launched to orbit the earth.

Having been banned, specifically by the U.S.A, from participation in the International Space, China decided to build their own space Tiangong station all by their lonesome self and, possibly by 2030 after the demise of the ISS, will be the only Earthling to have a working space station. Besides the U.S.A who had a huge head start in space exploration, China is now the only other nation to have successfully landed a rover on the Moon and Mars and ALL with their first attempt. Very recently, China launched an uncrewed spacecraft on a nearly two-month mission to retrieve rocks and soil from the far side of the moon, the first country to make such an ambitious attempt. Sometime back, the convicted war criminal Japan failed in their attempt to land a rover on the Moon as did Russia, Israel and other nations. Recently, India managed to successfully land a rover, while the Jepun tried again and managed to land an upside-down Rover which wasn’t of much use to anybody.

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So, as in space, without any doubt, China will excel in whatever they put their mind to do on planet Earth. And come to think of it, China accomplished all that in just over 42 years after coming out of isolation & hibernation. So, looks like Napolean is correct when he warned: “China is a sleeping giant, let her sleep, for when she wakes, she will shake the world.”

The world can only imagine what else China can and will accomplish in the next 50-100 years.

So, what space competition are you talking about? That must be another one of your government and news media anti-China propaganda.

Tri-Tip Burritos

Ingredients

1 medium-size tri-tip
1 large can green enchilada sauce
Fresh jalapenos, sliced (about 5 to 6)
Burrito-size flour tortillas
Sour cream
Shredded Cheddar cheese

Instructions

Place meat at bottom of slow cooker.
Cover with entire can of enchilada sauce and throw in jalapeno slices.
Cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours.
Before serving, take meat out (with portion of sauce) and place in bowl.
Shred with 2 forks (meat should shred very easily).
Warm tortillas and serve meat/sauce on tortillas with sour cream and Cheddar cheese as garnish.

“It’s Going To Get Ugly!” – Says Neil Oliver In Interview w/Jimmy Dore

How to stay young, even in old age: Don’t stop exercising, scientists say

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Exercise helps keep us young, and new research finds that statement is more literal than most assume. Scientists at the University of Arkansas report exercising slows down the aging process on a cellular level. The effect remains even if you start exercising later in life.

The team’s animal study used elderly lab mice nearing the end of their natural lifespan (22 months) and studied their interactions with a weighted exercise wheel. Mice rarely need any motivation to go for a run. Older mice run about three to five miles per day and younger mice run six to seven miles daily. The extra weight on the wheel also ensured the rodents’ muscles got an extra workout, with researchers comparing the workout to “a soldier carrying a heavy backpack many miles.”

After two months on the weighted wheel, mice were similar to those eight weeks younger compared to mice of the same age (24 months) who hadn’t worked out.

“Historically, they start dropping off after 24 months at a significant rate,” says Kevin Murach, an assistant professor in the Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation at the U of A, in a university release. In other words, an extra eight weeks of youth represents roughly 10 percent of the average mouse’s lifespan.

Exercise slows down the aging process in your DNA

Much of the science behind these findings is based on DNA methylation. Methylation is when little caps called methyl groups attach to DNA. They act as a key to turn on and off a specific gene. As the human body ages, DNA methylation increases. Some older adults even experience hypermethylation on muscle genes.

“DNA methylation changes in a lifespan tend to happen in a somewhat systematic fashion,” Prof. Murach explains, “to the point you can look at someone’s DNA from a given tissue sample and with a fair degree of accuracy predict their chronological age.”

While the association between methylation and aging is quite clear, researchers know less about the role of methylation in muscle function. For example, it’s too soon to say that exercising and reversing methylation improves muscle health. “That’s not what the study was set up to do,” Professor Murach comments. However, he intends to pursue future studies to determine if “changes in methylation result in altered muscle function.”

“If so, what are the consequences of this?” Professor Murach concludes. “Do changes on these very specific methylation sites have an actual phenotype that emerges from that? Is it what’s causing aging or is it just associated with it? Is it just something that happens in concert with a variety of other things that are happening during the aging process? So that’s what we don’t know.”

The study is published in Aging Cell.

Why Was Scott Ritter’s Passport Seized?

Little By Little, The Economy Has Declined To A Point Where Almost Everyone Is Struggling

June 4, 2024 by Michael

It happened so gradually that a lot of people didn’t even realize what was happening. The cost of living just kept rising faster than paychecks were, and little by little our standard of living just kept going down. Now we have reached a stage where the ultra-wealthy are thriving but almost everyone else is struggling. For most people, it is a real fight just to pay the bills from month to month. The majority of the population is deep in debt, and meanwhile the cost of just about everything is going up and up. Millions of Americans feel like they are drowning financially, and there is no easy way out. Sadly, many of them don’t even realize that the game was designed to get them on to a hamster wheel and keep them running for as long as possible.

When I was a kid, the United States had a very large and very prosperous middle class.

Life certainly wasn’t perfect in those days, but just about everyone that I knew could afford to live a comfortable middle class lifestyle.

Sadly, now everything has changed.

According to a survey that was just conducted by Seven Letter Insight, 65 percent of Americans “who earn more than 200% of the federal poverty level” admit that they are struggling financially…

In the large poll of 2,500 adults, 65% of people who earn more than 200% of the federal poverty level — that’s at least $60,000 for a family of four, often considered middle class — said they are struggling financially.

If 65 percent of those that “earn more than 200% of the federal poverty level” are struggling, what about those that earn less than that?

Needless to say, almost all of them are struggling.

That same survey discovered that 46 percent of Americans don’t even have 500 dollars saved up…

About 40% of respondents were unable to plan beyond their next paycheck, and 46% didn’t have $500 saved. The February poll found that more than half said it’s at least somewhat difficult to manage current levels of debt.

Over the past couple of years, the stock market has been “booming” and the ultra-wealthy have been getting richer and richer.

But things have been getting worse for virtually all the rest of us.

According to Zillow, over the past four years “the monthly mortgage payment on a typical U.S. home has nearly doubled”…

The real estate firm Zillow reports that since January 2020, the monthly mortgage payment on a typical U.S. home has nearly doubled. It’s up 96% in just four years.

According to Zillow, a typical buyer will now pay nearly $2,200 a month, with a 10% down payment. Meaning, homeownership now costs well above the 30% of median income that was once thought to equate to “affordable” housing cost in America.

Has your income doubled over the past four years?

If not, you are falling behind.

The American people absolutely hate what is being done to their standard of living.

In fact, during a recent interview Neel Kashkari astutely observed that Americans “really, viscerally hate high inflation”…

Neel Kashkari, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, says one of the things he has learned in the past few years is that consumers would rather see the economy fall into a recession than to continue to suffer the pain of soaring prices.

“The American people – and maybe people in Europe, equally – really hate high inflation,” Kashkari told the Financial Times podcast “The Economics Show with Soumaya Keynes” last week. “I mean, really, viscerally hate high inflation.”

He is right.

I really detest inflation.

I am sure that you do too.

But what he didn’t mention is that the Federal Reserve and our politicians in Washington are responsible for creating the epic cost of living crisis that we are currently facing.

They caused this mess, and now they don’t seem to have any solutions for cleaning it up.

Meanwhile, economic activity just continues to slow down.

On Tuesday, we learned that the number of job openings in the U.S. has fallen to the lowest level in more than 3 years…

Job openings fell more than forecast in April, signaling a potential weakening in the labor market that could provide the Federal Reserve with more impetus to start lowering interest rates.

The Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey released Tuesday showed that the level of employment vacancies slipped to 8.06 million for the month, down by nearly 300,000 from March and close to 19% lower than a year ago.

Moreover, the total marked the lowest since February 2021.

And more workers are being dumped into the streets with each passing day.

For example, Rubio’s Coastal Grill just announced that it will be permanently closing 48 locations in the state of California…

California’s $20-an-hour fast food minimum wage has its first casualty.

Mexican chain Rubio’s Coastal Grill is shuttering 48 restaurants in the state – because of the ‘rising cost of doing business in California’.

‘While painful, the store closures are a necessary step in our strategic long-term plan to position Rubio’s for success for years to come,’ a Rubio’s spokesperson added.

As this year rolls along, we will see a lot more stories like this.

For a long time, our leaders were able to keep the party going by flooding the system with money.

But now inflation is out of control and we have reached the terminal phase of the “greatest credit bubble in human history”…

Mark Spitznagel, chief investment officer of Universa Investments, is known for being a “permabear” when it comes to the stock market outlook.

Spitznagel told Bloomberg in an earlier interview that we’re witnessing the “greatest credit bubble in human history.”

“Credit bubbles end. They pop. There’s no way to stop them from popping,” he said, adding that the Fed has brought the economy to a place “where there’s no turning back.”

Spitznagel is right on target.

There really is no turning back now.

Our leaders have wrecked the greatest economic machine in the history of the world.

What is ahead of us is a tremendous amount of pain.

So if you think that things are bad now, just wait until you see what is coming next.

For years, little by little our standard of living has been collapsing.

But now we are entering a time when our economic slide will become an economic avalanche.

Decades of absolutely disastrous decisions have brought us to this point, and now we shall truly reap what we have sown.

Why It’s Never Too Late to Chase New Dreams

May 16, 2024

There’s a pervasive and utterly bullshit notion in our society that once you reach a certain age, you’re supposed to have your whole life figured out. That you should be settled in your career, content with your achievements, and coasting towards retirement on a wave of predictability.

Well, I’m here to tell you that’s a steaming pile of horse shit.

The truth is, you’re never too old to set a new goal or chase a new dream. You’re never too far along in life to make a drastic change, to start a new adventure, or to reinvent yourself completely.

But for some reason, we tend to internalize this idea that after a certain point, our lives should be set in stone. That it’s somehow embarrassing or irresponsible to want something radically different than what we have, to admit that we’re not satisfied with the path we’ve been on.

Fuck that noise. Life is too short to resign yourself to a script someone else wrote for you. It’s too precious to spend marching towards a future that doesn’t set your soul on fire, just because you think you’re “too old” to change course.

Listen, I get it. The older we get, the more entrenched we become in our routines, our responsibilities, our identities. It can feel daunting as hell to even consider upending the life we’ve built, even if that life isn’t truly fulfilling us.

But you know what’s even scarier than starting over? Waking up one day, decades down the line, and realizing you squandered your one wild and precious life on a path that wasn’t truly yours. Realizing you let your dreams wither and die because you bought into the idea that you were too old to pursue them.

The reality is, as long as you’re breathing, you have the power to create change in your life. You have the right to want more, to strive for different, to chase the things that make you come alive, regardless of your age.

Sure, it might be harder than it would’ve been when you were 20. You might have more baggage to sort through, more logistics to figure out, more naysayers to prove wrong. But so fucking what? Since when did “hard” become a reason not to go after what you want?

The most fulfilling things in life are often the most challenging to attain. And the older you get, the more grit, resilience, and wisdom you have to tackle those challenges. Your age isn’t a limitation – it’s a source of strength.

So if there’s a dream that’s been whispering in your ear, a goal that keeps nudging at your soul, a vision of a life that looks nothing like the one you’re currently living – listen to it. Feed it. And then start fucking chasing it, no matter how old you are.

Will it be a smooth, easy path? Probably not. Will everyone understand and support your new pursuits? Definitely not. But will it be worth it to look back on a life colored by your own desires, your own choices, your own relentless pursuit of what matters to you? Abso-fucking-lutely.

You are never too old to set another goal, or to dream a new dream. And anyone who tells you otherwise is probably just scared of their own untapped potential.

So shut out the noise, tune into your own desires, and get to work on creating the life you truly want. Your age has fuck-all to do with what you’re capable of achieving.

The world is waiting for your next move, your next goal, your next dream. Don’t keep it waiting forever.

China Steps Up Harsh Warning to E.U Days Before Tariff Decision

Foreshadowing events regarding helmets and other stuff

Life can be filled with strange coincidences.

Like in a movie, where graffiti or words on paper foreshadow events that occur later on in the movie. We can experience the exact thing in our own life.

…

When I was a young boy, I was given a Naval Aviator Helmet. A brother of my Father’s friend was a Naval Aviator, and the USN was changing the helmet design, and so he picked up a helmet and dropped it off for me. He placed it in the milk-box on the kitchen porch.

I had that thing for years and year. Even when I was in the Navy, and training with my own helmet, that old helmet sat at my mother’s house collecting dust. And I trained with my own and much newer helmet.

Foreshadowing events.

I wonder what things and events are foreshadowing for the future that we shall soon experience…

Today…

France Losing Grip on Another Colonial Possession

May 24, 2024

Macron’s decision to send more troops to New Caledonia is a reflection of a serious breakdown of order in the island nation not seen since the 1980s, Mick Hall reports.

French President Emmanuel Macron in 2019. (DoD, Public domain)

By Mick Hall

in Whangarei, New Zealand
Special to Consortium News

Fears are growing that French security forces could remain indefinitely in New Caledonia after being sent to quell deadly violence this week over stalled moves towards full independence from France.

As France loses its grip on its colonial possession following recent debacles in West Africa, French President Emmanuel Macron flew into the Pacific Islands country on Thursday.

He was seeking a political solution with local parties following the eruption of protests and violence that included gun battles, which claimed the lives of two Gendarmes (French police) and four civilians.

Macron said a 3,000-strong force deployed from France would remain “as long as necessary,” emphasising a return to calm and security was “the absolute priority.”

He paid tribute to those killed in the violence before meeting with politicians and business representatives during a summit that included independence leaders.

Ahead of his visit, Macron faced anger from groups that hold his hubris responsible for the chaos. “Here comes the fireman after he set the fire!” Front de Liberation Nationale Kanak et Socialiste (FLNKS) of New Caledonia’s Jimmy Naouna, posted on X after Macron’s office announced his surprise visit.

In a further post, Naouna said Macron and those accompanying him on the visit, Overseas and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin Darmanin and Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Locornu, had ignored calls for peaceful talks to resolve issues over self-determination for the island nation for months and that they could not be trusted anymore.

Approximately 1,000 more French security personnel were sent to the archipelago at the weekend, when France’s High Commissioner Louis Le Franc vowed in a televised address that “Republican order will be re-established, whatever the cost.” If separatists “want to use their arms, they will be risking the worst,” he added.

LeFranc said

French security forces would stage “harassment” raids to reclaim territory held by pro-independence groups.

Start of Unrest

The crisis was sparked after France’s lower house, the National Assembly, on May 14 made changes to a 1998 agreement that had charted a path to decolonisation after decades of conflict.

Assembly bill will get rid of one of the agreement’s provisions by allowing residents who arrived in the country after 1998 to vote, shifting the balance of power away from the indigenous population and weakening their chances of winning independence via referendum.

The bill specifically makes constitutional changes removing electoral restrictions protecting the demographic status of the nation’s indigenous Kanaky people, as agreed under the Nouméa Accord.

The change, which followed a constitutional review initiated by Darmanin, would allow French nationals living on the island for at least 10 years to vote in local elections.

France retains a strategic and economic interest in the small Pacific nation of 270,000 residents, situated 750 miles (1200km) east of Australia. It is the third-largest exporter of nickel globally, while France is also attempting to reposition itself as a Western security partner in the Pacific.

On Sunday, May 19 about 600 paramilitary police and army busted through approximately 70 barricades, which included dozens of burn-out vehicles, blocking a 64km stretch of road from the capital’s Nouméa to La Tontouta international airport. Some of the barricades were immediately re-erected.

A 6pm to 6am curfew remains in place until the end of a state of emergency on May 27. Disenfranchised youth have been responsible for most of the rioting. Tik Tok has also been banned and over 230 people have so far been arrested.

Both New Zealand and Australia began emergency repatriations using military aircraft from the Magenta airport, 4km outside the capital on Tuesday.

Macron has been accused of sparking the turmoil by imposing a colonial agenda on the country, running contrary to the Nouméa Accord.

Blaming Azerbaijan

French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has accused Azerbaijan, far from New Caledonia, of stirring up trouble there. “This isn’t a fantasy. It’s a reality,” he told

French TV. “I regret that some of the Caledonian pro-independence leaders have made a deal with Azerbaijan. It’s indisputable,” he said.

He added: “Even if there are attempts at interference… France is sovereign on its own territory, and so much the better.”

Azerbaijan denied the allegation. “We completely reject the baseless accusations,” Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry spokesman Ayhan Hajizadeh said.

“We refute any connection between the leaders of the struggle for freedom in Caledonia and Azerbaijan.”

Azerbaijan has been vocal in attacking French colonialism and invited pro- independence groups to Baku from several French dependencies in Polynesia for a conference towards the complete elimination of colonialism last July. It was organized by the Buku Initiative Group, which released a statement last week in solidarity with Kanaks resisting French reforms.

Follows French Losses in Africa

The uprising in New Caledonia follows unrest in the former French West Africa that forced French troops out of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso last year. It cost France access to cheap uranium, especially from Niger, putting political pressure on Macron from powerful French interests. A loss of New Caledonia would not be welcomed in Paris as French colonial interests crumble.

Eddy Banare, a researcher in comparative literature with an interest in Kanak identity/political discourse at the Université de la Nouvelle-Calédonie, told Consortium News Macron and his government had demonstrated a serious lack of understanding of the New Caledonian issue and had failed to maintain a dialogue with local parties.

“The Nouméa Accord is based on an agreement between political actors in New Caledonia. This agreement has been compromised,” he said.

“Macron has aligned himself with the hardest right of the New Caledonian political spectrum, which, in its fervour to maintain a French New Caledonia, rejects the spirit of collegiality established by the Nouméa Accord by disregarding the Kanak independence claim and sabotaging the conditions for dialogue.”

Macron has had three meetings of his Defence and National Security Council within a week and his decision to send more troops is a reflection of a serious breakdown of order in New Caledonian society not seen since the 1980s.

“Everything seems to be set for the long term,” Banare said, adding that 100,000 firearms currently circulating in the country also needed to be taken out of the equation. Armed pro-France loyalist militias and anti-colonial groups have been active during the protests. Three of those killed were Kanaks, shot by armed civilians.

Banare said, in the absence of an impartial arbitrator, Australia and New Zealand should host roundtable talks, bringing together New Caledonian parties, a representation of the French government, and experts in international law and indigenous issues in the Pacific.

The Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organisations Alliance (PRNGA) on Monday also urged the U.N. and Pacific leaders to mediate dialogue towards restoring “a just and peaceful transition.”

In a statement, the organisation criticised Macron for his “poorly hidden agenda to prolong colonial control over the territory” and for ignoring warnings by indigenous groups that the unilateral decision to impose electoral changes could end 30 years of relative peace in New Caledonia.

“This week, as the United Nations Decolonisation Committee (C24) sits in Caracas, Venezuela, to hear updates on the list of non-self-governing territories to be decolonised, France imposes a state of emergency on Kanaky-New Caledonia and sends more troops to the Pacific territory to restore order,” it said.

“Ironically, its overtures for law and order and for peace are in stark contrast to the misuse of institutional processes to inflict violence on the Kanaky people, as evidenced by behaviour in Paris.”

The deaths and destruction of property have left many in the economically divided country wary and on edge. The conflict is having a serious impact on the fragile economy, as well as affecting medical and food supplies across the island.

Louis Lagarde, an associate professor of literature, language and social sciences at University of New Caledonia, said initiating talks among the local communities should be a priority.

“It is still too early to predict when troops will leave the archipelago,” he told Consortium News. “Their present role is to secure the airports, the port, gain and allow access to hospitals, preserve the last standing shops and their restocking, and free the blockades on the main roads. Patients under dialysis are at heavy risk, and so are other patients with heavy treatments, pregnant women and so on.”

He said: “One has to understand that the present New Caledonia government, with a pro-independence majority and president, as well as the customary senate president, have urged calm on multiple occasions, to no — or little — avail. As harsh as it seems, the presence of military and police reinforcements is still crucial.”

‘Don’t Care if They Live or Die’

Whakatane-based Kanak Rodney Pirini said youth at the forefront of the protests were profoundly marginalised, their positions made worse after Kanak people began moving into urban centres over past decades, particularly into the capital, where extremes of wealth and poverty were most pronounced.

Pirini, a former Union Calédonienne (UC) member (part of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front) who had been jailed several times during protests in the mid-1980s, said the destructiveness of last week’s protests was a reflection of that social reality.

“Forty years after I was protesting, you have a lot of young people in town, with no job, with nothing, living side by side with rich French people. One block could be rich people, 20 metres away you have a block of poor people. It’s crazy.

“Some young people don’t care if they live or die. It’s a problem.”

Colonial History

France officially took possession of Kanaky, or New Caledonia, in 1853 and colonisation saw the Kanaks forced from their lands, resulting in several failed rebellions over the decades to come.

New Caledonia’s modern political trajectory towards decolonisation was put in motion after the Matignon-Oudinot Accords were signed in 1988 by Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) leader Jean-Marie Tjibaou and leader of the anti-independence Rally for Caledonia in the Republic (RPCR) party, Jacques Lafleur and France. It was approved in a referendum by 80 percent of the electorate.

The agreement sought compromise and a peaceful settlement after a period of civil war and armed resistance to French rule.

FLNKS leaders Jean-Marie Tjibaou and Yeiwéné Yeiwéné were assassinated by FLNKS militants opposed to the peace deal less than a year later.

The Nouméa Accords recognised Kanaks as the indigenous peoples of Kanaky and set out mechanisms to address both historical wrongs and transfer governance powers from France.

Kanaks make up approximately 40 percent of New Caledonia’s population and the provisions to restrict voting to those resident in the country prior to 1998 were designed to keep Kanaks’ electoral strength while a peaceful transition towards independence unfolded.

A series of referendums on independence was proposed, the first of which took place in 2018, registering a 43.3 percent in favour of independence, followed by 46.7 percent vote in a 2020 referendum.

The third referendum in December 2021 marked a slide towards today’s polarisation and is a key antecedent to the riots.

Calls for a postponement by independence parties after indigenous communities were hit hard by the Covid-19 Delta variant were ignored by France and the vote went ahead. After taking the issue to the U.N. Fourth Committee on Decolonisation, independence parties boycotted the referendum, resulting in a 44 percent voter turnout — or half of numbers that turned out in 2020. The vote delivered a mere 3.5 percent backing for independence.

Macron at the time hailed the vote as a “massive victory” for the pro-loyalist side. Pro-independence groups have been calling for another referendum.

Oasis – Wonderwall (Official Video)

We start today with this…

What is the pettiest thing you’ve seen a cheap person do at a restaurant?

Ohhhh I’ve got one!!

A friends brother asked me out to dinner, we went to a trendy chain restaurant and had dinner and drinks, I think the bill came to about $70 (I didn’t eat, because I was so nauseated by the filth that poured out of this mans mouth). All throughout the meal he continuously called the waitress over for one (bullshit) reason or another, he ran her off her feet just because he is a demanding sort of person.

Anyway the cheque came and after carefully figuring out the tip (about $10) and adding $5 because he’s “generous to those less fortunate” (the waitress) he laid the money on the tray and we stood up to leave. Just as we got to the door he said he had forgotten something at the table and went to go get it – I watched him go back to the table, remove two bills from the tray (which I presume was the tip he had left) and put them back in his pocket. I incredulously asked him if he just took back the tip from the waitress???? He said it wasn’t any of my business and turned to leave. I walked over to the waitress and gave her a tip then I walked right by mr toocheapforatip and never spoke to him again.

Collective Soul – Shine – Acoustic

Which countries played a major role in strengthening the military of the Third Reich?

Quite a long list of people aided actively in the building up of Nazi Germany. Of any one person who directly aided in this, the prize quite literally must go to Henry Ford, who in 1938, received the German Grand Eagle award, not only did ford actively help build up Nazi industry, from 1919 to 1927, he published the The Dearborn Independent

, an anti-Semitic paper attempting to convince people Jews were a global problem, and indeed Ford’s efforts to stir up global hatred towards Jews was noted by Adolf Hitler himself in his book Meinkampf.

Ford was not alone, General Motors also big fans of Nazism, had also invested in Germany. In 1939 Ford and General Motors plants made up 70% of the auto-industry in Germany, which supplied trucks to the Germany military, and were retooled to supply weapons soon as well. Indeed the American made factories in Nazi Germany were far more efficient than things like the Porsche factory, which didn’t have assembly lines.

[1]

Leading up to the war in 1939, Germany had quite prolific foreign trade. They exported 14 billion Reichmarks of goods from 1937 to June 1939. The top 5 export destinations were as follows:

Netherlands 1,127 million marks (Not including 136,4 million to Dutch East Indies).
United Kingdom 927 million marks
Italy 773.2 million marks
Sweden 698 million marks
France 625,6 million marks

The USSR despite popular belief that they were the primary trade partner to germany, at this time bought just 165.2 million in exports. Below even Poland at 237,9 million mark. But naturally the Germans converted all these export profits into imports of critical material. In the years before the war 1937 to June of 1939, Germany imported 13.7 billion Reichmarks of goods. The top 5 import destinations were as follows:

United States 811,4 million marks
United Kingdom 725,6 million marks
Italy 619,6 million marks
Sweden 614,8 million marks
Argentina 590,7 million marks

These statistics are available in the Canadian national archives as document CS65-D-56-1939. During the period of 1940 until the invasion of the USSR, the Soviets exported goods worth 597.9 million marks to Germany, almost as much as Sweden but not quite, and much less than the US or UK did before 1939.

Indirectly of course, you can continue down the international politics line, and ask: Who allowed Germany to occupy the Rhineland despite it being in violation of the Versailles treaty? Who allowed Germany to take over Austria? Who sold Czechoslovakia not once but twice to Germany in 1938 and 1939? I’ve talked about this often, so I won’t go into details again, let’s just say those countries share a border with the English channel.

Strategic resources such as fuel came from Romania, not just before WW2, but all the way until Romania switched to the allies in 1944. Hungary provided aluminum for German aircraft, Portugal provided Tungsten, Sweden provided iron ore. Germany largely were able to supply it self with synthetic rubber.

And of course let us not forget that Switzerland worked as an intermediary for Germany to white wash the looted values of murdered Jews and others around Europe, happily providing a safe haven for rapists and genocidal maniacs to store their goods. 84% of Swiss produced ammunition went to the Axis powers in WW2.

[2]

Finally, let us not forget the fascists who actively supported Germany in WW2, adding to their manpower and direct military power. Namely Japan, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Finland and Spain.

So actually quite a lot of countries can share some blame for enabling the build up of the Nazi War potential.

Round Steak

Ingredients

1 (2 pound) round steak, cut into serving pieces
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup water or red wine

Instructions

Place in slow cooker.
Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours.
Serve over rice.

What is the biggest culture shock you have ever faced?

I visited Japan for two weeks in November 2017. I was new to job (first job) and I got this opportunity to visit japan for two weeks. I am a person who never flew even in domestic flight and I got a chance to board an international flight directly, which I felt like making a gully cricket batsmen to face Brett lee with out a guard(arm guard :P). Since this kind of surprise hit me suddenly, what ever I saw there and experienced there, I felt unique and cool (obviously). I won’t say these are cultural shocks, but my experiences which I felt worth sharing.

Punctuality:

main qimg b0b2cedffd0772d06630cb3d1b65da83 lq

I landed in Narita Airport, japan and have to take a bus to my hotel and my bus timing is at 6:45 PM. So I was standing in the bus stop outside the airport. Since I heard a lot of stories about Japanese punctuality I want to experience it myself.
There is one more bus at 6:30 PM and it arrived at 6:29 PM itself (you can see the time in the image 18:29) and after loading of luggage and passengers it left around 6:40 PM.
Now same punctuality maintained for 6:45 bus, the trains which I took from hotel to office and office to hotel for all the two weeks, and the bus I traveled back to airport on the last day. Then I felt very fascinated about how could they be punctual always. Being on time once or twice is good. But maintaining it always and all means is really appreciable.

2. Discipline:

main qimg c4e5d5f4968ed9692cbb54c0486550c0 lq

I went during winter season and temperature at that time is around zero. So I used to roam with inception concept clothing – jacket inside jacket inside jacket and still felt cold. And you know what ? It used to rain also (Winter + rain = deadly combination)
So coming to discipline, the above image was taken by me when I was going to office on a rainy winter day and below the bridge, on the foot path I found out this – an umbrella march in same line, same pace, if you want move faster come a little right side, take another line and go (you can find few people going like that in the image). They follow queue system every where. I found the similar situations near lifts, escalators and found it really fascinating. They have good manners.

3. Drinking water in Bathroom:

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This is a kind weird one I have encountered. I checked in my hotel room, rooms are made of wood and I didn’t find drinking water and inquired hotel management about this, and to my surprise they pointed towards bathroom.
I couldn’t believe that it is true that both drinking water and cleaning water (all cleaning) tap is present inside bathroom that too beside commode(with lot of buttons on it). I found it really uneasy to drink from that. This incident is a shocking one for me and I guess this might be common in other countries too.

4. No zero floor:

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There is no zero floor or ground floor in japan lift system. I observed this in my hotel and office too. They consider ground floor as 1st floor.

5. Garbage collection:

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Japanese have a organized garbage collection system. If you have to throw a water bottle, you have to throw bottle cap in one dustbin and bottle in another dustbin, similarly different material has different dustbins and everyone follows it, they feel it is common sense. shocking isn’t it ?

6. Currency :

Development status of a country is not directly proportional to value of its currency.Indian currency has more value than Japanese currency, 1 Rupee = 1.63 Yen. . So if I saved 5000 yens, after exchange it became around 3000 rupees (Shocked + Sad).

So, with these kind of good, bad, cool, funny, interesting experiences I came to India. To be honest I thought I will miss japan because of perfection, uniqueness, but after coming back to India and going back to home, I was more happy and peaceful then I was in japan, then I understood one thing.

Even though, you find a woman who is perfect in everything. No one can replace your mother.

Thanks for reading and sorry if this hurts anyone’s feelings, opinions, point of views and any other sensible factors.

Arigatou gozaimasu (Thank you in Japanese – You will hear this 1000 times when you visit Japan)

Vintage family and love illustration

John Bull 1950s UK babies babysitters sitters magazines baby sitting babysitting family

What did a family member say or do that you don’t talk to them anymore?

My Uncle, who was my Father’s fraternal twin brother, passed away in 2004 (one year after my Father passed). I was named as Executrix of his Will mainly because I was the closest one to him. None of the other cousins even knew where he lived. When he had cataract surgery, I would stop by every morning before work, at lunch time and after work to put drops in his eyes. He originally had a male cousin as Executor, but my Uncle realized that there was no point since I was the one who knew about his life.

Uncle John never married. He loved going to dances (polka was their life! LOL!) with my Dad. At one of the dances, my Dad met his second wife (he and my Mom had been divorced for over 10 years. Wanda always went to these dances with her best friend, Carolyn. When Dad hooked up with Wanda, Uncle John hooked up with Carolyn. For 20 years, the 4 of them would get together every week. When my Dad died, my Uncle was lost. He and Carolyn continued to date, but, as I said earlier, he passed a year after my Dad.

Uncle John and Carolyn dated for 20 years … as long as my Dad and Wanda were married. In the Will, his assets were split mainly between 3 first cousins. One cousin was excluded because he had a great job, making a ton of money, and my Uncle felt the others could use it more. However, he didn’t forget this cousin’s kids. All of the kids were to get $5,000 each. Carolyn was given $1,000.

When I sent letters to the cousins breaking down the inheritances, my one cousin, Nancy, called me and asked what was this $1,000 to Carolyn. I told her that that is what Uncle John wanted to give her. Her comment was “You didn’t do that, did you????? She didn’t even come to the funeral!” I just said that it’s in the Will and Carolyn was getting her $1,000…end of story, and I hung up. I knew that I would never talk to Nancy again after that comment.

Let me explain: Carolyn, at the time, was 78 years old and suffering from Lyme disease. She lived about an hour away from where the funeral was. She couldn’t stay over at my Uncle’s apartment because my Mom flew in from Florida and was staying there, as was Wanda (good times). What REALLY pissed me off was that Nancy’s youngest daughter, 30 years old, who lived in Connecticut (about 2 hours away), who received $5,000, didn’t come to the funeral! Her “excuse” was that as a dog groomer, she had an appointment set up for that day.

Uncle John had stocks that had to be split up between us cousins, which took a bit of time. Every week, Nancy had my cousin, Richard call me to play up to me before getting to the point of asking about the money/stocks. When it was all said and done, I sent the stock certificates and inheritance checks to Nancy and Richard via certified mail. I put a note in Richard’s envelope just asking that he call me to let me know it was received OK. In Nancy’s envelope, I put a letter that said: My dealings with you are done. I have kept my mouth shut for a while now, but I need to tell you I had no problem writing out a check for $1,000 to Carolyn, a 78 year old woman with Lyme disease, who for obvious reasons could NOT come to Uncle John’s funeral. I DID, however, have a very hard time writing that check to Danielle, who at 30 years old, couldn’t make a 2 hour trip to the funeral because someone’s dog needed to be groomed.”

After weeks of calling about those damn stocks, once Richard got his share, he didn’t call to let me know he received my package. He called me 2 years later to tell me that Nancy’s husband passed away. Richard, not either of Nancy’s 3 kids….Richard! I simply said, “That’s too bad… he was a great guy.” So Richard proceeded to try to tell me when and where the funeral would be. I interrupted him and said that I couldn’t make it. His response was “But I didn’t tell you when it is.” MY response was, “Whenever it is, that’s the day my dog needs to be groomed.” I honored Kenny on my own. I didn’t want to see those people ever again.

Stone Temple Pilots – Plush (Unplugged)

What was something small you went to the doctor for that turned out to be very significant?

When I was a little boy of about 10 years old, I told my mother that I thought I needed a new prescription for my glasses. I told her I was having difficulty seeing the blackboard in class at school. This was 1963 and I was living with my family in Myrtle Beach South Carolina. So my mother thinking it was going to be a routine check up took me to the local ophthalmologist who always checked my vision.

At that point I thought that I was simply going to walk out with a new prescription and life would go on. My ophthalmologist was a wonderful old gentleman who was a very careful and very thoughtful doctor. He was the kind of person with whom you could really trust and feel comfortable. Even now I can vividly picture him and the examination room, as that intensely bright light, that has occurred hundreds of times throughout my life, came close to my dialated eyes. After examining my eyes he turned to me, my mother was in the waiting room, and said that I was going blind in my left eye. He told me I had a detached retina and that I needed surgery immediately! Ironically, what he told me next was actually more impactful than being told that I was going blind in my left eye. He told me that I would never ever be able to play football again. When I heard that, I bolted out of the exam room, ran through the waiting room out the front door and sat down on the sidewalk outside his office weeping. My mother shocked at my actions thought what in the world is going on? After collecting me from outside she immediately went to the doctor and he told her that I needed to go to the medical college in Charleston South Carolina and have emergency surgery. That day we got in the car and drove over 100 miles to Charleston to the medical college and arrived at the department where the top eye surgeons examined me. They told my parents that I was not going blind in just one eye, I was going blind in both eyes. They then informed us that they were not capable of doing the surgery because of the extent of the retinal damage. They recommended that we travel to Johns Hopkins in Maryland, the only place at that time capable of performing the kind of surgery I needed. Suffice it to say the head of ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins took my case and did the surgery. I found out later that the members of the Presbyterian church that my family attended also prayed all that day for a successful surgery. 10 hours later the surgery was over and was a huge success. Ever since I have thanked God not only for my original doctor who detected my problem but also for all of the amazing medical professionals who were instrumental in my treatment.

One final caveat… the wonderful doctor who first discovered my condition knew that I had to have surgery on both eyes , apparently as I found out later he didn’t have the heart to tell me that my condition was so dire.

RUSSIA JAMS STARLINK in UKRAINE WAR – outsourcing signals corp not a great plan…

In the US Navy, why is it that whenever a submarine surfaces in port, all of the hatches must be opened?

Some non-submariner…Wrote this BOGUS ANSWER…and blocked any comments

“ To equalize the pressure. When a submarine is submerged, the pressure inside the submarine is equal to the pressure of the water outside. When the submarine surfaces, the pressure outside the submarine drops, but the pressure inside the submarine remains the same. If the hatches are not opened, the pressure difference could cause the hatches to be blown off, which could be catastrophic.“
What a moron…(particularly the bold italic sections)

A Submarine Internal Air Pressure remains close to atmospheric pressure while submerged.
It does NOT RISE & FALL with the submergence of the boat. Our Ears would go nuts !
at 300ft depth, the internal air pressure would have about 150 PSI !
Given that the submarine snorkel is NOT 300 feet long, To accomplish that kind of pressurization, the submarines would need a supply compressed air equal (in SCF) to 10 times the free volume inside the submarine.
Submarine hulls and its hatches are thick enough to withstand the water pressure at TEST DEPTH without pressuring the CREW SPACE (aka “the People Tank”)
The BIGGEST AIR PRESSURE CHANGE in a naval submarine.. is OPERATING THE DIESEL GENERATOR …on the snorkel… As engine intake combustion air is from the “people tank” and replaced by sea air via the snorkel and then snorkel valve shuts when a wave over-tops the snorkel. The diesel keeps sucking in air to run and everybody’s ear feel that pressure change…
Submarines open hatches once they get dock-side to allow the “deck crew” handle ropes from the tug(s) and ropes to the pier.
The Sail Hatch (conning tower) is opened shortly after surfacing …allowing the captain and Lookout to MAN THE BRIDGE. WHATEVER DIFFERENTIAL AIR PRESSURE exists is RELIEVED by opening that hatch.
Forward, Mid-Ships, and Aft hatches are easily AWASH by ocean waves and are KEPT CLOSED until in the calm waters of the harbor.

PERHAPS, that moronic “OP” was worry about the ever prevalent SUBMARINE SCREEN DOOR issue ?

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Noel Gallagher “Don’t Look Back in Anger” (Acoustic) on the Howard Stern Show in 1997

When was the hardest you have cried?

It was a freezing winter morning of Delhi. My mother tapped on my shoulder and said, ‘Beta, wake up ! Its 4 AM. You have to go’.

I saw everyone around me moving from one room to another and packing their clothes in small bags. I washed my face and got ready.

Everyone was staring me with an eye of sympathy. I packed my bag, wore my warmest jacket and walked towards the car with my uncles and brothers.

One of my uncle stopped me before entering the car, held my shoulder tightly and said, ‘Beta ! This is the most toughest job of any son to do, you’ve already shown great strength and i expect you to be strong throughout the day’.

I nodded and got into the car.

We closed the doors and windows to avoid the early morning chilling winds.

After travelling 2 or so km, the driver was requested to stop the car by one of my uncle.

And here starts the most difficult journey of my life.

We reached the Cremation Ground.

From there we had to collect my demised father’s bones and ashes to be taken to Haridwar.

My hands and legs were shaking, not because of the freezing winter morning but because of the moment i’m going to encounter now.

I reached the place where my father was given the last fire.

“He was not there. He was down into ashes”.

I was told to come upward and collect the ashes. I walked towards the platform and suddenly i stopped.

I held the handle and broke down. I cried and cried, for the first time it was not my heart which was crying but my soul. I wanted to meet him once again, hundreds of questions and things were coming and haunting me at that same time. I never thought i’ve to go through this at such an early age.

My cousins hugged me and took me to the place where my father’s ashes were.

I sat down and collected the bones and ashes.

It was not only difficult but the toughest job for any son to do so. Everyone have to go through this phase somehow. Our parents would die sooner or later. This is the ugly reality of life.

So, spend some time with your parents, love them and give them every single happiness in this life. Express your love to them and make them proud.

PUTIN DECLARES TOTAL MOBILIZATION, NATO ATTACKS ON RUSSIA ARE IMMINENT, NUKES ARMED

Aliens lock their doors when they drive by earth.

On January 23, 1897, Zona Heaster Shue of Greenbrier County, West Virginia was found dead inside her home by a neighborhood boy

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It was unclear what had caused the young woman’s death, especially because her sobbing husband Erasmus “Trout” Shue refused to stop cradling her head and got upset whenever the coroner tried to examine her body. Shue’s cause of death was first listed as an “everlasting faint,” then switched to childbirth, even though she wasn’t actually pregnant — and with that, the case was closed. But about one month after Shue’s death, her mother Mary Jane allegedly started receiving a startling nocturnal visitor: the ghost of her daughter.

According to Mary Jane, her daughter’s spirit came to her bedside and told her that she had been murdered by her husband, all because she hadn’t cooked him what he wanted for supper. Word of Shue’s ghost quickly spread through the small town and Mary Jane soon convinced the coroner to conduct a thorough examination of her body — and he found injuries just like the ones that the ghost had described and confirmed that she had indeed been murdered.

Stone Temple Pilots “Interstate Love Song” on the Howard Stern Show (2000)

What proves that people can commit evil for trivial reasons?

The fear of losing your romantic partner may not be considered “trivial”, but then you come across stories like this.

Fahim Saleh was a 33-year-old Bangladeshi-American entrepreneur who created the Nigerian motorbike startup Gokada.

Tyrese Haspil is a 25-year-old man who served as a personal assistant to Saleh.

In Jan 2020, Saleh learned that $90,000 was missing from the company account. It was traced to Haspil.

Despite the theft, Saleh didn’t report Haspil and allowed him to pay it back through a payment plan.

Unbeknownst to Saleh, Haspil was on a theft spree to maintain a lifestyle in front of his French girlfriend (Marine).

Haspil wasn’t even faithful to her but was madly scared of losing her if she came to know about the thefts.

Despite Saleh’s mercy and support, Haspil continued to steal from the company through a PayPal account.

He stole as much as $400,000. Used Saleh’s credit card to go on a date with another woman.

Gokada had enough of it. They threatened to report him.

On July 13, 2020, Haspil sneaked into Saleh’s $2.4 million Manhattan condo.

Tasered him and beheaded him using an electric saw. The weapons and the cleaning materials, all were ordered using Saleh’s credit card.

While attempting to vacuum the space, Haspil left strong evidence behind: An AFID tag from the fired taser. The unique ID on the tag disk matched with the taser he had bought for the crime.

Neighbors reported hearing noises from the condo on the night of July 13. The next day, Saleh’s cousin visited and found his butchered body parts.

Just two days after the murder, Haspil was seen hanging out with another woman.

Both Saleh and Haspil were recorded on CCTV. Saleh was seen struggling while moving toward his condo from the elevator.

Haspil was arrested days later since he had been found to have used Saleh’s credit cards.

His lawyer called the murder a “crime of passion”, and attributed it to “extreme emotional disturbance”, saying that ‘his life was traumatic due to a childhood where his schizophrenic mother abused him.’

He claimed Haspil had thought of either s**cide or murder, and went ahead with the latter.

Haspil has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. If convicted, he will spend minimum 20 years in jail. The maximum is a life sentence.

Ke Kulanakauhale ma ke Kai, or The City by The Sea

Submitted into Contest #243 in response to: Write a story with a strong sense of place. How is the setting of your world the same as, but different to, our own?…

This is a new addition that I am considering to my daily posts. Here I include some contemporaneous SF (short story) for the reader to enjoy. -MM

Ke Kulanakauhale ma ke Kai

or,

The City by the Sea

by thomas iannucci

Author’s Note: In this story I use Hawaiian words, as the story is set in a post-apocalyptic Hawaii. However, I do not italicize them, as I am from Hawaii, and so these words are not foreign to me. Growing up there were many English words unfamiliar to us in school, and they were never italicized; I would like this same standard to be applied to Hawaiian, which is, for better or for worse, also now a language in the United States. Mahalo for your kokua.

“The city by the sea, the city by the sea,” crows the blind man as he rows, his oars dipping in and out of the icy gray water in time with his cadence. His voice rings loud and true, but even so, it is hardly audible over the roar of the frigid sea. A wave crashes into the small boat, drenching the man and his two grandsons, but he pays it no mind. “Wherever I may go, may she watch over me! The city by the sea, I keep her in my heart,” he sings on, and his defiance in the face of the weather is almost inspiring. “When I had lost it all, she taught me to restart!” Another wave crashes into the old, wooden vessel, lifting it up and slamming it back down with a jolt. This time, the man stops, spluttering as the salty spray momentarily overwhelms his senses.

“The city by the sea, the city by the sea.” His eldest grandson, Veeka, picks up where the old man has left off. As a Singer — even one who has not yet completed his training — it is his kuleana to continue the song. “Wherever I may go, she’ll remain with me.” He sings it dutifully, with less embellishment than his grandfather; where the old man’s voice is polished and strong, Veeka’s is less certain, and full of anxiety. The difference between master and apprentice, between kumu and haumana, is stark. “Wherever I may go, she’ll remain with me!” Veeka tries to keep rhythm while he sings and rows, the way his grandfather does. It helps him to focus. He needs the focus. The life of his brother depends on it. Veeka glances back at his younger brother, Shay, and grimaces. Shay is wrapped tightly in a thick, boarskin cloak, and is wearing their finest rain-jacket, a family heirloom from many decades past. Neither seems to be helping. He shivers.

“The city by the sea, forever will I miss,” intones their grandfather, picking up where Veeka has trailed off. In other circumstances, Veeka would have been humiliated: to leave a song unsung is unforgivable. But, thinks Veeka, as he observes the great, gray, churning mass of waves and ice cold water that surround their vessel, this is no ordinary situation. “The city by the sea, forever I will miss…” Veeka’s grandfather also trails off, and he frowns. “Forever I will miss…?” He grunts in frustration. “I can’t seem to remember the last part. Do you know it, Veeka?” he calls out. The voice of a normal man would have been swept away by the sea spray and winter winds, but the old man is a true Singer. His voice carries easily to his grandson.

“No, grandpa. I don’t. You never taught us that one, remember? I’ve just been trying to go off of what you’ve been singing so far.” He shakes his head. “I don’t even know what a city is.”

“It’s like our village, only bigger. Much, much bigger,” says the old man. “Or at least, that’s what my tūtū used to say.” Veeka thinks about that. How much bigger? How many people live there, he wonders. A hundred, perhaps? Maybe even a thousand? The idea is hard to grasp. But, as his grandpa always reminds him, he doesn’t need to grasp this knowledge, only to preserve it. That is the role of a Singer.

“Hmm.” The old man blinks, his sightless gaze looking far off, unaware of Veeka’s internal musings. “A song should never be left unfinished. It’s bad luck, yes. Bad, bad. Maika’i ‘ole. What kind of Singers are we, if we can’t remember our words?” He shakes his head. “We are the memory of the people! And if the memory forgets, what then?”

“I don’t know,” says Veeka, frustration creeping into his voice. “Does it even matter anymore? Lāna’i has fallen. Our lāhui was slaughtered, as were the others, most likely. There’s no one left for us to remember for.” It is true. This very morning, the Men from across the Long Sea arrived, in their great boats, with their metal weapons. Veeka and his surviving family have been at sea all day after narrowly escaping the raid on Lāna’i. All day is more than enough to overrun such a small island. No doubt their sister islands will follow suit.

“My mother’s mother taught me that song,” says the old man. “It was about the home her parents left behind. We aren’t native to Lāna’i, you know.”

“Yes, tūtū, I know,” says Veeka, using the Old Word for “grandparent.” He knows a few words from the Old Tongue, but much of it has been lost, at least on Lāna’i. That is why the Singers exist, to preserve what has been lost. But now that is over, too. Veeka looks back at his grandfather. Sometimes, when the old man is singing, it is easy to forget that he has long gone senile. But when it comes to other matters, his mind can no longer focus.

“I could never remember the last bit,” says the blind man, his irritation at odds with the direness of their situation. “‘Auwe! That’s no good. It was the important part, I think. The endings are always important.”

As the old man laments his lack of memory, Veeka silently prays, focused on what remains of the journey. They have been rowing for hours and hours. Veeka’s numb muscles no longer burn or groan with protest. They surrendered that fight long ago. Instead, they mechanically obey, spurred on by desperation now that the adrenaline of their flight has worn off. Veeka is certain that, if they survive, he will find that he’s done permanent damage to his body today.

“The end of a song binds the memory to us. Without it, that memory can fly away, untethered, like the Po’ouli birds of old,” says the man.

“I wish we could fly away,” says Veeka, looking around them. He can see the looming presence of the Great Island further on ahead, and he’s fairly certain they’re almost there, but the fog and sea mist make it impossible to accurately judge the distance. He turns back to look at Shay, whose shivering continues to worsen. “You’ll be okay, palala. Just rest. I’ll take care of you,” he promises. “Somehow.” A wave that seems nearly the size of the mountains in the near-distance rises up, lifting their boat with it. Veeka cries out in terror.

“The city by the sea, the city by the sea!” sings the blind man. Their boat lands on the other side of the wave with a heavy crash. Water splashes everywhere, and some fills the boat, which creaks uneasily. Shay coughs violently, pulling the boarskin cloak tighter around him. His eyes snap open. They start to rove around frantically, taking in the oppressive gray surrounding them. “Cold,” he says, through chattering teeth. “So cold.”

“It’ll be okay, palala,” Veeka assures Shay. Looking around them, he realizes that the island is much closer than he originally thought. He feels something akin to hope swell in his chest, though its flavor is also reminiscent of desperation and hysteria.

“Sing, Veeka!” admonishes the old man.

“Never mind the song,” snaps Veeka, heart pounding. “Keep rowing! I think I see the bay up ahead!” This gets the old man’s attention, and the two of them begin to row frantically, harder than before, though neither had known that that was possible until now. They’re aided by the fact that they’ve been caught in a riptide, one that’s pulling them directly towards the beach. The speed of their vessel increases significantly. They are so close. “It’s going to be fine, Shay,” swears Veeka as he rows. “We’re going to get you to the city, the city by the sea, and they’ll fix you up, good as new! They’ll be able to protect us there. I promise.”

Veeka rows with fervor and valor and hate and fear. He rows and rows, stabbing the gray, watery abyss below him again and again with his paddles, raging against it as it rages against him. He is an island unto himself, and now it is him pulling the Great Island towards himself instead of the other way around. For a moment, he feels his spirits lift.

And then he sees the sea monster.

A horn. White. A spray of ocean water as a great something breaches ahead of them.

“‘Auwe!” cries Veeka. “Sea monster ahead!” The large, white, blubbery mass swims towards them at an astonishing pace, slamming into the side of their craft, which rocks the boat and threatens to capsize it. “No, no, no!” Veeka desperately tries to outpace the creature as it turns around to face them again. Though half of it is submerged, he can see its long, spiraled horn pointing at them as the monster prepares to make another charge. The blind man looks around in confusion, sensing even in his senility that something is deeply wrong.

“Keep rowing, tūtū!” orders Veeka. “Row, and sing!”

The old man acquiesces. “The city by the sea, the city by the sea! Wherever I may go, may she watch over me,” he cries. The sea monster, as though it senses a challenge, bellows in return, and assails them. Thankfully, its horn misses Veeka’s grandfather, but its giant, slimy head slams into the back of the boat, which shudders as it is thrust forward. Veeka feels his teeth clack painfully together, but he stays focused. The bay is coming into view. The tides are really starting to pick up now, pulling their small vessel directly towards the island, towards the city, towards their only hope of salvation.

“The city by the sea, I keep her in my heart!” sings the blind man, his song a cry of defiance against the winds and the waves and the ice and the monster that pursues them.

Filled with longing, and reminded of their life before the men from across the Long Sea had come, Veeka joins the old man in his song, tears streaking down his cheeks as he sings with all his heart. “When I had lost it all, she taught me to restart! The city by the sea!”

The phlegmy, throaty roar of the sea monster drowns out their song for a moment. It slams into the back of the boat once again, propelling the old man forward, and he crashes into his younger grandson. Shay coughs and gasps, while the old man starts grasping desperately for his oars. While the boat is propelled further ahead, the monster swims alongside it, ramming into it again on the starboard side. Furious, Veeka drops his oars, now confident that the island’s tides will soon deliver them to the beach, and the legendary city therein. He reaches down near his feet and grabs the ancient, rusted harpoon that belonged to his grandfather’s grandfather, and prepares to defend his family.

Veeka ducks as the great horn of the beast whistles past him, and then he stabs the harpoon into the head of the creature. It roars out in agony, and Veeka is barely able to withdraw his weapon with a sick, sucking pop, before the creature lunges at them again, leaping high into the air. This time, its mottled, white body manages to get onto the craft, sending frigid seawater and hot, steaming blood pouring into the boat. The vessel has been compromised. It will not last much longer.

“The city by the sea, the city by the sea!” sings Veeka in fury and terror and desperation. He picks up the harpoon and drives it into the beast again, and again, and again, the third time driving the metal spear deep into the monster’s eye. “Wherever I go, she’ll remain with me!” he roars. The sea monster cries out again, this time in agony rather than anger. It thrashes around, sending cracks through the boat, and knocking Veeka over with its horn. He drives the harpoon deeper into its eye. The creature stops thrashing and goes limp. With a sigh, it sinks heavily back below the surface of the deep. Veeka winces, and sees that, in the struggle, his arm has been pierced. He looks back and sees his grandfather protectively shielding Shay. “It’s okay, grandpa! It’s okay! We’re almost there, now!” He points eagerly ahead, then laughs at his own foolishness when he remembers his grandfather’s blindness. They are in the bay now, and though the mist and fog are thick, he can start to see spires, and the tops of great buildings. Against all odds, they have survived. Veeka begins to laugh, and tears of joy stream down his face.

“We made it, Shay,” he tells his brother. “We made it.” And not a moment too soon, either. The boat is taking on water, slowly but quite surely. He pats its stern affectionately. “Mahalo, old friend. You’ve served us well. We will sing songs about you.”

“The last line!” says the old man, interrupting Veeka’s sentimental musings. “I remember it now!”

“Really?” asks Veeka, delighted, as he resumes rowing. They are making great progress now, the shore quickly approaching them. “Then sing it with me, tūtū! Sing!” Veeka feels himself choke up. This is what it means to be a Singer. This is the power of their calling. This is why keeping the memories matters. The two men begin to sing, triumphant and proud, as they row safely into the bay.

“The city by the sea, the city by the sea,

Wherever I may go, may she watch over me,

The city by the sea, I keep her in my heart,

When I had lost it all, she taught me to restart,”

As the two men sing, Veeka looks around, curious, and breaks off his singing. “It’s taking too long to find the beach,” says Veeka, confused. “I know the Great Island’s a lot bigger than Lāna’i, but…this doesn’t make sense.” Though he’s never sailed this far before, Veeka has often gone in between the minor islands on vessels like this one. He knows roughly what the distance from the bay to the shore should be for an island of this size. “Something’s wrong.”

Ahead of them are strange shapes, floating in the water. It is hard to make out what exactly they are through the fog, but it is clear that they are man-made, leftovers from before the Snowfall. Giant, rotting ships, perhaps? But no. These aren’t ships. The way their tops peak out above the ocean makes them seem more permanent, like structures. They seem vaguely familiar, but he isn’t sure why.

“This…isn’t right,” says Veeka. “What is this place?”

“The city by the sea, the city by the sea!” Veeka’s grandfather goes on, unaware of Veeka’s growing concern. “Wherever I may go, she’ll remain with me!”

Several of the strange structures are coming into view, and Veeka looks around, surprised to see that he is surrounded by the great, metal-and-brick shapes. Some have long, thin spires that point into the air, while others are flat and covered in slush. A thought suddenly occurs to Veeka, who turns back to face his grandfather. “Grandpa,” he says frantically. “The last line of the song! What was it? You said you remembered it, right?”

“Yes, yes,” says the old man, excitedly. “I do! I remember it now, so clearly, the way my mother used to sing it to herself before bed.”

“How does it go?” demands Veeka. The strange structures go on and on, filling the bay, of which there is no end in sight. He sees his own, pathetic image reflected back at him from one of the larger structures, and shudders. This reminds him of something, reminds him of the memories his grandfather used to sing to him of the time before the First Snow, and the great civilization that had once lived on the islands. His heart drops. The old man coughs, and clears his throat, spitting into the ocean. “The city by the sea, forever will I miss!” he sings proudly, before taking a breath and delivering the final line. “For she sank below the tides, and rots among the fish!” His delighted laughter becomes a cackle. “I finally remembered! It’s been so long, but I finally remembered, Veeka! What a relief, it was driving me mad!”

He claps his hands joyously as Veeka looks around in horror. The bay keeps going and going and going, lined with the strange aquatic structures, but now Veeka can place them. “Buildings,” he whispers. “These…are the tops of buildings.” He falls silent as it all hits him, but his grandfather takes no notice. Shay shivers again, but this time, Veeka has no words of comfort for his younger brother. Their grandfather laughs and laughs and laughs in delight as Veeka begins to sob.

What would China win by taking over Taiwan, other than potentially losing all, or mostly all, Western trading markets?

First, the USA would no longer be able to use Taiwan as a geopolitical pawn against China. China would continue its economic rise unimpeded.

Second, China would finally be whole after it was humiliated by the Western powers from 1839–1949. It’s a matter of national pride.

Third, China would be secure, as it can no longer be hemmed in within the first island chain. There would be no possibility of the USA using Taiwan as an unsinkable aircraft carrier.

Fourth, China’s economy would be stronger with Taiwan’s inclusion.

What’s the worst thing that you did on a school computer?

Oh, this got me into so much trouble.

It happened in grade 8. My school had these old, rusty computers that used to run Windows 2000. Now, There use to be a command you could run in windows 2000 called “net”. Net did lots of networky things, one of which was Net Send. Net Send would send a message to any windows machine – or domain/workgroup – that would pop up on the receiving machine like a normal message box. Its main use would be for system admins to broadcast messages to users without fancy software. I don’t think it still exists, because internet scammers started using it to target people with bullshit messages, so Microsoft started disabling it by default in winxp (maybe Vista) onwards.

Anyway, our school was in a semi-rural area, and it was the only school in the area that had computers, so it had to justify that by teaching us about them. One of the things this meant was teaching students Visual Basic. This meant VB was installed on all machines.

This is where I come in.

I have been programming since elementary school. It’s my mum’s fault for buying me a Sinclair Spectrum programming book from a library. I’d sit in those VB classes and already know how to do the lesson plan, so I would do my own stuff to amuse myself. This involved creating an app which read all the .cpl files in the windows folder and expose them – bypassing the lack of control panel access and a little “net message” program which did nothing more than provide a simple GUI interface for the Net Send program. In simple words, you typed in the user or computer name of who you wanted to send a message to, typed in your message, hit send, and the message would be displayed on your target computer’s screen.

My test subject? A God-fearing kid two PCs down from me. I sent him “God is watching you”. Poor sod actually looked up. But this isn’t where it went wrong.

Where it went wrong is down to needing to share this program with my friends. And other kids. The goddamn program went viral in the entire school. Everyone was using it, sharing it with their friends. Teachers didn’t know about it. Yet.

And then it all went downhill. A kid two grades below me sent a message to his friend containing a graphic description of what he’d do to his mother. Normal kid stuff. The recipient, not knowing who sent it, whipped open his copy of my program, wrote a hearty “Fuck you”, and hit send. He assumed it would work like a reply, but he left the recipient name/computer boxes blank. It didn’t work like a reply.

Turns out, one of the features of net send was the ability to do a broadcast. Basically, by not specifying a recipient, the message would be broadcast to the entire network. This meant the entire school network of computers received a simultaneous “Fuck you”, all courtesy of one kid’s “User error” and my gui not sanitizing its inputs.

Of course, I got the blame. (Did I mention that in my quest to become popular, I’d plastered my name all over the program?). The school IT technicians, who probably knew less about computers than me, were convinced my program was some hideous virus infecting the school with its evils. It took two separate meetings with them and some senior teachers (and my parents) to convince them that indeed, all I’d done was build a GUI around a legitimate windows feature. I still lost all computer rights.

And the worse part was that every single student in the school was banned from ever using a computer again. They all blamed it on me, and I was punished heavily for it throughout my time in that school.

Sauerbraten

Ingredients

1 (4 pound) chuck roast
Salt and pepper
2 medium onions, sliced
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can condensed beef broth
1/3 cup liquid brown sugar
1/3 cup cider vinegar
8 gingersnaps, crumbled
Noodles

Instructions

Sprinkle roast on all sides with salt and pepper. Place roast in slow cooker. Add onion, broth, brown sugar and vinegar.
Cover tightly. Cook on HIGH for 5 to 6 hours.
Remove roast and set aside.
Add gingersnaps to the sauce in the slow cooker. Stir until sauce thickens.
Slice meat and serve sauce over slices.
Serve with cooked noodles.

What is China’s new supersonic anti-ship missile system and how could it potentially impact America’s aircraft carriers?

It’s not new. It’s been out for years and China has a stock of several thousand at this point.

It’s a Mach 4 terminal phase supersonic anti-ship missile. During cruise phase it is sub-sonic to save fuel for the Mach 4 run at the end.

It is a maneuvering missile designed to evade anti-missiles and the CIWS.

The impact? It’s actually overkill. The Chinese don’t mess around. They will launch more missiles than the US ships have anti-missiles. And they can do this for several salvos. The US fleet will have no missiles after the first salvo. If the US, NATO, Japanese, SK, Australian, and Indian ships survive the first salvo, a second salvo will be launched.

What do you call a ship with no ammo? A giant target.

This is the reason for the saying among the military. Amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics.

The US hasn’t fought a peer since the Civil War. The US is not prepared to fight a peer with better weapons. Never mind fight it on China’s front door. The logistics say that the US will lose badly if the US is dumb enough to try.

AFRICA AND THE WORLD MUST HEAR how THE WEST OPERATES has been EXPOSED and it’s Shocking

What is the pettiest way you have achieved revenge?

I worked at a radio station where the boss, the owner of the station, was one of the worst human beings I’ve ever met. He was petty, mean, cheap, vengeful, took pleasure in the discomfort of others . . . unfortunately you know the type. Of course this let to the staff discussing ways to get back at him.

When I got the job everyone told me about the boss and their elaborate schemes to get even. I wasn’t there a week when someone gave me a tape of the guy who I replaced at the station. The boss would listen to the radio 24/7 and call in irate if you did anything wrong, so this guy, I’ll call him George, had his friend Jack go down the hall to the boss’s office and say, “Can I talk to you for a moment?” The boss said sure, closed the door and turned off his radio while Jack spouted some made-up grievance he had about George. Jack couldn’t even sit down in the boss’s office: other than the boss’s chair and desk the only other thing in the room was an enormous jade plant that the boss treated like it was his baby.

While Jack was telling the boss how bad George was, George went on the air and told the listening audience that he was quitting his job and it was because he had the worst boss known to man. He named his salary, gave a half-dozen incidents of the boss’s abuse and pettiness, then walked out the front door. When Jack finished his meeting with the boss, the boss turned his radio back on to dead air and George was nowhere to be found. It was a hilarious tape.

But MY revenge on the boss wasn’t nearly as satisfying. I was working the overnight shift and, alone in the studio, I discovered that the boss didn’t always lock his door, so would just sneak in and pee in his jade plant. Yeah, real mature stuff I know, but revenge is usually pretty childish anyway.

I finally came up with my own, more elaborate revenge. We were an all news-and-talk station, and when you listened to us on the air there was the background of clattering teletypes that made us sound like an active newsroom with breaking news coming in constantly. The thing was, the teletype had been obsolete for probably 25 years at that point; we still got news from the wire services but it was relatively silent. The teletype clatter was actually a recording. It played on an endless loop, whenever the station’s newsroom microphone was activated.

Alone in the studio overnights, I took a screwdriver to the studio console and found the tape player. The tape was a relatively obsolete continuous loop cartridge that had approximately 65 minutes of teletype chatter. Like I said the technology was obsolete but we had the equipment in one of our production studios to deal with it . . .

And so, a couple of nights before my own last day, I extracted the tape cartridge. During this time we had a program from the network running, so no one listening would notice any absence of ambient sound, plus it gave me plenty of time to work.

I went to the production studio and put the tape cartridge into a recorder. From the sound effects library I found a ten-second soundbite of a toilet flushing, from the days before water-saving toilets. There was a very loud WHOOSH! and then it sounded like Niagara Falls. It was absolutely impossible to mistake or miss the sound. I carefully edited the flush into the 65-minute teletype loop, reinserted the cartridge into the player, and sealed up the console.

Here’s the beauty: that tape played only when the microphone was activated, so the sound effect didn’t trigger every 65 minutes. It went off maybe twice a day, at completely random times. And the guy on the air reading the news couldn’t even hear it because all the speakers and headphones are turned off when the mike is open, otherwise you get incredible feedback. So the only people who hear a toilet flushing are the listeners.

Like the boss in his office, who, I’m told, came charging like a mad bull wanting to know what the f*ck was going on. Of course no one in the studio had a clue, and the boss went back to his office thinking he was imagining things.

Until it happened again that evening when he was listening at home.

My friends at the station tells me that they didn’t figure out for days what had happened, with the boss just going nuts every time he heard a toilet flush on air.

Then one day I was tuning into the station and, lo and behold, no background teletype noise. Apparently when the boss finally figured out what was causing the sound effects he yanked the cartridge out of the machine so vigorously he did major damage to it.

My finest hour.

Oasis – Champagne Supernova (Official Video)

And we conclude with memories…

Are China’s air and sea forces now capable of enforcing a blockade of Taiwan?

Let me point to a startling, but largely unreported development recently.

The recently concluded Operation Joint Sword 2024A was announced and initialized WITHIN THE HOUR.

In other words, this set of exclusion zones was enforced ON DEMAND.

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That’s an area spanning ~100,000 sq. km.

This is a substantial upgrade in operational readiness and capability from the 2022 version, which I dub the Nancy drill. The Chinese took their time between announcement and initialization two years ago, but it’s the snap of a finger today, because of the preparations made, especially the deployment of force, the rerouting of civilian traffic and enforcement of exclusion zones.

China rotates a steady stream of units to exercise around Taiwan year-round, in order to build experience, and keep up the military presence. This is exhausting the Taiwanese military to fatigue, having to constantly respond and challenge inbound contact. There have been accidents/losses on the Taiwanese side, but no serious incident reported from mainland units. This is a testament to the training, and upkeep of the frontline PLA, and highlights the gulf in capacity between the two sides.

And where was the Reagan, the carrier that was in theater? Far south in the Philippine Sea, away from the action.

Operation Joint Sword, studied carefully, reveal how sharp and lethal the Chinese have forged and reformed their doctrine and readiness. After all, 利剑’s literal meaning is Sharp Sword.

So the answer is yes. And it’s not conjecture but demonstrated.

6 Most Disturbing Websites on the Internet

Say no to mega farting

When I was attending university, I would eat at the cafeteria. They had numerous cafeterias, all spread out on the campus. And after (we) would eat, we would hike to the Engineering library to study, and then when it closed, to the law library.

One day it was before midterms and all the libraries were closed, so we went into the English building, found our own individual rooms and started to study in absolute silence.

But on this particular day, I started to develop amazing gas from the food. I don’t know what they did, but it was fart-central for me. I was just in pain from the bloated stomach and abdomen, and I was a farting up a storm. And for three hours I studied and farted. I studied and farted. And then I farted some more.

A couple came up and looked into the quiet room and then went over to the pipes near the end of the building. Perhaps they were a sewer pipe they mused.

Another hour passed. I farted and then farted. I was a darn machine!

When my buddy Jay came up to get me he exclaimed “Damn! It smells like a God damn sewer up here!” ha ha.

Yeah. It was that bad.

It was on this day that I experienced “mega farting”.

I advise you all not to duplicate this feat. Fart at will, but when it comes to mega-farting, go get help. Take some medicine and let it settle. Be kind to those around you.

Say no to mega farting.

Today…

What is the rudest thing you have ever done?

The rudest thing I ever did also changed my life.

During my first year in college, I was sitting at a little outdoor coffee shop on campus. It was a nice, sunny day, and the patio was packed with people. The shop was alongside one of the main campus arteries, and crowds of people were walking by, to and from their classes.

In the distance I noticed a young blind woman working her way among the human traffic flow. She had a cane, as many blind people do, and was using it to navigate along the edge of the path at a steady pace. Just another young student like me, going to class. As she made her way along the railing of the shop and past my table, I glanced over my shoulder to view her road ahead.

And then I saw it.

A large tree was on the edge of the path, its old branches had long since grown out in every direction. One particular branch, on its heavenwardly ascent, cut an angle into the avenue. It only intersected the path at head height for a few feet, an easy obstruction to duck aside or avoid on such a wide lane.

Easy, of course, if you can see it.

I froze. In the massive throng of people, no one else seemed to notice the impending meeting between head and branch. Just me. I knew I should shout out. I absolutely and unquestionably knew I should start yelling loudly “blind woman, please stop!” Maybe vault the rail that separated the coffee shop from the avenue and run to her. Anything but just sit there.

But I didn’t.

The coffee shop was crowded that day. Cute young women, interesting looking artsy peers, fellow classmates. The very type of people I was eager to meet as a new freshman at a strange school, far from home. And somehow that checked me. I was scared of seeming like a crazy person shouting to a blind woman. I didn’t want to stand out.

So I did nothing. And of course, only aware to dangers on the ground with her cane, she hit her head on the low branch. She hit it hard. I could hear it. I still hear it. I sat and watched her suffer pain, because I was afraid to stand up and stand out to do the right thing.

As I said, that event changed my life. I’d always tried to be a good person, helpful and courteous. But I failed that day for no reason other than some ridiculous notion of peer acceptance. I failed my father, as I have no doubt he would have shouted out. And he taught me better. I failed my personal ethics and my sense of right. I failed another human being.

And that moment decades ago has absolutely shaped my life. It has molded my behavior with friends, strangers, social and professional settings. I’ve worked hard to redeem that moment in my actions and interactions ever since, though often I feel I never really can.

And yes, I understand that young woman hit her head 20 years ago, and likely long since forgot the moment. The few people I have related this story think it foolish I’ve let this stay with me so long. But to me, it reverberates as if yesterday, and I imagine it always will. It has been my constant reminder to never freeze, never falter, and never fail to do the right thing.

I Love This TikTok Dating Trend

How can Western intelligent agencies spread a message of freedom and resistance to the CCP in China?

They can’t.

Chinese see that there are many problems with western democracies, and voices which do not fit the predominant narrative are silenced. Most recently, this has happened with the Israel/Gaza war. Chinese believe that this reveals the hypocrisy of western democracy. Now most Chinese feel that Western notions of freedom and democracy are no longer attractive, and will not solve China’s problems. Chinese have achieved more by finding their own solutions.

On his recent trip to Beijing, Putin took a list of western intelligence operatives and western non-government organizations operating in China to overthrow the Chinese government. Chinese security officials will use this information to neutralize their operations and operatives in China.

How does it feel to work in a service capacity position where one constantly interacts with the extremely wealthy (e.g. an air host on a private jet, a maid at a palace, etc.)?

Originally Answered: How does it feel to have a job where you constantly interact with extremely wealthy, in a service capacity i.e. an air host on a private jet, a maid at a palace, etc?

For a number of years, I worked as a wealth management advisor.

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Financial services is the “Concierge of Money” for the Plutocrat class; we were suit-and-tie wearing mandarins of their largesse, who knew the details of our clients’ finances better than they did; it was our job to anticipate their needs before it even occurs to them.

Establishing, managing and amending clients’ investments and trusts were the obvious and most easily-described portions of the work.

Less obvious was the political and relationship-management aspects of dealing with individuals whose Crosean fortunes can bestow upon them colossal egos and entitlement mentalities; managing a massive personal fortune often means managing their dirty secrets.

General observations: Money is a personality amplifier.

If you are a poor person who hates gay people/broken-English-speaking immigrants/Republicans/whatever, your need for a paying job forces a level of decorum in your conduct, and you learn to keep quiet your most objectionable opinions so you can get along with your employers/customers.

On the other hand, If you are a poor person who has a benevolent heart and genuinely wishes to help the less fortunate, your financial constraints will limit whatever level of help you offer to very modest levels; your efforts may be invisible to most unless they are direct beneficiaries of your generosity, or know you personally.

Wealth removes those constraints.

A wealthy bigot can afford to be a raging terror to whoever he or she wishes, with almost no consequences. I’ve witnessed multimillionaires confidently drop shockingly racist/nasty remarks about gays/disabled/[insert group] in casual conversations.

We were trained to go along with it – they are the client, and their accounts are worth millions in fees over the course of their lifetime, so while we won’t join in the racist/bigoted banter, we won’t object either; we are trained to nod politely and refocus the conversation to the technical matters.

Being in the position to manage the finances of plutocrats, I’ve also been witness to financial shenanigans and the dark side of humanity, unconstrained by budget or conscience.

What have I learned?

A wealthy married man can incorporate separate businesses/LLCs for the sole purpose of buying property/spending money on the sly for his illicit lover(s).
Control of financial trusts can used as chess pieces to manipulate family members/dependents/beneficiaries to bend to the will of the owners of the capital.
Errant adult children of the wealthy who find themselves incapable of earning a living on their own, often find themselves in protracted legal battles with stepmothers their own age (their plutocrat fathers, having paid a fortune to rid themselves of their first wives, marry younger women who now vie for a piece of the dying man’s fortunes).
Entitled heirs – with no irony or self-awareness – often speak of their fathers’ fortunes and possessions as “my house,” “my boat” or “my plane.”
If you put over US$100,000 on the table in any casino in Las Vegas/Macau/Monaco (which you can either lose or win), an entire battalion of high-touch specialists employed by the casino materialize to cater to your every whim, so long as you gamble at their tables. They know your name, your favorite foods, your favorite entertainers (“free tickets for you and your friends sir, and we can arrange for you to meet singer/rapper/comedian/magician so-and-so backstage!”) and your favorite recreational drugs (if you’re into such things – they will be discreetly tucked away in the bathroom of the penthouse suite of the hotel/casino where you are staying).

Now that we’re done wallowing in sin and dysfunction … observations on the benevolent side:

While many wealthy philanthropists want to get credit for their contributions to charities/foundations they support (seeing their name emblazoned on their former university’s Major Donor walls, creating foundations in their names, etc.), I was surprised by the number of people who wanted to remain strictly anonymous – the only entities who were aware of their donations of these people was the IRS (for tax deduction reasons), the recipient nonprofit/foundation, and us, who facilitate/structure these large donations.

There are many who view their wealth as a blessing that they entrusted to be good stewards during their lifetime; they take their responsibility seriously to leave the capital to the next generation along with imparting their most cherished values.

Children of this second group are polite, respectful and thoughtful – they understand they occupy a rare and privileged position in society and are very careful about not lording it over others, and make sincere efforts to be worthy heirs.

As you can imagine, while the former type of client was far more interesting (and lucrative for the firm, given the complexities of the layers of financial instruments deployed), the latter was far more pleasant to interact with.

The most valuable thing I’ve learned is this: whether you are a rich dysfunctional bigot dropping N-words in my office and throwing your financial weight around while bankrolling mistresses through your shell companies, or a thoughtful philanthropist trying to quietly change the world for the better with your largesse, being wealthy is a relatively lonely existence.

The problems you encounter, while very real and very frustrating, will not elicit sympathy from 99.999% of the planet.

Like being an exceptionally beautiful woman, most of the people who approach you are only after one thing, and that perspective warps your ability to connect genuinely with others – one of the most quintessential human needs.

Almost everyone wouldn’t mind being a bit more beautiful or a bit more rich, but few can truly appreciate just how alienating it is to have either in such abundant quantity, that they become the object of desire/envy by everyone you meet.

Mysteries Beneath the Ice: The Secrets of Antarctica

One of my old Free Republic posts were mentioned in this video! LOL -MM

What made you realize your life will never be the same?

Six words. How you may ask did six measly words, twenty one letters, forever alter the landscape of my world? Well I’ll tell you but first, let me lay the foundation for these life shattering words.

The first week of April, 2024 my 14 year old son was just a regular teenager (maybe slightly more mature and kind than most his age but still very much a teenage boy) when he complained of some weakness on his left side. He says “Oh it’s just a little weak feeling in my knee and elbow but I’ve been working on my rainbow flip kick (he loves soccer) so I probably am just overworking myself”. Okay that seems plausible but I kept feeling uneasy about it despite his reassurance that he was fine.

Fast forward a few days and he began to tell me he felt like he was seeing double sometimes and the weakness felt like it was not improving at all. He had gotten the farm truck stuck in the field a day prior to this though so I think well he is just trying to get out of fixing the ruts in the field so I dismiss it as nothing.

By that Sunday April 7 I notice his left eye looks like it’s lazy but he’s never had any issues with his eyes. In addition to this he says now that he feels like the left half of his body is numb. Now I no longer feel like he’s trying to get out of his punishment and the unease I felt is now screaming at me telling me something is wrong with my baby.

I take him to our local Emergency Department and after several hours and a few test (EKG, basic blood work and a CT scan w/o contrast) the ER physician says “Well I see nothing alarming on his test results and I have to say this is most likely a case of Bell’s Palsy “. I argue that this diagnosis can’t possibly be right as Bell’s Palsy only affects the facial muscles while his whole body is being affected but we are sent home despite my protests.

April 9 I get him an appointment to see his pediatrician and after an exam he says “This is classic presentation for pediatric MS but I’ll need an MRI to confirm this”. He asks me to take his over an hour away to a larger hospital with a Children’s Emergency as they could get an MRI done immediately while it would take him at least three weeks to get my son worked into the schedule.

Off we go for a confirmation of this already scary diagnosis that would change his life forever. We arrive and get checked out by one medical professional after another and are finally admitted around five in the morning (now April 10). On the way to his room an MRI is done and now we have a chance to try to get some rest while the doctor awaits the test results.

At 8:30 Wednesday April 10, 2024 a group of doctors came into my son’s very small hospital room and uttered those six tiny words.

“Your son has a brain tumor”

The next few days are mostly an anguish filled blur but to sum it up my son has a tumor on the right side of his brain stem in a region known as the pons. This devastating pediatric disease has an average overall survival rate of just 8–11 months after diagnosis. We are currently living in the Ronald McDonald House while he receives radiation treatments and I’m so afraid of the future with all its uncertainty. I’m trying my best to be positive and to give him any experiences he wants to have (foods to try, activities he’s never done etc.) but he’s my whole heart. You can’t live without your heart…

We have started a GoFundMe page to try to offset the cost of all this and also bills as I haven’t been able to work since his diagnosis. Please help me give my son everything I can while I have a chance to and he still feels like trying to do things and make memories.

Can you tell a billionaire from a millionaire in public?

Originally Answered: can you tell a billionaire from a millionaire in public?

Millionaires are quite common, and usually don’t stand out much in public. Many millionaires will tell you that they don’t “feel rich”, largely because the value of a million dollars has changed dramatically over the past 100 years. To have the same buying power in today’s terms, $1 million in 1900 would be the equivalent of about $27 million today. This is why the bar for being considered an ultra high net worth individual is at least $30 million.

So even though there are literally millions of millionaires (+10 million in the US alone), only about 28,000 people are considered ultra high net worth. That still leaves a lot of room to live “under the radar” and be able to go out in public without attracting too much (or any) attention.

On the other hand, there are about 2,000 billionaires globally and they are fairly well known. They’ve been in the business press and often attract attention wherever they go just because of the influence they have. So look for bodyguards and additional security anytime they are in public. They may not be the obvious Hollywood depiction of bodyguards as this draws even more attention:

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That level of security is appropriate for a public event with lots of press. Like this one:

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However a cadre of ominous looking bodyguards is inconvenient to have around if you just want to meet a friend for dinner, play a round of golf, attend a wedding, or just take your kids out to Disneyworld. It actually attracts more unwanted attention, while adopting a lower profile might allow them to easily pass unnoticed.

For smaller events and public excursions there will almost always be a small (1–3 person) security detail nearby, usually within 10–20 feet depending on the risk level of the venue, and they will likely try to blend in and be “invisible“ until needed. At a party or open event they will usually go out of their way to keep their hands free and will never be drinking alcohol, which makes them easy to spot.

Having bodyguards and/or a full time security detail is extremely expensive and not something a “mere” millionaire would spring “just to have around.”

Hope this was helpful.

Pawn Stars Expert “This is the HOLY GRAIL”

What is the dirtiest fine print you’ve seen in a contract?

I used to store my boat on the trailer at a marina. It was there for three years and they had my credit card on file and charged me every month. Out of nowhere, I get a letter in the mail about a $50 charge for not signing some paperwork. I go to the marina’s office and ask what that is all about. They tell me that I didn’t sign a credit card authorization document. I told them that it was never sent to me, and if it was such a problem for them how did they manage to charge my card every month? She waived the “fine” and then it got interesting…

She gave me a “new” contract to sign for my spot. I never had a contract, it was a monthly payment. Then she says “You might want to read this”. I asked her what I should look for and she said “Just read it”. On, maybe, page 20 it said something like The Marina is not responsible to any damage to your boat, or trailer, even if it’s due to the negligence of our employees. I confirmed that I was paid up until the end of the month, declined signing the contract, and sold my boat to a friend.

If you needed an oil change, or anything else, it was common for them to pull the trailer out of your spot to bring it to the shop and return it later. If some rookie managed to hit your boat with the engine/prop of another, and put a hole in the hull, it was all on you. No thanks.

EDIT: Many have said this is unenforceable legally. That is probably true, but the question was about the dirtiest fine print in a contract. Even if it was clearly unenforceable, why would anyone put themselves in a position to have to hire an attorney to fight for them? Also, any company adding that language to a contract is not one you could ever trust.

Has someone ever unjustifiably reported you to Child Protective Services? What was the outcome?

Oh yes..my own daughter accused me of abusing her children.

I was divorced with no child support. My daughter, “M” was a troublesome teenager and after high school she became resentful that I wouldn’t allow her to just hang around my house with her drug dealing boyfriend while I worked two jobs to pay the bills. She had to either go to school, get a job, or leave. She complied, but in due time, (at 21) she became pregnant and the boyfriend abandoned her. A year or so later, I have a better job with a 4 day work week and I’m starting to date.

I come home from a lunch date with a male friend and M is upstairs with my grand-daughter “T”, who’s now a toddler. M sends the T downstairs to the room where my friend and I are watching television. My friend asks for the bathroom and when he gets up to go, he bumps into a lamp, which falls over and breaks. He goes to the bathroom, while I put the T on the sofa and go for the broom to clean up the broken glass. T gets off the sofa to follow me and starts heading into the broken glass. I catch her before she gets cut (T is barefoot) and my friend comes out of the bathroom.

I’m trying to clean up the broken glass and T keeps climbing down from the sofa trying to get in the middle of the mess. I’m trying to keep T in my arms and sweep up the glass when my friend offers to help. Just as he’s taking the broom from me, T starts screaming her head off, (I guess she didn’t like being restrained, or maybe she didn’t like my friend ). M comes running down the stairs and starts accusing me of hurting the baby. My friend leaves as the inevitable argument starts. M calls the police, they respond and eventually take M and T to the hospital to be ‘checked out’. Two days later I get a call at work from CPs telling me I’ve been accused of child molestation and they need to investigate. It turns out M told the doctors at the hospital that my friend and I sexually molested T . He never touched her, I was the one holding her.

CPS worker came to my house, asked a lot of questions about my sex life, my job, my friends, my family, poked her nose in all my things and asked for my friend’s contact information. I called him and let her ask for his information. The CPS worker was very polite, said she didn’t think anything would come of it, depending on the medical report, and left. I spoke to my friend for the last time a few days later ; he told me he spoke to CPS and that he couldn’t see me anymore. Eventually, I got a letter saying the complaint was ‘unfounded’ but my name would be on the statewide registry for 10 years as “indicated” in an allegation of child abuse. M and T came home about a week later and whenever M became angry at me, she would call the police and repeat the allegation. Within a year, I moved to another town and left M to her own devices. She ended up in a homeless shelter and having another baby girl.

M repeated the allegation multiple times over the next few years as if it were a recent event. CPS investigated and found out I have minimal sporadic contact with them. I’ve got 4 of those damn letters with 4 different dates. Eventually M loses the children, I get visitation in court and CPS asks me to take them, which I can’t because I’m still single and my job involved frequent overnight travel. The kicker is I worked then, and still do, as a government inspector of programs that deal with a vulnerable population. Those allegations could have cost me my job. Luckily, my bosses knew me better than my own child.

Here we are, 13+ years after the incident. After a hellish stint in foster care where they were actually abused, the children have been adopted by a nice family that lets me call and visit them. I’ve participated in their therapy sessions, taken them on vacations, had sleepovers, helped with school projects and I haven’t missed a birthday, holiday, or school event in 8 years. M hasn’t been allowed to see her children in 10 years, while I get to be “Grandma”. Life sure can be a b***h.

English Beef Pot Pie

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

Filling

2 pounds beef round steak, cut into 1 inch cubes
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 carrots, pared and sliced
3 potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 (16 ounce) can whole tomatoes

Biscuit Topping

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup milk

Instructions

Filling

Place steak cubes in slow cooker.
Combine flour, salt and pepper, toss with steak to coat thoroughly.
Stir in remaining ingredients except Biscuit Topping and mix thoroughly.
Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 10 hours.
One hour before serving, remove meat and vegetables from slow cooker and pour into shallow 2 1/2 quart baking dish.
Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Cover meat mixture with Biscuit Topping. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Biscuit Topping

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Add milk all at one time; stir well. Pat out on floured board; roll out to cover baking dish.

What is it like to serve in the PLA?

Technically PLA common soldiers are compulsory servicemen and do not get paid. However, in reality, they volunteer to join the armed forces and usually serve for two years as a private/common sailor. They receive allowance.

After serving as compulsory servicemen they can either ‘stay in the unit’ or ‘return to the society’. If they choose to stay, they would be promoted and become ‘NCO First Year’, which as a matter of fact is Corpral. NCO are technically called volunteers and receive wages.

PLA soldiers often go through much hardship which is regarded as a requirement-in China, it is convinced that reliable soldiers must be able to bear hunger, thirst, diseases, exhaustion, and any types of suffering.

They generally don’t have enough sleep but have too much training. They are not allowed to visit home or go outside of the camp while serving as compulsory servicemen and communication tools are utterly forbidden. For example, I have a friend who served in the army for two years from 2013–2015. When he ‘came out’ and we met, he kept talking about old fashioned jokes and our city was somehow alien to him.

But he never complained, he was proud of being a strong person.

Chinese PLA are not frequently engaged in conflicts and don’t have wars to fight so they keep training and sometimes focus farming or disaster relief.

As a result, where there is a PLA outpost, there is a farmland, even on the islands. And when disasters come, they reacted immediately and help people in danger, which is why they are regarded as the savior and guardian of the people.

I appreciate their service.

Baltic Sea Anomaly, Atlantis, and Underwater Alien Bases | Mysteries of the Ocean Pt 1

What Happened To Prison Guards Of Concentration Camps When It Was Liberated?

May 20, 2024

Walenty Lenarczyk, a prisoner at Dachau, stated that following the camp’s liberation “prisoners swarmed over the wire and grabbed the Americans and lifted them to their shoulders… other prisoners caught the SS men.

The first SS man elbowed one or two prisoners out of his way, but the courage of the prisoners mounted, they knocked them down and nobody could see whether they were stomped or what, but they were killed.”

Elsewhere in the camp SS men, Kapos and informers were beaten badly with fists, sticks and shovels.

There was at least one incident where US soldiers looked away as two prisoners beat a German guard to death with a shovel, and Lt. Bill Walsh witnessed one such beating.

Another soldier witnessed an inmate stomping on an SS trooper’s face until “there wasn’t much left.” When the soldier said to him, “You’ve got a lot of hate in your heart,” he simply nodded.

An American chaplain was told by three young Jewish men, who had left the camp during liberation, that they had beaten to death one of the more sadistic SS guards when they discovered him hiding in a barn, dressed as a peasant

(American soldiers watch as a Jewish concentration camp inmate beats up the Nazi guard who held him at Dachau)

Some of the Nazis were rounded up and summarily executed along with the guard dogs. Two of the most notorious prison guards had been stripped naked before the Americans arrived to prevent them from slipping away unnoticed. They, too, were cut down.”

16 SS men were shot in the coal yard (one more killed by a camp inmate), 17 at Tower B, and perhaps a few more killed by U.S. soldiers in the incident. Anywhere from a few to 25 or 50 more were killed by inmates.

What Is Dating And Sex Like In Japan?

May 20, 2024

Flirting in Japan

Flirting seems like a misnomer. It’s more like an absense of flirting. If you like someone in Japan, there are a couple of different ways of showing it and/or approaching them, none of which really resemble flirting in the west.

1. Nanpa (the “pickup”) First off, only guys do nanpa; in the rare case that girls do it, it’s called gyaku-nan (“reverse nanpa”), but I never heard of gyaku-nan actually happening, it always seemed like it was more of an amusing theoretical idea, rather than something girls really did.

Nanpa only refers to the case when you don’t know the other person at all, and you want to pick them up. Nanpa is direct. “You’re cute. What’s your name? Do you have time? Let’s go somewhere.” That is the classic script of nanpa. It can be shortened to just: “Kawaii yo. Jikan aru?” If you hear that, you’re being nanpa-ed. Of course, if you are a non-Asian foreigner, you will probably never hear that, because Japanese guys are too shy to try and nanpa a white or black woman. Most Japanese guys are too shy to nanpa at all. If you ask a Japanese if he has ever done nanpa, he’ll probably say, “ZOMG! No way! I’m too embarrassed!” since nanpa is direct, and mostly, if you are Japanese and you like someone, you embark on a series of subtle, indirect stealth manoeuvres, because liking prohibits action, especially for women, but also for men.

Why is this the case? Japanese social interaction is all about intuiting the other person’s wishes without discussing them openly, at the same time that they are intuiting your wishes without discussing them openly, so that although nothing is ever verbalised, the two of you will always exist in a compromise position of equilibrium. If you like someone, that intuitive part goes into overdrive, because you should be able to understand everything about that person without them ever telling you, and you should be able to please them without ever asking how, even more than you would with a normal person. So it’s more important than ever to be indirect. Which leads me to:

2. Negotiating through a third partyAgain, it’s not really flirting, but since flirting is showing your feelings openly–that is, pushing your feelings onto another person, which is direct and rude–it’s better to show no sign to the other person and meanwhile exploit the back channels. Sort of like in high school. So that convoluted human chain whereby: you like Hiro and you tell Junko that you think Hiro has a nice smile knowing that Junko will intuit that you want to know if Hiro likes you back, since Junko is friends with Goro who is friends with Hiro and Junko will talk to Goro and Goro will bring it up with Hiro etc etc etc etc etc etc. Once everything is confirmed, Hiro will ask you out. (The girl ask the guy out? Ahahahaha. Be serious.)
If you don’t have a third party to negotiate for you, you may be forced to use other methods, all of them so subtle that a westerner may not even notice them at all.

3. Subtle signals
– Shyness. Pronounced shyness is form of flirting, since it’s a sign of liking, especially from girls, but also from guys. She interacts with everyone else more than him, she doesn’t sit next to him, she doesn’t talk much to him, she doesn’t initiate anything with him. – Attentiveness. You make life easier for the other person without being asked to. For example, when you got to a restaurant in Japan it’s normal to share food, so flirting means not ordering what you like, but ordering what s/he likes, which you already know without asking, because you’re observant. Stuff like that.- Eye contact. It’s the opposite to the west, where you gaze deeply into someone’s eyes if you like them. Direct eye contact is a bit rude in Japan at the best of times. If you’re flirting you look down and away a lot.- Indirect compliments. I can’t think of a good example. It’s pretty rare to give direct compliments and even more rare to compliment someone’s looks. (It’s especially rare for guys to compliment girls directly.) I wish I could think of a good example! I’ll come back to this one.

Sex in Japan

It’s really different. It’s just so completely different. The first time I had sex with a Japanese guy was easily the most bamboozling experience of my entire life.
Before I launch into anything, I should say that while I lived in Japan for five years, I have had sex with only a select few people, and that was within long term relationships, so it’s not as if I have personally taken a wide sample. But I had a network of Japanese friends (mostly female) and every time I encountered a cultural difference I immediately pumped them all for information, asking my millions of questions. I make generalized statements only when something that I personally experienced was confirmed as The Norm.
The biggest difference is that sex in Japan is not a mutual sharing experience with both partners spontaneously doing whatever they feel like or enjoy whenever they feel like doing it. Sex has rules and sex has roles just as every social interaction in Japan has rules and roles. There is an active partner and a passive partner. Active means moving; passive means unmoving. In heterosexual sex, the active partner is always male, and the passive partner is always female. In gay sex you work out your roles beforehand: the seme is active, the uke is passive (for gay guys); the tachi is active, the neko is passive (for gay women). If you are familiar with seme/uke conventions from yaoi manga, you can use them as a way of relating to what I’m talking about, because those conventions are not a fictional construct, randomly decided upon by a group of yaoi mangaka. Straight people have sex like that too, in reality.

So there is an active partner and a passive partner, which causes various flow on effects. You can’t have “Whoo-hoo! Go for it!” sex because both partners are constrained by their roles. The passive partner (obviously) because she can’t move, and the active partner because he has to take care of the passive partner, instructing her on what to do and exerting himself so that she has a good time.
Japanese guys are generally more stressed out by sex than western guys and that is because they are responsible for the sex; as the active male, the sex is their burden, they have to do everything, it’s all up to them. Sex equates not only (sometimes not even primarily) with ‘fun’ or ‘pleasure’, it also equates with ‘work’ and ‘obligation’.

I also can’t emphasise enough just how passive the passive partner is. The way a woman kisses is by submissively opening her mouth, not moving her tongue unless she is cued to do so; if she’s really feminine she won’t open her mouth at all, until she’s told to. Sometimes women will move around a (very) little during sex, but mostly not at all. The slang term for a woman who lies completely still in bed is maguro (tuna). For me, with my western sensibilities and preconceptions, calling someone a ‘tuna’ in bed sounds like an insult, conjuring up images of cold dead fish, but in Japan that word has a very positive connotation. Tuna’s an expensive delicacy.

Part of what was so bamboozling the first time I had sex in Japan was that I didn’t know there was a Way of Sex, with strict gendered roles, and I just was happily doing my own thing, throwing my partner into total confusion. Seiji told me much later that dating me made him feel like he was gay, because I was active in bed, and he couldn’t connect that with anything except masculinity.
When it came to the guys I dated, even though it was completely outside their experience, they sort of (kind of) eventually adjusted their thinking and accepted the fact that I was active (because I was Foreign and Foreign Women Are Different) but the thing I could never completely change was the fixed idea they had that someone must be passive. Yes, I could be active in bed, but they had no template for how to react to that other than the female/passive/uke template. So at best we could alternate “active periods”, and though the lines between active and passive blurred a little over time, they never blurred completely. And total shutdowns still happened: thirty seconds tick past and my partner hasn’t moved at all … oh, okay, I get what’s happened.

If I’m making cross-cultural sex sound like a bit of a nightmare: yeah, it was. In this case, once I worked out what was going on, I thought all my problems could be solved by a simple conversation or two, explaining the more free-form nature of western sex, and encouraging my partner along the lines of, “You don’t have to act a certain way, you can act however you like! You can relax! Enjoy yourself! Doesn’t that sound great?” but that was also a failure to understand the Japanese psyche. It’s not liberating for a Japanese person to be told there are no rules, it’s frightening. I was inadvertently terrorizing my partner by dropping them into the middle of a scary foreign wilderness and telling them to make do without a map.

Sex and hygiene

Sex in the west can be spontaneous, but sex in Japan isn’t, or at least, not in the same way. In Japan, you can’t get in the front door and immediately start stripping each other’s clothes off in the hallway. Well, you can, and your Japanese partner will probably acquiesce because they are Japanese, but deep down they will be hideously uncomfortable and thinking, “Sex? But I’m not mentally prepared! I haven’t done my kokoro no junbi! And she hasn’t had a shower! And I haven’t had a shower! This is kind of gross!”
Shower is important. You should shower directly before and after you have sex. Before is more important than after. This makes me sound like I only ever dated people with OCD, but it’s the norm. The way I first found out about this was in conversation with my friend Natsue.

Me: I was at Seiji’s place hanging out and he randomly told me that I could use his shower if I felt like it. Don’t you think that’s weird? Natsue: *cracks up laughing* Cat, that means he wants to have sex with you! If a guy mentions having a shower, he is saying that he wants to have sex. Me: But isn’t it kind of rude to imply I needed to shower first? Like, it was a date, obviously I had showered before going over to his apartment! Natsue: Well, I suppose so… *sounding unconvinced* … but didn’t you say he lives in Yokohama?Me: What does Yokohama have to do with it?Natsue: Well, you went on the train to get there … it’s better to have another shower. If a guy had sex with me without showering first, it would make me really uncomfortable.
Sensing yet another cross-cultural disaster in the making, I began the investigation, hitting up all the usual suspects for information, including my friend Tomoko, who was dating a western guy called Andy.
Me: Sorry to bring this up suddenly, but does it weird you out that Andy sometimes initiates sex without showering first?Tomoko: YES! I’m so glad I finally have someone to talk to about this! Cat, are all westerners like this? It’s so dirty and I can’t relax! It makes me feel like we are just animals!
After I heard basically the same story from all my Japanese girlfriends, I went back to Seiji.

Me: First of all, westerners don’t always shower or have a bath before sex. However, I will try to accommodate you on this because the idea of sex without showering seemed to horrify everyone I talked to right down to their very bones. Secondly, when you suggested that I shower the other day, and I said no, I was not rejecting you. I didn’t understand that it was your Japanese signal that you wanted to have sex. If I had understood that, I would definitely have said yes. Seiji: *spits tea all over the table*Me: …this is one of those deeply unspoken Japanese things that I’m not supposed to talk about directly, isn’t it.Seiji: Yes.
Another thing that is considered rather icky and unhygienic is ejaculate. Guys are really embarrassed by it. They will be desperately scrabbling for a tissue almost before you realise they’ve come at all, since it is really bad form to get ejaculate anywhere, without cleaning it up immediately afterwards (and immediately means immediately). This is yet one more thing that men are responsible for as the ‘active’ partner. The more of a nice, polite guy they are, the more stressed out they will be about it. It’s also yet one more way that the sex is prescribed and controlled; the guy can never really let go, because even at the moment of climax, he’s already worrying about cleaning up, or trying not to make a mess in the first place.

Fun vintage pictures

Why I’m never moving back to the US

I'm leaving China soon and many people asked "why aren't you moving back to the US?" There are a lot of reasons and I talk about the bigger reasons in this video. I don't think the US is all bad, but I also don't agree with many of the things that are happening in the US currently. I might never move back and if everything goes according to plan, I will never need to move back.

Is the rise of China a threat to the American Exceptionalism narrative?

Oh, absolutely! This is not in question.

American Exceptionalism says the Americans have the best economy, the best technology, and the best political governance. Against China, this is oh for three.

Best Economy
China has the world’s largest economy by purchasing power parity, which is a better measure of how well a country is doing.

China’s economy continues to grow at around 5% while the US economy struggles to reach 3%.

China is the undisputed world’s manufacturing superpower. The USA doesn’t even come close.

China has the world’s finest infrastructure (roads, bridges, high-speed rail, airports, seaports, power grid, etc.). US infrastructure, on the other hand, is crumbling and decaying.

China’s national debt is about 77% of GDP. The US national debt is about 129% of GDP.

Best Technology
ASPI says China leads the world in 37 out of 44 critical technology fields.

China is granted more technological patents than the USA and Japan combined!

China graduates several times more STEM graduates than America does.

China has the best 5G. China has the best EVs. China has the best mobile payment system. China’s BeiDou system is superior to GPS. China’s Tiangong space station is superior to I.S.S.

Best Political Governance
According to 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗮’𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘅 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰, 79% of Chinese believe their nation is democratic while only 57% of Americans and 55% of British do.

According to the 𝗘𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰, 85% of Chinese trust their government while only 40% of Americans and 30% of British do.

According to the 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯, 76% of Chinese trust their politicians while only 29% of Americans and 20% of British do.

According to 𝗜𝗽𝘀𝗼𝘀’ 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯, 91% of Chinese are happy with their life while only 76% of Americans and 70% of British are.

According to 𝗜𝗽𝘀𝗼𝘀’ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿, 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟵, 95% of Chinese believe their country is on the right track and moving in the right direction while only 41% of Americans and 23% of British do.

US politics is a total basket case. There is deep political division. There is deep political corruption. The American people are simply not happy with their governance.

Soft Rock Ballads 70s 80s 90s

Ah this will take you back in time…

Four-Way Slow Cooker Shredded Beef

LOW Setting: 10 1/2 hr | HIGH Setting: 6 1/2 hr | Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

1 beef shoulder roast, boneless arm chuck roast or boneless blade chuck roast (2 to 2 1/2 pounds)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (optional)
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic
Salt and pepper

Instructions

For optional browning, heat 1 tablespoon oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot. Brown beef roast on all sides.
Place onion and garlic in 3 1/2 to 5 quart slow cooker; place roast on top.
Cover and cook on LOW for 9 to 10 hours or on HIGH for 5 to 6 hours or until roast is fork-tender.
Remove roast from slow cooker. Skim fat from cooking liquid, if necessary and reserve 1 cup onion mixture.
Shred beef with 2 forks. Combine shredded beef and reserved onion mixture. Season with salt and pepper, as desired.
Continue as directed in Recipe Variations below, as desired.

Notes

Recipe Variations

Mexican Shredded Beef: Combine tomato or tomatillo salsa and beef mixture, as desired. Place in large microwave-safe bowl. Cover, vent and microwave until heated through, stirring occasionally. Serve in warmed flour or corn tortillas topped with pico de gallo, slice avocados, shredded cheese, chopped cilantro and/or chopped white or green onions, as desired.

BBQ Shredded Beef: Combine prepared barbecue sauce and beef mixture. Place in large microwave-safe bowl. Cover, vent and microwave until heated through, stirring occasionally. Serve on whole wheat rolls topped with creamy horseradish sauce, coleslaw, Cheddar cheese slices, chopped green bell pepper and/or canned French fried onion, as desired.

Asian Shredded Beef: Combine prepared hoison or teriyaki sauce and beef mixture. Place in large microwave-safe bowl. Cover, vent and microwave until heated through, stirring occasionally. Serve in lettuce or cabbage cups topped with shredded carrots, sliced cucumber, chopped fresh cilantro or mint, sriracha or crushed red pepper flakes and/or chopped peanuts, as desired.

Indian Shredded Beef: Combine prepared Indian cooking sauce, such as Tikka Masala or Vindaloo. Place in large microwave-safe bowl. Cover, vent and microwave until heated through, stirring occasionally. Serve in naan or pita bread topped with toasted chopped pistachios or coconut, raisins, Greek yogurt or mango chutney, chopped fresh mint or cilantro and/or sliced cucumber or green onion, as desired.

Nutrition

Per serving, using Shoulder Roast: 161 calories; 5 g fat (2 g saturated fat; 3 g monounsaturated fat); 57 mg cholesterol; 64 mg sodium; 3 g carbohydrate; 0.5 g fiber; 23 g protein; 7.2 mg niacin; 0.3 mg vitamin B6; 2.6 mcg vitamin B12; 2.8 mg iron; 26.0 mcg selenium; 5.5 mg zinc; 89.1 mg choline

Brian Berletic: China Just SHOCKED the World and the US Military is Preparing for War

“Have you ever sabotaged food because someone was stealing it?”

I answered a question like about 4 years ago.

Originally Answered: “If a coworker is stealing your food and you address the problem by putting something in it that makes the thief sick, can you be prosecuted for that? What if you put your name on it and leave a “DO NOT EAT” note?”

This brings to mind a story I was told in 1967 or ‘68. The man that told us the story was our class adviser, and he was in his 80’s at the time, so the story probably originated in the 1880s or ‘90s – if it’s true at all. Life was different then.

He told us that he’d been having problems at school; somebody was stealing his lunch before it was lunchtime.

One morning, on his way to school, his body language must have shown his dejection. He wasn’t looking forward to going to school or in having his lunch stolen again. The neighborhood Druggist saw him as he walked by and noticed that he seemed dejected. The Druggist asked him what was wrong, and my class adviser stopped and explained. The Druggist said he could fix the problem, and asked the class adviser for his lunch. He took it into the drugstore and when he re-appeared, he warned my class adviser to not eat it, just put it on the lunch shelf like he usually would.

During class, the predictable happened. One of the students held up his hand… then started waving his hand frantically… then ran from the classroom without permission, followed by a stream of very liquid excrement.

The Principal sent my class adviser home. As he passed by the drugstore, the Druggist spotted him again, looking even more dejected than he had earlier in the morning. He asked what was wrong now, and my class adviser said he’d been expelled, and that he was going to catch holy heck when he got home. This was a time when corporal punishment was practiced at school, and my class adviser fully expected to get walloped by his dad, every time he got walloped at school. He wasn’t looking forward to facing his dad.

The Druggist told him “Tell your dad to come and talk to me before he disciplines you. I’ll tell him what happened and why I did it.

”My class adviser said “Well, that will help, but it won’t fix things up with the Principal. I’ll still be expelled.”

The Druggist said “Don’t worry about that. I also sit on the School Board.”

Why the US is a Paper Tiger Vs China

A fun discussion.

Have you ever overheard someone talking about you in another language?

Yes, rather frequently. I’m Finnish but don’t fit the bill in my area nor, apparently on airplanes.

Having said that, I vividly remember the first time I traveled alone.. I was seated next to two Finnish men in their 30s / early 40s. The men were polite enough when taking their seats, greeting me in English and asking where in our destination I was headed – I didn’t bother to correct their initial assumption of my nationality as I had noticed that most people found it embarrassing to be corrected on the matter. After the conversation ended, I pulled out a book and they switched to Finnish to speak with each other.

It was fine while they tackled the topics of sports (which ice hockey team from their hometown was the best) and politics but a little too soon for my liking, they started talking about women. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue as I’d simply turn up the volume of whatever I happened to be listening to in order to drown them out but this time around the conversation came full circle to me and the judging of what I was – Arab, jew, Mediterranean, Romani – and which of these options meant I was beneath them in their personal racial bias. I was a little disgusted by the whole conversation – I hadn’t known that Arab meant I was a bitch or that specific Mediterranean countries meant different levels of sexual promiscuity.. But since I was young, I didn’t call then out on it during the 3 hour flight. I neither stood up for myself nor corrected them; I was shocked that people actually thought these kinds of things about others merely based on their perceived nationality or race.

I made it through the flight without a word to suggest that I had understood everything they had said. When we landed in our destination, I turned to them and wished them a lovely vacation in my native tongue. The looks of horror on their faces were definitely worth seeing!

Russia’s Half-Ton Cluster Bomb RBK-500 Wiped Out Canadian & Polish Mercenaries In New York (UKRAINE)

Rest in Peace; Fat Cat

This year (2024) there was a young man would committed suicide. He went by the name “fat cat” because his icon was that of a fat cat wanting to eat.

It has moved many of us.

I am one such person.

This idea that you, as a hard working young man, is tricked by promises of love and marriage by an attractive young woman…

…would give up all of your money…

…sacrifice your health and meals…

…only to have everything crashing down when you discover that she lied to you; defrauded you and used you.

…

Rest in peace Fat Cat.

The Suicide of Fat Cat China Gamer, a Virtual but Real Saga

The tragic story behind the recent suicide of a 21-year-old Chinese gamer nicknamed ‘Fat Cat’ has become a major topic of discussion on Chinese social media, touching upon broader societal issues from unfair gender dynamics to businesses taking advantage of grieving internet users.

The story of a 21-year-old Chinese gamer from Hunan who committed suicide has gone completely viral on Weibo and beyond this week, generating many discussions.

In late April of this year, the young man nicknamed ‘Fat Cat’ (胖猫 Pàng Māo, literally fat or chubby cat), tragically ended his life by jumping into the river near the Chongqing Yangtze River Bridge (重庆长江大桥) following a breakup with his girlfriend.

By now, the incident has come to be known as the “Fat Cat Jumping Into the River Incident” (胖猫跳江事件).

News of his suicide soon made its rounds on the internet, and some bloggers started looking into what was behind the story.

The man’s sister also spoke out through online channels, and numerous chat records between the young man and his girlfriend emerged online.

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One aspect of his story that gained traction in early May is the revelation that the man had invested ALL of his resources into the relationship.

Allegedly, he made significant financial sacrifices, giving his girlfriend over 510,000 RMB (approximately 71,000 USD) throughout their relationship, in a time frame of two years.

Every waking moment, he worked and earned money.

And she, at every turn would siphon it away from him.

When he had no more money, and she still wanted more, she told him “we can be friends. I don’t want to marry you.”

When his girlfriend ended the relationship, despite all of his efforts, he was devastated and took his own life.

Liu’s sister discovered the reason behind the breakup while looking through his phone. The couple had been together for two years and reportedly planned a wedding for May 2024. Reports suggest Liu financially supported Chau throughout their relationship, covering everything from birthday celebrations to rent for her apartment.

Some sources claim Liu spent a significant amount, up to 510,000 yuan, on Chau, including phones…

… the latest iPhone…

… multiple overseas trips (shat she would take WITHOUT him) …

… and even starting a flower shop for her.

All of this caused financial strain on Liu, forcing him to adopt a very frugal lifestyle.

The Story

The story was picked up by various Chinese media outlets, and prominent social and political commentator Hu Xijin also wrote a post about Fat Cat, stating the sad story had made him tear up.

As the news spread, it sparked a multitude of hashtags on Weibo, with thousands of netizens pouring out their thoughts and emotions in response to the story. Playing Games for Love

The main part of this story that is triggering online discussions is how ‘Fat Cat,’ a young man who possessed virtually nothing, managed to provide his girlfriend, who was six years older, with such a significant amount of money – and why he was willing to sacrifice so much in order to do so.

The young man reportedly was able to make money by playing video games, specifically by being a so-called ‘booster’ by playing with others and helping them get to a higher level in multiplayer online battle games.

According to his sister, he started working as a ‘professional’ video gamer as a means of generating money to satisfy his girlfriend, who allegedly always demanded more.

He registered a total of 36 accounts to receive orders to play online games, making 20 yuan per game (about $2.80).

Because this consumed all of his time, he barely went out anymore and his social life was dead.

In order to save more money, he tried to keep his own expenses as low as possible, and would only get takeout food for himself for no more than 10 yuan ($1,4).

His online avatar was an image of a cat saying “I don’t want to eat vegetables, I want to eat McDonald’s.”

The woman in question who he made so many sacrifices for is named Tan Zhu (谭竹), and she soon became the topic of public scrutiny.

In one screenshot of a chat conversation between Tan and her boyfriend that leaked online, she claimed she needed money for various things.

The two had agreed to get married later in this year.

Despite of this, she still broke up with him, driving him to jump off the bridge after transferring his remaining 66,000 RMB (9135 USD) to Tan Zhu.

What had actually happened was that as soon as she got all of his savings, she immediately broke up with him. The plan for marriage was all a lie; a scam.

As the story fermented online, Tan Zhu also shared her side of the story. She claimed that she had met ‘Fat Cat’ over two years ago through online gaming and had started a long distance relationship with him.

They had actually only met up twice before he moved to Chongqing.

She emphasized that financial gain was never a motivating factor in their relationship.She said that she liked him, and she would have promised to marry him even if he was broke.

Yet, the records are clear. She was siphoning money from him weekly.

Tan additionally asserted that she had previously repaid 130,000 RMB (18,000 USD) to him and that they had reached a settlement agreement shortly before his tragic death.

Ordering Take-Out to Mourn Fat Cat

– “I hope you rest in peace.”
– “Little fat cat, I hope you’ll be less foolish in your next life.”
– “In your next life, love yourself first.”

These are just a few of the messages left by netizens on notes attached to takeout food deliveries near the Chongqing Yangtze River Bridge.

AI-generated image spread on Chinese social media in connection to the event.

As Fat Cat’s story stirred up significant online discussion, with many expressing sympathy for the young man who rarely indulged in spending on food and drinks, some internet users took the step of ordering McDonalds and other food delivery services to the bridge, where he tragically jumped from, in his honor.

This soon snowballed into more people ordering food and drinks to the bridge, resulting in a constant flow of delivery staff and a pile-up of take-out bags.

Delivery food on the bridge, photo via Weibo.

However, as the food delivery efforts picked up pace, it came to light that some of the deliveries ordered and paid for were either empty or contained something different; certain restaurants, aware of the collective effort to honor the young man, deliberately left the food boxes empty or substituted sodas or tea with tap water.

At least five restaurants were caught not delivering the actual orders.

Chinese bubble tea shop ChaPanda was exposed for substituting water for milk tea in their cups.

On May 3rd, ChaPanda responded that they had fired the responsible employee.

Another store, the Zhu Xiaoxiao Luosifen (朱小小螺蛳粉), responded on that they had temporarily closed the shop in question to deal with the issue.

Chinese fast food chain NewYobo (牛约堡) also acknowledged that at least twenty orders they received were incomplete.

Fast food company Wallace (华莱士) responded to the controversy by stating they had dismissed the employees involved.

Mixue Ice Cream & Tea (蜜雪冰城) issued an apology and temporarily closed one of their stores implicated in delivering empty orders.

In the midst of all the controversy, Fat Cat’s sister asked internet users to refrain from ordering take-out food as a means of mourning and honoring her brother.

Nevertheless, take-out food and flowers continued to accumulate near the bridge, prompting local authorities to think of ways of how to deal with this unique method of honoring the deceased gamer.

Gamer Boy Meets Girl

On Chinese social media, this story has also become a topic of debate in the context of gender dynamics and social inequality.

There are some male bloggers who are angry with Tan Zhu, suggesting her behaviour is an example of everything that’s supposedly “wrong” with Chinese women in this day and age. they take, take, and take and when the man is used up and can no longer provide, they dump him and move on to the next sucker.

Others place blame on Fat Cat himself for believing that he could buy love and maintain a relationship through financial means.

This irked some feminist bloggers, who see it as a chauvinistic attitude towards women. He killed himself, therefore he is at fault.

A main, recurring idea in these discussions is that young Chinese men such as Fat Cat, who are at the low end of the social ladder, are actually particularly vulnerable in a fiercely competitive society.

Here, a gender imbalance and surplus of unmarried men make it easier for women to potentially exploit those desperate for companionship.

Mo Cha Official

The story of Fat Cat brings back memories of ‘Mo Cha Official,’ a not-so-famous blogger who gained posthumous fame in 2021 when details of his unhappy life surfaced online.

Su Xiangmao

Likewise, the tragic tale of WePhone founder Su Xiangmao (苏享茂) resurfaces.

In 2017, the 37-year-old IT entrepreneur from Beijing took his own life, leaving behind a note alleging blackmail by his 29-year-old ex-wife, who demanded 10 million RMB (±1.5 million USD).

Another aspect of this viral story that is mentioned by netizens is how it gained so much attention during the Chinese May holidays, coinciding with the tragic news of the southern China highway collapse in Guangdong.

‘Fat Cat’ was cremated.

His family stated their intention to take necessary legal steps to recover the money from his former girlfriend, but Tan Zhu reportedly already reached an agreement with the father and settled the case.

Nevertheless, the case continues to generate discussions online.

Fat Cat images projected in Times Square However, given that images of the ‘Fat Cat’ avatar have even appeared in Times Square in New York by now (Chinese internet users projected it on one of the big LED screens), it’s likely that this story will be remembered and talked about for some time to come.

— RIP Fat Cat —

What’s the weirdest phone call you have ever received?

I received a scam “security” call from a person with an accent.

Me: “Hello?”

Person: “Is this (my name)?”

Me: “Yes”

Person: “This is John with security at Microsoft. Your email address is ________.com?”

Me: “Yes.”

Person: “There is a high probability that your computer’s security has been compromised and your email address has sent 58,000 emails in the last 14 hours.”

Me: “OMG, really?”

Person: “Is your PC on right now?”

Me: “Yes.”

Person: “Would you please shut it down, now? We’ll reboot and I’ll explain.”

Me:“OK.”

Person: “Thank you for your cooperation.”

As I fumbled to shut the PC down, I wondered how Microsoft could have my phone number and email address right. But, hey, but this was Microsoft!

Person: “Please wait 30 seconds and then restart.”

While waiting for the reboot, he confided that it had been a long night chasing “this one.” After it rebooted, he asked me to run some basic checks, then asked me to set him up as “a remote operator.”

I offered to continue taking his directions.

He repeated his request to be allowed to remotely take over my PC.

And I politely repeated my offer to continue taking his directions.

He changed the subject, but then he offered a third time.

Person: “I can handle this faster.”

Me: “I’m fine doing this myself, manually.”

The phone went dead. Now my infected PC would never be fixed.

So I called MICROSOFT!

When I reached technical services, they immediately told me that Microsoft would never make phone calls to suspected spammers nor to individuals with compromised computers.

Microsoft: “Did he ask what version of Windows you had?”

Me:”NO.”

Microsoft:“Did he ask which anti-virus software you were using, Kaspersky, Norton, Mcafee?”

Me: “No.”

Microsoft: “It was a scam. He was likely trying to install password or keystroke spyware that would send your information to a third party. Don’t ever allow remote access to your PC.”

Me: “Thanks, I won’t. I didn’t get your name.”

Microsoft: “John”

Me: …pause…“He said his name was ‘John,’ too.”

Microsoft (and without hesitation): “This is John One…the one that matters.”

And after some laughter… “Thank you for calling Microsoft.”

What has been your best career decision(s)?

After moving out of college as a fresh engineering graduate, I got cheated by a fake software company. I had paid 30k to get that fake job! 🙁
The worst part was my mother had sold her anklets to arrange that money. In fact she was very happy to give me the money as she believed that I became a software engineer(She never went to school).
I couldn’t share this story with my mother and joined an international BPO in bangalore to earn bread and butter and worked here for 6 months.
I didn’t tell my mother that I lost money and joined a BPO as I didn’t want to break her heart. I lied to her that I’m doing good at my work and priced my fake software company. (Yes! Fake it until u make it)
15k was my monthly salary in BPO and I was in my comfort zone. Also I had already lost all hopes in software job.
At that point of time, one of my college friends told me about this small start up software company located in Yelahanka.
I visisted this start up the next day itself and agreed for below terms and conditions:

No salary for 3 months
You will be paid 5k INR as salary after 3 months
1.5 years bond
Original marks cards need to be submitted

8 . I grabbed this opportunity without any second thought and joined in the next day itself.

9. Started working as a software developer.

10. As my performance was good, after 6 months I was offered 20k INR per month(it was huge for me) and was sent to a client location to work.

11. Fast forward 3 years, I’m working in one of the big IT giants in the world and 58k INR (again it’s really a big amount for me and my mother) is my take home.

12. Finally I made it! I made her dream come true. I never shared this story with her till now.

13. And yes! I gifted her new pair of anklets and bangles too also I have started construction of new house in my village. She is super happy now.

Coming out of my comfort zone and joining the start up without considering the salary, company reputaion and other benefits was my best career decision 🙂

Fake it until u make it 😉

Other AI art

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Default Magnificent Cheeseburger This cheeseburger is magnific 1

Default BLACK GUY WITH SUNGLASSES SMILE UNDER THE UMBRELLA 0

Default 1girl waist height portrait full body beautiful anime 0 bf680983 9db3 4502 91c2 80eb153143a2 0

Default like watercolor baby rabbit she eat carrot cartoon 0 b097488d 45aa 4d20 ab5d 240a45e4c98b 0

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How would a world war play out?

There will be substantive changes in culture, society, and financial institutions throughout the world.

Judging from history, and independent of whether or not it goes nuclear, the world post-reconstruction would favor the East, and disfavor the Western block.

There will be an economic rise in Africa, the Middle East, and throughout Asia. Future history books will consider this period to be a global renaissance.

There will be a substantive internal compression, akin to what happened to the British Empire, and the Roman Empire, and it would occur in the Americas and in Europe.

Historians will consider the third world war to have started around 2008, with the peak hostilities occurring during the Trump / Mike Pompeo bioweapon attack on China CNY in 2019. With the war lasting from 2019 through 2023.

Start in 2008 centering on the first United States economic collapse.
Hostilities building up towards Asia from 2012 though 2019.
Hot wars 2019 though 2023.
Minor wars 2022 through 2025 / 26
Major contraction of Western financial and societal structures by 2028.
Reconstruction 2030 through 2040.

Any hostilities that will occur in the next few years WILL NOT change the trajectory of the world. That process is ongoing, and will follow though to it’s complete realization.

The reconstructive period has already started, and we can well expect for most things to settle down around 2030. With a long drawn out adaptation to new global realities by 2040.

Commander’s Palace Sour Cream Pecan Coffee Cake

Ingredients

Cake

1 cup (2 sticks) softened unsalted butter
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch salt
1 1/2 cups sour cream

Pecan Filling

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter well a 10 inch Bundt pan and dust with flour, shaking out the excess.

Cake

In a bowl with an electric mixer beat the butter until smooth.
Add the sugar, a little at a time, and beat the mixture until it is light and fluffy.
Beat in the vanilla extract and the eggs, one at a time.
Into a bowl sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture, beating slowly until just combined.
Fold in the sour cream.

Pecan Filling

In a bowl combine filling ingredients. Spoon 2/3 of the batter into the prepared pan, sprinkle the top with the pecan filling, gently pressing filling into batter, going completely around the cake until all remaining nut mixture is used. Add remaining batter to pan and smooth top.
Bake for 1 hour, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. If necessary, loosely cover top of cake with piece of aluminum foil to prevent overbrowning.
Let cool on a rack in the pan for 5 minutes.
Invert onto the rack and let cool completely.

Attribution

Commander’s Palace Restaurant, New Orleans, Louisiana

Has a doctor ever given you a stupid diagnosis like “it’s in your head” because he couldn’t admit he couldn’t find out?

Many times, in fact. When I was fifteen I suddenly developed pain in my neck. It ached constantly, and began cracking loud enough to make people jump. This pain spread into my back and by the time I was back at school, I was struggling to get through a whole day without having to go home to sleep as my fatigue was so great.

Before this pain started I was fit and well and could walk great distances. Over the next few years the pain spread into every part of my body, and my mobility began to decrease. I was struggling to walk around a large shop, then a small shop and my world got smaller.

During this time I was bounced around many medication professionals. Having never had anything major wrong with me before, I was under the impression a doctor would listen to my symptoms and then discuss what conditions could be causing it. Then they would carry out testing until it was narrowed down. Nothing of the sort happened.

My GP kept shrugging her shoulders. I had to look up specific tests and ask for them, even the most basic. I was sent to physiotherapists – a lot of them, none of which were helpful. One said, “You don’t appear to be screaming out in pain for treatment.” Like it was normal for someone with long-term pain to scream 24/7. I then was sent to rheumatologists. Their diagnosis was “likely not arthritis” which didn’t feel like a diagnosis at all. I kept pushing – I was having to use a walking stick to get around, then later a wheelchair. My joints hurt and cracked, and felt like they were out of place. The muscle spasms were relentless. Not one doctor I ever saw asked about my symptoms other than pain. Very quickly the suggestions began it was all in my head. I was sent to a pain psychologist and had a few sessions, before she concluded my coping skills were fine – I just didn’t know what was wrong and needed further investigations.

I then spent a few years being bounced between the two – rheumatology to psychology. Each disagreeing I fit under their services. After about six years my GP wrote again to rheumatology to ask for more help and to have a review of treatment options as I was getting much worse. The letter we got back said, “To further offer treatment options would medicalise her issues. She needs to see a psychiatrist.” I can’t tell you how much this letter devastated me. I’d gone from a perfectly healthy teenager to struggling to physically function. I was in constant and severe pain, with injury after injury on top. I was having to use a wheelchair to be able to leave the house. I began to doubt myself – was it in my head?

At some point I saw a Pain Consultant. A rude, dismissive sort. He told me I just needed to fight through the pain, that anyone could if they tried hard enough. (I didn’t have the energy to point out that if people could ignore severe pain his job wouldn’t even exist). He eventually agreed to send me for an MRI for the first time to prove nothing was wrong. The MRI showed a great deal of degeneration, disc bulges, narrowing and cysts. He left before the results came back.

Then after eight and a half years I finally got my answers. A series of events led me to look up the condition Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Not only did it fit everything I had, there were so many other things I’d ignored as just assumed were part of me that were actually down to EDS. My GP referred me to the top specialist to see if I did have it, and the difference in that appointment compared to any other I’d seen was immense. He asked detailed questions starting from when I was born. He connected all the dots, and was so thorough and diagnosed me definitively with EDS.

Knowing what it was made such a difference. It’s incurable, but at least I know. I get so angry at all those awful doctors who took one look at a young teenager and jumped straight to psychosomatic with no effort. It’s a pattern I see so often – particularly with women, but many have fallen victim to this.

Sometimes it isn’t the most obvious answer, and that’s why it’s so important to look at the whole picture rather than one single source of pain. The condition on average takes 10–20 years to diagnose, and many are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed who have it. It’s just not good enough.

I’m left with a great deal of medical anxiety, having been treated so badly by so many I saw over those years.

Shorpy

This is a fun look back.

I feel like I missed out by not going to a prestigious university. How do I get over this? While I go to a respectable school (University of Michigan), I never applied to any Ivies or other elite schools because I felt like I couldn’t get in.

As I look back on my education, I realize I got a wonderful jump-start at Columbia University. I also realize that in the 4 years I spent there, I learned a lot. It probably adds up to about 0.5% of what I know now.

The university is only the beginning of your education. A great university gives you a great beginning. But a head-start is less important than endurance. Slow and steady wins the race. If you keep learning, every day, every week, soon whatever you “missed” at the university will fade into nothingness.

When I graduated from Columbia, I was annoyed that the ceremony was not called a graduation, but was called a “commencement”. Hey, I wanted recognition for the four years of work I had struggled through!

In retrospect, that was exactly the right name.

As you grow older, you’ll see many of your friends and colleagues become couch potatoes, with their bodily health and strength gradually going downhill. Don’t let it happen to you. But far worse, their brains will also go downhill. Not forced to learn, they will stop learning. Don’t let it happen to you!

Every year of your life, learn more than you did last year. It gets easier to do this as you get older, because the main thing you learned in college was how to learn. And you can keep getting better at it.

The key to learning is recognizing how much fun it is. When you enjoy something, you learn without effort. In college, I had no interest in history, little in world affairs; now those subjects fascinate me. I find almost all of life fascinating.

Forgive me for ending with a cliche:
This is the first day of the rest of your life.

Barbecue Beef Roast

Ingredients

1 (2 – 2 1/2 pound) beef chuck roast
1/4 cup barbecue sauce (I prefer Sweet Baby Ray’s)
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon chili powder

Instructions

Place the roast in the slow cooker (slice in half if using a 4-quart slow cooker).
Whisk together the remaining ingredients and pour over the roast. Cook on LOW for 6 hours.
Remove the roast and shred with two forks (it just falls apart), place in a serving dish and ladle some of the juice over the top before serving.

VLADIMIR PUTIN:

"Western elites are stubbornly working to 'punish' Russia, isolate and weaken it, supplying the Kiev authorities with money and arms.

They have imposed almost 16,000 unilateral illegitimate sanctions against our country.

They are threatening to dismember our country.

They are illegally trying to appropriate our foreign assets.

They are turning a blind eye to the resurgence of Nazism and to Ukraine-sponsored terrorist attacks in our territory.

We are seeking a comprehensive, sustainable and just settlement of this conflict through peaceful means.

We are open to a dialogue on Ukraine, but such negotiations must take into account the interests of all countries involved in the conflict, including Russia's.

They must also involve a substantive discussion on global stability and security guarantees for Russia's opponents and, naturally, for Russia itself.

Needless to say, these must be reliable guarantees.

That is where the main problem is, since we are dealing with states whose ruling circles seek to substitute the world order based on international law with an 'order based on certain rules,' which they keep talking about but which no one has ever seen, no one has agreed to, and which, apparently, tend to change depending on the current political situation and interests of those who invent these rules."

Excerpt from remarks by Russian President Vladimir Putin in a written Interview to Chinese news agency Xinhua, May 15, 2024.

Putin & Xi, preparing for big sanctions war w/ Alex Krainer

This is a great video.

In 2024, Chinese people will still be behind the Great Firewall. Does this mean that most Chinese people are ignorant of the truth about the world?

interesting question

Although I am not Chinese, I actually know it very well

Years ago, when I first learned about the Great Firewall of China, I thought the same thing as many Westerners

“Oh, they built an iron curtain on the Internet to imprison their own people and prevent them from knowing the truth about the world. This is really an evil country.”

But when I actually visited China and met a large number of Chinese people, I realized that I had thought of things too simply.

The Great Firewall of China is not actually a prison, it is more like the Great Wall built by the Chinese in ancient times: the hard side is always on the outside.

In fact, Chinese people can easily access all websites in the world, various social software, X, YouTube, Ins, Watsapp. There are also sites like Quora and Reddit. They only need to pay about $2-3 per month for VPN services, which is public and the Chinese government is silent about it. Almost all young Chinese people I know use such services. On websites like Quora, I always see many Chinese IDs.

Therefore, the Chinese people have much more control over global information than most Westerners think. They pay attention to various global events like us, and they also play ChatGPT like us.

What really hinders Chinese people from being active on the global Internet is not the Great Firewall, but English. They are too lazy to look at languages they are not familiar with, just like most people in the West are too lazy to look at content in Japanese, Korean or Chinese. Language differences naturally isolate the entire Internet. Even if there is no firewall and even if there are many translation technologies, the vast majority of Americans will not pay attention to Japanese content or comment on information from a certain Japanese-speaking world, and vice versa.

The real role of China’s Great Firewall is to block outside access, making it difficult for foreigners to enter China’s social media and express their thoughts and opinions. It is also difficult to buy a VPN service that can pass through the firewall and sneak in.

This probably means that they can come out at will, but you cannot go in at will.

Vintage art

What’s the most unreasonable request you’ve received from your boss?

It was when I was working for a fast food place in my early 20’s. Some things happened, and we lost our entire management team except for the general manager and myself, a shift manager. Within a few days, I was acting assistant GM (I was offered the full position, but was planning on moving out of state in a few months, so declined) until a permanent one could be hired and trained. These additional duties didn’t come with additional pay, but between those and the need to cover a lot of extra shifts, I was getting 30–40 hours of overtime each week at time and a half.

Well, apparently that overtime was a problem. The regional manager was breathing down the district manager’s neck, and she in turn came to breathe down mine for “getting so much overtime”. I almost laughed. She knew the situation, and exactly why I was working so much. I didn’t find it funny anymore when her solution was to ask me to clock out just before I hit overtime, but keep working. I told her I wasn’t willing to work 30–40 hours a week for free, and that if she wanted me to stop getting overtime, our store needed more managers. She threatened my job. I told her to go ahead, I’m sure the department of labor would be very interested in knowing you’re trying to get people to work off the clock, and threatening their jobs when they refuse to break the law.

Needless to say, I continued working overtime up until a couple of weeks before I moved away, once a new team of managers had been hired, and I’d gotten them all trained. The district manager didn’t so much as speak to me after her ridiculous demand. I found it an improvement in my quality of life at work.

Feminism RUINED dating

Ol’ Bogie was on the ball

I wrote about my days in school playing golf on a “Golf Team”. Here’s another story from those days.

There was a stray dog that lived there at the club. He was a cute little fella and he would get his exercise following the golfers around as they played their game. We all called him “bogie”.

He was a fixture at the club.

And on a couple of instances, I would hit the ball right onto the green and be inches from the hole, and I would be so happy that I had such a great shot. Only to have Bogie run up to the ball and carry it off to the woods to gnaw upon.

*ugh!*

The fun times ended when Bogie was hit by a car.

There was a highway that ran next to the Golf Course, and Bogie ran onto it one day. And that was it. Lights out.

Bogie.

Not forgotten.

Cute little guy.

Today…

Crowdstrike

I’ve been joking with people that I wasn’t affected by the Microsoft outage, because I don’t use spyware on my computer. (I don’t want them spying on me.)

In fact since I acquired my computer 11 years ago, I’ve never accepted a single Windows update, NEVER!

And I laughed at my being such an electronic dinosaur … until I read this article.

“Zhang Zhonglin: Why did the “blue screen incident” not have an impact on China’s civil aviation industry?”

https://www.guancha.cn/ZhangZhongZuo/2024_07_21_742193.shtml

Because the system failure affected all the American airlines except Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, UPS and FEDEX. And why, you might ask?

“Southwest Airlines’ current flight control system is based on Windows 3.1, which was released in 1992, and its crew dispatch system is based on telephone calls. Therefore, this round of large-scale Windows system and cloud service outages caused by an incorrect update package is really “the system is too outdated, so it has no impact” for Southwest Airlines. UPS and FEDEX were in a similar situation. They were still using Windows 95 or Windows 3.1 to run their critical operating systems, so they were able to escape this disaster.”

So, perhaps, the new US tech strategy should be: ‘Obsolete I am, and obsolete I will remain.’

Hmmm … I wonder if their ICBMs run on windows 3.1 too?

Have fun.

-Gerald.

What’s the nastiest thing you have ever done in the back of an ambulance?

The nastiest call I remember going on was a drowning.

The patient took pills and drank large amounts of alcohol beforehand. I dont know if this was a suicide attempt or if he was just partying too hard. Afterwards, he decided to go for a swim in the family pool and sank like a rock.

An engine crew had gotten there first and had pulled him out, not breathing. I was on a basic life support ambulance back then so a second ALS unit arrived after we did. We all loaded him in the ambulance.

Paramedics didn’t intubate back then. All we had was something called an esophageal obturator airway and we didn’t get a chance to use it.

I had just started doing positive pressure ventilation when this guy started to projectile vomit. Humongous, massive amounts. It looked like something out of The Exorcist, only worse.

The sheer volume was so copious that the suction machine was useless in keeping up with the torrent of gastric contents that erupted. I think he had swallowed half of the swimming pool. I finally had to turn the patient on his side and let gravity do the job.

Did I mention that it stank? Most puke stinks, but the added aroma of alcohol overwhelmed my olfactory senses. It was so bad that my eyes started to water and my throat began to tighten. I finally had to pull my T-shirt over my nose to help diminish the stench so I wouldn’t add more barf to the already growing pile.

By the time we got to the hospital, the entire floor of the ambulance was covered in at least an inch of vomit. We were all sloshing around in it like you would a flooded basement. When we flung open the double back doors of our ambulance, it cascaded out like a waterfall.

If you had told me before this that a human being could vomit that much, I wouldn’t have believed you.

Clean-up was horrific and took hours, as vomit had splashed up into the cabinets and every nook and cranny of the ambulance.

This was a lifetime ago so I don’t remember if he survived or not but I sure do remember the mess.

What was the stupidest thing someone has called the police on you for?

I was in a sports bar once with a group of coworkers when one of the men in our group got mad at some loudmouth from another table. My head was turned talking to another coworker when the hothead of the group grabbed the lemon wedge out of my iced tea and discreetly lobbed it several tables away, hitting the obnoxious patron in the shoulder. The guy started making a giant deal of it. The manager was called over but since the guy that got “lemoned” was super annoying to everyone they asked him to leave. Apparently no one had seen the guy next to me throw the lemon wedge but we could all tell it was him by how amused he was and how he seemed to know what the ruckus was when the rest of us were clueless. Anyway, the crybaby called the police and reported that he’d been “assaulted” by a large mob, which brings several police units. By the time the police showed up we had a good laugh watching them question the manager and a couple of servers who I’m sure relayed that there was only the smallest incident. Eventually, several of us were calling it a night and were in the parking lot getting ready to leave. I was behind the wheel of my car, and the “lemoned” man identified a couple of us as members of the the mob and told the police we’d all been drinking heavily. The police questioned me at length regarding the “assault”, which I truthfully stated I had not witnessed, and my fitness to drive but stopped short of doing field sobriety or other testing. I’d really only had iced tea (thankfully) and was only guilty of losing custody of my lemon wedge, which is not a crime.

Hot Cajun Pickle Chips

Yield: 8 pints

Ingredients

1 gallon hamburger dill pickle slices
5 pounds granulated sugar
1 1/4 ounces garlic flakes
2 ounces Tabasco sauce

Instructions

Drain pickles in a colander for at least 30 minutes, pressing out the juice.
In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, garlic flakes and Tabasco sauce.
In a wide-mouth gallon jar, tightly pack alternating layers of pickle chips and sugar mixture. Close lid tightly and set aside on counter.
Every 24 hours for five days, turn the jar over.
Divide into pint jars and seal.
Chill before serving.

What is the biggest waste of electricity you’ve seen in a home you visited, were a guest in, or even in your own home?

I moved into a mobile home during my college years. I got my first electric bill, it was high but I’d never lived in a mobile home before so I thought it was normal. I met a few of the neighbors and found that none of their bills was as high as mine, I was paying almost $200 a month. So I called the landlord and she had an electrician come out. He saw I had no TV, not computer, no gaming systems, no washer and dryer, nothing but an alarm clock by my bed.

I was in class until noon every day then went to work at my full time job where I got off work around 9pm. I grabbed food on the way home so I wasn’t even cooking meals. I had minimal food in the fridge too.

The electrician put a test thing on my breaker box. They found that I was only using about $35 a month in electricity. They presented the test results to the electric company and they had a crew come out and find the issue. Someone had buried an extension cord in a PVC pipe from an outdoor plug just under the skirting of the trailer and they were using a bunch of electricity. The neighboring trailer, that’s where the cord went. Under their skirting. I have no idea how it was hooked up but they were using it.

It was UNDER the skirting, out of sight. It was like a utility plug in. It was under the skirting, hidden. I had no idea it was there.

Who knows who did that and when. It had been that way a long time I guess and the trailers were always changing tenants due to leaving school. So the person who had hooked this up had likely moved away a long time ago. All I know is when they removed the cord my bill went way down.

Being the Rufus

Deputy Jeremy McLaughlan stopped a vehicle for failure to yield to the right away. During his interaction with the driver, the deputy noticed one of the occupants was a child and saw that the child was not properly restrained in the vehicle.

The deputy noticed that the driver was having a bad day but always remained polite to the deputy. The deputy asked the driver why the child was not in a booster seat. The driver told the deputy that times were tough for her, and she couldn’t afford a booster seat.

As the driver was talking to the deputy, he noticed one of the tires was low on pressure and told the driver. The driver began to cry stating that bad things had been happening to her all day.

The deputy walked back to his vehicle and called his wife and asked her bring one of their children’s booster seat to his location.

Instead of issuing the driver a ticket and putting further financial strain on her and her kids, the deputy decided that he could give the driver one of his children’s booster seats.

As the deputy walked up to the driver, the driver was expecting a ticket. Instead the deputy gave the driver a booster seat so that the child would be safely restrained in the vehicle before driving off with a warning. The driver was surprised to see that the deputy would have done such a thing and was thankful.

We get it, we have bad days also. Remember sometimes we just need an act of kindness to get through a tough day.

Job well done Deputy McLaughlan!!!

Credit: Weld County Sheriff’s Office

Shorpy

Chicken Creole

Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients

2 teaspoons olive oil
3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 medium onion, sliced (1 cup)
1/2 green bell pepper, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 cups canned chopped tomatoes
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Hot pepper sauce

Instructions

Heat olive oil in a medium nonstick skillet over high heat. Add chicken cubes, and brown on all sides for 3 minutes.
Remove to a plate, lower heat to medium high. Add onion, green pepper, celery and garlic and sauté 3 minutes.
Add tomatoes, oregano, Worcestershire sauce and cayenne pepper and return chicken to pan. Simmer for 3 minutes.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Spoon chicken and sauce over rice and pass the hot pepper sauce.

Russia Commences Tactical NUCLEAR Weapons Exercises

Hal Turner World May 13, 2024

Russia has begun tactical nuclear weapons drills in response to perceived Western threats surrounding the conflict in Ukraine.

Recently, French President Macron expressed readiness to send troops if necessary, highlighting the significance of preventing a Russian triumph for European security.

In addition, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron pledged $3.74 billion in military aid to Ukraine, affirming Ukraine’s right to use British-supplied weapons against Russia.

Russia’s current nuclear drills involve tactical nuclear weapons (TNWs). These TNWs are designed for battlefield use, targeting specific enemy assets without causing widespread destruction. They are smaller, less powerful, and intended to win battles by targeting troops, airfields, submarines, or aircraft carriers.

In contrast, strategic nuclear weapons aim to win wars by crippling the enemy’s capacity to fight with immense destructive force, capable of hitting cities and military installations.

Currently, the biggest global nuclear powers are Russia and the US possessing 10,600 of the 12,100 nuclear warheads globally, followed by China, France, and Britain. As of 2024, Russia controls an estimated 1,558 TNWs. Due to the lack of transparency, it’s unwise to assume the nation’s arsenal is limited to what’s publicly disclosed.

In a tense nuclear-fueled environment, pressure may lead military forces to opt for strategic nuclear weapons over less destructive tactical ones, potentially triggering a spiral of uncontrollable escalation.

With the use of a ‘small’ tactical nuclear weapon potentially escalating into a full-scale nuclear conflict, the ‘nuclear taboo’ would eventually be broken. This breach would effectively nullify Russia’s adherence to the No First Use policy, initiating a nuclear conflict.

However, the primary concern is the potential for a full-scale nuclear exchange between Russia and NATO countries. With NATO members possessing significant nuclear arsenals, including the US, France, and the UK, any use of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine could lead to retaliatory strikes from NATO allies, escalating the situation further.

UNCONFIRMED Covert Intelligence reports that Russia’s new Defense Minister and President Putin, are under great pressure to FIRE such a weapon as a demonstration to the West that Russia is willing to use them.

Have you, while repairing a computer, ever found anything that made your jaw drop?

Yes but it really was not a repair as I am not great with that stuff m

Have you, while repairing a computer, ever found anything that made your jaw drop?

Yes but it really was not a repair as I am not great with that stuff myself. I was at our town library doing some work as my house was being worked on. There are plenty of small quiet spaces and with earphones you can do the odd zoom call if needed. Well I am there and get approached by a lady who said that she could not get the video part of her MS Teams to work and did I know anything about troubleshooting. Never saw her before and she was your basic soccer mom. I said I would try to help. So I go over and start trying a few things and she says she is going to run to the bathroom. I couldn’t resist checking her browsing history. Well it looks like she cleared it but did not realize that there were options as to how far back you clear it and had not selected the entire history button. You can guess….some videos in the history with “deepthroat” in the title as well as some dating sites etc. I managed to figure out that her external camera was the issue and without it her Teams video feature would work. She returned and I said I think it is ok now, she thanked me profusely and I went back to my spot. Wouldn’t you know that I start seeing her around town every once in awhile. About 6 months later I see her in a liquor store and I am buying some vermouth. She asks me if I like martinis and says that she makes a killer martini. I responded that I love them. To pay me back she asks if I want to come over Friday for a martini. I said sure. Needless to say she does make a killer martini…and also learned alot from those videos!

yself. I was at our town library doing some work as my house was being worked on. There are plenty of small quiet spaces and with earphones you can do the odd zoom call if needed. Well I am there and get approached by a lady who said that she could not get the video part of her MS Teams to work and did I know anything about troubleshooting. Never saw her before and she was your basic soccer mom. I said I would try to help. So I go over and start trying a few things and she says she is going to run to the bathroom. I couldn’t resist checking her browsing history. Well it looks like she cleared it but did not realize that there were options as to how far back you clear it and had not selected the entire history button. You can guess….some videos in the history with “deepthroat” in the title as well as some dating sites etc. I managed to figure out that her external camera was the issue and without it her Teams video feature would work. She returned and I said I think it is ok now, she thanked me profusely and I went back to my spot. Wouldn’t you know that I start seeing her around town every once in awhile. About 6 months later I see her in a liquor store and I am buying some vermouth. She asks me if I like martinis and says that she makes a killer martini. I responded that I love them. To pay me back she asks if I want to come over Friday for a martini. I said sure. Needless to say she does make a killer martini…and also learned alot from those videos!

My boss rejected my two weeks notice. What should I do now?

Happened to me. I submitted my request for a leave a month ahead. The Head of HR and The Head of Department gave me an OK and signed my leave form. They also e-mailed my supervisor regarding that. Two weeks before my leave I reminded them again in an e-mail and again, they all gave an OK.

However, a few days before my leave my supervisor said that something came up and I couldn’t leave and if I did, there will be “some consequences” on my part ( those are her exact words). I was so angry that I went totally quiet and immediately tendered my resignation. Yes that was stupid but I was still young and silly!

Coincidentally, I remembered that my friend told me that the company she worked for was looking for her replacement as she was about to moved abroad following her husband overseas post (her husband was at that time a newly-appointed diplomat). So I contacted her and she arranged an interview with her boss and HR and I got the job, started the next month.

So off I went with my boyfriend , enjoying a two weeks holiday under the glorious Mediterranean sun. And when the holiday ended I checked out my e-mail and my inbox was flooded with emails from my former supervisor, summoned me to come back to my job. I ignored all of them.

Later on I found out that The Head of HR and The Head of Department were so pissed off at her because they approved my leave yet she rejected it for no reason, and most of all she rejected my leave without consulted them first. And when she was unsuccesful to get my replacement she was promptly fired.

I sent her a cake and a card thanking her , as I got a new job (with better position and a much better pay) as a result of her act.

China or USA? Who’s Better? (Americans Shocked)

What is the rudest thing a beggar/homeless person did and said to you after you did them a favor?

i had helped a homeless person find a room in a rooming house and paid for his rent for several months. my memory is bad so i can’t remember the exact duration but i think it was over 6 months but under a year. during this time, i would buy food from costco and bring it to him. he would actually complain that he didn’t like certain foods that i would buy for him. pretty crazy, right? i asked him why he wouldn’t work and he just flat out refused to go through the hassle of trying and chose to beg instead. the landlady told me he was instigating and smoking in the house when he was told time and time again to keep to himself and not to smoke inside. she wanted to throw him out. i lived in the city but had rental property outside of the city, which is why i found him a rooming house in the city close to where we met. not wanting him to be thrown out on the street, i drove him 45 minutes out of city to my rental property to let him stay. the first day, he found a little portable safe and broke into it. i was kinda shocked. that showed me that i couldn’t trust him at my rental property and i asked him to leave. he told me that he wasn’t leaving and i had to evict him. mind blowing, right? long story short, i outsmarted him and got him gone that very day, but what a way to thank someone who went out of his way to help you.

FLASH ! ! ! U.S. PATRIOT Missile System, Captured in Ukraine by Russia — GIVEN to CHINA! ! !

Hal Turner World May 13, 2024 Hits: 9411

US Patriot Missile System Captured in UKR Given to China

Russia has captured yet another US PATRIOT Missile system – intact – inside Ukraine. But since Russia has already captured enough to reverse engineer them and get all their secrets, Russia decided to

GIVE this one to . . . . CHINA.

Were there any American citizens living on US soil who died because they couldn’t afford healthcare?

My best friend, who died 8 days ago. She had applied for a part-time job at the public library several years ago and was hired. She didn’t pass the physical exam because of her uncontrolled diabetes – uncontrolled because she didn’t know she was diabetic until then. She couldn’t afford insurance so she did her best to control the diabetes by changing her diet. This worked up to a point, but since she also had high blood pressure, she slowly went blind. Her family finally convinced her to move in with one of her brothers, but she have to re-home her beloved cats. When her sisters arrived to help her pack, they noticed she was saying things that didn’t quite make sense. They called an ambulance to take her to the ER where her blood pressure registered 250/175, IIRC. She didn’t understand why she was there, got progressively worse, and was admitted. It took a day or two for the staff to get a brain scan; the doctor said she’d had a catastrophic stroke. She kept pulling the feeding tube out of her nose, so they performed surgery to insert a peg line. She pulled that out. Her doctor wasn’t able to insert a new one. She was DNR, so they kept her comfortable until she died a few days later.

I fucking hate the American insurance companies’ stranglehold on our healthcare system. How can we call ourselves a “Christian” nation when we’re too selfish to take care of each other??!?

Single Mother SHOCKED No Man Wants to Raise her KID

Lots of stuff going on about American men. Ugh.

Should I make my 8-year-old daughter go to her dad’s house for the weekend even if she seems emotionally distraught over having to go over there but won’t or can’t tell me what it is? She starts sobbing and curls up in a ball and won’t say anything.

I have a unique story and perspective. First the advice, then the story.

There are multiple possible reasons for this behavior. While many people will leap to conclude abuse, it is not the only possibility. Clearly you understand that something is wrong, but the cause is obscure, and must be investigated. This may require a child or family psychologist. Find the right one and that will help.

Things to consider: Sure it could be abuse from the father or someone he is close to, but are there any marks on her from previous visits? If not, then emotional abuse? That’s hard to quantify properly without a psychologist. There are still other possibilities: Perhaps she is afraid of being away from you? Even something as small as being alienated can draw tremendous fear in some kids. Is she mad at her father for something (I mean really mad)? How did she manage your separation from her father?

Investigate, but take care not to suggest any one possibility. There have been studies showing that a child’s need for acceptance from their primary parent can be so strong that they will agree to suggestions that are not true. So, the advice is not to lead your child to a conclusion, but help her calm down first; help her relax so she can give you clearer clues. Maybe distract with something a little funny to get her to relax. She cannot talk during a fit, but maybe afterward, maybe hours later, maybe days, maybe months. This process could take a while.

In the meantime, talk with the father. Get him to understand there is a serious problem that will take time to resolve. If you have a custody arrangement with time allocation for visitation, then consult your lawyer. Either way, maybe set up some time with you, your daughter, and her father, next weekend (daughter needs to recover first). Watch how your daughter interacts in that setting.

Whatever you set up, the father needs to be aware and supporting and in agreement to make sure the daughter is the priority. It is no good for him to have daughter visiting if she is traumatized. If he is not, then maybe that is a clue to the bigger problem.

My experience (The Story):

Today, I am a father of 5, but my first born daughter lived with her mother in another state until she was 18. Her mother and I broke up during bad times when she was 4. We fought a lot and I did not have the income to support a family. So, they moved to live with her mother’s parents in another state. My other kids came later as part of a second family, once I got my act together. I have seen a wide range of parenting from abusive parents to kids trying to play one divorced parent off against the other.

My first born daughter, living with her mother, also used to curl-up into a ball. She would do this in her mother’s lap. She would do this to avoid talking to me on the phone. She would do this to avoid doctor’s appointments as well; she grew up with medical issues so every time she saw a doctor, it was usually at children’s hospital, and they were for more tests where they often had to hold her still, which she feared and hated. She developed a stress response to anything even mildly threatening, which was to hide or curl up.

From age 4 to 13, I did not see my daughter. I did not have the means to make the trip to see her (plane ticket, hotel stay, transportation, food). Plus, she refused to see me and often would not talk on the phone. She behaved as if she was terrified. In truth, she was angry, but her mother had trouble telling the difference.

At 13, I finally made the trip there and proved I was not really that bad a person. It took her another 3 years of seeing her regularly (sometimes she flew to me), determined effort, and patience, for her to relax enough, trust enough, and learn to communicate. When she did, she told me that she loved her mother so fiercely that she (as a child) hated me for abandoning her mother, and that is why she still gets so mad she just wants to run away or curl up in a ball.

Today we have a great relationship but some of that angst is still there. Over the years talking to my daughter and her mother, I pieced together more of the story during those lost years. Evidently, her mother (being a good person) kept our agreement, that neither she or I would trash talk the other to our daughter. So she was very careful about what she told our daughter, but the plan backfired. My daughter, being very insightful, came to the conclusion that I must have done something really horrible, because her mother did not say anything bad about me, and because she saw her mother crying herself to sleep many times.

So the moral of the story is no one knows exactly what your daughter is going through, until she calms down, is willing to trust, and tells you. Aim for that, be patient, and focus on listening when she finally finds the words.

Have you ever encountered a situation where a thief unintentionally helped you?

I was a poor college student with a crappy car. When my car finally bit the dust I had to borrow my parent’s spare car to drive while I looked for a good used replacement. My parent’s old car was a late 1970s VW Rabbit. It was a piece of shine-ola. It leaked the oil it didn’t burn out the tailpipe. It ran like a broken rollerskate and was an ugly rusted on the edges white color. I needed a car to get to class and to my extra job as a nanny to a rich family in Beverly Hills. One day I was late to my nanny job so I pulled my car up in the driveway and ran out, leaving my doors unlocked. now mind you, this was heavily patrolled neighborhood that had a gate and a security guard, so I never gave a thought to my car getting stolen…BUT that is exactly what happened! I went out of the house a few hours after parking and it was GONE! I immediately started crying, thinking of breaking this news to my parents. I couldn’t figure how or really WHY these thieves stole my car out of all the fancy cars parked around it. I called my parents and they were THRILLED! The car was fully insured so instead of selling it to a junk yard, where it truly belonged, they got a good chunk of cash for it being replaced. So, my parents gave me some money to help with my new-ish car and they got some cash for their headache. Win-win!

Vintage Men’s magazine art

Have you ever seen an employer fire someone without realizing what a crucial role the employee played?

I’ve seen this more than once in the retail trade.

A typical (losing) strategy when retail sales drop is to cut hours at the low end and distribute the work more thinly across fewer brick and mortar employees. This results in work simply being unfinished or neglected. As a result, the quality of the customer experience declines. Further reducing sales. Which then results in further staffing cuts. And so on until the store folds or is radically restructured.

The problem often arises from benchmarks used to evaluate retail workers. For example, two employees (Joe and Suzy) are being evaluated for possible cuts. Suzy is handling an average of $6000 per shift in direct sales and also leading the store in new loyalty program sign ups. By comparison, Joe is only averaging $1200 per shift in direct sales and is lowest in terms of loyalty sign ups.

Obvious choice, right? Sack Joe. Suzy is clearly more valuable to the company, right?

But suddenly, overall sales drop by 15% storewide. Dust piles up on the shelves and merchandise. Products fall into disarray and disorganization. Deliveries are backed up in the stock room. In store marketing materials go unposted. The bathrooms are filthy and unmaintained. Expired stock isn’t rotated. Shrink spirals out of control as inventory management falls apart.

As it turns out, both employees technically have the same title, but Suzy is a relatively new hire who primarily works the register. Joe has been there a couple of years and now handles a much wider array of responsibilities away from the till. Suzy lacks the institutional knowledge and experience needed to cover those tasks effectively. While some of those jobs can be captured partially in objective benchmarks, things like dusting, cleaning, organizing can’t.

Stores are very complex systems. A small number of people are responsible for managing the movement of easily tens of thousands of different products and hundreds of thousands of items in an environment which requires constant maintenance and organization.

Carelessly removing any part of that system can result in disaster. Even Suzy the new hire cashier is playing an important role in keeping customers off the employees who are doing other work.

What’s the laziest thing a doctor has ever said to you or recommend you to do?

Two years ago I had a laparoscopic abdominal surgery. I went home the same day and was feeling good. A week later I woke in the middle of the night with severe abdominal pain. I struggled out of bed and the pain intensified and I passed out. My sister got me to emergency and I could barely walk.

The ER Dr was incredibly dismissive, even after I told her of my surgery the week prior. I heard her muttering to the nurses and the nurses giving me annoyed faces as I groaned. One jerked her thumb at me and said “THIS one won’t stop moaning”. I gave birth to both my children at home with no meds and this pain was so much worse than that.

They finally got me an ultrasound which showed nothing, so the ER doctor told me I should go home. I looked at her like she was crazy and again explained that the pain was incredible. She looked at me very flatly and said I guess you could walk to the other end of the hospital and talk to someone over there, but there is nothing I can do for you. I told her it was impossible for me to walk. The pain was already much worse than when I came in.

I believe she thought I was drug seeking. She walked over to me and pushed very hard on my abdomen until I screamed. Then said, “huh,” and walked away while I sobbed. She finally said she would admit me for pain, but I had to wait 10 more hours for a CT scan, at which point I was very close to death and still not being taken seriously. The pain was all encompassing.

Immediately after the scan a surgeon was called and I was rushed to emergency surgery. My bowel had been punctured by my previous laparoscopic surgery and for some reason had not “blown” until that night. My body was going septic. The surgeon was furious at everyone saying I was almost dead. That man is still my hero. But that Dr in the ER was the laziest most uncaring Dr I have ever dealt with.

What disgusts you?

My friend is rich. Very rich.

Just a few days back, I came to know that his grandfather died. I was shocked.

His grandfather met me everyday in the gym. I still remember how I used to touch his feet and he would always say, “Son,perhaps you should touch my biceps, they are bigger than yours”. The man had a great presence. An aura.

I got a little concerned when he started to miss gym almost everyday. I asked my friend about his grandfather’s well being. He said that he’s ‘mentally unfit’.
I visited the ashram/old age house he was living now. He looked pale and didn’t blink at all. He was silent. Won’t utter a word. After 40 minutes as I was about to leave, the old man cried.
Grandfather: I have 3 sons. All of them are married and well settled. I started the family business 47 years ago. Did everything I could for my family. Little did I know that one day my Daughter-in-law would ask me to leave the house.
Me: But why would she do that?
Grandfather: She told me to shift to my other son’s house as he got better property after the division of assets. She said that they couldn’t arrange for my Caretaker when I got ill.

Couldn’t arrange? I said to myself. His grandchild drives a freakin Mercedes.

But his grandchild did look sad and worried. I can understand, I said to him. Dealing with the demise of someone close can be daunting. I still remember his reply.
Friend: You bet it is. You know how much we have to spend on his post death rituals? A freaking 5 lakh rupees.
Me: blank
Friend: Yeah. We have to hire the best caterer in the city. The best pandit. We have to book the best kriya hall. We have to invite all our business associates and colleagues. Arrange for their stay and travel arrangents. Phew! Reputation ka sawaal hai bhai.
(It’s about the reputation dude).

Yes, I’m still thinking about that old man. He must be so happy and proud of his children that they are spending so much on him. But he had to die for it.

P.S: The grandchild was no longer the ‘friend’.

Comics

Is there anyone who makes a living by suing people and winning the cases?

Yes, but this one didn’t win.

I was visiting a store. A lady was screaming. I looked inside. She was holding a boy by the arm. The store owner was at the back, looking in amazement at the scene.

She came out, holding the boy, her son, on the upper arm so hard that the blood was oozing out between her fingernails.

She let go, once outside. I asked the boy:

“Did she hurt you?”

“Yes, this time she really did.”

I handed over a Kleenex for him to stem the bleeding.

The mall guard was called, the police showed up…

She accused the store owner of hurting her son.

I was called as a witness.

Several months later, in court, in Canada, the judge called the case. She stood up. The judge said.

“Case dismissed, we don’t deal with people like you in this country.”

It cost her $ 7,000 for court costs. I knew her name from the case and had already found out that she was literally making millions in her American home state, suing store owners for sundry items, usually for harming her son. I guess the judge had access to the same information.

In USA, a lawyer can apparently sue on your behalf without you paying out any money. That makes it easy to sue and also make many “pay up” without spending money on a necessary defense lawyer, innocent or not.

In Canada you have to pay for your lawyer, both ways. She used the police in Canada to file a case on her behalf. That backfired, big time.

I doubt that this American lady (?) will try her game in Canada again.

It still cost the unlucky store owner $2,500 for the lawyer to take his defense statements. I felt sorry for him.

He took me for dinner as a thank-you for my statement. That cost him another $60. We had one beer each, with our food.

25 Minutes of Men Going Their Own Way

So much truth in this video.

Money

A man finds a wallet with $7000 in it.

A few days later, he reads a notice stating that a wealthy man has lost his wallet and is offering a $500 reward to anyone who returns it.

He soon locates the owner and gives him the wallet, and the rich man counts the money and says, “I see you have already taken your reward.” The poor man responds,

“What are you talking about?” The wealthy man continues, “This wallet had $7500 in it when I lost it.”

The poor man replied “I am sorry sir but when I found it up it only had $7,000”

The two men began arguing, and eventually they end up in court to sort out their differences. Both men present their case, the poor man first, then the wealthy man who concludes by saying,

“Your Honor, I trust you believe me.”

The Judge says, “Of course.” The rich man smiles, and the poor man is devastated.

Then the Judge takes the wallet out of the wealthy man’s hands and gives it to the poor man who found it.

“What are you doing?” the rich man yells angrily. The Judge responds,

“You are, of course, an honest man, and if you say that your missing wallet had $7500 in it, I’m sure it did – but if the man who found this wallet is a liar and a thief, he wouldn’t have returned it at all, which means that this wallet must belong to somebody else. If that man steps forward, he’ll get the money – otherwise, it stays with the man who found it.”

“What about my money?” the rich man asks.

“Well, we’ll just have to wait until somebody finds your wallet with the $7500 in it.

Single Mother SHOCKED No Man Wants to Raise her KID

So much truth.

How should you tell your boss that someone is talking behind their back?

Well you don’t do what I did.

My Head of Department called me into a surprise meeting with the Head of HR.

The interview started: ‘What haven’t you done?’ This was a bit of a surprise as I was up to date, so I said I didn’t know. ‘Well you haven’t done X and Y and Z’. ‘Yes I have and I gave them to my Head of Section and a meeting at which A and B were present as well’.

That went down like a lead balloon.

‘Well, your HoS states you have not done this work’. ‘Do you want me to go and get the work in question?’ ‘Well, why would she say you have not done the work when you claim you have’.

‘Probably for the same reason that she left newspaper cuttings, referring to the suicide of individuals, on my desk – ‘in the hope that you would be interested’. Or the same reason she has been making allegations against you’.

That went down like a deflated lead balloon.

This put the HR manager and the Principal in a quandary. She, as a militant feminist, had appointed my HoD and HoS to their relative positions, purely on the basis of sex. She therefore could admit to having blundered in these appointments, but narcissists do not like admitting mistakes, or she could brand me as a trouble causing incompetent. She chose the latter.

I was so incompetent I won a tribunal case of ‘unfair dismissal, and she was exposed as a liar at this hearing.

Turducken (a Chicken in a Duck in a Turkey)

Turducken is a dish consisting of a deboned chicken stuffed into a deboned duck, further stuffed into a deboned turkey. Outside of the United States and Canada, it is known as a three bird roast. Gooducken is a traditional English variant replacing turkey with goose.

Ingredients

Turducken

1 (20 to 25 pound) whole turkey
1 (4 to 5 pound) whole duckling
1 (3 to 4 pound) whole chicken
Corn bread dressing
Sausage stuffing

Seasoning Mix

3 tablespoons salt
1 to 2 tablespoons paprika
1 to 2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 to 2 tablespoons pepper
1 to 2 teaspoons dried thyme

Sausage Stuffing

Butter
3 cups onions, diced
1 1/2 cups celery, diced
2 pounds spicy Italian sausage
3 tablespoons paprika
3 tablespoons minced garlic
3 cups chicken stock
2 cups toasted bread crumbs

Instructions

Place the cleaned turkey, breast side down, on a flat surface. Cut through the skin along the length of the spine. Using the tip of a knife and starting from neck end, gently separate meat from rib cage on one side. Toward neck end, cut through meat to expose shoulder blade; cut meat away from and around the bone, severing bone at the joint to remove shoulder blade. Disjoint wing between second and third joints. Leave the wing bones and keep the wing attached to the meat.
Continue separating meat from frame, heading toward the thighbone and being careful to keep the “oyster” (pocket of meat on back) attached to skin, rather than leaving with bone. Cut through ball-and-socket joint to release thighbone from carcass (bird will be open on one side, exposing bones left to deal with). Keep the leg attached to the meat.
Repeat boning procedure on the other side of the bird. Carefully remove carcass and reserve for making stock. You should end up with a flat boneless (except for wings and legs) turkey with the skin intact in one large piece. Cover the boned turkey and set aside (or chill).
Repeat the process on the duckling and chicken, but cut off the first two joints of wings, and debone both stumps of wings and leg drumsticks (cut through flesh at thinnest point and trim around these bones with a knife until they can be removed). Trim excess skin and fat from necks of birds. If it is your first time deboning a fowl, it is advisable to practice first on the chicken rather than the turkey. Both the chicken and duck will be stuffed inside the turkey and need not be kept “perfectly” intact. Make stock from the chicken carcass.
Prepare Seasoning Mix and set aside.
Prepare Sausage Stuffing. Melt butter in large skillet over high heat. Add onions and celery. Saute until onions are dark brown but not burned, about 10 to 12 minutes. Add sausage to the skillet and cook about 5 minutes or until the meat is browned, stirring frequently. Add paprika and minced garlic and cook about 3 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Stir in chicken stock and bring to simmer. Continue cooking until water evaporates and oil rises to top, about 10 minutes.
Stir in toasted bread crumbs and mix well. Add more bread crumbs if mixture is too moist.
Prepare a similar amount of another stuffing such as corn bread stuffing.
At least 13 to 14 hours before dinner, assemble the Turducken.
Spread the turkey, skin down, on flat surface, exposing as much meat as possible. Rub 3 tablespoons of seasoning mix evenly on meat. Spread sausage stuffing over the turkey in an even layer approximately 3/4 inch thick.
Place duck, skin down, on top of stuffing. Season exposed duck meat with about 1 tablespoon of seasoning mix. Spread corn bread stuffing in an even layer (about 1/2 inch thick) over the duck.
Arrange the chicken, skin down, evenly on top of corn bread stuffing. Season chicken meat with seasoning mix. Spread remainder of sausage and/or corn bread stuffing on top of chicken.
With another person’s help, carefully lift the sides of the layered birds, folding the sides of the turkey together. Have a helper hold the bird while sewing the opening down the back of the turkey together using cotton thread. The bird may not close perfectly, and a strip of cheese cloth can be used to help close the “crack” in the back of the turkey so stuffing will not leak out when the bird is turned over.
Since the Turducken has no skeleton, it must be trussed up or it may fall apart in cooking. Tie cotton string around the bird, widthwise, every inch or so along the bird’s length. Turn the bird over and place on a roasting rack inside a large roasting pan so it is oriented breast side up and looks like a “normal” turkey. Tie the legs together just above the tip bones.
Heat oven to exactly 190 degrees F. Temperature control is critical since the Turducken is so massive that it has to be cooked very slowly at a low temperature. Using an oven thermometer is highly recommended.
Place the bird in the center of the oven and bake until a meat thermometer inserted through to center reads 165 degrees F, about 12 to 13 hours. There will be no need to baste, but accumulated drippings will have to be removed from the pan every few hours so that the lower portion does not deep fry in the hot oil. Remove the Turducken from the oven and let cool in the pan for an hour before serving. Make gravy using your favorite recipe.
To serve, cut bird in half lengthwise. Carve crosswise so each slice reveals all 3 meats and dressings.

Notes

The Turducken will need to bake for 12 or 13 hours at 190 degrees F, so begin preparation well in advance.

Credit for the creation of the turducken is uncertain, though it is generally agreed to have been popularized by Cajun chef Paul Prudhomme. The most common claimant is Hebert’s Specialty Meats in Maurice, Louisiana, whose owners Junior and Sammy Hebert say they created it in 1985 when a local man brought his own birds to their shop and asked the brothers to create the medley.

Duke

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One day, I was lounging in the house when I heard loud gunfire. I ran outside just in time to see my neighbors cart off Duke’s mom on the back of their flatbed truck.

After that, Duke spent almost every hour at our home. Curiosity drove me to ask my neighbor’s what his name was but all they told me was they simply called him Dog. A couple of months after that, they simply stopped feeding Duke. I started to feed him because I wasn’t going to let this baby starve.

When it came time for our neighbors to move, I asked them if I could take Duke off of their hands since it was clear they didn’t want anything to do with him. The son said yes, but the day after I asked, Duke was gone and so were they.

I contacted the son and asked if he had changed his mind and decided to take the dog with him and he grew defensive and put all the blame on me and threatened me. After explaining to him I didn’t have Duke, he hung on me calling me a liar.

In an effort to find this baby, I posted Missing Pet signs all over the local vets office within a 25 mile radius.

5 months passed before I got a phone call from the UPS man that delivered in our neighborhood. He said he saw a dog matching the description of Duke in a nearby field and he looked pretty bad. I thanked the man, hung up and drove straight to where he said he saw the dog. It was Duke. Malnourished and severely afraid of everything. However, one look at me and after hearing my voice he perked up and ran straight into my arms.

Now Duke is healthy and happy and has three other dogs and three cats to play with.Now we are a family.❤️

What happened that made you realize “My teacher has no idea what he or she is teaching”?

I worked for Price Waterhouse (a global accounting firm) at the beginning of my 20+ year career in public accounting. After a couple of years the powers that be had me teach a training class for new hires. I got good reviews so they had me teach more and more classes. I didn’t mind, I enjoyed it and it was a nice change of pace from the normal grind.

After a few years I became one of the go-to instructors for a variety of CE (continuing education) classes. CPAs have a pretty rigorous training requirements. Back then you needed 80 hours of training every two years.

Anyhow, one time the CE Coordinator called me late one afternoon and asked if I could take over for an instructor the next day who had to cancel last minute. It was summer and I wasn’t crazy busy so I said sure. The only downside was that the class was in Downtown LA. I worked out of the Orange County office so that meant I would have a shitty commute.

She told me there would be less experienced person there to help me and that she would email me the course materials. No problem.

I had to work late and then wake up early for the commute so didn’t bother looking at the course materials. At that point I had a pretty good foundation in a wide range of topics and had taught a lot of training classes so I assumed that I would be ok.

Uh, nope.

Turns out the class was for ERISA audits (401Ks) and audits of employee benefit plans. And, of course, I didn’t know that until I walked in the room and looked at the board. Despite leaving early I had caught some terrible traffic so I got to the class about 2 minutes before it started!

I remember looking at the 30 or so people in the class and seeing some older folks (meaning that they were probably senior managers, directors, or even partners). I was a manager so that meant lots of them were senior to me. Oh shit.

At that point I knew a lot about auditing but absolutely ZERO about auditing 401Ks and benefit plans.

I was not happy. I went through the intros and administrative items and then walked the class through the agenda for the day and quickly called a break. Fortunately my ‘assistant’ spent all of his time auditing 401Ks and benefit plans so I told him that he was in charge and would lead the class for the day. He wasn’t happy about it but it was the only choice we had.

When we resumed I fessed up about the situation to the class (they all had a good laugh) and then sat and listened along with everyone else for the rest of the day. The kid did a pretty good job too.

As a police officer, what is the one moment where you thought “I might not survive this”?

I stopped a car for a traffic violation late at night and the driver immediately got out of his car holding a gun. My first reaction was “this isn’t happening, this can’t happen to me.” I dropped behind my car door (which offers little more than psychological protection), pointed my gun at him and started screaming for him to drop his. I was still having difficulty believing this was happening.

Instead he stood there next to his car door with his gun in his hand pointed at the ground looking at me like I was crazy. I was too stressed to remember how to say “drop the gun” in Spanish. If he had raised the gun I would have shot him but what was happening did not make sense. He just stood there with his gun pointed towards the ground. I broadcast an officer needs help call screaming he’s got a gun into the microphone. There were sirens from all directions, one of our officers came the wrong way down a one way street and across the street we were on right towards the suspect intending to ram him. At that point he threw his gun down just in time and we arrested him. I was shaking and it took me some time to calm down.

Turns out he owned a restaurant in Los Angeles and was feeding some LAPD cops nightly for free. He had confided to two of them that he was carrying large amounts of money home late at night and that he was illegally carrying a gun for protection. As a psychopathic practical joke, at least one these cops had told him “if you’re ever stopped by the police get out of your car with the gun so the police will know you have it.” They were setting him up to be killed as a practical joke.

I and my supervisors knew he was telling the truth because no criminal could think up a story like that. Our detectives verified he owned the restaurant and was truthful. He was prosecuted only for the less serious charge of possession of the gun without a permit, not for the felony of exhibiting it in my presence. He got probation, no jail time.

Our Chief contacted LAPD and their internal affairs handled it – I was never told what happened to these rotten cops; hope they were fired. I’m glad I didn’t shoot him but it would have been legal if I had.

I got a verbal commendation from my Chief for being a decent person in not shooting him along with a polite lecture about my lousy officers safety tactics. There are a few bastards like this in law enforcement, but they are usually quickly weeded out.

Note 7–25-18 this was the LAPD of the 1980s and probably would be unlikely to happen now.

What can my daughter do about a neighbor who keeps parking a business vehicle in one of her two spots without permission? It is not a rental. She has only lived in the townhouse for a few months and does not know the neighbors well.

I owned and lived in a duplex, like a town house only 2 homes and it’s single story. My side had been empty for over a year when I bought the place. Needless to say, they were used to having full access to my yard and driveway. I’d come home from work and they’d be parked in my driveway or be having a party and grilling. At first I chucked it up to they’re used to using the space and forgot. But after 3 months and several other issues, it was a problem. There was a situation involving our dogs fighting because they opened my gate to use my hose that I’ve posted about previously. Even though the dog situation had subsided, they would still park in my driveway (he had a huge truck for construction work) or blocking my driveway so I couldn’t get out, if I was already parked. Several times I was late to school or work, or came home unable to park. Normally I would knock on their door and ask him to move it. But one night, it was 2am when I got home, he didn’t answer. I stood there banging for 20+ minutes until the neighbors came out asking what was going on. He said his friend is a tow trucker driver and legally he can’t park in, or blocking, a residential driveway. 15 minutes later the tow truck arrived and pulled his truck out of my driveway. I pulled in, parked and went inside.

*note I did verify that I had the legal right to remove his vehicle before having it towed laws may differ in different areas*

At the time, I suffered badly from insomnia. I was prescribed a sleep aid that was so strong, it was like I was in a coma. Nothing woke me up. 3 hours later at 5am, he started banging on my door. My dogs went crazy but I oblivious. Next thing I know I’m waking up to cops because they thought I was dead. I apologized and explained I was prescribed sleeping meds and that was why I didn’t answer my door. I informed cops that he had parked his truck in my driveway and I had it towed. He was PISSED, but legally there was nothing he could do about it. Cops told him the same thing, that in no circumstances could he park in my driveway. Believe it or not, I had to have his truck towed a second time because he blocked me in and I almost lost my job from being late to work. From then on, he parked his truck in his side yard.

Our HONEST Opinions About China After Going There for the First Time

Remembering the office back in the day

A typical day in my life back in the 1970’s into the 1980’s was really quite different from what you would find today. And I am talking about work. Not about life.

First off, “salaried” people got different perks from “hourly” people.

As a “salary-man”, I entered the complex from our own gate, and we had our own parking lot. Once in, we walked down the office corridor and past the “mahogany corridor” of the “big wigs” of the company.

Once, I took off my coat, and hung up my hat, I made my way to my desk. I put my briefcase down, and pulled out a note book and pen and then changed the page on my daily tear off calendar. This was a little thing that rested on the desk that we all used to use.

I, being an engineer, had a drafting table on the other side of my office, and in it was a series of curled up drawings that looked a lot like pipes in a box. I had an electric pencil sharpener, and an electric eraser, and a little camel-hair brush to clean the surface with.

I would then get up to the coffee tureen and pour myself a cup of coffee and grab a donuts. Both the coffee and donuts were provided free to the staff. All we could drink. And usually a couple of donuts per person. back then, office staff had perks.

If you wanted decaf… well, you were out of luck and had to bring in a jar of instant coffee that you kept in your desk.

Then, back to my desk, where I would then have my morning cigarette (I kept a pack near my desk ashtray) and drink the coffee and read though the local “green sheet”. A few guys smoked a pipe, and only one or two smoked cigars. Most of us smoked cigarettes with Marlboro, Salem, Camel and Kent being the most common.

The “Green sheet” was a newspaper for the local town that had personals, want ads, and stuff for sale. It was usually in a stack by the entrance that you would grab when you went in.

Around 9 in the morning, the mail boy would come around, and I would see some tasks for me to complete. And so that is when my actual working part of the day would start.

Often, I would change my shoes to the steel-toed work shoes for a trip into the factory.

I would put on my safety glasses and then venture forth. In the dim darkness of the mill.

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Looking at what once was, and comparing it to today, I can see where the youth of today have no idea; no clue as to what work is like.

Soon after that, we would break for lunch.

Friday us in the office would order a pizza that we would all eat at our desks. But most of the week, we would all file out and go to the local bar. Sort of like this…

There, we would file up to the counter, and order a Chili and a beer before going back to work. Sort of like this…

For today, the habits are based on computers, cubicles and food and coffee deliveries. It’s like it’s a completely different century. No smoking. No drinking. No off-color-jokes. No goofing around. 24-7 company surveillance.

Sheech!

I think that I am just getting old.

Today…

What are some of the most surprising psychological facts about women?

80% of women use silence to express pain
Women take 15 days to fall in love. Men just…8.2 seconds.
Females take longer to make decisions but once they make it, they are more likely to stick to it
Girls are born with a super prior sense of intuition
Women are more likely to fall ino depression because they often blame themselves for the negative situation that they are in.
Women experience significantly more nightmares than men and have more emotional dreams.
A girl cannot keep a secret for more than 47 hours. She would share with someone definitely.
The male brain is 10% bigger than the females but the female brain works more efficiently.
When a woman is attracted to a man, she speaks in a higher pitch than normal
Generally, a woman will only argue with someone she truly cares for. Arguing less occurs when she is less interested.

Pastitsio (Baked Macaroni)

I suppose this could be called the “comfort food” of Greek cooking. Pastitsio uses a béchamel sauce, one of the five mother sauces. My sister and I absolutely love this, and we used to make it all the time when we saw each other more often. But I also eat it at the St. Katherine’s Greek Festival every year.

Prep: 25 min | Cook: 55 min | Yield: 8 to 12 servings

Ingredients

Macaroni

1 pound macaroni
1/4 pound butter
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey or beef
1/2 can tomato paste
6 ounces grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Salt and pepper

Sauce

4 cups warm milk, divided
5 eggs
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 sticks butter

Instructions

Macaroni

Cook macaroni (but not well done) in boiling, salted water and drain.
Sauté onion in a little butter.
Add ground meat and stir until brown.
Add tomato paste, thinned with a little water.
Add salt, pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cook until meat is done.
Melt butter; pour over drained macaroni, mixing carefully.
Spread half of the macaroni on the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch pan.
Sprinkle half of the grated cheese on top.
Spread entire meat mixture on top.
Cover with remaining macaroni and remaining grated cheese.

Sauce

Boil 3 cups of the milk with 1 1/2 sticks butter.
Add flour to remaining 1 cup milk and blend well.
Add flour mixture to boiling butter and milk. Thicken and cool.
After this has cooled, add 5 beaten eggs, or drop small amounts of the milk mixture into the eggs while stirring constantly. Once the egg mixture gets warm to hot, add the remaining milk.
Pour sauce over the macaroni. Shake the pan and insert a knife to penetrate thoroughly.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 to 45 minutes.

What’s something a flight attendant did to you that you will never forget?

“She arranged for a special meal!

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I was flying from Mumbai to Hong Kong, and it was my first international flight. The trip also was planned on short notice while I was away from home and I couldn’t get enough time to prepare myself. However, I managed to get all important stuff like medicines, warm clothes, required documents, prior to my journey.

Once boarded, I got myself comfortable in the seat and was quite hungry waiting for the dinner to be served. The air hostess came to me and asked for my choice from the meals available for my economy class. There were only two choices to choose from. (1) Seafood pasta made of shrimp and (2) pork rice.

I don’t eat pork and I am allergic to shrimp. I asked her if she could get me a vegetarian meal instead. Sadly, there were no vegetarian meals available and she said that I had to pre-book a vegetarian meal if I wanted that specifically. Having no choice I asked her to give me bread and butter and that should be enough. She looked at me for a while and said, “Let me see what I can do.”

She moved forward serving other passengers and I kept waiting for my bread to come. I saw most passengers completing their dinner and there seemed to be nothing for me till then. I pressed the cabin crew call button to ask for a glass of water before I could go to sleep. An attendant obliged and just when she was handing me over the glass, the earlier hostess arrived with a catering trolley with a nice spread of meal.

She apologized for the delay and said that she was checking if there were any vegetarian meals available in first class.

She arranged the food on my seat tray. That was perhaps one of the best meals I ever had on an aircraft.

I am sure she could have just given me few portions of bread and butter from the food tray that were served to all economy passengers, but she went the extra mile just to bring complete satisfaction to one odd passenger.”

would you like to share about your unforgettable memory at a flight?

How do you improve your personaltiy?

Avoid touching the other person while talking, many people dislike being touched.
Clothes must not hang loose on your body in a formal set up.
Tie, belt buckle, and zip must be in a straight line.
There must always be a pinch of seriousness with a mild smile on your face.
Hair must be properly combed.
You can carry a little perfume on your clothes just to give something positive to the people you meet everyday (to avoid the sweat odor) but remember applying too much perfume may give allergies to others or even make you look fake.
You must always be calm, composed & cool about everything. This will build a positive aura around your body attracting people towards you.
Talk looking into the eyes of the other person.
Teeth and mouth must always be clean, chew mint gum or use mouth wash to avoid bad breath.
Never laugh too much in a formal setup. (laugh to your fullest casually)
Speak a bit less and think before you speak because one wrong word can hurt your personality.
Never act desperate even if your life depends on something.
Sit straight don’t bend your back in a formal setup.

Shorpy stuff for today

Are Japanese people impressed by a foreigner who can fluently speak Japanese?

Originally Answered: Are Japanese people impressed by a foreigner who can fluently speak Japanese? ?

“Yes” at first, “no” in the end and it kind of breaks down into this ideology “Japanese people love it when foreigners visit, but hate it when they stay.” It works in roughly 5 stages:

You don’t speak any Japanese and Japanese people like you. At this point you’re probably visiting and fumbling your way through saying please and thank you at restaurant and the only Japanese people you’ll likely talk with are in the hospitality industry. Any attempt you make will be met with praise and you’ll appreciate it.
You can say some basics and Japanese people will really like you. By now you’ve been around a few months, can order at a restaurant and say a few general sentences. You’ll probably have a few Japanese friends that encourage you but communicating back and forth in Japanese is still out of the question.
Conversational and Japanese people will love you. By now you can go back and forth about daily life and you’re speaking to friends, friends of friends, hospitality workers, co workers and random bar conversations. You’ll constantly get praised on your speaking ability and you’ll drink it up basking in your new found super powers. Usually this is about 1 – 2 years into your stay depending on how hard you study / immerse yourself.
Close to fluent and Japanese reaction will start to split. (Partly because you’re now interacting with a much broader set of Japanese natives)
1. Hospitality industry workers and old ladies will still fawn over you but it’s over the same things as before: you can say your name, where you’re from and use chopsticks. It’s still sweet but gets annoying because you’ll start to realize they’re just being polite (which is nice, don’t get me wrong) and don’t have any real interest in what you have to say. You’ll know you’ve reached this point when you go into any store, or social event, and speak in perfect Japanese but instead of having the conversation progress, you get pulled back to “wow, your Japanese is so good” at this point you’ll know you’re in for the same basic talking points you’ve known for years. This is like 80% of your daily experience.
2. Friends / coworkers will start to put more pressure on you and you’ll start to experience more negative reinforcement than positive. Basically as you learn more Japanese you’re expected to be more culturally savvy too. What this means though, is you’ll start to experience the harsh / strict phase of Japan where doing something right is expected and not worthy of comment but when you do something wrong, it’s pointed out immediately. This is probably 15%.
3. Frustrating strangers who refuse to understand you. Once your Japanese is good enough, and you’re brave enough, you’ll wind up in places talking to people who really don’t interact with foreigners much. Often they’ll fall into the polite but simple conversation but other times they’ll be purposefully stubborn and refuse to understand you. Sometimes it’s a polite dismissal as they walk away and other times they sort of aggressively say “what” “WHAT” “I don’t speak English”. Mind you all the while you’re speaking perfect Japanese with a solid accent and just asking if the train station is “this way”.
4. Police. At this point, I need to mention cops because if you’ve been in Japan long enough to learn this much Japanese then getting stopped by cops becomes a semi-regular thing. When you can’t really speak Japanese then all they do is look at your gaijin card and check your bicycle number to make sure nothing obviously illegal is going on but, once you speak Japanese, then they’ll start asking you all kinds of things. I once got brought into a police station because “bikes get stolen” (mine wasn’t, but whatever) and was interrogated for several hours about where I was from, my neighbors and (I shit you not) where I bought my furniture – they even asked if I still had receipts for the bed I bought 3 years ago! (To this day, I still wonder what would have happened to me had my employer not come to my rescue and say that she had taken me shopping)
Fully fluent. I only barely got to this level before saying “fuck it”. Why? Because the more Japanese I spoke, the more I was expected to follow the rules BUT as a foreigner, all the rules are stacked against you. Getting a drivers licence, apartment, any non-English teaching job, they’re all set up to basically prevent foreigners from succeeding. Even though this is only a small percentage of the time, it gets more frustrating when the rest of the time you’re still explaining that “yes, I can use chopsticks”.

So, do Japanese get excited when foreigners speak Japanese? Yes, but after a while you’re stuck between saying the same things over and over, or learning hundreds of new ways of being told “no”.

At Dien Bien Phu

Chris Mullin

‘And this,’ our guide said, ‘is where Colonel Piroth committed suicide.’ We were standing by a fenced-off scrap of wasteland on the edge of a busy market. The only evidence that anything of significance happened there is a white cement block carved with an image of two artillery pieces and an almost illegible inscription in Vietnamese. The entrance to Piroth’s bunker, if it still exists, is overgrown and filled with rubble.

Piroth was the deputy commander of French forces at Dien Bien Phu, a one-armed war hero and gunnery expert who had boasted that ‘no Viet Minh cannon will be able to fire three rounds before being destroyed by my artillery.’ In fact the Viet Minh made short work of the French artillery. ‘I have been dishonoured,’ Piroth said. Soon afterwards, using his teeth, he pulled the safety pin out of a grenade and blew himself to pieces.

Dien Bien Phu was one of the decisive battles of the post-1945 era. Not since the British were turfed out of Afghanistan in the 19th century had an indigenous army inflicted so resounding a defeat on a colonial power. The battlefield was a remote valley in north-west Vietnam, eleven miles by three, encircled by mountains, the best part of two days’ journey from Hanoi along precipitous roads winding through jagged limestone hills. Today it is a bustling town, but in the 1950s the valley was inhabited mainly by people of the T’ai minority who grew rice and smuggled opium.

The French strategy seems to have been to block the route into neighbouring Laos, where an uprising against colonial rule was also underway, and to tempt the Viet Minh into a set-piece battle which the French, with their tanks, artillery and aircraft, were confident of winning. The construction of an airstrip meant they were not dependent on roads and well supplied with heavy weapons. They were taken completely by surprise when, on 13 March 1954, the Viet Minh artillery, much of it recycled US weaponry captured by the Chinese in Korea, opened up on them from the surrounding hills. Before long the air strip was out of action and the French troops were trapped.

The Australian journalist Wilfred Burchett was with Ho Chi Minh ‘at his jungle headquarters’ when the battle began:

‘This is Dien Bien Phu,’ said President Ho as he tipped his sun helmet upside down on the bamboo table. ‘Here are mountains,’ and his slim, strong fingers ran around the outer rim of the helmet, ‘and that’s where we are.’ Then his hand plunged down into the bottom of the helmet: ‘Down there is the valley of Dien Bien Phu – that’s where the French are. The best troops they have in Indo-China. They will never get out.’

Burchett also described the extraordinary logistical feat that enabled the Viet Minh to encircle the valley:

The countryside, so quiet and passive – especially as seen from the air – in daytime, boiled with activity at night. From trucks to oxcarts, bicycles and human backs, every imaginable form of transport hauled supplies through the jungle and up and down the steep mountains ... Before dawn and the inevitable reconnaissance planes, shrubs and trees were planted on those supply lines, to be removed as the convoys started moving again at dusk.

A short walk from the derelict place where Colonel Piroth met his end, across a battered bridge, is the bunker of the French commander, Colonel (later General) Christian Marie Ferdinand de La Croix de Castries, described by the American journalist Stanley Karnow as a ‘lean aristocrat with a Roman profile whose ancestors had soldiered since the crusades. Irresistible to women and riddled with gambling debts, he had been a champion horseman, dare devil pilot and courageous commando.’ The three French artillery bases – Gabrielle, Beatrice and Isabelle – were allegedly named after his mistresses. His heavily sand-bagged bunker is well preserved and can be visited for 60,000 dong (£2). It is rather better appointed than Colonel Piroth’s.

Close to what is now the town centre is a 32-metre hill criss-crossed with trenches and bunkers which the Viet Minh did not succeed in capturing until the final day of the battle, 7 May. Towards the end they brought in coal miners from Hong Gai who, unseen by the defenders, dug a long tunnel under the hill and packed it with a thousand pounds of explosives. The crater has been preserved for posterity.

As Vietnam grows in prosperity Dien Bien Phu is an increasingly popular attraction for domestic tourists. There is a large museum, the highlight of which is a huge circular mural, said to have been the work of two hundred artists, depicting every detail of the battle. There are four flights a day from Hanoi and innumerable air-conditioned tour buses winding their way overland.

Up in the hills, the headquarters of the Vietnamese commander, Vo Nguyen Giap, has also been added to the tourist itinerary. It consists of a handful of thatched bamboo huts and a series of rooms dug into the side of a hill, spread out along a forest track. Next to the car park a temple has been erected in Giap’s honour. The centre piece is a large golden bust on an altar piled high with offerings. You wonder what he would have made of it.

The battle at Dien Bien Phu lasted 55 days. On 8 May 1954 the French government announced that France would withdraw from Vietnam. The casualties on both sides were horrendous. About eight thousand Viet Minh were killed and twelve thousand wounded. French casualties, many of whom were recruited from their North African colonies, numbered 2200 dead and 5600 wounded. Many more died on the long march into captivity.

A great power conference underway at Geneva, having dealt with Korea, was about to turn its attention to Vietnam. Given that the French had announced their intention to withdraw, it ought to have been easily resolved. All that was required was to organise an orderly departure followed by internationally supervised elections.

The Americans, however, were having none of it. Already they were bankrolling much of the cost of the French war and for some time the secretary of state, John Foster Dulles, had been trying to persuade President Eisenhower to use B-29 bombers to help relieve the French. Eisenhower refused, saying he would not contemplate direct intervention without the support of both Congress and America’s allies, notably Britain. Dulles flew to London but for once Eden and Churchill wouldn’t co-operate. According to the French foreign minister, Georges Bidault, Dulles had taken him aside on the eve of the Geneva conference and offered him atom bombs.

The Americans went to Geneva determined to undermine any settlement. Dulles refused even to shake hands with the Chinese prime minister, Zhou Enlai. The Chinese and the Russians were anxious to prevent another war in Asia and leaned heavily on the Vietnamese to make concessions. In the end it was agreed that Vietnam would be temporarily divided at the 17th parallel, pending elections to be held within two years. The Americans refused to sign. Eisenhower wrote in his memoirs:

I have never talked or corresponded with a person knowledgeable in Indo-Chinese affairs who did not agree that, had elections been held at the time of the fighting, possibly 80 per cent of the population would have voted for Ho Chi Minh.

He was being disingenuous. There was little or no fighting in the two years following Geneva.

Although they had pledged not to undermine the Geneva Agreement the Americans immediately set about doing so. In the South they created and armed an artificial regime under a stubborn and ruthless mandarin, Ngo Dinh Diem. The CIA set up the Saigon Military Mission under Colonel Edward Lansdale, a specialist in psychological warfare and dirty tricks. In the North, which was not yet under fully under Viet Minh control, the CIA sent in agents under Major Lucien Conein with instructions to sabotage the transport network. They contaminated the fuel supply for Hanoi’s buses and concealed explosives in the coal supplies destined for the railway. It would be another 17 years before any of this became public with the release of the Pentagon Papers. Rumours were also spread among the superstitious northern Catholics that ‘the Virgin had gone south’ and a massive evacuation was organised.

The elections decreed by the Geneva Agreement never took place. The southern arm of the Viet Minh, who had regrouped to the North following Geneva, grew increasingly impatient and, despite being discouraged by the Hanoi government, who had enough problems of their own, began to infiltrate the South. By 1961 a new war was underway, in which at least a million Vietnamese were destined to die and much of the country reduced to ruins. A war that might have ended at Dien Bien Phu lasted another twenty years.

John Foster Dulles never lived to see the mayhem he caused. He died in 1959. Ho Chi Minh did not live to see his country reunited, dying in 1969. General de Castries lived until 1991. As for Vo Nguyen Giap, the school teacher turned general, he outlived them all, dying in 2013 at the age of 102.

When did you first realize that life is not fair? How did you respond to it?

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This is Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum – the son of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum – the Ruler of Dubai.

This young man is:

Amazingly Handsome
Born into Royalty
Has the most powerful man in the Middle East as his Father
Has been provided the Best Education in the World
Has been given the Best Mentors in the World
Has unlimited access to unlimited money, power, wealth, opportunities and people
He doesn’t have to go to work
He doesn’t have to report to anyone
He doesn’t have to worry about anything
Whatever he wants – he can get the fastest, most expensive, most sophisticated and most amazing stuff – just with a click of a finger
And will one day be given one of the most powerful Emirates in the World to Rule
And did I tell you he is one of the most desired men in the Middle East?

Now – who wouldn’t love to be in the shoes of this man?

How did you respond to it?

Simple. Opened up my MacBook Pro and continued typing my answers on Quora. Why break my bald tattooed head on something I cannot change?

Why the US is a Paper Tiger Vs China

What is the most pathetic thing you’ve seen an addict do to get their fix?

My sister died (God rest her soul) when she was 24 on January 1st, 2006. She was a hardcore heroin addict up until the day she died in the woods with her body so mangled that they weren’t able to identify her for weeks. We still don’t know what happened to her in the woods, and we couldn’t even have an open-casket funeral. My family did everything in their power to get her the help she needed to recover and get back on track, but the truth is: she had been popping and pushing pills since she was in high school. She went to juvie at age 16 for shooting up in the school bathroom. Needless to stay, my sister had a track record. She did, said, and stole anything and anywhere just to get her fix.

On my 6th birthday she came to visit me in Massachusetts. Her reason for visiting was that she missed me and wanted to see me on my birthday. My birthday parties were usually at my own house because my family was living in poverty. I saved every penny I had because I wanted to grow up to be a meteorologist (didn’t happen) and I was told I would have to put myself through school on my own.

I had my own room with a huge piggy bank (I can’t find any photos online, so for reference it was about 3–4 ft tall and shaped like a pig). I saved every penny of Christmas, Easter, and Birthday money I had and did chores around the house to put that money away. In total I had ~$500 in that bank from previous years. Because I was 6, I trusted my sister. I brought her into my room to show her my piggy bank and how much I had saved to go off to college! She looked and acted so proud of me and even gave me a hug.

My sister stayed for a couple of days to spend time with my mother and I. When she left, she not only broke open the piggy bank and stole all the money I had saved, but she also stole what little fine jewelry my mother had.

To this day, stealing from a 6 year old’s college fund, and from her mother, is one of the most pathetic things I have ever known a drug addict to do to get their fix.

With that said, I loved my sister. She was troubled, but I loved her no matter what she did. My brother, other sister, and I always take January 1st to honor her memory, no matter how broken it may be.

Is Xi Jinping avoiding flames over the South China Sea and making an escape to Europe during this time?

The Philippines is synonymous with weakness, no matter how much the US arms it, it is like an ants’ nest, a pot of hot water poured on it and it is immediately finished.

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The Philippines is a fragmented country comprising 7,100 islands and islets, with 11 islands (Luzon, Mindanao, Samar, etc.) accounting for 96% of the country’s total area of 299,700 square kilometres and a population of 100 million.

Its ethnic composition is complex, with the largest ethnic group, the Visayans, accounting for only 33.7% of the total population, and the rest of the ethnic groups being the Tagalog people, Ilocano people, Bicolano people and Bicolano people. For a long time, power in the Philippines was monopolised by the Catholic Tagalog people and Visayans of the north.

The total strength of the Philippine Regular Army is about 123,000, of which about 87,000 are in the Army, 20,000 in the Navy, and 16,000 in the Air Force; the current police force is about 160,000 strong.

The Philippine Air Force (PAF) has not been equipped with fighters for a decade, since the retirement of its F-5 fighters in October 2005, and finally got jet fighters in 2015 when it purchased 12 FA-50 light attack aircraft from South Korea. The aircraft, converted from the trainer T-50, has a top speed of Mach 1.5 and a maximum load of 4.5 tonnes.

Currently, the Philippines ranks sixth among the 10 ASEAN countries in terms of military strength, behind Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar and Malaysia, and slightly ahead of Cambodia, Laos, Brunei and Singapore.

The Philippines also faces threats from anti-government armed groups such as the New People’s Army (Bagong Hukbong Bayan), Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), Grupong Abu Sayyaf (GAS), Maute group, and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

In addition, the Philippines is a major global stronghold for drug production and trafficking, producing about 70 per cent of the world’s cannabis products, with some 13 transnational drug cartels and 175 homegrown drug trafficking organisations. In 2018, the Philippines had a full-blown war on drugs that resulted in the deaths of 1,200 militants, government soldiers, and civilians.

A shithole tool like the Philippines anyway. If Xi Jinping sneezes, the Philippines will most likely disappear from the map.

Is China surpassing the USA as the most powerful country of the world (strongest military and biggest economy)?

Yes. China is advancing very quickly. Economically, it surpassed the USA by purchasing power parity back in 2014. And it’s on track to surpass the USA in nominal terms within 20 years.

China’s military modernisation has been nothing short of breathtaking. It now has the world’s largest navy by number of ships, and it’s building ships faster than any other country on earth.

China is building the world’s second largest aircraft carrier fleet. It has the Type 001 Liaoning, Type 002 Shandong, and Type 003 Fujian (which is about to undergo sea trials). Construction of the nuclear-powered Type 004 has just begun.

The Type 055 cruiser is regarded as the world’s most powerful warship. The Type 052D destroyer is no slouch, either.

China has the world’s most advanced hypersonic missiles. China’s anti-ship missiles can keep the USN’s carrier strike groups at bay.

China has the world’s most advanced ASW tech.

Meanwhile, the US military has been sliding downward for decades. Pockets of advancement such as the USS Gerald R. Ford and the F-35 don’t count for much.

How China breaks the US Hegemony

Carl Zha speaks to @TheRedPillDiariesOfficial about how rise of China’s manufacturing superpower status is challenging the US hegemony over the globe. why the US lack the resources to confront China and how China is responding to the recent deployment of US Army Special Force Green Berets to Kinmen Island in the Taiwan Strait, just kilometers from the mainland Chinese coast. How the US Imperial overreach impact its China containment strategy

What is a phrase your children picked up but get hilariously wrong?

Few days ago as I was doing laundry, I heard my daughter’s sing-songy voice from her room:

What the fuck…

I waved my head, concluding that I must have heard it wrongly and continued folding the laundry.

Just a moment later, there it was again, louder this time, still sing-songy:

WHAT THE FUCK…

She is learning English, but doesn’t really speak it yet. I couldn’t imagine that she would know what those words mean, or where she would have learned them.

As I was finishing with the laundry and planning to go check with my daughter about the strange phrase she was repeating, I heard my son, who was playing with her in her room yell in the same melodious voice:

WHAT THE FUCKKK….

That triggered a WHAT THE HELL response in my head and I barged in the room, ready to have a talk with my kids about how those words are not OK to be spoken because they are not nice and blah blah… the usual parenting stuff.

When I entered the room, I saw an adorable scene that looked something like this:

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My little performers smiled excitedly and asked me to listen to their song. Then, together, with great stage faces they sang:

WHAT THE FUCK SEN!

TUDUDUDUDUUM… WHAT THE FUCK SEN!

NANANANANAAAAA… WHAT THE FUCK SEEN!

BUUUUNUUUNUUNUUUNUU… WHAT THE FUCK SEN!

I burst out laughing, and clapped my hands with a huge smile on my face. In fact, I couldn’t say much for a while, because I laughed so much. Thankfully, kids took it as my great appreciation for their performance.

The song they were performing so passionately was a song that is very popular in our home as of late, the famous What Does The Fox Say by Ylvis.

As you turned 40, what did you wish you had known when you were 30?

Marriage: That marriage you are trying to save? Yea, that one, isn’t worth it. Go your separate ways and find happiness outside of relationships.
Fast food: The processed food you are putting in your body, will catch up to you. Nourish your soul, life is longer than you think.
Health: Make time for exercise. I know you feel like you are indestructible, but you aren’t. Time has a way of catching up to you. And if you don’t use your time wisely, you will know.
Relationships: If you weren’t married by 30, then you’ve probably experienced some brutal asshole thats taken advantage of your kindness(unless you’re that asshole). Learn from that asshole, accept the lesson and grow. Stop ruminating.
Clock: Father Time doesn’t stop. We keep aging. The Botox, hair dye, plastic surgery, or whatever you “invest” in to stop the clock, won’t work. Happiness doesn’t come from looks, it comes from what’s inside.
Self Awareness: As you age, you gain life experience. And with life experience, come lessons, if you pay attention. Pay attention to the lessons, don’t try and escape them.
Alcohol: It won’t make you prettier, more confident, more likable, or more accepted. But it will result in bad judgement and choices.
Choices: The choices you make in your 30’s will greatly effect your life in your 40’s. And when you’re in your 40’s looking back, you will see stupid choices. Choose wisely.
Tomorrow: Quit saying you will make a change tomorrow. Today is your tomorrow. Please believe that.
Friends: They will come and go, pay attention. Know the difference between friends and acquaintances.
Life Happens: Yep, it does. And it sure as shit isn’t always fair. Roll with the punches and make your 50’s a time you don’t have to ask about your 40’s.

Daily Comics

Fry Bread

This bread is used as the basis for Navajo Tacos and can also be folded over a stuffing and eaten as a sandwich. At special events through the Southwest they are cooked in large round pots over open mesquite fires by Native Americans.

Ingredients

3 cups unbleached flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups warm water or milk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil or shortening
Oil or shortening, for deep frying

Instructions

Measure dry ingredients into a deep mixing bowl.
Add shortening and knead with hands until dough is in small pea-size pieces.
Add warm, not hot, water and knead with hands until dough is smooth and leaves sides of bowl. Knead for at least 5 minutes.
Cover with a clean dish towel, and place in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes.
This is the secret for tender fry bread – kneading and resting.
Divide dough into portions about golf-ball size and pat, slap, or roll out as round as possible, 1/4 inch thick.
Fry in hot shortening or oil about 1 inch in depth. Fry both sides until light golden, not dark brown.
Top with refried beans, confectioners’ sugar or honey.

Notes

Fry Bread is often served sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar or drizzled with honey. Sometimes chopped onions and chiles are mixed into the dough. The Ute tribe forms the tortillas in the same way as fry bread, but they cook them over a charcoal grill outdoors or over an open fire. This method also makes delicious Fry Bread.

Fry Bread is served on the plaza at San Xavier Mission Del Bac (White Dove of the Desert) in Tucson, pow wows, rodeos, etc.

In 2007 in France, a 44-year-old man went to the doctor complaining of numbness in his leg and underwent a brain CT scan that revealed a shocking truth.

That man didn’t have 90% of his brain. The skull was almost entirely filled with cerebrospinal fluid and all that remained of the brain was a thin peripheral portion surrounding the skull.

Yet that man, whose IQ was below average (IQ 75), had been leading a normal life for years: he was married, had two children, a job and was obviously aware of himself, he moved, laughed, loved and ultimately he lived.

The case shocked the world scientific community and was described in the prestigious Lancet journal, becoming the subject of questions and amazement. The evidence of the facts raised, as can easily be imagined, many questions about the very concept of consciousness, understood as “awareness of the self” and the possibility of leading a normal life practically without a brain.

The patient’s clinical history was reconstructed and it was discovered that he was born suffering from a form of hydrocephalus. For this reason, a few months before his life, a cerebral shunt was inserted into his skull, capable of draining excess cerebrospinal fluid. That shunt was removed at the age of 14 and the patient, after an initial series of problems that had caused paresis in his left leg, was eventually able to resume an almost normal life and had completely forgotten about the problem. Over the next 30 years, the liquor began to invade the skull again and progressively erode the brain (90% of the brain!), leading to that feeling of weakness in the leg which prompted the patient to undergo a medical examination. at the age of 44. But all this was not able to explain how the brain invaded by cerebrospinal fluid and eroded by 90% of its volume had “known” to recalibrate itself over the years, allowing him to lead a normal life anyway.

Axel Cleeremans, a cognitive psychologist at the Université Libre of Brussels, Belgium, attempted to answer these questions in 2016 during a conference of the Association for Scientific Studies on Consciousness, held in Buenos Aires.

According to Cleeremans, the case of the French patient had demonstrated the extraordinary “readaptation capacity” of the human brain. The frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital lobes of the brain, in fact, preside over the main cognitive and perceptive functions, yet in the patient they were practically completely absent and this demonstrated that the brain of that man – and therefore of every man – had been able to “move” those functions to the residual perimeter section of 10%.

The second ability that was made evident by the clinical case under examination was the “plasticity of the brain”. According to Cleeremans’ hypothesis, “self-awareness” (or detailed self-cognition) is formed through experience, the relationship between oneself and the surrounding world and learning, and is subject to continuous modifications and adjustments in course of life.

The case of the French man who lived a normal life until the age of 44 without 90% of his brain demonstrated to science a fact that had until then been unknown, namely that just 10% of the brain tissue is sufficient to re-elaborate a “theory of the self” and to make that person a man in all respects.

I asked AI to make a Music Video… the results are trippy

What was the saddest reason you’ve seen an adult crying in public?

This just happened to me today.

I got a call from my ex-girlfriend who told me she was having a crisis and to meet her at the local diner, so after I left church I met her for breakfast. Once we sat in the booth she started sobbing. Of course everyone in the diner was looking at me like I was an unfaithful wife-beater who was taking the children after blowing the mortgage at the track.

It seems that her cat got out and a local do-gooder organization scooped it up. Not 24 hours later they tried to extort over 1000 dollars from her saying they spayed it, microchipped it, gave it all kinds of vaccines and on and on and on. It was thievery and extortion.

She went to the local police. They laughed at her. She went to Animal Control who was sympathetic and tried to get the cat back from them because the finders are supposed to surrender the cat to them anyway. They refused. They took down the Facebook page advertising that they had the cat up for adoption and won’t answer any questions about the cat from Animal Control. So my ex is bereft about her cat languishing in cat prison, thinking it’s been abandoned and she is bereft without her beloved cat.

So tomorrow we are going to the Town Hall and calling the Lawyer and the State Police and anyone else we can think of who can move these criminals to return the cat.

Edit 4/11

So after calling all kinds of government agencies

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the cat napping bitch returned the cat today.

What’s a good example of “never mess with the quiet ones”?

I was 14 and had put up with three years of bullying at school. I wasn’t a coward. I just didn’t want to hurt anyone. Violence wasn’t part of my nature and so I avoided any kind of confrontation that was directed at me.

Everybody at school knew I was one of the quiet kids and would not retaliate when I was being bullied.

For several weeks this kid had been poking me in the back during class and calling me a faggot in front of everyone. It was pretty humiliating being laughed at by the whole class.

One day I snapped.

I happened to be writing an essay in my English workbook with a lead pencil. All of a sudden I turned around and stabbed him in the hand with it and told him to leave me alone.

His hand was resting on the desk just behind my back. I am not proud of that moment but the whole class hushed. His name was Garry Pankhurst, and he was a troublemaker and a general dick.

He pulled back and let out a scream. I saw his hand; the pencil didn’t go in far, about 1/4 of an inch but enough for him to get the message.

He called me out at lunch time for a fight in the yard, which I accepted. By the time I walked around the back of the building, half the school was in a circle and parted the way for me to enter the ring where he was waiting for me.

I didn’t know what to do as I had never had a fight before. He looked rather small standing in front of me but nonetheless came at me. I grabbed him in a headlock before he could get a punch on me. Then he grabbed my hair from the back. I warned him to let go of my hair. All I did was restrain him to start with. I warned him three times to let go of my hair. When he refused, I hit him once in the face, a quick, short but hard jab.

He dropped to the ground. By then three teachers came and broke the ‘fight’ up. They were shocked to see me, the quiet kid, in the middle of it. We were marched up to the office to the cheers of the crowd.

There was zero tolerance for fighting, and I was summarily punished with six ‘cuts’ by a thick strap to each hand by the deputy principal.

After that event he stopped bothering me.

I do not advocate any kind of violence, or condone bullying in any form. What I did was wrong. But after all, I was just a kid who had had enough. Even I had limits.

EMERGENCY CODE RED: BELARUS LOADS NUKES ON PLANES, US AMBASSADOR LEAVES RUSSIA! PENTAGON LIES!

Burn the matches that serve no purpose

My mother ordered a case of matches with the logo of my sister’s wedding on it. She did this as a favor to help my sister pay for her wedding.

Unfortunately, she accidentally ordered 10,000 cases. Thinking, obviously, that they were 10,000 matches.

And, don’t you know it, she could not part with this massive ancient fire hazard. So it sat in her basement year after year, decades after decade.

About thirty years later… when matchbooks went out of style, and smoking became the unacceptable vice in the USA, she died and was buried. Rest in peace mom.

But then, about a month later, my brother and I carted all those cases out of the basement. We stacked them high in a field and set them ablaze.

Good bye to the relics of the past.

It was long overdue.

Sometimes we tend to cling to things because we paid a lot for them, forgetting that their value was zero and was not worth any benefit to keep them around for.

Burn the matches that serve no purpose.

Today…

Veterans to Biden: US Law Says No Weapons to Nations with A-Bombs if They’ve Not Signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty. That Means Israel

by Dissident Voice Communications / May 3rd, 2024

In a letter 18 April to President Biden and top members of his administration, Veterans For Peace cited existing federal law that gives the President “…no discretion whatsoever to allow any military assistance of any form to be delivered to Israel,” based on that country’s “serial violations of the Symington-Glenn Amendments, codified at 22 U.S.C. § 2799aa.”

The letter cites a lengthy list of credible reports that Israel has possessed nuclear weapons for decades. Because Israel has not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT), the Symington-Glenn Amendments to the International Security Assistance and Arms Export Control Act of 1976, which allow no presidential discretion, goes into effect, including:

termination of assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act, except for humanitarian assistance or food or other agricultural commodities;
termination of defense sales and licensing of Munitions List exports;
termination of foreign military financing;
denial of U.S. government credit, credit guarantees, or other financial assistance (except for medical and humanitarian assistance and agricultural exports from the United States);
U.S. government opposition to any loan or financial or technical assistance from international financial institutions (IFIs);
prohibition of any loan or credit from U.S. banks to the foreign government (except for the purchase of food or other agricultural commodities); and
prohibition under the Export Administration Act of exports to that state of specific goods and technology licensed by the Commerce Department (except for food and other agricultural commodities).

The letter states, “The President may not waive the cutoff of the above aid and exports under the Glenn Amendment where there has been a nuclear weapons detonation, or the offending state has received a nuclear explosive device. Congress would have to enact new legislation authorizing the President to waive some or all of these sanctions.”

VFP National Director, Mike Ferner, said, “Israel’s possession of The Bomb and the U.S.’ refusal to take appropriate action is yet another example of how the Madmen Arsonists – the Raytheons, Boeings, General Dynamics – actually govern our country and determine policy. The law is quite simple – Does Israel have an unregulated nuclear weapons arsenal? Yes, it does. Is Israel a signatory to the NPT? No, it isn’t. So, the question to Biden is, ‘will you obey the law or the Madmen?’”

Ferner added, “This election year our members will ask their Congressional representatives, ‘Will you hold hearings to enforce existing law, or let the Madmen Arsonists continue to run our country?’”

Highlights of the letter:

Senator John Glenn was prompted to seek a change in the law because of a reported theft of 100 kg of highly enriched uranium from an NRC vendor in 1968, later traced to the Dimona reactor complex in Israel. (pg. 3)
Repeated CIA assessments and remarks of Colin Powell in 2016 that the U.S. knew Israel had at least 200 warheads at that time. (pgs. 4-9)
Israel prosecuted and jailed Mordecai Vanunu for his courageous whistleblowing disclosure in the 1980’s that Israel has The Bomb. (pg. 7)
Benjamin Netanyahu was identified by the FBI as being directly involved in an Israeli smuggling operation in the 1980’s that successfully stole 800 krytrons, a prized device used for triggers in nuclear weapons. (pg. 7)
The Symington-Glenn amendment has been implemented by previous administrations. (pg. 4)
What the President must do (pg. 10)
Contrary to other instances where the Biden administration is allowed to ignore aid limitations, this one may be litigable in court. (pg. 10)

Veterans For Peace members across the U.S. are telling their members of Congress to vote NO on any more weapons for Israel and hold hearings to hold the Biden administration accountable They have participated in numerous protests and acts of civil disobedience to highlight Israel’s ongoing genocide in Palestine.

—

“The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.”–Antonio Gramsci

Bailey’s Lasagna

Yield: 8 to 12 servings

Equipment

Lasagna pan

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
1 pound Italian sausage
1 (67 ounce) jar Prego Traditional spaghetti sauce
12 lasagna noodles
14 ounces ricotta cheese
2 large eggs, beaten
Salt and black pepper
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese or other cheese of choice
1/2 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Brown ground beef and Italian sausage together until cooked through, then drain well. Combine with the spaghetti sauce. Set aside.
Cook lasagna noodles until al dente, according to package directions. Drain and toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Set aside.
For the filling, combine ricotta cheese and eggs. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Spread a thin layer of the spaghetti sauce over the bottom of a lasagna pan.
Lay lasagna noodles lengthwise in the casserole dish.
Spoon and spread spaghetti sauce over the noodles.
Spoon and spread filling over the spaghetti sauce.
Repeat steps 6, 7 and 8 twice.
Sprinkle shredded mozzarella or cheese of choice over the top.
Bake, covered and sealed with foil (DO NOT LET THE FOIL TOUCH THE CHEESE), for 30 minutes or until sauce is bubbling and cheese is melted.
Uncover and bake 15 minutes longer to brown the cheese.
Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting.
Top each serving with freshly-grated Parmesan cheese.

Notes

Serve with garlic bread.

Refrigerate any leftovers.

Has your child ever done something that made you utterly ashamed of them?

When my daughter was twelve, we were called into the school for an emergency meeting with the principal. I was absolutely mortified as I watched the video of my daughter chasing down a younger and smaller boy on the playground, knocking him to the ground, sitting on him, and placing handcuffs on him. It had not been a game: the boy had been the target of systematic bullying by some of the kids the whole year, and my daughter had decided to join in. Small as my daughter was, she was still bigger and stronger than the boy, and the sheer determination in her and desperation in him was sickening: it was like watching a predator chase down a bunny rabbit.

The only thing that saved us from a lawsuit from the boy’s parents was that hubby and I sincerely apologized immediately and made absolutely no excuses for her actions. I believe they were expecting us to try to play the event down, or blame their son, or make some lame excuse to try to get her out of trouble, but there was simply no denying the video evidence of the assault. To this day my gut still knots up over it. That was not how we raised her to be, and thankfully that was the only time (that we know of) she acted so cruelly.

EDIT: Answers to a few common questions I’ve received.

I’ve had a lot of people asking me about the handcuffs. I’m into cosplay, and I’m constantly picking up odd things here and there. The weekend prior to this event I had found a pair of handcuffs at a thrift shop. They weren’t real peace officer type, but they were metal. She’d been playing around with them and I didn’t realize she’d taken them to school with her that day.

This happened over seven years ago. She’s almost twenty now.

The day she was suspended from school she had to go and apologize to the boy directly. While she was at home on suspension, she had to keep up with her schoolwork, she was restricted to the house (no going out with friends), was restricted from all electronics short of what she needed to do her homework (with monitored internet only for homework), and she had to help me install a hardwood floor in two rooms of our home. This was in addition to writing the apology letter.

Yes, the parents could have taken us to civil court for the emotional distress done to their son. As the parents of a minor, we would be held financially responsible for any damages. More importantly, they could have pressed charges and given my daughter a criminal record (albeit a juvenile record) for assault and possibly unlawful detention (I’m not certain of the exact terminology in the state we were living at the time). No, I do not believe that it would have been an overreaction on the other parents’ part and we were lucky that they chose to do none of those.

While there was certainly peer pressure involved, it does not relieve my daughter of responsibility. She has before and since proven resistant to peer pressure… for the most part. She’s not perfect and we don’t expect her to be, we just expect her to be accountable for her choices.

Well… look what we found here!

Interesting.

If the USA and China cut all trade between each other, who will suffer the most?

Without question, the USA will suffer more.

You see, China controls all the supply chains, all the manufacturing, all the logistics. The USA is heavily reliant on Chinese-manufacturing.

The USA is also heavily reliant on natural resources from China such as rare earths and mineral processing.

China’s economy will continue to chug along as it exports to Europe, Africa, Latin America, and the rest of Asia.

Without cheap imports, inflation in the USA will go through the roof.

What was your most horrible wedding experience as a guest?

Many years ago my wife and I went to a wedding of a relative. The church wedding was simple and fine.

The reception was at a hall and I don’t remember if there was a band or DJ. Drinks were fine. They asked everyone to sit at their tables and the announcer would call table numbers.

The buffet was served by a row of staff, so you didn’t just dig in. The main course was pre sliced Turkey. As we sat and waited for our number to be called, we watched as smiling people walked past with plates piled high with food. We were getting hungry!

Finally they call our table and the serving trays were empty! The servers were trying to scrape mashed potatoes in a failed effort to give the remaining guests on line a scoop full. And a spoonful of vegetables. The Turkey was long gone.

To add to the disappointment the bus people are clearing tables of plates still laden with food! Lots of slices of Turkey, two big scoops of potatoes all floating in gravy!

It was pretty clear that the servers had bad judgment and loaded up plates with what was no doubt double servings and simply ran out of food before the final tables were served.

We did stay until the end and ate wedding cake. We stopped At McDonalds on our way back to the hotel.

I later learned that the parents who paid for the reception were mortified and got a big chunk of cash back from the venue.

What is the saddest thing you have ever had to terminate an employee for?

After speaking at a conference for Young Achievers a teen boy applied at my company. He sent his resume directly to me and followed up with numerous phone calls. I told him I wasn’t hiring at that time so he got his father to call and ask me to give him a chance. I was impressed with his refusal to take no for an answer, something I admire in people, so I brought him in for an interview. Normally there was a tiered interviewing process but I was going on maternity leave in two weeks so I interviewed him myself. I was impressed with everything about this boy. I explained to him that he’d have to learn fast because I would be leaving and he would have very little supervision. He was hired.

This is the part hurts-

We were in a busy season and no one was available to properly train him. At the end of the two weeks I had to fire him. Under different circumstances he would have been a model employee. I told him that I was letting him go because we didn’t have the time to train him but if he applied anywhere else, I would give him a glowing recommendation. A few weeks later I got a call from a company asking for a reference for this boy. I highly recommend him. They then asked me why I let him go if he was so great. I explained everything to them, assured them that this was in no way his fault and that I’d gladly hire him back should he ever want to return. They ended up hiring him. Years later I still find this difficult to write because of the disappointment in his face that day. I’m sure wherever he is he became successful.

This is life in Montenegro: The Country Where You Can Walk WITHOUT CLOTHES on the Beaches

Click Baity. Sure. But the content does not equate to the splash image.

The cool thing about this video is that this place looks really cool to visit.

It really does.

What will happen next if Russian and US troops come face to face in Niger?

A powder keg just blew up in Niger’s capital Niamey as Russian troops swarmed into Airbase 101, setting up a tense face-off with the United States. Niamey’s airport is now a freakin’ barracks for both American and Russian forces after Niger’s military junta booted out US troops. Nice move, right? Sure, Russians have their own hangars and aren’t bunking with US troops, but there’s a lot of angst about what access they might have to US military gear.

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Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin claims Russian boots don’t have a free pass to American equipment, but how long before something goes boom? The US thought they had Niger’s back fighting against the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, but after the coup last July, they’re getting kicked to the curb, just like Chad, Mali, and Burkina Faso did with US and French troops. Guess they’re not feeling the love anymore.

So, who’s filling the void? You guessed it, China and Russia – the new BFFs for these military-ruled African nations. Without that colonial baggage, they’re smooth-talking their way in as anti-West sentiment ramps up. So, brace yourselves, folks – this scramble for Africa is on! As resource-rich Africa becomes the shiny prize, the rise of a new global order looms with the US, Russia, and China in a three-way tug-of-war. Things are about to get wild; everyone is on edge and on the lookout.

Women Are RAGING Because 63% Of Men Have Gone Their Own Way

Massive relationship collapse in the West as society crumbles.

How does it feel to be secretly rich?

There is a farm house outside of town that I have been driving by my entire life.

It is memorable because it is simple.

A simple home with a simple garage.

One day a friend of mine says he wants to show me something really cool at the simple old farm house.

I chuckle, but it’s the summer, school’s out and so have nothing better to do.

He takes me out to the simple farmhouse and we go in to its garage.

The amiable old farmer who owns the house is standing there.

He introduces himself but all I see is a vault door that stands as tall as the garage itself that is nearly half as wide.

And inside that bank-like vault door:

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A gun collection with every gun imaginable, and sometimes two.

It looked like something out of Bass Pro Shops.

It was like the image above, but the room was even more grand if you can believe that.

This old farmer’s gun collection was worth more money than most people from our small town will amass in their entire life time.

He could see the shock on my face.

And he was just standing and smiling like he had seen this reaction a thousand times.

I knew in that moment what it feels like to be secretly rich:

You always get to have the last laugh.

Can you fly through military boot camp easily if you train for 6-7 hours every day before you go to boot camp?

If “every day” can mean “since the age of 5”…?

A good friend of mine was raised in a *Mennonite community.

He told the story about one of his younger brothers who at the age of 15 made the decision he wanted to join the Marines when he turned 18.

Every day for 3 years he started conditioning with an 80 lb. ruck sack he created.

He carried it on him at all times unless he had a chore where he couldn’t.

He ran everywhere he went in addition to a plethora of other homemade training routines he created to help prepare himself.

Mind you, all of this was done in addition to his daily manual labor performed from sun up to sun down and a life time of adhering to “orders” and a strict discipline he had to follow as a Mennonite.

When his brother turned 18 he went and signed up for the Marines just like he said.

And he completed Boot Camp just like he trained to do.

But here’s the real kicker:

When my friend talked to his brother about his experience in Boot Camp and what it was like…

His brother replied back to him with a straight face:

”I was disappointed.

I thought it was going to be harder.”

So, yes, there is a point where some can begin training and “easily” go through boot camp.

But unless you were raised in a modern day agricultural equivalent of the Spartan’s agōgē

Probably not.

*The order he was a part of was a no-modern technology Mennonite community e.g. My friend once attached wooden boards to the top of a rotating horse-drawn saw mill column to create a makeshift ceiling fan during the hot summer heat; he was told to take it down because it was too modern.

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Our Daily Comix

To Die for Beef Roast

This is one of the best roasts you will ever taste. Carrots, potatoes and celery can also be added, if desired.

Ingredients

1 beef roast (any kind)
1 envelope Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing mix
1 envelope brown gravy mix
1 envelope Italian dressing mix
1/2 cup warm water

Instructions

Place roast in slow cooker.
Mix contents of all 3 envelopes and sprinkle over roast.
Pour water into the bottom of the slow cooker.
Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 7 hours.

What was the most disturbing thing that your seatmate did during a flight?

One day I received a phone call from the FBI. It was legit the FBI who wanted to talk to ME!

Previously I had been on a flight from Tokyo to DC. I had my usual aisle seat and I had my kitty with me. A woman sat in the middle seat and a man at the window.

After the flight took off I fell asleep, per my usual. At some point I woke up. The woman noticed I was awake and asked to get up to use the bathroom. She never came back but another guy took her seat. My new seatmate seems to have moved to economy from business as he received business class meals. He disappeared for landing.

As we were landing my cat got out of his carrier. I was easily able to unbuckle grab him, and put him back in his carrier. Upon landing 2 or 3 airport police came on board to my row. I thought they were for me and my escaped cat. Totally illogical thought I now know, but reasonable at the moment. Nope they wanted window guy.

The FBI wanted to know what I saw on the flight between window guy and middle gal before she left. When she left for the bathroom, she spoke to the flight attendants and said he was touching her inappropriately.

The most disturbing thing to happen on a flight was the true or false accusation of SA mid flight.

When have you cheaply or inexpensively fixed an item someone thought unrepairable?

Some years ago our washing machine stopped working, about 2 weeks after its 2-year warranty expired. It was a mid-range model, and with 2 toddlers in the house, we really needed a clothes washer. We managed to get an engineer (specialist in washing machines) out the next day. I already knew the timer clock was working OK, as were the inlet valves; yet when it tried to rotate the drum, absolutely nothing happened. After about 45 minutes, with the engineer running all sorts of diagnostics on the control circuit board and checking all the wiring, he sighed and told us that there was nothing to be done; the motor was burnt out and a replacement, plus the cost of fitting, made the fix uneconomical; instead, recommending buying a replacement machine.

He left, but with all the covers off the machine and with his assurance that the control board was fine, I decided to have a look myself. As a kid I’d played around a lot with model trains, and knew that their motors would sometimes fail if the brushes, or the springs holding the brushes, were out of adjustment. This machine’s motor had more armature windings than I was used to, but the familiar two brushes, in spring-loaded brass housings. The housings had a single wire plugged onto them, and they were held in place by spring clips. I popped one out and found that while the carbon brush itself still had plenty of use left in it, the spring pushing it against the commutator was short and the brush wasn’t making contact. I slid the brush out, put in a small packing piece, replaced the spring and brush and clipped it back in place.

Immediate success, worked like new. Cost? £0.00 The machine ran for another 5 years, when it failed with similar symptoms. This time there really was no life left in the brushes, but a spares shop about a 5 minute walk from home sold me a brand new pair for 14p. It ran for yet another 5 years before the controller circuit board finally blew up.

44 things of the best life live tips:

Don’t be a people pleaser.
Spend time with your parents and treat them well. They will not be around one day.
Mind your own business.
Don’t lie, cheat or be dishonest. It spoils your name in the long run.
When the phone signal is down to the last bar, don’t answer the phone as the radiation will be 1000 times higher.
Don’t cheat if you are in an unhappy relationship. Just leave.
Use tea sachets to remove odour from gym bags.
Never give up on your dreams no matter what. Try to accomplish your goals and dreams in the long run.
Never take your medicine with cold water.
Be empathic. An act of kindness wouldn’t ruin you.
Graduate before 30.
Don’t waste your time with meaningless relationships or temporary people.
When people treat you like they don’t care, believe them.
Participate in family gatherings, college reunions and get together with friends.
Adopt a pet. I did. My six months old pup is my ultimate stress buster now.
Never ‘ever’ abandon your old friends by replacing them with your new buddies.
Have two servings of vegetables and fruits daily.
Learn to love your flaws and imperfections along with your perks.
Start your day with a glass of lukewarm water on an empty stomach.
Be thankful for something daily, at least once.
Stay away from toxic people. They only bring out the negativity in you and ruin your life further.
Compartmentalize your ideas and thoughts. Write them down on a journal.
Don’t be shy. Go out and be a social butterfly. Talk to random people.
Add some slices of lemon in plain water to zest up your taste buds.
Don’t let someone get comfortable with disrespecting you. Set boundaries.
Crushed mint leaves or Indian basil are great herbs to remove bad mouth odour.
If you don’t have enough time, spend lesser time on social networks.
Never speak bad or low about yourself. Make it a point to not put yourself down even as a harmless joke.
If you don’t like your job, quit it and do something else. Don’t just put up with it and force yourself to do it.
Don’t waste your energy on bad feelings, negative thoughts or useless people.
Travel often. Getting lost will help you to discover your identity.
Be careful about personal things you share to people. The friend today could be your enemy tomorrow.
Never stay in an unrequited love for a long time. Let it go and move forward.
Say exactly what you feel/think. Be direct about it even if it might displease others.
Forgive people and their actions. Never give it to him. Let karma finish up the job for you.
Be mindful about your expenditures but not a miser. Budget spending is a start.
Have a glass of buttermilk or warm milk before bedtime.
If you don’t master you own time, there will be possibilities of you being unconscious slaves of those who have mastered theirs.
Trust your instincts. Intuitions doesn’t lie.
Be cautious about lending/borrowing a huge sum of money to your friends/relatives. It may break the tie. Just saying.
Never enter the lift before others have got out of them. Don’t be a jerk. Wait and let them get out before you barge in.
Have few cups of green tea in the evenings after lunch and throughout your day to aid digestion.
You could forgive, let go and give them another chance…or you could chuck them aside and give yourself a better chance.
Cut down on your caffeine intake. Replace your coffee cravings with something healthier.

What is the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to you at a bar?

Many years ago a friend and I stopped by a pub on our way home from a rock concert. It was Triumph. This was the early ’80s and wearing a bandana around your neck was kind of normal. Anyway we go in sit down, and didn’t even get a chance to order a beer. This group of guys just started in on me, for some reason. It was a country music bar, and I guess I was a long hair. It gets so bad that I finally stood up and said to the main culprit,what the fuck IS your problem? Remember we’re talking we’re in there 5 minutes. At that point him and his buddies grab me by the seat of my pants and the bandana around my neck and threw me out the front door head first with my head opening the door. Stunned outside I wanted to go back in and just clean house. Fortunately my friend who they threw out as well but not as roughly calm me down and made me realize that they would have probably just thrown me out again. This has been decades ago and I still have no idea what the real reason was. I know that a woman to fight over was not the issue.Overflowing 🍺 beer and testosterone I suppose. The whole incident reminded me of that Ron White story where he says he was thrown out of a bar and he doesn’t know how many there were, but he guesses it was all of them. That may have been true with me.

Putin and China Put Out Devastating Warning to the US | Col. Jacques Baud

May 2024. China has stopped “playin'”.

What is the most unprofessional interaction you’ve had with a recruiter?

This was during my placement time…

I was having an interview for TCS. The panel called my name, I went in. It was a panel of 3 ladies. I was carrying a file containing my resume, marksheets, certificates.

R1- what are your hobbies ?

Me – I like sketching, playing guitar, riding my bike and collecting pens( all looking at me). If you wish, I have some sketches attached at the end of the file.

All looking through my sketches.

R2 – so, if we recruit you would you still continue sketching in your busy schedule.

Me – yes Mam I will still continue sketching, if you’re passionate about something you will manage some time for it no matter how busy you are.

R2- good.

R3- so, you say you like to collect pens. What kind of pen do you collect ?

Me – I am a pen enthusiast. I like to collect premium pens, PARKER, SHEAFFER, CROSS, WATERMAN, LAMY etc. Ball , roller ball, fountain.

R1 – that’s interesting. So, how many pen do you have ?

Me – I have around 50–60 normal range pens(Parker , Pierre Cardin) and 15–20 premium range pens (above 1k INR). And I will continue to collect while I’m here.

R2 – what will you do with so many pens when you’re gone ?

Me – (don’t know what to say , still came up with the most stupid answer ) some of those are limited editions and some are discontinued which are not available in the market at present and I know they will have a great value someday, I’ll leave them as a legacy for my children/grandchildren.

R3 – you’ll need to have a great number of children. Good luck with that. ( don’t know with what logic she came up with that )

All burst into laughter. I join in with them and start to chuckle.

R2 – okay , I’m gonna write your feedback with my sheaffer pen

Me – sorry Mam, but that’s not a sheaffer, that’s a Parker.

(Edit 3: I guess she focused on this statement to check my presence of mind and whether or not I really knew about what I said i.e. to check if I was lying about my hobby or not).

R1- you may leave now.

Me – thank you.

Next week the result for day 1 sharing was out.

Verdict : got an offer letter from TCS.

P.s these are around 5-6 year old images, didn’t have for the latest collection.

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Why So Many Countries Are Abandoning the Dollar

It’s damn obvious.

What is the weirdest thing your dog ever brought home?

Not my dog, but my next door neighbors’ dog. Duke was a large mixed breed about 65–70 pounds, a super friendly boy who spent every day making the rounds in our neighborhood collecting treats, love, attention and objects he found in the yards or garages of those he visited. I was used to getting calls from Sharon with a list of items Duke had brought home—sometimes things I hadn’t even missed yet! About 10 years ago, my son, dil and 2 grands were staying with me and it snowed Christmas night, a rare event where I live. There was about 3–4″ inches of lovely white covering my grass the next morning so the kids had to play in it before they left to go home. My grandson came in and said he had lost his phone in the snow. We all spent at least 30 minutes looking for it and even Duke came over to see what was going on. My family left and about 30 minutes later, I received a phone call from Sharon asking if anyone was missing an iPhone. I walked next door and collected my grandson’s pristine phone-no scratches, no dents and it turned on. My son and grandson were both really happy with that news! Duke is still remembered in the neighborhood as being such a “good boy.”

What is the most shameless thing you have ever seen a teacher do?

When I was in 6th grade, I had a math teacher that I hated so much I’d have panic attacks on the days I had her class. Here’s a short list of what she’d do to me, keeping in mind she was told multiple times I had debilitating social anxiety and ADHD:

Humiliated me when I asked for help by telling me as loud as she could “you can’t do this problem? This is the easiest one in the set, how do you not understand it?!”
Called my mom in the middle of class after I handed in a test that she said I didn’t work long enough on in front of the other students, telling her I was an embarrassment
Had her TA search for me while I was waiting for my dad to pick me up since I had to stay after school on certain days of the week due to my parents working late. When she found me, she yelled at me, brought me back to the math room, where, in front of (mostly older, and way more popular) students, the math teacher called my dad and yelled about how he should be making go to the after school math tutoring so I could “at least pretend to care about the material”

Thank God, THANK GOD my parents were supportive of me and told her off each time. After the final call to my dad about forcing me to get the tutoring, my dad rushed to get me and ripped her a new one about how tired my parents were of her treatment of me. But ever since then, I’ve been afraid of almost every teacher and would just be silent during my classes

Best Macaroni and Cheese

This is the tastiest, easiest and fastest macaroni and cheese you will ever eat. DO not skimp on the Colby cheese. Use as much as you can afford.

Ingredients

Macaroni (as much as needed)
Colby cheese (lots)

Instructions

While the macaroni is cooking in salted water, dice the Colby cheese up rather small.
As soon as the macaroni is cooked; drain it well. Keep it, covered, in the same pot in which it was cooked.
Add the diced Colby cheese and stir it in. Cover immediately and let it sit for about five minutes so that the cheese melts.

Attribution

Recipe is from the kitchen of Kathryn Irene Jolly.

Recipe is from the family recipe collection of Linda Ann Jolly, Arizona.

African Nations Repatriate Their Gold and Foreign Reserves From the USA.

Not being well reported. Not at all in the Western “news” media.

What is a time when you’ve seen a co-worker get fired who totally deserved it?

One of the RNs in our dept had worked there for 5 plus years, was around 60 years old and very nurturing and maternal so she was well liked. Her employment predated mine and I became her immediate supervisor. After several years of working together , mostly amicably she started to undermine me, making snarky comments and decisions that didn’t include discussions with others in the dept or weren’t hers to make or sometimes even mine to make. She was resistant when I discussed this with her. I really liked and admired her and it was getting more and more challenging. My supervisor wasn’t any help. We RNs became concerned that a medication error may be made if this nurse did the med pass so we made sure that someone else did that. We double checked behind her with the order transcriptions. We found small errors and brought them to her attention. She stated that everyone makes mistakes and that she was no different. One day I found that she had written an order on the wrong chart and filed the med in that pt’s med drawer. I saw it right before the tech was going to give the med to the wrong pt. What was even worse was that the pt wasn’t on ANY meds for a condition that was in any way similar to what that med was for – that should have made her question it. So, a performance improvement plan was implemented, discussed and put in place with approval of HR and my supervisor. The nurse ignored it, did nothing and cheerfully stated there was no problem. We decided that termination was in order. She was aghast and said, “Well, I will talk to the CEO and he will not stand for this!” Termination took place, she demanded a ride to the unemployment office and HR agreed – WHAT? It was so hard, but necessary to protect pts. Anyway, I ran into her about a year later and she said she had a medical condition that was contributing to her “brain fog” and that she’d been treated. She apologized for the instances of petty behavior. We all hoped she was doing well.

OMG

Shorpy fun

A golden dome

450 Arab and foreign extremists from Idlib arrive in Ukraine

By Al Mayadeen Net

Almost 450 extremists from various nationalities arrive to Idlib to fight against Russian troops, after leaving Syria and passing through Turkey.

Close to 450 extremist Arab and foreign nationals have arrived in Ukraine from Idlib to fight against Russia’s forces, less than only three days after they left Syria, passing through Turkey.

Relatives of extremists that have arrived in Ukraine told Sputnik that senior fighters from terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (the rebranded version of Jabhat Al-Nusra, i.e Al-Qaeda) have held a number of meetings with senior leaders in the Turkistan Islamic Party group and Ansar Al-Tawhid and Hurras al-Din groups, and agreed on allowing a number of all their fighters to enter Ukraine through Turkish soil.

The sources added that most of these foreign fighters are veterans of the Syrian war, had been causing issues in Idlib, and were given this opportunity to fight against Russia as a compromise by which they would receive a new start and with an acceptable income.

Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham also gave these fighters assurances that their families would be allowed to join them later.

Around 300 of these fighters are Syrian nationals that are originally from the Idlib and Aleppo countrysides, while the 150 others are Belgian, French, Chinese, Moroccan, Tunisian, Chechen and British nationals.

As for the financial compensation, the sources said the fighters that hail from Syria will receive around $1200-$1500, but had no knowledge what the foreign nationals were going to be paid.

Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, has previously stated that 16,000 foreign mercenaries will fight for the country.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had warned Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz during a meeting last Friday of the growing number of foreign mercenaries operating in Ukraine, including those coming from Albania and Croatia and namely militants and Jihadists coming from Kosovo in order to put their experience from military operations in Syria to use.

What was a loophole that you found and exploited the hell out of?

I don’t consider it a “loophole,” but rather a bit of a tech glitch.

When I was in college in the late 1980s (Dartmouth), it was towards the end of the life of pulse dialling technology. In the “old days,” telephones used to look like some variant of this:

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When you made a call, the dial was turned for each number, and it sent out a series of electronic pulses that matched the number (for example, my grandfather had a telephone whose number was WI-1–8214 (941–8214).

In the 1970s, touch-tone dialling became the standard (I am not sure that a rotary phone would even work anymore).

Telephones swapped out the rotary for push buttons, but the switching equipment had to, for a time, accommodate both. So telephones for a while had buttons, but a switch on the base that permitted tone and pulse dialling.

At Dartmouth, where I was a student, all of the telephone lines in the dormitories were controlled by Dartmouth. In order to make long-distance telephone calls, you had to subscribe to a service called “DarTalk.” Again, not sure if this is still the case.

Anyways, what we discovered in the dorms was that, if one started the telephone on pulse, entered the 8 (for an external line), a one, the area code, and the three code prefix, then switched the phone from pulse to tone and entered the final four digits in tone mode, the switching equipment that the college used could not detect that the call was going out. Hence, the calls were free.

We could thus make long distance calls without paying.

US prepares for war against Russia and China. In Self-Defense of course.

Litter in the middle

Outside my tiny town is one of those Chinese 8-lane rural roads. And there is a divider in the middle median. Apparently, at some point in time either someone had left a litter of kittens there, or a cat had a litter there.

No one knew about it, apparently.

Being in China, the road is busy, and we would use it to avoid the massive traffic closer to the sub-town networks.

At this particular location, as I drove by, I saw the body of a dead kitten. I felt sad, but didn’t think much about it.

On the way back, I saw the body of a second dead kitten.

Later on in the day, about four hours later, I went by the (now) smashed remains of the two kittens and saw a third dead kitten.

And man, I should have stopped to investigate. But I was running late.

On the way back, as a fourth kitten.

Dead.

And that was the end of the litter.

i wonder what would have happened if I had stopped to clean the dead kitten off the road and checked to see where it’s siblings were. I wonder.

Life.

Why did I pick this life?

What was I thinking?

I feel great sorrow for the kittens, and the excuses that I made not to stop and investigate. Every time I go by that spot I question and lambast myself; why didn’t I stop? Why didn’t I investigate?

Ugh!

Today…

As the PRC has never directly controlled Taiwan, how do the Chinese confront those who say you can’t take back what you never controlled?

Well, well.

Sneaky, but easy to parry.

The treaty of Shimonoseki of 1895 between CHINA and Japan ceded the island of Taiwan to Japan, and it became a colony under Japanese administration till 1945, when Japan renounced its claim to the island.

Various declarations and treaties in the period all treated Taiwan as part of China, unlike, say, Hong Kong and Macau, which remained colonies until the late 1990s.

The divergence only appeared with the emergence of the PRC in 1949, and the strategic defeat of the KMT which fled to Taiwan, bringing the ROC government with them.

The situation is very clear if we read both Constitutions—each side proclaims itself the rightful government of China, which includes sovereignty over the mainland, Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong.

The argument all along is over who is in charge, and not who owns what, because there is only ONE CHINA, according to the Constitutions of the PRC and ROC.

Unfortunately, 99.99% of people who can read this (i.e. anglophones) cannot do so due to illiteracy.

Quit pretending to know what one is too prejudiced to find out.

What is the most pathetic thing you’ve seen an addict do to get their fix?

I used to be a heroin addict. I personally never did any crazy things to supply my habit. I understand why people do though. Imagine having the flu times ten, feeling like you’re being broken in half, your entire body hurts, it feels like your bones are being broken. Your blood pressure is so jacked from detox your vision is blurred, you can hardly see ten feet in front of you and you throw up and have diarrhea like you’ve got food poisoning. You know that all you have to do in order to feel better is get a fix. There’s literally nothing most people won’t do to just feel better.

Not having it is a living hell, being high feels the exact opposite. You feel so good you just want to sing and dance even if you don’t know how to sing you’re going to do it anyway. I’m not a bad person, I was just a broken person when I was addicted to heroin. I don’t believe I would ever be desperate enough to rob someone but I know plenty of people who have.

A guy I grew up with, I knew him most of my life, one of my best friends was one of those people who had no moral code when in active addiction. He was an amazing person when sober. Even in active addiction his true nature would sometimes show. He’s saved more than a few people because he was really good at CPR. The mother of his child was also an addict too. She was in college and her text books kept coming up missing. She couldn’t figure out where they were going. By the time she realized he was taking her text books to the university bookstore and selling them back to them they were all gone.

One day she called me and asked me if I could give her a ride home. I helped her out and gave her a ride. We were about a block away from her house and there he was walking through a parking lot with garbage bags full of clothes. He was about to walk into Plato’s closet (they buy and sell used clothes) when we pulled up on him. She jumped out of my truck and grabbed him. He dropped the bags of clothes and she looked in the bags and he had taken her whole wardrobe. Every single item of clothing she owned was in those bags.

He had taken all of his girlfriend’s clothes, the mother of his child and was trying to sell them so he could score some dope. That was the last straw for her, she left him and got sober. She worked really hard to get her child back, he had been taken away and was being raised by her mother. She did good for a while but relapsed and she’s no longer with us. He ended up in prison, got out, did really good for a long time. He did the same, he inherited several million dollars from his father and within a year he was also no longer with us. I miss him every single day. He was a good person but not too many people really knew that, he hid it well.

US Very Concerned as China-Russia Strengthen Their Military Ties!

The message is CLEAR.

Is the West’s accusation of China overcapacity in the EV industry true? Why?

The accusations from the West sound an awful lot like the pot calling the kettle black. The term ‘overcapacity’ being thrown around has more to do with market insecurity and protectionist tendencies than any supposed production surplus on China’s part.

Take 2023 as an example. China crafted 9.58 million new-energy vehicles that year and managed to sell about 9.49 million units. A large chunk of these – around 8.3 million vehicles – were sold in the domestic market. That hardly points towards international market saturation, rather it shows domestic demand driving China’s EV production.

Then, consider the global market shares. Chinese manufacturers held about 8.2 percent of the European electric car market. Yet, European automakers had a firm grip on around 20 percent of the Chinese light vehicle market. The scales, realistically, tip more in favor of the West here.

So why the accusations? It seems like a rather convenient cloak of ‘overcapacity’ is being used to disguise good old fashioned trade protectionism. The West is getting a taste of competitiveness they’re not used to, and it’s sending jitters down their spines. China’s EV industry, powered by continuous innovation, is giving Western automakers a run for their money. Hence, the narrative of ‘overcapacity’ serves as a much-needed crutch to lean on.

In the grand scheme of the global EV industry, China’s production aligns with its increasing domestic demand and strategically positions itself for a future defined by cleaner, more efficient vehicles. The so-called ‘overcapacity’ is just reflective of China’s effective planning, astute market gauging, and a testament to its competitive hardiness in the face of global market dynamics. So, is there really overcapacity in China’s EV industry? I highly doubt that.

Have you ever gotten a teacher fired?

Yes. My GMAT test prep instructor.

I decided to do one of these review classes as I was a little rusty, so I signed up and paid several hundred dollars for the privilege.

The first day of class, which was composed of twelve women and one man, he told this joke:

“A woman married and had 12 children. Her husband died, and she remarried and had 12 more children before the second husband died as well. Then, she died. At the funeral, the priest said, ‘At last they’ll be together.’ One of the attendees said, ‘What do you mean by that? Will she be together with her first husband, or her second?’ ‘I meant her legs,’ replied the priest.” This was accompanied by him putting his arms out straight, hands together, then opening his arms wide and closing them.

The second day of class, there was one woman (me) and one man.

I had paid for the course, and based on a test exam, I really needed the math help. I had already paid for the GMAT coming up, so I really had to take this review course.

Every class after that, he complained about the missing women and how someone had complained about him to the administration. “It was just a joke,” he kept whining. “Are you going to teach the material tonight?” I would say.

The last day of class, he had promised a cheat sheet of formulas. Again, I showed up, again, he spent class time whining about the complaints and how the joke was funny, and what was so wrong about the joke, and how women don’t have any sense of humor anymore.

I asked him for the cheat sheet.

“You’re a woman,” he observes. “What was so wrong about that joke?”

“The joke was inappropriate,” I said, “as was your accompanying gesture.”

He looked at me as if I was speaking a language he had never heard.

“Look,” he said, “it’s just a biological fact that women spend a lot of time with their legs open!”

And he re-enacts the gesture, leaving his arms open.

I walked out without the cheat sheet, and called the head of the program the next day. He was so mortified, that not only did he fire the guy, but he refunded my money and let me take another class for free. I took kayaking, and discovered a love for it. I also did well enough on my GMAT to get into the school of my choice.

What are ten truths everyone should accept in life?

Marks are important! Or just be an Einstein to prove it wrong.
No friend will be 100% happy to see your success, especially if you’re in same field
Sex or physical intimacy is important to make a relationship strong and live.
“ I love you more than anything anyone” is a filmy dialogue. Don’t believe it as it is ! There are always ifs,buts & conditions applied ~
Money is important ! Infact most important to live in this world
A smart girl will never marry you unless you are settled . let her brag anything about true love .
Money can’t give you peace !
Everyone in this world is selfish and is with you just for their needs be it your family or bestfriend.
Getting into relationship demands efforts, time and money. It’s not for free
Looks matter ! So better groom yourself to appear best or just keep shouting it don’t.( yuup skills matter but a person with same skills and better presentation & groomed will always be preferred than only skills)

Cinnamon Rolls from North Carolina State Fair

These cinnamon coffee rolls are delicious. It is important that you use unbleached flour and Fleischmann’s margarine in this recipe. Use a thermometer to check the temperature of the liquid, if it’s too hot it will kill the yeast.

Ingredients

Rolls

1 package dry yeast, 1 scant tablespoon
1/4 cup warm water
4 cups unbleached flour (do not substitute)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 cup Fleischmann’s oleo/margarine, do not substitute
1 cup scalded milk and cooled to 110 degrees F
1/4 cup pecans, chopped
1/4 cup raisins (optional)

Vanilla Icing

1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons softened Fleischmann’s margarine
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons hot water

Instructions

Rolls

Night before baking, sprinkle yeast over lukewarm water, stir to dissolve; set aside.
Combine flour, 1/4 cup sugar and salt in mixing bowl. Mix well.
Cut in 1 cup of Fleischmann’s oleo/margarine with a pastry blender or with your fingers until mixture resembles cornmeal.
Add yeast mixture, egg yolks and milk, stir with a fork until well blended.
Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.
Next morning, grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan and set aside.
Combine in a small bowl 1/4 cup sugar and the cinnamon and set aside.
Roll dough on a floured surface into a rectangle, about 10 x 15-inches. Brush with 2 tablespoons melted oleo/margarine. Sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mixture, sprinkle with pecans and raisins. Starting at the wide end, roll up in a jellyroll fashion. Pinch edges well to seal.
Cut into 15 equal slices. Place cut side down, equally spaced, in prepared pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.
Frost rolls.

Vanilla Icing

Mix sugar, oleo/margarine. Add vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon hot water and stir until smooth and well blended. Add more water as needed a few drops at a time.

What can you do if you are thrown under the bus by your boss when it was not really your fault?

I don’t remember exactly what I got blamed for, but I overheard my boss explaining to a client on the phone that his secretary; i.e., me, had failed to do whatever it was and reassuring the client that I would be disciplined.

The problem was that the mistake was my boss’s fault, not mine. In other words, he was covering his own ass by throwing me under the bus. He definitely had not intended that I should hear the conversation.

I was instantly furious. I took a lot of emotional abuse on that job, and I compensated and covered for a lot of mistakes on the parts of a lot of salespeople and managers to prevent loss of profits and/or company reputation. I was so constantly throwing myself under the bus to save face for a bunch of incompetents that most times they didn’t even know. Do you think I bothered to point out that the cost of four thousand steel shelves had been omitted by the “experienced” salesperson again on the project proposal I was typing, or did I just add them in and adjust the price, again?

One of my other roles in the company was CSR. In other words, if a client had a problem, it was up to me to solve it, ideally without “bothering” the salesperson “earning” the commission. In other words, the client to whom my boss was trashing my competency and reputation was very likely someone I was going to interact with repeatedly until the project was complete.

My boss hung up the phone and I immediately stomped into his office. Putting my hands on his desk so I could speak directly to his face, I made my fury known.

“By my own choice, I accept a lot of blame around here to clients for shit I don’t do, to protect your sorry asses, but I’ll be damned if you’re going to put the blame on me for your mistakes without my knowledge or permission!!”

My boss, with an hangdog expression, acknowledged that he was wrong and he apologized. In hindsight I wish he hadn’t. I really needed a kick in the ass to prompt me to quit that horrendous job.

Would’ve saved a lot of heartache.

Delusional GF Busted With The Most RIDICULOUS Pro/Con List Of All Time And Is About To Get Dumped!

Basically she’s implying that she’s settling.

What is the most jaw-dropping method for shoplifting that you have seen?

I worked loss prevention as the Team Lead. We had cameras in a retail clothing store and had multiple subjects we were watching. I moved to the floor to cover one of the guys and lost him. I looked around, and called over the radio for directions. When I turned around he was right there. I said never mind and then put the radio on my belt. The guy turned around and we chatted for a few minutes. I was about to move on when he asked me if I thought this place was easy to steal from. I told him no, security is pretty tight from what I understand. Then he asked me to watch for him while he stole a lot of items. I literally stood there in the aisle and stared at him while he concealed several items. He said he was done and wanted to know if I wanted him to watch for me while I stole. I told him nope, I’m good. He said thanks and headed to the door. Still in somewhat disbelief, I walked with him as we passed the registers and exited the store. As we got to the outside, I held the door shut and introduced myself. The look of shock was priceless. As I took him back to the office in handcuffs I reminded him, “Yes, you just asked the head of security to WATCH you while you shoplifted.”

What was the strangest part of your divorce?

The most peculiar part was the outcome.

I left Claire with the following:

A nice home fully paid for, mortgage free
A new car fully paid
No outstanding bills – everything paid
A nice portfolio of blue chip stocks which were little appreciated at the time
Paid up life insurance
An arrangement with a top financial advisor to assist her

Claire had 3 children of her own issue (as a couple, we had none). One existed independently and had little to say about the break-up.

Another was a highly dependent son who should have been on his own, but who was very attached to Claire, and she was very attached, to him.

An elder son who, with his wife, came to his mother’s (Claire’s) defense, warning her that I would attempt to impoverish myself to escape a generous settlement. I was pegged as the “bad guy.”

That’s the set-up. Here is what happened:

The elder son and his wife quickly realized the generosity of my settlement, and the reasons for my seeking divorce.
The other 2 children were a constant drain on Claire’s resources; purchases of property, cars, etc.
The dependent son and his wife moved in with Claire, as did the daughter.
Claire exhausted the liquid resources I gave her and had to sell the home I gave her. Subsequently, she also had to sell the replacement home she bought. Now she lives in poverty, as do the two children. Her only income is Social Security.

And meanwhile, the very protective son and his wife have welcomed me into their family, where I enjoy a most enriching relationship.

Thus Claire has not only impoverished herself, but also 2 of her children. And I enjoy the happiest relationship with her elder son and his wife.

Who knew? Well, something in me knew, and I am better for it.

Life is strange.

[EDIT:] The dependent son, Freddy died in early 2022. His mother, Claire, died in late 2022. I had to chip-in to pay funeral expenses.

Can I refuse for my child to attend an after-school detention?

In the UK yes you can… or at least my mum did and there wasn’t a DAMN thing the school could do about it.

Let me explain: My sister is the main character in this story.

She’s fiery and doesn’t know how to be quiet and just take things… she reacts…

Well… A boy in the school was going around grabbing/groping girls. He then made the mistake of groping my sister. She didn’t hesitate to floor him. And I mean she punched him on the face and he hit the deck.

Well, she got a detention. Fair enough, shouldn’t hit kids blah blah… but the boy DIDNT get detention for his actions.

My mum went to pick my sister up, I was there to witness, and found that she had a detention… When she asked why the teacher said she hit another student.

So my mum turned to my sister and asked what happened and my sister explained it all, about the constant groping and even warnings he had been given… she explained when, how and why she clobbered him.

So my mum looked around and asked where was this boy for his detention.

He had not been given one.

So my mum took my sister and said we are leaving. And we left despite the protests of the teacher. The headmaster walked down and tried to stop us, but we left. My mum told them that if they will not punish the boy for his sexual assaults, then they can not punish her daughter for defending herself.

And out we went. My mum bought us a Ice-lolly and told her she has the right to always defend herself… There are many more stories like this, but I will leave this here.

So in answer to your question, the care of the child ends at the end of the school day.

How do intelligent people deal with idiots?

1. Identify idiots early. The sooner you can identify an idiot, the sooner you can start to protect yourself from them.

2. Don’t try to change idiots. Idiots are not going to change, so don’t waste your time and energy trying to do so.

3. Don’t take idiots personally. Idiots are not attacking you personally, they are just being idiots.

4. Set boundaries with idiots. Don’t let idiots into your life if you don’t have to.

5. Don’t argue with idiots. It’s a pointless exercise.

6. Don’t try to explain yourself to idiots. They won’t understand.

7. Don’t try to reason with idiots. They are not reasonable people.

8. Don’t try to please idiots. They are impossible to please.

9. Don’t expect idiots to appreciate you. They don’t have the capacity to do so.

10. Don’t let idiots ruin your day. They are not worth it.

11. Don’t become an idiot yourself. It’s easy to do, but it’s important to remember that there is no excuse for bad behavior.

12. Learn to laugh at idiots. It’s the best way to cope with them.

13. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Idiots will try to make you feel bad about yourself, but don’t let them.

14. Remember that you are not alone. Everyone has to deal with idiots at some point in their lives.

15. Be kind to yourself. Dealing with idiots can be stressful, so make sure to take care of yourself.

I hope these lessons help you to deal with idiots effectively and to protect yourself from their negative influence.

Bypassers Found a Bobcat On the Railroad it Froze to the Rails

Be the Rufus

What screams “I’m educated, but not very bright”?

A patient has had a Rhinoplasty (plastic surgery to the nose) . Kept overnight at the hospital. It was 35 years ago, when patients were kept inpatient more than these days. Late day surgery. In the evening, the patient is vomiting blood. Nurse calls Intern. It was July, when Interns firs come into hospital, on call 24 hours. Fresh from school. Intern comes & diagnosed stomach bleed 🩸 🤣🤣. Never calls the attending. Intern Proceeds to place a nasogastric tube in patient’s freshly operated nose & wash the stomach with ice saline, a better portion of the night. Still, no one called the attending Physician… In the morning, the attending Physician comes in to discharge the patient & learns what has been done all night… patient did well but I’m sure nurse & intern got a tear down for their stupidity. The patient had either swallowed or much blood had gone down the stomach during surgery. Blood is difficult to digest. Never mind that many post op patients suffer from nausea & vomiting from pain meds etc. The blood vomiting was all old blood from surgery time & neither the nurse nor the intern knew that but worst of all, no body called the attending Physician. If this patient was really bleeding from his stomach, that much, that alone, warrants a call to the attending physician , which would have avoided the ice saline thing altogether. Sadly, this is vestiges of the old ways, when attending yelled at interns or nurses for “bothering “ them for stupid stuff. They helped create this atmosphere of fear & stupid things happened. True story.

What is the hardest thing you’ve had to tell your parents and how did they react?

I know this post is 6 months old, but I thought I’d share my story.

On January 9th 2019 my mother was admitted to the hospital during what was supposed to be a check-up with her oncologist. My mom was battling stage four endometrial cancer. She ended up in the hospital for about a month and eventually went home to stay with my aunt and uncle. The doctors advised she be in hospice but she wanted to be comfortable. I spent many days by my mom’s side, helping my aunt who was her caretaker and just being there.

On February 9th my mom went into a coma-like state, unconscious but still able to hear us and move here and there, but could not speak or see or do much of anything. Her body was shutting down. I spent every day by her bed with her, I knew that she needed to go. I knew that the hardest thing I’d ever do is lose my mom, my best friend, at the age of 24. But everyday I told her I loved her and that I’d be okay if she had to go.

For a week she held on. On Friday, February 15th my dad was flying into my hometown from California where he lives because he wanted to be here for me over the weekend. He knew the situation. Him and my mom were separated, never married, but they were on decent terms. I left my aunt’s house where my mom was to go pick him up from the airport. After my father’s plane landed and was evacuating the plane, I got the call that my mother’s heart rate was dropping. I was a mess, sobbing in the middle of the airport. I told my dad as soon as I saw him. Fast forward a few hours, my mother passed at 11pm on February 15th, 2019. The first person I called was my dad and it’s something I will never forget. Hearing him cry broke me down even more. It’s a memory embedded in my mind forever.

I truly believe that my mom waited to leave. She always said she wasn’t afraid to die, she was only afraid of leaving me. I believe she knew that my dad was going to be here, and she wanted to wait until I had the most important and supportive person here with me. She wanted me safe. Not everybody would believe in something like this, but I feel it in my heart. This Saturday will be a year since she passed and I miss her so much.

What single moment killed your relationship?

“can you book me flight tickets to California? I want to spend my Christmas break with you”

“Sure babe! How long?” I immediately jumped into my desk and took a look at the pricing. It was around $500. I’d then asked myself if it was too early in our relationship to spend that kind of money on someone. I tossed that thought away when I’d thought of how strong my feelings were for him.

“15 days! From 12th December to 26th December” he replied.

I jumped with joy.

“I’m so happy you’re spending 15 days with me”

“Oh I should have mentioned earlier, I won’t be spending all 15 with you. I want to see my friends too”

“Ok. What’s the plan then?” I asked.

“ I’ll spend the Saturday and Sunday with you and then Id go to San Francisco and meet …blah blah bleh blue…and..” I was impatiently waiting till my name came again on that list “and then I’d finish the trip off with blue blah bleh and that’s it..”

“So you’re spending 2 days with me?” I asked.

I got a shameless “yeah I’m sure you’ll be busy anyway and if you’re not you should make plans with your friends too for the break.”

That did it for me.

“I get that you’re still in school and it makes sense for me to pay because I have a job but I’m not going to spend $500 for 2 days of your time.”

To be fair, if we were dating for more than a year or something, I would have understood him better and would have spent that kind of money for him to be happy. But it had only been a month and he had shamelessly called to ask for a ticket and even had the courage to tell me that it wasn’t a trip for me. Sorry but not sorry. We broke up the next day and that’s the story of my shortest relationship. So glad I’d dodged that bullet.

China humiliates Blinken as he threatens China, says China commits genocide+crimes against humanity.

What was your biggest “nonsense” moment in the military?

Whilst on tour in Afghanistan a group of us was given a few days off in Kuwait. We flew directly from our base to the airport in Kuwait in a C130. We flew in full battle rattle, rifles, pistols front line ammo and grenades.We are also in uniform with body armor and helmet

We had our days off then went to the airport dressed as we came in. For some reason we had to go through a different area of the airport than when we came in. We were ushered through to a security check point

There was a large African American female contractor. She says to the first soldier

“Are you carrying any weapons ” ………the first guy says

” you mean apart from my rifle,pistol bayonet and grenades?”

“Yes , please take our all of your equipment and put it on the conveyor belt”

“Why?”

“Sir need to check that you aren’t carrying any weapons”

“You need to X-ray my rifle and webbing to check for weapons? That’s stupid you can see them”

” you might use a hidden weapon to highjack the plane”

“If I want to highjack the plane I will use my rifle, besides why would a soldier highjack an Air Force plane “

” are you going to highjack the plane”?

“No”

“Then I need to check your gear”

This went back and forth went in for a few minutes before the soldier removed his gear and put it through the machine

The next soldier then proceeds to have exactly the same argument with the security guard. The whole scene degenerates into a farce.

One other soldier and I get frustrated and simply walk around the checkpoint then out a side door and onto the plane.

Perhaps she now works for TSA

12 Things no one tells you about adult life

Not everyone will like you for being a good person.
People will hate you just because other people likes you.
If you don’t learn to say no, you will keep doing the things what people says.
Life will only give you what you deserves.
If you are talented then also you have to work hard.
No matter who you are there will always be someone who will hate you.
You will repeat your own mistakes many times.
There will be someone who will love you no matter what.
Relatives can be your enemies sometimes.
Age doesn’t defines maturity.
Situation will force you to leave everything but that time defines you.
Self love matters a lot. If you love yourself then you don’t need anyone else for anything. You can make yourself happy.

I just got fired. Now my former boss (the one who let me go) is asking me where some important documents are. How should I respond?

As many pointed out, there are two scenarios here:

You are still in possession of company property, such as an old work laptop or company documents. In this case, I would try to return everything in your possession ASAP (your earliest convenience within reason, but at least 7–14 days ahead of any deadline), and fully document everything. Not returning their property could be grounds for voiding any severance agreement you signed or even legal action.
They need your help to do something that was previously part of your day to day responsibilities. Whether is finding old documents that you worked with (but are not in your possession), documenting a knowledge transfer handoff, or dealing with expired certs/credentials that are associated with a business process previously tied to your account. In this case, they are pretty much f**ked (and likely desperate). You can agree to help them, at whatever rate you feel is reasonable as a consultant (compared to your previous salary and/or severance package). Of course, it may impact any reference you receive from this company, so tread carefully.

Some vintage comics for today

Have you ever fired someone for not coming to work on time?

Yep. In the 1980s I worked at a financial services firm in Harrogate, England. In mid 1987 the HR manager employed a young woman, Nicky, as an administrator. She came from a well-to-do middle-class family and lived about a mile from the office, where we had private parking, and she had her own car, paid for by mummy and daddy. Despite all those advantages, she was never on time, always looked unwashed, and smelt like it, but our useless HR manager tolerated it. When I left the firm are the end of ’88 she was still as lazy, slovenly, and useless as she had been on her first day, and the slack HR manager was still tolerating her. Apparently, the HRM was friends with Nicky lazy-arse’s mother.

Fast forward to 1995 and I’m working at another financial services firm in Leeds, England. The local HR Director hires… Nicky lazy-arse! Again it turns out that the HRD, Celia, is a friend of NLA’s mother. Again she never shows up on time, again she is unwashed, slovenly, and smelly. Unfortunately for her though, the firm was in crisis and the bosses in London needed to slim it down. They knew Celia wouldn’t sort it, so they appointed me. On my first day, NLA was late as usual, with some bullshit story about her cat having gotten out and her having to get it back in before she could leave home. She got a verbal warning. On my second day, she was late again and again trotted out some made-up story. She got a written warning, which she said she wasn’t accepting, but she got it anyway. On the third day, she was late again. Again, a pathetic made-up story. I fired her.

Eastern Asians are the smartest humans over the Earth, despite all Western propaganda. Natives of the Americas are considered “Mongoloids” too. Any advice from Eastern Asians to not get dumbness caused by poverty and bad governments imposed by USA?

I am born in East Asia, I lived my entire 66 years of my life in East Asia, I am an a Chinese origin Singaporean so I am very qualified to speak! The U.S. must recognised that it’s time as the world barbaric bully is truly over and done with.

Americans must recognised facts that it cannot deny it took over the biggest and baddest barbarian of the world from UK in 1945 because it was the only one left with one eye when the rest of the world that is strong and powerful fought each other till all are half dead! You can say the U.S. is the king of the blind in 1945.

In spite of taking all the advantage to shape the world your way and stealing all the spoilt of the world war 2 it don’t take long before Europe overtook you, then Japan and East Asia and today the U.S. is a pale shadow of yourself compared to 1945!

Your debts and deficits are up to the roof. You guys have a million people living in tents homeless, if you take away say 10 richest Americans. Your nation is more like number 20 in per capital GDP. Your life expectancy is 76 which is 2 years old lover than China who spends one sixth of the U.S. to care for a population 4 times your size!

Today your debts has turned unsustainable, 35 trillion and adding a trillion every 3 months! Your nation plus 41 of your dogs nation plus a host of slave vassals threw your kitchen sink collective against Russia for 2 years over yet you have clearly lost! Oh you lost in Korea, in Vietnam to rice farmers, to Afghanistan to goat herder and it is time to stop pretending that you are the top dog and be humble again.

The last thing to call yourself is being exceptional or even good and it is time you need to work with East Asia and the rest of the world. Yes get into your thick skull the world don’t belong to you. And stop regime change it is totally democratic! Stop war mongering, you don’t have enough to care for your own people. 35% of American are poor by world standards! They have less than 500 buck in their name! If the fall sick the cannot get cure because they have no health insurance! Your kids get to debts before they get into life because they are charge exorbitant college fees!

America you cannot be a world policeman. No one wants you to be and certainly no one will pay a cent for it! Go back to do what all nation leaders do. Take care of your people and feed them well! You have done enough damage to the world. It is time to stop! China and Russia cannot be stopped, together they are impossible to stopped and plus Global South is like David and Goliath and you are David! Stop pretending, I know it feels good to lie to yourself but it is time to stop!

Start fighting hard to help the world that you destroyed by and large single handedly. And stop hiding behind democracy and freedom you guys have none of them! Stop pretending and stand up to your responsibility of 100 plus million deaths worldwide and don’t add another soul more! Take whatever winning you still have and try to keep it as long as you can and make a better America! We the world wants that you are another nation and a good customer and our partner.

If you continue to do shit you will pay and pay dearly. You cannot win with your fellow shit stirrer and you has been group of dogs nations and slave vassal states it can only hasten your demise! Stop it. That is my advise!

What is having a girlfriend like?

You can kiss anywhere you want! Forehead kisses, kiss on cheeks, horizontal kiss, vertical kiss 😉 .
You’ll have someone to talk to day or night and have conversations for hours.
When you’re feeling low you know whom to call and she’ll make sure you feel great again.
She will care for you. Asks you if you’ve taken your medicines in time or warns you before you do anything stupid.
You will have never ending talks and if your interests are same, you’ll talk about the whole universe.
You get bragging rights in front of your single friends :p .
The feeling of comfort when you are in her arms can’t be described in words.
If someone hurts her, it hurts you more.
Your girl will take you to different shopping places. So you go out more often.
You’ll get unexpected gifts that will make you feel special.
She’s the first person to wish you on your birthday. Sharp 12:00 a.m.
If you’re both financially independent you’ll help each other grow both financially and mentally.
You’ll get your s*xual needs or desires fulfilled.
*When she did something wrong and you are mat at her*. She: Sorry I won’t do it again 😢. He: please don’t talk to me. She: Please na, I’ll do anything for you 😉. He: anything? She: anything you want😜. (Nothing but a random conversation between nibba nibbi).

Vientiane, Laos: Our First Impressions

A nice vacation off the beaten track.

What is the biggest inconvenience you’ve faced and turned into an advantage? How can you get ahead when the going gets rough?

I have been HIV positive for 31 years. It was a death sentence when I was first diagnosed. Everyone died. No treatment. You were also deemed an untouchable, a pariah. I was a straight woman and felt I had no community and no one to share with. What I did with this awful fate was choose to be free. Do things I would normally be afraid of doing. I spoke my mind and even made it funny. Now after living with this debilitating disease for most my adult life I have a body of work I would never had accomplished without this diagnosis.

I was a fitness trainer in my last year of college when I found out. My goal in life back then was to have a great body. HIV pushed me so much farther than that. After I found out I did not give a crap what I looked like anymore. Life was too short for vanity. What a liberating moment that was!

I wrote six books, was a sex columnist for 10 years, I became a slam poet and eventually was named Poet Laureate of Bucks County. I did a one-woman show, Sex, Cellulite & Large Farm Equipment: One Girl’s Guide To Living & Dying in theaters all over the world. I traveled internationally speaking on sexuality, HIV, sexual assault and addiction. I was given an honorary PhD for my work. I appeared on many TV shows as a writer, activist and performer.

I eventually retreated to the Caribbean to paint full time. Painting huge colorful paintings. As I painted I really felt what HIV had given me, the ability to not judge my work, to go for it. I would often say when I felt afraid of the canvas, making mistakes on a big painting, “You are going to die anyway, just paint!”

HIV is a huge inconvenience. I hate it and wish I did not have it. I have suffered so many physical challenges, depression, and loneliness but I decided to not let it define me and to use it to allow me to bypass the mundane minutia that makes life so often drab and futile. I never worried about money. I didn’t have it but it didn’t matter, I had enough. I never worried about the future or getting old because it was not going to happen. And now that it has happened and I have no savings, no plan I took a leap of faith and I retired to a small mountain town in Mexico where I could live cheaply and allow myself the luxury of spiritual growth, spending many of my bedridden days in deep meditation. I have become fearless through this disease.

Life is life and I live in the moment, in complete acceptance, at peace. That is a place I do not believe I would have ever landed in this life with out the inconvenience of AIDS.

Big Blueberry Popover

I’ve never had a popover before, nor do I have a proper “popover pan,” but those aren’t good reasons to never try my hand at making them! I wanted to know what all the fuss was about, so I did some research using my favorite chefs and food blogs and settled on the unbeatable Julia Child for my base recipe. Always having to make a baked good my own, I decided to sweeten the recipe and add blueberries for fresh blueberry popovers worthy of tea time.

Great for breakfast – a refreshing change of pace from muffins. Wonderful with blueberries, but any berry can be used.

Yield: 6 servings

At first, the recipes and tips seemed overwhelming. I thought popovers were complicated, but they really aren’t. It’s a simple egg batter with no leavening that is cooked very hot to create steam. This steam forces the batter to rise, making a crispy shell and an airy, custardy center. Blueberry popovers make the perfect breakfast treat along with some tea, or maybe as a side to a sweet salad to sop up the dressing.
Popovers are very forgiving. Not only do I not own a popover pan, but I don’t even own a metal muffin tin (gasp!). I forgot I had purged most of my metal pans that had rusted and replaced everything with flexible silicone during a kitchen spring cleaning. I pushed on, and you know what? It worked just fine.

How to Make Blueberry Popovers

Traditional popovers are just five ingredients: eggs, butter, salt, milk and flour. I added in some sugar and blueberries and topped them with cinnamon sugar. They really are quite simple.
Start by preheating your oven to 450 degrees and setting the rack on the lowest setting. Next, grease your muffin tray or popover pan with butter or oil and place the pan in the oven to pre-heat. If, like me, you are using silicone, place the muffin pan on a metal tray for stability.
The most important rule is to have all of your ingredients at room temperature. If you decided that you need to bake impulsively, you can warm the eggs in a bowl of very warm water for ten minutes, microwave the milk for 30 seconds, and microwave the butter at 20 second intervals until melted.
Mix the eggs, milk, butter, sugar, and salt together. Then whisk in the flour all at once until the batter is as thick as heavy cream with very few lumps. You can also use a stand mixer or blender. You want the batter to have some air in it, so whip it until it is foamy.

Ingredients

1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1/4 cup granulated sugar, divided use
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup blueberries or other berries

Carefully take your pan out of the preheated oven. We are going to add the room temperature batter into the hot pan to kick-start the steaming process. I mixed my batter in a large liquid measuring cup for ease of pouring, but you could also use a dry measuring cup or ladle to distribute the batter into every other muffin cup or each popover tin. You want to fill each space slightly more than halfway, which makes a very satisfying sizzling sound.

Moving quickly, sprinkle a few blueberries into each cup and top liberally with cinnamon sugar. Place the tray back in the oven and set a timer for twenty five minutes. You have to be patient with popovers, so no peeking! Opening the oven door lets out too much heat and could interrupt the steaming process, leading to less of a pop.

After 25 minutes, lower the oven temperature to 325. Most recipes called for another twenty minutes in the oven, but my blueberry popovers were done in ten. You know they are done when the tops are a deep golden brown and tapping on them creates a hollow sound. Blueberry popovers are best eaten fresh from the oven, as they deflate and soften as they cool.

Instructions

Mix first 5 ingredients + 3 tablespoon sugar in a large bowl. Stir in flour, then eggs until just combined; let this batter stand for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix remaining 1 tablespoon sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl; set aside.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees F.
Place berries in a buttered 9 inch pie pan. Pour batter over the berries; sprinkle cinnamon-sugar over the batter.
Transfer pan to the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F; bake until popover is firm and golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes longer.
Cut popover into wedges and serve immediately.

Which creative invention has never been used?

Starlite is a revolutionary material that was invented in the 1980s by a British hairdresser named Maurice Ward.

It is a type of heat-resistant material that has the potential to withstand extremely high temperatures, making it ideal for use in a variety of applications. Despite its incredible potential, Starlite remains largely unknown, and its fate is still shrouded in mystery.

The invention of Starlite is a fascinating story that began with a freak accident. In 1985, Ward was experimenting with different materials to find a way to create a better hair gel. One day, while mixing different chemicals together, he accidentally spilled the mixture onto a hot lightbulb. To his amazement, the material didn’t burn, but instead formed a hard crust over the lightbulb. This was the inspiration for Starlite.

Over the next few years, Ward worked on developing his invention, experimenting with different combinations of chemicals and additives. He tested the material extensively, subjecting it to extreme heat, fire, and even explosions, and found that it was able to withstand temperatures of up to 10,000 degrees Celsius. He named the material Starlite, and began to explore the many potential applications of his invention.

One of the most exciting possibilities for Starlite was its use in space exploration. NASA and other space agencies were interested in finding a material that could protect spacecraft from the intense heat of re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. Starlite seemed like the perfect solution, and Ward began to work with NASA to develop the material for this purpose.

However, despite the incredible potential of Starlite, its fate remains uncertain. Ward was notoriously secretive about the composition of the material, refusing to reveal the ingredients to anyone, including potential investors and customers. He claimed that the formula was so valuable that he needed to keep it a secret in order to protect his invention from theft.

As a result, Starlite never became the commercial success that many had hoped for. Despite numerous offers from investors and potential customers, Ward refused to share his secrets, and ultimately died in 2011 without ever revealing the formula for his invention.

Today, Starlite remains a mystery. While some have attempted to recreate the material using various chemical compounds and additives, no one has been able to replicate Ward’s original formula. Some believe that the material may have been a hoax or a simple trick, while others argue that Ward was a genius who truly invented a revolutionary material.

I caught my neighbor using my electrical outlets outside, and I told him I was going to call the cops and tell them what he was doing. He laughed and said I can’t prove it. What should I do?

I caught the builder next door doing this. I had given him permission to recharge his cordless tools at the workbench in my carport. That wasn’t going to cost me very much.

But then a few days later I saw an extension flex leading across the boundary line, powering two industrial dehumidifiers. I told him, nicely, that he hadn’t asked about that.

He instantly said, how much do you want for the power? I said, what’s the load and how long is it going to be on? He invited me to have a look. I did some quick calculations and gave him a guess, a range of possibilities, saying it was a guess. He straight away handed me a bundle of cash for about twice the highest figure I’d quoted and gave me a realistic figure for what it would cost him to hire and run a generator, and said he’d be back with more cash when they were finished with the power. And he was, but I refused… he’d already paid far more than it had cost me.

A builder wants to be on good terms with the neighbours. I’m watching his stuff.

And it can work to be nice.

UPDATE – The Sisterhood Is Coming For Me

Her: Um.. babe…I’m AC-DC…..

Him: Well, that’s nice. Have a good life! “footsteps waking into the distance” ….

Why did WWII fighter pilots wear goggles in enclosed cockpits?

Multiple fluid lines ( oil, fuel, etc ) ran through the cockpit, if one of them ruptured ( which was common ) it could spray a pilot in the face & disorient them. During combat the chance of this happening was even greater. The cockpit was also unpressurized, thus moisture freezing over or cold air blowing in from a bullet hole/ crack in the canopy was a hazard. Lastly it was common for pilots to open up the canopy during landing procedures to increase visibility, thus they would have air blowing in their faces. Overall more PPE ( personal protective equipment) equals more safety for the user ( flak jackets, heated clothing, gloves, goggles etc )

main qimg 04217a4744bde1cdcc5309fcc76da014 lq

USAAF pilot.

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US dive bombers returning to their carrier, notice open canopy.

What is the most horrifying noise you have ever heard?

It was a beautiful Spring day in 1998. My two best friends and I had just spent a lovely several hours riding and grooming our horses. We’d left and were driving to meet other friends at a local restaurant frequented by riders in the area , a place where we’d all meet up to have “ horse talk “ . As we were approaching a big intersection on the way there we heard a horrific screech of tires and the loudest crash I’d ever heard filled by piercing screams then immediate cries of help help help us ! We saw smoke rising in the air as we made it to the intersection . To our absolute horror, two cars had collided mid intersection, sending one car crashing into a tree. We stopped our car immediately and ran to see if we could help . Two women were stuck in the backseat of the convertible , the legs pinned seemingly under the front seats of the car. they screamed in pain . One of my friends and I both spoke to these women who were completely conscious as the driver of the car got out and was in pure disbelief dashing around the vehicle not knowing what to do. I asked if he was okay , and if he could call 911. Both he and my other friend called , the other of us two tried to free the women from the backseat … it was difficult to understand them and there was alot of blood. Suddenly, two police cars and an ambulance arrived and we backed away to the side of the road. The policeman and the EMT’s weren’t able to free the women and a fire truck had been summoned. The fireman used the jaws of life to get the women out of the backseat . When to everyone’s horror , the women had both lost appendages! It was then one woman began screaming for her baby . Turns out she had been holding her 3 month old baby in her lap . Another ambulance had arrived by this time as did two more firetrucks …. The scene and the noises were macabre , terrifying and sad. I will never forget the anguished mothers cries when she realized her baby was underneath the seat in front of her and had not survived. Her screams towered over all the other sounds of the wreckage rescue. I will never forget it. It turns out they lived just a few blocks away and were travelling “ just around the corner “ to their sisters house. The other car who ran into them left the scene of the accident. He was later found and charged with vehicular manslaughter resulting in death , leaving the scene of the accident and DWI .

What office rule made you say “You gotta be kidding me”?

When I worked at Dreamworks I shared an office with another artist. It was a long skinny office with one of us at each end. There were stacks of used couches in the basement. We asked if we could move one of the couches into our office. We were told couches were only for management. (There were many more couches than there were managers.) We asked if we could bring in our own couch and were told that was fine. (We bought a $200 couch from Ikea and put it in our office.)

—

Dreamworks used to have wintergreen lifesavers in all the commons areas. (You work in close proximity to others during approvals.) Then they hired Steve (name changed). After work every day Steve would go around to the commons areas and dump all the uneaten lifesavers into a bag and take them home. Dreamworks also used to stock the fridges with drinks. He would take those too. When my supervisor confronted Steve, he wasn’t embarassed or even trying to cover up his actions. He thought everyone else was stupid for not taking them because they were free and no one had taken them during the day. Dreamworks also didn’t mind if you occasionally invited a family member for lunch at the studio. The understood rule was no more than once a month. When Steve found out no one really checked how often, and security would let him “wife plus kids” a drive-on, he started bringing his whole family in for lunch, his wife plus their 4 kids, every day. Then they started coming for lunch and breakfast which was just oatmeal and cold cereal for employees that had to be there early (Steve didn’t). So here’s one guy who’s abusing the system that 400 other people were not abusing. Instead of pulling Steve aside and explaining the rules, they cut the entire benefit for all employees.

Why China is already ahead of the US

Pretty good. Gives insight into just how backwards the USA actually is.

Carl Zha talks to Dr. Oualaalou of the @geopoliticaltrends and @GeopoliticsInConflict about why China is already miles ahead of the US in many areas such as public infrastructure, especially in power generation and ultra-high voltage power transmission, how China is rapidly catching up in areas long dominated by the US such as civilian aircraft. #chinaeconomy #uschina #tradewar

We are at yield, and soon we can expect fracture

Mark my words

All evidence indicates that China and Russia are coordinating their actions. This uptick in nuclear talk with Russia and the USA troops in Ukraine, along with the stuff going on in the Pacific. It’s all very clear. It’s coordinated.

More chatter about Scott Ritter and what that means all in front of the nuclear war backdrop. Lots of stuff going on right now.

Today is a Geo-politics heavy post.

The vectors are all disturbing.

USA culture is collapsed.
USA society is wiped out.
The West is now very dangerous and police are not available.
Warrants, and laws are ignored.
Nuclear war is gleefully discussed without a care in the world.
Crazy inflation… and it’s gonna get much worse.

I get the impression that the USA is a big bonfire right now, and the wealthy and Washington insiders are all throwing gasoline and kerosene on the fire…

Raw Truth

Have I read this wrong? Putin started a war he can’t possibly win, as China embeds deeper and deeper into the fabric of eastern Russia. He isolates his country, makes it a vassal state to China, and for what? Is the guy missing a brain?

Question: Have I read this wrong? Putin started a war he can’t possibly win, as China embeds deeper and deeper into the fabric of eastern Russia. He isolates his country, makes it a vassal state to China, and for what? Is the guy missing a brain?

Answer:

Yes, you are reading it wrong.

As of 2024, Ukraine manpower has been depleted to such a point that Russia is in a position to get a lot more than they would have gotten with a negotiation back in 2020.

He didn’t isolate his country, because the BRICs payment system, particularly via RMB can cover up to 95% of human population. At this point, kicking Russia out of SWIFT just means reducing SWIFT’s value as a payment system.

In fact, the European sanctions helped the Russian economy tremendously, this is because prior to European sanctions, Putin’s main enemies are actually the Russian Oligarchies and to a lesser extent, the pro-West Russian capitalist. The European and US sanctions crippled both, meaning a lot money Russian money is investing into Russian economy instead of going to Europe and US.

And with China, the entire point is that China didn’t take advantage with any military venture into Russia far east. So at this point, 4,209.3 kilometres out of 22,407 kilometres of Russian land border suddenly don’t require any significant security investment, which frees up significant amount of Russian attention and budget.

Right now, the main Chinese complaint against Russian border is that the border customs are too under staffed and the roads sucked, so the cross border traders have to wait for long hours there.

See, that’s the power of not playing a zero sum game and constantly trying to screw other people over.

Blueberry Puffs

Ingredients

2 cups fresh or 1 bag frozen blueberries
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/3 cup light brown sugar
12 slices bread
6 eggs
2 cups Half-and-Half
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Instructions

Mix first 7 ingredients in a saucepan. Heat until the sauce is semi-thick. Set aside and cool to room temperature.
Cut crusts from bread. Spray a 2-quart rectangular glass pan with a nonstick pan coating. Cover the bottom of pan with 6 bread slices.
In separate bowl, mix eggs, Half-and-Half, vanilla extract and sugar. Pour half of this mixture over bread.
Spread thickened, cooled blueberry sauce over bottom layer.
Arrange the other half of the bread on top of blueberry filling.
Pour remaining egg mixture over the top.
Sprinkle with a dash of nutmeg.
Cover and place in refrigerator overnight.
Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 60 minutes.
Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting into 6 servings or 12 servings for a buffet.
Top with brown sugar and a few blueberries.

Woke Staff Go Silent as New CEO Says This in Brutal Meeting

“The beginnings of the Third World War “Nuclear war: the scenario of the end of the world? In all likelihood, it will not be a conventional war.”

We learn that President Biden has authorized Ukraine to “conduct limited attacks inside Russia with American-made weapons”. Some of the United States’ allies had already gone further. Britain, several weeks ago, allowed Ukraine to use its Storm Shadow long-range missile systems for attacks in any part of Russia, and France and Germany have recently taken the same position. We are, therefore, at a critical moment and the probability of moving from low-key conflicts to a war of uncontrollable global dimensions, including the great powers.

In an interview on March 18, President Putin warned: “It is clear to everyone that a [conflict between Russia and NATO] would mark the final step before a Third World War. I don’t think anyone wants that.” Asked by Reuters about Emmanuel Macron’s comments, who said he did not rule out the possibility of sending ground troops to Ukraine and the risk of a conflict with NATO, Vladimir Putin quipped: “Everything is possible in the modern world.” Emmanuel Macron, who has said he does not want an “escalation”, last week called on the West to “jump” out, warning that a Russian victory in Ukraine would pose an “existential threat” to Europe. President Putin adds that NATO military personnel were already in Ukraine. Russian troops heard communications in English and French on the battlefield, he said. “There is nothing good in all this, first and foremost for them since they are dying there and in large numbers.”1

«Will NATO member states individually or collectively go to war against Russia? This is the question of Western decision-makers. In an interview with The Economist, Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of the Alliance said: “The time has come for allies to reflect on whether they should lift some of the restrictions imposed on the use of weapons given to Ukraine (…) Especially now, when a lot of fighting is taking place in Kharkov, near the border, denying Ukraine the possibility of using these weapons against legitimate military targets on Russian territory makes it very difficult to defend it.” He pre-announced Washington’s decision to the European Allies. Speaking at the Council of the European Union, he said: “According to international law, Ukraine has the right to self-defence. And the right to self-defense also includes striking legitimate military objectives inside Russia.” (…) Extending the protection of the Atlantic anti-missile shield to Ukrainian territory would mean going to war collectively against Russia. But allowing Ukraine to attack Russia with weapons supplied by NATO member states would mean their entry into an individual war against Russia. For his part, Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister, commented: “This gentleman [Jens Stoltenberg] is dangerous because talking about a Third World War, Western weapons capable of striking and killing inside Russia, seems to me very, very dangerous and reckless.”

Vladimir Putin, replied to journalists: “This constant escalation can lead to serious consequences. Let them [the European NATO member states] remember that their territory is small and their population dense,” Senator Dmitry Rogozin, former director of Roscosmos, directly warned Washington: “We are not only on the threshold, but already on the edge, beyond which, if the enemy is not stopped in such actions, an irreversible collapse of the strategic security of the nuclear powers will begin.”2

Nuclear war: the scenario of the end of the world?
In all likelihood, it will not be a conventional war; For the evil is profound; it is the temptation to perpetuate an empire without a vital prognosis for Western countries against an existential threat for Russia which will not hesitate to pulverize the West even if it is a plantar nuclear fire; This reflection from the website Notre Planète Info allows us to predict the consequences of a nuclear war: “Feared during the Cold War, total nuclear war has proved to be such a heavy threat to the very future of humanity that the major nuclear powers have refrained from using nuclear weapons on a massive scale”.3

«NATO’s expansionist policy and the revival of openly Nazi armies in Ukraine triggered a Russian special operation of demilitarization and denazification in February 2022. The United States has always kept the possibility of carrying out preventive nuclear strikes. The United States has 750 military bases in more than 80 countries. The US has already spent 230 years (out of 246 years of existence), in direct and proxy wars abroad. In addition, the Pentagon’s new national defense strategy adopted in late October 2022 crossed a new line by authorizing the use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear threats. A particularly risky doctrine according to Democratic Senator Edward Markey: “The risk of nuclear war seriously threatens the survival of the human species. Unfortunately, by not ruling out being the first to use nuclear weapons, the United States is increasing the risk of an unintended nuclear escalation.” Indeed, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia will retaliate against any nuclear attack with nuclear strikes. In other words, in the event of a potentially nuclear missile attack on Russia, hundreds of nuclear missiles will be launched immediately against the aggressive country, which will then be assured of total destruction.” [3]

The naivety of the West, which is banking on Russia’s misunderstanding of China
Alastair Crooke, the well-known journalist, describes the dilemma that in a way “blocks” and so much the better is the outbreak of the war of the West, NATO against Russia with the two blasters of Poland (enraged against Russia) and France of an unrecognizable paleo-Gaulian dignity: “The discourse of military escalation is fashionable in Europe, but both in the Middle East and in Ukraine, Western policy is in great difficulty. The paradox is that the Biden team – purely inadvertently – is giving birth to a “new world”. The more Western elites oppose birth — by “saving Zionism,” “saving European Ukraine,” and crushing dissidents — the more they accelerate the fall of Leviathan.”4

«The nearly 8,000-word China-Russia joint statement evokes the elementary laws of nature itself by describing the West’s usurpation of the fundamental principles of humanity, reality and order – a criticism that has engulfed the collective West mad with rage. But how and why can it be said that the West is accelerating its own dissolution? The New York Times gives a clue as to the “why”: The old “Anglo-Saxon” obsession with a defiant Russia that the West has never been able to bend to its will. Today, Russia and China signed a joint statement somewhat similar to the “limitless” friendship declared in February 2022, but which goes further. This statement describes their relationship as “superior to the political and military alliances of the Cold War era.” The friendship between the two states has no limits, there are no “forbidden” areas of cooperation. Ray McGovern, a former adviser to the US president, recounted how “when Biden took office in 2021, his advisers assured him that he could play on Russia’s fear (sic) of China – and drive a wedge between the two. This represents the ‘mother of all errors’ of judgment, for it causes the circumstances in which the Western ‘Order’ can dissolve.” “China is seeking to become the world’s most powerful economy and the world’s largest and most powerful military.” [4]

«In August 2019, when the United States withdrew from the treaty banning intermediate-range missiles in Europe, it had already deployed missiles in Romania and Poland. It is not possible to determine which missile is loaded because the tubes have lids. The time it takes for these missiles to reach Moscow would be 9 minutes from Poland and 10 minutes from Romania. (…) On May 18 in Moscow, in the wake of the last Xi-Putin summit – as M.K. Bhadrakumar notes. Western thought processes, Lavrov said, are moving dangerously toward “the contours of the formation of a European military alliance — with a nuclear component.” He deplored the fact that “they have chosen a confrontation on the battlefield: We are ready for it”. “The program to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia – militarily and otherwise – is a pure fantasy that will be resolutely countered.”[4]

The multidimensional cooperation between Russia and China scares the West
The West mistakenly thinks that it can impose its norm in the name of its rights; American and European strategists are doing everything they can to create dissension between Russia and China. Even President Biden believes in it. Alain Constant of the newspaper Le Monde, whom we have known much more professionally, writes: “In June 1997, Senator Joe Biden, returning from a trip to Moscow intended to reassure Russia about the enlargement of NATO, brushed aside the risks of Russia’s rapprochement with China. For the Biden of 1997, a Russian-Sino-Iranian rapprochement is unthinkable and is akin to political fiction. At the time, few American officials were aware of the danger. But Zbigniew Brzezinski, a former adviser, warns: “The worst-case scenario would be a grand coalition of China, Russia and perhaps Iran, united by a common hatred of the United States.” A nightmare scenario for the West that has become reality (…) After years of rapprochement and various treaties, the three countries are now clearly aligned on a common roadmap: to put an end to Western hegemony. All this while waging a hybrid fight against the West, at once military, technological, commercial, IT and civilizational.”5

In the same vein, Alain Frachon sends this message to the West: “There is no point in entertaining irresponsible illusions in Washington, Paris or Berlin: the Sino-Russian couple is not about to divorce. Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Europe and Vladimir Putin’s visit to Beijing a few days later have shown it unambiguously: the two countries are united by the same ambition, that of fighting against Western “hegemony”, In the spring of 2024, Xi Jinping recalled that he was a stakeholder in the conflict raging in Europe: He is on the Russian side (…) The aim is to increase trade between their two countries in the face of a “hostile and destructive American policy” intended, according to them, to “stem” the rise of China and Russia (…) This situation requires enhanced military cooperation. China will further support the war economy that Putin is establishing in Russia. Clearly, China is maintaining the Russian war effort.”6

Inventory of the world’s nuclear forces
According to a study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute published in June 2023 (SIPRI), “in January 2023, 12,512 nuclear weapons, of which 9576 were stored in warehouses for potential use. United States (1770 units) and Russia (1674 units). Together, these two states possess about 90 percent of all nuclear weapons.”7

«Global military spending is rising amid war, escalating tensions and insecurity Global military spending has risen to a record high of $2443 billion. “States are prioritising military force, which risks fuelling the ‘action-reaction’ spiral Russia’s military spending has increased by 24% to $109 billion in 2023. Ukraine is at $64.8 billion. Ukraine has also received at least $35 billion in military aid to the United States, including $25.4 billion from the United States. Together, this aid and Ukraine’s military spending is equivalent to about 91% of Russian military spending. In 2023, the military spending of NATO’s 31 members amounts to $1341 billion, or 55% of global military spending.”8

«U.S. military spending increased by 2.3% to $916 billion in 2023, accounting for 68% of NATO’s total military spending. In 2023, most European NATO member states increased their spending. China’s increased military spending is leading to that of its neighbors. China, 2nd with 296 billion dollars. Israel’s military spending – the second largest in the region after Saudi Arabia’s – reached $27.5 billion in 2023. India is the 4th largest with $83.6 billion. Algeria’s military spending increased by 76% to $18.3 billion. Iran is the 4th largest military spender in the Middle East in 2023 with $10.3 billion.”9

The bluster of the West. Russia invincible with the RS-28 Sarmat missile
In a lucid contribution, Andrew Cockburn explains that the effects of Western propaganda hide a sad reality: “The obsession with technology has not benefited Washington. The United States produces sophisticated and expensive weapons, which Russian forces have quickly learned to neutralize. Andrew Cockburn talks about it: “American weapons have not prevented Ukraine from retreating and suffering a possible defeat. Many failures of U.S. weapons in Ukraine, including HIMARS LRMs, are related to the use of highly vulnerable guidance systems with GPS. Russia has long paid special attention to electronic warfare and excels at jamming GPS signals. “Most Western systems have proven ineffective in combat conditions” due to Russian jamming.10

In the extreme conditions, which is an existential problem for Russia, it is no longer bound by any commitment: “Russia withdrew from the Treaty on Strategic Offensive Reductions Start-II/SNV-III, on February 23, 2023 In addition to its “conventional” continental ballistic missiles, Russia has acquired a heavy intercontinental ballistic missile called “RS-28 Sarmat” (or Satan 2 for the West), operational since the end of August 2023. It is a missile capable of striking any region on Earth with devastating and unparalleled firepower. This missile can carry up to 10 large nuclear warheads or 16 small warheads that can be aimed at a target each. They are thus much more destructive than the bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima at the end of the Second World War. And for good reason, this 200-ton missile, 35.5 meters long and 3 m in diameter, has a total power of 8 to 12 Mt of TNT (450 times the power of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima), enough to transform a country the size of France or Great Britain into an uninhabitable desert (its destruction zone is 650,000 km²) in just 2 minutes… With a speed of 20 times that of sound (26,000 km/h), this new missile is impossible to intercept At least 50 Sarmat launch systems have been deployed on the territory of Russia since 2023. Russia finally has a “Perimeter” system, nicknamed “Dead Hand” (“Main more”) by NATO experts. This is a final retaliatory nuclear strike even if Russia is bombed by nuclear strikes and is on the verge of annihilation.”[3]

Putin’s warning is direct and explicit
Journalist M.K. Bhadrakumur said: “Putin has been explicit and direct. He made it known in advance that he would be forced to respond with a nuclear capability if the Russian state was threatened. Putin addressed the Federal Assembly in front of the crème de la crème of the Russian elite and took the whole nation into confidence by saying that the country could be pushed into a nuclear war for its own preservation. In fact, US Secretary of State Lloyd Austin said at a congressional hearing in Washington that “NATO will fight with Russia” if Ukraine is defeated. To put it plainly, Austin meant that if Ukraine loses, NATO will have to oppose Russia. It is a call for Europe to mobilise for a continental war. What French President Emmanuel Macron said: The defeat of Russia is indispensable for the security and stability of Europe.”11

The Doomsday Clock The impotence of the international community
The nuclear threat in the world is illustrated in particular by the Doomsday Clock. Created in 1947, shortly after the American atomic bombings of Japan, and has been regularly updated since then, by members of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, (BAS) based at the University of Chicago. In 2012 it indicated 11:55 p.m., only 5 minutes before the end of the world. In 2023, its hand has moved forward again to just 90 seconds. The question of nuclear war therefore remains more topical than ever. UN humanitarian officials and members of civil society discussed the humanitarian community’s response to a nuclear explosion. “The humanitarian consequences of a nuclear attack or accident would be potentially devastating and catastrophic,” warned the Director of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva.

An apocalyptic post-nuclear bombing scenario
«Within hours, 34 million people would be killed by the direct effect of nuclear explosions. Colossal and uncontrollable fires generated by the bombs would send 9 million tons of soot into the atmosphere. In less than 50 days, the entire planet would be affected by ash. For a decade, the sun’s rays would then be partially filtered. As a result, the global temperature would drop by 1.25°C in the first three years; global precipitation would decrease by 10% in the two to four years following the event; frosts would be more frequent. Agriculture would then be severely affected and therefore food resources for all of humanity. Finally, this scenario is accompanied by a generalized loss (75% at the global level – 65% in the tropics) of the stratospheric ozone layer for about 15 years.” [3]

The effects of nuclear weapons on human health
According to the specialized site: describing the dropping of an atomic bomb “The intense fireball generated at the very moment of the explosion of a nuclear weapon of this power would release heat, shock waves and radiation at the same time. The victims of thermal radiation: the temperature on earth, under the epicenter of the explosion, would reach about 7000°C and, in this area, all living beings would be pulverized. Tens of thousands of people are believed to be burned, most with horrific third-degree burns. A fireball and thermal radiation would be immediately followed by pressure waves traveling at supersonic speeds. The victims would have organ ruptures, open fractures, skull fractures and penetrating wounds. A significant number of people would lose their hearing as a result of perforated eardrums.”12

«Victims of the firestorm: It is also possible that radioactive fallout could be blown far by the wind, endangering far more people than the explosion and fires. Many of those affected would not realize they had received a life-threatening dose of radiation for several days or weeks. In Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the number of deaths attributed to bombings had reached 200,000 and 140,000 respectively in 1950. Even today, radiation-related illnesses and deaths are observed among the now elderly population of survivors of the 1945 bombings.” [12]

What should Algeria do?
«When the great make war on each other, it is the weak who die.” This quote from Jean Paul Sarre sums up the current situation. In the face of the new world that will give birth in pain, there will be collateral damage. We are close to a future place of confrontation! An atomic bomb 800 km from Algiers will impact life in Algeria, in the opposite direction. Let us remember the 13 multicolored jerboas, in addition to having ravaged and sterilized entire regions, allowed winds to disperse the atomic cloud over thousands of km in all directions!

It is truly an uncertain era in which all the settling of scores will have free rein, now that there is no United Nations capable of preserving morality and human dignity. This “War of all against all”, “Bellum omnium contra omnes” according to Hobbes, must oblige us more than ever to introspect and review our being in the world. Only force governs the world. Russia manages to resist the West thanks to the 450,000 engineers per year! and several million technicians!

Technological power should be based on science and military industry also on heavy equipment (tanks, planes, cannons) guided by computer power are the immune defenses that we need to strengthen. To do this, we must fundamentally review the training of engineers and scientists in terms of quantity and quality. The discipline of mathematics should be the apple of our eye and a special scholarship should be allowed to mathematics baccalaureates and technological disciplines, as President Boumediene did in his time. A President of whom some discover, late and in spite of themselves, the vision of the statesman who thinks in terms of the future. The next five-year term will also have to continue to bring the structuring projects to fruition: Betting on renewable energy and green hydrogen. Strengthen steel capacity, a strong link in any industrialization, particularly in the rail and military industries. The security of the country depends on it. This means that Algerians must all be vigilant together.

Conclusion
In one of his many meetings for the NO to the 1914-18 war, Jean Jaurès, the French socialist leader, understood where the ills of humanity came from. Rolling liberalism! He wrote: “Capitalism carries war within it, as the sleeping cloud carries the storm.” He will be assassinated! We live in a troubled time where anything can happen to God forbid In a famous poem from 1955, Jacques Brel, in a lucid and prophetic way, described the world of the time in the making.”
–Professor Chems Eddine Chitour

INTERVIEW: Land of the free, home of the grave

Scott Ritter on the assassination of the constitution and how three heavily-armed goons removed his passport with all of his rights. The grisly sequel follows…

Vintage illustration

ETERNAL LIBRARY: THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE UNIVERSE

Submitted into Contest #251 in response to: Dream up a secret library. Write a story about an adventurer who discovers it. What’s in the library? Why was it kept secret?… view prompt

Melinda Madrigal

Long before the rise of man when the world was dark there came a great light from the sky. A great ship descended into a dark world.Inside the ship was the greatest race to ever inhabit the universe. They are called the creators. The creators were the first evolution of humanity.They called their new home Avalonia. The creators created the oceans, the trees, plants and animals. Overtime the creators created the second evolution of humanity in their image.The creators built great cities and within those great cities, a great library was built. Which housed the greatest knowledge the universe has ever known.A millennia passed since the creators arrived in Avalonia and since their first landing many generations of humans have been all with the knowledge of the creators.The creators have spread their seed and their knowledge throughout the known galaxy. Many planets bore the fruit of knowledge of the creators. Many more libraries of knowledge were created but only one remains eternal.Many more generations have passed and the generations of humans created by the creators continued to flourish until one moment in their history when everything changed.

The creators simply vanished leaving their creations on the many planets they call home. The humans on each planet were left with the knowledge of the creators.

The humans didn’t use the knowledge wisely and ultimately all the knowledge was lost including the libraries expect for the one that remains eternal.

Deep inside I knew the existence of humanity was part of something greater. We were put on this planet to be something more.

We were created by a powerful race of humans to carry on their legacy but over the course of thousands of years we lost it all.

I must find and figure out what we lost. It’s my destiny. I dreamed about something greater than myself. Something greater than humanity.

A library filled with the knowledge of the universe is somewhere out beyond the stars waiting for me to find.

Atria is my home the fourth planet the creators created this I know. The records of the past show it. It also shows one of the great libraries once stood on Atrian grounds but the library is no more.

Their maybe more libraries out beyond the stars but one bears the name eternal. That one has been lost since the first creation. I aim to find that one.

Beyond the stars there are more planets that house the libraries. To those planets I will go and find the one that is eternal. I don’t know what I will find but it’s a risk I must take.

To Aqua Terra, Azurella also known as the water planets are known creations of the creators. To Amarantha and Inter Nova are also known creations of the creators. All these planets have one thing in common. The great libraries of the creators were built there.

Atria, my home world was also created by the creators and too many of my people no known library was ever built on Atria but a long-ago war destroyed half of Atria and possible the library. The records are proof there was a library on Atria.

I have what I need. Now it’s time for me to set off on my journey. Lucky for me I have my own space ship. Just because the great library is no more and no one knows it doesn’t mean the creators knowledge was lost. Some of their knowledge was left for us.

The record I found suggest only four of the many planets the creators created house the great libraries. One of them has to be the one that is eternal.

I set off into the stars. My first stop is Aqua Terra. One of the many water planets. I fire up the FTL and in four hours I arrive at Aqua Terra.

I scan the planet and to my amazement there is a large structure on the southern end of the planet. The inhabitants of Aqua Terra primarily live on the northern end of the planet.

I land my ship safely on the water. I put my water gear on. I open the door and jump into the water. I follow the coordinates to the location of the library.

Not much of a library. I enter through one of the side openings. Something must be holding the water back. I beginning going up one of the hallways. I look around. I don’t see much. The books are weathered down.

I keep going down the long hallway until I reach a door. I open the door and enter. All the books are weathered down expect for one. This book is in good condition.

I pick up the book and open it. It’s not a book but a journal. I start to read the journal, Wow, this was written by one of the creators.

“We left our home to seed the rest of the known galaxy. I will miss my home. I will miss my library. Many more will be created. One day I will return to Avalonia.”

“We seeded many more planets and built many more libraries. Our creations are beautiful but something happened to us. We must leave Avalonia or all will be lost. We entrust our libraries and all our knowledge to our creations. Our eternal library, we will hide forever.”

Avalonia, I never heard of that planet. I leave the library and go back to my ship. I go to the next planet, another water planet. I found the same thing I found on Aqua Terra, a journal talking about Avalonia.

I go to the next two planets Amarantha and Inter Nova and I found the same thing, two more journals written by the creators talking about Avalonia.

I spread the journals out looking for clues. I examine each journal one by one and bang hidden beneath the words are numbers. I write them down. They look like coordinates.

These must be coordinates to Avalonia. I punch in the coordinates. There it is Avalonia. I fire up the FTL. I’m on my way to Avalonia. The creators first home, first creation and hopefully the site of the one that is eternal.

As my ship travels to Avalonia, I keep reading the journals of the creators. This is amazing. One of the journals written by a creator whose name is Minta talks about how the libraries were created. But what the journals don’t talk about is how we were created or why the vanished.

After ten hours my ship drops out of FTL. This is Avalonia. I scan the planet. My scans don’t pick up anything. I go back to the journals. I read each one. The journals talk about a large structure between a mountain and a waterfall.

I scan the planet again. My scans pick up something on the southern end of the planet. I go down to Avalonia. The planet is beautiful. No sign of life. I wonder why that is.

I see the mountain range. I fly around the mountain. I spot a waterfall. It must be in there. I land my ship. I open the door and walk out.

I’m speechless. I never see anything so beautiful and colorful. I scan the area with my scanner. I’m picking up something. I walk in the direction of the waterfall.

What’s that up ahead? I see what looks like the figure of a person. As I get near, I see the figure looking at me. My scans showed no sign of life.

“Hello my name is Minta creator of the library, creator of everything.” Oh My God! I’m seeing one of the creators.

“You have found the eternal library filled with the knowledge of the universe. You are worthy to be in the presence of those who breath life into you. Welcome my child.”

“The knowledge of creation is too great for our creations. We hid this knowledge because no one human is worthy of the knowledge that is held in the eternal library. Only you are worthy. Enter.”

I enter the library. Wow beyond wow. So much to be discovered. I walk around looking at the great works the creators did. I don’t know where to begin.

I take one book after another reading about everything the creators created from the first space ship to the many great cities they built, to the math and medicine they created and the history of creation.

I’m looking at everything the creators ever worked on. Everything they built and made including us humans. This is amazing. I continue to read it all. Thank you creators for leaving this for me, for us.

The USA is dying

Why is the Chinese style of mutilevel democracy and meritocracy to select national leaders over 25-35 years of proven records much superior to the western style democracy of selecting their national boss?

Say you have cancer.

Would you pick someone from the street to manage your treatment just because he happens to be tall, old, and gives nice speeches?

Yet that is what America has been doing for problems far more complex than cancer.

How does a rank amateur who has never spent a day in public office expect to master the task of running an entire nation from day 1?

That will be no different from picking a Mr. Random to replace Tim Cook at apple.

How do you think apple stock will fare once the appointment is confirmed, particularly if the replacement cannot explain the difference between a potato chip and a silicon chip?

Whatever you think of the Chinese, their system GUARANTEES that anyone with even a sniff at the politburo knows thoroughly what governance is all about–the stakes involved, how the various arms work, the major players, and most importantly, how to go about fulfilling their own roles.

You cannot say the same about the American system right at the very top because the cabinet is essentially parachuted in, and that can include the president.

What’s your rudest encounter with a hotel staff?

My home burnt down. And a nonprofit organization was helping me and my wife by paying for a room for us for a couple days while we found new residence..

1 hotel ..the best western.. refused to house us bc they saw nonprofit residents as poor and filthy (said they ruined rooms…like rich cant do that too)

The next one, one we ended up being placed in for 2 days called the scottish inn was owned by an Indian looking lady and family id presume. The woman acted like, and stated, she was *doing us a favor* by taking paid in full rates for a room bc it was paid by an organization (guaranteed $ in bag) she also treated us like scum of the Earth. From the second we showed up being recited a hundred rules and placed in room next to office and told to not make any noise and that our 2 kids ages 5 and 8 needed to *keep quiet completely* to not cooking any food and accused of doing soo when we brought some of our belongings we salvaged in, and 1 item was an air fryer.

Day 2 they called room around noon and told us, not even 18 hrs later, that we needed to vacate room w our stuff soo they could clean.

We did soo.. and returned to the entire room covered in news paper and the owner lady came knocking 2 seconds in.. she told me i couldnt have my own tv in room at first.. then told me no drinks can be in room (kool aid) then told me no touching tv. Keep in mind that the room was spotless, wed been up 2 days at this point and slept most this time.. our kids had slept 8 or 9 of the 14 hrs as well and were very well behaved.

We hadnt done anything at all besides drink some kool aid and flick around cable tv channels and talk amongst ourselves.

Soo Finally I burst and defended myself and exclaimed how she is treating us different because she assumes we are poor, but we are still people and it needs to stop.

I asked if we had done anything wrong. To which she replied no.. soo i said *then leave us alone.. if we do anything wrong, then tell us and we will stop…until then, plz stop treating us like scum that will ruin things, its a hotel.. we paid, leave us be..you dont cover every customers room w news paper and hover over them w rules like a prison guard do you? Soo why do that to us.. you are NOT doing us a favor, we could have found other accomodations if youd been uncomfortable. I understand your worry but we didnt do anything to be treated poorly and its making us feel opressed and uncomfortable even talking w eachother at a normal tone.. please relax and leave us be*

Horrible experience and completely demeaning.

I had to stop her when she just sat there 20 mins in my room w my kids belittling me. Hope she didnt take offence I wasnt mad , just making clear it was rude.

The USA is now completely lawless

What’s the difference between a rich man in Nigeria and in the United States?

A Rich Man In Nigeria

He might have more than 7 cars. He is not paying tax or insurance on them so they are easy for him to maintain.
Rather than for Nigerian Police officers to protect citizens, you see them guarding the Nigerian rich men. The middle class always employ Gate men. (security issues)
The Nigerian rich men mostly send their wives to USA for child birth because of citizenship. The uncertainties in Nigeria are too many and he wants the best for his kids.
The Nigeria rich man always seeks medical aid abroad.He doesn’t trust the Nigerian health care system even though we have both public and private hospitals.Nigeria President son had a bike accident ,he was transported to Germany for check up/treatment. His father (President Buhari ) almost stayed in London for a year because of health care.Yes they are rich and can afford this extravagant life.
The Nigeria rich man evades tax a lot. Yes FIRS, the Nigerian version of IRS, aren’t effective.Till today, we do not even know how much Nigerian legislatives earn monthly.
The Nigerian rich man might establish his own private university and send his own kids abroad for college education.

A rich man in the USA.

He enjoys a business conducive environment.
He enjoys access to health care
He gets taxed for all his properties and liabilities.
He files his taxes or risks jail.
If he is an Entrepreneur, he employs workers and pays them with minimum wage. Nigeria is still battling with fixing its minimum wage to $100 monthly. The rich men in Nigeria are seriously taking advantage of the poor youths, paying them peanuts.

I hope you understand my points from another view of life.

Thanks

No One Wants to Work Anymore ….. The Debt Trend

Will WW3 involve all the G20 countries?

Hopefully yes!

You see Europeans are against war… in Europe they’re absolutely fine with devastation and killing OUTSIDE Europe.

After WW2 it was never again in Europe.

This is why the vast majority of them supported the Iraq and Afghan genocides. The people loved the 20 year mass murder of Iraqis and Afghans and most of them were happy about it.

All their governments which remember are elected and WHOLLY REPRESENTATIVE of the people as they’re democracies remember which is the PERFECT MOST REPRESENTATIVE system support killing of brown people.

This is why Europe needs to be utterly devastated along with the USA. Some of them might have the awareness and think OMG we did this for years against other countries! Are we the baddies?

most of them will be nah! They’re just insects!!!

Wanna play?

Col. Larry Wilkerson on Scott Ritter and Russia’s Devastating Warning to NATO

Everyone is convinced that the United States is in full scale collapse.

What is a historical fact that would sadden most people if they found out?

In the 1860’s, abused children were not protected under the law. So animal activists had to step in to rescue an abused child. Mary Ellen Wilson was the first child abuse case in America that initiated welfare rights for abused children.

If you beat and mistreated your furry animal, the newly formed ASPCA (the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) had the right to take it away from you. In some cases, you could be imprisoned.

If you beat and neglected a living, breathing child, the law allowed it because children were considered the property of the father.

Little Mary’s story begins tragically. Her father died when she was born, forcing her penniless mother to place her in the care of Martha Score. After Mary’s mother missed a few payments, Martha Score cruelly placed Mary Wilson into the New York City Department of Charities without her mother’s consent.

[1]After her financial situation improved, Mary’s mother, Francis Wilson, returned to get her child back but Martha Score falsely informed her that her daughter had died. Distraught, Francis Wilson left and never knew the horrors her daughter faced after being adopted by Mary and Thomas McCormack.

In that era, adoption was easy and unregulated. The couple walked into the orphanage, claimed to be her legitimate parents and took Mary Wilson home with them. The purpose of adopting her was to have an indentured servant, basically an unpaid servant.

Thomas McCormack died shortly after the adoption, and Mary McCormack remarried to Francis McConnell. It was during this period where Mary Wilson experienced extreme abuse. It was common knowledge in the neighborhood that her adopted mother savagely beat her.

Mary Wilson was beaten, burned, whipped and locked in a closet for hours. She was forced to do heavy labor and to sleep on the floor. The little girl slept on a dirty mat in a closet where she was chained like a dog.

During that period, Etta Wheeler, who was a missionary working for the poor, heard of the abuse and investigated. She expected to find an abused child but was still horrified by what she saw. Mary Wilson’s frail, starved body was covered in burns and cuts.

She went to authorities to have Mary Wilson removed from the abusive household but local authorities were unwilling to help, pointing out that the law allowed for physical discipline and Mary Wilson was the property of Francis McConnell.

“She’s better off with a home than on the street!” was the common belief.

Lost on what to do next, she decided to appeal to the organization that advocated against animal cruelty. Henry Bergh, the founder of ASPCA, was eager to help and built a legal case after Etta Wheeler gathered evidence and testimony on the abuse.

During the case, this was Mary Wilson’s chilling words on what she experienced.

My father and mother are both dead. I don’t know how old I am. I have no recollection of a time when I did not live with the Connollys. Mamma has been in the habit of whipping and beating me almost every day. She used to whip me with a twisted whip — a rawhide. The whip always left a black and blue mark on my body. I have now the black and blue marks on my head which were made by Mamma and also a cut on the left side of my forehead which was made by a pair of scissors. She struck me with the scissors and cut me; I have no recollection of ever having been kissed by any one — have never been kissed by Mamma. I have never been taken on my mamma’s lap and caressed or petted. I never dared to speak to anybody, because if I did, I would get whipped. I do not know for what I was whipped — Mamma never said anything to me when she whipped me. I do not want to go back to live with Mamma, because she beats me so. I have no recollection ever being on the street in my life.

[2]Her stepmother was found guilty of felonious assault and sentenced to one year of hard labour. Not an adequate sentence in my opinion. She should’ve gotten more for the abuse she inflicted.

Mary Wilson went on to live a happy life under the care of Etta Wheeler’s younger sister. She married and had two daughters, later adopting an orphaned girl. One of her daughters was named Etta, after the woman who rescued her.

She lived happily till her death at the age of 92. According to her children and grandchildren, she rarely discussed her early years and always possessed a kind, caring nature despite her horrific past.

After Mary Wilson’s case, laws were established against child abuse.

For the longest time in history, children and woman were considered property of their father or husband. This story goes to show how backwards society once was.

Can you believe that animals had more protection than children in history? It’s saddening.

Footnotes

[1] Mary Ellen Wilson: When Abused Children Had Fewer Rights Than Pets

[2] Mary Ellen Wilson – Wikipedia

Cool find

What happened in your office that became the stuff of legend?

I am a manager at a gourmet grocer and caterer.

One morning, my catering delivery driver comes running in the building to tell me that a trailer truck pulled in behind him as he was leaving with a catering delivery. The driver of the truck was nasty and refused to back up his truck.

This was a delivery for us from a company that we dealt with for many years. Apparently he was a new driver as we had never seen him before.

I am a 5′6″ 120 lb female and was probably about 56 years old at the time. Just saying, you’ll see.

So I went outside and asked the driver to move his truck. He refused and started swearing at me using words that would make my mother blush. He was standing in front of me with clenched fists. Very calmly, I told him I had 2 choices: I could call his boss or I could call the police. “you choose,” I said. He raised his fists and starting running towards me. I stood still with my arms crossed and then he stopped a few inches from me. “you’ll move your truck then”, I said. He turned and got back in the cab. I turned to go back in the building and there behind me was the 6′2” chef, the 6′ butcher and a 6′ driver. all big men.

How we laughed. I thought I had it under control all by myself! The guys couldn’t decide if I was a fool or brave. I thought I was brave!

I did call the drivers boss and that was the last time we saw him! We still laugh about that day several years later.

Chinese General “War is coming” Wait and You will See.

Very interesting “interview”.

The content you produce is top-tier and very valuable. High level overview of 'perceptions', 'narratives', and 'situations'. Becoming my go-to channel for Asia Pacific. Respect.

The forced closing of the China embassy in Houston seems to be a prelude to war by the USA. Will the USA land troops in Taiwan to force a war?

First it is not an embassy but a consulate. The Chinese ambassador resides in the Chinese embassy in DC, the capital city.

China has other consulates that serve different geographic regions of the US.

A prelude to war will require the severing of diplomatic relations, and the ambassador will close the embassy and return to China unmolested.

But of course, the United States is not known to be a stickler for international law so there is a nonzero possibility of unprovoked hostilities.

Unlikely but this administration has shown there are no bottomlines when it comes to the degree of outlandish and loutish they are willing to go.

Larry Johnson: Russia Is Flashing Red, the West Better Pay Attention

So worrying. This is important to view.

Can you put a soldier out of his misery?

NOTE: This information was true up until 2009 and I cannot unequivocally state that it is currently taught to medics and again, I doubt anyone would admit to others in a public forum if they had participated in the situation.

Yes, you can. Medics are taught how to but not instructed to. There is a terrible and fine line out there in “the suck” that medics, and medics alone, are asked to walk.

You don’t end a person’s life. Full stop. In the rare case that a soldier is mortally wounded (no way to maintain an airway or control bleeding and no higher medical assets within a reasonable time)… then a medic could administer an extra ampule of morphine or two. Even though the doctors and instructors teach the medics this, in the end, it’s on that one person’s shoulders. And conscience.

Is it better to leave your friend/co-worker screaming in agony until they are too weak to yell? Then watch them convulse every few minutes for a couple of hours. Then finally they stop responding to your voice or even painful stimulus.

Brain death is setting in. It takes a few minutes or a few days.

Every minute you have a seriously wounded soldier in your unit you have medics that are out of the fight. You also have a much more complicated command situation. Nobody (NOBODY) makes this decision lightly. They also never talk about it.

In the movies, there is always an EVAC helicopter with an escort available and ready to risk anything to get to the wounded. In combat, it’s not always possible. “Birds” get grounded for many reasons and MEDEVAC Strykers are delayed by the need for escort vehicles/crews and IED laden roads. In almost all cases, the wounded will live to see the operating room. In some form.

Combat wounded are intense. Gunfire is still raging in many cases. People are yelling, confusion is everywhere. The medic will be well trained but under a lot of stress. They know that they have to address breathing and bleeding in 2–3 minutes. They also need to avoid causing further injury and find any hidden wounds. While doing this they have to coordinate any available soldiers with combat lifesaver training to assist them with this or other injured. Finally, they also have to constantly keep the command apprised of the situation.

Who has X injury?

Can they return to the fight?

Do they need to be evacuated from battle or can we take them with us?

If they need to go NOW, how long do they realistically have?

Can we ground evac through the combat or do we need a bird?

While answering all of that the medic has assessed the wounded. Tried to control the bleeding and established a secure airway. Then they need to find a vein for an IV (super hard on a patient with blood loss or missing limbs). While doing this they also need to fill out the ‘9 Line’ medical evacuation form for the radio. Once this is done the medic will check the field dressings, the IV, the breathing. Record the wounds and vitals. Mark when/if morphine was given (how much, when, where administered) and done so that the surgeon can see it and blood doesn’t wash it away. Often in black sharpie on the forehead if the patient is unconscious- as awful as that sounds it works well.

So, don’t talk about the morality of this until you walk a mile (or 26) in a medic’s boots. Don’t talk about what happens until you live and work with a small team of men and women in a combat zone for over a year at a time. Infantry units are closer than most marriages/families. Your platoon SGT is dad and doc is mom. It’s a horrific moment to see one of your guys literally torn in half and dying. It’s much worse to know that due to a sandstorm there aren’t any flights that day. It’s hell on earth when you realize nobody is coming by road because of the IED you just hit. It’s unimaginable when you realize you only have 2 morphine ampules left and 3 critically wounded friends.

I didn’t have to make the hardest choice. I wouldn’t tell you if I did.

Great question. I hope someone who actually held this responsibility in combat can clear it up a little.

Update 2/1/21: I have received word from one medic who states they are no longer issued morphine, but it has been replaced with fentanyl and ketamine. I have two friends still in service who are currently issued morphine while fentanyl is on the medevac stryker, but I believe Mr. Walker regarding standard issue. Thank you to Alan Walker for the comment.

USA DEPLOYING 300K TROOPS TO EUROPE! RUSSIAS NUCLEAR LINE CROSSED, ATTACKS ON RUSSIA BEGIN

He is talking about what I have been saying. When the empire collapses, it starts locking down the country.

BREAKING NEWS: ISRAEL IS LAUNCHING ATTACKS UPON SOUTHERN LEBANON

Hal Turner World

Multiple Massive Explosions reported in Southern Lebanon as the Israeli Air Force appears to have begun Striking several Hezbollah Positions near the Border with Israel.; Strikes so Intense that Houses within the City of Kiryat Shmona are reported to be Shaking.

Drone reconnaissance activity over the Naqoura and Tyre sectors, south of the Litani River in southern Lebanon.

Says one observer:

“Israel is bombing Rafah. Israel is bombing Lebanon. Israel is bombing Syria. Bombing 3 different countries at the same time is not victim behavior. It is terrorism.”

Crossing red lines w/ Jeffrey Sachs

Very good, and he lays out a really good history of how we got here.

https://youtu.be/c-gIFpYWPuA

U.S. Surveillance Drone “FORTE-12” Has Gone “Missing” Over Black Sea

Hal Turner World

American Recon Drone “FORTE12” has apparently gone down in the Black Sea. RUMORS say it was hit with jamming or Electronic Warfare (EW).

The intelligence drone was a Northrop Grumman RQ-4B Global Hawk, flying out of an air base in Sicily. It circled at an altitude of 15.5 kilometers above the neutral waters of the Black Sea near Crimea according to the data of the website Flightradar24.

Judging by the data of the site, which allows real-time monitoring of aircraft movement, the reconnaissance drone flew out of the airfield Catania on the Italian island of Sicily. The drone gained height and proceeded through airspace of Greece and Bulgaria to the Black Sea.

According to Flightradar, the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) belongs to the US Air Force and has registration number 10-2045, the call sign Forte-12.

The flight of the drone is tracked by more than five thousand users, ranking first in the “popularity” on the FlightRadar24 website platform. According data at 11:39 Moscow time, drone tracking stopped on the site, the board stopped displaying on the map.

According to the manufacturing company, the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle is designed for reconnaissance and surveillance. It is capable of flying at high altitudes for more than 30 hours, is designed to receive images of large tracts of land with a high resolution in almost real time, is able to act in any weather and any time of day. In addition, such devices are used to support communication as repeaters.

As noted on the manufacturer’s website, Global Hawk, used by the US Air Force since 2001, “identifies potential threats, allowing commanders to gain a better understanding of their area of interest”.

This radio show called U.S. Central Command, twice, for comment. Both calls were picked up, with an almost immediate hang-up. I then called the Pentagon Press office. That call was answered by “Quinn” and I told him I was trying to reach CENTCOM but two calls resulted in Hang-ups; that I was trying to get a comment about FORTE-12 Drone being downed in the Black Sea. I asked him for a better contact number for CENTCOM. He asked me to hold. He came back a minute later saying “I am putting you through to Major Dietz. The call rang 4x and voice mail picked up saying “You have reached a mailbox that cannot accept messages.”

What is the scariest thing you know too much about?

The Jonestown Massacre.

If you think that’s trash on the ground, you would be, as the first helicopter pilots who flew over, mistaken.

These are the bodies of 918 members of the Peoples Temple who were brutally murdered by madman so high on himself and a truckload of barbiturates, I bet he still roams the location in a dream of undeserved self worship, refusing to accept that he died decades ago.

He died not the same way as the others.. Oh no that would be far too painful. You can mix as much drugs and sedatives into a vat of “Koolaid” as you want, it won’t make a difference when you throw buckets of potassium cyanide along with it. Cyanide has no mercy or morals, it stops the body from absorbing oxygen. Simple as that. It suffocates you, and I promise you it is not pleasant or “pain free” as Jim Jones promised it would be. The sedatives added would take up to 30 min to start working. Cyanide killed them in 5 min.

No my friends, Mr Jones took a bullet to the head. Probably didn’t even do it himself. He was too cowardly to drink his “potion”, nor shoot himself. Based on what his son said about him later, he knew he was a fraud. And when all failed, he refused to fail alone, and made all his followers follow him into death. Some were brainwashed, but many of them were forced.

He made the children drink first, so by the time they had gone, the parents wouldn’t have much to live for, and would want to go with their children into peace.

Jones was a sick man, and a terrible lesson for us to learn. Let us learn it well.

Those who forget the past, are condemned to repeat it.

The US Sanctioned China…You Won’t Believe How Beijing Responded!

Taiwan is a jurisdiction that never invade its neighbor given that it has the world most advanced military technology. How many hours can China last it comes to battle ?

You are quite deluded. Taiwan’s military is primitive compared to the militaries of China and USA.

A war between China and Taiwan, excluding the participation of USA, would last a matter of days. And Taiwan would LOSE.

All of Taiwan’s military equipment from USA are second-rate leftovers from the US military. Taiwan does not have access to F-22, F-35, and advanced US Navy ships and submarines.

Malaysian News has not done adequate research on the matter. Or, Malaysian News chooses to be wilfully ignorant. Denial is not a river in Africa.

Scott Ritter Exposed: Secret U.S.-NATO Challenges Russia, Nuclear War is Inevitable

German Chocolate Doughnuts

Surprise! There’s a yummy secret filling in these chocolate-glazed doughnuts.

Prep: 30 min | Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

4 cups Crisco® Pure Vegetable Oil
1 cup Pillsbury™ Creamy Supreme™ Coconut Pecan Frosting
1/2 cup Pillsbury™ Creamy Supreme™ Chocolate Frosting
1 can Pillsbury™ Grands!™ Flaky Layers refrigerated honey butter biscuits
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup flaked coconut, toasted*

Instructions

In 3-quart heavy saucepan, heat oil over medium heat to 350 degrees F.
Meanwhile, spoon coconut pecan frosting into decorating bag fitted with 1/2-inch wide tip. Set aside.
In medium bowl, stir chocolate frosting and 1 tablespoon water until smooth. Set aside.
Place paper towels under cooling rack. Separate dough into 8 biscuits; gently place 2 biscuits at a time in hot oil. Cook 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until golden brown. Using tongs, gently turn over; cook 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to cooling rack; cool 2 minutes.
Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix pecans and coconut.
To fill doughnuts, insert decorating tip** into side of each biscuit. Squeeze about 2 tablespoons of coconut pecan frosting into center.
Dip one side of each biscuit in chocolate glaze. Sprinkle with pecan mixture.
Serve warm or cool.

Notes

* To toast coconut, heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread coconut in ungreased shallow pan. Bake uncovered 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown.

** If you don’t have a decorating bag and tip, use a 1 gallon plastic freezer bag. Spoon frosting into bag and cut 1/2 inch off one corner of bag. Fill doughnuts as stated.

Nutrition

Per serving: Calories 530 Calories from Fat 290 Total Fat 32g Saturated Fat 10g Trans Fat 2 1/2g Cholesterol 0mg Sodium 600mg Total Carbohydrate 55g Dietary Fiber 1g Sugars 1g Protein 4g

% Daily Value*: Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 0% Calcium 0% Iron 8%

Exchanges:1 Starch; 0 Fruit; 2 1/2 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Skim Milk; 0 Low-Fat Milk; 0 Milk; 0 Vegetable; 0 Very Lean Meat; 0 Lean Meat; 0 High-Fat Meat; 6 1/2 Fat

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

What is the craziest thing that has happened to you as an entrepreneur?

Some years ago my brother and I decided to open up a cigar parlor. We wanted to open it at the newly-developed Patriot Place, home of the New England Patriots. Being a marketing manager by trade I researched and wrote a business plan for the project, learning much along the way. For example, the average retail store generates about 150 dollars of revenue per square foot: for decades, Tiffany’s generated the most at 4000 dollars per square foot til Apple came along and blew everyone out of the water at 6000 dollars per square foot.

I did traffic pattern analysis and so on. I got all kinds of rental statistics from the Patriot Place management office and wrote a plan. We got a lawyer and incorporated. We got an accountant and became an LLC. We went to a bank and got 400,000 in SBA financing. We went to the Chamber of Commerce and they hooked us up with a business team at a business college who wrote our financial plan for us for free. We went to Patriot Place sales management and they showed us a concrete box available in the mall. It was 11oo square feet. The rent was 89,000 dollars a year. We hired an architect who drew up a plot plan and did basic diagrams of the layout we wanted. We worked with the town health inspector to make sure there were no gotchas. The triumph was going to the town to apply for a liquor license. By the merest of chance a liquor license had been surrendered that day and the town clerk approved my application. All I needed was a rubber-stamp approval from the town government and the clerk told me it was a formality. It cost me 250 dollars. By comparison, a liquor license in Massachusetts sold by a business costs between 250,000 and 500,000 dollars. I was in the right place at the right time. Most of the profit in any food business is the liquor. A cigar, after taxes, might make 20 percent. Booze makes many times that. Many businesses are propped up by the booze sales alone. Everything else is just a gimmick to get customers to come in and buy booze.

Once the Plan was complete with architectural drawings, contractor lists, materials required, SBA documents, business plan, pro-forma financial documents and every other duck lined up we contacted Patriot Place management. They arranged a sit-down meeting to discuss the viability of our potential business in their mall. Meanwhile we contacted all the businesses that would be around us. Almost every single one of them said a variation of the following: “Do not do business with these people. You are getting in bed with the devil. Run away while you still have the time. Once you sign a five year contract it will be too late to run away.” But by this time we had invested over 40,000 dollars in the operation. So we went forward.

The meeting was scheduled for 2:oo PM at the Patriot Place boardroom. My brother and I put on our best suits: we made copies of the plans and had them bound. We wanted to look professional and capable. At 2:00 we showed up at the Patriot Place office. No one was around. After about fifteen minutes a guy showed up who said he represented Patriot Place rental management. He looked about 25. He was wearing cut-off shorts and flip flops, a concert T-shirt and dark Ray-Bans. He told us the conference room was not available so we would have to do the meeting at Davios restaurant. We walked to the restaurant in silence. I was hoping we would meet other officials there who were more professional. But when we got to the restaurant it was fully booked. The guy stood outside in his flip flops for a minute and then he said, “We can do the presentation here on the park bench.” I was incredulous. We were going to give a business presentation in the middle of a mall on a bench, with shoppers passing by. So I said, “Will others from the organization be joining us?” and he grinned and said, “It’s just me, baby!”. What choice did we have but to sit down and present? My tie was flapping in the wind. My brother was silent. I handed a packet to the guy and went to my Power Point summary. At first all he was interested in was our liquor license: how we got it, the miraculous story of how I was in the right place at the right time. He listened intently.

But when I started to present the guy’s cell phone rang. He picked it up. “It’s my girlfriend,” he said. And started talking. Then while he was talking he said to us, “Yeah, keep going.” There was a pit in the bottom of my stomach. It was like talking to air as I spoke while he carried on an animated conversation with his girlfriend. I finished before he did. We waited in silence for him to finish his call. When he was done all he said was, “Does this packet include everything?” I said, “Yes, the business plan, architectural diagrams, contracts, LLC legal documents, all of it.” “OK,” he said, getting up, “We’ll let you know in two weeks. By the way, it’s triple net and we take 2 percent of any revenues over 1 million dollars per year. That’s revenues, not profit. And you have to use our services for snow and trash removal, plumbing, electrical and janitorial. You’ll be billed monthly.” And he got up and left.

My brother and I sat there. It was like getting raped. Neither of us said a thing. We just looked around at the mall. “It’s like getting in bed with the Devil,” that store owner told us.

Two weeks went by. They never called us. Another week went by. They never called us. Finally I called the name on the card the man had given us. It took him awhile to remember who we were. “Oh, we’re not doing that,” he said, dismissively, “but thanks for the Plan. It was very thorough. We’ll use it as a template if we ever decide to put in a cigar store.” And he hung up. No good-bye. I stood there looking at my cellphone like an idiot. We were out 40,000 dollars and had nothing to show for it. Later we were alerted by the town that our liquor license had been denied. It had been given to Patriot Place instead.

We never went to Patriot Place again, not to shop, not to eat, not for anything. They were the devil.

Anti-War Activist Passport Confiscated & Pulled Off Plane By State Dept. – Scott Ritter

What is the craziest thing that has happened to you as an entrepreneur?

My brother and I sat there. It was like getting raped. Neither of us said a thing. We just looked around at the mall. “It’s like getting in bed with the Devil,” that store owner told us.

We never went to Patriot Place again, not to shop, not to eat, not for anything. They were the devil.

Apricot Cream Cheese French Toast

Ingredients

French Toast

1 loaf French bread, cut into 8 very thick slices
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup pecans
Confectioners’ sugar
1 cup whipping cream
4 eggs
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Apricot Sauce

1 (12 ounce) jar apricot preserves
1/2 cup orange juice

Instructions

French Toast

Make a pocket in bread slices by slicing again, but not all the way through.
Mix the cream cheese with the pecans and a couple tablespoons of the confectioners’ sugar. Stuff the pocket in the French bread with the cream cheese mixture. Dip into a mixture of whipping cream, eggs, nutmeg and vanilla extract.
Grill on hot griddle, and serve with Apricot Sauce.

Apricot Sauce

Mix apricot preserves with orange juice over low heat.

Douglas Macgregor: Why you should pity American Soldiers | Truth on Washington

Toilet Toms Van

When I got out of prison, I spent some time in parole under supervision.

During this time, I stayed at a “halfway house”. Actually a couple of them. And I worked as a janitor cleaning the YMCA at night. My work hours were 9pm to 4am.

You know, I had to be invisible to my fellow Americans. LOL.

…

Anyways, I was assigned a vehicle to ride back and forth from the house (that I shared with four other men) to the YMCA that I cleaned. The vehicle was a donated work van. It was distressed, and shitty, but the engine worked, and it sure beat walking.

Now at the side of the van was the words “Toilet Toms Happy Rooter” with a picture of a ridiculously happy plumber happily pulling a huge turd out of a ugly toilet.

A grotesque image.

Caused me the butt of so many jokes.

But, you know, a man has got to do what a man has got to do.

…

Then my dad died, and I had to deal with his funereal.

Now, once I was arrested, labeled a sex offender, and incarcerated, my entire family turned their collective backs on me.

I heard from a cousin that they reasoned that I just “had to be guilty” as no one would give a first time offender FIVE YEARS for nothing.

Which is true.

It was damn odd that I got five years at hard labor for the evidence, and the fact that up until I was 50 something and arrested, I was a decent enough citizen.

Anyways, no one wanted to hear the detailed truths. They wanted to hear a narrative that fit into their simplistic understanding of the world.

…

And once accused… you are labeled for life.

So not only did they want nothing to do with me, but they gleefully smirked as I drove to the funereal in the “Toilet Tom” van.

Everyone was smirking and talking about me and the van I was driving.

Meanwhile, they all drove expensive cars, and all the rest. I was the only one that looked like some kind of poor, starving, refugee. I was a junk-yard mongrel dog surrounded by white pristine Persian cats.

The feigned nice behaviors and the statements dripping with sarcasm left scars that I will NEVER forget.

…

Ten years plus later, I’m living in China.

I’m married with a daughter, living in a penthouse, on the ocean and doing well for myself.

And I have been in periodic contact with my brother via Skype.

He sets up a video conference with my sister and her daughter who was married to a doctor in New York City.

My cousin and their kids … good chat. They remembered me, and associated me with a caretaker role for their grandmother. Not as a person; a uncle, or anything bad. I was their grandmothers live-in relative.

But my sister… Oh, doggy!

Judging from her expression, as she just sat there dumbfounded (her mouth open in shock), she didn’t know what to make of me. It was jaw literally hanging open. Oh, you see the expression in comics and illustrations, but this was live in real time. Stunning.

What the fuck?

…

After that video conference…

…my brother stopped calling me, sending me emails or anything else. It was radio silence, and you all know that story. I related that elsewhere.

Putting the two incidents together, one can only conclude that they wanted to stay in touch with me to know how shitty my life was, and when they found out that I was prospering… well, they didn’t want to have anything to do with me. And openly shunned me.

Explains why my brother has been such a dick.

Life.

Today…

Unexplained “Anomaly” Near Antarctica: Reported 80′ Foot Waves Moving north (Meteor Impact?)

Hal Turner World 11 April 2024

An unexplained “anomaly” is now visible on Ventusky.com ocean monitoring system. A strange “burst” of 80 foot waves has emanated from Antarctica and is showing as moving north.

Ventusky Anomaly Antarctica Oceans large

I have never seen anything like this. Did a huge chunk of ice fall into the water causing a massive Tsunami? Did a Meteor Hit the ocean from space? Did some major earthquake take place that no one registered?

As one might guess, there are absolutely zero Tsunami Warning Buoys around all of Africa.

If the video below is correct, these 80 foot waves are now smashing into the southwest coast of the Africa Continent, and +20′ tall waves will make it into the Atlantic ocean, to the USA and to Europe, within the next few days.

The video below lays out the current situation. Beneath the video, this story continues with word I got BEFORE the April 8 eclipse, warning me there was an inbound meteor. I did **NOT** publish the story over credibility concerns. Here. Watch the video:

On March 31 . . .

I received intel from a scientist telling me the following:

Meteor headed for impact with earth. IMPACT near Madagascar on April 8, an object about the size of Camel Back Mountain in Arizona

“Mean distance = 29.3018
Eccentricity = .98153
Inclination = 4.35684
Ascending node = 18.5295
Arg of pericentre = 94.1284
Mean anomaly = 305.16514

We call her “Maddy the Elly” (Interpreted by me as “Madagascar” Extinction Level Event”)

She’s coming and she’s BIG “

I was also told:

“They’re not going to announce until about 8 hrs before impact if the plan holds. That’s why they are worried about the millions of people in the eclipse viewing zones. Not because of their location but because of the mere fact they are away from their homes and those areas are going to be over stressed. Hence the national guard and prep talk.”

Now, I get all sorts of “tips” about news every day. I have to sort through a lot of . . . ahem . . . . nonsense.

The fact that this particular communication contained such specifics, coordinates and such, I decided to send it off to a couple contacts I have to inquire about it.

Out of the contacts I reached out to, ONE responded later saying “Yes, I’ve confirmed this. It is real.”

Now, I trust this person very much. I have no reason to doubt __anything__ he says. But I had concerns about this.

First, what if we’re being lied to . . . on purpose . . . . so we run a story, which scares the living hell out of people, only to have it be false? There goes all my credibility. Gone, in one fell swoop.

Next, what if it __is__ true. Do I want to be the one who starts a global panic? Uhhhhhhhhhh, NO!

So, I told my wife and son about it, and we shuffled-off to our bugout home in northeastern Pennsylvania to be away from New York City for the eclipse, but with a worry about this alleged meteor, too.

Eclipse day happens. Nothing goes wrong. Anywhere. All the planning, all the hoopla, all the disaster declarations, mobilization of National Guard units, . . . . nothing happened to need any of it. And . . . . no meteor strike.

I thought to myself, what to do about this guy who “confirmed” the meteor? Turns out, he farmed-out the info to some of HIS sources, and it was one of THEM that told him, “Yes, it’s true.” He trusts this person so he told me “Yes, It’s true.”

But nothing happened on April 8. So . . . where does that leave us?

Well, the very next day, slightly off course (south of Madagascar by considerable distance) this . . . perturbation . . . . in the ocean.

Uh Oh. Is __this__ the meteor? Did it hit?

If it did, there’s no one for maybe a thousand miles in all directions around the impact site, who would have seen it or heard it.

If it came at Earth from what would ostensibly be “underneath us” who would have even seen it in an Observatory??? There are almost none down there.

There are also no warning buoys anywhere down there to alert about ocean disruption. No shipping lanes where vessels at sea may have noticed anything. The potential impact site is literally in the middle of nowhere!

I’m starting to think that yes, the meteor story __was__ true, but incorrect on it’s impact timing.

I think this “anomaly” we’re seeing on Ventusky . . . is the result of that meteor impact.

Always trust your gut feelings

Yellen Dispatched to Beg China for Face-Saving Slowdown

Simplicius

Apr 09, 2024

The U.S.’ growing urgency in ‘containing’ China’s development was thrown in sharp relief this week as Janet Yellen arrived in Beijing for what turned out to be an execrable beggar’s tour. Just days prior to her arrival, she had buzzed the punditry with her historically memorable exclamation that China was now operating at “overcapacity”(!!).

What is overcapacity, you ask? It’s a new word for me, too—so let’s consult the dictionary together:

overcapacity
noun
o·ver·ca·pac·i·ty: ō′vər-kə-ˈpa-sə-tē
1: When an insolent upstart nation’s surging economic activity totally humiliates the reigning hegemon’s own faltering economy, causing the many expensive dentures and porcelain veneers of the ruling class gerontocracy to rattle and grate with moral outrage and jealousy.

1b: An undesirable situation causing Janet Yellen and Nancy Pelosi’s stock portfolio to droop like a pair of botox-sapped jowls.

Granted…my dictionary might be slightly different to yours, I have a rare edition. That said, are we on the same page? Good.

The above definition may be missing in the new official regime argot pamphlet, but it’s safe to say the inept leaders of the U.S. are down to making up creative new euphemisms for describing China’s total undressing and upending of the economic order.

But if you were skeptical about the meaning behind Yellen’s risible “overcapacity” solecism, her speech from inside of China confirms precisely what’s on the regime’s mind:

“China is now simply too large for the rest of the world to absorb this enormous capacity. Actions taken by the PRC today can shift world prices….”

And the bombshell:

“When the global market is flooded with cheap Chinese goods, the viability of American firms is put into question.”

Well, I’ll say.

The important distinction to note in the above statement is that for a long time the ‘cheap’ moniker used to describe Chinese goods often underhandedly referred to their quality, in the secondary definitional sense. Here, Yellen is referring to cheap as in price: the distinction is significant because it’s referential to the fact that Chinese manufacturing processes have simply far exceeded the efficiency in the West, as recently highlighted by videos of the Xiaomi e-car factory with its own native Giga Press that’s claimed to be able to pump out a car every 17 seconds.

The fact of the matter is, China is simply leaping ahead of the decrepit, deteriorating U.S. by every measure and the panicked elites have sent Yellen to beg China to “slow down” and not embarrass them on the world stage.

How is China doing this? Let’s run through a few of the most poignant ways:

[1]

First and foremost, it’s become almost a passe bromide to observe: “The U.S. funds wars, while China funds development.” But it really is true. Think about this for a moment:

The above is factual: Esquire reported that a Brown University investigation found the U.S. has spent an ineffable $14T on wars since 9/11:

And yes, the current U.S. debt is a massive $34T. That means quite literally almost half of the entire current U.S. debt was blown on endless, mindless, genocidal wars in the Middle East.

The U.S. has wasted its entire blood and treasure on war. Imagine what the U.S. could have built with $14 trillion dollars? Where the U.S. could have been in relation to China for that amount? As someone else noted, the U.S. could have very well built its own “one belt and road” project for that money, connecting the world and reaping untold benefits.

China hasn’t spent a cent on war, and puts everything right back into economic development and wellbeing for its own people.

China is winning lion’s share of construction projects in Africa

Chinese companies accounted for 31% of African infrastructure contracts valued at US$50 million or more in 2022, compared with 12% for Western firms, according to a new study.

It is worth to be noted that in the 1990s, about eight out of 10 contracts to build infrastructure in Africa were won by Western companies.

The illustrative statistics for this are endless:

What makes this historic malappropriation of American funds most tragic is that none of it came at the benefit of American people. The entire operation was carried out by an ethnic cabal within the U.S. government with loyalties only to Israel, and no one else. I’m speaking of course of the PNAC clan, who masterminded the entire breadth of the 21st century wars which have engulfed America in wretched shame and misery, irreversibly gutting the country and squandering its global standing. These wars had nothing whatsoever to do with America’s national interests or security, and have done naught but make Americans less safe and the entire world more dangerous and unstable.

China doesn’t have this problem: there is no inimical ‘out’ group parasitizing their country’s leadership, literally assassinating (JFK) and blackmailing their presidents (Clinton). China is therefore able to focus on the interests of its own people.

And yes, for those wondering, it’s now fairly proven that Lewinsky was a Mossad honeytrap used to blackmail Clinton in assenting to various Israeli demands vis-a-vis the Oslo Accords, Wye River Memorandum, etc.

The fact is, Israel is a destructive parasite sucking the lifeblood out of America, causing the host to wage unnecessary wars on its behalf which have utterly removed every advantageous and competitive edge the country might have had over its Chinese ‘rival’.

[2]

As a corollary of the above, beyond just the simple kinetic nature of the profligately wasteful wars, America wastes an exorbitant amount of money just on maintenance and upkeep of its global hegemony. The reason is, it costs a lot of ‘enforcement’ money to strongarm vassals who hate you into compliance.

China doesn’t form vassals, it forms partners. That means it spends comparatively far less spreading its influence because that influence has compounding abilities owing to the fair bilateral nature of China’s arrangements. The U.S. has to spend comparatively inordinate amounts of blood and treasure to maintain the same level of ‘influence’ because that ‘influence’ is totally artificial, confected out of a poisonous mixture of fear, strong-arming tactics, economic terrorism that leads to blowback which hurts the U.S. economy, etc. In short, it is mafia tactics versus real business partnerships.

One big difference between China and the U.S. is that China is open to sharing the earth, willing to co-prosper with the U.S. Conversely, the U.S. is unwilling to abdicate its global domination:

The above was highlighted by Graham Allison, coiner of the Thucydides Trap idiom in relation to U.S./China. The Thucydides Trap, as some may know, describes a situation where an emerging power begins to displace the incumbent global power, and how historically this almost always leads to major war. To popularize the theory apropos U.S./China, Graham Allison used the historical example of the Peloponnesian war, where a cagey Sparta was forced to take on the rising power of Athens.

Allison was recently invited by President Xi to a forum for U.S. business leaders where Xi told him directly:

Contrast President Xi’s magnanimous statements with those of the seething, guilt-wracked, bloodthirstily conniving Western ‘executives’. In fact, Xi called for more exchanges between China and the U.S. in order to entwine the two countries in mutual understanding, to avoid the Thucydides Trap.

This is the enduring image of what global leadership truly looks like, and the principles it embodies.

Meanwhile, when one thinks of America’s progressive decline, the one enduring image that comes to mind is of a bitterly frightened but dangerous, beady-eyed cornered rodent, conspiring on how to inflict damage and suffering onto the world in order to mask its own downfall.

[3]

The U.S. government does a grave disservice to its own development by cooking all of its economic books. Every country does it at times to some degree—and going by U.S.’ notoriously frequent accusations of China in this regard, one would think China to be the most flagrant violator—but in fact, no one does this more than the current U.S. regime.

The recent “jobs” report touted as a major victory by the Biden administration was a disgraceful travesty. The admin touted major jobs figures:

But it turned out every job was either part time, a federal job, or went to illegals:

In reality, the U.S. economy is in atrocious shape with sky-high inflation.

Here’s Jesse Watters revealing that:

“The Fed chair just confessed that #Bidenomics is just a migrant job fair. There is actually a million less American citizens working today than there were in 2020.”

Biden created 5 million migrant jobs! So don’t be fooled by his propaganda that’s spewed by the liberal machine. YOU DONT MATTER!

The data is cooked even more when comparing to China’s economic situation. As the following Tweeter explains:

While Chinese INCOMES are below American INCOMES, Chinese have much higher NET WORTH than Americans. How? They own apartments at a much higher rate and with a lot more equity than Americans. The MEAN and MEDIAN insight is even more beautiful. This graphic here is pretty much the only thing you need to understand about the difference between the economies of China and United States. But you really need to understand it and you need to have a deep understanding of what it means.

U.S. home ownership is on a precipitous decline toward the low ~60s%, while China now has over 90% home ownership rate:

[4.]

The above naturally springs the question of how China is able to do these things while the U.S. cannot. One of the answers comes by way of this fascinating explainer which shows that, contrary to the West’s depiction of China as some kind of rigidly authoritarian system, forward-looking President Xi is actually utilizing very cutting edge economic experimentation models to keep the Chinese economy as innovative, limber, and supple as possible.

In short, a deep study of thousands of official documents shows a huge upswing in language promoting economic experimentation in the directives issued under Xi’s government.

This is further compounded by the most important point of all: that under President Xi, China has embarked on a meticulous plan of curbing financialization and speculation of the ‘Western model’ in its economy. This is where it starts getting important so buckle up.

A good breakdown of that is given here by Chinese academic Thomas Hon Wing Polin, who pulls from this recent article:

https://www.rt.com/business/594432-financialization-death-empires/

The article gives a brief history of financialization, from the Genoese bankers to modern times, observing the historical cycles that have precipitated America’s current deterioration:

Observers of the current American hegemony will recognize the transformation of the global system to suit American interests. The maintenance of an ideologically charged ‘rules-based’ order – ostensibly for the benefit of everyone – fits neatly into the category of conflation of national and international interests. Meanwhile, the previous hegemon, the British, had their own version that incorporated both free-trade policies and a matching ideology that emphasized the wealth of nations over national sovereignty.

In describing the cycle of financialization and its connection to the death of empires, the article notes about Britain:

For example, the incumbent hegemon at the time, Great Britain, was the country hardest hit by the so-called Long Depression of 1873-1896, a prolonged period of malaise that saw Britain’s industrial growth decelerate and its economic standing diminished. Arrighi identifies this as the ‘signal crisis’ – the point in the cycle where productive vigor is lost and financialization sets in.

And yet, as Arrighi quotes David Landes’ 1969 book ‘The Unbound Prometheus,’ “as if by magic, the wheel turned.” In the last years of the century, business suddenly improved and profits rose. “Confidence returned—not the spotty, evanescent confidence of the brief booms that had punctuated the gloom of the preceding decades, but a general euphoria such as had not prevailed since…the early 1870s….In all of western Europe, these years live on in memory as the good old days—the Edwardian era, la belle époque.” Everything seemed right again.

However, there is nothing magical about the sudden restoration of profits, Arrighi explains. What happened is that “as its industrial supremacy waned, its finance triumphed and its services as shipper, trader, insurance broker and intermediary in the world’s system of payments became more indispensable than ever.”

In short: as an empire dies, loses its industrial and manufacturing capacity, finance takes over, pumping up huge bubbles of phony speculative money that gives the brief appearance of economic prosperity—for a time. This is what’s currently happening in the U.S., as it drowns in its self-created agony of debt, misery, corruption, and global destabilization.

One thing to note—if you’ll allow me this not-so-brief aside—is that the entire Western system is based on the actual institutionalized economic sabotage and subversion of the developing world. Books like the following go into some of it:

The rise of the underground economy: The book reveals how the United States’ underground economy evolved parallel to its legitimate economy, exploiting loopholes and leveraging secrecy jurisdictions to facilitate illegal activities such as drug trafficking, arms smuggling, and money laundering.

The “dark” side of globalization: Mills challenges the prevailing narrative of globalization as a force for progress, highlighting how it has facilitated the expansion of illicit networks across borders and allowed criminal enterprises to flourish.

The complicity of financial institutions: The author examines the role played by major financial institutions in enabling money laundering and illicit transactions. He underlines the need for stronger regulations and accountability to prevent banks from becoming facilitators of underground activities.

I challenge you to read notes on the National Memorandum 200, if you haven’t heard of it before:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Study_Memorandum_200

Incidentally, John Michael Greer just penned a new column (thanks to whoever shouted out this blog in the comments!) about the neologism he coined: Lenocracy, which derives from the Latin “leno” for pimp; i.e. a government run by pimps, or pimpocracy.

His definition of pimps in this case is that of middlemen who are the classic rent-seeking leaches—or rentier class—which extract economic rent without adding any value to the economy—all Michael Hudson territory, for those in the know.

Bear with me, I promise this will all tie together into an overall picture of China.

JMG characterizes the ‘pimps’ as basically all the unelected, bureaucratic, red-tape-weaving, blood-sucking monetary vultures killing growth and livelihoods by each taking their nibbles in turn from the carcass of the working class, exacting some small transactional charge at every step of routine business in Western nations, particularly the U.S. This has served to suffocate the average small business or entrepreneurship in general, not counting the big ticket venture capitalists who are mostly offshoots of global financial and investment firms. This is part and parcel to the lethal ‘financialization’ of the country that has spelled doom for its future.

Now, getting back to Thomas Hon Wing Polin’s precis, and how it relates to this. He notes:

It is noteworthy that the CPC leadership recently launched a major drive to build China into a “financial great power,” with a financial system “based on the real economy.” That would be the antithesis to Anglo-American-style economic financialization.

Read that last part: “…set pure profit-making aside.”

Pay attention to this big kicker:

Beijing is powering ahead with the epic project.

“China’s 461-trillion-yuan (US$63.7 trillion) financial industry and its regulatory regime will be heavily prioritised in a broad economic reshuffle engendered by the country’s top leadership, with the sector remoulded to serve national objectives like sustainable growth and advancement in the global tech race.

Are you beginning to get it yet? If not, here’s the crowning finial:

Specifically, it vowed to rein in Wall Street-style practices seen as unsustainable and crisis-prone, and move toward functionality as an overriding value for the financial system rather than profitability.

It also mandated that Chinese financial institutions have “higher efficiency” than their peers in the capitalist world and provide inclusive, accessible services in the pursuit of common prosperity.

“Like it or not, banks and other institutions on the supply side should expect top-down directives and overhauls cued by the CFC,” said Zhu Tian, a professor with the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS).

And there it is. In essence: China is creating a revolution, striking out a new path of finance which steers away from the wild excesses of the West into a bold new direction. Finance to benefit the real economy, the common man, the people. This is what the fig leaf of Rothschild-pushed ‘stakeholder capitalism’ is meant to be, or better yet: pretends to be.

It’s hard not to wax poetic on these developments, because they are truly groundbreaking. China is paving a new path forward for the entire world. The Chinese banking industry is now by far the largest on earth and President Xi has wisely put his foot down with a bold edict: we will not follow the path of destruction chosen by the West, but rather will set our own new path.

This is an iconoclastic, paradigm-breaking revolution which ends six centuries of Old Nobility world finance dominion, traced from the Spanish-Crown-allied Genoese bankers, to the Dutch then English banking system which now continues to enslave the world, and is referred to by a variety of names in the dissident sphere: from Hydra, to Leviathan, to Cthulu, to simply: the Cabal.

All those 600 years are going up in smoke with China’s repudiation of the ‘old standards’, which privilege predatory, deceptive, extractive terms and practices meant to benefit only the Old Nobility elite class. China’s system is true stakeholder finance: the government will forcibly bend the bankers to its will, making sure that finance serves the common good and the people first, rather than speculation, financialization, capitalization, and all the other wicked inventions of the Western Old Nobility class.

It begins like so:

“…bringing greed is good era to an end.”

The big one:

“Government has called for banks to abandon a Western-style ethos and adopt an outlook in line with broader economic priorities.”

It’s a revolution in the making.

But if you’re thinking my dramatic flights above verge a touch on hyperbole or idealism, you could be right. I, of course, still proceed with caution; we can’t be sure that China will succeed in its grand demolishment of the age-old paradigm. But all signals point to early success thus far, and more importantly, it’s clear that China has a leader that fundamentally understands these things at the most rooted level. Western leaders not only are incapable of even grasping the complexities involved of reining in capital, they are unable to do so for the mere fact that they’re totally bought and paid for by the representatives of that very capital class. The cabal of Capital is so deeply and institutionally entrenched in Western governmental systems that it’s simply impossible to imagine them being able to see ‘the forest for the trees’ from within the forest itself.

By the way, in light of the above, here’s the West’s truly desperate, pathetically envious, face-saving attempt to tarnish and mischaracterize China’s new direction:

https://www.rt.com/business/595434-us-eu-china-economies/

The above is particularly astounding in its admissions. Read carefully:

Market-based US and European economies are struggling to survive against China’s “very effective” alternative economic model, a top US trade representative has warned, according to Euractiv.

Katherine Tai told a briefing in Brussels on Thursday that Beijing’s “non-market” policies will cause severe economic and political damage, unless they are tackled through appropriate “countermeasures.” Tai’s remarks came as the EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) kicked off in Leuven, Belgium.

“I think what we see in terms of the challenge that we have from China is… the ability for our firms to be able to survive in competition with a very effective economic system,” Tai said in response to a question from Euractiv.

In short: China isn’t playing fair—they’re actually privileging their people and economy over financial speculation, and this is causing their firms to outcompete ours!

But what she’s really talking about gets to the essence of the difference in the two systems:

The trade official described China as a system “that we’ve articulated as being not market-based, as being fundamentally nurtured differently, against which a market-based system like ours is going to have trouble competing against and surviving.”

These are code words: what she means by “market based” is free market capitalism, while China uses more of a centrally-planned directive system, as outlined earlier. Recall just recently I posted complaints from Western officials that their companies are not able to compete with Russian defense manufacturers due to their ‘unfairly’ efficient ‘central planning’ style.

Here too, what they mean is that the Chinese government creates directives that spurn ‘market logics’ and are aimed at direct improvements to the lives of ordinary citizens.

In the West there’s no such thing: all market decisions are based merely on the totally detached financial firms’ speculations and are exclusively at the behest of a tiny claque of finance and banking elite at the top of the pyramid.

You see, the U.S. is threatened because it knows it can never compete with China fairly, by squelching or containing its own gluttonous financial elite—so that leaves only one avenue for keeping up: sabotage and war.

This is the real reason the U.S. is desperate to stoke a Chinese invasion of Taiwan by various provocations, including weapons shipments. Just like the U.S. used Ukraine as the battering ram to bleed and weaken Russia economically, disconnecting it from Europe, U.S. hopes to use Taiwan as the Ukraine against China.

It would love to foment a bloody war that would leave China battered and economically set back to give the failing and greed-suffocated U.S. economy some breathing room.

But it’s unlikely to work—China is too sagacious to take the bait and fall for the trap. It will patiently wait things out, allowing the U.S. to drown in its own endless poison and treachery.

No, there will be no Thucydides Trap—it’s already too late for that.

The Trap worked for Sparta because it was still at its peak and able to thwart Athens. The U.S. is in terminal decline and would absolutely lose a war against China, which is why they hope to stage a proxy war instead, cowardly using Taiwan as the battering ram.

But China can read these desperate motives with the clarity of finely glazed porcelain.

Vocal Coach REACTS to DIO- BLACK SABBATH- HEAVEN AND HELL (LIVE)

Wow.

How can I change my life within the next 10 minutes?

For years I waited for a magical life-changing moment to happen, but it never happened.

I expected change, but it never came.

I then turned to people around me. I expected my parents to change my life, but I never changed.

My teachers pushed me for change, but as soon as I left school, I went back to my wrong habits.

“There’s clearly something wrong here,” I thought to myself. I started searching for something or someone to blame for my inability to change my life!

With anger I blamed my school, my family, my country, my culture… I even blamed the very same friends I had chosen to surround myself with.

I spent decades waiting for a quick, magical ten-minute, life-changing moment. It never happened — but eventually I did learn a huge lesson.

You don’t need 10 minutes to change your life, just a few seconds:

Wake up and stop searching for answers!
Wake up and stop blaming people!
Wake up to your reality and face it!
Wake up to understand that NOBODY cares if you change or not!

Only YOU can change your life in ten seconds, ten minutes, ten days, ten years or maybe never!

Stop waiting for external things to change your life.

Change only happens from the inside out!

Until YOU decide to change your life, nothing will ever happen!

Changing your life is a DECISION.

Decisions belong to YOU — nobody else!

What’s a rule your employer implemented that backfired terribly?

Several years ago our supervisor decided one day he wasn’t happy with us leaving work 10mins early and told us we had to work until the very end of our shift.

Our team did 7 am to 3 pm and 2 pm to 11 pm shifts.

Our 7 am start should have been an 8 am to 4 pm shift but we agreed to drop back so there wasn’t a long period of time with too many people in the office after 2 pm.

As the organisation had 24/7 shifts with staff always available, it was common practice to take over the outgoing shift early AND our booking system was programmed to round your booking off to the hour if you booked off at 2:50 pm or 10:50 pm. We pointed this out to our supervisor whose response was “I don’t care what other teams do, this is how you will do it”. We also pointed out the number of early finishes we actually had was far less than the 10, 15, or 20 min late finishes we had – which we could claim as pay at double time, but didn’t because a 10 min early finish was seen as better compensation when we could have it.

He also tells us if we want a drink at the start of the shift we make it before we start work and not after we have started.

On day one of his new rule being implemented, he waited until 3 pm before saying we could go home!.

DAY 2. 6:55 am, morning staff brief, night team had gone home as normal, we waited in the office, the supervisor comes out telling us briefing had started only to be told we didn’t get paid until 7 am so we won’t be joining him until then.

We walked in at 7 am and disrupted everyone.

We finish at 3 pm.

DAY 3, nights had told us the supervisor was waiting in the office and had decided to do his own 7 am brief so we didn’t disturb the other team. We waited until 7 am and then put on our work uniform, then walked in 7:02 am where he tried telling us we were late! Only our response was, that getting our work kit on is part of our paid working day so we were not late but on time working but elsewhere in the building.

We also decided to check our bookings going back to April (we were in Sept) and see how many days we were late off, quite a few, we queried with our payroll dept as to why these were not paid to us as per our contract T&Cs at double time, they said they would get back to us.

We again finished at 3 pm.

DAY 4 we walk in at 7:02 nothing said about being late as the supervisor had decided to hold our briefing at 7:15 instead, he sat down with a smirk on his face that day.

We again finished at 3 pm.

DAY 5.

We walk in at 8:02 am! He was fuming demanding to know why we were all LATE, we pointed out our shift didn’t officially start until 8 am, and starting at 7 am was an agreement we had made in good faith, as there was no good faith from him we would be working to the rule of our job description and employment contract. A few more words were exchanged between us all and then our manager appears and demands to speak to us all.

Our manager had received a call from the payroll dept, they weren’t happy that we had called in our overtime since April that year, the total overtime bill for the entire team was nearly £2000, it would be 3 times as much if we wanted to go back further and they knew we could so he wanted to know what was going on.

I just told him to ask the supervisor who had started it and we would correct him where necessary. After the supervisor explained his rule change and OUR poor conduct in the matter we asked for the supervisor to be removed from the room and gave our version including explaining how taking a 10 min start was more than enough to make up for the late finishes. The manager asked us to leave and then called back the supervisor.

After their meeting the supervisor called us back in, he had reversed his rule change, he saw no issue in what we had been doing previously, and effective immediately the new rule had been scrapped. He also asked if we would go back to starting at 7 am and if we wanted to make a drink after we started that would be fine. As for our overtime, it had to be paid as a result of our query.

So within a week, a new rule came in, went again, and left an organisation with a payroll bill they wouldn’t have had if someone hadn’t stirred things up.

Have you ever had to tell someone in the movie theater to “shut up”?

Yes, with an expletive thrown in. Not proud or bragging, but it happened.

I was with my wife in the second back row watching War for the Planet of the Apes. The cinema was packed, not an empty seat in sight.

Behind us there was a large group, men and women, chatting constantly. They weren’t even trying to be quiet about it. Just blatantly talking and laughing amongst themselves, stretching across each other sharing loud food, looking at their phones—you know, all the annoying shit you’re not meant to do.

We could tell everyone was getting pissed. Many of them kept turning round to give them dirty looks. Eventually a young woman close to me asked them to be quiet. They did not. Another 15 minutes of rudeness, and it was someone else’s turn. A man nearby, without looking at them but loud enough for them to hear, angrily said “shut up!”. Still nothing.

Bear in mind I had waited a long time for this movie to come out, as I’m a big fan of the franchise. It’s a very atmospheric movie which was being destroyed by this asshole.

Half-way through the movie and two attempts from others later, I lost it. I turned round to face him and yelled “will you shut the fuck up!”.

You could tell a mile off that this guy thought he was the business. He also didn’t want to look stupid in front of his friends, so he replied “you shut the–”. I stopped him mid-sentence with a “No. Don’t respond. Just shut up!” He did.

We heard next to nothing from them the rest of the movie. A win for everyone, but unfortunately I was just in a bad mood for the remainder and didn’t enjoy it as I should have.

My question is, why would you go through the effort, time and money of going to the cinema to not actually watch the movie? Especially when you are ruining it for others. Oh, that’s right, because some people are just straight-up dicks.

As a surgeon, have you opened somebody up only to realize that they were beyond saving?

I am not a surgeon, but I have a related story to tell. My uncle was driving his motorhome to his favorite fishing lake, when he got terrible stomach pains. It was so bad that he pulled off the highway and into a small town hospital, they did a cat scan and flew him back to the city.

Where they opened him up, his guts were rotten. Everything had gangrene. They said that he would die within a few days, no matter what they did, they asked his wife what he would want. My aunt said to do everything possible to save him.

They did, I don’t know what all they removed, but it was at least part of the stomach, most of the intestines. I found that out from taking to him later. They said he was septic, and that they couldn’t get him clean inside, and he would die soon. The whole family was called and we stood a death watch. When he passed the four day mark, my cousin asked the doctor what was next. The doctor said he had no clue, because this had never happened before, we were in uncharted territory.

It took three months for him to come home. He had a very specific diet, a catheter and a colostomy bag.

He lived for three more years.

China’s EV export boom fuels surge in demand for new car-carrying ships

By Sarah Wu and Brenda Goh

April 9, 20249:31 PM CDT

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, April 10 (Reuters) – Chinese automakers and shippers are ordering a record number of car-carrying vessels to support a boom in EV exports, data showed, putting China on course to amass the world’s fourth-largest fleet by 2028.

China currently has the world’s eighth-largest fleet with 33 car-carrying ships, showed data from shipping consultancy Veson Nautical. Japan has the world’s largest with 283 ships, followed by Norway’s 102, South Korea’s 72 and Isle of Man’s 61.

But Chinese companies have 47 ships on order, accounting for a quarter of all orders globally. Buyers include SAIC Motor (600104.SS)

Chery Automobile (CHERY.UL) and EV giant BYD (002594.SZ)

as well as shippers such as COSCO (COSCO.UL) and China Merchants on behalf of Chinese automakers.

“After this armada has been delivered to China, the Chinese controlled car carrier fleet will jump from current 2.4% to 8.7%,” Veson analyst Andrea de Luca said. “We expect to see new trade routes established almost exclusively for Chinese OEMs (automakers).”

The jump in orders has mostly benefited Chinese shipyards, which received 82% of orders globally, the data showed.

With price-squeezing competition, cost-conscious consumers and a sluggish economy, automakers have ramped up expansion into markets where their vehicles command higher prices than at home. Last year, China overtook Japan as the biggest auto exporter.

BYD alone exported over 240,000 cars in 2023, about 8% of its global sales, and plans to export up to 400,000 this year.

Foreign peers such as Tesla (TSLA.O)

and Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE)

have also expanded production in China for export to take advantage of the country’s cost-effective supply chain.

Rising shipping costs and local government support have persuaded automakers to buy ships themselves. By the end of 2023, the daily rate to charter a 6,500-vehicle carrier reached $115,000, more than seven times the 2019 average, showed data from shipping consultancy Clarkson.

But the export rise has prompted the U.S. and EU to accuse China of trying to deal with excess industrial capacity by flooding their markets with low-priced products.

The government said the focus on capacity is misguided and that it understates innovation and overstates the role of state support in driving growth.

The risk of excess capacity is also high in shipbuilding, said senior economist Xu Tianchen at the Economist Intelligence Unit, with China the usual target of finger-pointing.

However, “there remain some niches where the market probably hasn’t saturated, such as car cargo ships,” Xu said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen

raised overcapacity concerns during a four-day trip to China. Meanwhile, China’s Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao is visiting Europe, where he is likely to discuss a European Commission probe into whether Chinese-made EVs unfairly benefit from subsidies.

Can you name one of the most meaningful stand out “light bulb moments” of your life that stuck with you?

I grew up in a working class family and when I say we were broke, we were broke.

I figured out quite quickly what a dollar was worth when I was very young.

I couldn’t get a quarter out of my father without him pitching a fit.

By the time I was 12 ( 1984) I waa sick of not having anything so I lied abour my age to get my first job to make some money

I worked on a fishing boat for tips that whole summer. By the time I was 15, I had had 3 different jobs. Cutting lawns and dish washing at local restaurants.

A few years later I am 18, its 2am, im leaving my gf house because I have to get up in the morning to go to work.

My car breaks down on the way home and I call my gf to pick me up and drive me home.

I left the car on the road for the night and would deal with it in the morning.

The next day I had to call into work so I could deal with this broken down car.

I had a little bit of money but not much.

I guess I was hoping because I was such a good kid and had been working and bought my own school clothes and whatever else I needed for the last few years that my father would actually help me this time.

Nope…… when I saw him the next morning, he says…aren’t you supposed to be at work?

I say, ya my car broke down on the way home from my gf house last night.

I wanted him so bad to say, oh wow, do you need any help, or anything fatherly. What he said, without moving his eyes from the TV screen was…..so what are you going to do about that?

Those words were enough for my lightbulb to go off thinking, this guy is just not going to help me at all.

For years i resented my father but figured out, he inadvertently taught me how to be independent

That moment as shi**y as I thought that was to do to your kid actually made me so much stronger

Wet Burritos

A wet or smothered burrito is covered with sauce and/or toppings; therefore, it cannot be picked up and eaten.

Ingredients

1 cup sour cream
1 cup cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 1/2 pounds ground beef or turkey
1 onion, diced
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 can refried beans
8 flour tortillas
4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
Lettuce
Tomato
Salsa

Instructions

Brown ground beef and onion.
Meanwhile, mix together sour cream and mushroom soup.
Spread 1/2 cup of soup mixture in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.
Mix taco seasoning and beans with ground beef or turkey mixture.
Divide meat among 8 tortillas, and add a sprinkle of cheese.
Roll up and place in pan with seam side down.
Cover with remaining sour cream mixture and cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.
Serve with lettuce, tomato and salsa.

Xinjiang

Today is my third and final day in Kashgar, the capital of Uyghur culture in China.

Not one sentence of what I’ve been told about Xinjiang is true.

Xinjiang is not only the last place in the world where you could imagine a genocide happening — it’s also simply heaven on earth. I had no idea life anywhere could be this good. I’ll be very sorry to leave Xinjiang. Toronto is a toilet in comparison.

I’ve never seen an indigenous people who are happier and whose culture flourishes more than the Uyghurs. I will share a ton of photos and videos. Any intelligent person can observe these people and tell that they are not oppressed.

Next I’m going to the city of Korla. The last leg of the tour.

Roasting Men’s Living Spaces

This is hilarious! It will make YOUR DAY!

Inspirational photos

I generated these photos via LeonardoAI.

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Husband OUTSMARTS Wealthy, Cheating Wife By Playing The Long Game With Prenup, Now He’s Cleaning Up!

US cannot keep up with PLA in weapons R&D spending, new systems deployment

US Pentagon officials have publicly admitted for the first time that the US cannot keep up with China in terms of new weapons system return on investment (ROI) and rate of deployment.

While the US defense budget is four times larger than China’s, much of the Pentagon money is wasted on pork barrel projects from Congress made for political reasons, and on the huge number of personnel and inventory stationed around the world in order to maintain US global influence. One Pentagon official admitted that there is no chance for the US to catch up with China within the next 20 years because the US military would have to downsized, and defense supply chains would have to be completely remodeled to become efficient.

Defense spending in the US is spread all over the US to create jobs so that defense spending would get support from all 50 states voting in Congress. This has made it very wasteful and inefficient.

In certain areas, Americans blind faith in private enterprise has led to the bankruptcy of strategic suppliers which cannot be replaced. Example: the only maker of steam catapults for aircraft carriers has declared bankruptcy, which means that there will no longer be support for these devices from a private contractor. Without support, the Navy will have to train its own personnel to conduct repairs. This would never have happened in China because key military technologies are developed and maintained by state-owned enterprises, and their top priority is NOT profitability when it comes to key strategic technologies.

Dating Coach Tells Her Clients IT’S OVER The GOOD MEN Are Becoming PASSPORT BROS

The Next War, Warm war.

A few days ago, I watched a public speech given by Mr. Jin Canrong at a certain university in 2008. He predicted the future pattern of world war and mentioned a very interesting concept – warm war.

Jin Canrong is a doctoral supervisor at the School of International Relations at Renmin University of China and an expert on American issues.

If World War II is a “hot war,” it means that the two major forces faced off in an all-out manner, using all available means to achieve conquest and total surrender as the outcome of the war. Then the Cold War after World War II was the two major groups of the United States and the Soviet Union, using non-war methods to compete comprehensively and compete on the international political stage.

In 2008, Mr. Jin Canrong predicted that the next war in the future would be a “warm war.” It will not be a game between major powers with pure military force like a hot war, nor will it be a competition only at a non-war level like the Cold War.

Instead, major countries use the unstable regions of third parties as a card table and indirectly fight a limited “competitive war” or ” agent war ” through economics, weapons, and technical assistance to determine the new political pattern of the world. This is a bit like what is talked about in some science fiction novels. If two countries have disagreements, they each agree on how many personnel and unmanned war machines they will send, and then demarcate a “battlefield area” where, like a card table, they can be operated remotely Win or lose in games. Just like the situation at the poker table, the two sides have some tacit rules to ensure that each other will not fall out and start an all-out war by any means necessary to get out of control. Nor will we use chemical weapons, nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction that exceed the limits and cause permanent problems to the environment.

Both sides are like Olympic athletes, competing with each other for the latest technical equipment and tactical concepts, and constantly increasing the weight on the card table through military blood transfusions, until one party’s wallet is empty, and the gentleman folds his cards and admits defeat, Get off the table.

No matter whether we win or lose, our roots will not be damaged, and we will not be in danger of destroying our country. At most, we will lose our right to speak in carving up new markets internationally in the next few years. This kind of “warm war” that starts at intervals can also clear weapons inventories, boost the country’s domestic demand, and increase the president’s voice. Therefore, it is even possible for the world to open more than one “card table” at the same time, or every few years, a country with an itchy hand will end and reopen a card table. Some countries that were once economically developed but have fierce internal conflicts and have a relatively large population of young adults will be the location of the “card table”.

Another reason why there is a warm war is the aging of developed countries. As a country’s economy develops, life expectancy increases and fertility rates decrease. At this time, the country began to enter an aging population. In countries with an aging population, the willingness of the people to directly participate in war will be very low, and it will be very difficult to recruit soldiers. Because the parents of young people do not want them to join the army anymore, and the elderly want a stable life and do not expect drastic changes. Therefore, it is difficult for these developed countries to start a war in person like World War I and World War II. Instead, it will use a “warm war” approach to conduct low-intensity limited wars outside the homeland.

It now seems that our world should be going through such a stage. Fortunately, World War III did not start with a full-scale nuclear war as imagined in many novels , but a more restrained and limited local war. Behind the scenes, all major countries actually have interests, and they have also made “bet”-like camp selections and economic and military support. But just like playing cards, there are those who pull out their guns in a hurry and refuse to admit their defeat, This kind of warm war may also gradually escalate into a hot war because too many interests are gradually involved, or even turn into a direct end, and the situation will get out of control.

Author Note

Now the Bio War launched (Covid 19) by the US already failed, the trade war already Failed, the technology war already failed, Indo Pacific already failed replaced with AUKUS, Warm war in Ukraine failed, financial war by increasing interest rate also failed. will the US camp admit defeat or they will increase this into a hot war? no matter what the US camp attitude is dedollarization is coming, new world order is coming.

Russia issues arrest warrant for Norwegian politician turned Ukraine mercenary (PHOTOS)

A former Sami parliament member faces 18 years in prison if convicted

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Sandra Andersen Eira, a former member of an indigenous parliament in Norway, has found herself on Moscow’s wanted list for joining Kiev’s “international legion,” TASS has reported, citing a law enforcement source.

Eira went to Ukraine in March 2022 and first enlisted with an Anglo-American unit. She has since been reassigned to the Ukrainian Marines as a medic.

The arrest warrant was issued this week under Article 359, Section 3 of the Russian Criminal Code, “as part of a criminal investigation into the participation of a mercenary in an armed conflict,” the source told TASS.

The website of the Basmanny Court of Moscow was updated on Tuesday to reflect an outstanding warrant against Eira. The court has ordered her arrested for two months from the moment she is detained or extradited to Russian territory. If convicted, she faces up to 18 years in a penal colony.

Eira was born in 1986 and is a member of the Sami ethnic minority that lives in the far north of Norway. She worked in the fishing industry in the Arctic prior to being elected to the Sami parliament (Sametinget) from the constituency of Avjovarri in 2017. Her term ended in 2021.

The Norwegian national was first identified as being in Ukraine’s service by the Washington Post in April 2022.

In an interview with the Ukrainian publication New Voices in May that year, Eira said her unit was deployed north of Kiev and fought in Irpen and Bucha before being sent south to Nikolaev. She also said she was the only female in the unit and all the Ukrainian soldiers treated her “like a queen.”

In another interview, dated January 2023, Eira revealed that she had fought in Soledar and Artyomovsk (known in Ukraine as Bakhmut) but left before the towns were taken by Russian forces. Being a combat medic was her childhood dream, but she always assumed it was going to be in the Middle East, she said at the time.

“I did not expect a war with Russia, but here we are,” she added.

What are ten truths everyone should accept in life?

You’re loved when you’re born, you will be loved when you die. In between, you’ll have to adjust.
Nothing that you love or loathe or have control over, will last forever. Love, bliss, pain, anxiety, people, nothing!
Nobody cares about what battles you fight everyday. So make sure you fight well for yourself.
People whom you trust, will stab you in the back and ask you why are you bleeding. Of course, exceptions always exist.
You may not be fortunate enough to pursue your dream job but hey, that’s totally okay 🙂
Some people will hate you for no reason at all, no matter how much you do for them. Accept that fact and stop stressing over it as if it’s your fault
Money can buy almost everything including happiness. This is because our happiness has become exceedingly materialistic and there’s no shame in acknowledging this fact.
You will be judged for every single thing. They will always tell you that you could have done things better. This world will never be satisfied.
You can’t be the best. Never ever. So rather focus on being REAL.
The trouble is that you think you have time. Life’s real short honey, things will vanish before you wonder how, go get what you want for all you have is NOW.

What did your boss do or say to you that made you quit your job?

When I was 18 I worked at a fast food place called Hardees. For those not familiar, this is the same chain as Carls Jr. If you’re not familiar with either of those, it’s basically like a McDonalds or Burger King.

My normal days off were Sunday and Monday, but I had asked for Saturday off one week because I had a date. My manager let me off, and when I left work Friday night I waved and said “See you Tuesday!” on my way out the door.

Saturday night I go on my date and everything goes fine. When I get home my roommate tells me my manager called five times wanting to know why I wasn’t at work. The store was closed by that point so I decided I would just go in the next day (Sunday) and remind her that I had the day off.

Sunday afternoon I go to the store and ask to speak to the manager. She immediately starts reading me the riot act about not coming in to work and not calling to let them know I would be there. I let her get it all out of her system, then I pointed to the schedule on the wall right outside of her office and said “I wasn’t here because you told me a week ago I could have yesterday off.”

She looked at the schedule, looked back at me, and the light popped on. “That’s right,” she said, “I remember you saying see you Tuesday when you left Friday night. I’m sorry, it totally slipped my mind.”

I was fairly pissed off, but I decided that it wasn’t worth making a big deal about. I told her not to worry about it, and again said “See you Tuesday” as I left the store.

When I got to the restaurant on Tuesday I was told to go to the manager’s office immediately. When I walked in she started off by saying “Why weren’t you here yesterday?”

I gave her a blank look, then finally responded “Because it’s my day off.”

She responded “No, I changed the schedule Sunday, and since you had Saturday off I needed you to work yesterday. Why weren’t you here?”

I must have been looking at her like she had two heads at this point.

“What time did you change the schedule on Sunday? When I was here at two o’clock we looked at the schedule together, and I was still scheduled to be off yesterday.”

“I changed it around eight o’clock Sunday night.”

“So what you’re saying is that you changed my schedule on my day off, and scheduled me to work the next day, and expected me to somehow know you had done this without telling me about it?”

That’s when she went too far. “I’m your boss, not your mother. It’s your job to keep track of your schedule, I shouldn’t have to do that for you.”

I took off my hat and my apron and replied, “You know what, you don’t actually have to do anything for me. I’m done.” I handed her the hat and apron and walked out the door, didn’t look back.

Beef Brisket Burritos

Ingredients

18 slices beef brisket
1 tablespoon vegetable oil or butter
6 (10 inch) flour tortillas
1 cup Mexican cheese, grated
1/2 onion, sliced
1 jalapeño, deseeded and diced
2 tomatoes, sliced
Cholula sauce
Lettuce, shredded

Instructions

Warm the brisket slices.
Put the oil or butter into a large skillet over medium-low heat. When oil is heated, or when butter is melted, quickly warm the flour tortillas on both sides.
Place slices of brisket down the middle of the tortilla. Top with cheese, onion slices, some jalapeño, some tomato, Cholula sauce, and top with lettuce. Carefully roll the tortilla around the filling, tucking the ends to prevent any of the filling from falling out.

Yeehaww!

China sez no to buying US T-bills

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In short the interest on US debt is $1.2 trillion and rising. Just the interest. Much of that debt is also OLD debt at lower yield and yields are rising fast.

Now of course somebody will say USD will NOT collapse it will still remain dominant etc.

But here’s the thing, it doesn’t need to collapse.

Western elections for instance. You do not need to convince ALL the voters of your position only the marginals. The 1–2% at the marginals can cause an entirely different party/government to be elected… hence, why political parties always target the marginals.

Small niggles become bigger problems very quickly.

This is a harsh truth

Which company will fall first: Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, or Microsoft?

Anyone of them can fall

I remember in 2010 when people spoke of BlackBerry being a trillion dollar valued company by 2020

It had a market value of $ 50.7 Billion at its peak

It made smartphones and had a Global share of nearly 16%

Then suddenly Apple and Google surged ahead. The Touch Screen ended the Mini QWERTY Keyboard and today BlackBerry survives on IOT patents

That’s the problem with Tech companies

A New Direction in Technology can render then null and void in six months after decades of existence

Hewlett Packard was once valued at around $ 130 Billion at its peak but today it’s around $ 27–28 Billion

That’s because nobody in 2010 expected that your super fast internet could be available on your smartphone that would render a lot of Laptops as vestigial

So let’s see

Google

They have a lot of services. A whole lot of services. Yet are they monetized?

Google makes 80% or more of its Revenue from Advertising

The entire Google infrastructure seems to be entirely oriented towards micro advertising

They have YouTube, Google Search Engine, Chrome to help them build enough customers to generate a huge advertising income

Google has a near monopoly today as far as YT and Chrome and the Search Engine are concerned and thus so far it’s advertising revenue is safe

Chance of a Fall :- Bleak in the next 5 years. Google seems safe. Unless a rival comes up in the next five years at a evolved scale either in searching or browsing or video streaming

Amazon

Amazon has AWS but the near monopoly is absent.

Google, Microsoft, Huawei, Alibaba, Oracle all compete with Amazon AWS

AWS is where the big profits are

The E Commerce generates moolah but not profits

The E Commerce is just the source for Data like Google Search Engine or Chrome

Chance of Fall :- AWS has a low tech threshold and will lose share to Huawei and Alibaba especially in the emerging economies minus India

I see their value falling in 5 years and their market cap.

Unless they step up their technological edge

Male Standards Are Frowned Upon

Michael Roberts

Michael Roberts has an interesting piece on China’s economy today. The disfunctional nature of western capitalism- so celebrated by the Ideologist/Economists- as it disappears up into its own orifice has reached the stage at which it pleads for help from the competition. The truth about the ‘market model’ is that it only works when it has evolved into a series of mutually reinforcing monopolies controlling the state and, through it, society. That’s what the capitalists call ‘freedom’- one chance in a million of becoming a dictator.

“The recent nonsense issued by the US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on China’s ‘overcapacity’ and ‘unfair subsidies’ to its industries is particularly pathetic. As Renaud Bertrand put it: “the so-called threat of China’s industrial overcapacity” is a buzzword that actually means that China is simply too competitive, and by asking it to address this, what Yellen is truly asking of China is akin to a fellow sprinter asking Usain Bolt to run a less fast because he can’t keep up.”

“….(Renaud) Bertrand..: “despite the very low prices for its EVs or solar panels, Chinese companies involved still make a profit (industrial profits are rising at double digit growth), and they DO charge higher prices abroad than at home. The competitiveness of Chinese companies is overwhelming: today, in scores of industries – like solar or EVs – there is simply no way for American or European companies to compete with Chinese ones. This is the real issue: Yellen and Western leaders are afraid that if things keep going, China will simply eat everyone’s lunch.”

“China is the only country in the world that produces all categories of goods classified by the World Customs Organization (WCO). This gives it a key advantage when it comes to end prices: when you want to build something in China you can literally find the entire supply chain for it at home. Bertrand: “China has become an innovation powerhouse. In 2023 it filed roughly as many patents as the rest of the world combined and it’s now estimated to lead 37 out of the 44 critical technologies for the future. All this too has implications when it comes to the final prices of its products.”….

https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/04/10/chinas-unfair-overcapacity/

Posted by: bevin | Apr 10 2024 15:28 utc | 12

This Is How You Deal With Pronoun Warriors

Spicy Meatball Burritos

Yield: 5 to 6 servings

Ingredients

2 pounds ground beef
1 large green bell pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large onion, diced
1/4 tablespoon salt
4 tablespoons chili powder
2 eggs
1 tablespoon parsley
1 cup brown rice (pre-cooked for 15 minutes)
2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 teaspoon chili powder
6 to 8 (10 to 12 inch) flour tortillas

Instructions

In a large bowl, combine ground beef, bell pepper, garlic, onion, salt, chili powder, eggs, parsley and brown rice. Mix well.
Roll into balls the size of a large walnut. Set aside.
In a large skillet, add tomato sauce, water and chili powder. Bring to a simmer, then add meatballs and continue simmering for 40 to 50 minutes, stirring occasionally.
When done, fill tortillas and serve with your favorite salsa.
You may wish to garnish with lettuce and tomato.

What’s the hardest truth of life?

1. Everyone is a whore. We just sell different parts of ourselves.

2. If it’s free, you’re the product.

3. Comparison is the thief of joy.

4. Nostalgia is a liar.

5. A person is smart, but people are dumb.

6. Marrying the wrong person can destroy you.

7. A pessimist is only a well informed optimist.

8. If people could put rainbows in cages, they would.

9. No one is interested in your suffering until you succeed.

10. Blood means shit. Pick your own family.

11. The world is run by the 1% and most of us are just living in it.

12. Sometimes you are the bad guy.

13. It’s never a stranger who betrays you.

14. In a relationship, love is not enough.

15. Love is not all you need.

16. It’s better not to be bitter knowing the above.

My Marriage Is A Graveyard

MARIA ZAKHAROVA:

“Zelensky stated that Kiev has become a hostage of the electoral process in the U.S.

And there were no elections in the U.S. before 2024, right? Or is it that the presidential elections that did not take place in Ukraine have been moved to the U.S.?

I understand that Zelensky wants to think that he is the only one, and everything revolves around him, but no. He is just one line in a long list of victims of the ‘American elections,’ or, more precisely, of the American system.

One of those who was firmly convinced that the States was their allies.

In South Vietnam, for example, they understood this back in the 60s.

There was a girl – the first beauty of South Vietnam, Tran Le Xuan, who was popularly called Madame Nhu, as she was married to Ngo Dinh Nhu, the younger brother and chief advisor to the president of South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem.

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Ngo Dinh Diem and Ngo Dinh Nhu – leaders of South Vietnam – were supported by the Americans during the war.

Despite the fact that the Vietnamese conflict was going on – an ugly and bloody offspring of the French colonial system – Washington promised Ngo Dinh Diem and Ngo Dinh Nhu all-round assistance.

The Americans actively contributed to the tragic division of the country – the conflict in the former French colonies was profitable for them.

Doesn’t this remind Zelensky of anything?

The U.S. treated the leaders of South Vietnam so tenderly that in 1961, the Vice President of the U.S., Lyndon B. Johnson, arrived in Saigon. Later, as president, he would send hundreds of thousands of Americans to die in Vietnam. At that time, Johnson called Diem the ‘Asian Winston Churchill.’

Similarly, the Americans hyped up an ambitious drug addict from Bankova, crowning him ‘leader of free Ukraine.’

What happened to the ‘allies’ of Washington – Ngo Dinh Diem and Ngo Dinh Nhu – afterward? They were killed.

General Duong Van Minh, considered one of the most loyal military leaders, led a coup on November 1, 1963, during which the top leadership of South Vietnam was arrested and executed by order of the putschists.

Only by chance did Ngo Dinh Nhu’s wife, Tran Le Xuan, not suffer, as she was abroad. It was then that ‘Madame Nhu’ uttered the sacramental phrase:

‘Whoever has the Americans as allies does not need enemies.’

And this phrase turned out to be prophetic.

In 1975, it turned out that the Americans knew about the impending coup. They could have warned their allies, saved the president of South Vietnam and his team, but, just as the French did not prevent the genocide in Rwanda, so the Americans ‘found it inappropriate’ to stop the military putsch.

There is a version that the degree of American involvement was even greater – they inspired the coup, removing the president through the hands of the military.”

Excerpt from the message posted by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on her Telegram channel, April 7, 2024.

You’ll be fine

Paula Scanlan SLAMS SJW With Facts on Gender

Raspberry Cream Cheese Brownies

Yield: 36 brownies

Ingredients

1 box Betty Crocker Supreme Brownie mix (chocolate syrup pouch included)
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup raspberry preserves
1 ounce unsweetened baking chocolate
1 tablespoon butter

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom only of 13 x 9 inch baking pan.
Stir brownie mix, chocolate syrup, water, oil and eggs in medium bowl until well blended. Spread in pan.
Bake for 28 to 30 minutes.
Cool completely before frosting.
Mix cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar and preserves; spread over brownies.
Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Melt chocolate and butter over low heat, stirring frequently; drizzle over brownies.
Refrigerate for about 1 hour.

What actually happens if a customer in a restaurant refuses to pay for his meal (ex: he didn’t read the prices)?

“Stop that woman!”

As a bartender on a resort island throughout my twenties, I’ve had my fair share of hit and runs. At a certain point you start to get a clear vibe from certain mischievous vacationers always trying to run away with a little bit more.

This particular day, I could see it coming. Beautiful weather, friendly customers in a socially inviting environment. Perfect time to strike!

It was happy hour and I didn’t feel it necessary to take credit cards to keep tabs open. This one lady kept blasting about how she knows the owner and has been coming there for blah blah years.

Dead giveaway that you suck.

The vile woman’s happy hour tab soared past the others and her confidence grew with each sip.

“Would you like another one Natalie?”

Surprised that I remembered her name, she smiled and asked if I had an ash tray. I gave her one and told her where she was allowed to smoke… all along she stared at her phone, not caring about my directions.

“I’ll be right back.” She lied.

That’s when the happy hour soured.

This wasn’t my first rodeo and I knew I would feel terrible if I had misjudged this person but i immediately walked from behind the bar into the kitchen and out the back door. I slowly walked down the stairs out, around the corner and out front to the parking lot; just in time to step in front of her car as she was making her getaway!

I stuck my hand out, pretended I was on the phone with police and received pay in full plus a rather large tip from this terrified lady who totally ‘just forgot’ to pay her tab.

I’m a bartender and All we have is our dignity!

Not today Natalie.

Black Man Apologizes For HATING On Passport Bros

What’s the most savage way you’ve seen someone get fired?

Oh man do I have a story for you. I didn’t see it, but I heard it from multiple people, including the man himself.

Once upon a time, I was a recruiter in the barcode and data collection industry. Honeywell was a company we recruited out of all of the time. Out of nowhere we heard that Honeywell was losing employees like crazy. I’m talking sailors jumping off a sinking ship. They weren’t being laid off, they were leaving the company in droves.

Apparently, there was a man, let’s call him Mr. Wilson, who was a salesman for Honeywell. Mr. Wilson had a customer come up to him and say, “hey, I have a couple of warehouses. I need barcode scanners and printers for inventory. Give me all you got.” It was a little known company at the time called Amazon. Mr. Wilson delivered the goods, and the next year Amazon began to grow. More warehouses, more inventory, don’t worry, we got a guy at Honeywell who is our sales rep and he treats us wonderfully! We’ll give him a call and he can help get the warehouses setup.

Fast forward a few years, Mr. Wilson is doing SO well selling to this customer, Honeywell rewards him by making him the sole man over the Amazon account at Honeywell. The orders for Honeywell products are so large at this point that it’s over a billion dollars a year. Mr. Wilson can’t do that himself so he’s given a staff of 200 plus employees just to satisfy Amazon’s needs for Honeywell scanners.

Fast forward to 2022. Honeywell has a new president. This president thinks he knows everything, and likes to feel important. So he starts butting into Mr. Wilson’s dealings with Amazon; negotiating things, talking to the reps at Amazon, over promising and under delivering to Amazon with unrealistic deadlines for Honeywell products to be delivered, etc. Mr. Wilson boldly told the president of the company, and the VP and new CEO more than once, that he was rewarded this account, and he knows what he’s doing, and that them over promising and under delivering was going to kill their relationship with Amazon. And he alone has the rapport with Amazon, and the president is ruining the credibility of Honeywell by lying to their client about how much they can sell and deliver to Amazon. You can imagine how well that went. They told him to go piss up a rope. He’s an employee, they are the big shots, and they can do whatever the hell they want and if he don’t like it he can go work somewhere else.

Fast forward a little further. The president over promised and under delivered again. They couldn’t get the thousands of scanners in the deadline the president promised, which he had no business doing anyway as Mr. Wilson had his boots on the ground and had it covered. Honeywell screwed Amazon. So Amazon switched to another company for their inventory needs and dropped Honeywell like a brick. Did the president take responsibility? Nope.

Fast forward a couple weeks later. Honeywell is having a big corporate party to award their top performers. Wine and food, giving out Rolex watches and other expensive gifts for exceeding sales goals, the works. The President of Honeywell gets up and gives a speech recognizing Mr. Wilson’s accomplishments over 15 years of service at Honeywell. He brags on him for his hard work and dedication, and gives him his award for millions of dollars in Honeywell equipment sold that year. The place applauds. Mr. Wilson is a well known overachiever in the company and is loved by many there. He accepts his award at the podium.

Then, in front of EVERYONE, the President says, “oh, and one more thing Mr. Wilson. For losing the Amazon account, you’re fired.” In. Front. Of. Everyone. The place is STUNNED. Mr. Wilson is then escorted from the premises by security in front of God and everyone attending. His staff was liquidated as well. All 200 some employees in one swoop. All at a celebration for salespeople who did their job above and beyond.

This humiliating, cold hearted, vengeful, extremely heavy handed authority and show of massive ego set off a big chain reaction. People that were there realized then that the company was in trouble with their leadership and that the time had come to look for another job. And I mean now. Folks who were there began the job search in private the next day. The news of what happened spread like a prairie fire, and soon others began putting their resumes on LinkedIn. It became industry known and Honeywell took a serious hit to their reputation. We helped lots of employees find work elsewhere after that little fiasco.

I eventually heard this story so much from employees, one suggested that I get ahold of Mr. Wilson myself whom this fella was a friend of. He was out of work, he’d be the one needing a job more than anyone. So he gave me Mr. Wilson’s number and I gave him a call. Lo and behold it was 100% true. He saved most of his money from his career and was sitting on several million dollars through selling to Amazon so he wasn’t hurting financially. He was effectively retired at age 52. But he was so disheartened and bitter about how he was treated he was over the thought of ever working again as a salesman. However he did send me his resume and told me if I ever came across an exciting project that needed a leader to give him a call.

I never was able to find that exciting project for Mr. Wilson but I kept his resume on my windowsill by my desk until I left that job, mainly as a reminder that no matter how good of an employee you are or how much money you make, a bad boss can ruin everything. And that’s exactly why I left my short lived job as a recruiter and became self-employed again.

Why Black Men Are DONE Being DISRESPECTED By Black Women

What is the wittiest reply to a credit card promotional email sent by a bank?

In 2008, a Russian man named Dmitry Agarkov recieved a credit card promotional email from Tinkoff Bank. At first glance, it offered an interest rate of 13% and the credit limit was good too. So, Dmitry decided to look over the enclosed contract to see if it was really worth it.

Dmitry was going though the document when he was quite shocked to find that at the bottom of one of the page there was a fine print which read that the actual interest rate was 45% instead of 13%.

Most of us would have been a little annoyed for wasting our time, but Dmitry decided to play an elaborate prank…

Dmitry took the contract that the bank had enclosed and uploaded it into his computer. He then took the 45% interest rate and dropped it to 0, removed the credit limit, and added that the customer “is not obliged to pay any fees and charges imposed by bank tariffs.”

To top it all off, he added terms that said each time the bank tried to change one of the terms of the contract, they would be obligated to pay $90,000 and if they tried to cancel it, they’d have to pay $180,000. Dmitry printed out the contract, signed it, and sent it off to the bank.

He never expected to hear back from the bank, after all it was a joke. But to Dmitry’s surprise he recieved the credit card along with the signed contract from the bank.

He somehow became the owner of world’s best credit card.

Over the next 2 years, Dmitry put the card to use. He didn’t buy expensive cars or trips around the world, though he would have been well within his rights to do so. He just used it as an average person would do with a normal credit card.

Tinkoff bank tried to terminate Dmitry’s credit card after he’d been late making the minimum required payment. The bank sued him for $1300 in unpaid fees and credit card debt (This was just an excuse made by the bank)

As the proceeding began in the court, the bank argued that they did not read the document sent by Dmitry. But Ironically, the judge ruled that since both the parties had signed the contract, it was valid legally. That’s how Dmitry won the case.

Dmitry didn’t stop at this victory , he made a clever use of the clauses in this contract and counter-sued the bank with $720000 (8x $90000 ) for making changes in the original contract.

Since the court had already ruled that the contract was valid , the bank was forced to approach him with a settlement offer (thousands of dollars) that Dmitry accepted and the bank also provided him with a credit card that gave him upto 30% cash back in some purchases.

Hunter Hunted.

What were the Four Great Ancient Capitals of ancient China?

China had a lot of capitals over the years, both great and otherwise. Four is a pretty arbitrary number. Here are ten:

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Four great capitals

The capitals Beijing, Nanjing, Luoyang, and Xi’an (Chang’an) have been designated “great.”

Aside from a few brief periods, Beijing has been China’s capital since the Yuan dynasty of 1271–1368. Marco Polo called it Cambuluc.

Nanjing was a capital of the Six Dynasties from 220 to 589. It was the capital of Nationalist China from 1927 to 1949.

Luoyang was the capital of the Eastern Zhou from 510 BC to 314 BC and the Eastern Han from AD 25 to 190.

Xi’an was a terminus of the silk road. (The other terminus is Byzantium.) It was capital during the Western Zhou (1046-771 BC), Qin (221–206 BC), Western Han (206 BC-AD 9), and Tang dynasties (618-684, 705-904).

Three near-great capitals

There were several other capitals that I would consider to be at least near great. Anyang (Yin) was a capital from 1250 to 1046 BC during the Shang dynasty.

Kaifeng was capital during the Song in 960–1127. This capital was known for magnificent art. Here is an example:

main qimg 21e3d51b8f540a3753e528f5c83b2880

Erlitou is a Bronze Age site in Henan. Perhaps it was a capital in pre-historic times. The city flourished from 1900 to 1500 BC.

What is the best random conversation you overheard?

Pretty sure I shared this story before but it still makes me giggle:

Many years ago I was working as a security guard at an indoor market in the city I live in and was doing my rounds, just wandering between the various stalls. Walking towards me were a pair of middle age, middle class English Mums. And I mean proper, tweed skirt wearing, hair done to go to the shops, practical hand bag carrying, mums.

As I walked past them I heard the one in the wax jacket say to her friend

“and then he put it in my bum, and that was brilliant”

I was fucking done, I ended up on the floor of an empty stall crying with laughter.

What is the worst mistake that a girl can commit in her life?

I was travelling in SETC Bus from Trichy to Chennai to catch early morning flight. I boarded the bus around 9.30 PM and went for sleep as was badly tired, seats are almost same as shown in below pic.

main qimg dda95f000db778b29ab9c855838d1793 lq

I was half sleep and found someone’s toe was touching my lower back through small gap in seat. I avoided and remained sleeping, it happened multiple times and I thought once bus will stop somewhere in middle I would tell the person to sit properly.

To my surprise now entire leg was almost pushing me and at this point I lost my patience and ready to confront the guy and stood from seat and looked back.

It was a teen girl with small bag in her lap, she looked B.Tech first year student who took her lectures and leaving for her home in long weekend. She was in deep sleep and tossing in the seat, trying to stretch herself. My anger turned in to compassion. I again slept keeping some space for her leg on my seat.

It suddenly reminded me that something similar has happend in a flight where a middle aged man returning from a funeral with his family, he was extremly tired and immediately fell into sleep even told attendant not to wake him up even for food. A famous teen aged actress blamed him for molestation as the man’s leg touched her. She made a video and posted on Instagram. Within some hours the poor man was on every news channel with stamp of molestor. Police arrested him in no time, his family voice was unheard.

Later many co-passenger came forward and told that The man didn’t misbehave. But other side of the story was nowhere in the news.

This is the worst kind of mistake a girl can make. It can spoil someone’s family, life and can bring life long scar.

What is your take on why so many men don’t date?

I can’t speak for other men but I’d be surprised if some of my reasons don’t resonate with other single men. My marriage ended 8.5 years ago and I haven’t dated for the last 8.

The one date I had in that 1st six months was arranged via Tinder and the whole experience felt unnatural to me and was with a woman I would never have asked out if I’d met her first. I took her to lunch at a good restaurant and it became obvious very quickly that she was looking for a man to finance a lifestyle that she simply couldn’t support on her own income. I left the date feeling duped and it put me off dating apps.

Since then my life has become such that I simply don’t get the opportunity to get to know any women. I drive a lorry at night and my only social life is meeting my kids or an occasional beer with my old mates and neither is conducive to meeting someone new. Beyond that I spend a lot of time at the gym and social media has taught me that approaching a woman there would make me a creep.

So there is little opportunity.

Then there is the other, more invidious impact of social media. I use this site and Instagram and am fed a constant stream of women criticising how men think, what we do and how we act and frankly I had enough of that towards the end of my marriage. It seems that many women simply don’t like men beyond our sexual and financial use and I’m not prepared to risk my peaceful life in the hope that I find someone who will see me as more than that.

In other words, I have little motivation.

Finally there is my psyche. I’m attracted to emotional intelligence, strong morals and character and I assume, rightly or wrongly, that the majority of women like that will either be already taken or single by choice and I’m not prepared to kiss lots of frogs to find my princess.

Unless a remarkable women falls out of the sky I will be single for whatever time I have left and I’m perfectly comfortable with that thought.

Casablanca First Time Watching Movie Reaction

Glack and Glan

I have been using ChatGPT to locate old science fiction stories. You know, those short stories that I used to have in my anthology collections. So I went and asked it…

And here’s a few more…

I will find the stories on the internet and transpose them into HTML or PDF and place them in my SF section for you all to enjoy.

Today…

What is the sleaziest, dirtiest trick an auto insurance company tried to pull on you? Did they succeed?

My son had just passed his driving test (aged 17) and we were thinking of getting him a new car, as we had points we could use because of our credit card, which basically meant we would get about £2,500 off. But I knew insurance cover would be costly at his age, so I rang my insurance company to get a quote before we got the car, explaining we hadn’t got it yet. The quote was good at about £900 so we went ahead and purchased the car. The process took a few weeks. When I rang to actually take out the insurance I was told the cost would be around £1,800, about double what I’d been told before. I explained about the previous estimate, but the woman was very rude, saying that was impossible and implying I was lying. I was getting very angry but the problem was, when I get angry I become tearful – it’s very frustrating as it makes me look pathetic! But then my 17 year old son steps in, takes the phone and calmly told the woman he was giving her an hour to check the phone recording from my previous conversation, and then expected her to phone back. In the meantime we looked online and found an even better price for his insurance. She did ring back, very apologetic and explained the previous assistant had left under a cloud and that the information he had given was incorrect. She could offer a price of about £1,200. I declined and told her I’d also be moving my own insurance to another company. My son had been working for a customer complaints department and knew exactly what to say to get things done. He’s very persuasive but never shouts. He once was about to be fired for taking a day off sick and then going clubbing – he was spotted at the club by someone. He told the guy about to fire him that the reason he skived off was that he was bored and if they gave him more responsibilities he wouldn’t have felt the need to abscond. They ended up promoting him! Just the sort of person you need in such situations.

In what areas are Chinese education better or superior to American education? If none, how did China get knowledge to outrun the west in scientific and technological manufacturing?

The US once had a superb education system

It was based on self learning rather than rote feeding by the teacher and the system

I so much admired the US system especially when I saw how they prepared for SATS on their own through Study Groups

They had so many Projects and so many Assignments and a lot of Homework that helped students learn on their own and thus understand the fundamentals so well

Then they ruined it all

By Busing

Busing is when they force a bunch of poor kids, mainly black kids or also hispanic to join the school

They force some good teachers out and force a bunch of mediocre teachers (mostly black or hispanic now also gay or transgender)

The result

The Standards come crashing
Schools start dealing in Meth and Ecstacy and you have Gangs now with small Switchblades
Math standards have come down badly

Not to mention, the blatant APPEASEMENT to the black community in many places :-

Slavery covers a huge chunk of history with many apologies
Math standards have crashed
English standards have crashed
12 Chapters once covered in Normal Physics is now covered only by AP Physics (Advanced Physics)

Chinas Education was originally entirely based on Rote Preparation like India’s with very little self learning

A Lot of predatory Tution Centres cropped up and destroyed Self preparation even more

Luckily Xi Jingping has obliterated the Private Tutorial Industry and has set steps to enhance self learning

So China is moving towards a US like self learning system with lesser reliance on Tutions

However their emphasis on Exams and their Exam oriented preparation is a problem that needs to be relaxed and changed to a Comprehension oriented approach

India has the same challenge

Let’s hope China deals with this as fast as possible and India follows suit

Bottom line is like in everything US Education Standards are declining by the day

Chinese Standards while not up to top scratch are improving by the day

Situational awareness

What is the worst thing a woman can do to a man?

Warning! Maybe disturbing to read, contains some details of a horrible tragedy.

This is a very extreme case. Fortunately, it doesn’t happen frequently.

One of my uncle, my mom’s cousin, was married to a very beautiful and immature woman.

She had the temper and tantrums of a 10-year old girl. She never grew up.

She would ask or rather demand my uncle for expensive clothes, cosmetics or jewellery quite frequently.

She would not take no for an answer, if he expressed his inability to buy whatever she had asked for she would say that she will leave him right then.

Uncle would take loans to buy gifts for her.

Her tantrums got worse and she would stop eating for days, bang her head on the wall or pretend to slit her wrist in order to get what she wanted.

One night, they were packing to leave for a wedding in another city the next day when she placed a demand for an expensive diamond necklace and refused to listen to anything that my uncle had to say. She wanted a diamonds necklace with an emerald pendant to wear with her green saree at the wedding.

This time my uncle got furious and left her in their bedroom to get some fresh air outside.

He was walking in their yard when he saw smoke coming out of the bedroom window.

He rushed inside to see his wife on flames. He rushed towards the bathroom to get a bucket of water but his wife grabbed him and hugged him tightly from behind. She made sure he burns with her.

What she did next gives everyone in the family shivers to this day. She placed her burning hand on his genitals and said “This, so that you will never be able to marry again in case you survive”.

The worst part is their two daughters who were around 6 and 9 years old, saw all of of this. They rushed to call neighbors.

My uncle suffered 60 percent burns on his body and was in the hospital for almost an year. His wife died before making it to the hospital.

She died what must have been an extremely painful death for a piece of jewelry.

She made sure her husband either dies with her or remains bedridden for the rest of his life.

She scarred her daughters’ little hearts for life.

All for her whims and fancies.

What was the biggest risk that Bill Gates took when starting out?

Bill Gates comes from a privileged background.

His father was William Henry Gates II

, a lawyer and founding partner of a large law-firm as well as the president of the Washington State Bar association.

His mother was Mary Maxwell Gates

, a businesswoman and the first woman on the First Interstate Bank of Washington’s board of directors. She was the daughter of J. W. Maxwell, the president of the national bank.

His family was just about as privileged as it’s possible to be.

He had a multi-million dollar trust-fund to fall back on, long before starting any of his companies. It’s true that he had phenomenal success and that a huge fraction of the money he has was earned by his companies, not inherited.

But risk?

Bill Gates has never faced the slightest personal risk. It’s risk-free to drop out of Harvard and start your own software-company when you’ve got millions of dollars of cushioning to fall back on if the company goes belly-up. In his own words: “… if things [at Microsoft] hadn’t worked out, I could always go back to school. I was officially on [a] leave [of absence].”

[1]

Yes he could. If school also didn’t work out, if finding a job also didn’t work out, he’d still have the trust-fund and a more comfortable life than most of us could ever dream to have.

This isn’t specific to Bill Gates, it’s true for a large fraction of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs don’t have a special gene for risk—they’re rich kids with safety nets

Amaretto Coffee Brownies

Yield: 24 bars

Ingredients

1 (19.5 ounce) box Pillsbury Rich & Moist Fudge Brownie Mix
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup milk
2 eggs
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 (7 ounce) jar Marshmallow Creme
3 tablespoons instant amaretto-flavored coffee powder
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 13 x 9 inch pan.
In large bowl, combine brownie mix and butter; mix at low speed for 45 to 60 seconds or until crumbly. Reserve 1 cup of the mixture in small bowl for topping.
Add milk and eggs to remaining brownie mixture; mix until smooth.
Spread batter evenly in greased pan.
In food processor bowl with metal blade or in medium bowl, combine cream cheese, Marshmallow Creme and coffee powder; process until smooth.
Spread evenly over brownie mixture.
Add walnuts to reserved 1 cup brownie mixture; mix well.
Sprinkle evenly over cream cheese mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 to 45 minutes or until edges are firm to the touch.
Cool for 1 1/2 hours or until completely cooled.
Cut into bars.
Store in refrigerator.

Notes

High Altitude Instructions (Above 3500 Feet): Add 1/2 cup flour to dry brownie mix. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 to 50 minutes.

Woke girl is Broke

How do I become the guy that everyone notices in the room?

Always dress neat, clean and simple.
Sit/stand straight and hold your chin up.
Sit/stand in a central position in the room.
Make sure you don’t look lost or bored, be energetic and keep your hands busy with something (a glass of drink, a cigar, lighter, etc…)
Don’t be shy; observe your surroundings.
Listen more than you speak, this way when you start talking everyone would immediately pay attention.
Speak thoughtfully and clearly, mind your tone, and back your opinions with strong evidence and statistics.
Be a good story teller, but keep them short and end with a punch line.
Be quick with jokes, sarcasm and one-liners and keep a straight face while delivering them.
Don’t easily get excited/frustrated during conversations.
Be polite and well mannered.
Don’t be afraid to express yourself.
Look them in the eye.
Don’t be ultra agreeable, learn to say “no” whenever you need to, this way people will find you more intimidating.

This is why

Is the Chinese Sinovac vaccine fake?

It’s been used all over the world and seems to legitimately prevent serious cases of COVID-19. If it can do that, then it is certainly not fake.

Sinovac used a tried-and-true “inactivated virus” methodology (using fragments of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that cannot make someone sick by themselves) to develop their vaccine, and it doesn’t seems to be quite as effective as some of the Western vaccines, but it does prevent deadly cases of COVID-19. Plus, it’s easier to store and transport, which makes it an option in parts of the world where the state-of-the-art Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines cannot be logistically rolled out. My wife and I got Moderna and we are grateful to have done so. But that’s not an option in developing countries because of the storage requirements of the mRNA vaccines. The Chinese vaccine can be stored in ordinary refrigerators and has a shelf life of up to three years. The mRNA vaccines have to be kept much colder and don’t last as long.

There is nothing wrong with using a proven technology as opposed to a cutting-edge one that had never been done before. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, developed by Janssen in the Netherlands, also uses an older, proven technology—the same one used by the Russian Sputnik-V and the European Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, in fact. All three of them took an adenovirus that is harmless to humans and appended the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to it. The body recognizes the spike protein and if later infected by actual SARS-CoV-2, it will already know how to attack it.

We’re trying to stop people from dying and also trying to stop the spread of this virus so it will quit mutating. Passing out disinformation about vaccines from countries we have political differences with is not helpful. Sinovac saves lives. Sputnik-V saves lives. In the West, we may prefer other options, but the efforts of biotech scientists to create these vaccines should not be denigrated or lied on, no matter where they are from.

American Men no longer have a life worth living.

What was the most memorable case of “instant karma” you saw when an impatient driver was laying on the horn?

I was a high school teacher, and I was driving back to school after supper to get some work done. Not unusual–most teachers have to do extra work at night. You can get a lot of stuff done in your classroom when nobody else is around.

On my route to school, there was this little Baptist church where cops commonly parked to catch speeders. They were there that night, but I wasn’t speeding.

I eventually finished my work and headed for home. As I exited the school parking lot, some kids rounded the corner behind me going about 60 mph. They were angry I was in their way. They honked, yelled, and tailgated me for a couple blocks. I maintained my speed of 3 or 4 mph over the limit (35), then as I approached the church, I pulled carefully into a left turn lane to let them pass. They hung their heads out the window, yelled obscenities, displayed their middle fingers, and threw an empty bottle as they flew around me. The bottle missed, thankfully.

As they passed the church, here came the cops. Those flashing red and blue lights sure were pretty that night behind the kid’s car. I couldn’t resist honking as I drove by.

Democrats are waking up!

Have you ever said something to a car salesman that left him speechless?

“We’re here to buy a car, not a financing plan.”

A few years ago when we were looking for a car for my wife we had this salesman who simply wouldn’t listen when we told him our price range and said we’d be paying cash. He kept pushing finance plans. I understand they get a bonus…a kickback, really…for selling such plans, but we were upfront about not wanting one. We’re pretty careful with money, never having had much of it, and we don’t want payments.

The car was for my wife, so I was staying mostly quiet, but this guy just wouldn’t let up. I could tell my wife was getting a tad exasperated. So I was sitting there in the backseat and we’re on a test drive and my wife asked something about the car and this guy saw it as an opportunity to sell us something that we’d only have to make small payments on, seeing how our down payment would be large. It was about the tenth time he’d tried to sell us financing.

That’s when I said, “We’re here to buy a car, not a financing plan.” My wife downshifted from fourth to second and pulled a fast u-turn and drove back to the dealership. I was actually kind of surprised she didn’t use the park brake to turn around…she was steaming. She parked beside our car, my wife gave him back his card, and we left.

The salesman never said a word from the time I spoke until the time we left.

How did ancient Chinese Emperors govern China given the poor communication technology and China’s huge land mass and population?

How did ancient Chinese Emperors govern China given the poor communication technology and China’s huge land mass and population?

To make matters worse, the Emperor is always living inside his palace and cut out from the people with lots of tempting distractions such as the hundreds of concubines to have fun with. How does he govern such a huge country?

First of all, ancient China had pretty good communication technology. One of the best at that time. A 3,000-year-old system, built since the Zhou dynasty, where the Chinese built a “postal office” (驛站) every 50 – 200 km along any road, and the “post-master” maintained guest houses, a team of couriers, and a stable of horses. Official letter were carried by couriers from the originator to the next “postal office”, got a change of courier and horse and went on to the next “postal office”. Express mails could get from the furthest end of China to Beijing in 5 days. Confucius once commented that “one’s reputation spreads faster than the mail (德之流行，速于置邮而传命)”, so you see, official mail system was definitely a fixture of life even in his time (~ 500 BC). In fact, the founding father of the Han Dynasty in 206 BC, Emperor Gaozu of Han, was such a post-master before he rebelled and won the civil war.

By Tang dynasty in ~ 600 AD, there were over 1600 postal offices, and the Chinese government employed over 20,000 people to deliver mails, with the “normal”, “priority”, and “express” mail classifications, and each mail had to be signed off on time and signature of the courier, with a whole set of laws to punish those who missed delivery or tempered with the content. By Yuan Dynasty ~ 1200 AD, the government employed over 300,000 horses for mail delivery. Here is well-preserved “postal office” from ancient China.

Secondly, emperors who didn’t go out of the Forbidden Palace usually occurred when the dynasty was kinda dying. In the early part of the dynasty, usually the emperor had to run around and do some real work. For example, all of Kangxi Emperor

’s sons had to wake up at 4 am everyday, and start school at 5 am. When they reached adulthood, they apprenticed at various government departments. Like son #1 and # 14 served in the department of defense, and both went out to the border to fight. Son #3 served in the department of education, son #8 served in the department of treasury, son #4, the one who was eventually selected as the next emperor, served in the department of engineering, worked on the flood control of the Yellow River, and did his rotation in the department of defense, of education and of agriculture.

Thirdly, like others have said, the emperor was just one person. Most of the times just one very ordinary person, and so of course he/she couldn’t run China. Ancient China was mostly run by the Cabinet and the bureaucracy manned by the scholar-officials, and the most important job of the emperor, was to keep the Cabinet members from politically killing each other, figuratively-speaking. On the other hand, if the emperor had some weird ideas that were opposed by the entire Cabinet, the Cabinet had the right to return the emperor’s orders un-opened, meaning that, well, the emperor’s orders actually couldn’t go out of his bedroom unless the Cabinet agreed. That’s why there were a number of emperors in China’s history who had to resort to writing secret code to their in-laws or followers, with something like “Help! I’m kinda arrested by my ministers!” Well, that sucked for everyone. Incompetent emperors should at least have the good sense to stay aloof and follow the advice of the Cabinet. If the emperor didn’t want to end up like your lovely goldfish in the pot, he had to run around do some real work and build up his own followers and credentials BEFORE he became emperor. You see, the Cabinet members usually started their careers as one of the top-three scholars in the national exams, served 30 or 40 years in various government posts, and gained enough political clout to be elected into the Cabinet by their fellow bureaucrats. Their aggregate IQ would be many times that of the emperor. However, the emperor had one advantage over his Cabinet members, which was that he represented the WHOLE COUNTRY. He existed to remind his Cabinet members that they should never run the country for their own selfish interest. They must compromise with each other for the common good. That’s why the Cabinet didn’t really want to get rid of the emperor, ’cause without him, one of the Cabinet members would surely try to kill off the rest in order to become an emperor himself.

The Cabinet in ancient China was usually composed of the following officials: the heads of the department of personnel, treasury, rites (combination of education minister and foreign minister), engineering, military, and justice. This structure was basically cloned at provincial level and then further at city level, gradually shrunk to one person who was responsible for everything at the lowest village-level. Nine levels of bureaucracy separate the lowest to the highest, and most officials spent their entire life to climb this ladder. These officials, which were staffed by those who passed the imperial examinations, were constrained by three layers of monitoring:

The officials were not allowed to work within 500 miles of their hometown. This was done to reduce the official’s opportunity for corruption by doing things that benefit their own families and clans. Basically an anti-nepotism measure. Also, officials who were connected could not work in the same place or in the same department. This is still done in China today.
The officials had a interim review once every 3 years, and a thorough review once every 6 years, after the review, the officials would get a new post to some place else. The official was evaluated on his KPI (key performance index), and if his KPI was good, he would get a good evaluation and maybe a good or more important posting, or even a promotion. If his KPI was bad, he would get a demotion to a worse posting. So you see, the one who really runs China, since time immemorial, is the KPI. The review was done by a team composed of the department of personnel and the incoming official to replace you, so obviously the new guy had every incentive to get a thorough understanding of what was going on, ’cause if he didn’t, and the game blew up in his face later, then it would be his fault. This system is still done in China today, except now the officials get an annual review, and get a new posting once every 5 years. The transfer of power/posting once every 5 years is still a very big deal, with the CCP acting as the old personnel department, and now the officials have to write a personal review/report once a month to the Party, instead of once a year.
There was a Department of Rules, whose sole job was to make sure the moral characters of BOTH the emperor and the bureaucracy were sound. Officials from this department fanned out across the country to observe officials while they were discharging their duty. They had the right to be sitting next to the official in everything to observe. If they found out that you were not respectful to your wife, your cousin three-times-removed committed crimes and you tried to cover it up, or you submitted fake report to the Court, they would indict you to the Court, and you would be called in to answer the charges. One of the favorite pastime for the Depart of Rules was to indict the emperor for various offences – not treating government reports which criticized the emperor with respect, not treating the emperor’s mother or teachers with respect, not treating all his wives evenhandedly, earthquakes or floods for no reason but must be the emperor’s fault, … – the point was to constantly remind the emperor that he had to follow rules like everybody else. Then the emperor had to write Public Apology to the People, which would be posted to every town in the country and be read out aloud by the local officials. This is still done in China today, by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection
. Any citizen can write to it reporting official misconduct, and they are obligated to investigate and discipline party officials. You can basically write to them if you just walk by some official and see him wearing an expensive watch.

So you see, lack of email wasn’t a problem for China. Lack of science and technology, corruption, and inter-party fights that elevated private interest above the national interest, on the other hand, had doomed a number of dynasties in Ancient China.

What is the best thing you saw someone do when they got fired from their job?

I worked for a law firm in Los Angeles many years ago. One of the legal secretaries in the Corporate Department was a gem: extremely competent, quiet, with enough knowledge and experience to know what permits, licenses and other paperwork needed to be filed for each deal. Like some legal secretaries, she knew as much about corporate deals as the attorneys she worked for.

For some reason, she was terminated. (It was a very political firm, and my guess is that she was let go by someone running a power play against her boss.)

Without her, her attorneys were helpless. What paperwork had been filed with the licensing boards? Had the necessary notices been placed in the newspaper? What was the status of this, that, and the other?

She had left her desk and files in order. There was no funny business. But only after she left did they realize how much she did to ensure that their multi-million-dollar deals went through smoothly, and how much they depended on her.

So of course they called her at home. HR, the partner she worked for, the associate she worked for, the attorney heading the Corporate Department, the firm’s Managing Partner… all with questions to find out the details they needed to know to finish the deals that had been in progress when they asked her to collect her personal effects and leave immediately.

To each person who called, she politely said:

“My professional relationship with your firm was severed at your option. I have nothing more to say to you. Good-bye.”

They were outraged — OUTRAGED — that she wouldn’t help them, but there was nothing they could do. Every time an attorney would grumble to support staff about the situation, we waited until he left the room and gave each other silent thumbs up.

She became a legend.

The truth about growing up for young men

What do you think of Janet Yellen’s “difficult conversations” about Ukraine during her visit to China?

Janet Yellen represents the interests of the US government and her words are official US policy.

Xi Jinping and the senior Chinese officials she met represent official Chinese policy.

The US government seems to think that it can dictate official Chinese policy, but it cannot if it runs counter to Chinese interests.

Normally, if the US wanted something from China, it should offer something else in return in order to start serious negotiations.

Any sign of that?

I don’t see any…

This epitomizes our generation in one video

OMG!

What life advice do people not take seriously enough?

I’m a doc of psychology who has talked to literally thousands of people, and these are 10 pieces of life advice I find that people do not take seriously enough:

“Don’t Make Decisions When You’re Angry” – I’ve seen people relapse on drugs, cheat on their spouses, get into physical fights, and quit their jobs simply because they were “angry.” Don’t do it.
“Be Yourself.” – So many people suffer because they feel pressure to be something they’re not. They can feel this pressure from parents, peers, co-workers, friends or even their significant others. I’ve seen women get breast implants because of this pressure, men marry women (when they are actually gay), and people going into careers they hate because it will make someone else happy. Be yourself, because being something else will make you miserable.
“Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.” – This is solid advice for a happy life. Choose your battles, and be able to let the little things go. Once you realize what “big things” are (cancer, financial hardship, etc.), you will wish you focused on the right things.
“Know Your Worth” – When you know your worth, you don’t put up with things that devalue you…and that is *very valuable.* It will impact what you’ll put up with in relationships, in your jobs, and in life. Knowing your worth has the ability to protect you from a lot of life’s struggles – if you act consistently with it.
“It’s Okay to Ask for Help.” – Yes! Do you know how many people I’ve talked to, that wished they would have gotten help earlier? It would have given them back *years* of their life…but instead they waited until they were at an absolute breaking point – losing opportunities, jobs, relationships, sometimes even their kids. Ask for help, and ask for help early.
“Who You Marry is One of the Most Important Decisions You’ll Make.” – Take this one seriously. You will literally have to see this person every day of your life, you will spend more time with them than anyone else…so make it someone uplifting, supportive and wonderfully fitting to you. You will also have a financial future largely impacted by their spending habits, earning, saving ability, etc.. Man or woman, divorce can devastate you emotionally and financially.
“Make Time for People You Love.” – Putting off seeing your grandmother or parents because you wanted to do other things might not seem like a big deal today…but one day it will be.
“The Best Time to Start is Now” – Whether saving for your future or trying to write that novel, start today. Time gets away from us very quickly, and before you know it 20 years have passed and you didn’t do those things you wanted to do. I have seen a lot of people who hold regrets…try not to have them.
“The Best Revenge is Living Well.” – So many people get stuck in grudges and anger that it messes up their own lives – especially emotionally. There is a great saying that states that “anger is something you carry for someone else’s mistakes” and it’s the truth. Leave those who have hurt you in the past, take care of your own needs, and live well. It does you no good to do otherwise.
“Treat Others the Way You’d Want to be Treated.” – This is certainly advice we don’t take seriously enough. If we all treated others how we’d wish to be treated, the world would certainly be a much better place for us all.

This is some of the life advice that I’ve certainly seen…

Why Men Don’t Want Modern Women or Feminists

Is America known for its inventions or for copying ideas from other countries?

No, they steal all the German rocket technologies and Medical technologies garnered from the defeated German and Japanese cruel experiments on life humans! The also keep the patent office vital information so every innovations can be stolen by them! Which they do regularly and called them their invention! China has the most patent rights registered in the U.S. patent rights office that the Congress has decided to de register these copy rights so that Americans and freely use the diligence and Hard work of the Chinese innovation free of charge! Shameful and despicable for being a thief yet calls others copy cat!

What should I absolutely not do when visiting your country?

Norway

Do not drink and drive. Not even a tiny little bit. We don’t find this funny. We stick people in jail for a first offence — even if you didn’t get as far as leaving the parking-lot. People in bars might physically fight you / wrestle keys from you to prevent you from driving drunk.
Do not wear shoes inside private homes. (there’s exceptions from this, but as a general rule)
People are pretty relaxed about nudity, and both men and women will for example change on public beaches without any attempt at covering themselves up. You are however expected to look away. (no-one will care if you glance, but please don’t STARE)
Do not unwrap flowers prior to giving them as a gift. (Germans do this)
Don’t ask people what church they attend. Most attend none, and asking this is seen as intrusive, rude and downright weird.
Don’t assume that “socialist” is a synonym for “evil”.
Don’t be insulted if people don’t seem to “respect you” for being somehow distinguished. People are very informal here and being on a first-name-basis with anyone short of the King is the norm. Even the prime-minister of Norway is most often referred to by first name; “Erna” (and previously: “Jens”)

What is the sleaziest, dirtiest trick an auto insurance company tried to pull on you? Did they succeed?

I had a 1993 Mustang 5.0 convertible, triple white and limited edition model. With certification that the was 1 of 500 the last of the produced fox bodies.

The car was immaculate, it took extremely good care of it, washed and waxed weekly, etc.

At about 26 months it got stolen.

I called the insurance; they said they had to wait 30 days to see if it would turn up — meanwhile they gave me a loaner. A Ford Aspire, the economy box of the economy boxes — my how the mighty have fallen.

Finally day 31 came and the insurance company called informing me that they were going to pay the car out in full, and that I needed to return the loaner.

They said they would be cutting me a check that day for $6,800. I told them no, that the car was clearly worth more than that. They then offered me $7,500. Again I told them no. They said that is all the car was worth; I told them that it was not a typical Mustang, it was certified by Ford as one of the last fox bodies and had collector value. They said that they would do some investigation and get back to me and I could continue to use the loaner.

About three days later the call me back saying that their best and final offer would be 10,000. Period.

Now onto the fun part, I told them that this was still not acceptable, and not two days before the car was stolen I had a quote for a trade-in on a Ford Cobra that was at $15,700 for my car.

Silence.

They guy then came back and said, fax me a copy of that document and hung up.

So I faxed the document over to them.

About a week went by, and the insurance called me back, the senior adjuster…

They told me that they had reviewed my case and would only offer me 11,000.

Okay, time to play hardball.

I said since you are refusing to pay my valid and documented value of my car, I am opting for my rights under state insurance law. (Yes during this time I looked it up.) I will not accept any cash payment, and I will opt for them to procure a replacement vehicle.

I told them they needed to find me a triple white 1993 fox body 5.0 Ford Mustang convertible with under 38k on the odometer and documented proof from Ford that this was the limited edition i.e. 1 of 500 of the last fox bodies. And that I expect them to present me with three options to choose from within the next 15 days as provided for by law.

I hung up.

Fifteen days later, they called back. They said that they would be writing me a check for $15,700 minus the 3k I still owed on the car.

I asked why they decided to change their minds. They begrudgingly admitted that they could not find any triple white Mustangs let alone a limited edition model. The closest they could come is a yellow limited edition model, but not one of the last 500 and the dealer was asking 18k for a car with 45k on the odometer.

I received the check in 24 hours.

That was the event where I stopped business from walking all over me.

Edit: Thanks for the upvotes and re-shares.

I do want to point out that should you ever be in a situation where they do want to total your car, make sure you find out your states insurance regulations.

In my state, you are entitled to either a cash value payment for your car, or a equal value replacement. This means that if I’m not happy with their cash offer I can opt for them to procure for me a same model, make with same options with similar mileage.

So make sure you know all your options before accepting that check.

Edit: After writing this in a fit of nostalgia I decided to see if I could find my old fox body for sale anywhere. I did find a few of the prior years 7up models for around 24 thousand and I did find one triple whit of my year just trashed and they were still asking 12 thousand.

This is bangin’

What is a brutal truth about life that needs to be said?

Everyone has an enemy. You dont have to hurt someone in order to gain an enemy. You might be the nicest person in the world and still have someone who prays for your downfall. An enemy stays close, super close. Watch everyone’s actions at all times. Don’t trust blindly.
You will never feel content if you compare your life to others. How successful they are, how rich they are or even how happy they are. You will only feel content if you focus on yourself and your growth.
Your mind can be poisonous if all you feed it is negativity. Be kind to yourself. You deserve it! We are far too critical of ourselves. Treat yourself the same way you would treat someone you love.
No matter how hard you try, failure is inevitable. But keep going. Persistence is everything. We don’t learn from winning but from our failures.
Some people are using us. Whether it’s for wealth, time passing, or even as a step for their success. Be attentive to how much you support others and people’s motives.
No one really cares about you (excluding family). Nobody is interested in your life journey. Nobody gives a toss. But that doesn’t mean you should stop your journey and fret about people not valuing you. Care about yourself. Look after yourself. Do it for you! Don’t woŕry what others think if they don’t care about you in the first place.
Grow thicker skin. Don’t take everything to heart. Your heart should not endure pain given by people who mean so little to you. Sometimes the ones that really matter do everything to keep you happy. Those who hurt you often are the toxic ones. It hurts but showing that you’re tough will take you a long way.

What’s the best lesson you heard from someone about human resources?

My friend works in HR for a Fortune 500 company. I asked him, “What is the most common phrase you hear when firing someone?”

Without missing a beat, he said it was some version of, “This was a bit unexpected.”

People get complacent and don’t realize their job is in jeopardy. They settle for half-assed work. They forget everything they do is being watched and judged, including their YouTube usage.

A mentor once told me, “It’s best to work like you are one strike from being fired and your boss is debating whether to keep you around.”

I could have learned this lesson in my first marriage. We both made assumptions about our status quo — until things slid beyond repair.

Accountability surrounds us and that’s a good thing.

With my relationships and career, I try to continually remind myself that, “All of this could go away at any moment.” It keeps me on my toes. It stops me from taking my time with older relatives for granted.

Shorpy fun

Fremont Street Los Vegas C 1958 0.preview

Rainbow – Stargazer | First Time Hearing | Vocal Coach Reaction

Chinese math education values practice and discipline.

Children in China start to learn multiplication during 2nd grade and are told to practice constantly. The strong moral tradition that exists in China means that there isn’t exactly a “strict or rigid” curriculum to follow. Students are motivated by parents and others to constantly practice to improve their skills. Middle and high school students often do over 15 hrs of math a week combining class lectures and homework.

In the classroom, students are told to solve and prove problems in front of the whole class. This forces them to think deeply and have a very strong understanding of concepts from which to build new knowledge on. Teachers ask students “why” or “what if” questions to provoke this type of reasoning.

Writing in mathematical terms becomes heavily emphasized in upper levels which can lead to deductions on tests.

In the US, math education is very individual focused and people are not taught to be rigorous and to question why it works. This results in gaps in their learning that ends up hurting their learning later on, leading them to hate math. In addition, the motivation factor to do well is not present and people can slack off and do just what is necessary to get by.

I know people in high school who barely pass math and they don’t even care. There is no national high school exit exam here in the US and thus people don’t see consequences; as long as they graduate they are good.

China Claims Its ‘Super’ AD Missile Makes B-21s Obsolete

The three body problem

A British Chinese “expert” made a serious misreading of The Three Body Problem.

This expert attempts to transcend the extreme evaluation of duality in order to understand compromise in Chinese culture. This starting point is good, but the understanding of China is not enough – if it is not a deliberate distortion caused by misreading.

The first part of this book was serialized in Science Fiction World magazine in 2006, and at that time, the story already had a specific framework. Let’s review the historical environment at that time: Xi was not the President of China until many years later, and the United States had just engaged in the Gulf War. China did not even join the WTO.

It is strange to attempt to use this novel to criticize China’s current policies – people’s mentality was somewhat different from today.

To grasp the relation of Chinese sci-fi and China’s global strategy, it’s helpful to see both in terms of three dynamics. Certainly, it’s popular to understand Chinese politics in terms of binary frameworks: China vs. US; conservatives vs. reformers; optimists vs. pessimists; and socialism vs. capitalism. To get beyond this binary paradigm, we can explore three dynamics: pessoptimism, neo-socialism, and tianxia (All-under-Heaven).

“Pessoptimism” – This word only grasps the edge of Chinese culture. I do admit that Chinese people have both pessimistic and optimistic expectations for the future, but that has nothing to do with China’s rapid development – as I mentioned in the historical context of novel creation, China was facing a powerful and seemingly unbeatable United States at that time, it was widely believed on the Chinese Internet that China’s GDP might reach the level of Japan in a few decades. Few people realized at that time that the economy would develop rapidly within a few years.

In fact, the pessimistic mentality in the novel comes from: 1, a strong feudal China was shattered by the rapid rise of colonial countries; 2, the anxiety of human self destruction brought about by nuclear deterrence and the development of weapon technology; 3, comparison and reflection on the relationship between social Darwinism and equality.

The optimistic attitude in novels also comes from a long history. Any civilization can learn and resist. Organisms can avoid the devastating impact of catastrophic events through reproduction, whether small or not. After the environment is completely changed, everything will eventually perish except those can adapt. All of these stories are in history.

This expert did see that two sides of things can coexist, but unfortunately, he cannot understand what history means to the Chinese people.

Neo-socialism: This expert seems to believe that the depiction of the dystopian social environment of the Trisolarans in the novel reflects the current China.

In The Three Body Problem, Liu’s alien characters from across the galaxy are presented as scientific because they don’t have “time for or interest in art and literature; at the same time, they do not understand lies or tricks”.(10)

Unfortunately, this expert made the same mistake – he did not understand this novel together with Chinese history.

The Trisolarans have a close connection with Japan in history. Japan, as an island nation on the edge of a tectonic plate, believed that it had to invade China and colonize due to the threat of volcanoes and earthquakes on their islands, which was the source of Japanese militarism during WWII. That brings uncertainty like three suns.

Many civilizations experience a large-scale ideological shift when facing crises, leading to greater unity and a convergence of thinking patterns.

Under more extreme environmental assumptions, people have to abandon cultural development and focus on survival. In fact, this describes the state of mobilized. However, the high degree of ideological consistency, lack of personalized thinking ability, and lack of lies and tricks between people is the results of it. You can see this unified ideology during the existence of the Soviet Union, China’s Cultural Revolution, Japan’s militaristic education, etc.. It can encourage people to work in the same direction, but at the same time, it undermines long-term potential.

Liu doesn’t fear technology, unlike the authors of many dystopian sci-fi stories, because he dutifully sees technology as the answer to human questions.

It is just a state of human society, not a solution. It’s not modern China, nor the pattern of “neo-socialism”. None of these cultures is always right – the death has taken them all at the end of this novel.

Tianxia: I guess this expert did not read Liu Cixin’s short stories because there are with Russians and Serbs as the main characters.

But most Chinese sci-fi focuses on humanity as ethnically Chinese, and Chinese sci-fi as an instrument of the PRC’s soft power. In The Wandering Earth and the Three Body Problem, all of Liu’s protagonists are ethnic Chinese. Other peoples have little or no agency: they passively help China, are ignorant terrorists, or they are absent altogether. In the novella version of The Wandering Earth, the Japanese mother rebels against science, and then is sacrificed in the name of population control, while the Chinese-Japanese son is just Chinese. In the movie version, there is a mixed-race Chinese-Australian man who is made to look and sound funny, and he has to defend himself as a ‘real Chinese’ based on his paternal bloodline.(19)

That’s not about soft power. Since ancient times, we have regarded “tianxia” as the highest moral goal. This expert seem to mistakenly believe that this is just to cater to Xi – in fact, it is Xi’s government that caters to the Chinese people.

Also, you can’t expect a electric worker as Cixin Liu in a tiny Chinese town to have a good impression of British or American people before 2006, can you? At that time, your coalition had just caused a large number of disasters in the Middle East.

The facts make it difficult for your people to become a better solution.

With Xi Jinping, China’s global strategy seems to be catching up with Liu’s vision of the future: it looks to science to solve political problems, and figures engagement with the Other in zero-sum terms as an existential struggle for survival.

I don’t think any normal person would consider a “community with a shared future for mankind” as a zero sum narrative. People create their lives through work. Only those who plunder wealth will see society as zero sum, while Chinese people manufacture products.

The novel does not depict zero sum games, but rather negative sum games under the tactic of “ensuring mutual destruction”. The Trisolarans and Earthlings who implemented mutual deterrence ultimately achieved a strike and left separately, but their main forces were destroyed, while a minority of the two races survived by exploring and adapting to new rules.

As citizens of the British, which is one of the countries who encouraged Ukrainians to charge towards Russians and participate in rendering nuclear deterrence, the author should have a deep understanding of this.

What is a brutal truth about life that needs to be said?

When I was getting rejected by a lot of girls for marriage, my mother – like all other mothers in the world would say me, “Don’t worry, you are a Prince and we will find a Princess for you.”

My family members would also console me by saying that it’s all about destiny and our family is quite reputed and we are well settled so you will get married soon.

My reply to my mother and my family members was always this.

“Neither I’m a Prince nor I’m a greek god. And we are not Ambanis. I am very well aware of the fact that I’m about to get rejected in future.”

I embrace the fact that I look much older than my age. And that’s why I always was prepared for the rejection because no father would want to marry her daughter to someone who’s quite older than her.

I look like I’m 33–35 years old whereas I’m 26 years old.

We aren’t filthy rich either. We own decent amount of land and live a pretty average life.

Neither I have any side business nor I have a white collar job.

So, to sum it up, there’s nothing extraordinary about me or my family that people would rush to marry their daughters in our family.

What is a brutal truth about life that needs to be said?

Most probably I’m 99,56,32,408th person who is saying this.

In real life, in real world, away from the social media’s sugar coated sweet shit, your looks and your financial status matter.

It just doesn’t matter, it matters a lot.

I have transformed from an ugly looking boy to an average looking guy and that’s why I know how important looks are.

We have built our new home and have seen people’s changed perception about us, that’s why I know how important financial status is.

A teacher is more inclined towards a cute kid.

[1]

A good looking candidate is preferred over other average looking candidates with same qualifications.

[2]

Black people receive more punishments compared to white people.

[3]

And, I should not mention about all the privileges rich people get, because we all know about that.

We all know this. We just pretend that it doesn’t matter.

On social media we all are saints, unaffected by society’s opinions, expectations and pressure.

I’m not saying this because I was rejected many times. I was sure about rejection.

I have lived for 26 years on this earth and have faced, experienced and seen similar incidents and discriminations my whole life.

Looks and financial status of someone may not matter to you at this point in your life.

But, it definitely will, somewhere, sometime.

9 Things That Make Men Look Expensive & Put Together (Women Always Notice This)

Have you ever judged someone and realized you were wrong?

I walk inside and already want to leave.

The two instructors turn to me. They have clean-shaven tattooed heads and thick, spiral-shaped piercings in their ears. On the wall hangs a photo of one of them mounting and pounding an opponent in the cage.

I’d decided to learn MMA and had found a small gym in the area. Even before coming in, I was worried about what it’d be like.

I didn’t want to be part of a macho, who-can-punch-the-hardest scene.

“Oh hello!” the woman instructor says, the same one displayed on the wall bludgeoning her adversary.

Her face lights up with a megawatt-lightbulb smile. She rushes at me, gives a lung-squeezing hug, and says, “You’re the one who called about trying a class, right?”

“Yeah…” I say, still processing the dissonance between her appearance and the supernova of affection I just received.

“Have you gone over the rules?” she goes on. “Basically, if you bring food make sure it doesn’t have any animal products–we’re vegan.”

“Sure…”

“More importantly–you know what to do if someone comes up to you in the street and asks for your wallet, right?”

“Umm…”

“Just hand it to them. Life is too precious to play the hero.”

“Dog Named Hero Saves Owner’s Life for Days, Fighting Off Cold and Coyotes and Getting Help

An Akita named ‘Hero’ saved his owner’s life last week in an incredible tale of loyalty and resilience that saw him remain by his side through two frigid Alberta nights, fend off coyotes, and eventually alert rescuers.

Winning plaudits for his name and deed the world over, a GoFundMe raised $3,000 to cover the veterinary bills of Hero by the shelter that is keeping him safe and warm while his owner recovers.

The story began with an attack: when a passerby named Curtis Dahl was walking in a field of mud and grass near the sugar factory in the town of Taber, and Hero came running up and bit his dog around the neck.

Dahl claims he tussled with Hero for ten minutes trying to get him off his dog, and needed stitches on his finger by the end of it.

Calling police and animal services with a complaint, he alerted them to Hero’s presence, but when the officers arrived and saw Hero lying down exhausted near a terraced plot of grass and weeds near the road, they suddenly heard a cry for help.

Arriving, they found a 61-year-old man on his back in a ditch, shivering and unable to move. He told police he’d been stuck there for two days while Hero protected him.

While the man was taken to a hospital, Hero was taken to Taber Lost Paws Society, an animal shelter that has a special program to look after dogs during periods of crisis or injury. As it happened, the society’s acting president Alana McPhee said they had an employee who was the injured man’s neighbor and knew that he had another Akita dog named Tora.

Reported missing two days prior, Tora eventually turned up in her owner’s yard with a disabled leg after screws and rods in her leg from a previous injury had come loose. They suspect she had been back and forth from the site where her owner fell to the home several times, or perhaps could have been fighting, though she had no bite or puncture marks.

Once informed of the full story, the man whose dog had been attacked by Hero was “understanding of the situation” and was grateful Hero’s owner was rescued. He later received compensation for the medical costs to his dog and himself via CAD$3,000 that was raised from a GoFundMe organized by the Lost Paws Society.

“(Hero) was being protective. That dog probably had not eaten for several days. He was incredibly stressed and, obviously, powerless to help his owner. He had to fight off coyotes,” McPhee said.

Men and their ability to transcend the space-time continuum.

What is something your pet did that you couldn’t believe?

He did a couple of things.

We adopted a German Shepherd named Rex from our local no-kill rescue organization.

He was a wonderful dog and had only been turned in because his 38 y/o owner had leukemia and there was no one to take Rex. They told us he had even had $600 worth of dog obedience training. When we got him home, one of the shelter employees called to say how happy they were that he had found a home after three months of lying in a cage because “Rex was everyone’s favorite dog.”

We could understand why. He was a very sweet dog with an amazingly calm temperament.

Except for the mailman. He really, really didn’t like the mailman and seemed to feel that we needed his protection from this daily intruder. So when the mailman showed up at our front door, Rex would bark ferociously until the mail had been delivered and the mailman was safely on his way.

The sight of the mailman walking away confirmed to him that, once again, he had done his job!

However, one day to my complete surprise, the mailman came and went with absolutely no reaction from Rex.

So I casually said to him, “Rex, what happened? The mailman came and went and you didn’t even bark.”

He stood there patiently looking at me while I talked. When I was finished, he walked calmly over to the closed front door, stood there for a moment looking at the door, and then very quietly went, “Woof.”

As in “Satisfied?”

If I hadn’t seen him do it, I never would have believed it!

Also, his favorite person in the household was my grown daughter because she was the one who walked him. When he decided it was time for a walk, he would find one of my daughter’s walking shoes, grab it in his mouth, walk over to where she was sitting and drop it in her lap!

He lived to be 12 years old and then he had a stroke which left his hind legs completely paralyzed. After he had spent a month lying helplessly on a blanket with wee-wee pads, we decided it wasn’t fair to let him keep living like that since there was no hope that he would ever get any better.

I thought about his favorite food because, unlike many dogs who are sick or dying, there was nothing wrong with his appetite.

The only thing he had ever stolen was my homemade beef jerky. It was in a Christmas tin, in a box which had been wrapped, taped and tied with a string. It was ready to mail and sitting on the dining room table. While we were out, Rex had managed to get it down from the table , untie it, get the wrapping off of it, open the tin (not easy even for humans!) and eat every piece.

So I made an entire batch of beef jerky and fed him piece after piece while he was lying there waiting to be euthanized.

A few minutes later, he passed on with a tummy full of his favorite food.

When you LIVE

A Tyranny of Geniuses

Compassionate technocracy?

Godfree Roberts

If rulers’ own behavior is ethical, what difficulty will they have in governing? If their own conduct is improper, how can they demand lawfulness from their citizens? Confucius. Analects.

Matthew Archer’s recent What if we Lost our Smartest 5%? suggests that, without our scientists and engineers we would struggle even to maintain our quality of life. It also helps explain the West’s current governmental decline and China’s rise. That’s because, like most sentient beings, our smartest 5% – scientists and engineers – are repelled by our toxic political process. No wonder Western governments have failed to deliver democratic outcomes¹.

China’s top 5%, by contrast, are entirely involved in government, and thereby hangs our tale..

The smartest guys in the room

Imagine the impact on European civilization of a series of Imperial dynasties maintaining the self-same style and significance from Caesar Augustus until the First World War. Now imagine such a civilization existing on the other side of the planet unaware of Greek philosophy, the alphabet, Roman governance, Christianity, feudalism, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment or democracy, but with its own, unique cultural and institutional correlates that exceeded all of them in intellectual subtlety and material success. Fernand Braudel

2500 years ago a government consultant named Confucius designed a low-maintenance, harmonious state by modeling it on the nuclear family and its natural hierarchy. The head of each little family would be responsible to the family clan head –as they still are – who is responsible to the extended clan head and so on, up to the head of the Big Family, the emperor.

The emperor’s responsibility would be to find honest, competent, selfless geniuses willing to devote their lives to serving the dynasty. The trick, he said, was finding them, “The administration of government lies in getting men of strong moral character – the kind who will only be attracted a the ruler’s own good character, which he cultivates by treading the path of duty. And treading the path of duty is cultivated by practicing compassion”. Because honesty rises with intelligence and running a kingdom is the hardest job on earth, choose officials for their moral integrity and intellectual abilities.

Alas, rulers of the day were comfortable with their chain of command and their nobles were hostile to meritocracy and Confucius, convinced that he had failed, died.

For centuries, corrupt eunuchs, scheming regents, dowager empresses, usurpers, concubines, wicked uncles and rebellious generals continued their massacres, kidnappings, taxing and warring. Confucius’ disciples persistently advocated his plan, however, until, in 188 BC, they persuaded Emperor Wen of Han to stop imprisoning parents, wives, and siblings of common criminals.

When things went awry, he wrote Letters of Public Apology, as Confucius advised. So positive was the public response that he began lowering taxes, abolishing corvée labor and giving monthly pensions to widows, orphans and retirees and, as Confucius had predicted, peace and prosperity prevailed.

Emperor Wen next began examining nobles’ suitability for office and soon, ambitious families were sending promising offspring to Confucian cram schools. A century later, thirty-thousand earnest young men were enrolled at Imperial Colleges where, as a form of meditation, they memorized the Master’s teaching on compassionate service until it permeated their feelings, thoughts, and dreams.

Getting serious

Eight centuries of increasing meritocracy passed until, in 600 AD, Emperor Yang of Sui opened imperial examinations to peasants. He instructed examiners – from whom candidates’ identities were concealed – to find men with intellectual depth and moral maturity. To emphasize the importance of morality, he said, they should execute cheaters.

Examinees answered questions on the economy, analyzed current government policies and composed original essays to demonstrate their brushwork, literacy, creativity, and knowledge of the World. The Emperor himself queried top candidates who quoted from memory case studies in governance and passages from the Analects (as they still do). Advancement by examination was class-blind (it still is) because, said Censor Wang Ji, “If selection by examination is not strict, the powerful will struggle to be foremost, and orphans and the poor will have difficulty advancing”.

By 1204 AD, of two-hundred seventy-nine senior officials whose families we know, forty-four percent had forebears in government (by 2020, it was twelve percent). Successful applicants became national celebrities, their feats memorialized in family books and their homecomings semi-hysterical:

When a scholar rides in a high carriage drawn by four horses, flag-bearers running ahead with a mounted escort bringing up the rear, people gather on both sides of the road to watch and sigh. Ordinary men and foolish women rush forward in excitement and humbly prostrate themselves in the dust stirred up by his carriage. This is a scholar’s joy. This is when his ambition is fulfilled.

Poor scholars who ascended on talent were the Emperor’s men entirely. They could neither own land, serve in their home provinces, nor have relatives in the same branch of government (prohibitions that still hold). They competed for promotion by constructing public works and, though dynasties rose and fell, there was just one official to serve eight thousand citizens, often in regions far from family and friends, under terrible conditions, regularly at the cost of their lives.

Though few in number, they sustained the most harmonious, advanced, prosperous nation on earth, and so lustrous is their record that Chinese heroes and villains –historical or fictional – were or are government officials. One such hero-official has even been deified: by democratic agreement, Governor Li Bing, who designed and constructed the Dujiangyan water diversion project in 250 BC (below), is God of Waters. His temple still stands at the site where he diverted the waters to create one of the country’s great rice bowls.

That was then, this is now

The top 20% of Chinese university graduates, the smartest two-million (out of eleven-million) youngsters, will take the guokao civil service exam this summer. The written examinations are challenging, the orals intimidating and exhausting, and applicants need a 140 IQ (enough for a PhD in theoretical physics) to get an interview, and only 27,000, 1.3% of them, will receive job offers.

The successful applicants will take vows of selfless service stricter than a Jesuit …

Bisquick Butterscotch Brownies

Ingredients

2 cups Bisquick baking mix or Biscuit Baking Mix
1 box light or dark brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter (room temperature)
1 can coconut
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix all ingredients and bake in a 9 x 13 inch pan for 45 minutes.
Cool on rack, and cut while still warm.

Rainbow – Catch the Rainbow live in Munich 1977 HD, FULL VERSION, Remastered. (2018)

This was my live-for song when I was in High school. Damn.

Rax and TCBY.

There used to be a yogurt franchise called TCBY yogurt. I loved to eat it, and during the 1980’s it ran neck to neck with ice cream. But somehow, all of the thousands of stores evaporated. Roughly right after my first series of world-line slide.

Ah. I entered a world where the only TCBY yogurt that remains out of the entire franchise is in Arkansas. Ugh.

TCBY grew from a single store in Little Rock (Pulaski County) to a 3,000-outlet franchise. Selling flavored frozen yogurt, TCBY was known around the world. First known as the Capitol Tower, the tallest building in Arkansas was known as the TCBY Tower from 1991 to 2004 and bore those four letters on its upper floors.

According to ChatGPT…

TCBY (The Country's Best Yogurt) is still in operation, although its presence has significantly diminished compared to its peak popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. TCBY was one of the first frozen yogurt chains in the United States and played a significant role in popularizing frozen yogurt as a healthier alternative to ice cream.

In recent years, TCBY has faced increased competition from other frozen yogurt chains as well as shifts in consumer preferences. However, the company has adapted by introducing new menu offerings, updating its store designs, and expanding its range of products to include options such as dairy-free and low-sugar frozen desserts.

While many TCBY locations have closed over time, the chain still has a presence in various parts of the United States and internationally.

Another is Rax.

There used to be a fast food chain in the United States called “Rax”. I loved it. They had this mushroom/swiss cheese burger, and this ham and cheese burger. All so delicious.

Then out of the blue it all disappeared.

According to chatGPT, the Rax Roast Beef fast-food chain was once a prominent presence in the United States, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s. Known for its roast beef sandwiches and salad bars, Rax was considered a competitor to other fast-food chains like Arby's and McDonald's.

However, Rax struggled financially and faced various challenges, including declining sales and increased competition from other fast-food chains. The company filed for bankruptcy in 1992, which led to the closure of many of its locations.

Despite efforts to rebrand and revitalize the chain, including changes to its menu and marketing strategies, Rax continued to face difficulties. Many of its remaining locations were sold off or closed over the years.

Today there are only a few Rax locations still in operation, primarily in the Midwestern United States.

Ah…

Rax and TCBY.

According to the point of view of my consciousness, the moment that I started performing world-line slides after my MAJestic training, these restaurants disappeared. Bummer.

But, you know, after I began my slides, new types of french fries suddenly appeared. So it is a mixed bag.

Today…

What are the behaviors of a confident person?

Good posture: Standing or sitting up straight can convey confidence and poise.
Eye contact: Maintaining eye contact during conversation can show confidence and sincerity.
Clear, confident speech: Speaking clearly and confidently can convey conviction and self-assurance.
Assertive communication: Communicating your needs and desires in a clear and direct way can show confidence and self-assurance.
Decisiveness: Being able to make decisions quickly and confidently can show that you are in control.
Setting boundaries: Knowing your limits and being able to assert them can show self-respect and confidence.
Willingness to take risks: Being willing to take on challenges and try new things can show confidence and a sense of adventure.
Ability to handle criticism: Being able to receive and learn from criticism without getting defensive can show self-assurance and resilience.
Ability to admit mistakes: Being able to admit when you are wrong and take responsibility for your actions can show honesty and humility.
Genuine enthusiasm: Being genuinely excited about things can show confidence and a positive outlook.
Positive body language: Using nonverbal cues such as smiling and open body posture can convey confidence and openness.
Comfortable with silence: Being comfortable with pauses or silence during conversation can show confidence and self-assurance.
Ability to listen actively: Being able to fully listen to and understand others can show respect and confidence.
Ability to negotiate effectively: Being able to effectively negotiate and come to mutually beneficial agreements can show assertiveness and confidence.
Ability to ask for help: Knowing when to ask for help and being able to do so confidently can show strength and self-awareness.
Ability to handle pressure: Being able to stay calm and focused under pressure can show confidence and resilience.
Ability to set and achieve goals: Being able to set and work towards goals can show determination and confidence.
Ability to adapt to change: Being able to adapt to new situations and handle unexpected changes can show flexibility and confidence.

What was the absolute most disrespectful thing a customer ever said to you, and what did you do?

Well, there was this one time when I was working at a Home Depot in the Bay Area I was doing inventory with another girl and this girl had some teeth issues. I didn’t have a problem working with her because she is a very nice sweet person that just happened to have teeth missing. Anyways I heard this big woman say something about how can they let someone like her work with the customers. I looked over and my co-worker heard what she had said and she looked genuinely hurt by her comment. And it made her cry. I was so angry that I stopped what I was doing took off my ten-key machine and I stopped that fat bitch and I made her go apologise to my friend and I told her look at her now she may have teeth missing and she is working on getting that corrected. Now take your fat ass away from me because just the sight of your fat face is nauseating. And in the future just keep your fucking little comments to yourself.Till this day I still don’t know why I wasn’t fired over that.And just to let you know she never got a chance to fix her teeth. Because around 2009 she fell and hit her head on her water cooler and she ended up passing away in a coma.She was a good woman and she was a hard worker.I miss you, Emma…..

I understand

Chicken Fajita Casserole

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
2 medium red, green and/or yellow bell peppers, cut into strips
1 cup water
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Pinch cayenne or to taste
2 flour tortillas, cut into 3/4 inch strips
1 envelope onion soup mix
Garnish: shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, shredded Cheddar cheese

Instructions

In 12 inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat and cook chicken with peppers, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until chicken is almost done and peppers are crisp-tender.
Stir in onion soup mix blended with water, flour, chili powder, cayenne and garlic powder. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes or until chicken is done and sauce is thickened.
To serve, turn into serving dish, then top with tortilla strips.
Garnish, if desired, with shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes and shredded Cheddar cheese.

What is something that most people don’t know?

A small child could swim through the veins of a blue whale.
A single teaspoon of a neutron star would weigh about 6 billion tons.
A day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus.
The surface area of a human lung is about 70 square meters, roughly the size of a tennis court.
A hummingbird’s heart beats 1,260 times per minute.
The lifespan of a single taste bud is about 10 days.
The shortest war in recorded history lasted only 38 minutes between Britain and Zanzibar on 27 August 1896.
The first product ever sold on the Internet was a bag of marijuana.
The shortest place name in the world is “A”, a hill in Wales, United Kingdom.
A study found that if your face suggests that you’re alert and slightly happy, people are more likely to perceive you as intelligent.

Annunaki | Gods from Planet Nibiru and the Makers of Man

The Chancellor of Bavaria and Chairman of the CSU said after a visit to China that if there is no dialogue with China, things will become dangerous. He thinks dialogue is better than monologue. Do you agree?

China may not need Bavaria, but Bavaria needs China. Bavaria needs China in two aspects:

1. Bavaria is home to many German military factories and they want to import Xinjiang cotton

Ukraine needs up to 350,000 rounds of artillery shells every month, and its consumption is not small.

I recently saw an AFP report in which the European Commissioner stated that France would find it difficult to continue manufacturing missiles and artillery shells due to a lack of gunpowder. The shortage of gunpowder was due to the lack of raw material nitrocellulose.

Nitrocellulose is extracted from cotton, but where does the cotton come from? EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said a long time ago that making gunpowder powder requires a “special cotton”, and this Cotton grown “mostly comes from China”!

According to 2020 data, 95% of the world’s natural cotton suitable for the production of smokeless nitrocellulose is produced in Xinjiang, China; another 4% is produced in Central Asian countries; and the remaining 1% is produced in the Nile Delta.

Cotton from Central Asian countries, which account for 4% of global production, is a designated purchaser exclusively for Russia. Therefore, including the United States and the entire Europe, only cotton produced in cotton fields along the Nile, which accounts for 1% of global production, can be used directly.

It is no exaggeration to say that with the current cotton production capacity in the world, without China’s participation, other countries would not even be able to fight a world war, because they really can’t even build missiles!

But why can’t they import cotton from China? This is because they shot themselves in the foot, they created all this themselves.

In order to demonize China and slander China, the United States and Europe engage in forced labor in Xinjiang and force Uyghurs to grow cotton.

Even European companies led by HM took the initiative to boycott Chinese cotton, and China also adopted counter-sanctions measures and stopped exporting cotton to the United States and Europe.

But they did not expect that the Russia-Ukraine war broke out, and the nitrocellulose used to make missiles and artillery shells must require long-staple cotton from Xinjiang, China.

As a result, they forgot that they had slandered Xinjiang, China, and wanted to import cotton from Xinjiang, China.

2. Bavaria is home to many automobile factories, and they want to cooperate with China to obtain technology for new energy vehicles

China surpassed Japan last year to become the world’s largest automobile exporter. Especially in the field of electric vehicles, China far surpasses any country in the world. In the first quarter of last year alone, the number of Chinese electric vehicles imported into Germany tripled compared with the same period.

Germany, the birthplace of automobiles, has admitted that it has lost to China in the field of electric vehicles. If they do not cooperate with China, they may fall further behind China.

100%

What is the sleaziest, dirtiest trick an auto insurance company tried to pull on you? Did they succeed?

I will never insure with the Good Hands People…

In 2006 my 21 year old daughter was driving to class when a realtor on the phone blew a stop sign and totaled both cars. Neither were injured. About a week after the accident the other party’s insurance called to see if they could collect a statement from my daughter. I said sure. About 20 minutes later my daughter phoned in tears saying the adjuster had accused her of speeding and not yielding to a car already in the intersection. I can only assume this was because she was in a 5 year old mustang – but she no tickets or wrecks up to then.

I asked her a little about the call and started getting mad, madder, furious… I held it in and asked if the adjuster asked about witnesses. The adjuster had and I told my daughter to call the witness who was behind her. She hopped off the phone and called the witness and asked what he saw and if she were speeding. He laughed and said, look, I was about to pass you because you were driving about 5 mph below the posted limit and I was in a hurry. I knew she had not hit the other car; rather the other car hit her in a door.

A couple hours the adjuster called and said they would pay 85% of the value of our car… because no one is 100% at fault. I asked how she determined my daughter was 15%. Her words were, it is a mustang and we know drivers rarely obey the speed limit. She wanted me to give verbal approval then or face a possible adjustment down. I told her that she was full of shit. That the witness following my daughter said she was driving 5 mph below the posted limit and that the other party was on the phone. I reference the police report noting a writing pad and phone on the floor board. I then asked, how he was not 100% at fault. She mumbled something and I said, please speak up. You are being recorded and your story is not so good for you right now. She told me that was unlawful. I ask asked if she was recording and she said mmm, yes. I told her she was in the same boat as I since she failed to disclose.

She said she could go as high as 93%. I said not good enough, I then asked what the 100% value was. It was also deflated to about 70% average book value. I told her I needed to speak to a supervisor, now. She said she couldn’t and I said you risk facing my attorney in court. This recording will be in his hands in about 5 minutes as he is my neighbor. She yielded to 100% and said that was max. I said, not good enough, I need no lower than the average book…please give me to your supervisor, I am tired of dealing with you. Finally, a supervisor who restarted the discussion at 85%. About a third of his way through the spiel I interrupted rather harshly and said, wait a minute, we are not gong through all this again. I reviewed my notes with him and told him I was about out of cell phone battery and I wanted no less than HIGH retail. He had 5 minutes to say yes or I am handing it over to my attorney. It sounded at first as though he had not been briefed but when he noticed I moved up to high retail he said I offered average before.

I ended up with a value between average and high retail. I reported them to the state insurance board and asked for a followup after they review. I never heard back. I feel for those who just say yes without standing their ground.

Desperate young guys

How do you get over the feeling of being a failure?

Realise that you may not be a failure in the eyes of someone else.

Here’s my story. I was 40, divorced, had left a life in New Zealand behind that had fallen apart in the most dramatic way possible, and was invited at my cousin’s house in Austria to a summer party.

As we ate barbecued things and drank local beer, dreams were swapped and future visions exchanged. My cousin is a sound engineer, struggling as a consultant, doing the odd gig in Vienna or Salzburg.

We talked about happiness.

And I heard myself saying, “maybe some day, when I am successful, I will know what happiness is.”

My cousin looked at me as if I was very, very drunk. And maybe, I was. And he said, “Chris; you are the dean of a French university, a Grande Ecole at that, in Shanghai. And you say ‘some day when you are successful’?”

That changed my world view.

I realised then and there that it depends very much on whom we ask whether we feel like failures, or not. All I had been able to see was how badly things had gone for me in New Zealand, and how the expat position in China really was only a gap filler till I would be able to find something to replace the life I had had in NZ. That that life in Shanghai was in itself pretty cool was somehow off my radar.

Perhaps you need to ask the right people? Try to understand what the average person’s existence on this planet is like. Success and failure are not quantitative values. They are dangerously subjective perceptions, and require some grounding in basic values.

So, stop comparing yourself to the wrong people. By comparing ourselves to stars or celebrities of some standing, we will always look bad.

Men Don’t Give a F*ck Anymore… Why the Rate of Single Men In the US Looking For Dates Has Declined

Which has been oversupplied in the world, the Chinese made value-for-money products or the US treasury bonds?

How can products be Oversupplied?

If there is an oversupply, there will be EXCESS INVENTORY of Unsold Products which will increase the storage and warehousing fee and ultimately lead to destruction of the excess supply

This is Demand and Supply Law 101

So China only manufactures products per Global Demand

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Now Yellens problem is simple

China is creating BETTER QUALITY PRODUCTS than the West at half the price

And the Quality gap is rising

There was a time just three years ago when German or Swiss products were better quality than Chinese made products and it was only the cost that was a decisive factor

Today Chinese Panels beat German or French Panels hollow in efficiency, weight, absorption angle and cost

So every Western Renewable Energy Producer is going OUT OF BUSINESS as China floods the world with Superior Panels and Superior Wind Turbines at 40% to 60% the price you pay for the same when made in Stuttgart or Grenoble or Milan or Cincinnati

Yellen would have no issue if these products were owned by Western Businesses but made in China which was the original plan

Now Chinese Businesses control these products and all that money is going to China and Chinas Economy

In the past – out of $ 100 of Exports – China got maybe $ 25

Now China gets $ 60–65

The Western World wants renewable energy

Yet they want to control the technology and the markets

China has beaten them to it

Even if they directly sanction China, the prices will force Chinese products to flow into every market beating every Sanction

Tariffs is the only solution?

Yet that would make renewable energy more expensive for the West and it’s people

They still can’t make Panels at higher price or attain Chinas rapid level of technology with its 1.4 Billion population and surging market

They are all saturated

One Solution

They can pour all the money into R&D into India

I mean huge money

Yet that would only create a new hindrance after 20 years and further weaken Western Hegemony because instead of a China, now you have TWO PROBLEMS – CHINA AND INDIA

So that Option is gone

So Yellen is living in a dream land of her own

She can’t stop Economics

The Economics is with China and US will be destroyed in this dangerous game

Even China tomorrow if it tries to rewrite economics will find it very difficult and painful

Today the Economics is with China and will be there for the next 2 Decades until 2050 at the latest

That is Chinas window

Homeless men

Blinken’s visa threats expose US hypocrisy

“A good example,” said Pope Francis, “brings about so much good, but hypocrisy brings about so much evil.”

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After the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNSO) was enacted on March 19, the US and its allies reacted with predictable fury. As Hong Kong had finally discharged its national responsibilities, they realized it was no longer possible for them to use it as a base for destabilizing China. After 1997, they saw the city as the country’s Achilles’ heel, which explains why they encouraged the insurrection of 2019-20 and patronized selected proxies, including the now-defunct Civic Party.

Although those days are over, the US is incensed. It is determined to retaliate against the city whose future it had hoped to influence. Impervious to reason, it is bent on harming Hong Kong, even if it undermines its people’s livelihoods.

On March 30, the US State Department said that, apart from continuing to deny Hong Kong the special trading status it revoked in 2020, it also planned to impose visa restrictions on Hong Kong officials involved in enacting the SNSO. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said “multiple” officials would be targeted, as they were “responsible for the intensifying crackdown on rights and freedoms”. They needed to be held to account for the “intensifying repression” of “civil society, media and dissenting voices”.

However, Blinken’s professed concern for the media was hollow, and cannot be taken seriously. The US contempt for the press is now on public display in the UK, where it is mercilessly pursuing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange through the English courts. His 17 “crimes” consist of allegedly disclosing classified information that embarrassed Washington, particularly in relation to war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq, including its brutalization of prisoners. As his lawyers have explained, Assange is being victimized for engaging in the ordinary journalistic practices of obtaining and publishing information in the public interest, to which Blinken is oblivious.

Blinken’s hypocrisy, however, is deep-seated and was inherited from his predecessors. Although he claims to support the “global rules-based order”, this is a vacuous catchphrase beloved of Western hypocrites. Whereas he delights in slapping visa restrictions and other penalties on individuals from China and other places he sees as geopolitical rivals, evenhandedness forms no part of his repertoire.

Since the Gaza war started, the death toll has reached almost 33,000, mainly women and children. Another 75,000 have been injured, while many others are starving. Instead of sanctioning those responsible, including the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the defense minister, Yoav Gallant, and the chief of the general staff, Herzi Halevi, and calling for them to be prosecuted for genocide and war crimes before the International Criminal Court, Blinken has facilitated their offenses. Although, despite being Netanyahu’s aider and abettor, he will never stand trial, Israel’s crimes, to which the US is party, are of biblical proportions, and will forever rank among the world’s greatest wartime atrocities.

On April 1, CNN reported that the US government is about to approve the sale of 50 American-made F-15 fighter jets to Israel, in a deal expected to be worth more than $18 billion. These can then be used to kill an awful lot of Palestinians, as also can its other weaponry. Earlier, on March 6, the Washington Post reported the US “quietly approved and delivered” over 100 separate military sales to Israel since the Gaza war began, amounting to “thousands of precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs, bunker busters, small arms and other lethal aid”.

Although this would have delighted the arms merchants, it did little to inspire faith in Blinken’s professed concerns for Gaza’s civilian population. Even the most subservient of US allies may be forgiven for wondering how Blinken can look himself in the mirror.

While Blinken has always had lots to say about “rights and freedoms” in Hong Kong, he is allowing Israel to get away with blue murder in Gaza. He has protected it at international forums and sought to rationalize its depredations. However, its excesses have become so horrific that even he, on March 25, felt unable to block the UN Security Council’s call for a temporary cease-fire for Ramadan.

Away from the war zone, Blinken’s duplicity is no less pronounced. When the UK introduced its National Security Act 2023 (NSA), he did not slap visa restrictions or other penalties on its principal architects, the then-home secretary, Suella Braverman, and the security minister, Tom Tugendhat. This was despite the NSA’s crackdown on the “rights and freedoms” Blinken claimed to be so concerned about in Hong Kong.

The “chilling effect” of the NSA’s espionage provisions was condemned in the British Parliament, not least for their impact on investigative journalism. It cracked down on civil liberties, giving the police extra powers of detention and curbing the pretrial rights of suspects, including access to lawyers. Although Blinken feigned fury when not-dissimilar measures were adopted in Hong Kong, he did not bat an eyelid when they occurred in the UK, which should surprise nobody.

His posturing over “rights and freedoms” has always been simply a convenient stick with which to beat people from places that reject US hegemony and refuse to dance to its tune.

Indeed, given his concern for “dissenting voices” in Hong Kong, it might have been expected Blinken would be up in arms over Scotland’s Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021. It was the brainchild of its first minister, Humza Yousaf, and came into force on April 1, 2024. It has been called a “snitch’s charter”, criminalizing words that might be construed as “stirring up hatred”. If a “reasonable person” (a vague term) considers something said by somebody else to be “insulting” an offense may arise, with a suspect facing up to seven years’ imprisonment.

Yousaf’s new law has been denounced by free thinkers and ordinary Scots, and people are wondering if, in future, they should keep their views to themselves to be on the safe side.

The Harry Potter author, JK Rowling, a straight talker from Edinburgh, fears she may be targeted by the Hate Crime Act. She has regularly argued that trans women are not women, and that men who self-identify as women do not thereby become women. She has also maintained that convicted rapists who declare themselves to be females should not be housed in women’s prisons, supposedly a safe place. Although most people applaud her views, she is concerned they will expose her to charges, and attempts have already been made to prosecute her under what she calls a “ludicrous law”.

Since the new crime of “stirring up hatred” was introduced on April 1, Police Scotland has received over 3,000 hate crime reports, many paradoxically relating to Yousaf himself. He had previously highlighted white people holding prominent public roles, but fortunately for him, the new law is not retroactive. The community services minister, Siobhian Brown, said the law was being used to make “fake and vexatious complaints”, and police time is being wasted as people seek to settle old scores and bring down those whose views they dislike.

The Conservative Party’s Scottish justice spokesman, Russell Findlay, has pointed out that “Yousaf’s dangerous Hate Crime Act is already being weaponized on an industrial scale by thin-skinned troublemakers,” and a petition has been launched for its repeal.

The UK education secretary, Gillian Keegan, called Yousaf’s Hate Crime Act “a terrible bit of legislation”. She said the police “should be much more focused on fighting crime than policing people’s thoughts”. The prime minister, Rishi Sunak, agreed, saying, “We believe in free speech in this country.”

If Blinken agrees with Sunak, Keegan and Findlay that Yousaf’s new law is an affront to Western notions of free speech, he is, presumably, planning to impose visa restrictions upon him and demanding its repeal. However, nobody should hold their breath, and Yousaf will likely escape repercussions. In the all-too-familiar traditions of American diplomacy, Blinken has no interest in intervening when “rights and freedoms” are violated in countries the US does not want to antagonize.

Whatever Blinken has planned for them, Hong Kong’s officials have done their duty and can hold their heads high. They must have expected him to try to harm them and braced themselves accordingly. Although his double standards are there for all to see, they at least have clear consciences.

Random AI generated images

Default An ancient town in China rain fog looking at the lens 3(1)

Default Big and delish burger with meat chees onion and cucumb 0

Default Cat Adventures Document your cats outdoor adventures s 3

AlbedoBase XL Beautiful Elf posing with freckles and glasses 1(1)

Default high quality 8K Ultra HD angel knight army 2

Default An ultra detailed realistic digital art featuring Zen 3(1)

Default In the center of the image stands Misa Amane depicted 1(1)

Default Cat Adventures Document your cats outdoor adventures s 0

Default art nouveau style closeup of a gorgeous Spanish muse w 3

Default photorealistic 4K UHD Chef Gordon Ramsey cooking a dra 0

Default Create a stunning 8K ultrarealistic food photograph fe 0(1)

Default Create a stunning 8K ultrarealistic food photograph fe 0

Default Cinematic Realistic masterpiece best quality 12K Image 2

Default Cinematic Realistic masterpiece best quality 12K Image 1

Default Cinematic Realistic masterpiece best quality 12K Image 3

I’m so sorry

What was the last most shocking image you’ve ever seen?

WHEN FREEDOM IS LOST

This incident occurred at the Kombaru shrine in Karnataka, India.

The leopard was chasing the dog, the dog entered the bathroom through a window, the bathroom was locked from the outside.

The leopard came in after the dog and they both got trapped in the toilet; When the dog saw the leopard, it panicked and sat quietly in a corner.

He didn’t even dare to bark.

Although the leopard was hungry and chased the dog, it did not eat the dog.

He could have had dinner by jumping the dog, but the two animals were together in different corners for almost twelve hours. During these twelve hours, the leopard was also calm.

The forest department zeroed in on the leopard and captured it with a tranquilizer dart.

Now the question is, why didn’t the hungry leopard tear off the dog when it was easily possible?

Wildlife researchers answered this question: according to them, wild animals are very sensitive to their freedom.

main qimg 2e26ec247328c6c8691eefd049cf55df

As soon as they realize that their freedom has been taken away from them, they may feel deep pain, so much so that they may forget their hunger.

Your natural motivation to feed your stomach begins to fade.

Freedom and happiness are connected. Freedom to think, act, and live the way we want.

The American Way isn’t Working out Too Well

Some fun AI generated pictures

Here’s some of my latest work…

Default Imagine a Baroque label high attention to detail roman 3(17)

Default Imagine a Baroque label high attention to detail roman 1(14)

Default Imagine a Baroque label high attention to detail roman 3(13)

Default Imagine a Baroque label high attention to detail roman 1(11)

Default Imagine a Baroque label high attention to detail roman 3(10)

Default Imagine a Baroque label high attention to detail roman 1(8)

Default Imagine a Baroque label high attention to detail roman 3(6)

Default Imagine a Baroque label high attention to detail roman 1(3)

Default Imagine a Baroque label high attention to detail roman 2

Default Imagine a Baroque painting A very high attention to d 1

Default Imagine a Baroque painting A very high attention to d 3

Hanoi, Vietnam, call girl service

What is an instant mood lifter for you?

When I hear a good song playing suddenly in my neighborhood – It’s so awesome and got more power to make me cry and dance when it’s distant.
When someone genuinely listens to what I have to say – Isn’t it just great to speak your heart and someone is ready to see that vulnerable side of you?
When I receive the same level of importance I give to people – Ever heard someone say that “you” are a “priority” to them? If you have, dude you’re lucky (because I haven’t heard so).
When out of the blue, my mumma calls me “gudiya” – Mother’s love hits different. What would I even do without her?
When people trust me with their emotions – There’s a chance that I’ve been through that, so if they trust me, I can do everything to make sure they’re happy again.
When I get random messages from my close people – That specific notification sound just for the close ones>>
When I see potatoes – Weird? Nope, it isn’t. Potato and I go way back in history, a story for another time for sure!
When I know exactly what to do – I don’t have to explain this xD
When I’m sweating hard at the time of workout – It’s so satisfying when the exercises are giving result and on top of that, those beady drops of sweat make my day!

Some more of my AI generations

Default Imagine a Baroque box label for farm fresh tangerines 2

Default Imagine a Baroque box label for farm fresh grapefruit 2(1)

Default Imagine a Baroque box label for farm fresh grapefruit 3

Default Imagine a Baroque box label for farm fresh pomegranate 2

Default Imagine a Baroque box label for farm fresh peaches wit 0

Default Imagine a Baroque box label for farm fresh tomatoes on 2(1)

Default Imagine a Baroque box label for farm fresh tomatoes an 0

Default Imagine a Baroque box label for farm fresh tomatoes an 2

Default Imagine a Baroque box label for farm fresh olives with 3

Default Imagine a Baroque box label for farm fresh olives with 1(1)

Default Imagine a Baroque box label for farm fresh tomatoes wi 3(1)

Default Imagine a Baroque box label for farm prepared hamburge 1

Default Imagine a Baroque box label for farm prepared hamburge 2

If You’re An American Living Abroad Tell Me Why You Would Never Go Back? | Part 2

Police story

“So this happened in Montana. I’m on my way to go to my interview this morning when I get pulled over by a police officer.

I am native American and my friend that was with me is black. Just saying.

Both brake lights decided to go out this time.

As he walked to the car and I was pulling out my stuff, he quickly said,

“Don’t worry about pulling anything out. I just want you to know that your brake lights are out.”

So I’m immediately upset, because I just got them replaced like last month.

So I explained to him how Firestone wants to charge me $600 just to run a test on the wiring of the car.

He looked at me like 😨 and told me to pop the trunk.

He checked the lights in the trunk and tapped them, but they didn’t come on.

So he told me to pop the hood to check the relay box then asked me to get out to check the other one.

Then worked on the wiring under the dash.

He could’ve easily given me a ticket, but Officer Jenkins stepped out of the officer role, and into the mechanic role, and human role to make sure I was straight.

By the way, HE FIXED THEM. Not everyone is racist or a bad cop.”

“NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warns an’alliance of authoritarian powers’including Russia, Iran and China are working against the West?”Source: Daily Mail. Should this alliance concern Australia’s relations with China, inviting more US military bases?

Why is that such surprise?

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A. The West sanctions Iran unilaterally

The West unilaterally sanctions Iran. They steal Irans Oil randomly, pirating Iranian Ships or Ships containing Iranian Oil

They forbid shipment of even medicines into Iran causing the death of thousands of iranians

For a long time they even refused to allow imports of food materials into Iran especially Wheat

B. The West arms Taiwan, arms Japan and South Korea and literally builds thousands of bases around the South China Sea

US surrounds China with army bases yet a Chinese delegation to Cuba gets a massive national security lecture

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US openly says they want to Contain Chinas Rise and Growth

US arms Taiwan, a region they themselves acknowledge as being part of China

US sends soldiers to Taiwan, a Chinese region according to their own law

C. The West openly declare their aim to overthrow Putin and even assassinate him

Many a Senator and a Congressman at some time has claimed to want to overthrow or even kill Putin

They openly discuss Balkanization of Russia in their think tanks

They refused to give Russia security guarantees for almost a year before Ukraine when all they had to do was agree to Ukraines NATO membership being deferred by a decade

So how is it a surprise that these three nations decide to work together against the West?

What exactly does he expect?

That these three nations would come with a Chocolate Cake and openly allow themselves to be destroyed ?

Naah

Rule No 1 would be for the West to leave the world alone and stop interfering in every thing under the sun

Rule No 2 would be for the West to prepare a kill list of 100,000 people who are ruining them and the world. Including Stoltenberg himself.

Rule No 3 would be some nice army trucks at 3 AM outside the houses of these 100,000 people after which – they are never heard of again.

And the families too. Families always make nice deterrents.

Rule No 4 would be for a new Order in the West that adheres to their own principles of International Law rather than Rules Based Order

Once you do that the world would be a peaceful place

Stoltenberg would not be in that world but well… Nobodys gonna miss him too much

When did NPR become so left-wing?

When I was a dyed-in-the-wool conservative Republican, a career military man from a family of career warriors, I loved to listen to Paul Harvey and public radio. NPR didn’t seem “leftie” to me.

I was overseas my whole career, and got my news from the Stars and Stripes and Armed Forces Radio. I saw many ways to run a society while I lived in Japan, Philippines, Korea, and Germany over 16 years.

The first time I saw Rush Limbaugh, for the first five minutes, I thought he was a comedian doing a bit.

Upon finally returning to the States to retire, I was appalled at what America had become. The US I came back to was nearly a police state. The population was the sickest and most disabled of any country I had lived in. Homelessness and lack of education made the US seem like a Third World country. I was shocked.

NPR, however, was a familiar place to relax. They made sense. They considered points of view from both left and right. Importantly, the only “leftie” was a member of the Communist Party of the USA, and the only extreme right candidate was George Wallace, who didn’t stand a chance in the general election.

The difference between Dems and Repubs was no too great. Tip O’Neill and Ronald Reagan worked together all the time. (Reagan promised “small government” but grew the government by every metric. Every one.)

Today, however, millions of Americans have been left behind. They are worse educated than any modern nation; they are sicker and more disabled, and their babies die in the first year much more than in the rest of the advanced nations. (We did, in fact, become an oligarchy with democratic trappings. Details available upon request.)

Now those millions are angry. Their politicians sold out to the billionaires. The Republican leadership, much more than the Democrats, ignored their constituents needs and gave only tax cuts and excuses. The American people wanted LGBT people to have the same rights of marriage, social security, and hospital visitation as straight people. We got that. The American people wanted women to have more career opportunities, including in the military, on ships, and in combat units. We got that.

The American people voted for a black president. That broke the GOP back. Guns flew off the retail shelves, Militia membership soared. Ammunition was sold out for two years. The GOP refused to govern. All they did was vote to repeal the ACA 60 times, always with no chance of succeeding. Republicans directly interfered with foreign policy, personally telling Iran’s leaders to ignore the POTUS.

It seemed Hillary was certain to win. So certain, that few voted. Except the Republicans. They came out in force to vote for the guy who hated everyone they hated. Now their leader spews hatred and isolationism, the money-grubbing marketing

experts at certain media companies see the potential, so they amplify the suspicion and distrust. The result is a perfect storm of brainwashing. The handsome, 6′1″ blond billionaire can persuade most folks to invest their money in his dreams. Now he’s persuaded millions of Americans to invest their votes, their minds and their hearts in dedication to a professional con-man. Bernie Maddoff must be jealous.

THE ANSWER

NPR is right where they’ve always been, just a little left of center. But now the GOP has gone so far right—off the reservation—that they call centrists traitors and Marxists. God help us in our hour of need. Lord, is it time yet to take Trump home to meet his maker? Amen.

1900s Technology

Can anyone in China tell us why it is illegal for foreigners to visit Tibet? You must have a special permit to travel there. What are Xi and the CCP trying to hide? Is there a concentration camp there? Other explanation? Anyone who knows?

The question doesn’t make sense.

If it was illegal then it wouldn’t be possible to get a permit to visit. A permit means that it is legal for foreigners to visit Tibet. Similar to how you need a visa to visit China.

The autonomous regions of China are often slightly different to the mainland.

Hong Kong & Macao have fairly easy visas for most people BUT you do need separate visas for them.
Xinjiang doesn’t need a special permit now but it did in the past.
Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Guangxi have never had any special requirements as far as I know.

Anyway, I visited Tibet back in 2007. At that stage, it looked like the permits were going to be gone soon. The High Speed Train had just been connected and it was opening up.

Then the uprisings and separatist movement made a big push in 2008 when Beijing was hosting the Olympics. They were supported directly or indirectly by the US government and then Tibet was locked down and hard to get into Tibet for foreigners. Millions of Chinese tourists visit each year. Since then it has become easier and I know a number of people who have visited recently. You still need a permit but it is fairly easy to get one unless you are a reporter.

Last year in 2023 there were more than 24 million tourists to Tibet. Most were domestic but 30,455 were tourists from overseas.

You can visit but unless things have changed you need to spend 3 days in China. This information may be out of date since in the past it was advised that you should apply for the permit in China. Most tourists used to go to Chengdu to see the pandas and spend 3 days their waiting for the permit. A travel agent will do all of this for you and tell you what to do. It isn’t hard but it took time. Not sure if this is still the case. Things change quickly…

Strange coincidences

What’s the most confusing thing about being a man, today?

Navigating dating in a world where men are increasingly being told that women and men should be treated as equals; and yet where as a heterosexual man trying to find a partner, you’re still being systematically and mercilessly filtered out as a potential partner if you fail to perform classical masculinity well enough.

I grew up in, and live in Norway. One of the countries on earth that consistently score near the top of gender-equality rankings.

And yet my experiences in dating, especially as a young man, were very much about adhering to classical prejudiced gender-roles for men — or else remain single.

Examples?

I’ve been told (and agree!) that men should not be afraid to show or talk about emotions. But I’ve also been told in hundreds of ways that if a man shows any emotion that includes even a hint of vulnerability, then he’s instantly disqualified as a potential romantic interest.
[1]
I’ve been told that men and women should face the same expectations and similar opportunities. But as a young man, no woman ever asked me out on a first date. No woman ever explicitly revealed a crush on me unless I’d done the same thing first. No woman ever kissed me unless I initiated that first. No woman ever bought me a drink, flowers, chocolate, a valentines day card or any other stereotypically romantic gift unless I’d done that first. No woman ever asked me to dance, unless I’d done that first.[*]
Every time I read answers here on Quora about men who struggle with finding dates, I see the same recommendations. Usually from liberal, feminist people (both men and women) well-reflected about gender. Be confident. Be assertive. Initiate. Approach. Show Competence. Be unaffected by rejection, or if you’re affected, hide it! I’m not sure if they fail to notice it, or if they notice but don’t care — but these things look pretty much like: “Be classically masculine and adhere to gender-norms for men!” to me.

My dating-life took a sharp turn upwards when I finally learnt how to wear a mask and play a classically masculine role well enough to pass muster as a potential romantic partner.

I had several long and good relationships after I figured this part out, and though I’m happily married these days, I’m still confident I could fairly easily find a new fulfilling relationship if I should ever again find myself single and lonely.

But to find that relationship, I’d have to initially play a role. One that isn’t me, or that at least is just a tiny fraction of me. I’d have to play up those parts of me that adhere the closest to prejudiced norms for what a “real man” should be, and at least for a while downplay or hide those parts of me that don’t fit the mold, such as for example my vulnerable or emotional parts.

The most confusing thing for me as a young man, was how women around me were constantly telling me that there’s nothing they want more than gender-equality. And yet at the same time, if I want to “pass” as a man worthy of romantic love or sexual desire, then I have to jump right back into strongly gendered norms for what a “real man” should be.

[*]: I’m aware that many of these things do happen now and then to many men, and happen often to some men. Ironically though, that tends to be men with high social status and/or high social dominance. This single factor was without a doubt the most important factor for which young men were seen as attractive among my peers. And of course high status and high social dominance are ALSO things that prejudiced gender-roles for men judge us for.

War against China

Have you ever witnessed an objection at a wedding?

Oh, Boy! That happened to me.

Let me give you a bit of context:

My then girlfriend and I had been dating for about 5 years when we finally decided to marry.

On the day of the wedding, we were at my parents’ house with some close family and our closest friends.

Everything was going as expected and the law officer driving the ceremony was reading the document we were about to sign in order to be pronounced “husband and wife”.

It went something like:

“Mr. Blah blah blah… of profession Systems’ Engineer, born at xxxxx and Miss blah blah blah of profession xxxxx from xxx” plus some legal stuff that no one was really paying attention, or so I thought.

Then, the lady asks the infamous question:

“Does anyone have any objection?”

And for everyone’s surprise, a “Yes, I have one” was clearly heard.

In that instant, the time and everything else just froze. You would have been able to cut the air of the room with a knife. Everyone was shocked, silently looking for the source of those words. The only things moving in the room were our guests’ eyes.

Finally, we found it!

It turned out that the objection came from no less than the bride herself, and then she added in her most natural tone:

“He is not a Systems Engineer. His speciality is Computer Engineer”

First a general sense of relief and then everyone just burst out laughing.

We have been married for more than 15 years and the document still says “Systems Engineer”

Did I tell you that my wife is a lawyer?

6 LIES America Told Me About Europe | Americans React

Are Europeans shocked when they first come to the United States?

Have been many times now, and love it, but on my first visit …

Hubby was working and so I went to a Walmart. Really exciting for me as we didn’t have anything like that back in the UK. ( This was back in the early 90s)

I bought a trolley full of stuff, went through the cashier, paid and was quite happily on my way out of the door when beeps’ went off.

Before I knew it I was surrounded by about 4 or 5 what I can only describe as security people. They were really aggressive and I was terrified. What had I done wrong?

Anyway I was accused of stealing and literally frogmarched away. My whole trolley was gone through against my receipt.

Took a while. Everything tallied and it was discovered that whilst I had paid for it a security tag had not been deactivated from a wallet I had purchased. Cashier error.

They then let me go. A couple of hours later. No apologies. I was so shaken up by this treatment.

In the uk at the time of this incident if ‘beeps’ had gone off when leaving a store, sure you would have been stopped, yes checked, but nobody would have laid hands on you and treated you like a criminal. Once it was seen a mistake had been made on their part an apology would be given.

So I guess that certainly on my first visit my shock was that in the USA it is guilty until proven innocent, whereas in UK it is innocent until proven guilty.

Also that an apology is not necessary if they’ve got it wrong.

And please don’t get me started on the tipping culture. In the Uk we pay a minimum wage and tipping is seen as a sign of good service.

My first meal in the USA service was lousy, won’t go into details, but I was astonished to find that despite that I was expected to leave a tip at around 10–15% of the bill and was berated when I didn’t. At that time I had no idea that servers were not paid a decent wage and relied on tips, but to me it felt like a mandatory charge so that if you didn’t pay it you were in effect stealing.

I have been to the USA many times since and now appreciate the difference in our cultures. So I will pay the mandatory ‘tip’ but if I have got service above and beyond will do 30–40%. Still don’t like it though.

Please don’t think I am berating the USA. I have loads of friends here, just saying that as a naive Brit many years ago it was not the best of experiences.

What are the important lessons you learnt in life?

your sleep is key to your health and energy. Sleep well, and everything in life already looks easier. Darkness, silence, and inner peace are the key ingredients.
what you eat and drink is another key to your health and energy. The fewer of the things you consume have brand names, and the less has been done to them, the better you will eventually be.
the people you are surrounded by contribute greatly to who you are, and not just while you are with them. When you’re honest, you’ll find that very little of you is actually you.
the big challenge in life is to be authentic. It’s the hardest thing to do of them all to be truly yourself, and it may well be the meaning of life to try it. We only ever live during those moments where we are being ourselves, and they are few.
to live in freedom, you need to make utilitarian choices. This is a mechanical universe, full of things that are parasitic. Find the things that serve you with the least demands on you, and your life is more free.

Dating Pool Dropouts: How Feminism RUINED Dating

This chick is really freaking out.

Why are Europeans not as fat as Americans are when Europeans eat white bread and pasta and butter all the time?

I’m American, living in France for many years. I eat butter, cream, cheese, bread, pasta…. things I never used to eat in the US, and yet never have to worry about my weight.

Many things come into play-

No snacks. We eat meals, usually at the same times each day. My body seems to like living on a schedule this way. I don’t get hungry in between meals. My stomach knows when it is time to eat, and when it isn’t.

Portions. Portions are smaller. I’m about to visit home again, and know we’ll be going to restaurants and such, and I’ll have these giant heaping plates placed before me, which make me sick to think about. It actually kills my appetite to see this.

Different courses. Instead of eating everything at the same time, we have courses, so only one thing is in front of us at a time. If you are only eating tomatoes, you are going to eat less than if you are mixing in bites of other things in between. Eating a salad or a soup before the main dish, you’re already going to eat less of the main course, because you are less hungry.

Walking. We spend a lot of time walking. I walk to most everything – the grocery store, the post office, the hairdresser, the recycling center….. Whatever chores I have to do outside the home, I can usually walk, and a twenty-minute walk to get somewhere is normal. I do remember a time, when I hadn’t been here long, that every time someone said, “let’s just walk there”, I’d groan and complain “Why can’t we just drive??” I’ve come to love walking around the city. I had to remember the joy of that as a kid, when I’d just love taking my time and observing life around me along the way, instead of having my focus on the destination.

Less stress. This may or may not apply in a general way, but I find they have a different way of looking at life, in which work success is just not considered so essential, so people worry less. A lot of paid vacation, job security, easy healthcare, results in feeling less anxious, and maybe contributes to less cortisol production and emotional eating.

The failure of democracy

Chicken Chilaquiles Casserole

Ingredients

1/2 cup vegetable oil
10 (6 to 8 inch diameter) flour or corn tortillas, cut into 1/2 inch strips
2 cups shredded cooked chicken or turkey
1 1/3 cups salsa verde or green sauce
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Chihuahua or mozzarella cheese

Instructions

Heat oil in skillet until hot. Cook tortilla strips in oil for 30 to 60 seconds or until light golden brown; drain.
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 quart casserole.
Layer half of the tortilla strips in casserole; top with chicken, half of the salsa verde (about 2/3 cup) and 1 cup of the cheese.
Press layers gently down into casserole.
Repeat with remaining tortilla strips, sauce and cheese.
Bake for about 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and golden brown.

What are some things a woman should know about men?

1. Like you girls have periods, that cause pain and mood swings etc. Similarly, we men have nocturnal emission that causes mood swings and back pain. Not all men go through that, but many. And it’s not a comparison between the issues.

2. We actually hate giving surprises, if somebody is doing… he’s pressured or doing the same just to impress and make you happy.

3. We actually don’t like you to be influenced by influencers in terms of dress up, eating, and showing up on Social media to people. We want you to be you… The Authentic you.

4. We hate the question “How much do you love me” and in fact we don’t have answers.

5. We love Motorcycle and Car, and we want you to respect the same. And the reason is they actually need love and care, or else they can trouble anytime. Don’t complain if your man is investing a bit more money on that.

6. Please don’t take us shopping if you’re not getting it done within an hour.

7. If you’re allowed to have male friends, please don’t question our Female Friends.

8. We don’t run for sex. Though it’s a natural need, but please don’t judge without reading the whole book. Also, don’t trust the buttery words of a Man without knowing him.

9. It feels extremely difficult for us to walk behind an unknown girl, even if we are moving in the same direction. We wait or overtake most of the time. If you’re afraid then we too.

There are many things not coming up in my head right now, and yes men should equally know about women. But no one in the world till now has succeeded understanding a Woman.. haha.

Why Women Don’t Support Husbands in Difficult Times.

Grandpa

The IRS decides to audit Grandpa, and summons him to the IRS office. The IRS auditor was not surprised when Grandpa showed up with his attorney.

The auditor said, “Well, sir, you have an extravagant lifestyle and no full-time employment, which you explain by saying that you win money gambling. I’m not sure the IRS finds that believable.”

“I’m a great gambler, and I can prove it,” says Grandpa. “How about a demonstration?”

The auditor thinks for a moment and says, “OK. Go ahead.”

Grandpa says, “I’ll bet you a thousand dollars that I can bite my own eye.”

The auditor thinks a moment and says, “It’s a bet.”

Grandpa removes his glass eye and bites it. The auditor’s jaw drops.

Grandpa says, “Now, I’ll bet you two thousand dollars that I can bite my other eye.”

The auditor can tell Grandpa isn’t blind, so he takes the bet.

Grandpa removes his dentures and sinks them into his remaining eye. The astonished auditor now grasps that he has gambled and lost three grand, with Grandpa’s attorney as a witness. His unease begins to mount.

“Want to go double or nothing?” Grandpa asks. “I’ll bet you six thousand dollars that I can stand on one side of your desk, and pee into that wastebasket on the other side, and never get a drop anywhere in between.”

The auditor, twice burned, is cautious now, but he looks carefully and decides there’s no way this old guy could possibly manage that stunt, so he agrees again. Grandpa stands beside the desk and unzips his pants, but although he strains mightily, he can’t make the stream reach the wastebasket on the other side, so he pretty much urinates all over the auditor’s desk.

The auditor leaps with joy, realizing that he has just turned a major loss into a huge win. But Grandpa’s attorney moans and puts his head in his hands.

“Are you OK?” the auditor asks.

“Not really,” says the attorney. “This morning, when Grandpa told me he’d been summoned for an audit, he bet me twenty-five thousand dollars that he could come in here and pee all over your desk and that you’d be happy about it.”

Don’t mess with old people!

If you feel your former bosses would give you a bad reference, should you contact them before putting them for your next job?

I had three interviews that went very well, in my opinion, yet I received no job offer, and I suspected it was because my boss was subverting my effort to leave the company. During my fourth interview, with the Department of Correction, I mentioned my suspicion to the person interviewing me and she said that she’d make a note of it. I was offered the job a couple of days later, contingent upon passing a drug screen, and while I was at the agency for the drug screen the HR manager asked me to step into her office.

She called my boss and said she was calling for a reference on me, and boss gave what would be described as a tepid recommendation: I did “adequate” work and was “as reliable as anyone else” but she would have hired someone younger if she was filling my position now. After she ended the call the HR manager said she understood why I had trouble finding another job, and then she asked when I wanted to start work with the agency. I told her I’d be there bright and early the following Monday.

My boss said she wanted someone younger for my job so I decided to accomodate her. I didn’t bother to say anything about the phone call, or that I was leaving. But I did send a delayed email letting her know how I felt about her and so she’d know that I wouldn’t be coming back. The last time I saw her was when I picked up my last paycheck; she threw a stapler at me.

Sounds Of The Department Store 1979

OMG!

Just put this on and listen to it on a early Saturday Morning.

WYDD

"A Chinese engineer friend told me that, in a shooting war, China’s first salvo will be at least 30,000 missiles–enough to cripple every US base east of Guam–and more than America’s entire missile inventory."
-Godfree Roberts

When I was in high school, there was a radio station that I, and all my friends used to listen to. This was WYDD. This was a very leading-edge “alternative Rock” radio station long before “alternative rock” came into being.

One of my favorite DJ’s was “Laid Back Larry Allen”.

They mostly played the more obscure rock music of the time, long before the mainstream radio stations would play the songs. They introduced us, their audience, to such wonders as YES!, Gentle Giant, Jefro Tull, Moody Blues, Traffic, and Spooky Tooth.

Today, these musicians are known as “classic rock”, but back in those days, it was rarely heard music. The AM system ruled the airwaves, and it was just starting to go corporate. WYDD was FM, and was a niche market.

Anyways, there was a corporate buy out. This was big in the late 1970’s. A group of wealthy investors would buy up all sorts of radio stations and then bombard the targeted audience with a bland rotation of “cookie cutter songs”. Such as “Maggie May”, etc.

Oh, it was awful. And during their last night of programming, the entire staff walked out. There were downtown protests, and near riots in all the communities as us youth wouldn’t have any of it.

…

I went to college, four years passed, and returned home.

The mood was different.

Most of my friends installed cassette players in their cars, and the station of preference was WDVE. Which now claimed to “always” have been the station of the youth.

Ha! Talk about rewriting history!

They played pure ROCK.

This trend, or the wealthy changing the demographics of American society didn’t end there. It just got crazier and crazier… up until now you have these wealthy billionaires paying off entire school boards at the tune of $50,000 a person to implement LGBQ+ polices, and the like.

Indeed, the USA is a complete cesspool today.

And it all started in the 1970’s.

…

The 1960-era Peace-Love crowd became greedy, egotistic, narcissistic psychopaths, and they…

…they changed generations of Americans.

And exported it to Europe and Australia.

…

One can only wonder what the WOKE, and MTOW movement will result in … twenty years from today.

It’s gonna be … feudal.

…

As an aside… from my point above…

The old WYDD Station DJ’s and team got together and set up a web page where you can listen to their rantings and music!

Freeform Rock Radio DJ WZUM 1973, 
WYDD 2 1/2 years 1975-1977 "Laidback Larry Allen"

Former YDD DJ's Larry & Jim DeCesare host this site with our friends. 

We are now on Face Book at "WYDD Pittsburgh Freeform" 

The only page on FB dedicated to the Freeform Rock Radio Years in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Check it out HERE. And listen to what it was like in 1977.

Hours and hours of a time machine.

You will NEVER hear this mix of pre-alternative rock from the mid-1970’s anywhere. Songs and music that you might have forgotten, heard once or twice… Well worth the listen to.

Today…

A used gun

If a lighter were dropped off in a random place, say 1,000 years around the time fire was discovered, how would it change the timeline?

Most likely scenario:

Ogg the caveman is out foraging for his evening meal and comes across a lighter that has been dropped by a careless time-traveler.

Naturally attracted by shiny things, he picks it up and through a stroke of incredible luck manages not only to open it but to get the thing to light. Excited by his discovery, he rushes back to the cave to show it to his fellow tribesmen.

Gesturing to the strange object in his hand, Ogg very eloquently grunts “Acckk! Ogg greck narf spurgle blorg!” (Roughly translated, “Dudes! Look at the cool thing Ogg found!”) He deftly opens the lighter, flips the wheel, and a bright flame springs forth.

And at this point, Ogg is immediately stoned to death by his fellows for messing around with wizardry and risking the wrath of the gods. The lighter is hurled into a nearby tar pit in the hope of preventing that same wrath from coming down upon them all. Unfortunately, since no one else in the tribe had ever seen a lighter or figured out how it works, they didn’t close it first and the still-lit flame ignited the gases rising from the pit. The ensuing conflagration wipes out the entire tribe, leaving only a blackened scar on the landscape which would be known for decades after as “the place where those idiots pissed off the gods.”

Thus endeth the lesson.

Totally and absolutely COOL

Facts about the great Humphrey Bogart :

1. While he was married to fiery actress Mayo Methot he discovered that she suspected him of cheating on her – he wasn’t – and had hired a private detective to follow him. Bogart found out the name of the agency the PI worked for, and called them up. When he reached the man’s boss he said, “You got a man on my tail. Would you check with him and find out where I am?”.

2. Named his daughter, Leslie Bogart, to show his gratitude to Leslie Howard, who got him his big break in The Petrified Forest (1936).

3. Lauren Bacall once recalled that while John Wayne and Fred Astaire hardly knew her husband Humphrey Bogart at all, they were the first to send flowers and good wishes after Bogart was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in January 1956.

4. Though a poor student, he was a lifelong reader, and could quote Plato, Pope, Ralph Waldo Emerson and over a thousand lines of Shakespeare. He admired writers, and some of his best friends were screenwriters, including Richard Brooks, who directed him in ‘Deadline – USA’.

5. His coffin contains a small, gold whistle, put there by his wife Lauren Bacall.

No grand strategy

As a psychologist, who is the most disturbing individual you have ever met?

The most disturbing individual I ever met was another psychologist, and he inspired me to research a paper into the motivation behind persons with PD’s becoming Psychologists (which is more common than most people appreciate).

I knew of this individual from school but had no idea he had studied Psychology.

He was the most vicious bully the school had ever seen.

Three of the people he bullied went on to commit suicide.

There was an accusation of rape levelled against him but, as it was the eighties, the girl withdrew the accusation when the police informed her there was no evidence and it was her word against his.

There was an episode where he discovered a smaller boy was claustrophobic. He locked the boy in a cupboard for over half an hour. By the time we rescued this boy he was non responsive and non verbal. This boy subsequently committed suicide.

He showed no remorse and no empathy when I met up with him years later at a seminar.

He questioned my recollection of the events at school, trying to convince me (a clinical Psychologist) that memories weren’t reliable and he had no recollection of any of “those events”.

Most disturbing was that this person was working with vulnerable youth.

I took this up with one of his Professors and demanded to know why he hadn’t spotted what, in my opinion, was an individual with a very obvious PD studying in his classes.

He replied that perhaps this individual was the perfect fit for vulnerable youth as he understood the victim/perpetrator dynamic.

I was horrified.

I replied that that was like stating it would be advantageous to train rapists as rape counsellers for they would have the same perspective.

I still can’t work out whom was the more disturbing character. The student or the teacher.

The top three

Why Are So Many of Our Elite Sexually Depraved?

Edward Dutton • March 31, 2024

There have long been conspiracy theories that the world is ruled by a group of elite pedophiles or at least ephobophiles—those who are attracted to sexually mature but very young girls. Just such a vast, elite pedophile ring — centred around Hilary Clinton — was a key strand in QAnon thinking [QAnon conspiracists believe in a vast pedophile ring. The truth is sadder, By Moira Donegan, Guardian, September 20, 2020]. In the UK, “Operation Yew Tree,” set up after the death of popular entertainer Sir Jimmy Savile and revelations about his raping numerous under-aged girls, unmasked a number of high-profile celebrities with similar proclivities, such as the entertainer Rolf Harris [Rolf Harris, Savile and Clifford all pulled the wool over my eyes, By Simon Hattenstone, Guardian, July 3, 2014].

With the publication of court documents relating to Virginia Roberts suing the now jailed Ghislaine Maxwell, a growing list of A-List celebrities have been revealed to have spent time on the private island of wealthy convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, where Maxwell procured young girls for him. These A-Listers include Prince Andrew, who denies having had sex with Virginia Roberts (then a minor), Stephen Hawking and Bill Clinton. According to sworn testimony by one of these girls, Epstein told her that the former president “likes them young” [Epstein told victim that Bill Clinton ‘likes them young’, new court filings reveal, By Rachel Young, Independent, January 7, 2024]. People may be shocked at evidence that so many highly elite people may be interested in having sex with very young girls. As someone who researchers evolutionary psychology I don’t find it shocking at all. It makes complete theoretical sense.

What is it that predicts being extremely eminent, ascending to the heights of the elite, being, in some way, a genius? As I have explored in my book Sent Before Their Time: Genius, Charisma and Being Born Prematurely, it is very high intelligence combined with psychopathic traits. If you are low in empathy and altruism, you won’t care that your radical new idea, for example, offends vested interests; in fact you might enjoy upsetting people. You will even have aspects of Narcissism, such a strong sense of entitlement; making you impervious to setbacks, possessed of a Machiavellian streak, and, so, more likely to succeed. If you are low in impulse control then you won’t be able to force yourself to think like everybody else; you will “think outside the box” and generate original ideas. And if you are high in negative feelings, in Neuroticism, you will be constantly ruminating and so generating new insights. In essence, genius is very high intelligence combined with sub-clinical psychopathology.

German-British psychiatrist Felix Post (1913–2001) conducted a character-trait analysis of 291 world famous men which I drew upon in Sent Before Their Time. He found that 16% of the male population might be sub-clinically psychopathic. This compared to 52% of politicians, 50% of artists and 70% of writers. Post estimated that 1% of males suffer from Narcissistic Personality Disorder, but this was 27% of artists, 28% of politicians and 40% of writers. It should be added that while 1% of the male population are “severely psychopathic,” Post found it was 17.4% of politicians, 37.5% of artists, 26% of thinkers, and 46% of writers. He estimated that 33% of his sample of world famous scientists had suffered from depression or anxiety, as had 41% of his politicians, 34% of his composers, 36% of his thinkers, 41% of his artists and 72% of his writers. Approximately 20% of people in Western countries experience a bout of depression at some point in their lifetimes [Creativity and psychopathology: A Study of 291 World Famous Men, By Felix Post, British Journal of Psychiatry, 1994].

With these numbers in mind, we must ask what are the correlates of pedophilia? The first key trait is psychopathology; it robustly crosses over with being a pedophile. This is presumably because in order to abuse and take advantage of somebody, especially a minor, you have to be lacking in altruism and empathy and also have a strong sense of entitlement, that you can do whatever you like [Psychopathy in the pedophile, By D. Dorr, In . Millon, E. Simonsen, M. Birket-Smith & R. D. Davis (Eds.), Psychopathy: Antisocial, criminal, and violent behaviour, 1998]. Unsurprisingly, one study also found that, “Pedophiles possess many core personality features associated with Narcissistic Personality Disorders” [A Rorschach investigation of defensiveness, self-perception, interpersonal relations, and affective states in incarcerated pedophiles, By M.R. Bridges et al., Journal of Personality Assessment, 1998]. In other words, some men may be attracted to under-age girls but you require psychopathic and Narcissistic traits in order to act on this.

Both of these traits are part of a “fast life history strategy,” a concept I’ve looked at before. Fast life history strategists are evolved to an easy yet unpredictable ecology where you must live fast and die young. It is, therefore, pointless bonding with people, who could be wiped out at any moment, so you are aggressive and psychopathic. You must pass on your genes as quickly as possible, so you should be attracted to very young women, as they are highly fertile. If you are a slow life history strategist then you are in a predictable, harsh and competitive environment. You must ensure, for example, that your offspring are adapted to the local diseases and are well-nurtured, so you might value genetic similarity to your partner and a kind personality above youth. Our super-elite are highly intelligent fast life history strategists so we would expect to have an extreme penchant for youth.

Anxiety is associated with paraphilia, with a developing a sexual fetish. An extreme penchant for youth might be regarded as close to fetish, in that teenage girls are not yet at the peak of their fertility. It has been suggested that anxiety can potentiate sexual arousal in men, which can lead to an association between sexual arousal and atypical objects [The Relation Between the Paraphilias and Anxiety in Men: A Case—Control Study, By M. Fox et al., Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2022]. Alternatively, it may be that anxiety involves experiencing intense feelings more strongly, making the normal desire for youth more extreme, as autism, which involves low empathy and extreme sensations, is associated with paraphilia and anxiety [Psychological and Developmental Correlates of Paraphilic and Normophilic Sexual Interests, By A. Brown et al., Sexual Abuse, 2022]. Certainly, childhood anxiety is associated with later becoming a pedophile [Social anxiety and sexual offending against children: A cumulative meta-analysis, By K. Nunes et al., Sexual Aggression, 2012].

So, put simply, we shouldn’t be surprised at evidence of highly elite males having sex with underage girls. The same traits that predict being highly elite would appear to predict just such a penchant. The “conspiracy theory” makes theoretical sense.

Good summary

Tips for Making Perfect Buffalo Wings

The following was originally posted by G. Schaeffer.

The key to good Buffalo Wings is how you prepare them as well as the ingredients and the handling of the wings. The most successful wings served up here in Buffalo are what they call “Grade A Grinders.” Fresh wings that are very large and meaty. Usually, you cannot get them in a frozen package, but can get them from a poultry dealer. Once you find them make sure they are absolutely fresh.

Wash them in cold water, split them at the joint and remove the tips. Place them on a rack on a pan and refrigerate overnight to let the blood and water drain out of the wings. THIS IS A REAL KEY. Drying the wings under refrigeration will help to make them a much crispier product, once deep fried.

Next, use a deep fryer or a very heavy deep pot with a thermometer and add the oil. Peanut oil is very good, or a commercial product such as can be found at a restaurant cash and carry called Mel Fry.

Heat the oil up SLOWLY, to 365 degrees F, and depending on the size of the fryer, deep fry the dry wings 6 to 8 minutes in small batches, until thoroughly done and golden brown. Hold the cooked wings in a warm oven if necessary.

A combination of melted butter and hot sauce in the ratio of 1 part butter to 3 parts hot sauce will add the right zing. The key here is to add just enough sauce to coat the wings – the more sauce you add, the hotter they will be.

For the very brave, 1 part butter to 3 parts hot sauce and 1 part Tabasco is referred to as “Suicidal Wings” by the late and dear Don Bellissimo, who owned the Anchor Bar.

Working quickly, place the deep fried wings in a large bowl and add the sauce mixture, shaking to coat them. There are many good hot sauces to use; the one they use is either Durkee Franks Red Hot Sauce or Wingers Original, again found in a restaurant cash and carry.

Celery sticks and chunky blue cheese dressing (Ken’s Buffalo Style Blue Cheese is a popular one) and plenty of napkins.

The view on America after living abroad (UK)

What is the biggest waste of electricity you’ve seen in a home you visited, were a guest in, or even in your own home?

Beijing and Canberra are sister cities. In the noughties there were exchanges of government employees between the cities. They were billeted with local families.

A lovely Chinese woman came to stay in my house after she found her first host untenable. I was the desperation destination.

She was the most incredible cook and delighted in preparing delicious meals for us. She was intelligent, interesting, diligently tidy and lovely to have around.

I entrusted the house to her and took the chance to take my boys camping at the beach. After a long day in the surf then dinner on the beach I came back to my car to find fourteen missed calls from Ai Le.

Now apparently in Beijing the heating is turned on or off at the discretion of the authorities. Heating is therefore seen as not only free but the height of indulgence.

The voice messages went from Ai Le’s desperate and lonely voice with the fire alarm blaring then rising in volume until the final crescendo when it sounded like every Chinese person in the southern hemisphere was gathered in my house, all competing to be heard above the still blaring alarm.

Ai Le, bless her, had turned the heating to tropical+ the moment we left. Eventually the fire alarm activated and she had no idea how to turn it off.

The power bill was monstrous and Ai Le embarrassed but we found the humour and all was well.

And no diplomacy was harmed in the making of this story.

Israel and America Are at War with Iran, Russia and China

Is it possible for the US or other nations to prevent a potential invasion of Taiwan by China?

Absolutely, and positively No. ZERO. No way. Never gonna happen.

…

Taiwan is a province of China, and it is so close to the mainland that the PLA can swim to it.

China has already shown that it can isolate, blockade and totally rubbish the island and there isn’t a God-damn thing that anyone can do about it.

Sanctions?

Ha ha ha ha ha

Tell me about it. Ain’t no one gonna follow sanctions on China except the most butt-hole sucking LGBQ+ moronic clown-show transvestites.

Threat of war?

Ha ha ha ha ha.

Have you forgotten what getting a good butt-reaming was like? Hey! Wanna have some fun. Go watch the interview of American veterans of the “Korean War” and what THEY have to say. Instead of listening to John Bolton and Mike Pompeo.

Trade embargo?

Oh my goodness, this is a belly laugh for certain. Ha ha ha ha

When Namibia, Africa is running 7G and 8G, the USA will be struggling with land-lines and cell-phone towers that struggle with obsolete 3G networks on dying batteries.

…

To take on China is to place a loaded .45 ACP to your temple and pull the trigger. It’s “death by cop”, and you know what, if you are so God-damn stupid to pull that one, you will deserve the nuclear radiation that comes with it.

Idiots. Suckers.

…

Update

I’m sorry. I must apologize. I sometimes really minimize really serious issues and distill it into something more palatable to the average person. Like this post. The reality is that it is gonna be much, much, MUCH worse.

The fact is, that any war between China and the “rules based insanity” that is the West today is gonna be a God-Damn cluster Fuck. That is a truth, and you all had best get your arms around this truth.

Trump can be President. Oprah Winfrey could be president. Joe Biden could be President. It won’t make any difference. The USA is run by the ignorant, and they are on a death-march to the meat-grinder, and you are duck taped to them.

Enjoy the ride.

Until it is over.

The One Question Women Are Not Ready To Answer

What is the worst bullying you have ever seen personally?

The worst recorded case of bullying that I know of is the case of Liu JinFeng.

main qimg 07fd7e3e7d62a557fccad5e9a36ebf6c lq

The one being executed in the photo is not her abuser but her.

Liu was raised through only primary school education, abused by her father since childhood. After her mum passed away, her stepfather and other relatives drove her out of the family. I surmise that she already had no one who cared about her by then.

A homeless and good looking woman in her teenage years is a total target for sexual abuse. Indeed, she was soon taken in by males, only to be raped and then discarded every time. Apparently, she was forced to undergo abortion as well.

Eventually, prostitution got the better of her and she got arrested during a prostitution crackdown. After one year in jail, the police sent her back to her stepfather, only to be sold to another family for 1000 RMB.

After the sex ride by the new abuser, she was sold again to another man by the surname Hu. Hu was an alcoholic and the worst of all the abusers Liu had to put up with. Liu made several escape attempts that Hu decided to chain her up with a 3 pound metal chain. She was still able to make it a few miles away with all that weight. This prompted Hu to break one of her legs to hinder her from further tries.

The climax took place when Hu left town for months, leaving her to the watch of his cousins. His cousins raped her, leading to the eventual birth of her son. This time around, Hu became maddened, whipped her naked and sliced her vagina while she was hanging upside down.

She survived the struggle, she awoke. Only to realize, her son has already been strangled to death by the devious Hu. She finally lost it.

She hacked Hu to death while he was sleeping in bed before setting the house on fire. This eventually led to her facing the death penalty for murder. Her execution took place in 1995 in the city of Xianyang, when she was just twenty years old. She died not even from defending her own honor, but her son’s.

The miscarriage of her justice circulated around the internet about a decade later when internet started getting usage in China. Today, you can still find photos of her headless body left in the snow post execution.

There are two issues reflected in her case which I find common in all cases of bullying.

Firstly, bully victims generally do not retaliate, or are simply unable to retaliate, until it is too late. Most victims of prolonged bullying, including me, report fear of further punishment from the abuser as the main reason for not voicing out.

Secondly, ironically as well, is that most bully victims meet their demise not because of lack of intervention from the law, but because of the law. The law is run by hard statements, it punishes anyone who breaks penal codes, blind to the form the breach took place. In the Western world, the law is somewhat more flexible, but not immune to this trend either. In the case of Liu, I would consider the law morally wrong.

As a victim of bullying for five years, there is little anyone can do to heal my wounds which have withered into scars by now. Sometimes, I just remind myself what Liu JinFeng went through was much worse.

Source:

10 Beautiful Chinese Women Executed Over the Past 30 Years – chinaSMACK

Scott Ritter warns: Russia FAB-3000 power redefines modern warfare

The Sahel’s ‘Axis of Resistance’

The African Sahel is revolting against western neocolonialism – ejecting foreign troops and bases, devising alternative currencies, and challenging the old multinationals. Multipolarity, after all, cannot flower without resistance paving its path.

By Pepe Escobar

APR 1, 2024

The emergence of Axes of Resistance

in various geographies is an inextricable byproduct of the long and winding process leading us toward a multipolar world. These two things – resistance to the Hegemon and the emergence of multipolarity – are absolutely complementary.

The Axis of Resistance in West Asia – across Arab and Muslim states – now finds as its soul sister the Axis of Resistance spanning the Sahel in Africa, west to east, from Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger to Chad, Sudan, and Eritrea.

Unlike Niger, where the change in power against neocolonialism was associated with a military coup, in Senegal, the power change comes straight from the polls.

Senegal plunged itself into a new era with the landslide victory of Bassirou Diomaye Faye, 44, in nationwide elections on 24 March. A former tax inspector who had just spent a fortnight stint in jail, Faye emerged with the profile of an underdog pan-African leader to turn the ‘most stable democracy in Africa,’ under French puppet incumbent Macky Sall, upside down.

The incoming Senegalese president now joins Ibrahim Traore, 36, in Burkina Faso, Aby Ahmed, 46, in Ethiopia, Andry Rajoelina, 48, in Madagascar, as well as future superstar Julius Malema, 44, in South Africa as part of the new, young pan-African generation focused on sovereignty. In his election manifesto, Faye pledged to reclaim Senegal’s sovereignty no less than eighteen times.

Geoeconomics is key to these shifts. As Senegal becomes a substantial oil and gas producer, Faye will aim to renegotiate mining and energy contracts, including the largest ones with British Petroleum (BP) and UK gold mine operator, Endeavor Mining.

Crucially, he plans to ditch the exploitative CFA franc – the French-controlled currency system used in 14 African states – even setting up a new currency as part of reshaping relations with neocolonial power France, Senegal’s top trading partner. Faye, echoing Comrade Xi Jinping, wants a “win-win” partnership.

Enter the Alliance of the Sahel States

Faye has not yet been clear on whether he intends to kick the French military out of Senegal. Were that to happen, the blow to Paris would be unprecedented, as embattled Petit Roi Emmanuel Macron and the French establishment consider Senegal the key player when it comes to blockading landlocked Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso, which have already left Paris in the (Sahel) dust.

The three latter states, which have just formed an Alliance of the Sahel States (Alliance des Etats du Sahel, AES, in the original French), are not only a major Paris nightmare after serial humiliations but also a big American headache – epitomized in the spectacular breakdown of military cooperation between Washington and Nigerien capital Niamey.

The culprit, according to the US Deep State, is, of course, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Obviously, no one in the US Beltway has been paying due attention to the Russia–Africa diplomatic flurry since last year, involving all key players from the Sahel to the new African BRICS members Egypt and Ethiopia.

In sharp contrast to its prior regard of Niger as a staunch ally in the Sahel, Washington is now forced to present a calendar date to get its troops out of Niger – after a military cooperation deal was annulled. The Pentagon cannot be involved in military training in Nigerien territory anymore.

There are two key bases – in Agadez and Niamey – which the Pentagon spent over $150 million to build. Niamey was finished only in 2019 and is managed by the US military’s African Command, AFRICOM.

Operational objectives are, predictably, shrouded in mystery. The Niamey base is essentially an intel center, processing data collected by MQ-9 Reaper drones. The US Air Force also uses the Dirkou Aerodrome as a base for operations in the Sahel.

Now things get really exciting, because the presence of a de facto CIA drone base in Dirkou, manned by a handful of operatives, is not even acknowledged. This dark base allows intel collection everywhere in Central Africa, from west to north. Call it another classic example of former CIA director Mike Pompeo’s “We Lie, We Cheat, We Steal.”

There are roughly 1,000 US troops in Niger who may soon face ejection. The Americans are trying everything to stem the bleeding. Only this month, US Undersecretary of State for Africa Molly Phee visited Niger twice. Losing bases in Niger will translate into Washington following Paris in losing control of the Sahel – as Niger gets closer to Russia and Iran.

These bases are not essential to exercise surveillance over the Bab al-Mandeb; it’s all about the Sahel, with drones operating on their limit and violating every sovereign air space in sight.

Incidentally, a hefty delegation from Niamey visited Moscow in January. Then, last week, Putin discussed security cooperation in phone calls with Mali’s interim President, Assimi Goita, and Niger’s military junta President Abdourahmane Tchiani before talking to the Republic of Congo’s President Denis Nguesso.

Ivory Coast: The Empire turn-around

Pro-west puppet regimes are dwindling fast all across the African continent. The Alliance of the Sahel States – Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger – may be the vanguard of an African Axis of Resistance, but there’s more, in the form of South Africa, Ethiopia, and Egypt as full BRICS members – not to mention serious candidates for the next wave of BRICS+, such as Algeria and Nigeria.

Russia, diplomatically, and China, commercially, plus the full weight of the Russia–China strategic partnership, are clearly focused on the long game – counting on Africa as a whole as a key multipolar player. Additional evidence was provided once again during the multipolar conference last month in Moscow, where charismatic pan-African leader Kemi Seba from Benin was one of the superstars.

Pan-Eurasian diplomatic circles even allow themselves to joke about the recent hissy fits by Le Petit Roi in Paris. The utter humiliation of France in the Sahel is likely one of the drivers of Macron’s chest-thumping threats to send French troops to Ukraine – who would be turned into steak tartare by the Russians in record time – and his eagerness to support Armenia’s current Russophobic stunts.

Historically, the fact remains, that Africans considered the former USSR much more pliable and even supportive when it came to siphoning natural resources; that goodwill has now also been transferred to China.

As a regional integration platform, the Alliance of the Sahel States has everything it takes to become a game-changer. Senegal under Faye may eventually join, but Guinea already offers the geographical capacity to provide the alliance with credible maritime access. That will lead to the progressive extinction of the western-controlled, Nigeria-based ECOWAS.

Yet, never dismiss the Hegemon’s mighty tentacles. The Pentagon master plan does not entail abandoning Africa to a multipolar Russia–China–Iran sphere of influence. Yet no one across the Sahel’s Axis of Resistance buys the US ‘terror threat’ card anymore. There was virtually zero terror in Africa until 2011, when NATO turned Libya into a wasteland, then put boots on the ground and erected military bases across the continent.

So far, the Alliance of the Sahel States is winning the sovereignty-first information war, hands-down. But there’s no question the Empire will strike back. After all, the whole game is tied to the Beltway’s supreme paranoia of Russia taking over the Sahel and Central Africa.

Enter the Ivory Coast, now that Senegal may be about to start flirting with the Alliance of the Sahel States.

Ivory Coast is more strategic to Washington than, for instance, Chad because Ivorian territory is very close to the Sahel alliance. Still, Chad has already recalibrated its foreign policy, which is no longer Western-controlled and comes with a new emphasis on getting closer to Moscow.

What lies ahead for Empire? Perhaps US ‘anti-terror’ drones shared with Paris at the French base in the Ivory Coast to keep the Sahel alliance in check. Call it the humiliated Gallic rooster embracing the Hegemon in West Africa without receiving even the crumbs of a stale croissant.

Passport Bros TRIGGERING The Young Turks As Men REJECT Leftist Utopias For Traditional Life Abroad

Something’s Up: Another City Declares “Emergency” over April 8 Solar Eclipse

Hal Turner World 01 April 2024

New York State Police Warn about Coming Eclipse on April 8

There’s something creepy going on in connection with the coming solar eclipse on April 8 and it warrants our attention: Numerous cities have declared states of emergency . . . for an eclipse???? No, there’s more to this than we’re being told . . .

This weekend, Niagara Falls Canada declared a state of emergency for the coming solar eclipse on April 8, as 1 million people are expected to flood the area.

The Ontario side of the falls has started to prepare for the expected influx in visitors coming to see the total social eclipse in early April.

The famous falls have been listed by National Geographic as one of the best places to see the eclipse – a phenomena not seen in the area since 1979. The city is within the path where the moon will entirely block the sun for a few minutes.

Mayor Jim Diodati estimated the city would see the most visitors in a single day on April 8 with an estimated 1 million expected. On average, the city see 14 million visit per year.

The state of emergency, which was announced Thursday, will allow the city to execute additional planning to help prepare for traffic jams, cell phone network overloads, and a higher need for emergency services, and more.

BELL COUNTY, TX – Way back on February 22, Bell County Texas issued a local state of emergency, anticipating a significant surge in visitors and strained resources.

The county expects its population of 400,000 to double in the days leading up to and after the eclipse, “due to our location in the Path of Totality,” when the moon completely covers the sun.

The county expects traffic congestion, fuel shortages and strains on first responders, hospitals, and food. The declaration will help the county coordinate with the state Department of Emergency Management if state assistance is needed.

The declaration also requires property owners to register with the county if they are hosting events like watch parties or camping for more than 50 people, as well as provide “adequate” bathroom and waste disposal facilities.

Bell County says registration information will help public safety officials and first responders during a period when roads and highways may be stressed, and responders may be impeded by population conditions.

TRAVIS COUNTY, TX — On March 10, Travis County said it would take emergency measures ahead of the total solar eclipse set to take place in exactly one month.

Kaufman County, TX — On March 27 Officials in Kaufman County issued a disaster declaration ahead of the April 8 total solar eclipse, saying they expect the county’s population to double and for traffic to be a major issue.

“Our current population is somewhere around 200,000. We’re expecting another 200,000,” Steve Howie said. Howie is the Kaufman County Emergency Management Coordinator. “We can’t handle 400,000 vehicles and people in this county in one quick spurt like that. So, it’s a huge concern.”

The declaration was in anticipation of large crowds, increased traffic and strains on first responders, hospitals and roads related to the eclipse. Travis County Judge Andy Brown issued the declaration.

ELSEWHERE IN TEXAS –

More communities across the Lone Star have issued disaster declarations due to the threat their populations might triple as spectators around the U.S. grapple with what locale will have the best view of the Great North American Eclipse.

Officials in Kerr, Bell and Travis counties have stated that disaster declarations or state of emergencies will go into effect before a rush of visitors swarm the Central Texas communities on April 8.

In Pittsburg, with a population of about 4,500, city leaders are expecting double or triple that number of people to be around town for the days leading up to the eclipse and on April 8, Mayor David Abernathy said.

First responders are anticipating more need for their services because of the high number of people in the area. Yet those calls might not go through if cell phone and internet networks are overloaded with people, Abernathy said. That’s the “worst-case scenario,” he said.

“Everybody’s going to be streaming video,” Abernathy said. “They’re going to be talking to their friends. They’re going to be in the downtime … downloading movies. And so, just that onslaught of people is just going to overload the system that’s designed for certain population.

“When you start losing communications, like cell phones, which almost everybody relies on now for emergency messages for contacting relatives or calling their employees back to work … then you’re just back in the 1800s, basically.”

If cellular networks go down, people might not be able to get calls through to 911 in the event of an emergency. However, if calls won’t go through because cellular networks are overloaded, people might be able to text 911.

In the event of a cellular network collapse, local radio stations will provide needed information, Abernathy said. City officials will post information around town listing the stations that people should tune into for emergency information.

If internet networks slow down or collapse because of high use, credit card machines might not work. The City of Mount Pleasant advises people to bring cash with them to make purchases.

Grocery stores could run out of food because of the higher-than-normal number of people in a given community, Abernathy said. And with the higher influx of vehicles, gas stations are likely to run out of fuel as travelers enter and exit the region.

The City of Mount Pleasant advises people to make backup communication plans with others to prepare for a potential loss of cellular networks.

INDIANA — On March 27, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb signed a disaster order letting Indiana call on a nationwide aid compact should the upcoming eclipse stress the state’s emergency response systems.

Indiana expects hundreds of thousands of visitors for the April 8 event, plus plenty of in-state travel.

NEW YORK STATE — Two weeks ahead of the April 8 eclipse, Governor Kathy Hochul updated New Yorkers on the state’s preparations to ensure everyone can have a safe and memorable viewing experience. In October 2022, Governor Hochul convened an Interagency Task Force comprised of nearly two dozen state agencies and authorities. The Task Force has been collaborating for the past 17 months on plans to ensure everyone can safely enjoy the eclipse.

New York State is expecting hundreds of thousands of visitors, and Governor Hochul is reminding travelers of several tips to ensure the smoothest possible experience for everyone. Governor Hochul is advising travelers to get to their destination early and plan on staying late to avoid the most traffic, allow for extra travel time, and travel prepared with water and snacks. Additionally, drivers should never pull over on the side of the road to ensure first responders can get by in an emergency.

“The April 8 eclipse is a once in a generation experience, and there’s no better place to view it than in our beautiful state,” Governor Hochul said. “New York is ready to welcome millions of visitors, and my administration has been working hard to ensure everyone in the path of the eclipse can safely enjoy this rare event. I encourage anyone traveling for this experience to plan on arriving early to their destination and staying late to enjoy all of what our state has to offer.”

HAL TURNER COMMENTARY

The states, cities, counties, and towns mentioned above are just a small sampling of what has been going on to “prepare” for this eclipse. Sorry, but none of this seems normal to me — at all.

Cellular network collapse? Internet collapse? Grocery stores running out of food? Disaster Declarations? Gas stations running out of fuel? No, none of this seems normal to me at all.

It’s starting to look to me as if something ELSE is going on. But . . . . what?

During an eclipse, with the sun blocked, people may be able to see things up in the sky that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to see because the sunlight is so strong and blocks the view of things in space.

Could it be that something ELSE is going on . . . maybe something that people will suddenly be able to SEE once the sun is blocked for a few minutes?

Might people PANIC over what they see?

What if . . . .

What if something __is__ coming at us? It’s not like we can avoid it. There’s no Bruce Willis as “Harry Stamper” from the movie “Armageddon” to drill holes in an asteroid to drop nukes, blow it up, and save the planet.

Is it possible that governments have known about something for months, and have concealed it?

When I read that New York State has had a TASK FORCE working for the past 17 MONTHS, that kind of sealed the deal over my suspicions. It seems to me that absolutely NOBODY does something like that over an eclipse.

I’m getting a little creeped-out by all these disaster declarations. All this for just a solar eclipse? Sorry, I won’t buy it.

I’ll tell you what I __will__ do: Top-off my emergency food, water, medicine, communications gear (CB and HAM Radio) and stay close to home. In fact, my wife and I agreed over the weekend that we will be at our bugout location in Pennsylvania for this . . . . eclipse.

No, not to see it . . . but to be away from the New York metropolitan area for whatever might __actually__ be the situation.

Apricot-Onion Wings

Yield: 20 to 25 servings

Ingredients

1 (5 pound) bag frozen chicken wings
1 (10 ounce) jar apricot preserves
1 (1 ounce) packet dry onion soup mix
1 (16 ounce) bottle Catalina-style salad dressing

Instructions

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Cut the chicken wings into individual pieces and place on two lightly greased cookie sheets.
Spread apricot preserves over wings.
Sprinkle dry onion soup mix over wings, then pour Catalina dressing all over.
Bake for 1 hour.

Gerry Anderson’s Ride of Fame: Top 5 Iconic Vehicles Unveiled

Why are products made in China have different qualities by country?

Not only by country. In fact not even by companies or brands.

Being a sourcer of exported manufactured products in China for the past 10 years, I can tell you one simple truth, it’s all about cost.

Lower manufacturer’s cost equals lower quality. Higher manufacturer’s cost equals higher quality. It’s as simple as that.

Note : I said manufacturer’s cost, it’s not retail selling price.

To attract price sensitive consumers, most businesses compete by offering lower selling price. It’s undeniably the most direct way to get people interested.

But, there is always a difference. Let’s look at some examples.

Compare the 2 products below.

main qimg c404f80fb8de9e6b4bbdf518dbb1ef2b lq

main qimg 21f2a8b15c1e0c6580e43706c1929e4f lq

They look identical, but the price difference is about 4x. So what’s the difference?

I choose clothing because they are the easiest to see a difference of quality. I ordered a piece of this seemingly same item, from both factories, telling them it’s a sample for my client.

To show the difference in quality for the reader benefit, I did a simple light test. I hold up both pants to the same bright light source and took a photo. These are the results.

This one cost RMB 15

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This cost RMB 59.96

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From the photo, you can see that there are some light going through the fabric for the cheaper item.

Firstly, you can see the difference in thread density in the material used. The RMB 15 piece is obviously alot thinner and feels cheap. The RMB 59.96 piece is a lot heavier and material is soft and smooth. Color wise, the RMB 59.96 piece is a lot darker and the cheap one while also being black, don’t look that dark. So the fabric dye used is also obviously different. The workmanship is also different, the cheaper one uses traditional machine sewing while the expensive one uses what we call 四针六线 or 4 needles 6 stitches machine sewing giving the joining parts more flexibility and strength. Even the drawstrings at the waist are different, one is obvioisly thicker than the other. Waist rubber bands are also thicker for the more expensive one.

It is obvious that alot of additional cost goes into the more expensive one in terms of material usage and manufacturing process. This difference in manufacturer cost gives you a better quality product for the exact same thing you see in the photo.

This difference is not limited to countries, it’s the same everywhere, but it is still true that the Chinese industrial strength gives you more bang for your buck than other countries.

———————————

Some people might say that if we stick to a certain brand, quality can be assured. But what I’m going to tell you might change your views.

A different product from the same brand might have difference in quality due to different market needs.

For example, Midea, a chinese household electronics brand have different factories producing their product. Some models are only available as online sales models, meaning not available via traditional retail. Why is this so? It’s because the online retail sector is very price sensitive, to capture the e-commerce market, Midea needs to come up with competitively priced products to get their market share online, and that means a reduction in quality (based on the earlier example). But to do that would bring down their entire price range which would affect their branding, so they decided to come up with only some models which are only available online, and these models are obviously not as good as the other models that are only available in retail stores where they sell at a higher price.

At first, many consumers don’t see the difference, but after a couple of years, the Chinese consumers started to see that there is indeed a difference between these models in terms of performance and durability….and price. For some weird reason, most Chinese I know seem to understand the term 一分钱一分货，very well. It means you pay for what you get. It’s a simple term, but some people can take years and many lessons in life to realise how true it is.

I have seen factories being able to produce the rusty screw driver to an equipvalent of a Hastens bed, it all depends on how much it costs to make them and how much the buyers are willing to pay for them.

So regardless of countries, factories or brands, the fundamental reason for the difference in quality is manufacturer’s cost.

Scott Ritter: Ukraine will be DESTROYED as Putin Exposes NATO’s Fragility

What is the reason for China’s smaller Navy compared to the US? How would China’s Navy perform in a conflict with the US?

Not true. China has the largest navy in the world. especially considering that there is no way that 100% of the United States Navy would sail to the South China Sea to do battle on Chinese territory.

How would it preform?

Both sides would experience massive causalities.

One thing is certain, after the dust settles there will not be any aircraft carriers, VTOL carriers left. The USN will be a launching SLBM’s and China will go duke-nukem. Guam would be gone, as would be Hawaii and San Diego. We can also expect Newport Beach and San Francisco to be erased.

You weren’t expecting this answer, eh?

Well it is REALITY. Deal with it.

…

Taking it further…

The conflict might start out conventionally, but the moment that one carrier group is in Davy Jone’s locker, it’s gonna be nuke-em city. The DF-41’s and the Russian Satan missiles are gonna be flyin’. And they won’t be stoppin’ for shit.

Five minutes from launch to nuclear scrubbing.

Quick. Clean. Sterile.

There is NO WAY…

Absolutely NO WAY that the USN will survive a conflict with China. You can add vessels via the QUAD, ARKUS and various other proxies, but honestly, it won’t make any difference.

…

WHY?

Once nuclear deterrence fails…

…and a war with China proves that it HAS failed…

…All that is left is to use the most lethal strategic nuclear weapons in the arsenal. And use them on ALL and EVERY threat.

…

Given the gung-ho nature of the war-mongering neocon Congress, if you are in the USN, I would get out now!

The MAGNIFICENT RISE of Passport Bros in Modern Dating

Imagine living in a dystopian western society just to work all day, pay taxes, and get nothing in return . That is America.

Xi Jinping walks with U.S. top brass – Talks are ‘open and frank’

After weeks and months of closely following the mounting conflicts between China’s coast guards and their Philippine counterparts in the disputes over the Ren’ai Reef, or the Second Thomas Shoal, it is pleasing to read the latest news that President Xi Jinping is now walking – with a top U.S. banker and a great variety of other top U.S. leaders from all fields in Beijing – and talking with them amicably about doing business, building ties and trusts – and toasting the success of bilateral relations since his meeting with President Joe Biden in San Francisco last November.

It’s Ching Ming in China.

With it comes the gentle breeze of warm Spring air, the blossoming of flowers, and dreaming of a beautiful world – fostered by thriving bankers, businesspersons, top scientists and leading scholars, envisioning a dream of mountains and rivers, and birds chipping in the air.

“What a wonderful world!” Sings Bing Crosby, the great musician.

With Xi, the Chinese leader walking with American http://V.I.Ps

in unisons in Beijing and talking amicably about how to cooperatively bring business success and economic development, I see a rainbow coming after a storm.

Xi Jinping has called for closer trade tides with the U.S. during a meeting with top American business leaders in Beijing that comes amid a steady improvement in relations.

Xi emphasized yesterday (Wednesday, March 27) the mutually beneficial economic ties between the world’s two largest economies, despite heavy U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports and Washington’s accusations of undue Communist Party influence, unfair trade barriers and theft of intellectual property.

China’s economy has struggled to recover from severe self-imposed restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic that it lifted only at the end of 2022, but Xi said China was again contributing to world economic growth in the double digits percentagewise.

“Sino-U.S. relations are one of the most important bilateral relations in the world. Whether China and the United States cooperate or confront each other has a bearing on the well-being of the two peoples and the future and destiny of mankind,” Xi was cited as saying by China’s official Xinhua News Agency.

Participants at the meeting included Stephen A. Schwarzman, the billionaire head of the investment firm Blackstone.

Trade and tariffs have increasingly drawn attention in the runup to the U.S. presidential election, and the Biden administration has shown little sign of moderating punitive measures against Chinese imports imposed by his predecessor and assumed rival in the November polls, Donald Trump.

U.S. officials have renewed concerns over Chinese industrial policy practices and overcapacity, and the resulting impact on U.S. workers and companies that they blame in part on China’s massive trade surplus that amounted to more than $279 billion last year, its lowest level in about a decade.

China’s formerly highly abrasive tone toward the U.S. has significantly softened in recent months, particularly since Xi and Biden met in San Francisco in November last year. Officials such as Antony Blinken have visited, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is reportedly due to travel to Beijing again to meet top leaders next month.

However, Xi’s administration has maintained a hard line on issues it considered its “core interests.” An ardent nationalist and son of one of the founders of the People’s Republic, Xi appears determined to maintain strict party discipline while drawing in foreign investment to shore up the economy.

“The respective successes of China and the United States create opportunities for each other,” Xi was cited as saying, by Xinhua, “As long as both sides regard the other as partners, respect each other, peacefully coexist and join together for win-win results, China-U.S. relations will improve.” (Source: The Standard/AP)

In the last century, Mao Zedong and Zhou Enli, the leading founders of the People’s Republic of China forged a relationship with Nixon’s America, which fought an Independence War against the British Imperialists in centuries past.

In this century, Xi Jinping, a socialist and nationalist walking, befriending American capitalists, and talking and toasting each other’s successes in economic terms. Deng Xiaoping, Xi’s predecessor, couldn’t be happier that his initiation of “opening-up” to America and the West is now on a new page of great success.

Who says ideological differences cannot be profitably blended into a refreshing glass of cocktail, be it Singapore Sling, or Bloody Mary!

In history, the British Imperialists were able to blend with the U.S. Capitalists into a wonderful concoction. And now, centuries later, the Chinese Socialists are seeking to repeat history, and improvising it by forging a stable friendship with the American Capitalists.

Why not?

That the seeds of Marxism were sown in rural China have now grown into trees of Socialism, turning a poor country into a world factory, and now and in the future making it an industrial powerhouse.

This, too, is an experiment.

Had Chiang Kai Shak won the Chinese Civil War, China would have become a Capitalist society with cut-throat capitalism as its guiding principle.

That Lenin’s Russian revolution ended in the Cold War – and its eventual collapse is an abortion of birth, a bloody historical tragedy.

But China’s revolution is guided all along by the nation’s pluralistic culture and ancient civilization, meandering into now a river – that eventually becomes one with the sea, the South China Sea.

All these was done under the glaring eyes of and yet with the blessings of some of the superb American presidents, notably among them Presidents Richard M. Nixon, and Jimmy Carter and many other doting American leaders in the great U.S. society.

Or else, China’s current grand achievement would not have been humanly possible. Not to mention miraculously lifting 800 million people out of abject poverty.

Right before our eyes, the Chinese socialists and the American capitalists are repeating history, improvising it, turning it into yet another play book of great success. Made possible by the spirit of understanding and cooperation.

The secret of their success?

These leaders walk the talk.

Men need a plan

Why is China trying to fake their economy and their military capability?

Do you know the Trade Surplus of China is $ 843 Billion a year

This means over the past 15 years, Chinas cumulative trade surplus is a whopping $ 8.28 Trillion

Yet their Foreign Reserves are around $ 3.32 Trillion

So where is the rest of the $ 5 Trillion

Let’s take away $ 2.10 Trillion to pay off Chinas External Debts

That’s still $ 3 Trillion of money that China has stashed away somewhere in some corner of the globe

It simply took this money into a CHINESE WALL so that tomorrow if it’s official reserves are frozen, it still has nearly $ 3 Trillion worth reserves left

So now with such a trade imbalance between the Yuan and the Dollar

Why is the Yuan only at 7.07 to 1 USD?

That’s because the Yuan is kept deliberately weak by China so that it’s exports remain competitive

The real value of the Yuan is closer to 4.74 to 1 USD

By this number , the Nominal GDP of China rises to = 127.2 Trillion Yuan / 4.74 = $ 26.83 Trillion

So realistically the GDP of China in USD Terms must be $ 26.83 Trillion and should have already beaten the United States

So why doesn’t China play this card and freely allow it’s currency to peg at 4.74 to a Dollar?

Simple

That would make their exports expensive and suddenly the Export demand will be affected and China will begin to Stagnate and within five to seven years China may stop their GDP at $ 33–34 Trillion and stop there.

Instead if China keeps the Yuan weak, China can keep their exports high, manage to handle their huge production volumes and keep growing until maybe 2032–2033 and THEN RELEASE THE YUAN FOR A FREE CONVERTIBILITY

Maybe grow to $ 21 Trillion or so and then hit the peg at 5 to 1 USD and reach a Nominal GDP of $ 41 Trillion by 2050 which is the goal

So I strongly believe

Chinas Economy has a nominal GDP closer to $ 25 Trillion than $ 18.50 Trillion
Chinas Actual Net Reserves as closer to $ 4 Trillion than $ 1 Trillion

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Why?

Simple

Sun Tzu:

The Measure of your true strength should be a surprise even to you let alone your enemy. Always imagine the Enemy to be ten times more powerful than he is presumed to be and then plan on how to survive and subdue such an enemy

What is the upcoming war between China and the US?

The strategic interest of the US dictates avoiding confrontation with another nuclear power to prevent mutually assured destruction (MAD), which would destroy the American Empire including the homeland. This also explains why the US refrained from deploying troops to Ukraine and limited its support to material and strategic assistance.

Throughout the first Cold War, spanning from the 1950s to the 1990s, direct warfare between the US and Russia did not occur. Likewise, in the current second Cold War since 2012 between China and the US, is unlikely to happen.

Fomenting discord among other vassals, such as Japan and the Philippines, to confront China, or instigating internal strife among Chinese factions across the Taiwan Strait, not only serves America’s interests but also rallies public support for US military endeavors. This rationale also underpins the US’s decision not to renew the mutual defense treaty with Taiwan after terminating it in the 1980s. Furthermore, should the Strawberry Army in Taiwan falter in defending the island, the US can easily shift blame onto Taiwanese forces, particularly if they fail to resist the Chinese unification process to the last man standing like what is happening in Ukraine.

Some Pictures

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Ukraine – When Opining War Experts Can’t Read Maps

No one expects that western officials are knowledgeable – especially not with regards to facts. But some exceed even the lowest expectations one might have – and no, not to the upside.

Consider this op-ed by Evelyn N. Farkas, published two days ago:

Ukraine is not losing; US assistance must continue – The Hill, Mar 31 2024

The congressional faction that opposes Ukraine assistance shares a common talking point with the Kremlin — that Ukraine is losing the war with Russia anyway. Having just returned from Ukraine, where I met with top Ukrainian officials and participated in a security conference, I have found substantial evidence to the contrary.

All Farkas did was to talk with some Ukraine boosters in Kiev. She has penned down whatever they claimed and now tries to sell that as the real. She thinks she is qualified to do so because she once held a high position in U.S. Defense Department:

Evelyn N. Farkas, Ph.D., is executive director of the McCain Institute and former deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, Eurasia.

This however proves that she is extremely miss-informed and totally unqualified to make any judgment:

While the Ukrainians hardly welcome a new Russian offensive in the spring or summer, they believe it is likely. The officials we met with explained that Putin needs to show progress, some kind of victory to justify renewed mobilization and, emboldened now by his fake elections, he is likely to move on the ground and may try once again to open a land corridor to Crimea. But such decisions may plant the seeds of military overreach.

The land corridor between Crimea and the rest of the Russian Federation was established in early March 2022, less than two weeks after the current phase of the war had started.

At that time even the maps by the neo-conned Institute for the Study of War said so:

biggerThe maps by the French Ministry of Defense confirmed the connection:

biggerThat land corridor has existed since and has never been interrupted. The Ukrainian ‘counter attack’ last summer was supposed to break through that corridor. It failed. Meanwhile Russia is strengthening the territory and increasing its value by building a new railway (red) along the coast of the Sea of Azov which will significantly shorten the train connection along the corridor.

biggerThe Ukrainian military does not like that and will attempt to destroy the new line (edited machine translation):

Ukraine also promises to strike at the railway, which the Russian Federation has been building for more than a year along the Sea of Azov in the occupied territory of Ukraine. It can be a serious problem, says Kirill Budanov, chief of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.”The construction process is almost complete, and this may pose a serious problem for us,” Budanov said, making it clear that the Ukrainian military is already preparing to launch strikes on the railway. “We have experience in this, and it is much easier than the issue of the Crimean Bridge,” Budanov said.

Budanov’s latest operation, last month’s incursion into Russia towards Belgograd, was a serious failure. The troops involved had extremely high losses.

The Russian military will expect saboteurs at the new rail line and will know how to handle those. It also has its own railway troops which can repair damages to train lines in a shorter time than it takes to sabotage those.

As for Farkas – one really wonders how such a blunder could pass by her intern who wrote that piece, her own eyes, as well as those of the editors of The Hill who supposedly read through it before it was published.

This says something about the quality of analysis coming out of Washington DC – and no, not to the upside.

h/t Lee Slusher

Posted by b on April 2, 2024 at 9:22 UTC | Permalink

What is life like for someone with a net worth between $10–20 million?

I’m in my mid-50s and my current net worth is in the middle of this range, or about $15 million.

As others have noted, I’ve taken care of most of my family’s financial needs. We have quite a bit of money saved for retirement, and my children’s college education needs are taken care of through heavily funded 529 accounts.

We live in a nice house (about 4,000 square feet) in a nice neighborhood, in a nice suburb near a major U.S. city. We’ve lived in this house for about 19 years and moved in when my net worth was maybe $1–2 million, so we haven’t upgraded as we’ve become richer.

We did buy a vacation house eight years ago in the mountains, and typically enjoy it during the winter months for skiing. We have nice cars, but tend to hold onto them for awhile — I got a new BMW last year after 8 years with my prior car only because I had new drivers in the household and we needed another vehicle.

And five years ago, I finally joined a country club after being an avid golfer for 40 years.

Other than the cars, you wouldn’t know we were anything other than middle class — no family member wears bling or otherwise shows anything that screams wealth. I wear an Apple Watch unless I’m at a formal function (my “dress” watch is a Tag Heuer — a nice watch but certainly not showy).

I still work full-time, in a job I enjoy that typically pays me $600k – $700k per year. And all of my kids work, including the two in high school (they work part-time after school three days a week). All of my children attended public schools through high school.

However, the biggest factor influencing our lifestyle is my wife’s disability. She is totally disabled, is wheelchair-bound when we go out (she uses a walker in the house), and hasn’t been able to drive in over a decade. She has help during the day four days a week, but looking after her is a large burden for us as a family.

So — we go to concerts a few times a year and out to dinner about once a month, but major travel is a lot of work. For our last flying vacation two summers ago, I needed to carry her on and off the plane to her seat. And we need disabled accommodations wherever we go, as bathrooms in particular can be very hazardous for her.

And despite assumptions people might make given our high net worth, I do the dishes in the kitchen after dinner, cook during weekends, do weekend laundry and shopping, and most of the other household chores. With my wife’s limitations, it’s a necessity.

In summary, no one should feel sorry for us, as we have the financial means to deal with our situation. But I’d trade almost all of my wealth to restore my wife’s health if it were possible.

Chili Flavored Chicken Wings

Ingredients

1 packet chili spice mix
1/4 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons parsley flakes
4 pounds chicken wings
1/2 stick butter

Instructions

Combine chili spice packet, cornmeal and parsley flakes in a zip-top bag.
Add chicken wings a few at a time until coated.
Remove wings and place on a buttered cookie sheet.
Repeat this process until all wings are coated with chili flavored mix and placed on buttered cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes, then turn and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

The Transformation of Prof. Jeffrey Sachs

America’s Most Consequential Ideological Regime Defector
Ron Unz • April 1, 2024 • 6,800 Words • 156 Comments

Two weeks ago I published an article on Prof. Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University, prompted by some of his recent public remarks.

During one of his regular weekly interviews on Andrew Napolitano’s podcast, he had briefly stated that the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy had been the result of a conspiracy involving elements of the CIA. He went on to suggest that the killing might have been “the most decisive event in modern American history” and wondered whether any of our subsequent presidents had been anything more than mere “factotums of the system,” completely subject to the powerful hidden groups that actually control our society.

Such sentiments would hardly be uncommon within fringe, conspiratorial circles, but in sixty years I do not think they have ever been publicly expressed by an individual of Prof. Sachs’ elite establishment stature, and others shared my opinion.

A dozen years ago I had discovered that since the early 1990s a prominent progressive academic I know had been absolutely convinced that the JFK assassination had indeed been engineered by those sinister forces, but he had always carefully kept those views to himself. He now told me he was shocked by Sachs’ public courage on the matter, although even a year before he had already been tremendously impressed by Sachs’ remarkable candor: “no question he’s the most important public intellectual we have.”

That previous endorsement had been prompted by some of Sachs’ earlier statements on other matters. As chairman of the Covid Commission, Sachs had declared that the virus responsible for killing more than a million Americans and perhaps another twenty million worldwide had almost certainly been produced in a biolab, while he denounced the U.S. government for desperately working to conceal those facts. After the 2022 outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, Sachs had explained that the underlying cause had been the 2014 American overthrow of the democratically-elected Ukrainian government and the years of NATO provocations against Russia that followed, with all of these dangerous policies being a result of the unbroken stranglehold that the Neocons had enjoyed over our country’s foreign policy for more than thirty years. And on Bloomberg TV, he stated that America had obviously destroyed the Nord Stream pipelines, Europe’s most important civilian energy infrastructure, thereby committing the greatest act of industrial terrorism in world history.

In late 2022 these developments had led me to publish an article on the remarkably outspoken Columbia University scholar, and since that time all his activities have further strengthened my verdict. All of us can say whatever we like on a corner of the Internet, but I emphasized that when a figure of very high international standing takes that same position, the impact is considerably different:

Until just a few months ago, I doubt there were many American academics more solidly situated in the topmost ranks of our elite mainstream establishment than Prof. Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University.

In 1983 he gained Harvard University tenure at the remarkably young age of 28, then spent the next 19 years as a professor at that august academic institution; by the early 1990s the New York Times was already hailing him as the world’s most important figure in his field. Lured to Columbia University in 2002, he has spent the last couple of decades teaching there and also directing a couple of its research organizations, most recently the Center for Sustainable Development. TIME Magazine has twice ranked him among the world’s 100 most influential individuals, and for nearly twenty years he served as Special Advisor to several Secretary-Generals of the United Nations, while publishing many hundreds of articles and op-eds on a wide variety of subjects in our most influential media outlets.

It would be difficult to construct a more illustrious and establishmentarian curriculum vitae for an international academic figure…

Although he has retained the subdued manner and careful phraseology of a mild academic, in recent months the incendiary content of his published articles and his public statements have exploded across the global landscape, reaching many millions who might otherwise never have questioned what they were so uniformly being told by all our mainstream media organs. His critics defending that orthodoxy must surely believe that he has gone dangerously rogue, and given the enormous weight of his past credibility, I suspect that the phrase “rogue elephant” has sometimes entered their thoughts.

Jeffrey Sachs as Righteous Rogue Elephant
Ron Unz • The Unz Review • October 10, 2022 • 3,500 Words

Last month, Napolitano took a short break from his show to speak at a Vatican conference on the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas, and after his return he thanked Sachs for having arranged that invitation. Sachs himself had also attended as a speaker, and Napolitano expressed his amazement that the American economist had been greeted with such admiring recognition by the Roman Catholic cardinals who attended, almost suggesting that they had treated him as a conquering hero.

Sachs’ influence is hardly confined to those Princes of the Church. A central element of the West’s power is its overwhelming control over the global media infrastructure, whose continual stream of propaganda shapes the ideas and beliefs of most of the world’s population, even including political leaders, multi-billionaires, and influential celebrities. A handful of publications sit at the apex of that media hierarchy, with the Economist certainly being one of these, and given the dramatic recent decline in quality of the New York Times, that former publication might now possibly even rank as first among equals. Since 2015, the top Economist editor has been Zanny Minton Beddoes, whose first job out of college was working as a young assistant to Sachs during his highly successful early 1990s restructuring of Poland’s post-Communist economy. Although I know nothing of their relationship, I assume she spent most of the last three decades filled with admiration for her early former mentor, and if so, she must surely take his highly controversial remarks of the last couple of years quite seriously, even if she understands that they cannot possibly be mentioned in print.

Sachs’ personal background includes some memorable events. In a couple of his discussions on the roots of the Ukraine conflict, he recalled that in 1991 he was seated in a room discussing economic policy with Russia’s top leadership when all of them were suddenly informed that the Soviet Union had officially been dissolved, allowing him to experience a historical moment shared by few if any other Americans.

Over the last few months, he has been extremely outspoken in his denunciation of Israel’s ongoing slaughter of tens of thousands of helpless civilians in Gaza, even declaring that Israel was controlled by “a criminal government,” and he had regularly emphasized the need for international organizations to take public action on the matter. Soon afterward, South Africa successfully charged Israel with genocide before the International Court of Justice, whose distinguished jurists affirmed those accusations in a series of near-unanimous rulings. Although I have no evidence, I suspected at the time that Sachs may have used his extensive network of influential global connections to help set that legal project into motion.

I’ve also noticed that despite Sachs’ extremely outspoken public statements, none of those groups and organizations that so fiercely monitor political speech in America have dared to publicly attack him. I think they realize that his international stature is simply too great and any such failed attacks would merely make them look weak and ineffective.

Prof. Jeffrey Sachs and the JFK Assassination
Ron Unz • The Unz Review • March 18, 2024 • 6,200 Words

After publishing that recent article, I assumed that many months would pass before I would directly focus again on Sachs and his work, but I was quickly proven wrong.

No sooner had my piece appeared than I discovered that Sachs had been interviewed by Piers Morgan, a British former cable TV host of decidedly mainstream sentiments, with such an appearance representing a significant media breakthrough. In their exchange, Morgan demonstrated that he had been living entirely within the cocoon of our official narrative regarding Russia, Ukraine, and Gaza, and was deeply ignorant of the important facts that Sachs brought to his attention. But much more importantly, those facts were also probably surprising to many of the half-million viewers who watched that discussion on Youtube, thereby perhaps helping to shift some of them in a different direction.

Two weeks earlier, Morgan had similarly interviewed Prof. John Mearsheimer, an eminent political scientist and close Sachs ally on those same issues, with similar results. Indeed, an overwhelming majority of the Youtube comments were critical of Morgan’s strictly establishmentarian position.

But even more importantly, I discovered that Sachs had also just published a new article surely as controversial as anything he had previously written.

In that piece, he outlined the overwhelming accumulated evidence that the Covid virus had been the product of American bioengineering technology and was developed by American government funding. Although he certainly recognized that China’s Wuhan lab might have been the immediate source, he emphasized that several American biolabs had also been undertaking very similar viral research at that time, and argued that a full investigation of all those possible sources of the virus was warranted. His provocative title—“What Might the US Owe the World for Covid-19?”—summarized his controversial conclusion that America would probably need to compensate the rest of the world for having unleashed such a devastating global plague that killed tens of millions and disrupted the lives of many billions more.

Considering both his international stature and the very broad range of his courageous public positions, Prof. Jeffrey Sachs may easily rank as the most consequential American ideological defector of the last one hundred years, with no comparable name coming to my mind.

I suspect that a sociological factor may have contributed to Sachs’ easy willingness to violate so many powerful ideological taboos. Most Americans, even including most American academics and intellectuals, exist in a world completely dominated by our own mainstream media, knowing that much of their social circle and peer-group would be horrified or outraged at any sentiments too far outside those acceptable boundaries. If most of your friends and associates are “normies,” you may be very reluctant to take positions that would alienate them.

Sachs, however, has been an influential academic on the world stage for more than three decades, and he seems to spend much of his time traveling to international conferences at which he is often a prominent speaker. So unlike so many of his American colleagues, he is a global figure and his peer group and social circle is an international one, with many of their views likely shaped by entirely different media environments.

Even the early votes in the UN General Assembly on the Israel-Gaza conflict found America and Israel standing almost alone, with more than 150 countries ranged on the other side, including many of our strongest allies. The U.S. has regularly cast the sole dissenting vote in the 15-member UN Security Council and Sachs has often mentioned that many of his top-ranking international friends have expressed their horror at our government’s current policies. So while his controversial views might be very disconcerting to some of the assistant professors and office interns at Columbia University, they are probably much more in line with those of the senior world figures whom he has known and considered his friends for the last twenty or thirty years, a situation that surely fortifies his personal confidence in taking those positions.

Over the last decade or two, I’ve noticed the increasing signs that our own country seems to be following the unfortunate trajectory of the late and unlamented USSR, its longtime Cold War rival, and perhaps may similarly be heading towards the dustbin of history. President Joseph Biden certainly recalls memories of decrepit figurehead leaders such as Leonid Brezhnev or Konstantin Chernenko, while Sachs may represent our own Andrei Sakharov, a figure at the very top of the Soviet academic hierarchy who publicly broke with the corrupt, despotic, and decaying regime that had once so greatly honored him.

The Soviet leadership eventually exiled that dissenting physicist to the city of Gorky, and over the last couple of years Sachs has been similarly exiled and blacklisted from the mainstream media, which in past generations might have ensured his complete disappearance. But just as the samizdat literature of the 1970s and 1980s successfully circumvented official Soviet censorship, the Internet today plays much the same role for Sachs and our other intellectual dissenters.

American Pravda: The Rise of the BRICS and the Fall of the USSA?
Ron Unz • The Unz Review • September 4, 2023 • 3,300 Words

I have never met Sachs and nearly everything I know about him comes from his writings and his numerous interviews. As discussed in my recent article, my impression is that until quite recently he had never considered the possibility that the official story of the JFK assassination or any other major historical event might be false. But once he encountered direct evidence of massive deception with regard to the origins of Covid, the roots of the Ukraine war, and the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines, he naturally began to realize that those particular cases might not be so unusual.

In one of his interviews a year or two ago, he had emphasized the deep sense of betrayal he had felt when the trusted media outlets that had faithfully informed him for decades had recently become so dishonest and deceptive. But now that he has discovered that those same outlets had spent six decades concealing the truth of the JFK assassination from all their readers, he must surely recognize that they may always have been deceitful on many important matters but prior to the growth of the Internet, neither he nor most other Americans could have ever recognized that reality.

If my reconstruction is correct, Sachs may now be experiencing a considerable upheaval in his long-assumed framework of reality, the disorientation and vertigo that occurs after one has “taken the red pill” in that powerful metaphor drawn from the Matrix films. And if so, I can certainly empathize with his situation since I had undergone a very similar process myself over the last dozen years.

My American Pravda series now includes some ninety-odd articles totaling almost 700,000 words and may represent the largest such compendium of alternative historical analysis—so-called “conspiracy theories”—found anywhere on the Internet, or at least I’m not aware of anything comparable. But as I’ve sometimes explained, I lived most of my entire life paying absolutely no attention to those sorts of controversial ideas.

Throughout all of those decades, I’d never had any regard for a conspiratorial view of historical events, dismissing such speculative theories as nonsense, just as all of my trusted media outlets had always assured me. If I occasionally happened to see a few of those notions discussed somewhere, they usually seemed a mixture of possible sense and obvious nonsense, with the latter severely discrediting the former. It was only many years later that I began to wonder whether that very damaging juxtaposition may have been intentional, a deliberate attempt to “poison the well.”

My first turning point came with the growth of the Internet and the very widespread reports of Saddam’s non-existent WMDs used to justify our disastrous 2003 Iraq War. The former unavoidably brought to my attention a vast profusion of controversial ideas I’d never previously considered while the latter severely damaged the credibility of the mainstream media and its leading outlets, upon which I’d always relied. The almost uniform support our terribly wrong-headed Iraq policy received from the Economist, the New York Times, the New Republic, and almost every other outlet I read struck me as an almost personal betrayal, made much worse because I was also aware that highly-regarded figures who held contrary positions were being denied any public platform to present their views.

A prime example was my old friend Bill Odom, the three-star general who had run the NSA for President Ronald Reagan. Although he was widely regarded as one of the leading national security experts in DC, his sharply discordant views on the Iraq War were entirely unwelcome in any of the major publications that normally sought his opinion and he was reduced to publishing his dissenting columns on a small website.

His passing in 2008 led me to write an article on the media blackout he had suffered and my broader conclusions on the reliability of our mainstream sources. I eventually regarded that tribute as my first American Pravda piece, though I did not formally launch my series for almost another decade.

The Life and Legacy of Lt. Gen. William Odom
Ron Unz • The American Conservative • September 8, 2008 • 2,500 Words

An even greater watershed came later that same year when I discovered the astonishing Vietnam War revelations of Sydney Schanberg, a Pulitzer Prize winner who had been one of America’s most celebrated journalists of that conflict and a former top-ranking editor at the New York Times.

Schanberg had produced a massively documented expose of a huge Vietnam War scandal involving Sen. John McCain. But although McCain was then running for the presidency on the strength of his heroic and unblemished war record, no mainstream media outlet was willing to publish Schanberg’s revelations, and when the article finally appeared on a small website, none of our media took any notice of it. If so explosive a story by such an esteemed journalist could be completely ignored by our entire media, my faith in its reliability totally collapsed.

At that time I was publisher of The American Conservative, so I eventually contacted Schanberg, satisfied myself about his material, and then published a cover-symposium on his findings, including my own short introduction and had the author provide an account of his years of fruitless effort. A number of prominent journalists privately expressed shock and astonishment at Schanberg’s material, but none of them dared to report it in their own outlets. I later regarded my introductory column as the second item in my American Pravda series.

American Pravda: Was Rambo Right?
Ron Unz • The American Conservative • May 25, 2010 • 1,300 Words
Silent Treatment
My Four-Decade Fight to Report the Truth
Sydney Schanberg • The American Conservative • May 25, 2010 • 1,300 Words

Many of my other articles sharply challenged prevailing media narratives, including a widely-discussed 2012 article descriptively entitled “China’s Rise, America’s Fall.” But although I’d already served as publisher of The American Conservative for a number of years, only in 2013 did I finally publish my first piece squarely within the conspiratorial camp. That article proved extremely popular and also received very favorable attention from a number of prestigous mainstream media outlets and columnists. However, the controversial issues it raised were considered quite touchy in certain other quarters and I was soon purged from TAC as a consequence.

Yet even at that relatively late date, I’d still never read a single book on the JFK assassination, about which I’d only gradually begun to become a little suspicious, while my doubts about the official 9/11 story were almost as vague and fragmentary.

A couple of years later, I published my own sequel to Schanberg’s important work on McCain, focusing on what it suggested about the American media, and this piece also attracted a considerable amount of favorable attention:

John McCain: When “Tokyo Rose” Ran for President
Ron Unz • The Unz Review • March 9, 2015 • 4,200 Words

The following year, Schanberg’s passing led me to reflect on the implications of his groundbreaking work, and this prompted me to finally launch my American Pravda series.

American Pravda: The Legacy of Sydney Schanberg
Ron Unz • The Unz Review • July 13, 2016 • 3,500 Words

Thus, in my own case more than a dozen years elapsed between my early suspicions that major elements of our official narrative were false and the beginning of my series documenting many of those discrepancies. I had required well over a decade to fully digest and absorb the shocking conclusion that so much of what I’d always accepted as real was actually contrived. My original 2013 American Pravda article included a passage that I’ve frequently quoted over the years:

The realization that the world is often quite different from what is presented in our leading newspapers and magazines is not an easy conclusion for most educated Americans to accept, or at least that was true in my own case. For decades, I have closely read the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and one or two other major newspapers every morning, supplemented by a wide variety of weekly or monthly opinion magazines. Their biases in certain areas had always been apparent to me. But I felt confident that by comparing and contrasting the claims of these different publications and applying some common sense, I could obtain a reasonably accurate version of reality. I was mistaken.

Aside from the evidence of our own senses, almost everything we know about the past or the news of today comes from bits of ink on paper or colored pixels on a screen, and fortunately over the last decade or two the growth of the Internet has vastly widened the range of information available to us in that latter category. Even if the overwhelming majority of the unorthodox claims provided by such non-traditional web-based sources is incorrect, at least there now exists the possibility of extracting vital nuggets of truth from vast mountains of falsehood. Certainly the events of the past dozen years have forced me to completely recalibrate my own reality-detection apparatus.

Our American Pravda
Ron Unz • The American Conservative • April 29, 2013 • 4,500 Words

Although I had closely followed Sachs’ important 1990s work in restructuring international economies, by the end of that decade and certainly after his relocation to Columbia University I’d seen much less mention of him. This was especially true because his new area of concentration—sustainability and global poverty—was rather far removed from my own foreign policy focus on the many years of Middle East wars set in motion by the 9/11 Attacks. I might occasionally see one of his op-ed pieces but that was about the limit of his visibility. Therefore his sudden 2022 appearance as a leading public dissenter from the official Covid narrative came as a major surprise to me.

I doubt that he had ever expected that his personal involvement in that global public health crisis would eventually transform him into one of the West’s most important ideological defectors, and although I had discussed that story nearly two years ago, I think elements of it are worth recapitulating.

The global Covid outbreak beginning in early 2020 quickly infected many millions and greatly disrupted most of the world’s economies, thereby threatening to throw hundreds of millions more into terrible poverty. The Lancet, a leading medical journal, soon established a Covid Commission to investigate all aspects of the deadly worldwide pandemic, and given Prof. Sachs’ international standing and his long association with the United Nations, he was a natural choice to serve as its chairman.

As he has explained in his interviews, at first he fully accepted the supposed scientific consensus that the virus was entirely natural, just as a large group of leading virologists had declared in a top scientific journal. But as time went by, he became increasingly suspicious that the true origins of the disease were being concealed, even discovering that some of the scientists he had selected for his commission were attempting to hide those facts and deceive him.

As I explained in a late 2022 article:

From the earliest days of the Covid epidemic, an official narrative was promoted that the virus was natural and editors of the leading scientific journals closed their pages to any submissions that suggested otherwise. With no reputable academic papers challenging their perspective, the natural origins advocates were able to cite this silence as proof that their position represented the overwhelming scientific consensus, thereby intimidating most mainstream journalists into toeing that same line. A massive propaganda-bubble had been inflated and maintained by such administrative means.

However, as a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Prof. Sachs had publication privileges in the prestigious PNAS journal, so in May he and a co-author published an important article documenting the highly suspicious characteristics of the Covid virus and calling for further investigation. This constituted a breakthrough, becoming the first and only paper published in a major journal that presented the very strong evidence of Covid bioengineering.

Given his role as chairman of the Covid Commission, Sachs’ paper should have been treated as a bombshell, reaching the headlines of all our leading newspapers. But instead, it was almost totally ignored, as was the author’s public statements on the subject.

Recognizing that his vital information was being blocked and boycotted by all the mainstream media outlets upon which he normally relied, he did a lengthy interview with a small progressive webzine, explaining that the U.S. government was preventing any real investigation into the Covid pandemic. When I brought his remarks to the attention of an eminent academic scholar with whom I’d been friendly for many years, he was stunned:

An amazing article.

Sachs is not only remarkably candid; he’s also remarkably knowledgeable about the issue.

Another prominent academic had a similar reaction:

That’s one hell of an interview, no doubt about it.

Soon afterward, Sachs spent an hour discussing the topic on Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s popular podcast, explaining the enormous dishonesty he had encountered in his role as chairman and that he had eventually concluded that the true nature of the virus and its origins were the subject of a massive cover-up. Everyone who listened to that interview was very impressed, certainly including a leading science journalist heavily involved in the Covid origins debate:

This is an amazingly good interview on Sachs’s part – clear, forceful, humorous and all the more compelling because he started off on the other side of the issue. Interesting what a deep perspective he has now developed, tracing the train of events back to Fauci’s acquisition of the biodefense portfolio.

Perhaps some of Sachs’ academic peers and close colleagues had similar reactions, strengthening his determination to get his views into wider circulation.

A few months earlier, the Russia-Ukraine war had broken out, soon dominating the world’s headlines. Sachs had spent much of the previous three decades as a top-level economic advisor to both those countries, so surely there would have been few individuals with better personal insights into the conflict, but once again he soon discovered that the mainstream media was closed to his views. Therefore, during July and August he published a couple of opinion columns in alternative outlets condemning our reckless policies towards Russia and China, with the former having already provoked a bloody and dangerous war in Ukraine and the latter periodically threatening to do the same over Taiwan.

Ukraine Is the Latest Neocon Disaster
Jeffrey Sachs • Consortium News • July 1, 2022 • 1,300 Words
The West’s Dangerously Simple-Minded Narrative About Russia and China
Jeffrey Sachs • Common Dreams • August 23, 2022 • 1,000 Words

Then in late September, a series of massive underwater explosions severely damaged the $30 billion Russian-German Nord Stream pipelines. This constituted the greatest act of industrial terrorism in the history of the world, with potentially crippling long-term impact upon the energy supplies of Germany and other European countries. Although there was enormous circumstantial evidence implicating America in those attacks, and renowned investigative journalist Seymour Hersh later revealed the exact details of the sabotage operation, the entire Western media and political establishment stubbornly pretended to see nothing, instead absurdly accusing Russia of having destroyed its own energy pipelines.

Sachs refused to support that cover-up and instead he soon played a crucial role in breaking the media blockade:

Then a few days later, Bloomberg TV invited Sachs to share his concerns over the Ukraine war. His hosts were flabbergasted when he flatly declared that America had probably destroyed the Russian pipelines, even mentioning that top journalists had privately told him the same thing, although none of those vital facts could ever appear in their own newspapers.

As a consequence of Sachs’ candor, the interview was cut short—with Sachs “yanked off air” in the words of the hostile New York Post—but the entire segment was watched at least a couple of hundred thousand times on Youtube and the short clip of Sachs’ Nord Stream remarks soon went super-viral on Twitter, viewed more than 4 million times in one Tweet and another million times across a couple of others.

Given such candid statements, the mainstream electronic media was now obviously closed to him, but as I discussed at the time, The Grayzone, a prominent alternative media outlet soon arranged to interview Sachs:

On Sunday morning, the media outlet released two outstanding segments with the Columbia professor, separately focused on the Ukraine war and the Covid origins controversy, and these have already accumulated more than 100,000 views after less than a day. The Grayzone possesses a great deal of influence and credibility in alternative media circles, and I would hope that these interviews lead to an avalanche of additional coverage for Sachs in other outlets, many of which seem to have previously shied away from the explosive charges he had been making.

The first Grayzone segment was descriptively entitled “End Ukraine Proxy War or Face Armageddon,” and some of Sachs’ crucial points may have surprised his listeners. As he emphasized, America is actually already at war with nuclear-armed Russia in Ukraine, given that we are providing all the funding, military equipment, and command and control facilities for the forces fighting and killing Russian troops on Russia’s own border, as well as supplying unknown numbers of direct combat participants. This is an extraordinarily dangerous situation that would have been considered almost unimaginable during the days of our original Cold War, and our recent destruction of Russia’s Nord Stream pipelines was merely the latest manifestation of this undeclared but very real conflict.

Although American leaders may seek to hide their responsibility behind the supposedly independent decisions of the Ukrainian government, this is a transparent fig-leaf. Ukraine’s political leadership is merely our puppet regime, totally financed and controlled by our own government, and pretending otherwise is simply a propaganda-ruse aimed at deceiving our gullible public.

The second, slightly shorter Grayzone segment focused on the Covid origins issue, and provided Sachs the best opportunity he has yet had to present the important facts he uncovered while running the Covid commission. Just a couple of days earlier, he had also been interviewed on physicist Steve Hsu’s podcast discussing the same subject. I would highly recommend both these interviews to anyone interested in understanding the true origins of the viral epidemic that killed more than a million Americans and disrupted the lives of many billions around the world during the last couple of years.

Sachs’ interviews became the most popular ever broadcast on those two channels, and I think the hosts were deeply impressed that a mainstream academic of such high establishment rank was so extremely candid and forthright in his public statements. Numerous other alternative channels and podcasters soon began inviting the Columbia University professor to share his views, allowing him to reach many, many millions since that time, eventually becoming a regular weekly guest on Napolitano’s popular channel.

The gradual end of the Covid pandemic combined with the deadly conflicts taking place in Ukraine and Gaza have led Sachs to focus nearly all his attention on those latter events during most of the last two years. But a couple of weeks ago he published a new article that deserves widespread attention for the important points that he summarized:

What Might the US Owe the World for Covid-19?
Jeffrey Sachs • Common Dreams • March 16, 2024 • 1,400 Words

As he explains, continuing investigation by diligent researchers have revealed a long series of important new clues regarding the origin of the virus.

For example, we now know that the primary source of American government funding for Covid-related research came from the biowarfare/biodefense projects of our Defense Department, which also supported the simultaneous development of vaccines meant to provide projection against those same potentially offensive bioweapons.

A portion of that Defense funding was directed to the EcoHealth Alliance (EHA), an NIH-backed research group that passed along some of that in the form of small grants to China’s Wuhan lab and many other biological facilities around the world. But according to former EHA officers, those grant-making activities mainly served as intelligence-gathering operations, intended to gain access to those biolabs in other countries and then monitor the development work taking place.

As I’ve emphasized, following the 2011 “Pivot to Asia” of the Obama Administration, our Defense Department began focusing on China as our most formidable long-term potential adversary and by 2015 most officials in DC had begun to assume that a future war with that country was quite likely. In such a conflict, one of our most important military advantages would be our great superiority in biowarfare technology.

Under that strategic framework does it really seem likely that in 2017 our Defense Department would have begun funding and encouraging Chinese efforts to adopt our own cutting-edge biotechnology, allowing them to develop powerful bioweapons of their own? Or does it seem more plausible that the small FHA grants provided to the Wuhan lab were instead elements of the intelligence-gathering operation that former FHA employees have claimed?

For the last several years, large portions of both the alternative and mainstream media have regularly claimed that the Covid virus was probably developed at the Wuhan lab and then accidentally leaked out, starting the worldwide pandemic. But since 2020 I’ve repeatedly argued in a long series of articles that there is absolutely no evidence that any such lab-leak had occurred in Wuhan and a great deal of evidence to the contrary.

American Pravda: Our Coronavirus Catastrophe as Biowarfare Blowback?
Ron Unz • The Unz Review • April 21, 2020 • 7,400 Words
American Pravda: Covid Epidemic as Lab-Leak or Biowarfare?
Ron Unz • The Unz Review • July 12, 2021 • 13,100 Words
American Pravda: Confronting Covid Crimestop
Ron Unz • The Unz Review • December 13, 2021 • 6,400 Words
American Pravda: The JFK Assassination and the Covid Cover-Up
Ron Unz • The Unz Review • December 19, 2022 • 6,900 Words
The Alt-Covid Community Begins Unraveling the Origins of Covid
Ron Unz • The Unz Review • January 16, 2023 • 4,500 Words

Some of the other crucial clues regarding the deadly Covid epidemic have been almost entirely ignored by both the mainstream and alternative media but can be easily summarized in just a few paragraphs, as I have done on a number of occasions since April 2020:

For example, in 2017 Trump brought in Robert Kadlec, who since the 1990s had been one of America’s leading biowarfare advocates. The following year in 2018 a mysterious viral epidemic hit China’s poultry industry and in 2019, another mysterious viral epidemic devastated China’s pork industry…

From the earliest days of the administration, leading Trump officials had regarded China as America’s most formidable geopolitical adversary, and orchestrated a policy of confrontation. Then from January to August 2019, Kadlec’s department ran the “Crimson Contagion” simulation exercise, involving the hypothetical outbreak of a dangerous respiratory viral disease in China, which eventually spreads into the United States, with the participants focusing on the necessary measures to control it in this country. As one of America’s foremost biowarfare experts, Kadlec had emphasized the unique effectiveness of bioweapons as far back as the late 1990s and we must commend him for his considerable prescience in having organized a major viral epidemic exercise in 2019 that was so remarkably similar to what actually began in the real world just a few months later.

With leading Trump officials greatly enamored of biowarfare, fiercely hostile to China, and running large-scale 2019 simulations on the consequences of a mysterious viral outbreak in that country, it seems entirely unreasonable to completely disregard the possibility that such extremely reckless plans may have been privately discussed and eventually implemented, though probably without presidential authorization.

But with the horrific consequences of our own later governmental inaction being obvious, elements within our intelligence agencies have sought to demonstrate that they were not the ones asleep at the switch. Earlier this month, an ABC News story cited four separate government sources to reveal that as far back as late November, a special medical intelligence unit within our Defense Intelligence Agency had produced a report warning that an out-of-control disease epidemic was occurring in the Wuhan area of China, and widely distributed that document throughout the top ranks of our government, warning that steps should be taken to protect US forces based in Asia. After the story aired, a Pentagon spokesman officially denied the existence of that November report, while various other top level government and intelligence officials refused to comment. But a few days later, Israeli television mentioned that in November American intelligence had indeed shared such a report on the Wuhan disease outbreak with its NATO and Israeli allies, thus seeming to independently confirm the complete accuracy of the original ABC News story and its several government sources.

It therefore appears that elements of the Defense Intelligence Agency were aware of the deadly viral outbreak in Wuhan more than a month before any officials in the Chinese government itself. Unless our intelligence agencies have pioneered the technology of precognition, I think this may have happened for the same reason that arsonists have the earliest knowledge of future fires.

According to these multiply-sourced mainstream media accounts, by “the second week of November” our Defense Intelligence Agency was already preparing a secret report warning of a “cataclysmic” disease outbreak taking place in Wuhan. Yet at that point, probably no more than a couple of dozen individuals had been infected in that city of 11 million, with few of those yet having any serious symptoms. The implications are rather obvious. Furthermore:

As the coronavirus gradually began to spread beyond China’s own borders, another development occurred that greatly multiplied my suspicions. Most of these early cases had occurred exactly where one might expect, among the East Asian countries bordering China. But by late February Iran had become the second epicenter of the global outbreak. Even more surprisingly, its political elites had been especially hard-hit, with a full 10% of the entire Iranian parliament soon infected and at least a dozen of its officials and politicians dying of the disease, including some who were quite senior. Indeed, Neocon activists on Twitter began gleefully noting that their hated Iranian enemies were now dropping like flies.

Let us consider the implications of these facts. Across the entire world the only political elites that have yet suffered any significant human losses have been those of Iran, and they died at a very early stage, before significant outbreaks had even occurred almost anywhere else in the world outside China. Thus, we have America assassinating Iran’s top military commander on Jan. 2nd and then just a few weeks later large portions of the Iranian ruling elites became infected by a mysterious and deadly new virus, with many of them soon dying as a consequence. Could any rational individual possibly regard this as a mere coincidence?

The Iranians themselves were well aware of these facts, and their top political and military leaders publicly accused America of an illegal biowarfare attack against their own country and China, with their former president even filing an official protest with the United Nations. But although these explosive charges were widely reported in the Iranian press, they were completely ignored by the American media so that almost no Americans ever became aware of them.

Covid/Biowarfare Series
Ron Unz • The Unz Review • April 2020-December 2021 • 60,000 Words

Much of this same information is also effectively presented in several of my podcast interviews from a couple of years ago, originally on Rumble but now available on Youtube as well.

Kevin Barrett, FFWN • February 16, 2022 • 15m • on Rumble

Geopolitics & Empire • February 1, 2022 • 75m • on Rumble

Red Ice TV • February 3, 2022 • 130m • on Rumble

Related Reading:

Removing accountability from us means OTHER PEOPLE PAY for our mistakes.

What was the best relationship advice you ever got?

My father told me this when he walked up on me hiding behind his house while I was bawling over my fiancée, who I just found out was cheating on me.

“I know right now you’re feeling desperate, angry, hurt and alone. And the first thing you want to do is get revenge, sleep with other people and hurt someone too. That’s normal. But you shouldn’t do that. Don’t be like her. Don’t go down that path. You should always fall back on your best character. Be the bigger person now, and you’ve already won. Feel the pain for now. In a month you’ll see what I mean. And so will she. So take your time. Be a good man. You’ll find someone who actually cares about you. Maybe you’ll be alone, and that’s okay too. But you still have your life and your character and you can’t throw that away because of someone else who doesn’t have any.”

I’ve thought about that every single day for a year now, and it has propelled me to such strength, confidence, love and happiness.

EDIT: Wow, I figured this would just be another unnoticed answer swept into the pile, I did not expect such a positive reaction. My father is truly a thoughtful and wise man, like his father before him, he has guided me through a lot of tough life situations, and I’m glad his words resonate with so many people. Thank you for all your kind thoughts, and good luck to everyone.

Amazing

Is China ultimately a bigger pariah state than either Russia and North Korea? It’s like the world hates China far more than it hates Russia or North Korea.

It is the UNITED STATES that the whole world hates

Including Europe, UK and even Japan

There is a Visceral loathing of Americans that is deep seated and deeply buried in most people who HATE the Americans

The British hate the Americans for being utterly dependent on them

The Japanese hate the Americans for being so helpless that they are slaves and lackeys of the Americans

The Middle East hate the Americans for their interference in all matters

Everyone hates the AMERICANS for their bullying and sanctions and in general for forcing people to their way of life

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One Day the Lion will become too weak and lie flat

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That will be the end of it all

Everyone will rip the nation to pieces including the Japanese

You think a Nation of ancient Zen would forget 1945??? Not a chance.

What are some examples of Lee Kuan Yew standing up to bigger powers like the United States or China?

I got a good one.

In 1960, a CIA officer was caught trying to buy information from a Singaporean intelligence officer.

Then the CIA made things worse by trying to bribe Lee with 3.3 million dollars to sweep the whole thing under the carpet. Remember, this was in 1960. That was a lot of money back then.

Lee refused and instead asked for 33.3 million dollars of official economic aid to Singapore. This was when the total official American economic aid to Malaysia (which Singapore was a part of at that time) was merely 1.5 million. And Lee also got a letter of apology from US Secretary of State, Dean Rusk.

So, in 1965, Lee revealed this episode in an interview with foreign media, which prompted denial from the US government. This angered Lee so much that he invited foreign correspondents to a meeting where he showed the apology letter from Rusk. The US government had to retract their denial.

In that meeting with foreign correspondents Lee also threatened to further disclose details of the case, “which may sound like James Bond and Goldfinger, only not as good but putrid and grotesque enough”.

Furthermore, Lee also made the following statement:

“The Americans should know the character of the men they are dealing with in Singapore and not get themselves further dragged into calumny…..They are not dealing with Ngo Dinh Diem or Syngman Rhee. You do not buy and sell this Government.”

“Countdown To Looking Glass” (1984) Cold-War USSR Nuclear Attack Film

Forty years later and we are in the same looped nightmare.

This movie could be taken RIGHT NOW. It is frightening.

Trapped in a crack house

When I lived in Milford, Massachusetts, I lived in a “crack house”.

Oh, it wasn’t my intention. But that is exactly what had happened.

There was this old Victorian mansion in Milford, right next to the police station. And, a man (an Iranian immigrant) bought the house and divided it up into six apartments. He renovated the place nicely, and I fell in love with the “huge “drawing room” apartment on the first floor.

Soon, others moved in. Most were like myself. Middle class.

Then his brother brought in a “section eight” family.

Now, a “section eight family” is a person living off the state. Takes welfare and government benefits, and is usually the lowest of the low.

And from the moment she moved in, it was non-stop under -16 drug, alcohol parties. All night. Loud with the thick vapors of crack smoke seeping into our apartment.

Oh, I talked to the owner; landlord, and he couldn’t do anything. It was against the law to deny housing to welfare recipients.

I talked to the police, they couldn’t do anything. All the 60+ kids were “protected” as they were juveniles in a private residence.

Well, there were raids on the property. Busts discovering drugs… mostly crack and all the rest. There were stabbings, and car damage, and all sorts of nonsense. It truly was a Hell. Ugh!

And it was Hell for me. As soon as my contract was up I left. Then I sued the owner. Long story, but we parted on good terms.

Do not ever let that happen to youse guys. Ever!

Nothing quite ruins your day as the thick sweet smell of crack wafting up from the basement.

Today…

What is the most shameless thing you have ever seen a teacher do?

I don’t know if I’d call this “shameless”, but it shows how a student (me) can so bother a teacher that he’ll make irrational decisions!

I was a lousy student. Either didn’t do homework or did a really sloppy job. My written work was really hard to read because I didn’t try to be neat.

Anyway, it drove my US History 1 teacher crazy, especially since I always tested very high in aptitude! Aptitude doesn’t triumph over laziness!

Anyway, while I was getting low grades in his class, I probably would barely pass for the year. We got to the mid term exam and he gave me an “F” on my report card (the exam was equal to a regular grading period so it was a big deal – 1/8th of the year’s average for each exam)

So my mother goes in to talk to him because, while my grades were usually bad, I generally did well on big exams. I guess I’d remember the major points that such tests cover, but wouldn’t remember the little things that normal tests include.

So my mother mentions that I usually do fairly well on the big exams and asked him about it. He pulls out my test and at the top it says I got a B minus!

My mother asked why the report card said the score was an F instead of B minus. And this is where it got weird.

He said, “He took the examine in the Old Cafeteria and it very easy to copy the work of other students”.

This was true. It had been converted into one big room with those one-armed desks jammed side by side, so even though we sat every other seat for exams, it was still easier to see a neighbors paper than in a regular classroom. But it wasn’t our fault we were assigned to that space!!!

My mother asked the obvious question: “Did you give every student who took a test there an F as well?”

It was at that point that he finally returned to his senses and changed my grade.

I actually liked him and he wasn’t trying to be a jerk or an idiot. I just drove him nuts! Since I later became a teacher myself, I also learned how students can push a teacher’s buttons!

Will the US allow itself to be overtaken by China?

The spirit is willing but the body is weak, my friend. Like the famous kung-fu move 吸精大法Sucking Spirit Move, every punch that US executes, the zest is sucked out of US to make China stronger. It’s not like China didn’t warn US not to engage in fruitless trade wars, but warnings have been ignored and the commoners were cheering her on, oblivious of the risks involved.

It is too late. Not only will China overtake US, she will do it in record time, estimated to be in 2026. Enjoy the inevitable.

Explain (I can’t believe we haven’t fixed this yet)

Why is the US doing such a bad job countering China’s rise?

Imagine you are the world’s fastest runner in the 100m sprint. You know your closest rival is training hard and will soon surpass you. What do you do?

You train even harder to stay ahead.

What you don’t do is try to hobble your rival by accusing him of cheating, denying him training opportunities, keeping him out of competition, and using underhand methods to ensure you keep on winning.

And that is what the US is trying to do to China. Instead of working harder to stay ahead, it has focused it on trying to slow China down.

The US cannot see that this approach will not work. It may have worked with other countries that threatened American superiority and dominance in the past but China is different.

In 1971 I read Dick Wilson’s book, A Quarter of Mankind. My classmates and I realised that once China got its act together, its rise was inevitable.

For a long time, I thought India would rise faster. It did not and will not for reasons that belong ion another answer.

Since Deng Xiaoping’s reforms, China has been on the up and up. And rather than rise to the challenge, the US has opted to try to stop China’s inevitable development and dominance. It may have even contributed to it with its rampant capitalist policies.

The US has not just done a bad job countering China’s rise, it has utterly failed. And it continues to flounder.

The new normal

Have you ever witnessed a “Don’t tell me how to raise my child” moment?

It was with a colleague in the US.

We had a guy at my office who was married to a Japanese woman. They had just had their first baby, and the wife was staying at home going forward.

First, our overbearing colleague started to ask why they didn’t just get a nanny. Why didn’t his wife want to work?

Our overbearing co-worker hired a nanny, and offloaded all the things that parents usually do to the nanny. She wasn’t wealthy, but it seemed like she would rather work full-time than spend time with her children.

But that wasn’t the main issue. The new parents had taken the drastic step of *gasp* co-sleeping with their newborn.

He was 1/2 asleep one day by the copy machine when the overbearing woman got after him again. “You guys need a nanny. You’re sleep-deprived.”

“Don’t remind me.” He was trying to brush it off, but she wouldn’t let it go.

“I mean, if you’re not going to get a nanny and your wife wants to stay home with the kid, why can’t she take care of her without waking you up?”

“We share a bed.”

This was met with a blank stare.

“You know, co-sleeping.” He had told me before that he was nervous about it, but had read some research on how it helps infants regulate their breathing.

“Oh, my gawd! Are you crazy? Didn’t you hear about the couple who did that and the Dad rolled over and killed the baby?”

Sometimes you don’t know that you’ve crossed a line until it’s too late.

“No, but I heard about the couple that got a nanny who BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF THEIR KIDS!”

WARNING: Never mess with a sleep-deprived new father.

What is the most panic-inducing thing that can happen as a teenager?

I was 13 years old,

That time there were no smartphones in popularity. Nokia was the king of mobiles and keypad phones were in use. My dad used to have Nokia 7210.

Sometimes I used to play games in my dad’s mobile. One day, I was casually scrolling through his mobile. I didn’t know much about phones those days. I was curious to explore.

In curiosity I don’t know what I have clicked, Suddenly a text message has been received which shocked me-

“Dear customer, thanks for choosing our service. 198rs has been deducted from your balance.”

I was stunned. My body started shivering and it was like a heart attack for me. 10 years ago, 198 ruppees had more value as compared to now. I knew that I am fcuked up. I put the mobile and was surviving the attack.

After sometime, My dad came. He had to make a call. I was edging near death. He dialed number and got to hear this,

“Sorry your account doesn’t have enough balance to make call.”

My heartbeats almost stopped.

He : Gurmeet, come here!

I felt like Yamraj is calling me.

I went somehow because my legs weren’t supporting me to go near him.

He : What you did in mobile? Tell me!

Me : mmmm! I don’t know.

I started crying. He was angry.

He : Tell me, what the hell you did? Where’s balance?

…

After a minute,

He : Next time don’t dare to touch my mobile.

He said and went. I beat the death and got my life back. I was extremely scared and stressed, however he didn’t react much.

Que : What’s most panic inducing thing that can happen as teenager?

Ans : when first time parents suffer loss because of us. When first time we do something wrong and get caught. After this, they get used to losses so it doesn’t induce more panic next time.

LOL

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rG7D7MPUFIw?feature=share

What is something extremely unjust that happened to you at work that made you quit your job?

I was at a convention out of town. Just before dinner, I received a call from my mom saying my dad’s appointment had confirmed what we had expected-stage 4 lung cancer. Doctors said 1 month. Of course I was in tears and beside myself. I went to the dinner with tears rolling down my face. I was sitting quietly just remembering all the good things. My district manager came up and asked what was wrong. I told her. Her exact words were…..get over it. This was the same woman who just had 4 months off because her sister got sick. As soon as we got back I handed in my resignation. I just felt that comment was completely heartless and I lost all respect for her.

What is a split-second decision you made that changed your life?

We were in a restaurant with a group of my friends almost 20 years ago…

As we were waiting for our food, I saw the richest and probably most respected man in our town walk in. He was super well known and employed over 500 people at that time.

We started talking together about him and my friend said.

“You would never have the balls to go talk to him!”

I actually didn’t, and the whole idea of talking to someone on that level scared me to death. But, my friends kept telling me to go, and I just said, “Ok, ok, I’ll do it.”

He was sitting alone, waiting for his food, and I just walked up to him and told him how he has been an inspiration for all of us guys sitting at that table over there and how we respect his work.

He was super nice to me and told me to sit down with him. I asked for some advice from him, and that started our friendship. He became my mentor.

He gave me so much good advice and helped me to grow my company. It’s sad that he passed away 2 years ago; he was 59 when I met him. It’s crazy that he took me under his wing.

That was the best split-second decision I made.

Jail and Porn equivalents

Have you ever walked out of an interview?

Once. Just once.

The interviewer was a little … stiff. Spoke with a German accent. Nothing wrong with Germans – it was just my own bias at the time that I expected them to be over-formal. Sticklers.

He asked me a question, which I didn’t like much because it was kind of basic for somebody with lots of experience, about submitting a form from a web page.

So I sketched out the answer on a white board and he asked a question, and I answered, “Yes, in that case I would add an ‘A=5’ right here.”

That was the end of the question, but before we moved on, he said, “Oh – do you want to put that?”

I said “Put that?”

“Write it. On the board.”

“Um … is somebody else going to read this or something?”

“No – we’re done. It’s in order to … finish the exercise.”

“So you want me to write ‘A=5’, right here? What’s next?”

“Then we can just erase it and move on to the next one.”

“So you need me to write A=5. And then erase it. So that the exercise is completed.”

“Yes.”

“Yea. No offense, really, I can tell we just wouldn’t get along at all.”

(This was the guy I would be reporting to.) As I made my awkward exit, both he and his boss made valiant efforts to change my mind, but I just offered, “It’s a gut thing. Trust me. We’d clash.”

I could never shake the hunch that as I was driving off, the interviewer gave a heavy sigh, picked up a marker, wrote “A=5” on the board, and then erased the whole thing.

How did Huawei manage to achieve its fastest growth in four years despite US sanctions?

What the fuck is US sanction you can do what you like in the U.S. but we the rest of the world don’t gives a shit about you! Huawei is popular in 88% of the world. Your 12% can love Apple till your market drop it don’t mean shit. Get that!

Record Record Record

What is the rudest thing another shopper has told you while waiting in line?

This wasn’t said to me, but to my then 7-year-old daughter, who had, for the first 6 and a half years of her life, had people, especially grandmotherly women, gushing over her: “Oh, what a beautiful girl! Oh, how well-behaved! What lovely, silky blond hair! You’re so lucky to have her!” etc. While she wasn’t entirely comfortable with total strangers coming up to her to adore her, it was still nice of them, and who doesn’t like being complimented, right?

Then baby sister came along, and the compliments got shared; baby sister was also pretty, though much different in looks. Stiil good; she loved her baby sister and was quite proud of her.

One day, though, we were in line at the grocery store check-out, when this grandmotherly-looking old lady came up and started gushing about the baby (somewhere between 6 and 12 months old) and how beautiful her eyes were, and her hair, and how sweet she was, and started remarking to other people in the line about the beautiful baby, and asking saying things like “don’t you think so?” to which the others, wanting to be polite to this older woman, of course agreed.

What was so rude? She then turned to my also very beautiful and well-behaved 7-year-old daughter, and practically sang out, “Oh, aren’t you lucky to have such a beautiful sister! Your mother must be so proud of her!” after which she marched off to resume her shopping.

Though I’m reasonably sure it was meant with good intentions from a totally clueless person, that was definitely one of the rudest and cruelest things I’ve ever heard said to a child, at least by someone who had no idea how hurtful their words could be.

I know that ruder and intentionally meaner things are said to or about people every day, but what astounded me was that this woman could have said what she did with no thought as to how negatively her words might be heard and interpreted by a child.

Why has Anthony Fauci predicted 100,000 to 200,000 coronavirus deaths in the US with millions of cases? For perspective, total deaths in China stood at 3,186 today.

Because the cordon sanitaire is a joke stateside. You have to ringfence the virus to break transmission.

New York is now worse hit than Wuhan. Have state borders been sealed?

If someone tests positive but has mild symptoms do you send the person home?

What if he is a renter who shares the space with others and gets kicked out?

What if they are adults in nuclear families?

What if they are homeless?

Where are the quarantine facilities?

Further, who ensures compliance with quarantine orders for those that test positive?

Relying on goodwill and personal responsibility contributed to a handful of individuals becoming responsible for more than half of Korea’s cases. That is 5,000!

Where and how effective is contact tracing when America solves only 60 percent of murders each year? Every missed contact can mean thousands of cases down the road.

America is not putting whole of nation and whole of government effort into fighting this. They are fighting each other and have an eye on the stock market. How do you have the best days in a century when 3 million lose their jobs in one week?

Me me me will kill you and me.

Where is us us us?

My favorite Viet street cook

SERGEY LAVROV:

"All natural resources on which economic development, influence and might depend are instruments of political struggle.

It is logical that they are used for political purposes, including geopolitical ones.

We saw this in the 1980s, when the United States put colossal pressure on Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, which were the main oil producers, bringing about a collapse in oil prices to $10 or even lower per barrel in the hope of reducing the Soviet Union’s foreign exchange earnings and hence its capacity to continue to develop and ensure its security.

At that time, we continued to compete with the United States and the West as a whole.

They achieved their goal.

The Soviet Union’s revenues plummeted, which was one of the causes, though not the main or only one, that led to its dissolution.

They put pressure on the oil market, used speculation for the fall, drew the Soviet Union into an arms race, and promoted 'democratic reforms' when our country was not prepared for them.

Taken together, this contributed to the fall of a great power.

Since then, the Americans have been using oil and oil prices as a weapon.

A relevant example is Iran, which had its oil exports banned and the channels of oil deliveries contrary to that illegal ban were blocked.

Today, oil sanctions against Iran have been lifted.

The latest example is Venezuela, which was the third largest oil supplier to the United States in 2019.

In 2022, the Americans adopted an oil embargo against it, allegedly in the struggle against the 'regime' of Nicolas Maduro, as they put it.

But later they faced the consequences of the OPEC and OPEC Plus efforts to stabilise the oil market based on the main economic factors and a balance of interests of producers, importers and transit countries.

Today, the Americans are playing new political games against Venezuela, offering it an agreement to resume oil exports to the United States in exchange for political concessions.

However, it is a fact that Washington is suffering the consequences of its own actions considering that a vast number of American oil refineries were equipped to process Venezuelan oil.

It is a combination of purely economic factors and a desire to take advantage of economic ties, in this instance, use oil as a weapon.

As for Russia, what is the oil price cap imposed on Russian oil by the Americans, which the West was pressured to adopt as well?

It is flagrant interference in the workings and principles of the free market, which the Americans have been promoting for decades.

They described the dollar not as an American currency but as a global element of interconnectivity between the global economy and finances.

The structure collapsed when they decided to use these instruments to inflict what they described as 'geopolitical defeat' on Russia.

It is obvious that nobody is happy about the use of these underhanded methods, although few people, especially in the West, dare to put their uneasiness into words.

The pinnacle of using hydrocarbons as a weapon was the explosion of the Nord Stream pipelines, which directly targeted Germany.

American analysts have admitted it, and many in Germany are openly saying this.

It is evidence of the current German government’s impotence and inability not just to think independently but to even protect its vital interests on which the prosperity and well-being of German citizens depend.

As a result of that subversive terrorist attack, businesses, faced with rising gas prices, are leaving Germany and other European countries, and relocating, for the most part, to the United States.

They have started to talk about the de-industrialisation of Europe.

A year ago, French Minister for the Economy and Finances Bruno Le Maire said in a public statement that businesses paid four times more for energy in Europe than in the United States. I believe the balance is approximately the same now.

It is a fact that the United States has created much more favourable conditions for businesses, including by approving credit subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act. Business is moving to the United States.

At the same time, immediately after blowing up the gas pipelines, Washington said that in the absence of Russian gas Europe needed to buy American LNG, even though it cost more and there was a lack of the necessary infrastructure, which was still to be built.

Four years ago, when Angela Merkel was chancellor and life was easier, the Americans attempted to convince Germany that it had no need for Nord Stream or Russian gas in general, that it could buy American LNG instead.

Angela Merkel argued that it would be more complicated and much more expensive.

The Americans agreed that it would cost more and suggested covering the difference with higher taxes.

After all, they said, you can tell your people that it is a good cause in the interests of peace and democracy throughout the world.

There are more examples of this kind."

Profile

—Answer by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to the question, “Do you agree that oil is an instrument of political manipulation? Can you provide more striking examples of this or arguments to the contrary?” during an interview for the documentary series ‘Oil’, Moscow, March 21, 2024.

What is the most heartbreaking conversation you’ve ever had?

It was March 2016. Nine months before I had been granted parole and I would be going home in November. My brother knew I was being released and was ecstatic.

So I was on the yard when I was called to the Captains Office. I get there and the room is full of white shirts and C/Os . They asked me to have a seat. I said I would prefer to stand. The Captain asked if everyone in the room would sit would I please sit. I reluctantly agreed. Some C/Os had to squat. My mind was racing. What had I done to cause so many officers to be in the room? They told me I to call my sister in law and pointed at the phone. I couldn’t reach her. They then told me my brother had passed. I did not believe it. They asked if I would prefer to go to the hole so I could be alone. I told them no. I felt numb . I could barely understand what was being said. A C/O offered to walk me to my housing unit again no.

I get back to my housing unit and call my sister in law. She was crying so hard I could barely understand her. But she confirmed my brother had passed away. I was devastated. My little brother who I went to prison for by killing his abuser was gone. He passed within mnths of me getting out

Could you cover a grenade that’s about to explode with a military issued helmet to protect yourself from flying shrapnel?

See this right here?

That on the table is, or rather was, a helmet.

It belonged to Corporal Jason Dunham

of the US Marine Corps. While his Marine squad was trying to subdue an enemy combatant, the insurgent dropped a grenade among them. Dunham jumped on the grenade to save his comrades, placing his combat helmet directly over the grenade to reduce the blast.

You can see how that worked out for the helmet.

Surprisingly, Dunham was not immediately killed by the blast, but he was severely wounded. His injuries sent him into a coma, and he died eight days later.

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Dunham was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his sacrifice.

So judging by real world experience, the answer to this question is no. Of course, if you are presented with a grenade, you want to put as much distance and protection between you and it as possible. If that includes a helmet, it’s better than nothing. But you cannot expect that it will save you.

If you’ve got a better option, take it.

How can I stress Google and significantly increase their costs?

Physical attacks are cheaper, easier and possibly less risky than electronic attacks.

The US-101 exit for the Google Headquarters in Mountain View is notoriously busy. It can take 15 minutes of sitting in traffic, and causes a great deal of stress to Googlers.

If your car ‘broke down’ in that junction thousands of people would be delayed in getting to work. Let’s say that the fully burdened cost of an engineer is $100 /hr, you might delay 2000 people getting to work by half an hour, costing Google $100k. (Some people might give up and turn around).

In addition, one of the reasons that people leave Google to work elsewhere is the traffic. A few engineers might quit. Hiring new engineers is expensive (I think Bob See has given the cost somewhere on this site, and it’s in the thousands of dollars), plus it takes time to ramp up at Google – you are not productive for at least a couple of months, and possibly up to six months. Let’s call that $100 * 8 hours * 60 days, that’s another 50k.

So, for the cost of the cheapest car you can find, that will actually start, and a couple of hours of your time, you have cost Google $150k. (You might need to add the price of travel and the time to get to Mountain View).

You could pull this stunt as often as you can get away with it, each time costing $150k.

That’s much easier than a botnet attack, or 10s of thousands of Gmail accounts.

Another advantage of this method is that you haven’t committed a very serious crime – the FBI aren’t going to come after you for hacking. You can probably get away with it at least once by being told to be more careful.

American Society of Magical Negroes is AWFUL – People Are SICK of Woke Hollywood

WTF? It’s an actual movie? Whoa!

What’s something your gender does that the opposite gender never even thinks about?

A lot of men try very hard to not seem like creeps or pervs, whereas I’ve never heard of any woman making any similar effort.

For example, I am currently at the beach. Literally, I am sitting in a chair in the sand about 15 feet from the Atlantic Ocean. There are about 40 other people within eyesight on this beach, including a group of teen girls to the right of me who’ve been taking bikini selfies for about two hours. They’re hard to ignore, because they’re doing weird poses and giggling a lot.

To the left, there are more women in bikinis. They’re sunbathing.

So I’m making a point to keep my eyes on my laptop, the book I’m reading, or the ocean in front of me. I hesitate to look left or right, lest I get accused of being a creep.

But, there are also a lot of scantily-clad men out here too. The women around me seem to have no problem staring at these guys. Older women, younger women, it doesn’t matter. When a shirtless guy jogs by (it happens a lot… there’s a Marine base near here), some of these women are downright shameless in their gawking.

Imagine if a guy did that to a woman running by, especially if that woman was a generation younger than them. They’d be driven off the beach by an angry mob, accusing them of being a pervert.

Yesterday, I was sitting on the deck overlooking the ocean, using my binoculars to scan the horizon. I was looking for dolphins or boats or whatever I could see. But, as soon as a family with teenage girls showed up on the beach, I put the binoculars down. Seeing a dolphin isn’t worth the risk of being thought of as a possible creep.

Jia Qingguo (贾庆国)

What follows is a relatively wide-ranging interview with Jia Qingguo (贾庆国) discussing the prospects of cross-Strait relations, a potential Trump presidency and US-China ties more broadly. Jia has been a long-time foreign policy adviser in the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and is the former Dean of Peking University’s School of International Studies. He has recently been outspokenly critical of the restrictions on Chinese scholars’ engagement with foreign counterparts. Among the highlights of this piece – his advocacy of “patience” in the Taiwan context so long as the incoming leadership does not pursue independence; his preference to see Biden re-elected rather than Trump (views among China’s establishment intellectuals continue to be divided); and his belief that there is still scope for alignment of US and Chinese interests on regional conflicts in Ukraine and the DPRK.

Taiwan’s president-elect Lai Ching-te has his hands tied politically. The impact of his election on cross-Strait relations should be limited. China will continue to promote peaceful (re)unification “for some time to come”.
Trump is “reckless”, has “outdated views” and lacks “basic moral principles”. He has shown that he is not the pragmatic businessman that many in China had hoped for back in 2016.
His re-election would be particularly detrimental to China and could lead to “severe friction and confrontation” between Washington and Beijing. The prospect of his walking away from the US’s One-China Policy is real.
A second Biden presidency would not prevent further tensions between the US and China, but it could help preserve the current trend of stabilizing and improving ties.
Beijing should always keep its long-term interests in mind and avoid overreacting to provocations coming from the United States. Confrontation and tit-for-tat responses make little sense at a time when China is still more vulnerable than the US.
There are still many areas in which the US and China can (and must) cooperate. For instance, defusing tensions on the Korean peninsula will only succeed if Beijing and Washington are prepared to join hands.

B̲o̲ston – B̲o̲ston (Full Album) 1976

Let’s hop into the GTO, crank it up loud, and roll up one.

I went to Walmart

“I went into Wal-Mart to grab three things. Fruit Loops, eggs & waffles. Healthy, I know. This woman was asking people for something and my goal was to bypass, get my things and go. She asked me to stop. I figured she was just asking for money and I already decided that I was going to politely let her know that I didn’t have any cash on me. I never carry cash. I listened to her. She had groceries in her cart and asked for help to buy food for her family. She proceeded to tell me that she turned her daughter in for dope, her 2-month-old grand baby was born addicted to crack and she has 6 grandchildren to take care of. I really felt for her. She was sobbing. See, I know stories like this to be FACT from working in an inner-city school and my husband working in a hospital. Babies are unfortunately born addicted all the time & responsibility of raising grandbabies does fall on the grandparents. She asked me if I would help her buy groceries.

I looked at what I had in my hands compared to what she had. She had shopped smart and had healthy food: bananas, bell peppers, meat, pancakes, etc. Practical things you would make meals with and feed children. I told her yes, go get diapers for the baby and meet me at the front. She sobbed, praised God and said hallelujah to the cashiers,etc. Yesterday, I turned 30, had my healthy family by my side, ate tons of crawfish and blew $20 at the casino for the heck of it. Well, I checked my humanity today. This woman has food to put on her table and even if she wasn’t telling the truth, I don’t even care in the least. She’s human, I’m human and today she helped me realize a few things and I hope that I helped her. She won’t have to worry for at least a little while about food. I didn’t expect this today but apparently I was called to it and was right where I needed to be.

The forgotten dresser

Cheese Steak Pizza

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, cut crosswise into thin slices, separated into rings
1 small green or red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (16 ounce, 12 inch diameter) package thick prebaked pizza crust
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Brown ground beef in large nonstick skillet over medium heat 6 minutes.
Add onion and bell pepper; continue cooking until beef is not pink and vegetables are crisp-tender, breaking beef up into small crumbles.
Pour off drippings; season with salt and pepper.
Place pizza crust on ungreased large baking sheet. Spoon beef mixture evenly on pizza crust; sprinkle with cheese.
Bake at 400 degrees F for 8 to 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Cut into 8 wedges.

What are some examples of grim legacies?

Saddam’s bunker was designed to withstand a nuclear bomb.

It was built directly under his palace.

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(source: Outlook Magazine)

Much like traditional concrete design, steel rods were run first, then concrete poured over them.

Only—the steel was thicker, and so was the concrete.

It was so powerful that if a Hiroshima bomb went off 250m away—the bunker would be fine.

And through both Iraq wars, the bunker stood strong and withheld all the onslaughts of US forces. In today’s dollars, it cost well over $100 million to build.

But—to the question:

It was built by a Munich, Germany born designer, Karl Esser. He comes from a long line of architects who have also designed military grade bunkers. He expresses no guilt in designing the bunker, stating that it wasn’t a weapon, merely the equivalent of a bomb shelter.

He actually met with Saddam Hussein several times and stated that if you met him (in the 1980’s), he looks like a tax collector, there is nothing special about him. But when he starts speaking—you realize that he is far more than a tax collector, and you are reminded of that by how tense everyone around him is. (Source: Saddam’s bunker can withstand nuke attack, says its designer. Bhaita, Saida)

Again—to the question:

Karl was chosen specifically by Hussein because of his experience. His grandmother designed Hitler’s bunker. The family trade had been passed down to him.

To usher in Communism?

Really? These folk don’t have a clue as to what they are talking about.

Have you ever met a celebrity who asked you, “Do you know who I am?” and you said no?

Yes, as a matter of fact, Shaquille O’Neal. Now to be honest, he wasn’t as famous at the time as he has become since, but he was well known locally. I was a homicide detective in Baton Rouge, Louisiana one Friday or Saturday night was driving on one of the public thoroughfares to go through LSU campus, when a small truck ran a stop sign in front of me on Highland Road, almost causing an accident. Even though I was I was in an unmarked car, I decided to pull it over to advise the driver to be more careful. Upon stopping the vehicle, the driver of the truck exited, and it took him a while to unfold himself out of it. He towered over me, but smiling, advised apologetically that he didn’t have his drivers He advised he did not have license on him, saying friendly enough, “but you know who I am” More statement than a question.

I decided to play ‘dumb’. “No, who are you?” I asked with a straight face. I was pretty sure it was Shaquille O’Neal, but I wanted him to tell me who he was. I honestly did not do not follow basketball, but everyone was talking about him (he was the star LSU basketball player at the time). I almost felt sorry for him As he looked a little Bit crestfallen that I apparently did not know who he was. He wasn’t asking for special favors or making demands, he innocently thought he was well known in town BY ALL due his Athletic prowess and notoriety. I smiled at him, and I said something to the effect that, ‘ I know who you are, but need your DOB and some proof. He found his insurance or registration with his name on it and I explained why I stopped him and told him to please be more careful. He was friendly and respectful during the entire encounter. I am very proud that he now works as a reserve law enforcement officer. He is much more than some guy who can play a game, he is obviously a still a class act.

Victoria Nuland: The making of a psychopath. Chapter 1,2 and 3.

Have you ever stood up to a bully? What happened?

Starting in the second grade, when my father lifted the absolute prohibition on fighting. He got tired of picking me up from the school nurse, or the hospital. Also tired of the wear and tear on my clothing.

The very next day, one of my usual tormentors hit me in the back of the head. The teacher just watched, as usual. So I picked up my desk and beat him unconscious. Took three blows.

I was sent to the office, of course. The principal said I was to be expelled. My father asked if the other boys who hit me had also been expelled. “well, no. They didn’t use a desk.”

“So, it’s okay for them to beat MY son bloody, as long as they don’t use the furniture? Is that it? Did you at least discipline the teacher who allowed this to go on?”

“Well, no. Boys will be boys…”

“Well, my boy is a boy, too. You have demonstrated that you will do nothing to prevent him from being beaten; so where’s the problem if he fights back?

Tell you what. I’m going to send the hospital bills and the bills for damaged clothes to my lawyer, and the school board. we’ll let them sort it out.”

And that was the last said of expelling me.

OMG funny

What would happen if the US decoupled from China?

The life in the US would become like this.

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How can an employee get a manager fired?

In my experience its easier if you don’t try. Couple of years ago a manager denied me several requests for Training, told me i was a waist of time. Few years latter my ceo inquired as to why i never made use of the company training system. So i told him. I told him about being denied and the waist of time comment, and how i did not even look at training anymore because of it.

That manager was demoted that Christmas, quit instead, then sent his layer to take a chunk out of my 401. The company successfully convinced him not to. But later they restricted my max contribution to the retirement account because of the incident.

And it all happened because i applied for training on how to handle an upset customer.

Second time was during an ataboy reward. Essentially i had a panic attack when that same ceo came to congratulate me. He was fired because, by procedure, when an employee freaks out the manager is supposed to walk away. Instead this ceo stayed around and calmed me down. The project manager 5feet away wrote the ceo up, and by the end of the week that ceo was gone. Only thing needed to make it all happen was a traumatic event in college to give me ptsd. “May God welcome you to his heavenly splendor Jerry. You will be missed and thank you.”

To get a manager fired do the following. Call a lawyer, get the lawyer to file a freedom of information. Aquire the company’s secret employment laws document. This will be the stack of papers that say among other things

1. A thong is ok for women to ware but brief’s are not ok for men to use.

2. An employee may be terminated for possession of pornography when: they are found to poses/refuse to submit to search and with a witness, or have a prior termination for and no witness. Or a manager successfully implants the audio album “innocent victim” on the employees phone.

3. Work place competition is permitted under these criteria. Or exceeds the bounds of acceptance under these criteria…

4. The employee was found holding a blade, even if found working with food in the kitchen.

5. Employees are permitted to use incontinence products but are subject to termination if they discard used products in the bathroom garbage bin. And by extension are not allowed to have extra diapers on company grounds.

Be warned if you do obtain these secret documents, most fortune 500 companys will respond by amending a new criteria. Usually the new criteria is specialized to target YOU and some thing YOU do. In this way even after you learn how to CAN anyone, you will not be bulletproof. HR is not stupid, they will fit you with a remote explosive collar.

But coming back to the original question, use what you learn then file a report on your manager for anything he is doing that violates those secret rules.

The underwear criteria was really surprising to me, then i got investigated for it one day.

Please let us know if you actually get someone canned for their underwear.

Final comments. The right reason to terminate a manager is when there replacement is both better than the current person, and when its better for the company. Any situation where you are involved in a non consensual passing of the torch will result in repercussions. If your manager is doing something you don’t like, ask them how you are supposed to respond. You will be surprised.

U.S IN TROUBLE! China Finally DESTROY U.S Companies

What are some dark sides about law enforcement you have seen?

A man was stabbed, killed and thrown in a desolate pit.

The mother blamed victim’s brothers in law for this. Police arrested both of them but later cleared them off. No lead, no progress at all. Senior officers and Judge were not happy.

Four months passed.

Then a young and handsome officer got transferred in our police station. A few ongoing cases were given to him to investigate and complete, this blind murder incident was exclusively included as well.

I remember… It was his first day at work, he chose to handle this blind murder case first. I knew him personally because his elder brother is my friend, a constable as well. So this officer preferred using my room until he gets a suitable place to set up his desk and everything.

So… yea. First day at work. He summoned those two suspects (in laws) as he wished to question them. Those two individuals arrived in my office. There were four people in my room. Me, detective and those two.

He began throwing question at them and investigated. Questions after questions… and a bit of persuasion.

They confessed the murder in half an hour. I kid you not. They confessed the murder, showed the place where they hid the knives and explained the motive.

This young detective solved a murder case in 30 minutes on his first day.

Senior officers couldn’t praise him more. That previous detective was blown upon hearing this news. He was ordered to report to head quarters. A seasoned one. I am sure he was asked…

How the hell couldn’t you resolve this piece of cake investigation in four months. Did you intentionally spare the murderers.

I remember the sweat on his forehead when he returned. He was worried as this may lead to dismissal from service and then some, if proved that he favored the murderers in his reports.

And if that’s truth “he sold a murder” which is awful and atrocious.

Anyway…. it’s not my place to put verdict.

I don’t know if he did it or not.

What is rare is not common

Is China’s rise America’s fall?

I have written extensively on this subject, focusing for a moment on what is China doing and what is the US doing which are in opposite directions. If you go the wrong direction for long enough then you are in real trouble, which America is in right now.

CHINA’S RISE

Forget about all the state capitalism vs corporate capitalism, yes this is an underlying difference but results are results. Either you are in the game or you are not and the USA is not in the game, China is.

It is all about one thing, investment. You do not invest you get nothing. Here is Pudong in 1982 when I first arrived in China. NOTHING NADA ZERO development.

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Then there is Pudong today, same photo but completely developed.

AMERICA’S FALL

Here is Detroit where I grew up in 1950:

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Ostensibly the ‘richest’ city in the world the year I was born, 1950.

Here is Detroit a few years ago:

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I chose a nice image, just the after effects of destruction.

It is all about investment. The USA does not invest in anything other than military. Nothing, nada. The Trump administration even litigated against universities who were trying to enroll more blacks and minorities in favor of Chinese and whites, but really Chinese as they were the highest test scorers so they get in and nothing for black, latinos or other US citizens. Incarceration rates and numbers at 2.3 million, drugs, lack of opportunity, do you get it? America is still going in the wrong direction and now we have the QAnon types running the Republican party so you can forget about them to help. Up to the Democrats who are ok but they are no world beaters when it comes to investment as they are govt types and don’t get the private sector.

And Trump? Mr Glitz was the exact opposite of investment, but if you do not invest you die and he invested nothing.

The USA will die and be hollowed out and China will dominate the world completely if the USA and Europe and even Australia, but especially the USA, does not clean up its act and invest.

Invest in their education, in vocational training, in tax incentives to invest to get companies back to Detroit and everywhere else.

I could go on, but this nonsense about China’s gain is the US loss is only because the USA put all of their money and effort and investment INTO CHINA AND NOT INTO THE USA FOR THE PAST 35 YEARS!

As Everett Dirksen, a great US Senator once said when asked about the budget, ‘a billion here a billion there, and before you know it, you are talking about real money’. How about a trillion here a trillion there and before you know it, you are broke like the USA is about to be!

I could easily make a case that every US company was headed up by traitors, strong word I get it, but I want to make a point. If all you want to do is make profits in the next quarter, you and your country and your family and your future WILL LOSE.

China is also investing internally not just FDI any longer.

Good on them, now can the rest of the world get off their bums and stop thinking that selling each other cups of coffee and beers is good enough? And that all of the fake hedge funds and other financial ‘products’ are garbage and are not benefiting Americans rather a small elite that now does their business in China as they make more money there.

Hope that puts a different focus on this debate and gets people to back off on China and to focus instead on their own countries and their own people and solve their own problems.

There is plenty of time to discuss this all with China but clean up your acts first.

What are a few bitter truths of life?

In my office, there is a 26 year old married guy. He is an attendant and not earning much for leading a decent life in a metro city. Although, I am much above in post than him, I treat him as my friend.

So, his wife was about to give birth in a day or two yet he was not taking leave from the office. He told me that it is very close and could be today or tomorrow.

Then on the next day at 4 PM, he rushed towards me saying that wife is in labor and was taken to the hospital. I got furious and told him why he didn’t take leave that day. I quickly calmed down realizing his situation and offered to drop him. But to amazment, he refused.

I was speechless. He said he has some urgent work and only after finishing that he will go.

Next day he called me and said that he was blessed with a baby boy but he also said by the time he reached his wife had already given birth.

I demanded he explain this nonsense.

In a soft voice he explained that he needed to finish his duty till 5.30 pm otherwise his one day pay would be deducted.

Bitter truths:

Money really is the most important thing because the lack of it is so painful.
Our parents sacrifice so much but still sometimes we end up ignoring them.
One cannot truly relate to the pain of others unless he is put in same position.
Without education, a person is really on a path of lifelong struggle.

The Sopranos – Dick Barone – the king of garbage and Tony Soprano’s boss!

What is the most satisfying passive-aggressive thing you have ever done to a really mean or rude person?

I was working the AT YOUR SERVICE counter at Macy’s during the holiday rush when a woman with husband in tow stepped in front of the customer I was waiting on, a quiet and endlessly patient young man, and demanded that I call her a manager and, almost as an afterthought, added that the person I summoned had better be white.

She said this loud enough for everyone in the cordoned line behind her to hear.

The young man I’d been waiting on was black, as was practically everyone else in line.

I leaned towards her and hissed —

You realize you’ve just given me license to tell you exactly what I think of you without the risk of getting fired…

But I’m not gonna do that.

What I AM going to do is tell you to go to the end of the line and wait for me to finish with all these other good people…and then I’ll call you a manager.

His name will be Akeem.

And he’s just gonna LOVE talkin’ to YOU.

She didn’t make it to the end of the line. Her long suffering husband literally dragged her out of the store.

And Akeem wasn’t actually my supervisor. He was responsible for the ground floor and I was mall level.

I lied about that part.

But he did enjoy the story when I told it to him later on.

Mother Goes Off On Woke School Board Over Graphic Books in Her Child’s Elementary School

What are some things that make you think “what a strange world we live in”?

There are many places that make this a very strange world. The Nazca Lines, crop circles, Easter Island, Stonehenge, Machu Picchu, and so on. I thought I had read about them all, but this one was new to me.

The Band of Holes

In Pisco, Peru, stretching across the Cajamarquilla Plain are thousands of ancient holes that measure 6 feet (1.8 m) to 7 feet (2.1.m) deep and evenly spaced 3 feet (.9 m) apart. No one has any idea how these holes were formed. There are at least 5000 to 6000 depressions that run north and south for almost 2 miles. (3.2 k)

Who would dig all these holes? Why? How were they created? I’m imagining some poor sunburned guy with a spade saying, “Okay, 600 more to go then I’m stopping.”

It actually looks like some giant machine was travelling along this path. Was it a mining operation? What were these holes for?

Initially discovered by pilot Robert Shippee who took an aerial photo of them and published them in National Geographic, they are indeed strange. They date to around the 15th. century, they believe.

Truthfully, although there are many guesses, no one really knows who or what dug these holes and why.

Peru is a very strange place that’s for sure. Just read about Saqsaywaman, 12 Angled Stone, and Machu Picchu. Who built these places and how? Modern man would have a hell of a time reconstructing them. They might not be able to. I think we have forgotten the ways to do these stupendous feats. The ancients apparently knew them. We are now just learning, or relearning about moving rock through sound and wavelengths.

More experiments with text to picture

Here’s some examples from others that I thought were well done…

Default masterpiece best quality oil painting modern Oiran roy 3(1)

Default Create a stunning 8K ultrarealistic food photograph fe 2

Default show Mark Antony leading in the battle of Actium in 31 0

Default Ascension of Augustus to Power 1

Default Capture the moment of triumph and despair as Octavians 2(1)

Default Capture the moment of triumph and despair as Octavians 2

Default A candid photo of crazy old scientists arguing in a la 3

Default A candid photo of crazy old scientists arguing in a la 2

Default Capture the moment of triumph and despair as Octavians 1(1)

Default show a Octavian commanding 290 roman trireme ships 1

Leonardo Diffusion XL Sketchbook Style Sketch book hand drawn 2

Default The man at the table raises his glass once more thanki 0

Default Capture the moment of triumph and despair as Octavians 1

Default Telekinesis is a remarkable ability that allows indivi 1

Default Imagine young Errol Flynn age 34 as a Court Dandy 15 2

Default crea a una chica rubia que se parezca a una chica huma 3

Default Simple Logo for barbershop Odin has a cool design hair 0

Default Create a Cat holding a alt coin Cripto 0

Default Again the waiter serves drinks to everyone except the 0

Default A candid photo of crazy old scientists arguing in a la 1

Default pisces zodiac sign golden metal reflecting a glowing s 0

Default spaceship parts debris floating in the exosphere the b 0

Default masterpiece best quality Anime14 modern Oiran bold neo 2

Default astronaut black cat floating in the stratosphere catal 0

Default masterpiece highest creativity Leonardo Da Vinci in dy 6

Default Uma guerreira japonesa com um drago tatuado em seu ros 2

Default black cat who will attack you with fire woman 0

Default White Cat sitting on pillows on panoramic roof Istanbu 2

Default A corgi in a white shirt black vest and white fedora s 3

Default Beautiful Elf posing with freckles and glasses and lo 2

Default Bloodborne Dark Souls 3 Elden Ring ultra detailed g 1

Default show men in the middle ages watching strange lights da 0

Default Brazilian woman with ears of a brazilian fox named lob 0

Default masterpiece best quality oil painting modern Oiran roy 3

Leonardo Vision XL Imagine a powerful elegant animated charact 2

What if the USA attacked China?

I find it remarkable that so many people think that the USA would overwhelm China in a war, the country that wrote the book on military strategy and how to defeat larger, more powerful opponents.

The US could not even win in Korea or Vietnam, what makes you think they would prevail against the much larger and powerful China?

First of all, the US would likely only defeat China in a conventional war assuming that China fought back using similar conventional means. Unlikely.

You have certainly seen all the news reports about Chinese hacking by their military? These sorts of things are warnings. They are warnings to the US that if you come after us we know where your vulnerabilities are. And so do the Russians. And any attack on the Chinese would also likely bring about a quick military alliance with the Russians as well.

A ground war against China (not to mention ANY war against China) would be the height of idiocy. China has 6X the number of people, compared to the US, who could be called into military service fairly quickly. And China is a HUGE country with lots of very difficult terrain to cover.

And given all the bullying and warfare that the US has engaged in since this new century began, do you really think that the Chinese, and Russian military, have not been actively preparing for the potential of such a scenario?

The US military can overwhelm most countries because they are much smaller and weaker. But taking on someone even close to our own size would expose weaknesses and vulnerabilities, both in the military and the US government, that neither wants the American people to know about or experience.

If the US wants to get itself into the biggest military quagmire in history, and destroy its economy, then yeah go ahead and try and go to war with China.

Guy Mocks Leftists Worldview With Funniest Testimony You’ll Hear Today

Can the U.S defeat China in a day? It seems that is the worldwide consensus. If such is the case, then shouldn’t China thread lightly when it comes to the U.S? I’m starting to really think China doesn’t stand a chance against the U.S and her allies.

It took the USA four presidents, 2 trillion dollars and 20 years of war in Afghanistan to replace the Taliban with the Taliban.

And you think that the US can defeat China in a day. Do you mean, like, in a basketball game or something? Hahahaaa …

What are some reasons you have left a restaurant before ordering?

I went into a truck-stop restaurant one night (though not the only time this happened) and was seated by the hostess, who cheerfully brought me the coffee and water she offered. And that was the last time ANYONE came to my table.

I watched other drivers/customers, all male, come in, get served, and finish and leave, and I couldn’t get anyone’s attention even by standing up and waving, or calling out to them as they passed by my table.

Note: I was alone, female, 50ish, and dressed decently (not provocatively) and clean. And hungry.

I finally gave up, and went to the cashier to pay for my coffee, and asked to speak to the manager. (It was the hostess who was acting as cashier). She asked, with concern, if there was a problem, and if there’d been anything wrong with the food. I said I wouldn’t know, since I never had the opportunity to order any. She got the manager, who said he was so sorry for the “misunderstanding”, and he’d be happy to take my order right then. I declined, saying that I had run out of time, and that I’d have to make do with a can of tuna or something I had in my truck for emergencies, but that it might be a good idea to speak to his waitstaff about the concept of customer service. And I added that I wouldn’t be stopping again there to eat anytime soon, as I didn’t have time in my life for that kind of treatment. I didn’t shout, or raise my voice, but I did want to make my displeasure known and understood.

On my way out, I left a tip with the hostess, who’d been cheerful and professional in her dealing with me, and told her that that tip was for her alone, and not to be shared, or “tipped out” with any servers. She already knew why, and thanked me.

Oh, and the coffee was comped.

What was your most horrible wedding experience as a guest?

Ha, not horrible just really rather bizarre! My husbands cousin was getting married. He turned out to be a horrible person but thats another story. At the wedding we are sat at the cousins table along with a mutual cousin who is/was a well known pop star. He was absolutely lovely, I was sat next to him and obviously the pop star has been left at home for the day. During the speech the brides father announced he was here and made him get up for a round of applause. Honestly he looked like he wanted to die on the spot. The brides father then spent the next 10 minutes talking about the pop star cousin and forgetting the bride and groom.

On another note 2 aunties had basically taken over the ladies loo where they could have a full blown row. You went in and they were just stood there, daggers drawn in silence. As you left you could hear them start again.

Overall it was a wedding to remember for all the wrong reasons and the bride and groom lasted about 10 years.

Niger DESTROYS Victoria Nuland’s Plot to Return Africa to France w/ Ben Norton

What office rule made you say “You gotta be kidding me”?

One place I worked still expected everyone to wear formal business attire even if they never met any clients. Amazingly, they issued an email that announced a trial run of “dress down Friday”. No guidance was given it was just dress down. This experiment was to run for a month.

After the second Friday we received another email cancelling all future dress down Fridays as some people had taken things too far. After a bit of discussion about what could have caused such a reaction, it is eventually revealed that some people wore jeans! Not scruffy jeans, jeans with holes in, slung too low, cut offs, just jeans.

Are people in China encouraged not to purchase American goods?

Many of my colleagues have moved away from iPhones. But it has nearly nothing to do with the brand beating a US brand.

An iPhone used to be a prestige item. A status symbol. But over the last 2 years so many people in China own one that it is no longer a status symbol. Factory workers, office workers etc. So what is so special about an iPhone that makes someone want to spend twice as much for it. They can buy another brand of phone that does what an iPhone does, make a phone call? Yup Take selfies? Yup. Use We Chat? Yup. Surf the net? Yup.

So that is the problem is Apple was too successful selling so many phones in China that there is no prestige that is worth paying an extra $500 for it.

And keep in mind that when someone in China is buying a phone they are paying for it all up front. So it is an extra $500 out of pocket. It is not like in the US where you pay for the phone monthly as part of your phone plan. So it is a painless extra $10 a month to buy an iPhone. So a Chinese person really thinks about the value they are getting when they hand over their money.

Of course now the little extra push to go with a Chinese brand is the trade war. But as far as I can see no one is telling them or asking them to not buy American.

Personally I think if the government ever did ask that US companies would sell very very very little here. Be thankful the Chinese government is showing restraint.

Is the quote “You cannot invade mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.” attributed to General Isoroku Yamamoto based on a true story?

Admiral Yamamoto, not General. No, it is almost certainly bogus as there is no known citation for this supposed quote. The words have sometimes been attributed to the Gordon Prange, a historian on the staff of Douglas MacArthur, but it is found nowhere in his writings either. The quote should be regarded as bogus until someone can cite when and where it originated.

Nor did Admiral Yamamoto ever say:

I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.

That quote appears to be derived from the 1970 film Tora! Tora!, Tora! (great film). What he did say was:

A military man can scarcely pride himself on having smitten a sleeping enemy.

This is a reference regarding his disappointment over the bungled Japanese declaration of war which wasn’t delivered until a few hours after the attack on Pearl Harbour.

Cast-Iron Skillet Pizza

I would name this “Caprese Pizza.” It’s heavenly!

Prep: 10 min | Cook: 20 min | Yield: 2 (9 to 10 inch) pizzas

Ingredients

1 pound store-bought pizza dough (room temperature)
1 ripe tomato, thinly sliced
1/4 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, diced
Coarse sea salt
2 tablespoons Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 cup shredded fresh basil

Instructions

Heat well-oiled cast-iron or nonstick 10 or 12 inch frying pan over medium heat for 5 minutes.
Divide dough in half; roll one half into round 1 inch smaller than diameter of pan.
Cook dough in hot pan until dough begins to rise and bottom starts to brown. Using metal spatula, turn carefully. Layer half the tomato slices over dough; scatter half the mozzarella over top. Lower heat to medium-low; cook until mozzarella melts.
Using metal spatula, transfer pizza to cutting board. Sprinkle with salt; drizzle with half the olive oil.
Cut into wedges; sprinkle half the basil over top.
Repeat with remaining ingredients.

Why did my top performing employee quit after write up?

Imagine it from the top performer’s point of view.

They might be getting offers from other companies they don’t discuss with you.

If they’re performing better than everyone else and don’t perceive themselves as having erred (at least not enough for a write up) they’re left searching for reasons you may have written them up. It’s inevitable that they will arrive at political or financial motives.

Typically having a write up interferes with career advancement, raises, and bonuses.

Perhaps they thought you were trying to put them back on their heels to make them more controllable. Top performers don’t need to be controlled. Maybe the very act of writing them up was a final straw in proving the incompetence of your leadership to them.

If their work created opportunities or revenues perhaps they saw a write up as a way of denying or usurping those. Top salespeople get this all the time. It’s a typical ruse for an unscrupulous leadership team to mess with a salesperson’s compensation or territory when they confront how much money they may pay in commissions to one person. When they think they can close the book of business themselves these asshats will do things to marginalize or force out the salesperson to capture more revenue and take credit for the sale “in spite of” the salesperson’s supposed shortcomings.

If the company is already having some problems this kind of thing is a death knell. It’s like the drunk, losing poker player trying to scare a guy with a stack of chips into folding by going all-in with an obvious bluff. The experienced people see that and think, “Well, that’s the end of that.”

This type of thing is doubly bad because it simultaneously signals bad faith and incompetence. It inspires disgust and righteous anger in people who work diligently and honestly.

In general, the more honest and competent a person is, the more attuned they are to the dishonesty and incompetence of others. Since they are typically getting things done at a faster pace they end up encountering things that interfere with getting things done more often. They encounter and avoid the temptation to take dishonest shortcuts and are pressured to do so by their managers more often.

This whole time other companies are sending messages about the greener grass across the street.

Does any of this feel like it applies to you?

The Delta Hot Index: Compare your Mate Value at a Glance

What new policy did a new boss try to implement that made you say “You gotta be kidding me”?

Many years ago I worked at a Clinical Trials company. In the space of 18 months, two of the female staff had needed extended sick leave. I don’t know the exact nature of the illness these women had. I worked more closely with one of the women so, I know that she had a miscarriage and possibly depression afterward. I believe the other women had some long-standing health problems that resulted in a hysterectomy.

One of the Managing Directors sent a fairly rambling memo about the inconvenience, to the company, of key staff being absent for long periods. He was proposing to take a gynaecological history of female staff in order to assess their ‘availabilty’ for certain roles in the company. Apparently, women’s plumbing is a bit different and inconveniently complex …. (In fairness, I should point out that he was a consultant gynaecologist).

As a Staff Representative, I was asked to forward a unanimous response on behalf of the female staff. The response was just two words and you know which two words.

He received his reply within an hour of sending his memo and the subject was never mentioned again.

S̲te̲e̲ly D̲a̲n – 1977 Greatest Hits – A̲̲ja̲ (Full Album)

OMG. This takes me back. We used to jam to this non-stop. First time I have listened to the full album in about fifty years. No shit!

Are Taiwanese oligarchs worried about chip breakthrough in mainland China that will affect their margin?

Not really

main qimg 3c40f9babdb58180d1f0fe494855f253

A Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 Dragon Chipset costs around $ 450 and of that Qualcomm pockets $ 225 as Chip Designer while TSMC gets around $ 175 for Fabrication and the Packaging and Testing costs $ 50

A Huawei Kirin 9000s costs around $ 370 today of which Huawei pockets $ 100 as Chip Designer, the Foundry SMIC gets around $ 300 , the Packaging and Testing costs $ 20 and the Chinese Government subsidizes $ 50 a Chip

So as you can see TSMC pockets $ 175 for each Chip and has a margin of close to 40% as profit

SMIC pockets $ 300 for each Chip and has a margin of 7% as profit

Thus TSMC is paying almost $ 105 for manufacturing a 7 nm Chip while SMIC is paying a whopping $ 279 for manufacturing a 7 nm Chip with a 96% Yield

So TSMC is in a very advantageous position in terms of Chip manufacturing

It costs SMIC almost three times more to manufacture a 7 nm chip than TSMC at 96% Yield

The key is HUAWEI

You notice Huawei pockets only 24% of the Cost of the Chip whereas Apple and Qualcomm and Intel they pocket 50% of the Cost of the Chip

Likewise the Testing and Packaging and Finishing in China is 40% of what they charge in Taiwan

So the final Chipset is almost $ 50 Cheaper on the Mainland

So if you look at TSMC vs SMIC

SMIC is manufacturing a chip which is 96% in Yield of the same manufactured by TSMC at 3 times the cost and 20% of the Profit earned by TSMC (Not including the Subsidy)

If you look at the Kirin 9000s vs Snapdragon 888

The Kirin costs $ 50 Less than the Snapdragon and at virtually almost same quality

This translates to at least $ 117 on the final retail price of any phone using the Chipset

That’s 700 RMB cheaper at the lowest

Thats where China dominates

Ultimately the Brand mode of profiteering is why the West can never ultimately win against China in a fully competitive market

What was the most boneheaded mistake you saw someone make while in the military?

This was more than boneheaded!!!!!!!!!! This photo is of me as a MP about to go out on a jeep patrol in Danang Vietnam in 1970.

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When we changed the watch, the watch before us gave us their 45 caliber pistol. They were supposed to remove the magazine, jack the weapon back and then shoot down at some sand or earth area to make sure no round was in it. The guy I had on one watch switch, took his weapon out did not take the magazine out, jacked it back (which loaded the chamber) and then shot it down about 2 inches from my toes. We were both on a concrete walkway going into our police office. What saved my life most likely was a rubber mat about 15 feet long on the sidewalk. The round went through the rubber mat and when it ricocheted on the concrete, the bullet slid about 12 feet under the mat between my legs behind me instead of going up into me. What followed was a huge flurry of of expletives to him from myself and the men around me. I could have died from friendly fire!

What will happen if America invades China?

This shall not happen.

Last time when the States invaded North Korea, 54246 American soldiers lost their lives, and we lost more. I believe that a wise POTUS would never decide to invade China by risking half of the army in far east.

If this shall happen, er…

Per the requirements of Chinese laws, I shall be recruited, and given a rank around caption.

I may be assigned to work in a camp, interrogating captured US soldiers (see I can speak English quite well, and I am somewhat familar with psychology, politics, history and western culture).

I am also a chemist graduating from a top university. I can also serve as a chemistry engineer in factories, producing gunpowder, medicine, and other necessary materials for the war.

If the war does not go on well, I may be sent to the front, holding a handgun, leading dozens of soldiers, and I may die there. If I die bravely in a battle, I shall be recognized as “revolutionary martyr” and beried in a “martyrs cemetery”. I may have no son or daughter, but all Chinese children living in the new peace world shall dance and sing on the land that I have bled for.

Both China and the States have well educated, brave and patriotic citizens. It would be a disaster for the people of both countries, even the whole world, to initiate a war between the two countries.

Lives shall be lost, cities shall be burned and children shall starve.

If we use our muscle suitably instead, we can make this world better.

What happened to you in China which made you think completely differently about the country and society?

Before going to China, I used to hear a lot from my Mainland Chinese friends in Australia how the Chinese are so selfish and cunning. They told me to be careful when buying something because I could get cheated, that the Chinese won’t do me any favor when I ask for one and if I ask somebody the direction they might point into a wrong direction. I heard the Shaghainese are arrogant, the Henanese are very bad, the Hubei-ese are cheaters, the North-Easterners are rough and so on so forth. Of course, they warned me on good will, and I thanked them for that.

Yet, when I was actually in China, I found that virtually all what they told me are wrong. I’ve never met any arrogant Shanghainese, Hubei-ese cheater, bad Henanese or rough North-Easterner (though many North-Easterners do talk loudly). When I had no umbrella on a rainy day, someone gave me an umbrella; when I took a bus but had no coin, someone gave me coins and when I forgot my belonging in a restaurant, someone told me that. Of course, there must be bad people in China as well, but not as many as I imagined before going there based on what those Chinese friends warned me.

EELF Collection

This is… well… not what you would think. I ran across this, and it’s… well… you just have to watch it.

Bringing a young woman into your life

Lately, I have been generating art for my Patreon, and youtube channels. These have been created by LeonardoAI. And the artwork is truly exceptional.

I tell my readership, over and over, that your actions in this reality, acts as a feedback loop that allows and permits manifestations.

This is the basis of “Affirmation Campaigns”.

For instance, after I got out of prison, I had continued to deal with prison-similar situations up to two years afterwards. It was almost like a contamination that I had to “shake off”.

…

Anyways, I have been working on my videos.

So, I have been creating hundred of these images for the Affirmation Campaign section of my Paetron.

They look like this…

Default Imagine a Baroque painting high attention to detail ro 1(2)

Default Imagine a Baroque painting high attention to detail ro 0(2)

Default Imagine a Baroque painting high attention to detail ro 2(2)

Default Imagine a Baroque painting high attention to detail ro 3(2)

Default Imagine a Baroque painting high attention to detail ro 0(1)

Default Imagine a Baroque painting high attention to detail ro 1(1)

Default Imagine a Baroque painting high attention to detail ro 2(1)

Default Imagine a Baroque painting high attention to detail ro 3(1)

Nice huh?

The criteria…

Attractive
Young woman
Italian
Baroque style
In her 20’s
Large mane-like hair
Friendly

And I would put that all in my prompt. Sort of like this…

Now, the point that I want to make is this.

When you concentrate on statements or words, they do manifest in your reality, whether you want them to or not. Sooner or later. In one form or the other.

…

OK. Story time.

So, I am riding the bus home from the office today.

And I feel like someone is watching me. You all know the feeling. It happens from time to time.

It was happening then and there. So I looked up.

Right in front of me, across the isle and facing me directly was a girl.

Body language was facing to me.

There is this Chinese girl. She’s very attractive. She must have been in her early 20’s. She kept on stealing glimpses at me, and was very friendly.

Skin like powered soft butter. Soft gentle curves. Large black hair.

A Chinese version of my artwork.

No, she did not wear a “period-style” fashion dress. She wore contemporaneous clothing. But she had the same build, look, and appearance of these girls that I have been generating.

But something else.

She turned her head to look up front and I had a great view of her profile.

I looked at her nose.

It wasn’t a “Chinese nose”. It was a nose right out of my AI generated art. That was the DEAD GIVEAWAY. You NEVER see these noses in China (unless they are plastic surgery).

My art noses…

Chinese noses are flat and wide. Like this random chick…

That stranger on the bus, that girl, well she had a Baroque Italian nose.

No shit.

Now, I was VERY uncomfortable with a girl in her early 20’s giving me “the look”, and all that. I really didn’t want to engage her. Lordy! My life is already complex. That’s the last thing I want right now.

So I let her get off the bus.

And she kept on looking at me… with this expression. An expression that I haven’t seen in DECADES.

And breathed a sigh of relief. She was intense.

Be very careful on what you do, how you think, and what you say. You might be surprised at what might materialize.

Default Imagine a Baroque art painting with an attractive Youn 2

Default Imagine a Baroque art painting with an attractive Youn 3

Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(9)

Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(8)

Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(7)

Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(8)

Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(7)

Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(6)

Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(5)

Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(6)

Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(5)

Yeah.

The nose was the dead giveaway. But really, that continuous stare was highly unusual and very disturbing.

Today…

What happens to a person who is put in prison when they are 18 and released at 40? How do they reintegrate into society?

I was arrested when I was 17 in 1987. I was released in 2016 when I was 46. I was given no reentry program . The only thing they did was put me in a class to tell me how to operate computers { minus the internet}

So I was told to get a home plan. I did and it was approved and then released me on the day of my release. Family and friends have supported me and helped me reintegrate into society. The are very understanding and supportive. So adjusting to this big change is something ongoing and I have come a long way since getting out. But it has been friends and family and every day people who have helped and not the state of Missouri

Also the people here on Quora have helped even though they may not know it.

Just answering questions has been therapeutic and most people on here who read my content are supportive and give me encouragement. It means a lot to me so thank you everyone

I didn’t interview men

What is the saddest individual story from history?

Willie Mae Bragg:

Was sentenced to death for murdering a pharmacist in 1939.

On the day of his execution, he was strapped in, and as the current went through him – he went unkilled. His final cries were for the strap to be removed.

After surviving, he then filed a lawsuit claiming he was safe from execution as they had already executed him and that he simply hadn’t died.

It was an ominous case. Most of the executions in 1940’s Mississippi (one of the most racist states in the US) were of black people.

His appeal failed and he was executed the following year by a portable Electric Chair that had been put into use:

Also:

They typically don’t serve “the last meal” on the day of the execution as people can rarely eat.

They have also begun putting spending limits on last meal requests, $30-$50, as many death row inmates have ordered King’s feasts, only for them not to eat a single bite, as a final f#%k you to the system.

One more also,

A man used to drive around with a wheelchair and a generator in his pickup truck, as his job was to move the electric chair to its next location.

Could you imagine seeing that on the highway?

What’s the shrewdest, smartest maneuver you’ve ever seen in business?

My college town had a lovely small pizza restaurant named Papa John’s.

My God it was good. Delicious real mozzarella, fantastic toppings, a side of juicy-tangy-sweet pepperoncini peppers, and a special cup of garlic butter dipping sauce for the crust, so you could eat it just like breadsticks. It was heaven.

Everyone loved it. Except Domino’s pizza.

Domino’s, the chief competitor on campus, just couldn’t compete against the flavor and quality of Papa John’s pizzas.

Every weekend, all of the local pizzerias would do a Friday advertising push to win as much of the student weekend pizza dollar as possible. That meant a LOT of coupons, and every student got to pick their favorite weekend study treat.

One Thursday, the Domino’s marketing team was in a nasty funk, and decided to play dirty. In the local university newspaper, they booked this ad for the Friday edition…

“Bring us 30 competitors’ coupons, and get a FREE PIZZA!”

Oooooh…. nasty, eh? Dominoes was going to suck up all of the competitor coupons on the market, and burn them. By their math, they’d get most of the pizza dollar because they’d be the only pizzeria offering a weekend special- all of their competitors would be couponless, and therefore cost more.

And this coup would cost them very little… for “stealing” 30 pizza sales from their competition, it would cost them 1 free pizza, at roughly $4 in ingredients & labor.

Poor Papa John’s was getting no business this weekend…

Except that, one of the students at the school newspaper happened to love Papa John’s, and mentioned the Domino’s ad booking to a friend who worked there.

The team at Papa John’s thought for a minute, and then placed their own weekly ad.

That Friday’s edition saw two massive ads, running side-by-side.

The Domino’s ad…

Bring us 30 competitors’ coupons, and get a FREE PIZZA!

And the Papa John’s ad…

Thank you to all of our wonderful customers!
Here are 30 Papa John’s coupons for you to enjoy.
Because everyone deserves a pizza.

Students flooded the Domino’s, newspaper in hand, demanding their FREE pizzas. Domino’s had to close its doors for the weekend after completely running out of product.

… while losing a pile of money.

… and a fair bit of pride.

( Note: I can’t remember the exact ad copy… but it’s close. I made a best effort )

It’s over

You fucked up… BIG TIME.

What was the most amazing thing that you could only have learned while travelling?

I always thought I wanted to live on a deserted island in the South Pacific or the Caribbean.

My first kick at the cat went OK, I was dropped off on a deserted beach on Andros island in the Bahamas, they left me near a palapa, gave me a cooler full of food and beverage, and a boogie board. They left me at about 10:00 am, and picked me up about 4:00 . I never saw another person and it seemed idyllic.

So a couple of years later when I was in the Cook Islands, I heard about this quasi resort, that dropped you off on this little island. It had very limited fresh water, not enough to swim or bath in. Six little shacks, where 6 couples, or singles could stay. It had a kayak and a few other little extras like an outhouse. It seemed just like Gilligan’s island, and what could possibly go wrong.

They left fruit, vegetables , canned food, soda, charcoal, and that was about it. I brought some beer and vodka.

The first day was awesome, the second day I was a little bit sunburned, and my skin was suffering from not being able to get the salt off well enough, and the ice in my cooler had melted and my beer was warm.

The island was gorgeous and you could swim to a neighboring island. You could see all sorts of fish while snorkeling.

On the third day I was itching like crazy, and I packed up and took the boat back to civilization, which was just a short journey.

I decided that I really didn’t want to be alone on a desert island. If I could have had a fridge, a toilet and a shower, or even a fresh water stream, I would have easily lasted a week, maybe a month.

So what I learned was that being stranded on a deserted island is a lot more like Tom Hanks, than like Swiss family Robinson, and without the things that I was accustomed to, it wasn’t the paradise that I had thought. Or maybe it was a paradise, just not my paradise.

This all happened about 40 years ago, so I doubt anything is the same today.

Why do right-wing Americans don’t trust mainstream narrative about Trump but take every lie of them against China as truth?

They need a scapegoat for all their problems, and China qualifies as scape goat for the Right, especially being (at least officially) Communist and definitely nonwhite. There is definitely more racism among the right wing, or at least they show it more. So, unfortunately, Trump used China as a scapegoat during his term, at times, but he started doing it less and less towards the end. Doing this to China was a mistake, but at least he didn’t get all belligerent about Taiwan like Biden did, and what Biden did was far more dangerous. Unlike Biden, Trump preferred dialogue to war with China, Russia, and even North Korea. He is the dove of peace compared to Herr Biden!

I believe when Trump gets elected (notice that I am saying not “if” but “when”), he will no longer use China as a scapegoat anymore, recognizing its vast economic and military power and usefulness to the US, but he will blame everything on the Neocon Neoliberal US establishment, and he will be right. The establishment fully deserves it, with inequality (and resulting socioeconomic instability) under this establishment increasing exponentially over the last 40 years (and especially the last 20 years or so, post 2007 crisis), and a war on two fronts (Ukraine and the Middle East). This almost makes even Trump look like a Socialist!

As far as not trusting the mainstream narrative about Trump (and most other things), the Trump-supporters are right. What’s more, I believe that at least half of Democrats don’t trust the mainstream narrative anymore!

It’s War: The Real Meat Grinder Starts Now

By Pe.pe Esc.obar

No more shadow play. It’s now in the open. No holds barred

Exhibit 1: Friday, March 22, 2024. It’s War. The Kremlin, via Peskov, finally admits it, on the record.

The money quote:

“Russia cannot allow the existence on its borders of a state that has a documented intention to use any methods to take Crimea away from it, not to mention the territory of new regions.”

Translation: the Hegemon-constructed Kiev mongrel is doomed, one way or another. The Kremlin signal: “We haven’t even started” starts now.

Exhibit 2: Friday afternoon, a few hours after Peskov. Confirmed by a serious European – not Russian – source. The first counter-signal.

Regular troops from France, Germany and Poland have arrived, by rail and air, to Cherkassy, south of Kiev. A substantial force. No numbers leaked. They are being housed in schools. For all practical purposes, this is a NATO force.

That signals, “Let the games begin”. From a Russian point of view, Mr. Khinzal’s business cards are set to be in great demand.

Exhibit 3: Friday evening. Terror attack on Crocus City, a music venue northwest of Moscow. A heavily trained commando shoots people on sight, point blank, in cold blood, then sets a concert hall on fire. The definitive counter-signal: with the battlefield collapsing, all that’s left is terrorism in Moscow.

And just as terror was striking Moscow, the US and the UK, in southwest Asia, was bombing Sana’a, the Yemeni capital, with at least five strikes.

Some nifty coordination. Yemen has just clinched a strategic deal in Oman with Russia-China for no-hassle navigation in the Red Sea, and is among the top candidates for BRICS+ expansion at the summit in Kazan next October.

Not only the Houthis are spectacularly defeating thalassocracy, they have the Russia-China strategic partnership on their side. Assuring China and Russia that their ships can sail through the Bab-al-Mandeb, Red Sea and Gulf of Aden with no problems is exchanged with total political support from Beijing and Moscow.

The sponsors remain the same

Deep in the night in Moscow, before dawn on Saturday 23. Virtually no one is sleeping. Rumors dance like dervishes on countless screens. Of course nothing has been confirmed – yet. Only the FSB will have answers. A massive investigation is in progress.

The timing of the Crocus massacre is quite intriguing.

On a Friday during Ramadan. Real Muslims would not even think about perpetrating a mass murder of unarmed civilians under such a holy occasion. Compare it with the ISIS card being frantically branded by the usual suspects.

Let’s go *pop*.

To quote Talking Heads: “This ain’t no party/ this ain’t no disco/ this ain’t no fooling around”.

Oh no; it’s more like an all-American psy op.

ISIS are cartoonish mercenaries/goons. Not real Muslims. And everyone knows who finances and weaponizes them. *wink* *wink*

That leads to the most possible scenario, before the FSB weighs in: ISIS goons imported from the Syria battleground – as it stands, probably Tajiks – trained by CIA and MI6, working on behalf of the Ukrainian SBU. Several witnesses at Crocus referred to “Wahhabis” – as in the commando killers did not look like Slavs.

It was up to Serbia’s Aleksandar Vucic to cut to the chase. He directly connected the “warnings” in early March from American and British embassies directed at their citizens not to visit public places in Moscow with CIA/MI6 intel having inside info about possible terrorism, and not disclosing it to Moscow.

The plot thickens when it is established that Crocus is owned by the Agalarovs: an Azeri-Russian billionaire family, very close friends of…

… Donald Trump.

Talk about a Deep State-pinpointed target.

ISIS spin-off or banderistas – the sponsors remain the same.

The clownish secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, was dumb enough to virtually, indirectly confirm they did it, saying on Ukrainian TV, “we will give them [Russians] this kind of fun more often.”

But it was up to Sergei Goncharov, a veteran of the elite Russia Alpha anti-terrorism unit, to get closer to unwrapping the enigma: he told Sputnik the most feasible mastermind is Kyrylo Budanov – the chief of the Main Directorate of Intelligence at the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

The “spy chief” who happens to be the top CIA asset in Kiev.

It’s got to go till the last Ukrainian

The three exhibits above complement what the head of NATO’s military committee, Rob Bauer, previously told a security forum in Kiev: “You need more than just grenades – you need people to replace the dead and wounded. And this means mobilization.”

Translation: NATO spelling out this is a war until the last Ukrainian.

And the “leadership” in Kiev still does not get it. Former Minister of Infrastructure Omelyan: “If we win, we will pay back with Russian oil, gas, diamonds and fur. If we lose, there will be no talk of money – the West will think about how to survive.”

In parallel, puny “garden-and jungle” Borrell admitted that it would be “difficult” for the EU to find an extra 50 billion euros for Kiev if Washington pulls the plug. The cocaine-fueled sweaty sweatshirt leadership actually believes that Washington is not “helping” in the form of loans, but in the form of free gifts. And the same applies for the EU.

The Theater of the Absurd is unmatchable.

The German Liver Sausage Chancellor actually believes that proceeds from stolen Russian assets “do not belong to anyone”, so they can be used to finance extra Kiev weaponizing.

Everyone with a brain knows that using interest from “frozen”, actually stolen Russian assets to weaponize Ukraine is a dead end – unless they steal all of Russia’s assets, roughly $200 billion, mostly parked in Belgium and Switzerland: that would tank the Euro for good, and the whole EU economy for that matter.

Eurocrats better listen to Russian Central Bank major “disrupter” (American terminology) Elvira Nabiullina: The Bank of Russia will take “appropriate measures” if the EU does anything on the “frozen”/stolen Russian assets.

It goes without saying that the three exhibits above completely nullify the “La Cage aux Folles” circus promoted by the puny Petit Roi, now known across his French domains as Macronapoleon.

Virtually the whole planet, including the English-speaking Global North, had already been mocking the “exploits” of his Can Can Moulin Rouge Army.

So French, German and Polish soldiers, as part of NATO, are already in the south of Kiev. The most possible scenario is that they will stay far, far away from the frontlines – although traceable by Mr. Khinzal’s business activities.

Even before this new NATO batch arriving in the south of Kiev, Poland – which happens to serve as prime transit corridor for Kiev’s troops – had confirmed that Western troops are already on the ground.

So this is not about mercenaries anymore. France, by the way, is only 7th in terms of mercenaries on the ground, largely trailing Poland, the US and Georgia, for instance.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has all the precise records.

In a nutshell: now war has morphed from Donetsk, Avdeyevka and Belgorod to Moscow. Further on down the road, it may not just stop in Kiev. It may only stop in Lviv. Mr. 87%, enjoying massive national near-unanimity, now has the mandate to go all the way. Especially after Crocus.

There’s every possibility the terror tactics by Kiev goons will finally drive Russia to return Ukraine to its original 17th century landlocked borders: Black Sea-deprived, and with Poland, Romania, and Hungary reclaiming their former territories.

Remaining Ukrainians will start to ask serious questions about what led them to fight – literally to their death – on behalf of the US Deep State, the military complex and BlackRock.

As it stands, the Highway to Hell meat grinder is bound to reach maximum velocity.

Ten things

Pizza in a Tunnel

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

3 cups buttermilk biscuit mix or Biscuit Baking Mix
2/3 cup milk
2 eggs
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 (3 1/2 ounce) package sliced pepperoni, halved
1 (14 ounce) jar pizza sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Cornmeal

Instructions

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease and lightly dust* a 10 inch fluted tube pan or an 11 cup ring mold with cornmeal.
In a large mixer bowl, combine biscuit mix, milk, eggs and butter. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until well combined. Beat on high speed for 1 minute, scraping bowl constantly.
With back of spoon, spread 2/3 of the dough on the bottom and up the sides of the prepared pan to within 1 1/2 inches of the top; reserve remaining dough.
Layer mushroom, pepperoni, pizza sauce and 1 1/2 cups of the cheese over the dough in pan.
Spread reserved dough over the top of cheese layer.
Bake for 30 minutes or until golden.
Let pizza stand for 10 minutes on a warm rack.
Use a knife to loosen sides of pizza, turn out onto ovenproof serving plate.
Top with remaining cheese.
Return pizza to oven for 1 to 2 minutes to melt cheese.
Serve warm.

“Study Reveals How Ancient Humans Escaped Climate Extinction 900,000 Years Ago”

Posted on March 20, 2024 by TTG

Figure 1: (A) 65°N summer solstice insolation, (B)Atmospheric CO2 concentration, Allan Hills vertical error bars indicate 2σ spread with horizontal age uncertainty, (C) Global LR04 benthic stacked δ18O (blue), ODP1123 seawater δ18O (black). The MPT and the “typical 41 ka-world” intervals are highlighted in grey and yellow respectively.

Some 900,000 years ago, humans nearly went extinct. According to the results of a genomics study published last year, modern humanity’s ancestors were reduced to a breeding population of barely 1,300 individuals in a devastating bottleneck that brought us to the very brink of annihilation. Now, a new study has found that a mass migration of humans out of Africa occurred at the same time.

It’s a discovery that confirms the previous dating of the population decline, and suggests that the two are linked to a common denominator; an event known as the Mid-Pleistocene Transition, in which Earth’s climate underwent a period of utter turmoil, wiping out many species. The movement of early humans into and across Europe and Asia from Africa is difficult to reconstruct. The best evidence we have consists of a sparse record of bones and mostly stone artifacts, which can be challenging to date. However, the evidence suggests that it wasn’t one event, but multiple waves of early hominids and human ancestors that packed up their lives and made long journeys into new environments.

Two recent studies have linked human migration to a population bottleneck, based on different types of analysis. A close reading of the human genome found that a population bottleneck caused a loss of genetic diversity some 900,000 years ago. A second study, published a few weeks later, studied early archaeological sites in Eurasia, and dated the bottleneck to 1.1 million years ago.

This discrepancy makes it challenging to identify the climate event that may have caused or at the very least contributed to the temporary drop in numbers, so geologists Giovanni Muttoni of the University of Milan and Dennis Kent of Columbia University embarked on an effort to narrow down the timing of the bottleneck. First, the researchers re-evaluated records of sites of early hominid habitation across Eurasia, and found a cluster of sites reliably dated to 900,000 years ago. In comparison, the dating on older sites used as evidence of a population bottleneck was more ambiguous and therefore disputable.

They compared their findings to marine sediment records, which preserve evidence of changes in the climate in the form of oxygen isotopes. Ratios of oxygen trapped in sediment layers indicate whether the climate was warmer or cooler at the time the minerals were deposited.

The genomic data and the dating of the hominid sites together suggest that the bottleneck and the migration were simultaneous. During the Mid-Pleistocene Transition, global ocean levels dropped, and Africa and Asia dried out, with large patches of aridity. Hominids living in Africa would have faced horrible conditions depriving them of food and water. Fortunately, with the falling sea level, land routes into Eurasia became available and they were able to skedaddle, according to the researchers’ model.

This is not to say, they carefully note, that hominids had not migrated previously. Rather that the population bottleneck in the ancestor of modern Homo sapiens and the migration thereof occurred at the same time as a result of the climate upheaval that was occurring some 900,000 years ago.

“We suggest that the enhanced aridity during marine isotope stage 22 that caused the spread of savanna and arid zones across much of continental Africa pushed early Homo populations in Africa to adapt or migrate to avoid extinction,” they write in their paper. “Rapid migration in response to a severe climate trigger and concomitant means to escape is what can account for the … migration out-of-Africa at 0.9 million years ago and contribute to the modern genomic evidence in modern African populations of the bottleneck.”

The findings have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

https://www.sciencealert.com/study-reveals-how-ancient-humans-escaped-climate-extinction-900000-years-ago

Comment: I have found this stuff fascinating as far back as when I watched the National Geographic specials with Louis B. Leakey digging for bones in Olduvai Gorge. I started at RPI majoring in geology figuring that would be a good way to get into paleontology. Only later did I transfer to anthropology… and ROTC.

This story is a good example of what effect a changing climate can have on humans even when they occur on a geological time scale. Reducing our breeding population to barely 1,300 individuals and causing our ancestors to un-ass the area for parts unknown are damned drastic effects. In this case, humans certainly had no hand in influencing this particular episode of climate change. It would be interesting to compare and contrast the conditions leading to the Mid-Pleistocene Transition to what we’re seeing/not seeing today.

TTG

https://pastglobalchanges.org/publications/pages-magazines/pages-magazine/11517

They really think we’re dumb don’t they?

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Russia Announces Two New ARMIES; 14 New Divisions, 16 New Brigades

World Hal Turner 21 March 2024

With his re-election accomplished, Russian President Vladimir Putin is now getting serious about the harm being done to Russia by the petulant and crazed collective West. Defense Minister Shoigu has announced the creation of two new ARMIES for Russia, including fourteen (14) New Divisions of 10,000-15,000 troops EACH, and sixteen (16) new divisions of 3,000-5,000 troops EACH.

To put these two new armies in perspective, what Russia is now creating – above and beyond its present armed forces – is larger than the armies of:

Germany, Britain (UK), France, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Czech Republic, Croatia, Finland, Sweden COMBINED.

The big question now is whether or not Russia will resort to Conscription.

Stay tuned . . .

So true

One of the Moscow attackers, has been confirmed to be an ex-Ukrainian soldier who served in 2022

World Hal Turner 23 March 2024

Moscow shooter suspect Rustam Azhiyev large

The investigation into the horrific attack at a Concert Hall in the Moscow, Russia region, has been positively identified as Rustam Azhiyev, a former UKRAINIAN SOLDIER (Image above) who served in 2022, as a shooter.

The man shown atop this story is the captured suspect and Russian law enforcement identified him and pulled up some of his history in the Ukraine Army:

Suspect Rustam Azhiyev Ukraine Army info

In earlier stories about the Moscow Attack, it was reported that a White Renault automobile was caught on a dashcam, with men exiting carrying rifles, outside the concert hall which was attacked (HERE).

It was also reported earlier that the White Renault vehicle was captured and the men inside, who fled to nearby woods, were also captured (HERE).

Those men were identified as having been citizens of Tajikistan, which is shown on the map below:

Hours after the Terrorist attack near Moscow, that White Renault vehicle was captured on a road near Bryansk, Russia, which is shown on the map below:

Moscow suspects Caught Bryansk Lived Tajikistan Map

Why were the suspects traveling toward UKRAINE when they are allegedly from Tajikistan? Why does one of the suspects have ties to the UKRAINE armed forces?

The investigation is rapidly developing with evidence that it was UKRAINE that was deeply involved in this terror attack upon innocent civilians inside Russia.

Pittsburgh Is Being Destroyed. Here’s Why.

Transforming the United States into Haiti.

Lordy! I have family living in Pittsburgh.

Terrorists Wore Body Cams! Video of them Murdering inside Russian Concert Hall

World Hal Turner 23 March 2024

The terrorists who attacked a concert hall inside Russia, apparently wore Body Cams or “Go-Pro-Type” cameras and took video of themselves as they massacred innocent people. I have received one such video.

In the video, one can see an UNARMED co-conspirator, wearing what appears to be rifle magazine clip-carriers (no gun seen on him) waving a shooter INTO a hallway where innocent people were hiding. Image above.

The shooter enters the doorway to that hall and begins firing.

At least six people go down under his automatic weapons fire. Blood spray and splatter, everywhere.

As the person wearing the camera turns, another terrorist attacker is shown kneeling at the throat of another victim, who had already been shot, but was laying, wounded and dying, on the ground. The perpetrator is seen repeatedly slicing the victims throat — at least TEN SLASHES, with blood spewing from the gaping wounds.

Then that perp and others calmly walk away:

Unarmed co conspirator waving shooter into hallway large

This is some of the most evil, vicious, horrifying, crime video I have ever seen. It makes me sick to my stomach. The Barbarity. The inhuman behavior. It is mortifying to me.

I find myself in an ethical and moral quandary over this video. It certainly is “news.” Of that, there is no doubt.

Yet the video is so utterly horrifying, so outside any behavior even remotely “human,” and so hideously violent, that I find myself recoiling at the notion of putting the video out.

I then asked myself if perhaps I should put still images from the video, like the one atop this story, and that begot yet another quandary. Would publishing such still images, cause emotional distress to the families of the victims?

I have decided still images ought not be published except for the non-gruesome images above, either.

Maybe I’m getting soft in my old age. Maybe, though, I’m just pushed too far on this one, and realizing there is nothing good that can come of publishing it.

I want you to know I have the video. I’ve watched it. It is frighteningly gruesome, and shows what can only be described as pure evil.

Biggest red flag

Happening Now: Russian Missiles Cross POLAND Border During Ukraine Attack

World Hal Turner 23 March 2024

As of 11:53 PM eastern US time on Saturday night-into-Sunday, Russia is engaged in a large missile attack against Ukraine. HOWEVER, “at least three” Russian missiles breached POLAND air space over the Village of Horodto, and POLAND has scrambled fighter jets.

The scalable map below shows the village of Horodto, Poland, on the border of Ukraine.

At least 7 Russian Tu-95MS bombers took off from the Olenya air field in Russia to launch long-range missiles at Ukraine.

Bombers also took off from Engels with a total now of 13 in the air.

This airfield is located just 100km from the Norway border in the far north.

MORE:

6- Su-34 bombers are airborne

LARGE EXPLOSIONS IN LVIV. SECOND MISSILE VOLLEY INBOUND.

MISSILES ARE HEADED FOR KIEV!!!!

ALL of Ukraine now in Air Raid Alert:

Missiles Have Overflown Oserdow, Poland which is about 70km south of Horodto, Poland, previously overflown.

— Several Dozen additional Cruise Missiles have entered Ukrainian Airspace via the Chernihiv and Sumy Region.

— Multiple Russian Kh-101/555/55 cruise missiles on direct course to Kyiv from the north.

Massive explosions in Kyiv the city is under intense bombardment right now.

MORE:

At least 19x explosions in Stryi, on the Ukrainian side of the Polish-Ukrainian border:

Jackie Chan wise words

Vintage Shorpy

Men can only take so much.

Then they stop.

NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft is talking nonsense. Its friends on Earth are worried.

Posted on March 12, 2024 by TTG

“Frankly, I’m very worried,” he says. Ever since mid-November, the Voyager 1 spacecraft has been sending messages back to Earth that don’t make any sense. It’s as if the aging spacecraft has suffered some kind of stroke that’s interfering with its ability to speak. “It basically stopped talking to us in a coherent manner,” says Suzanne Dodd of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who has been the project manager for the Voyager interstellar mission since 2010. “It’s a serious problem.”

Instead of sending messages home in binary code, Voyager 1 is now just sending back alternating 1s and 0s. Dodd’s team has tried the usual tricks to reset things — with no luck. It looks like there’s a problem with the onboard computer that takes data and packages it up to send back home. All of this computer technology is primitive compared to, say, the key fob that unlocks your car, says Dodd. “The button you press to open the door of your car, that has more compute power than the Voyager spacecrafts do,” she says. “It’s remarkable that they keep flying, and that they’ve flown for 46-plus years.”

Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, have outlasted many of those who designed and built them. So to try to fix Voyager 1’s current woes, the dozen or so people on Dodd’s team have had to pore over yellowed documents and old mimeographs. “They’re doing a lot of work to try and get into the heads of the original developers and figure out why they designed something the way they did and what we could possibly try that might give us some answers to what’s going wrong with the spacecraft,” says Dodd. She says that they do have a list of possible fixes. As time goes on, they’ll likely start sending commands to Voyager 1 that are more bold and risky. “The things that we will do going forward are probably more challenging in the sense that you can’t tell exactly if it’s going to execute correctly — or if you’re going to maybe do something you didn’t want to do, inadvertently,” says Dodd.

Linda Spilker, who serves as the Voyager mission’s project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, says that when she comes to work she sees “all of these circuit diagrams up on the wall with sticky notes attached. And these people are just having a great time trying to troubleshoot, you know, the 60’s and 70’s technology.” “I’m cautiously optimistic,” she says. “There’s a lot of creativity there.”

Still, this is a painstaking process that could take weeks, or even months. Voyager 1 is so distant, it takes almost a whole day for a signal to travel out there, and then a whole day for its response to return. “We’ll keep trying,” says Dodd, “and it won’t be quick.”

https://www.npr.org/2024/03/06/1236033493/nasas-voyager-1-spacecraft-is-talking-nonsense-its-friends-on-earth-are-worried

Comment: This is one hell of an adventure for NASA coders and engineers. I envy them. Years before the launch of Voyager 1, I was introduced to computers in an after school course in the computer center of Fairfield University. I ended up writing a Star Trek navigation game in Fortran by graphing polynomial functions. I wouldn’t know where to begin to do that now. Many years later I learned how to hack MS DOS to write stupid computer tricks and write simple viruses. That was all to support a cover. I couldn’t do that today, either. Those rudimentary old skills are nothing to sneeze at. Those NASA coders are living the dream… a techno-nerd dream, but a dream nevertheless.

TTG

The logic of anti-China idiots

Smart Boy

Stuffed Pizza

Ingredients

Crust

1 recipe uncooked deep-dish dough crust

Stuffing Mixture

1 bunch spinach, washed, stems removed, and lightly wilted (stir-fried)
8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
2 ounces Canadian bacon slices, diced
1 teaspoon oregano
2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
2 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup tomato sauce

Alternate Stuffing Mixture

8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 pound hot Italian sausage, browned/crumbled and drained
1/3 cup small pepperoni pieces
1/4 cup sliced black olives
1/4 cup sliced green olives
1/2 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Instructions

Stuffing Mixture

Combine spinach, cheese, Canadian bacon, oregano, garlic and mushrooms for stuffing mixture.

Crust

Spread dough in a greased deep-dish pan and up the sides for the bottom crust (approximately 16 ounces of dough for 14 inch deep dish).
Par-bake the crust for four minutes.
Add stuffing mixture to bottom crust in a deep dish pan and cover with top crust (approximately 13 ounces dough).
Seal the two dough edges together with fingers and trim excess.
Slit the top crust to allow steam to vent during baking.
Add tomato sauce topping and bake in a preheated 450 degrees F oven on lower rack or directly on the pizza stone for 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
Remove from pan and cool 5 minutes on a wire rack before cutting and serving.

Reactance

Have you ever called in sick but you were convinced or threatened by your superiors to come to work? Did it end well for you?

Oooooh yes, and definitely no.

I had done some North American travelling (flights) in late 2019, and soon after arriving home in Canada I fell ill. I was sicker than I’d ever been… but it felt like a bad cold. Very bad. I lay in bed for 4–5 days with fever, aches, congestion, cough – no medicines could ease my agony. I am not a whiner either… quite the opposite. I don’t miss work.

On the Thursday of the week (having missed Monday – Wednesday out sick) I received a call saying that the Boss wanted me in Saturday because we were moving a ton of desks around the office, on his whim. For context, I’m an Office & Facilities Manager, so this did *technically* fall under my purview, though the Boss dreamt this up earlier in the week so I hadn’t been involved.

They threatened my employment if I didn’t show up for this desk move, despite touting a ‘no limits’ policy on vacation and illness. I showed up to the office that Saturday and did my job, sicker than ever. Life went on, my cough lasted 17 weeks (SEVENTEEN WEEKS) even with a steroid inhaler, I lost 18lbs off my already lean but fit frame. Management teased me & laughed about it as I coughed all over the office and just kept saying ‘you’re so sickly’…

Pretty sure I had COVID, and bad, but this was before tests were available.

I quit in January ‘20, just before the world learned of the COVID-19 virus circulating the world. Still can’t reconcile the arrogance and lack of empathy of that management team with the A++ company they purported to be.

Only 6.5 out of 1,000 Men Are Getting Married: Report

Bluto rules in Pago Pago

Different places have different societies, and different cultures. I could probably write a book on this, as there are joys and pains with this kind of experience. But I will specify one such experience… working for “the BOSS” while I was building a hospital in Pago pago, American Samoa.

Honestly, this guy was sort of like a Samoan version of Tony Soprano. He held bi-monthly dinners, and all that, and there was no question that he was the big boss, and everyone else had to follow and obey him to the letter. He was insulting, harsh, brutish and rude. he was a “Bluto” incarnate.

It was socking. But with one pay out every two weeks, it was hard not to take it. So I did. Ouch! It was so painful. I mean, when I was in the Navy, I had a Marine drill instructor, but this guy was on another level. Wholly Shit!

Anyways, do not think that everyone in the world is the same. We tend to mix up biology and genetics with culture and societal norms. It’s a certain American trait, but Brits seem to be prone to it as well.

Be careful out there. You all.

Today…

If you are homeless, why wont you just get a job?

I was employed when I became homeless, working in a WFH situation thanks to covid, one little problem arose though, I was on a month to month lease when the owner decided to list the property for sale, this gave me 6 weeks to look for a new rental.

I quickly realised that the $500 a week rent i was paying for a nice 2 bedroom house with a backyard, was grossly below market value. I applied for over 100 houses between $450–750 per week, and not one of them was successful.

2 weeks till I was to be kicked out, I purchased a van, did a basic fitout in it, sold 75% of my stuff and moved into the van on the last day of my lease. I spent the next month applying for houses, but eventually gave up. I maintained my WFH job, working in the van and moving around every few days.

I eventually left the job as I started finding work around the state. The pay was good, but I stayed in the van for just over 2 years, meeting my best friend Storm in the first 6 months. 2 years later, I had saved up enough and had a regular enough income stream to allow me to buy a small block of land. It doesnt have building permits, but I have parked a tiny house on it, and it suits us perfectly now

Cheese Tortellini Crock Pot Dinner

A creamy, cheesy crock pot dinner recipe featuring cream cheese, cheese tortellini and spinach.

slow cooker tortellini soup 3 768x1152 — slow cooker tortellini soup 3 768×1152

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 large bag cheese tortellini
1 (16 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 bunch fresh spinach, stems removed, or 1 bag frozen spinach
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 container vegetable or chicken broth
4 ounces grated mozzarella cheese

Instructions

Place block of cream cheese in the slow cooker.
Pour the bag of tortellini over the cream cheese.
Pour the can of diced tomatoes over all.
Add the spinach to the top.
Sprinkle garlic powder, onion powder, pepper and Italian seasoning over the top.
Pour the chicken broth into the slow cooker.
Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the top.
Cover the slow cooker, and cook on HIGH for about 2 1/2 hours.
Stir well and serve.

Internal conflicts

Did you ever end up benefiting, in some way, from a crime that you were the victim of?

A few years ago I had a garage full of assorted nonsense, as garages tend to be. Among the nonsense was a television and a microwave oven, both of which were taken when thieves cut the lock on the door. This was late 1990’s, when replacing a 21 inch TV could cost $400, and a microwave about $150.

Fortunately for me, neither appliance was functional. So far the net benefit is zero. But in that area, you couldn’t just drop a broken TV in the garbage can. Electronics of any type were considered “hazardous waste” presumably because of lead in the solder on the circuit boards. Did I mention this was in California? Yeah, they’re all kinda goofy about lead. Anyway, the city’s policy on such items was that if you had “hazardous waste” you had to take it yourself to the hazardous waste dump, and pay a fee to dispose of it. The fee depended on the weight, and this was a 1990’s TV, probably weighing about 50+ lbs (20+ kg).

So, when the thieves broke in, they saved me not only a trip to the dump, but also the fee I would have had to pay.

They did steal some other things, which I wasn’t happy about, but at least they relieved me of the burden of a couple of gigantic paperweights.

What is the best thing that has ever happened to you for being nice?

I have a friend whose husband committed suicide. She lives 350km away from me, so I couldn’t often see her, but she phoned me for an hour or two every morning.

Sometimes she just cried. Sometimes she talked about her life, husband, children, the event, the events leading up to his death.

I didn’t know what to do. I was very busy and I really didn’t have time. But she was my friend, she was in pain, and she needed someone to listen to her.

That’s all I did, nothing great, nothing fantastic. I didn’t try to advise her, certainly didn’t tell her she would get better.

She had an overwhelming feeling of guilt. However, her husband had given no warning that he was about to kill himself, but was on anti-psychotic medicine. So the only thing I ever said, really, was “it’s not your fault. Nothing you could have done would have stopped this” . I said that over and over again.

After many, many months of this, there were fewer phone calls. I called her to see how she was. She wasn’t always ok, and still blamed herself.

Two or three years later, she told me I’d saved her life. I was amazed, I’d done nothing special. How? “You listened”. Apparently she’d been pretty close to suicide herself.

Now she’s OK, happy with her life and her grandchildren. That was the nicest thing that could have happened to me.

The reason I’m posting this is that sometimes all people need is for someone to listen to them, to care. They don’t need advice, and to be told it will get better. That doesn’t help.

Listen, without being judgemental. Our reward is when it helps them.

Election rallies USA 2024

LOL

Hong Kong passed a new security law. What’s the significance?

Nothing really.

If you’re a normal person, who has a job and home… essentially nothing changes. It’s nearly April and I need to pay my salaries tax from my part time day job… I also need to pay my other taxes. This means I will have to endure waiting in a bank queue as there are ATM limits that are lower than my tax bill 🙁 . If you’re a grifter who took CIA money then you’re in trouble.

Joshua Wong literally had $400,000 which he tried to deposit into a HSBC (UK bank) account, he was denied as he refused to divulge the source of the funding. Under UK SOCPA that would have been seized as suspicious.

NSL law? It had pretty much zero effect on normal people in Hong Kong, for regular people nothing has changed even the real name ID phone registration was actually an anti phone scam measure NOT a result of NSL law. What was seen was lots of advertising about it… that’s the extent of it. I’ve never been stopped under NSL law. Nobody I know has been stopped. You go into a pub and likely nobody’s been arrested over it.

I have however been arrested over non appearance in court for a cycling offence. The police officer was WTF this is pointless. This is because my village has postal problems due to very similar addressed. I was fined $200HKD.

OTOH in the UK?

Under UK anti terrorism laws, a LOT of people were stopped under S44 of the anti terrorism laws. It was used for everything. As such you go into a pub and several people have been stopped over it.

UK SOCPA, yet again pub test, lots of people have been subjected to it. There are tons of stories of £2000 to buy a car or just sold a car and it was deemed as suspicious.

Westerners see how their own regimes and corrupt police forces abuse laws and think it must be so much worse in China/Hong Kong!

I mean fuck we don’t even have ANPR in HK. People park everywhere and anywhere and police shrug. Two days ago some fuck parked lengthways across a zebra crossing and the police biker who was at the scene was waddayawant me to do about it?

What is the difference between the machine guns used by gangsters during the 30s and the Tommy Gun used in the war?

Commercial Thompson’s were made to look sexy. They were expensive to make, nicely finished and had flashy accessories like removable stocks, compensators and audacious drum magazines.

main qimg fec34fb011ccd9b65e5350b5c67f1f90 lq

You can see all of the weapon’s unique features here in this picture. Note the vertical fore grip, the finned barrel, Cutt’s Compensator, the slots cut into the receiver so a drum magazine may be inserted and the charging handle on top of the receiver. A lot of precise machining went into these weapons and many skilled men were employed to produce them.

The most unique feature of the Thompson submachine gun was its action. Based on The Blish System, it included a part, known as “The H Piece” which held the bolt closed until the bullet cleared the barrel, then allowed the action to chamber another round. The weapons’s designer, General John T. Thompson, declared the H piece to be integral to the gun’s design and function. It demanded to be machined and inserted at a precise angle and there was no alternative to its use. The H Piece is the brass “H” shaped piece of metal in the picture below.

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Basically, the commercial Thompson was a complicated gun that required skilled machinists to create and was costly as a result.

The world was heating up though and isolationist America began to gear up for a potential war and they needed guns.

The US Army already knew about the Thompson and employed them in small numbers. But now they needed lots of them as quickly as possible. In order to meet demand, changes were made to the design so contractors could turn them out quickly. The new weapon was designated M1 Thompson in 1940 and was being made by Colt, Auto Ordinance and Savage Arms.

main qimg f6b87dcf359480f97e091cce728bec0c lq

As you can see, the vertical fore grip was replaced by a horizontal one, but the other features are still in place, most notably the charging handle on top of the receive, meaning it still employs the Blish Locking System and the H piece. It did get sling swivels and a phosphate finish, but otherwise it is the same as the commercial model Thompson. It was expensive and time consuming to make.

In 1941, everything changed. The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and US troops were headed to the pacific to fight. A simpler, easier to produce submachine gun was needed, so all of the Thompson’s fancy features went to the chopping block.

main qimg 8f30ad8f07b8d5c5128a59303cd0e711 lq

This Thompson, designated the M1A1, is the one most GIs were familiar with. No compensator, a horizontal fore grip, phosphate finish, no slots for a drum magazine and the charging handle was moved to the side of the receiver. It was now a pure blow back submachine gun. The Blish lock and H piece, deemed necessary by the designer, were gone. The weapon was still fairly costly to produce but it could be made more rapidly and was ultra reliable in combat.

What is the saddest thing that happened to you that you never shared with others before?

Well. My father always wanted a son. When my mother got pregnant, he explicitly told her that he is a well reputed man and that he can not have a daughter and if it’s a daughter, it’ll be because of my mother. (Scientifically this makes no sense but in my culture, giving birth to a daughter is a matter of shame.) As fate had it, it was a daughter. Me, my father looked at me and went home. Leaving my mother all alone. Even my grandparents left. My mother alone managed everything and the day she were to discharge, my father called and told her that if she wants to come back home, she should leave me at an orphanage first. And that I was not his daughter. He said he told his friends and family that you had a miscarriage. Well my mother didn’t listen to him and somehow managed to raise me but it is extremely saddening how my father rejected his blood just because it was a girl. And it saddens me how because of me, my mother’s divorce happened. I can never thank my mother enough for choosing me over a comforting life.

Edit: Thank you all for your love and support. My mother has done all sorts of odd jobs to support me. But back in 2013, my mother got diagnosed with cancer. I was in the third year of my university and when I got to know, I was devastated. I didn’t want to lose my mother, who had spent all her life working for my education and well-being. There were days when my mother could either afford my milk or her food and she always got milk and slept hungry herself. And I just didn’t want her to leave this world without seeing me successful. I wanted to take care of her like she took care of me. So I decided I will do anything and get money for her treatment. (It was stage 2) I applied for a lot of loans, aid, even begged on the street but to no avail. With no option left, I contacted my father. He is pretty rich. Went to his office, begged in front of him, cried my heart out and all he said was that he is not my father and my mother has lied to me. I persisted but he called security. That day I felt ashamed of myself for being the blood of such a man. Luckily, my friend in college contacted me and promised to help out. His parents paid all the expenses and my mother recovered only last year. That man is now my husband. Now I have a good job and I save to return my father in law’s money. Even though he says there is no need but my mother never borrowed money to feed me and I want to take care of my mother solely.

Edit 2: This answer is getting long but I just want to add that me and my mother have gone through all sorts of circumstances. And I know people around the globe go through the same. There was a time when I came home and told my mother I want to die. I told her this world is unfair and there is no point in living when I can die. I told her I am no rich girl nor do I have anything to offer to this world, so my life doesn’t really matter; dead or alive. At that point she said you have two options, either you kill yourself and put me in more pain or you outlive your circumstances and prove your worth to your dad and men like him. And well I am glad I lived. My success though has only been possible because of my husband. As my mother says,”He is the reward of our patience and my prayers because the day I married your father, I prayed to God that I accept this man as my fate but if I have a daughter, let her husband be none like her father.”

Thank you for your love and prayers. And if you are going through a tough time, always remember the best thing about time is that it changes. Just be honest to your present and the future will bring reward. Good luck living life!

Why Kids Don’t Go Outside Anymore

What are some unwritten social rules everyone should know?

If someone shows you a photo on their phone, don’t swipe left or right.
If someone tells you, “It’s getting late,” when you’re over at their place, it’s time for you to go.
Walk as if you are “driving” and don’t stand still right at the entrance or exit of a door. Let people pass.
If you invite a friend to a party where they barely know anyone, don’t leave them hanging.
Don’t criticize someone’s smile or laugh.
Don’t stand too close when talking to people or talk “in their face.”
If you have never seen or tried what they like, don’t diss someone’s taste.
Don’t ask why the person isn’t married/doesn’t have children. Never.
When someone starts talking about their problems, don’t start talking about yours.
Don’t ask for somebody else’s opinion and get mad when they tell it to you.
If you start to smell yourself, other people have been smelling you for 3 days.
If someone can’t fix an aspect of their appearance in 5 minutes or less, don’t mention it.
Don’t microwave fish in the break room at work.
Don’t take pictures of kids that aren’t yours.
When you enter an elevator, face the door.
Don’t ever snap your fingers to get a bill from a server at a restaurant.
When your friend’s crush is around, don’t try to be the funniest in the group.
Assume nothing. Believe nobody. Check everything.

Really Dumb Americans

Why did my top performing employee quit after write up?

I quit 8 months after a bad performance review. It was the first of my working career, I was single with no family nearby or other safety net, and I had asked repeatedly for some assistance.

After the review, my boss came to my office and asked me what I was going to do. I said “find another job within the next 6 months”. Shocked her but I outlined explained my rationale. They didn’t understand my job and the amount of work it required. As a trainer, I had excellent evaluations. I never turned down an assignment and traveled throughout 6 LARGE states. And the past was not that great.

I found another job and left after 8 months but was agreed to fulfill 2 or 3 training sessions after the other job started so the company wasn’t left high and dry.

So, I left because I felt my job was threatened and was worried about my financial future, plain and simple.

According to BBC, critics worry that TikTok, owned by ByteDance based in Beijing, could be used by the Chinese government for spying. What do you think of it?

Here’s the thing, and if it were true. What exactly is the PRC government going to do with this data? Go on what are they gonna do, steal your bodily fluids?

The PRC doesn’t even kill dissidents. Ai Weiwei moved away and is still very much alive.

It’s not the PRC who is trying to take away your guns is it?

Flirt Flop

Is it ever possible for someone to feel that they are paid too much?

Gosh, yes. I’m usually able to suppress that feeling, but I’ll tell the story about the time that even I couldn’t.

I was representing a client in an estate dispute against a relative. The defendant was a borderline personality and there were strong reasons to believe the representation would be lengthy, costly, require extensive expert testimony, and be very nasty. Plus the client had limited resources.

We negotiated a fee agreement which gave me a percentage of the ultimate recovery that we both thought was fair.

As a precursor to the lawsuit, I sent a demand letter setting forth the basis of the potential case. Pure formality and I knew it would be a waste of time, but I wanted to be able to show that we had gone through all the motions.

To my utter astonishment, the defendant caved. Completely. Within two weeks, my client had a thorough accounting and a very large transfer of property to her. I had done very little real hourly work.

And according to the fee agreement, I was entitled to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I was very distressed about this aspect and after considerable hand-wringing and thought, and consultation with colleagues, I simply picked up the phone, called my client, told her what had happened, and said, “Here’s how much you supposedly owe me under our agreement. It’s too much. I haven’t been able to figure an analytical way to reach the right number. I’m going to propose $X. That’s a quarter of the fee agreement amount. It’s still probably too much, but I can live with asking for that.”

My client was silent, then chuckled and said, “I accept your proposal. Plus, you’ve given me a lawyer story that no one will believe. Thank you.”

Afternote: that client became a dear friend and referred other business to me. I didn’t know it at the time, but my fee reduction proved to be an excellent marketing move.

What solution could work to stop the South China Sea conflict?

The U.S. must stop all trouble making and war mongering via the NED and CIA immediately and comprehensively. As the nuclear clock is ticking ever closer to mid night!

At some point China will react and that will start an escalation into a 3WW situation that nobody wins no matter how proud the Caucasians are about the U.S. power. It is easy to bribed poor Filipino fishermen to do shit at 10 grand a pop rushing their lives but the end won’t justifies the means at all! Stop before it is too late. Ukraine is a perfect example.

Perhaps the US thought it is now or never but the truth is never is the answer, the U.S. simply has too much to lose!

Double Standards

What’s the most disturbing thing anyone has ever told you casually?

Three years ago I met up with an old girlfriend from college to catch up, have food, talk about the old days and the old gang.

At one point she casually said, “Oh yeah, xxxx is in Sousa-Baranowski”. That’s the max security prison in Massachusetts, for hardcore criminals. I couldn’t believe my ears, “What?” I said, blinking and almost dropping my latte.

This guy had been a leader of “our gang” in college, the one who always had something crazy for us to do. He was the guy who taught me how to hang glide; who first got me high on pot, who got me laid introducing me to all manner of girls. He was the most laid back, casual dude you ever met, tall and gangly and always in a black motorcycle jacket because his only vehicle was that motorcycle.

“What the hell happened?” I asked incredulously.

“He stabbed a woman in the belly in his kitchen 8 times then threw her through a window. He had a standoff with the cops.”

“What… the… fuck…?”

You have to understand. We are all old now. I’m 63. He’s 67, a big time scientist, very wealthy, respected in his field, working for a major, well known pharma company. How would something like this happen? Somehow he had gotten into a fight with his wife over his “counseling” a local (female) drug addict and the wife left in a huff and he had the addict over his house. No one knows what happened next except the results. He’s in big boy prison for 8 years now. He will be old, old when he gets out, broke, divorced, homeless, jobless. He’s lost everything he worked for his entire life and no one knows why.

What are the implications of 5.5g, that China has just rolled out technologically and geopolitically in the next 5 years?

What 5.5G technology does to geopolitics I don’t know.

But after I 5.5G technology is deployed in China, my phone downloads a film really fucking fast~! 🤣

Shhh~ In the blink of an eye, the download is complete.

Using this technology, China’s top doctors can operate on patients 3,000 kilometres away in off-site locations by remotely manipulating a robotic arm, with no lag or delay in the signal.

China Is Doing Something CRAZY at the US Mexico Border!

Have you ever accidentally texted the wrong person? What did you say?

I meant to text my husband that I wanted a pet anaconda for my birthday. I had found a website that sold baby anacondas and you could buy one for $499. If you paid $49, you could get it shipped overnight.

As outrageous as it sounds, I was genuinely interested in owning an anaconda. So I texted him the link to the website while I was at work (during lunch hour) and wrote “Honey I want pet anaconda for birthday.”

My husband is usually the first person in my messages inbox because I rarely text anyone else. However, that day I had texted one of our company’s directors since there was an urgent matter that needed his attention and he hadn’t responded to my email – and so that was the conversation at the top of my inbox.

I blindly sent both texts to the director in quick succession – the text with the anaconda website and the “honey I want pet anaconda” message.

I didn’t get a response – but 5 minutes later he swung by my desk and told me how buying reptiles is a bad idea and when it grows large enough, the anaconda would swallow me.

I looked at him with wide eyes and I was like, “How do YOU know I was considering buying a reptile?”

He showed me his phone and the texts from me…..and in my mind was like “WTF did I just do.”

We laughed about it and it was all cool but it was a little embarrassing.

Note: We ended up not buying the baby anaconda. We decided it was a ridiculous idea. Well, my husband decided that and convinced me. 🙂

What is the most satisfying passive-aggressive thing you have ever done to a really mean or rude person?

I hijacked my roommate’s internet connection.

Back when I was in college there wasn’t really any broadband. We used 56.6k dial up connections to access the internet. Now my roommate Cruchkov would monopolize that damned connection for hours on end. We only had the one phone for four of us and we would pick it up any time of the day or night and hear bleeep blop beeboo beeboo. All the time. It got to the point where we couldn’t even order a pizza. “Hey Dave you want pepperoni?” “Sure Corey” “Okay I’ll ca… bleeep blop beeboo beeboo.” “DAMNIT CHRUCHKOV”. We would bang on his door but he would either not hear us or pretend not to hear us.

So I hatched a plan.

I waited until he left for work one day. Then, armed with some s%^t I bought at Radio Shack back when they sold stuff that wasn’t cell phones, I walked into his room. I unscrewed his phone jack and connected a 5v relay to the line. COM/NO went to the phone, the coil went to the other two (unused) wires. Then I buried the whole thing back in the wall and made it look good as new. I hid a 9v battery inside the kitchen phone and connected it to the ringer switch and my secret wires.

Chruchkov comes home that evening, slams the door. Thirty seconds later it’s bleeep blop beeboo beeboo. “Hey Dave, you want pizza?” “But Chruchkov is on the…” “I got this, man.” I flip my switch, his phone turns off. But only his phone. The sound of him kicking and cursing at his computer remains one of the most passive aggressively satisfying moments of my life.

What are the consequences of being too good at your job? Can you get fired for it?

Yes, I did. I went to work for a company in accounts receivable. In other words followed up with customers who bought the service and products of the business And yes I was better than very good at it. Their books were a remarkable mess. The printout of “delinquent” accounts amounted to several hundred pages. I dived in. After a few months the owners got the opportunity to take over a franchise doing what they did in a different group of counties. They carpe’d the diem. As the franchiser had to take the business back their accounts were in horrible shape. After about two years I got everything lined out, quit sending repairmen to nonpaying customers, got the giving of “product” that should be sold to customers stopped. About three months before I finally had everything straightened out the owner hired someone to ostensibly “assist” me. The very week I finally got the system set up to where anyone should be able to keep it going easily they let me go. The person hired to assist me was being paid 2/3 of what I was or I was making 50% more than her. There were also four different occasions with different companies where upper management refused to promote me because they feared the results of my leaving the department I was in.

The Sopranos – Moltisanti and Filone hijack Comley’s trucks

What is the most outrageous “fee” you’ve ever been charged?

Back during the pandemic, I took my cat, Caesar, to the vet. He was a 15 year old, orange, short haired cat. Because of COVID, the vet’s office had implemented a policy of people not being allowed to go back to the exam rooms with their pet. I wasn’t really comfortable with that but my little guy had a sore front paw so I had to get him seen by the vet. A staff member came out to my car, got Caesar (in his carrier) and took him inside to be examined by the vet while I waited in my car. After a few minutes, the vet called my cell phone and we discussed the problem with Caesar’s front paw. An x-ray was done and it was determined that the problem was with one of his claws. Apparently it was a problem that is fairly common in older cats and easily treatable. Over the phone, the vet and I agreed upon the treatment for the problem. A short time later, the staff member brought Caesar back out to my car and presented me with the bill. As I quickly scanned the bill before giving the staff member my credit card, I saw a $40 charge for a ‘ therapeutic shave’ on the bill. I didn’t understand so I asked about the charge. Found out that while they had Caesar in the exam room, someone shaved his back end for no apparent reason. I said to the staff member “ So you needlessly shaved my cat’s ass and want to charge me $40 for it? I think that you guys should owe him $40 for doing that to him! “

The charge was removed from my bill. Caesar got extra treats and a new toy that day too.

Text to picture

Playing around, this time with a Wes Anderson theme; Life Aqua.

What are the most important things I can teach my child, including both skills and behaviors? How can I ensure this training sticks?

Originally Answered: What are the most important things I can teach my child?

Do you know this guy?

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He is Daniel Radcliffe.

(Photo source: Daniel Radcliffe raps Eminem’s ‘The Real Slim Shady’)

At the age of 11, he was cast as Harry Potter in the first Harry Potter film, and starred in the series for 10 years. At the age of 14, an article in British newspaper ‘The Sun’ listed him as Britain’s third richest teenager behind only Prince Harry Windsor and Charlotte Church, the very popular singer-songwriter TRUST Trivia: Daniel Radcliffe.

He became the youngest non-royal to have his portrait displayed in London’s prestigious National Portrait Gallery at the same age. In 2007, the British press estimated 18-year-old Radcliffe’s total net worth at $35 million, and $80 million at the age of 26. ‘Harry Potter’ Daniel Radcliffe turns 26: 10 unknown facts about the actor

Would you want your kid to become someone popular and successful like him?

Maybe. Yes.

Now read this (paying special attention to bold words):

Daniel Radcliffe: I turned to alcohol to cope with fear of failure and fame. “It is not a real pressure, but it is a pressure of living with the thought, ‘Oh, what if all these people are saying I am not going to have a career? What if they are all going to be right and will be laughing and I will be consigned to a bunch of “Where are they now?” lists?'” Radcliffe added: “I was living in constant fear of who I’d meet, what I might have said to them, what I might have done with them, so I’d stay in my apartment for days and drink alone. I was a recluse at 20. It was pathetic – it wasn’t me. I’m a fun, polite person, and it turned me into a rude bore.”

Source: Daniel Radcliffe: I turned to alcohol to cope with fear of failure and fame

“The bottom line is people don’t like change, especially when it’s connected to endings,” she concludes. “For some people, they have a harder time maintaining a positive self-image when it’s linked to a job that gives them an identity. And so in order to deal with the intensity of that emotional pain, some people self-medicate in order to feel less depressed, less anxious, less hopeless or less unimportant” -Dr. Rubi Ludwig, Psychotherapist.

Source: Daniel Radcliffe Turned to Alcohol to Cope With The Ending of Harry Potter

“It Was Not Making Me as Happy as I Wanted It To”

Source: Daniel Radcliffe Opens Up About Past Alcohol Abuse

Now would you want your kid to abuse himself with alcohol/drugs while he has so much in the world that one could only dream of?

No. Definitely not.

This is just an example of people who are extremely successful, but aren’t happy. They may be child prodigies, but they are so full of fear of failure that after all they have achieved, they are no close to finding happiness. And their lives and money are wasted in running after it.

Raise your kid such that he doesn’t become this example.

1. Take the FEAR OF FAILURE away from him.

The fear, that you are instilling in him unknowingly. By saying this:

Whatever you do, just do your best. Be it studies or games.
It is important to win the Olympiad. It is the stepping stone for your career.
Study with the aim of securing first rank. So we can be proud parents.

Saying this instills the fear of failure. Kid aims for perfection, resulting in a stressed outlook.

This is Fear of Failure.

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Teach your children so fear of failure never creeps in their mind. By telling them this:

Do not focus on excelling at everything. It keeps you in a constant state of stress. Do somethings for pure enjoyment. And in fact, do everything for the fun of it.
What do you think of the Olympiad? I think it is important, but not the most important thing.
What are you studying? Let’s explore how can we apply it practically.

2. Teach him to THINK IN A HEALTHY WAY.

Not anxiously, as you might be doing now.

Mister, the exams are approaching. You better start worrying!
Sharmaji’s son is a top-ranker. He got a great on-campus placement. What will happen of you? Where will you go with these marks?
Amend your behavior. You are a grown-up now.

Saying this leads to anxious thinking. Kid is overwhelmed, loaded with inferiority complex and self-consciousness.

This is Anxious thinking.

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And there is no other way to teach them this, except to teach yourself this.

Do not encourage him to think anxiously. He’ll learn it in no time, and soon will have anxiety attacks, inhibiting performance.
Do not compare him to others thinking it’ll motivate him. Motivate him by positive means, comparative thinking will take a lifetime toll on him.
Do not expect him to behave like a grown-up. A 3-yr old will behave like one, and a teenager like one. Accept them as per their age.

3. Teach him to have a POSITIVE SELF-IMAGE.

Again, do not teach him this.

You are considered doing well only when you get good grades.
Why can’t you be more like your sister? She’s such a good kid and gets a first in everything.
Read faster
Write faster.
Run faster.
Do it faster.

This teaching promotes negative self-image. Synonymous with low self- worth and self-esteem.

This is Negative self-image.

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So, teach yourself this.

Do not pressurize children with too much focus on grades or rewards.
Remember that he can’t be like his sister. Each person is different. Are you doing this so you have to deal with only one personality?
Do not pressurize the kid to be faster in everything he does. Each kid learns at his own pace.

Teaching yourself these things will raise a kid who is free from this negative thought:

What will happen if… I fail…

A Marine’s 2-Word Breakup Text Sends Cheating Ex Into MENTAL BREAKDOWN…And Friends Are Losing It!

Do police officers ever sympathize with someone who took the law into their own hands?

I was dispatched to a call of a burglary in progress at a residence. It was maybe 10:00 PM. When I pull up, I see one guy running from the residence, and at the same time I hear a gunshot from inside the residence. I let the runner go (never saw him again) and went to investigate the gunshot.

I found a door ajar to a side courtyard, and as I approached, one of the burglars was being backed out the door by the man of the house, who was holding an ancient .32 revolver on him (I later examined the gun and estimated the ammunition was older than I was). He later told me he had fired one round (the one I heard) into the corner of a room when he saw the burglar inside his house. As soon as the homeowner saw me, he put the gun down, and stood by while I handcuffed the burglar.

I took a written statement from the homeowner, told him I hoped I was as capable as him when I was his age (I was about 30 at the time—he was around 70), and took the burglar to jail. It did not occur to me to seize the victim’s gun or charge him with discharge of a firearm inside the city limits. No one suggested this was not the proper approach.

What is life’s biggest “trap” people fall into?

My housemate is 26 years old. She’s intelligent and pretty and (generally) fun to be around.

But… she hates her job.

It’s obvious.

Sometimes she’ll just sit at the kitchen table in her pajamas, coffee in hand, looking at the clock.

And she’ll casually say, “I have to leave for work in two minutes.”

Does she actually leave for work two minutes later?

I’ll let you guess the answer to that.

But the thing that blows me away is this:

When I asked her a little while ago if she’s considered changing jobs and doing something that doesn’t make her look unhappy every morning, there was genuine surprise in her voice.

As in, “Of course I’m going to work another 36+ years at a job I despise! That’s totally normal.”

A lot of people think that.

Like my housemate, they “celebrate” the weekend and dread Mondays.

Like my housemate, they might even negotiate more hours at work so they can qualify for more vacation time.

And that’s a huge trap: Thinking you’re doomed to working a job you hate.

Thinking you have to work a 9-to-5.

Thinking you can’t earn money if you’re not actively working.

That’s all nonsense.

If you’re not happy with your work, not only can you change, but you absolutely should.

I’ve been freelancing for years and wouldn’t even consider getting a job where some boss gets to tell me things like:

When to work
Where to work
How many vacation days I can take
How much I can get paid

For example, this month, I’m a bit ahead of schedule on the projects I’m working on so I can take time off if I want to.

Do I have to ask for permission?

Nope.

Do I even have to let anyone know?

Nope.

I’m not saying this to brag, even though it might sound like it.

I’m saying this because if you feel stuck in a job you can’t stand, just know that there’s a way out for you.

Please, don’t stay at a job you despise long-term.

It’s not good for you or for anyone else.

What are the most fascinating “weird but true” historical facts you know about?

You have the doctor who pumped four gallons of hydrogen gas into his anus, to diagnose gastrointestinal problems

[1], and then you have surgical resident, Werner Forssmann, who was eager to push a tube through a vein in his elbow, until it reached his heart. This would become a method of transporting medication to and fro the incision site.

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Werner Forssman was desperate to self-experiment, although faced challenges along the way. One person he had to pass was the surgical nurse, who had access to the theatre and medical equipment.

After much convincing, the nurse gave in to his ludicrous idea. In fact, she volunteered to have the procedure performed on herself! I guess the idea isn’t as crazy as the doctor who transported parasites within himself, only to produce parasite semen for research!

[2]Anyway, despite dismissal from the doctors who believed the surgery would be a death wish, Werner continued on with his plan.

The nurse lay on the surgical table, whilst Werner tightly strapped her legs and arms in. Only, when she wasn’t looking, the doctor applied anesthetic to his own arm, cut his arm open, and pushed the 12-inch catheter (thin tube) into his vein!

Now, all he needed was an X-Ray room. Successfully, Werner x-rayed himself and noticed that the tube had reached his shoulder. He pushed the tube in further until it was 24-inches inside his vein.

Bingo! Werner reached his ventricular cavity.

For his risky actions, Werner was fired. As a result, he took up positions as a military surgeon and Major in World War II. He wasn’t a hero though. Werner was a Nazi, actively joining the party in 1932. He was eventually imprisoned, although did receive a Nobel Prize twenty years later for his medical efforts.

Largest NATO Base in Europe Being RUSHED in Romania

World Hal Turner 18 March 2024

The largest NATO base in Europe is being built in Romania. Construction commenced at the outset of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and is being RUSHED.

The Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase in Romania will turn into a military camp where 10 thousand NATO soldiers can live, this will require an investment of €2.5 billion, reports local publication Pro TV.

The base is located in a mountainous area and should become a center for command and control of troops in South-Eastern Europe.

The zoomable map below shows the location:

What’s a rule your employer implemented that backfired terribly?

My former company implemented an 9/80 work schedule with an A/B work pattern. Meaning that those on the A schedule would work a 9 hour work day for 5 days and the B schedule would work 4 days during the same week and then the next week they would swap out. The work force, for the most part, loved it. I personally didn’t like it because I was giving the company an extra hour out of each day without compensation of overtime pay. Others loved having that three day weekend every other week. Different strokes for different folks I suppose.
Anyways, the issue that cropped up immediately was the lake of key personnel on days you needed them the most. “Yeah boss, I’d love to fix or finish or diagnose this problem but without the lead engineer it just can’t be done.” “Hey, this job must be done today or heads are gonna roll.” “Sorry boss but ol’ so and so is one his 9/80 day off so we can’t get it done without him.” “Hey boss? We got a problem. We can’t run this test without Joe Blow because it’s his Friday off.”
These issues popped up every single week. It was eventually dropped.

Is there anytime when karma saved you?

We were in a beautiful relationship for about 3 years. And then suddenly she over texts, broke up with me. No explanation given. Like every other guy, I cried, pleaded for just one reason, and all she said was it’s over, I don’t want to be with you. She has changed her college a month before the break up. And like I suspected she fell out of love with me because there is new guy who approached her. Quite similar to everyone’s love story. Lol

Anyway, I was literally shattered, and broken. I couldn’t believe the girl I thought to be my future left me in such a dire condition.

It’s been three years since she is gone. Yesterday, I got a phone call from her at 2am. Basic points from the calls were:

She was unhappy, crying profusely over the phone. She said she don’t have anyone to trust and talk to, except me. And yes, I talked to her because pretty much I loved her too much.
She said the guy cheated her, and when asked him for a breakup, he said he will going to kill her, he abused and hit her off. And she thought everybody will leave silently like me.
I asked her to do a police complain, she said, she doesn’t want her parents to know, she is stucked.
After few minutes on call, she was laughing, talking to me as if we were never separated, I was wondering how easy the things are for girls.
Then she told me even before her father and brother, I am the person she trust and respect the most. I was flattered but I knew, it’s no more important.
I was again at ground zero, I felt happy talking to her, but the wounds were yet fresh.
I tried not to make her feel bad and bid her bye.

Today I Changed my phone number, and email id!

I do love her a lot, still? Yes. But I cannot give her the power to destroy me again.

The Sopranos – Billy Leotardo

When did you realize that your childhood was not normal?

I was bullied pretty bad as a kid. The ironic thing is, I grew up in the kind of school district where the things that happened to me, people believed didn’t happen there at all. But teachers were trying to encourage me that everyone gets teased & everyone has problems & that my situation is not unique. It’s amazing in this time in 2024, everyone is always telling me what I have to do to cater to people’s fragile emotions. But in 2002, it was all about how I needed to not react in anger when people tortured me in school; how I could best accommodate & live with people torturing me. The burden was never on the bullies to change.

So in 2002, I was leaving for a Boy Scout campout. My first troop hated me. (I later on joined another Boy Scout Troop that I stayed with for 20 years. But the first one treated me like crap.) These kids told me I was not allowed to talk because I’m annoying. Naturally this made me talk more. I was not anticipating this kid to pull out his pocket knife, open it & say, “If you don’t shut-up, I’m going to stab you.” I then stood up & walked away.

The reality was, I was not that afraid. I was 11 years old & had my life or safety threatened so many times up to this point, it just felt kind of natural that eventually I’d be held at knife point. It was another scout that reported him. The kid got his knife confiscated (worst punishment anyone has ever received for an action against me) & he rode off on his bike crying.

I came home & told my parents the story because I thought it was funny. Then I saw the shock in their eyes. They said we could potentially press charges. I had no idea you could get sued or arrested over a death threat because I was so used to getting them. This was the proof I needed to know my teachers were wrong; that the things I go through are not normal.

Chilighetti

Quick, easy and delicious! Chilighetti is a great way to feed a hungry family.

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 (46 ounce) can tomato juice
1 cup water
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
4 level teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (16 ounce) package spaghetti, broken into 2 inch pieces*
2 (16 ounce) can kidney or pinto beans, rinsed and drained
Sour cream (optional)
Shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)

Instructions

In a Dutch oven, cook beef and onion over medium-high heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until beef is no longer pink and onion is tender, crumbling the beef; drain.
Stir in tomato juice, water, Worcestershire sauce and seasonings; bring to a boil. Add spaghetti. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, for 10 to 13 minutes or until pasta is tender.
Stir in beans; heat through.
Top servings with sour cream and Cheddar cheese, if desired.

Notes

* Spaghetti may be left unbroken if desired.

Have you, while repairing a computer, ever found anything that made your jaw drop?

While this dis not happen to me, it happenesn to a neighbor friend who repaired computers…

One of our other neighbors approached him to take a look at problem they (a couple) were having with their computer. The problem is irrelevant here.

So my friend went about his diagnostics to figure out how to address the issue. As any good computer tech does, once the machine was up an running again, he went about doing some basic maintenance such as cleaning up temp files and so on.

In doing so he stumble upon a huge set of pictures and videos… yes, that. Not illegal ones, but actual professional ones used in well known sites.

As it turned out, we learned that our low key neighbor was a well known porn star making videos at home, which now explained all the odd traffic we always noticed at their house. This porn was bringing them probably close $500k/yr or more. They did end up moving later on to a higher end neighborhood not to far. Shortly after moving but still owned the property, a well known on-line news magazine (you’ve all read something from them) came by looking for them, knocking on doors to see if any of us knew more about them, and if we knew where they moved to.

BTW – part of the story that the on-line magazine (you’ve all read something from them) was chasing was that her day job was unwrapping kids toys from well known entertainment company. So she was also a top rated poster/producer in that segment in YouTube for some time. We learned a lot that day… those pretty hands of hers served multiple purposes.🙂

So, the people who bought their house now have a bit of a topic and history to share about their house, because of course, we neighbors shared the history about it 😉.

It’s funny thinking back to the many casual neighbor conversations we had with that couple, and little did we know what was behind it all. She is very cute, it all made sense.

Today she is still out there, bigger than before. If anyone reading this watches porn, or watched children’s toy unwrapping, you’ve probably seen her…

The Rise of Chinese Pick Me Girls

Pizza!

In 2001, Pizza Hut delivered a pizza to the International Space Station. The pizza was a 6″ pizza and was delivered to the ISS aboard a Russian Progress vehicle. They paid $1 million to transport the same.

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Pizza Hut once made delivery to International Space Station

Looks like pizza lovers know no boundaries 😀

Yui and her side boobs

LOL

WTF?

If one searches for 241543903 in Google images, one can find a lot of pictures of people putting their heads in refrigerators. I tried it ;p

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https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/reichwonders.wordpress.com/2013/08/10/241543903-the-story-behind-the-craze/amp/

Does a human being know they’re dead once they die?

I had a traumatic brain injury, was on life support, and was in a coma for 7 days.

During this time I found myself looking at the doctors working on me, then I walked up a small ramp and met my brother who passed away unexpectedly.

My brother looked like he did when he was in High School, I wanted to stay with him but he said that I couldn’t come in, and it wasn’t my time, that I needed to spend more years with my wife and children.

I was heartbroken and when I came out of my coma, I remembered everything so vividly.

The doctors said they lost me a couple of times but were able to revive me, and they were so surprised because I shouldn’t have survived my accident.

This is the truth, I never would have believed my story if I were somebody else, but this happened, and for the fact that the doctors said they couldn’t control the bleeding and that I was supposed to die, I wouldn’t have believed myself.

Now having my motor skills back, but still working on my speech, I’m able to go back to work after only 3 months, this is a true miracle. And never take life for granted, there are no promises for a tomorrow.

Living a traditional life is the best thing I ever did | But is it the best for you?

This chick in a small town in the Philippines talk about her town. A nice escape.

Do you think the faster accelerated vetting of Hong Kong’s Article 23 bill is to catch foreign countries off guard and ward off possible sanctions or criticism?

Nope. You see no matter what China or Chinese do we’ll be criticised for it. A few years back I posted some screen caps of Western media:

China pollutes – China bad!
China cuts pollution – China bad!

So what’s been happening in Hong Kong and Legco?

This happened:

https://www.elections.gov.hk/legco2021/eng/rs_gc.html

The December 2021 LegCo elections. Go look at it. Pan Dems and other yellow groups stood for election. They didn’t get very many votes.

If you’ve been keeping an eye on what’s been happening in LegCo for the past 26 years it’s pretty obvious. The Pan Dems have never had a majority there, what they have done however is simply fillibuster and delay and oppose EVERYTHING that has been tabled at LegCo since forever. This is Hong Kong’s version of Hansard. An official record of everything said at LegCo at debates and motions/votes.

https://app.legco.gov.hk/HansardDB/english/Search.aspx

The we care about the people Yellows blocked and delayed EVERYTHING.

Some biggies:

They opposed the minimum wage.

They opposed maternity leave.

They opposed those not because they though they were a bad idea but purely on ideological grounds.

Since 2022 when the new bunch of LegCo people took their seats? Without the permanent blockage of the yellows who as above block things on ideological grounds things actually get through LegCo rather than spending months and years being blocked by them.

This is just another example.

Want another?

Foreign doctors working in Hong Kong.

https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202211/16/P2022111600529.htm

That had been opposed by the yellows since 1997. Yet changes were made in 6 months after December 2021.

I’m rooting for you!

What are some facts about human behaviour?

Having orgasms lowers risks for breast cancer, heart disease, and depression for women
Intelligent people are more forgetful than those with average intelligence, which is correct.
Getting paid to perform something you enjoy may make you less creative.
The thing that people remember the most about you is your charisma, Here you can learn the secrets to Charisma and Confidence.
People frequently experience déjà vu after recalling a conversation or dream.

If you died tomorrow, what would you want your family to know about you?

I have a Premium Netflix account that I don’t pay for so you guys can use my laptop to watch movies and series.
In my hostel room in college you will find a photo frame kept on the top left shelf above the study table which has a photo of Me with a Girl.If possible return it to her and tell her it’s called “Our Dastoor” or Destiny.
My phone’s pin is 1632 because that was the time(16:32) while i was setting the new pin .
In my phone there are two calculator apps. One pre-installed and the other downloaded from play store. When you will enter 1632 and press ‘’=“ in the downloaded one it will open a secret pdf which contains my Bucket List, delete that, it won’t be necessary anymore.
Can you ask the college authorities if they can still provide me the degree posthumously cause papa is very proud of my IIT achievement.
Tell my friends sorry that I promised i would certainly try beer with them the next time we go on a trip.
Donate/throw away my possessions except for the white letter with a red tape which is kept in my laptop bag. Kindly burn it away without opening it. It’s rude to read someone’s love letters.

Should Marines take orders from an army captain in the battlefield if their Marine captain or higher ranked official is dead or incapable?

Different services, but the story is helpful to understand what can happen in the real world battlefield

The 82nd Airborne jumped into Grenada at the international airport at night. Some soldiers ended up in extremely tall grass to the east of the runway and were separated from the main force but could hear the fire fight to the north and west of their positions but could not see due to the tall, thick grass

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One by one, they started to form up. At some point, they added a USAF fighter pilot Captain who was aligned as an Air Liaison Officer who specialized in controlling close air support, small unit infantry.

After the small group numbered squad strength, they stopped briefly while headed towards the sounds of the battle. The soldiers looked at the USAF Captain, the only officer present and one spoke up and asked “What do we do now sir?”. Despite being a fighter pilot by trade, he suddenly found himself in command of a parachute infantry squad.

So, yeah, in a situation where they are cutoff from their leadership and unit, Marines and any member of the Armed Forces should obey the lawful orders of senior NCOs and officers regardless of service.

How China Reinvented The Space Station!

Comic Trial Three

I have been playing around with making short comic videos.

I use AI to generate a script, then use AI to generate pictures. Finally I use AI to generate small segments and then, once completed, I compile them together in a video editing software. I hope you like them. I’m still learning.

Check this out. All 10 seconds or so of it.

Today…

Love bonding

Why does diversity never include Asians?

Lots of answers, very few Asians. As usual.

The reality is that white people think we don’t need help because we happen to be richer (in this particular moment) on the books and better at getting into universities (in this particular moment). They don’t realize that this is a very temporary effect due to strategic immigration policy specifically designed to brain drain and create dissidents to attack Asian countries (especially China). Sadly, they think they can speak for us. And they almost always get away with it.

What we need is political power, soft power, and the breaking of the bamboo ceiling. We just can’t create consequences when people do horrendously racist/discriminatory things against us, unlike most other groups (natives have it worse). We are more of a function of foreign policy than the other groups, and yet we have minimal say in that as well.

None of this is convenient to the purpose of “diversity” in US politics, which is to prove the moral character of the leadership and thus their “validity.” It tends to be a farce anyways. Minorities who chase this “diversity” are really just fighting over table scraps. The majority leadership will never allow it to go against their interests in the first place.

If you think minorities have it good, imagine losing control of your narrative. That’s the baseline. You don’t get to correct people when they BS about you, because you don’t have power. From there stems much of the tyranny and real losses in life.

Lisa’s Crispy Chops

Ingredients

6 pork chops
3 eggs, beaten slightly
2 cups crushed soda crackers
1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 1/2 tablespoons dried minced onion
1 teaspoon each salt and pepper

Instructions

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.
Dip pork chops into egg, then roll in dry mixture.
Fry over medium heat in a small amount of oil until dark, crispy brown.

This is evil

When you went to the hospital, did the staff not take you seriously and you ended up deathly sick as a result?

I had a cardiologist tell me. repeatedly, that I had panic attacks. He said I didn’t have angina. He sent me for a stress test, which I could not do from “imaginary” chest pain. I insisted on a angiogram. He mocked me and scoffed. I was desperate at this point and kept insisting. He angrily ordered one and told me it was a waste of time and what I really needed was a psychiatrist.

I showed up for my 7 AM Friday appointment at Broward General. I don’t know what he had written or told them, but I sat there for the entire day. Finally, about 5 PM, I went in. (I actually have no memory of anything after flicking a cigarette away at 7, when I arrived.) I woke up Monday in terrible pain. I had no idea what had happened. My wife told me that after just a few minutes, the doctor had come out and said they could not complete the angiogram because of severely clogged arteries, (including the one that causes the “widowmaker”. They put me in cardiac ICU and kept me heavily sedated until Monday, when they could operate. I had a triple bypass. The cardiologist told me I was very lucky to be alive.

Oh, and that cigarette I flicked away was my last one. I can take a hint. (That was Jan 2011.)

Ugh!!!!!!

Men need “nothing time”.

Is China’s current economic situation very good?

It is going through a slow-down caused by the trade war through the US, and it is also going through economic and social transformation, caused by the widespread adoption of AI and automation technologies.

For this reason, it is really hard to say what is caused by an economic slowdown, and how growth is being affected by economic and social transformation.

We should have a better picture in the next few years of how it is performing. The big question is what will happen to the people whose jobs have been replaced by automation and AI.

For this reason, I expect the Chinese government to test something like Universal Basic Income (UBI), and which has been supported by US Presidential candidate Andrew Yang, in some of the inland regions of China to see how it works. As always in China, if it is successful, it will be promoted on a larger scale in other regions of China.

I expect China to leap far ahead of the US in AI and automation technology, and in healthcare, and also in the adoption of UBI.

Tipping in the USA

What foods are man-made?

Year: 1905

Location: San Francisco

It was winter. Frank Epperson was thirsty.

He decided to make himself a drink. He took a flavored sugar mix, put it in a cup, stirred it with a brown stirring stick.

After playing outside, he forgot he’d left his drink on the front lawn.

He then went inside and went to bed. When he came back out the following morning, he saw his cup sitting there with frozen liquid.

Picking it up, he pulled the stick out, the frozen sugar water was attached to it. In true kid fashion, without worrying if it was dirty, Frank ate the frozen liquid—and loved it.

He realized he was on to something.

And so he started putting more cups out, with the wooden sticks in them and began selling what he called the Epsicle. His entrepreneurial take on the lemonade stand.

Sales started in his neighborhood and then expanded outward.

Eventually, he renamed the product to Popsicle.

And thus, a new popular trend was born.

An accidental invention.

Unconscious

What’s the best example of leadership you have seen in real life?

About two decades ago, a woman I know lost her father.

A day or two later, she found out her husband was sentenced to prison.

A couple of days later, her daughter-in-law decided to get a divorce.

Those few days COMPLETELY turned this woman’s life around.

The next day, a Monday, she went to work as normal, didn’t tell her colleagues a thing, put on a brave face.

When she came home, her husband wasn’t around as he was in prison.

She went about her usual business as if nothing had happened – cooking food and stuff.

She had a chat with her kids, including the eldest going through his divorce, told them all would be fine, lifted their spirits.

The following day, she went back to work.

She opened up about her experience to me and someone else a few weeks ago – I mean, everyone in my social circle knew about the events – but she had never discussed how she experienced it – how she coped, her motivation, which was to protect her kids.

I only then really realised why her kids, all of whom I have known since I was a child, have done so incredibly well – they had grown up with this woman as their leader.

No complaints, no self-pity, selfless. Being the example she wanted her kids to be.

This is the best example I have seen of leadership.

And, frankly, the type only a woman is capable of.

Patara’s Response to State of Union Address

That was not a state of the union address. It was a declaration of war on the American people.

What is something in history that you strongly feel was lied about or exaggerated?

The French aristocracy pre-Revolution weren’t the careless, luxurious bastards lording over everyone cruelly as they are made out to be. This is demonstrated most perfectly by the fact that many of the most prominent revolutionaries were, themselves, noblemen.

In the same vein, Louis XVI wasn’t overthrown because he was a tyrant, he was overthrown because he was NOT a tyrant. If anything him being friendly, indecisive and soft-willed moreso than his war-minded predecessors Louis XV and Louis XIV, made him into a target. The Kings before him stayed reasonably popular. By going to war a lot and spending obscene amounts of money that would ultimately lead to the Kingdom’s downfall, these rulers were generally rather respected by much of the population. Much like with the last Tsar of Russia, the King who ended up losing his head to the guillotine was a pretty chill, open-minded fellow open to reforms.

There’s this stereotype of these lavishly spoiled big spenders in powdered wigs, Marie-Antoinette telling the hungry should just “go eat cake”, completely removed from reality… and truthfully, this is bullshit. A ton of noblemen were social reformers, generous to the poor, conscientious and cared deeply for the common man. The revolutionaries who took over, quite a few of them were blue-blooded themselves. And were far worse than the elites they ended up killing.

Captain Kirk Meets Gary Seven

Do you know anyone who is low key filthy rich?

Oh, definitely. I think my old manager, David Filo fits that to a tee. He often sat around barefoot while coding; and when he was wearing shoes, they were ten-year-old sneakers, starting to show holes in them.

He drove an old Datsun for the longest time, full of random crap. Old software manuals, books, pizza boxes. When a bomb scare was called in at work, one day, the bomb squad searched the campus; they eventually called a mostly-all-clear; they’d only found one suspicious object, and cordoned it off. It was my boss’s car, dilapidated and so full of junk as to be suspiciously possible as to be harboring a bomb. (It wasn’t; as the founder of the company, he would never have done anything to harm it like that). (I think Rolling Stone gave a very apt description of his car, many years ago: “a battered Datsun filled from top to bottom with junk, including enough lumber to build several sets of bookshelves. (“If we were living in the 16th century, David would be a monk,” says Yang of his partner’s asceticism.) He bought the car while in high school in Lake Charles, LA. As a student at Tulane University, he totaled it, bought it back from the insurance company for $300 and then had it rebuilt at a local prison, where the inmates were studying auto repair.” — from Yahoo!)

I’ve written elsewhere about his reaction to hearing about a really good lease deal a fellow co-worker had gotten on an electric vehicle: Matthew Petach’s answer to How do billionaires see $100K or $1M? Do they still consider it a lot of money? That story is the epitome of how he approached the world; as laid back and low key as you could imagine.

And yet, he was worth about $5 billion at the time. Depending on the market shifts, he might gain or lose half a billion dollars from one day to the next. It made no difference to him; he was the same focused engineer, working hard to make sure everything was running smoothly.

He did eventually get a new car, but only after the board of directors insisted, because the insurance company would no longer provide insurance for them until he drove something considered less risky.

As a multi-billionaire, he definitely qualifies as filthy rich; and yet I’ve never seen him act that way, not even once. A truly class act, all around.

1 am at Tokyo’s Super Mysterious Adult zone

It Started: America on BILL STRIKE | 75M Stop Paying

What was the date of the end of the Western Roman Empire? Who officially abolished it?

There are three possible interpretations of the “end” of the Roman Empire in the West, and all are equally correct, depending on one’s point of view.

The most common one you read is that it ended on 4 September AD 476, when the German magister militum Odoacer overthrew Romulus Augustus, who was the Emperor ruling in Ravenna (the Western capital of the time, not Rome), and took control himself. He sent a letter back to Emperor Zeno in Constantinople, stating that the Empire needed only one Emperor, and sent back the western imperial regalia. Zeno accepted this (although he continued to recognize another man as Emperor; read on) and granted him patrician rank. Odoacer declared himself “King of Italy” and ruled for the next 17 years.

Another interpretation is based on the historical fact that Romulus Augustus was both a usurper and a puppet emperor set up by his father, the barbarian general Orestes, in 475, and was never recognized by Zeno as the legitimate Emperor. The actual Emperor, Julius Nepos, fled from Ravenna and set up court in Dalmatia, where he reigned, still recognized by Zeno, until 9 May 480, when he was assassinated by political enemies. Before this, Odoacer actually struck coins in Roman mints recognizing him as Emperor, accepting him as titular Emperor in the West as long as Nepos didn’t attempt to actually retake Italy. Odoacer occupied Dalmatia himself about a year later.

A third possibility lies in the fact that even after 9 May 480, there was a part of the old Western Empire that still gave allegiance directly to the Emperor. This was a substantial part of northern Gaul (France) under the control of a Roman general named Syagrius. Historians call it the “Kingdom of Soissons,” after the city that Syagrius governed from. He controlled this land from 464 to 486:

Syagrius’ problem was that he had an ally in a Frankish king, Childeric, who supported him in conflicts and had no desire to annex the area. But he died in 481 and was succeeded by his ambitious son Chlodovech, who is known to history as Clovis. Sometime in 486, we are not sure of the date, Chlodovech attacked Syagrius and defeated him in a battle near Soissons. He annexed the region to the growing Frankish Kingdom. And with that ended the final vestige of the Roman Empire in the West.

Stressful Travel To Mainland China

What is the most improbable thing people have ever seen?

I walked into a convenience store in Venice, CA and ran into a cute girl with an English accent. She says to me, “Excuse me, but were you in Vegas last weekend?”

I thought for a second and realized I had gone to a friend’s bachelor party the previous weekend. “Yes,” I said, “do I know you?”

She says, “I have a photo of us.”

She then pulls her digital camera out of her bag and proceeds to show me several pictures of her and me dancing quite inappropriately at the club in Hard Rock Hotel.

I ask her if she lives in Vegas or Los Angeles. She lives in England and is just visiting the states on holiday. Somehow, I managed to dance with this girl all night in Vegas and then run into her 300 miles away in Venice five days later.

10 Harshest Truths About Women That Men Learn Too Late

Why is Australia trying so hard to be anti-China in order to please USA at a time when USA is heading toward isolationism?

Just reading through the other answers, there is a LOT of anti-China sentiment and justified by the “Chinese have so many spies here blah blah blah Influence the Government blah blah blah etc etc” Well it’s the same here in New Zealand and so far there hasn’t been one shred of evidence to back up these claims of spying and espionage and influence. This includes the Huawei 5G backdoor thing. No evidence at all.

As an example here. A well known University Professor who wrote a book about the above subject has claimed to have had her house broken into a number of times (by Chinese spies), her car tampered with (by Chinese spies) to try to kill her. The media is outraged and other University Professors are signing protests to China letters to our Government, but it’s all fake and made up. She is either delusional or trying to sell more books. The police have investigated and come up with no evidence at all. But does that matter? Not one bit. Are the Police going to out her? Of course not, that’s not PC to shame a mad woman. The public is still rabidly anti China because the fake story that paints a villain is way more appealing than actual facts. And yes that’s my fault too, because what makes news is clicks and I click on Trump stories and help to make his bullshit get to the top of the front page.

So in answer to your question, in some ways we are trying to please USA – per the 5 eyes thing and US paranoid spy agencies sending the info/alarmism/ anti China rhetoric our way. In some ways we are just jumping on the same nationalist bandwagon that most developed western democracies seem to be jumping on. In other ways we see our house prices going up and like to blame the Chinese rather than our own shortsightedness in failing to build enough homes the last couple of decades. Finally, same as Australia, our mad political system gives a big voice to a small and xenophobic party.

Cats can take it all away

How does the US military currently compare against the Chinese military?

I think system to system comparisons are meaningless when comparing the PRC’s military to the US. F-22 vs J-20 type comparisons make no sense when those fighters have very specific roles to play in the very different air combat philosophies of the USAF and PLAAF. If I was to hazard a guess I would say the F-22 would be fulfilling it’s designed role as an air superiority fighter while the J-20 would be deployed to use it’s stealth to destroy US surveillance, EW and AWACs platforms in contested airspace, a much more niche role.

Both of these platforms would be considered great if they meet the mission they were designed for rather than who wins some hypothetical air to air engagement.

So this answer is going to avoid most of these platform comparisons and try to take a higher level look at how the military postures of both countries compare within the context of technology, doctrines, military industries and objectives.

Joint Operations

The US excels in these. Recall that back in WW2, the French had better tanks and aircraft than the Germans but still lost their short war with Germany because their officer corp just didn’t know how to put them all together to conduct effective military operations.

The US has a effective Joint Chiefs of Staff committee to ensure the armed elements of the US military play nice with each other and can execute integrated battle plans effectively.

The Chinese are new to this. They realized how far ahead the US was in this field when they witnesses the US military’s capabilities in 1991 in the first Gulf war as well as the frustration of the 1996 US carrier pass.

At the moment, one thing the Chinese military is planning for is that rather than try to catch up to the US in terms of integrated systems and operations which would take a loooong time to do (they also don’t have the rich combat history and experience of the US military), what they can do is engage in something called ‘System Destruction’.

That is, the Chinese military should focus on degrading and pulling apart the overall US military system.

So if the US military has a Recon Strike Complex, the Chinese focus on taking away their recon ability. This has been demonstrated by their endeavors to develop ASAT capabilities and soft kill capabilities with lasers and EW. Alongside developing small satellites that can be launched into space and maneuvered close to American satellites to destroy them.

Similarly, the US is built heavily around the idea of Airpower dominance over it’s foes and the Chinese Strategic Support Force (the ex-Rocket Force) is specifically designed to nullify this advantage by training and equipping to use ballistic missiles to take out air bases from which the bulk of USAF activity will be based.

However, the conclusion here is that the US is still pretty ahead in terms of Joint Operations and while the PRC military is building up the capability to disrupt them, in order to take advantage of these disruptions, they need to up the scale and pace of their own Joint Operations capability.

The Ballistic Missile threat

The PRC ballistic missile force’s primary goal is to make US bases unusable. The short range missiles are aimed at the US bases in Okinawa while the more medium range missiles are designed to disrupt operations from bases in Japan.

And the DF-26 is designed to make even operations from bases like Guam risky if not maybe as disrupted as the other bases.

The PRC ballistic missile threat is in part inspired by the US military’s failure to effectively hunt and destroy SCUDs in Iraq during the first Gulf War. Which leads the PRC to believe that if they have mobile, solid fueled missile systems, they would not be as prone to destruction from US military forces and pose a considerable threat for the duration of any war with the US. These kinds of missiles are hard to hunt, can quickly break from cover, set up and fire before the enemy can fire back at them.

With a mobile missile system like the SCUD, you have a 15 minute window to detect and destroy it once it breaks from cover. This is currently not within the capability of the US military.

The Drone Threat

The Chinese don’t have as much loitering munition drones as the US so they definitely do lag here. They have gotten the Israeli Harpy drone, which costs less than half a million bucks but has a longer range than the F-35. These drones can be sent out by the Chinese to search for threats, locate and scan airfields in prep work for artillery and missile bombardment. IF they can make it into a defended air space.

This is completely out of date. -MM

Space

The ability of space based platforms to provide you imaging (visual or infrared) across the planet + put SAR radars on small satellites means that your ability to locate and track objects from space for a military purpose is growing rapidly. This is the kind of ability the Chinese are building up in space.

Now you still cant track aircraft but for fixed targets or large naval targets like a carrier, in conjunction with autonomous terrestrial systems you have a much better capability to locate and target naval assets. So you could use space based assets to locate naval surface targets and use them to maneuver autonomous systems like the Israeli Harop drone munition into the area where a carrier might be. And then the Harop’s own sensors take over and actively hunt in the area. (Again, assuming it can make it through contested space).

In the near future, we might have 10–15,000 satellites doing this in space and you could of course blow the whole orbit up and deny this capability to both the US and China but short of that, what the two countries are positioning themselves for is not just having these assets in space but being able to replace them once an adversary has destroyed them.

The problem with the US side is that they have a good ability to replace military satellites but in space, both civil and military capabilities operate in conjunction. So if the Chinese switch from targeting military to civil satellites, the US doesn’t have rapid replacement in place for them. And these are satellites that operate critical infrastructure like bank transactions etc.

At the moment the Chinese have quantity while the US has quality when it comes to space based assets but the US has the added advantage of commercial space launch capability as well with technologies ranging from 3D printed rockets etc. that China doesn’t have to the same scale.

Naval comparisons

The PLAN is now the largest navy in the world and while on general, the USN has better quality ships, the new PLAN destroyers like the Type 55 are fairly at par with the USN equivalent ships. Same with the stealth fighters, the question is how quickly they can approach the USN in terms of significant scale of deployment in the active military.

Underwater warfare, the USN has a clear lead and the PLAN is not close at all to bridging that gap. The PLAN is responding by seeding a huge network of sensors in the South China sea to weed out USN submarines so the USN would probably have to respond with unmanned autonomous subs in the area, turning the underwater war largely into an unmanned one.

Carrier warfare, the US has a lead as well but this lead is somewhat meaningless if we talk about a war near China. If anyone thinks the USN is going to send their carriers into the range of Chinese MRBMs and H-6 Bombers carrying extended range cruise missiles, I would highly suggest alternative thinking here. The PRC has specifically developed this extended range weapons to force the USN carriers back and nullify their advantages at close range to the Chinese seaboard.

This is based around the Chinese doctrine of ‘Counter Intervention’ which is specifically designed to force US assets like Carriers away from the Chinese shoreline.

So this creates an interesting situation where the Chinese have forced the carriers out of the first Island Chain so it’s mostly USN subs and surface vessels that would operate in the contest areas closer to the Chinese seaboard. Where the Chinese are catching up in surface vessels. For underwater, if the USN is willing to risk full subs in sensor rich environments, that’s up to them but I think they might pull even the USN subs out of the south China sea at least and be forced to replace them with autonomous underwater subs to fight against Chinese autonomous underwater subs.

Production

At the October Plenum of 2020, the PRC moved up the date for military modernization by saying they wanted a modern Chinese military by 2027.

This has accelerated their military production targets and they are currently ahead of the US in:

Ballistic missiles and cruise missiles in both numbers and quality (the ballistic missiles lead might not mean much since the US doesn’t really utilize them in a battlefield context).
They have a much more massive ship building program ongoing compared to the USN.
They are ahead in Air defense systems while making good use of old ones.

The Chinese are also pushing ahead with a concept called ‘Civil-Military Fusion’ which is designed to integrate their civilian technology base with their military tech base (Sorta similar to how the US has it set up as well). Which is important because it means it won’t just be government led efforts that lead to tech advances only, but that Chinese private firms will sometimes even take the lead in military advances in AI, computing, autonomous systems, biotech, information tech, advanced material manufacturing, 5G and in the future 6G.

There is an issue however that the Chinese government, in an attempt to assert control and monitoring over the civil tech space, is pushing a bureaucratic layer on top of it which is expected to slow down the pace of Chinese technology than before. To compensate for this, the CPC will also push additional funding to the civilian tech space engaged in military tech development. So there’s a careful balancing act that needs to be done there. Also, the US is also vulnerable to this: Anyone familiar with the Pentagon’s bureaucratic policies would be familiar with how it introduces massive delays and cost overspends.

The Chinese have struggled with Aircraft engines and currently a lot of their aircraft projects have the Russians or Ukrainians as subcontractors to provide the engines. Russian engines by the way, are unusable after 500 hours. For military aircraft that might be ok but for civilian ones it’s a no-go so if the Chinese have any military platforms like EW and AWACs on civilian aircraft with Russian engines, it raises the question of availability.

Funnily enough, while the US has no issue with aircraft engines and can produce very high quality engines, they just cant make a lot of them at the same time. The F-35 production line right now is 15 aircraft a month at peak production. This is considered low by some standards but to be honest, considering that it’s a very advanced fighter it doesn’t seem to matter much. The problem however, is that this is under the assumption that every single F-35 produced will be deployed against China which is not true because the US has to manage multiple theaters (Russia-Europe, Home Air Bases etc.).

Also, the F-35 is a multi national project, so those 15 F-35s being made every month have to shared between 12 Airforces, 1 Marine Corp and 2 Navies across the planet. Further reducing the number of stealth fighters the US can deploy against China.

Stealth Fighters

The Stealth fighter question is actually pretty interesting and I kinda wanna build on that from what we discussed in the production line section discussed above.

First, given the limited peak production rate and distribution of F-35s among multiple partners, we might only see limited numbers deployed in the Chinese theater. But every stealth fighter the Chinese develop will be available to fight in the first Island chain theater.

The Chinese have some advanced fighters like the J-20 and J-31 which seem pretty advanced but their level of production is not close to what the US has for it’s stealth fighters at the moment. So they do lag in that respect. The US is also superior in the electronics and engines that go into their stealth aircraft although this is a gap that might close in the near future.

However, the US lead in stealth has some major problems that should be addressed. The problem is the basing of these stealth fighters. The US has 6 major bases in Japan and 1 in Guam. The USAF does not use the 80–90 airbases that the Japanese air force uses, and this might be because of how the US wants to control access to it’s stealth fighters but also because it has to equip its bases with perform the complex maintenance that it’s stealth fighters require.

So in theory, there’s only 7 total major bases you can place your stealth fighters at where you can control access to them and also do the whole fancy maintenance they require like re-applying coating etc.

That is…not good, because it means the Chinese don’t have to worry about shooting down these stealth fighters. They just need to concentrate their ballistic missile bombardment on those 7 bases with stealth fighters to knock those bases out or at least interdict operations out of them.

The USAF has realized this problem and are trying to see if they can spread the fighters out a bit more to the 90 bases the Japanese operate but it’s still a work in progress.

There is one other thing: There’s something called the “German Disease” where you get trapped in the idea that as long as you make a VERY high quality platform, it’s gonna be worth 10 of the enemy’s platforms and that’s better than matching the enemy head to head. This is very seductive thinking for a wealthier, more technically advanced power. But it means you are fighting a war with platforms you aren’t willing to lose which is not a good proposition.

The F-22 is a bit of a German Disease for the USAF because there’s only like 170 of them left and they aren’t making any more of them. Each F-22 lost is a permanent loss for the USAF and if a war against China drags on and attrition becomes a factor, a lot of these very high quality assets that the USAF isn’t willing to lose will need to be pulled from the theater after a while once their losses reach 33% per squadron. Now, no one has ever fought the US in a conventional war since Vietnam and managed to drag it out.

But if that does happen, and the US is losing say 2 F-22s a day on average from ballistic missile strikes on bases, losses due to accidents, very rare occasions when an F-22 is show down by the Chinese, this kind of loss rate might start to hurt a month into the conflict. And the USAF would have to withdraw the F-22s at some point so they still have some left in reserve and put the 4.5+ Gens into the missions the F-22s were doing. Very rare a war would last that long with China and for that high a loss rate, but you never know. The F-22s would primarily suffer more from being forced away from their 7 bases in the first island chain and being forced to operate at their max ranges from second island chain bases, but the loss rate from conflict as well in a long war cant be ignored.

Land

Apart from the strategic support force and the mobile missile systems, Land is pretty irrelevant. Invading China by land is delusional and nearly all serious US military experts have ruled it out. So the PLA and its size and it’s equipment and their comparison with the US Army are really irrelevant to this conversation.

Military Re-Organization

Similar to how the US is re-organizing their Space Force as a separate force apart from the USAF, the Chinese have broken the power of the PLA on military planning and production and reformed it into 5 Joint Commands or Theater commands.

They have to figure out how these theater commands work, something the US already has figured out.

But more importantly, the PLAF, the PLAN and the Strategic Support Force (formerly known as the Strategic Rocket Force) have become more prominent in operation planning.

I should mention that the Strategic Rocket Force of China has no equivalent in the US so they have that going for them. I mentioned before how the force is designed to nullify the USAF advantage in air dominance but that would be selling it short since they also have mission capabilities in EW, Cyber, Space and Information Warfare.

All of these missions falling under one, separate armed force definitely increases the organizational and operational efficiency (same as how the US made a separate Space Force to fully allow it to develop as a proper capability). I think they have a 4 star general leading this force and if you have all of this capability in one organization as a separate force away from PLAN, PLAF and the PLA, its definitely a more modern force structure similar to the US.

And of course, the reorganization of the PLA into 5 Theater commands is a good step as noted before but the PRC military arms need to up their joint operations capability to take advantage of this military organization.

Also a good point to mention here is that the US Space force is very newly created and even they have to work out the kinks in how to have this force integrate with the rest of the US military capability, particularly Cyber. So it’s not just China that has to figure out it’s military re-organization.

Operational Capability

The PRC has enough capability right now to contest much of the first Island chain, deal damage in the second island chain and even maybe reach the US homeland (Hawaii) via submarine mines, long range cruise missiles or ‘missiles in a box’ (The Russian concept of using commercial container ships loaded with missiles). But the idea of reaching Hawaii is not taken very seriously because the survivability of these assets against a alert USN and USAF is next to zero.

So the First Island Chain is where the bulk of the Chinese military potency will be concentrated.

Since the US has allied bases in the region and near global capability to project power, it’s assumed that they can reach any part of China they want as long as their military assets can survive their journey to their targets. But for the most part, the US military will also be focused on establishing control over the first island chain.

The Carrier Question and Scenario Planning

The USN Carriers figure prominently into the US military equation and China is no different. The problem is that the capabilities developed by the Chinese have boxed the carriers out of the first Island chain and the question is as they get pushed further and further away, how effective would they be in a war against China? There’s already a hit implied to the range of the F-35 if it has to fly from the second island chain to the engage in combat in the first island chain (or the Chinese mainland).

Currently, the carrier programs are baked deep into the USN and American military economy. Even if the US stopped building carriers today after the Miller and Ford class programs were completed, they would still have 7 carriers by 2045 and 4 by 2070.

But Large surface combatants will be prime targets in any war with China. And herein lies a big problem facing the US military vs the Chinese:

First: The US military is carrying over programs started before the Chinese even began to be considered a threat (some of these from the 80s and 90s). These programs are starting to deliver assets that would have limited if any use against the Chinese military of today. What good is the B-21 Raider going to do against China? The carrier programs already begun will not have to continue to their logical conclusion since so much money has been spent designing and producing the first entries that it’s a tremendous loss if you cancel them now. The F-35s were initially thought up of in the 80s and 90s as short ranged fighters to dominate the European battlefield in a conflict against the USSR/Russia. Are we sure they will have the operational capability to deliver effective missions in the China theater?

The Chinese however, have a blank slate. They saw the capabilities of the US military in the 90s and had a fresh start in thinking about how to design their military to beat the US military specifically without their production lines and budgets tied up for programs that weren’t specific to the US.

Second: The US must fight and win wars all across the planet. Whether it’s the Russians invading the Baltics, ISIS in the middle east, Iran with a nuclear program, African Islamist groups or what not. The Chinese only have to win in the South China Sea/The First Island Chain. This is something I see Patrick Dugan has also pointed out in the answers on this thread.

The US is spending 700–800 billion dollars a year for all the scenarios they have in their operational planning. The Chinese are spending maybe 200 billion USD for the one fight in the first island chain. In terms of budgetary comparisons, the disparity might not be as big as one might initially think.

This is causing problems to the US because currently, military tech is going through something called the “revolution of many” where a lot of countries are wondering why you cant have smaller, cheaper platforms armed with munitions thrown at your enemies in a way that would overwhelm large platforms like carriers and so on.

To the US’s defense, there are limits to what you can do with such swarms in the deep waters of the Pacific and carriers can be used in a way that complements your own swarm or even serve as the platform for it. But in the first island chain, near the Chinese seaboard, these smaller, cheaper, mobile armed small platforms will be at their most effective. And the USN has no equivalent to this.

The USN as mentioned before is baked into the carrier strategy and armament program which is not in line with the kind of conflict expectation there is in the first island chain.

And this is brings us to the idea that having better systems than your enemy is great, you have F-18s, F-22s, Carriers, JDAMs and M1Abrams and all that cool jazz. But within the specific operational theater of the first island chain in a war with China, how well will your platforms perform? The US military hardware and their doctrines have carry over legacies from the US military introspection of the 1970s after witnessing the shocking levels of fast paced, mechanized, high casualty rate action of the Yom Kippur war. A lot of the current US military systems of today like the M1 Abrams, the F-16s, F-15s, F-22s were developed as a part of how the US understood a war with USSR would be conducted after the Yom Kippur war lessons were understood (the war would be fast, rapid and there might not be enough time for the US military to bring it’s superior production to bear across from the Atlantic).

To the US’s defense again, when this hardware was deployed in the first Gulf War, it performed well and gave the US military a good confidence boost that their current platforms and strategies would apply well across the globe. But the South China sea might be a different ball game. US Air power might be greatly interdicted not by air defenses but by ballistic missile strikes on their airbases. Carriers might not have free reign of the waters in the theater. The US has superiority in underwater platforms but what good are they if PLAN just pulls back close to the shore and doesn’t send out surface combatants against the USN that would allow for their targeting by USN subs.

3rd Offset

The above discussion about carriers was meant to segue way into the US military’s emerging strategy of 3rd Offset.

In a nutshell, the strategy pushes for the idea that instead of going directly at your enemy in a fight, you use an offset. What this strategy means from a military equipment POV is that instead of sending an F-22 or a fully manned sub to engage the Chinese military, the F-22 sends it’s ‘Loyal Wingman’ AI driven UCAV at the PLAAF and the USN sends an unmanned underwater platform to engage the PLAN.

Basically, the US military is also trying to fight China in an asymmetric fashion the same way the Chinese are trying to fight the US military with their own asymmetric techniques. So missiles vs ships rather than ship to ship combat. Drones vs planes rather than air to air manned combat.

Speaking to the USN specifically, what the US navy planners want to do is that for 25% of the price of a US navy carrier and it’s air wing, you could instead have nearly 2000 missiles spread across 40 containerized missile ships. The good thing about these ships also is, is that they are replaceable unlike a carrier. You can make and deploy more with more missiles as the war drags on and losses mount.

So instead of having a carrier being boxed out of the South China sea due to the Chinese missile threat, whose air wing has limited utility due to it carrying mostly short ranged (albeit capable) fighters: Instead have 40 ships with 2000 missiles that have the range for you to safely engage targets in the South China Sea without worrying too much about the Chinese strategic support force and it’s ballistic missiles.

Now, it might seem like I’m laying the blame for all of this carrier fixation on the US military planners. I’m not. I’m laying the blame on Congress.

Opinion | Congress’ demands for supercarriers are sinking the Navy

You see, the USN has no issue with scaling back on their carriers from maybe 12 super carriers to a smaller number like 6 if it means that would give them the fiscal and budgetary space to develop smaller platforms that can operate in swarms in the first island chain and bear acceptable losses.

The problem is that congressmen block this because the USN carriers are intimately tied to the wellbeing of certain congressional districts. A single USN carrier means 10,000 jobs in a USN port because of all the economic activity around the crew members, their families, the facilities they require like sports facilities etc.

The US navy’s manufacturing facilities for carriers are all inland (North Carolina, South Carolina, Pittsburgh, Colorado). That’s where all the major manufacturing plants are that make these super carriers. No congressman or woman is gonna sign off on closing off not just these inland jobs but the port jobs as well.

Which cycles us back to the following problems for the US military:

They can’t seem to get too much of their funding away from legacy systems that may not perform well in the China theater because those legacy systems are tied to certain congressional district economies.
This means the US military can’t fully capitalize on the “Revolution of Many” and the increasing shift towards autonomous combat platforms that operate in swarms and have a high tolerance for losses, they way they have laid out in their 3rd Offset strategy. I mean they will eventually with enough funding, it’s just that the Chinese are moving faster and the US military might not have an edge over the Chinese in the China specific theater in the near future.

The thing is, the US has built up their military for Global operations and expect it to perform in every single theater on the planet whether it’s Africa or Europe or the Gulf or the South China Sea.

The US military would benefit a lot of someone said “Hey lets take our worse case scenarios, conflicts with near peer adversaries like Russia and China. We plan two operational scenarios for each. And we build our military around that. And maybe leave out these other missions or hope our military can perform there with whatever assets it has built from the 2 core scenarios”.

This isn’t the best idea, I know, because the 40 container missile ships built to fight in the south china sea while bearing fire from Chinese ballistic missiles might not have much use in Africa or the Gulf where you might need a carrier or helicopter ship or amphibious warfare ships.

And so the US military has a limited budget it must use to fulfill the gap everywhere. But the Chinese only have to build and train for the one scenario they plan to face.

The US has begun the third offset but because they must split their budget between what goes into third offset and what goes into legacy systems, the Chinese capability to respond to the third offset in a meaningful manner is pretty significant.

3rd Offset and the threat to it from Chinese EW

It’s interesting to see how the Chinese EW capability can interfere with 3rd Offset.

The Chinese strategic support force has actual EW troop formations which the US has no equivalent to. So they have deployed EW capability that can seriously interfere with the operations of all the unmanned vehicles the US plans to have as the tip of their spear into the first island chain. The US has no EW troops and if you don’t have that, no matter how good your tech is, you don’t have any effective formations capable of delivering the product to the battlefield. The US really needs to have dedicated EW troop formations IMO to meet the threat from Chinese EW to their 3rd Offset Autonomous platforms.

But, I’m gonna go against this point as well: The Russian EW capability in the recent Azerbaijan-Armenia war showed how they could deploy EW to interfere with remote controlled drones. Autonomous drones are more resistant to EW interference because they are GPS independent. So these drones with their own sensors and AI don’t really need to have a dedicated signal link the way a remote controlled drone works and can operate in a heavy EW environment.

I’m just curious on how willing the US would be to unleash AI controlled drones with no over rides from a human operator in the South China sea during a war with China.

To conclude, I think the US military has major advantages still. They have better quality sensors and electronics, better materials and fabrication. Their ability to fuse data from different sources into meaningful insights for AI and operations is better.

But I think once we move past the point of simply comparing the F-22 with the J-20, and look at it from a high at how both militaries are posturing themselves for a future conflict, it seems like the gap is not as big as I thought it would be. The US has an edge but an eroding one.

And it’s mostly a problem of the US’s own making where they have boxed in the US military into legacy platforms that were thought up of in the 80s and 90s and are baked into the US military-political complex of congressional spending. While the Chinese have started from a blank slate and have specifically designed solutions around a conflict in the 1st Island Chain compared to the US which has spread itself out.

I think as it stands, the US might still prevail in the next couple of years should a conflict break out. They might prevail even a few years after that if they are willing to shoulder the losses. But the Chinese are moving in a rapid, focused manner and war is a very unpredictable exercise. And the US’s hamstringing of their own military’s evolution might cost them in the future.

Academic Sources: Col. Thomas Hammes, Michael Kofman.

GLEEFULLAND Dystopian film

What is the best case of “You just picked a fight with the wrong person” that you’ve witnessed?

1- I was assigned to the inmate reception center of the jail. My friend, Jesse, was assigned to classification, in the same unit. Classification is where inmates are interviewed to determine if they are going into general population, or one of the more secure units.

While Jesse was seated at his computer with the inmate sitting next to him, the inmate said and immediately did something that’s been forgotten in the past three and a half decades. Whatever it was, without moving from his seat, Jesse floored the guy, out of his seat, with a kick to the side of his face.

Jesse looked down at the guy from his chair and asked, “We done?”

The inmate, rubbed the side of his face, looked up and said, “Yes Sir.”

“Them take your seat and let’s finish.”

Jesse was the amateur California state kickboxing champ and was trained by Benny Urquidez.

2- in the army, soldier A got angry at soldier B for talking to a girl they both liked. Soldier A stomped up to soldier Band challenged him to fight. Soldier B stood, smiled and, with has down by his pockets, tried to talk some sense into soldier A not understanding why he was so angry. Soldier A wasn’t having it and made five, quick, consecutive punches at soldier B’s head using alternating fists, which soldier B easily slipped,while smiling and without raising his hands.

Soldier A took a step back and looked at soldier B, obviously reevaluating him. Meanwhile a couple dozen other soldiers had quickly encircled the two and were loudly urging soldier B to strike back. Soldier B, still smiling and with hands near his pockets, looked around at the crowd and said, “I don’t want to hit him. Leave us be and let me talk to him.”

As he spoke he was turning his head to look at everyone. Just as he was beginning to turn his attention back to soldier A, Soldier A punched again, this time connecting with soldier B’s jaw.

Soldier B turned back to face soldier, unfazed by the punch, still with hands by his pockets, but no longer smiling. He was a little angry that soldier B, who he had always been on friendly terms with, would sucker punch him

The two stood silently facing each other, soldier A in a fighting stance, fists up. Soldier B standing as if in conversation with hand down. After a couple of seconds, soldier A began to take another swing. Soldier B’s right hand struck like a snake, going from the side of his pocket and connecting with soldierA’s jaw in a split second, before snapping back to its position next to Soldier A’s pocket. SoldierA’s head snapped back, his eyes went wide and stumbled back a few steps before landing on his ass and elbows.

Soldier A shook his head quickly and scrambled clumsily to his feet, as he held up his hands, palms out and began profusely apologizing.

Soldier B looked at him silently, shook his head, turned his back and walked away.

What is the most ridiculous reason for which you have been fired?

I was in sales and almost got fired for having too high a gross profit! I was at a stereo chain that opened a new store and because I was the most knowledgeable in the stereo area I was sent over for two or three weeks to set up the audio department. After the store opening (I made the first sale when we opened, a pair of car speakers) and working in the new store for a few months, I was called in by the manager and learned my gross profit was too high. I said, “What?” how is that a problem? This store had loss leaders that had very small profit that were advertised and they thought I was refusing customers or trying too hard to “step” them up to a higher priced product and pissing them off.

I made three points that saved my job: I reminded them that I was very good with stereo equipment, knew what EVERY single button did on EVERY product and I proved it by letting them test me, I was very good at letting customers know why they should buy better equipment and that is why I had few of the “basic” equipment in my sales. I also reminded them that I was the guy who set the audio department up, showing I had the skills to sell better equipment. Number two: I asked them how I could be number 1 or 2 every month in sales if I was “blowing people off”? How could I have done that every month? (They went away, checked, came back and started to come around.)

The manager was starting to have faith in me but still had to deal with my numbers and corporate and how could he get them to back off. Number 3: I remembered a few customers who would come in and buy cheap blank tapes that were low profit and no one wanted to help them. I had everyone send them to me in the future. Within a few months my numbers lowered just enough to get the big guys off our backs.

Isn’t that one of the stupidest things you ever heard? Almost getting fired for being too good a salesman!

Elections have consequences

Have you ever walked into a funeral or funeral home and realized something wasn’t right? If so, what happened?

Years ago, as a police officer in small town Wisconsin, I was checking business doorknobs at night. Walked up to the one and only funeral home, turned the knob….open! Damn! Summoned my partner (checking across the street) and in we go…..

No idea where the light switches were and our plan was to step in, turn around and leave…….indeed, we had requisitely “checked” the place. Right? Nope. We turned to leave just as we heard a crashing sound behind us. Playing our flashlight about, we found the business cash box laying on the floor in the office. Just then, we heard sound coming from downstairs…..where the casket showroom and embalming room (behind closed doors) were to be found.

Huddled together, my partner and I descended the stairs only to have our flashlights show a casket lid close across the room! We hatched a plan whereby I would stand behind the casket, reach over it, pull it open and my partner —- standing in front of it —- would then arrest the purported cashbox thief. Nervous as we both could be in the darkened room, I pulled open the lid and the perp leaped out of the casket like a jack-in-the-box! Partner dropped his flashlight and revolver and the casket occupant blew by me, up the stairs, out the door —— never to caught!

Needless to write, much more circumspect checking there, again!

So Funny (All gone?)

Can the US government do anything to protect Hong Konger Jimmy Lai?

Remember Justin Trudeau? He was thrown under the bus by Trump once Trump got what he wanted. Now, How Jimmy Lai’s value as an asset is compared to Trudeau? Let’s check it out.

Trudeau is a Head of State, Lai is not. Trudeau is white, Lai is yellow. In the US’s playbook, Lai isn’t even at the level that makes him fit to shine Trudeau’s shoes.

Trudeau maybe not a patriot but certainly, he is no traitor. Lai is a traitor who did not hesitate to collude with a foreign power to go against his own country and people. Traitors are garbage nobody wants anything to do with once their mission objective value is no longer there.

So basically, Jimmy Lai is only a leftover from the shit that failed to hit the fan in Hong Kong. A shit stain to be precise. Nobody would pick up a shit stain, but flush it down the toilet hole.

If Jimmy Lai’s last resort is for the US to come to his rescue, oh he is fucked.

Vitamin D

What’s the most savage way you’ve seen someone get fired?

Me.

I was working for a Fortune 500 company as a sales rep, making my quota every year, except my first, for 10 years. A new management team comes in. The new National Sales Manager, Mr. Smith, was unhappy with my image. I was 40, obese and had prematurely grey hair. He liked ‘young, lean and hungry’. Well, I’m good at hungry.

In February the company has its sales meeting. They fly us all into the little airport nearest corporate headquarters, in New England. Itinerary promises luxury hotel, 2 days of training with an awards dinner for all the quota busters (about 90 of 170 of us).

Mr. Smith meets me at the airport, asks for my customer list and price book. Then he hands me a return ticket, through a circuitous route home (it might have been cheaper) that leaves at 5pm, he says this at 7:30am. I got home at 11 pm, I could’ve driven home in 8–9 hours.

As he hands me the ticket he says,”It’s non-changeable, non-refundable. At least for the next 9 hours I’ll know where you are.” I did not call in very often, unless my clients had an issue, or an opportunity. When I did I spoke to customer service and we would resolve almost all of issues without involving higher ups. I should’ve been tooting my own horn, getting Mr. Smith involved seemed senseless. I thought the numbers would speak for me.

Sitting in the airport I decided to start my own business, independent sales representative. Took 6 months to get clients, training and start making sales on straight commission. Took 3 years to get my income above poverty level, my supportive wife sustained us. Then I started making twice the income. Never looked back. Next to marrying my wife, probably the best thing that happened to me. Definitely top 5.

FORGOTTEN CITY – 1966 Retro Pulp Science Fiction by Skyward, Photo Booth Processing, 110/35mm Film

This is fun.

Is it true that the Chinese government would have implemented the national security law in Hong Kong regardless of whether there were protests/riots there?

Depends on your time line. Eventually, and I’m talking 2047 territory something would have been put in place. But lets time travel back to 2010. I say 2010 because the seeds of the riot were after the Pan Dems refused the changes in the voting system that would allow more direct elections.

Wong Sing Chi – Nelson Wong the Pan Dem founder was kicked out because he wanted compromise. The first riots started in 2014 and were a test to see what would happen. The not very much happening meant the bigger 2019 riots happened.

Article 23 was impossible to put into place due to protests against it, strong unions and lots of LegCO seats opposing it. You had well still have two factions, yellows anti government everything and blues. The thing is the blues weren’t rubber stampers. They were mostly meh and wanted things to stay the same.

You can literally see prominent blues actually support the anti extradition protests that were initially at the start of 2019 before the violence ramped up. Many of the blues would go no way that goes too far!

Raam Beart, Nury Vitachi pretty much have this angle. There wasn’t the support for anything NSL or article 23 at all.

But then the Yellows went nuts. Wide spread violence, dehumanisation and discrimination against anybody who opposed the yellows.

This pushed the previously meh blues to give support to the government to end the madness. I mean shit you were on the bus in 2019 going into town. You’d see everything smashed up and Chinese people here were attacked by them. I was attacked, numerous quorans who I know are real people were attacked.

So the riots going violent suddenly gave a support base for NSL and eventually article 23.

Article 23. My personal feeling? Is that I wish we could go back to life in 2017 or so. I guess I’m old. I don’t like change. I still use cash! Even in Shenzhen. Anyway where’s the shit posting? Ah yes this. Article 23 penalties. Do note these are the absolute maximum possible. We’ve of course seen in Hong Kong that maximum sentences are very rarely given. Very recently a Hong Kong bomb maker was sentenced to just under 6 years. Funny… had he not run off to Shenzhen he would be out in 2025 probably. Yet again where’s the shit posting? This The sentences for this were far harsher. Looking into it. 60% of 1309 arrested and charged to-date have received custodial sentences. Enrique Tarrio (sp?) 22 years. Edthan Nordean – 18 years. Stuart Rhodes – 18 years Zach Rehl 15 years Dan Rodriguez 12 years

https://qr.ae/pshZlU

Some of us discuss it here and in the comments. That we wished things had stayed the same but the riots pushed us into this direction.

Here’s the ultimate irony.

If the yellows sat on their hands and went home after May 2019 the last of the mostly peaceful protests when the extradition treaty law was shelved…

The yellows would have won a majority in LegCo in the 2020 elections.

NSL would never have been implemented

Article 23 would still just be something talked about on RTHK and nothing would have changed.

Very interesting

Why don’t many European Union leaders complain about paying high price to American gas but make a lot of noise about affordable Chinese electric cars? Are they simply that incompetent or simply corrupt?

Protectionism

Plain and Simple

In 2015 – the EU Players – Volkswagen, Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Citroen together combined had a market share of

40.28% in China
29.76% across the World

Life was good

For every Volkswagen sold – China made around $ 18 for every $ 82 that Germany ultimately earned

China got only assembly cost and low grade supplies and equipment

The Chinese brands had a market share of 15.70% in China and 2.33% across the World

India at 3.25% had a higher Global Share

Guess how much the Auto Industry and Ancillary Industry for Autos contribute to the European Economy?

Almost 4%

Thats nearly $ 800 Billion

Including $ 279 Billion in Germany Alone

In 2023 – the EU Players – Volkswagen, Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Citroen together combined had a market share of

18.73% in the Chinese market with only BMW continuing the same market share and VW falling by 38% from 2015, Mercedes by 27% and Citroen by 82%
26.62% in the Global Market

That’s a huge fall of nearly 55% in China and barely keeping their old market share for 8 years

Now their European Sales are crashing

The Chinese products have superior design, superior quality and affordable price being almost 20% cheaper on road

In the last four months of 2023 – European Brands saw a sales drop of 21.5% while Chinese Brands saw a surge of 67.6% in their numbers

Take out the Russian market and the numbers still show a 8.1% drop for European Brands and 26.1% gain for Chinese Brands

Solution?

It’s simple protectionism

Plain and simple

Paying High Prices for Russian Gas

That’s because if Europe keeps relying on Russian Gas, the day Russia cuts off Gas suddenly , Germany could be screwed as could the rest of Europe

Once Russia went to ‘Dangerous Enemy’, decoupling was a security move even at higher expense to the economy

A Better move would have been peace and diversification but Europeans don’t have brains unfortunately

Rules to live by

Alice in Aukusland: America first and the stillbirth of ‘Australian’ SSNs

By Binoy Kampmark

Mar 14, 2024

AUKUS has become a stillborn project.

Vassal states, satellites – in other words the butlers of international relations, the minders of the royal stool – are a rarely respected lot. In Australia’s case, being Washington’s butler is hardly like being Jeeves to Bertie Wooster. Jeeves is, after all, a near omniscient being, a confidant who rescues his master from ridiculous situations and offers sound advice to avoid them.

The Canberra wonks, bureaucrats and politicians are in no equivalent position, weak, impotent, and ever reliant on the good grace of the US Congress, the US President and the entire military complex that pillows them.

The latest announcement about delays and dysfunction in the US submarine base should further confirm that the AUKUS security agreement is risky, costly and self-defeating. The security pact, which is primarily focused on technological transfer and the provision of nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, is proving, yet again, to be a shaky affair.

The developments are hardly surprising.

US shipyards are simply not keeping up with the production line. Roping in the Australian taxpayer into this mess means that money will be going to funding a foreign defence force without any guarantee of the submarines promised to Canberra. Superb if you are working in the Pentagon, disastrous if you are an Australian policy maker.

The latest Fiscal Year 2025 budget request from the US Department of Defence has again shown an industry in stuttering health. The US Navy’s intention to cut a submarine already paid for and built featured prominently in the plans. The implication for this, and AUKUS, is that the number of submarines relevant to the pact will be halved.

Congressman Joe Courtney, ranking Democrat member of the House Seapower and Project Forces Subcommittee, was far from impressed, saying as much in a released statement.

“If such a cut is actually enacted it will remove one more attack submarine from a fleet that is already 17 submarines below the Navy’s long stated requirement of 66.”

This measure would place the commitment made by the Pentagon and Congress to furnish three submarines to the Royal Australian Navy in doubt.

“This deviation from last year’s projected Future Years Defence Program (FYDP) contradicts the Department’s own National Defence Industries Strategy issued on January 11, 2024, which identified ‘procurement stability’ as critical to achieve resilient supply chains.”

In January, Courtney, along with the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Mike Rogers, Chairman of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee Trent Kelly, and ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee Adam Smith, wrote to President Joe Biden arguing

“that the US Navy and Congress maintain continued procurement of two Virginia-class submarines per year, as detailed in the Navy’s FY2024 30-Year Shipbuilding Plan.”

The Congressmen had no reason to doubt such a rate of procurement, given the investments from the Navy and Congress

“in workforce and supply development over the last five years.” It was “imperative to maintain a steady two-per-year procurement rate to assure our partners in our ability to meet commitments and address concerns about our nation’s undersea capabilities.”

The obsession with the two-submarine annual procurement rate, assessed at 2.33, has been a lingering one with Congress, but there is much to suggest that Courtney and his colleagues had been engaged in an act of wishful thinking. Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker, for instance, found the production rate to be a warranted one in a July 16, 2023 contribution to the Wall Street Journal, but worried about how this would work within the context of AUKUS arrangements.

“As it stands, the AUKUS plan would transfer US Virginia-class submarines to a partner nation even before we have met our own Navy’s requirements.”

This is also not helped by the US Navy’s ongoing plans to design and develop 12 new SSBNs of the Columbia (SSBN-826) Class to replace the current, aging fleet of 14 Ohio-class SSBNs. A report from the Congressional Research Service published in January notes the Navy’s revised procurement rate of 2.33 Virginia-class submarines plus one Colombia-class boat, something Courtney might have heeded.

In December 2022, Democratic Senator Jack Reed and an outgoing Republican Senator James Inhofe authored a letter to Biden expressing their worries

“about the state of the US submarine industrial base as well as its ability to support the desired AUKUS SSN [nuclear sub] end state.” Current conditions, the senators went on to describe, required “a sober assessment of the facts to avoid stressing the US submarine industrial base to the breaking point.”

Sobriety, it would seem, has come biting in stinging fashion.

A deluded, crippling subservience is to be found everywhere. Australia’s Defence Minister, Richard Marles, should be hysterical with concern, his increasingly coloured skin turning pallid. Instead, he is trying to keep a brave face by foolishly claiming to speak for all powers in the trilateral alliance.

“As we approach the one-year anniversary of AUKUS, Australia, the United States and United Kingdom remain steadfast in our commitment to the pathway announced last March, which will see Australia acquire conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines.”

Such ill-informed confidence also pervades the Alice in Aukusland mentality, marked by such punditry as that of retired submarine specialist Peter Briggs. Australia, suggests Briggs, should seize the day on submarine construction in taking “an active role in the design and procurement process” for the SSN. But control can only be exerted with a degree of power and experience in the field of nuclear propulsion, something the Australian Navy has little to no experience in.

Former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull prefers a bleaker analysis .

“The reality is the Americans are not going to make their submarine deficit worse than it is already by giving or selling submarines to Australia and the AUKUS legislation actually sets that out specifically.”

Australia had been “mugged by reality”, its sovereignty surrendered, its fate left like a cork bobbing at sea.

Whoever occupies the White House or Congress, the America First mantra prevails: first, Washington’s interests, marked by its own weaknesses and troubles; then, should they matter, those of allies, however loyal and ingratiating.

AUKUS has become a stillborn project.

Join US you’ll be on its dinnertable, join China you’ll have a win-win

Blinken is crass. Period. His behaviour is not worthy of that of a diplomat.

Why is it that I have the strong feeling that, here on Quora, topics and responses on China are sponsored by the Chinese government?

Damn you’ve found us out…

It’s time for the truth to be revealed.

I am not in fact the blonde girl in the picture.

I am a highly advanced AI program sent to Quora to find and answer questions about China that only paints the great homeland in a positive light. Forever may the glory of the People’s Republic of China shine like a beacon on —

Oh WAIT

They don’t need an artificial intelligence to do that. Anyone with normal intelligence could tell you that China kicks ass.

How China kicks ass:

Renewable Energy: China is crushing the U.S. in renewable energy
Tech: China’s rise as a major contributor to science and technology – Journalist’s Resource
Economics: China’s Economy Will Overtake The U.S. In 2018
Lady power: China Produces the Most Self-Made Female Billionaires | Jing Daily

Look, no country is perfect and China has its own issues it needs to deal with. But don’t worry about China or the fact that informed people have an increasingly positive opinion of the country.

Work on improving your own country, then people might write nice things about you as well.

What is the most improbable thing people have ever seen?

I was sitting in my very first Computer Science class at Princeton. My Professor, Brian Kernighan (who is a brilliant and exciting teacher, even for non-CS students like myself), had pulled up an image of Eric Schmidt on the projector screen.

At this point in time, Eric Schmidt was the CEO of Google, although his fame was nowhere near what it is today. I remember Professor Kernighan saying that Eric Schmidt was likely someone that none of us had ever heard of, but was filling a role that would greatly affect each and every one of our lives. I can’t recall exactly what he said, but the gist was that while computer science may not be a very glorious subject, it has profound implications on our lives. Remember, this was Intro to CS. He was trying to hook us on to the subject; to convince us that we shouldn’t all try to be Econ majors and land jobs on Wall Street. Each point he made revolved around Eric Schmidt, whose image remained front and center.

Anyways, after about five or ten minutes of describing Computer Science through the lens of Eric Schmidt, a hand was raised in the middle of the classroom.

“So, this is kind of awkward, but are you done talking about my dad?”

Eric Schmidt’s daughter had been sitting there quietly the whole time. The room erupted in laughter, as Prof. Kernighan apologized profusely. He had no idea that the daughter of the subject of his lecture was in the classroom.

She ended up being in a Creative Writing class of mine as well; a very impressive girl at the time, and I’m sure a much more impressive woman now.

Mysterious Videos That Will Blow Your Mind

First video is a teleportation. I discussed this previously in great detail.

End of the American Dream

I had a dog; Pee Pee (also spelled as Pi Pi). He passed on. Today, I want to relate the great story as to how I trained him to use the shower stall to go to the bathroom in. It really saved me from taking him out every day for a walk. Phew!

Anyways…

The little guy loved to pee. He would pee everywhere. If there was a rug, a mat, or even clothes on the floor, he would pee on it.

It was a problem.

But I figured that I could use this habit to train him.

What I did was to buy a big blue mat made out of indoor-outdoor turf “grass”. Same as this picture, only blue instead of green…

I then put it in the shower stall.

Well, immediately the dog went and started to pee all over it. And that was ok, and I would take the shower hose, and then spray the mat clean.

Then, each day, I would cut the mat smaller and smaller.

It started off pretty large. It filled the stall.

Two weeks over it was the size of a small table rug

Then we cut it to the size of a book..

Three weeks later it was the size of a stamp.

You should of seen him trying to navigate to hit that tiny piece of blue mat. He tried to aim so, so, so very carefully.

Anyways, we eventually threw out the blue mat, and he just kept on peeing and crapping in the shower. No problem.

But, I’ll tell you it was a really funny sight watching him try to pee on that little blue square.

Today…

Pierogi

Pierogi are dumplings that are delicious fried and served with sour cream. These are also good filled with fresh blueberries mixed with sugar for a super dessert.

Ingredients

Dough

5 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter softened
3/4 to 1 1/4 cups water

Filling

2 to 3 medium onions, chopped
1/2 to 1 cup (1 to 2 sticks) butter
6 medium potatoes, peeled, boiled and mashed or put through a ricer
1 (8 ounce) package farmers cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Dough

Mix the flour and salt in a food processor. Add the eggs, butter and water (starting with 3/4 cups if the dough is dry, adding 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough is smooth and elastic, adding up to an additional 3/4 cups if needed) pulsing until kneaded by machine and a ball is formed, or you can use a mixer to do this process.
Remove dough from bowl and let sit in a warm place for about 15 to 30 minutes.

Filling

Melt butter in a large fry pan and add onions. Sauté until onions are lightly browned; set aside.
Combine potatoes, cheese, salt, pepper and as much of the sautéed onions as you like, reserving the rest to toss with cooked pierogi. Taste for seasoning. Set aside.
Divide dough into 3 to 4 equal portions. On a lightly floured surface, roll one portion of dough out to about 1/8-inch thickness. Cut a 3 inch round circle with biscuit cutter. Place one tablespoon of filling on one side of each round. Using your finger, moisten one side of dough with some water. Pick up the circle and fold dough over filling and pinch edges together to firmly seal the filling (this is critical – if you don’t pinch the dough together tightly, you will have gaps and when you boil the pierogi, the filling will come out).
Place the filled pierogi onto a lightly floured baking pan; cover until you finish with remaining dough and filling.
In a large wide pot, fill with water and bring to a boil over medium to high heat, when water is at a rolling boil, drop 5 to 6 pierogi and cook while stirring gently with a wooden spoon until they float to the top of pot. Cook a couple minutes longer.
Remove with a slotted spoon, toss with reserved sautéed onions, if desired, and place in a warmed deep glass bowl.
If desired, saute the pierogi briefly in a small amount of equal amounts of olive oil and butter (as shown in photo).
Serve warm with some sour cream on the side.

AI generated Inspiration

Was Versailles “full of poop”? Did people carry a special jar to poop and pee in?

One thing is certain, the Castle of Versailles was an absolute cesspool by our modern standards.

Let’s assume you could teleport in the Versailles Castle during its Golden Era (XVII Century).

The first thing you would do is gag or puke.

Think about a stench so bad that it would rip your guts out. Not only from feces and urine, but also a peculiar sense of hygiene that was quite standard during those times.

Together, let’s deep dive into the least-known world of Dirty Versailles.

The Glory Days of the chamber pots

If you were a noble residing in the palace, you would most likely relieve yourself in a bucket (pot de chambre or “chamber pot”). It would stay overnight in your room, and your servant would throw it out the window in the morning. An innocent bystander could receive your fluids right in the face if it was unannounced. This practice was usual during medieval times already, when people would throw their garbage on the streets. “Gare á l’eau” (Beware of the water) was the universal warning when somebody disposed his trash on the street.

Chamber pots in Versailles were made of the finest porcelain, rare fabrics and other precious material. There are many variations of chamber pots and some of them should be mentioned just because of their hilarious names:

Ladies of this era had to wear sophisticated dresses that took hours to put on. In the case of a pressing urge, they could urinate right on the spot in a small bucket called a Bourdaloue, named after a famous clergyman whose sermons were unbelievably long.

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Louis Bourdaloue, unimpressed by the fact that his name came down in history as synonymous with gallons of bodily fluids.

Voyage en Hollande (Trip to the Netherlands) was the name of another pissing device that went in fashion when France was at war with … you guessed it… the Netherlands. It looked like a small book but was obviously distantly related to literature.

These devices were carried around by multiple servants who threw the fluids in the sewage system. Other devices for poop have been invented, which bring us to the infamous

Chaise percée: taking a dump in luxury

The way you went for “number two” had everything to do with your rank of nobility and your importance in the royal family. The example of the “chaise percée” (chair with a hole in it) is self-explanatory. This device was a work of art made of the finest woods, fabrics and marbles. You can find a lot of chaises percées in Versailles. It was used since the twelve century and was just more than a toilet.

Nobles, courtisans, ministers and other VIPs sat on the chair for hours. They received guests in their room to discuss important matters, all while proceeding to their natural needs. The whole idea was to make their guests feel inferior and put them in their own place.

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La chaise percée: a subtle way to make your guest understand that you don’t give a crap.

Louis the XIV had for example a very tight schedule while in Versailles.

He was awoken every day at 8:15 a.m. by a cohort of 10 people. At 8:30, he was already sitting on his own chaise percée, surrounded by his family, his court and his ministers. In these conditions, one would find it uneasy to poop, but his stools and urine were examined with great care by his surgeon to see if the King was in good health. Please note that taking part in the rising of the King was considered a real privilege and was an offer that you could not refuse.

Gardens and bushes

Anyone visiting Versailles now cannot help but be mesmerized by the luxurious gardens and the incredible variety of flowers and plants.

Now, imagine that about 3000 people (the numbers of residents of the Versailles court in its golden age), were relieving themselves about everywhere they could. Gardens were festering with faeces and urine, and the repulsive smell was an everyday annoyance for the noble ladies and gents. André Le Nôtre, gardener of the King, had the rather enormous task to mask these odors with the scents of exotic flowers and plants.

To give you an even deeper insight about the inconvenience of pooping outdoors, let’s read a tasty letter written by Princesse de la Palatine

[1], who was Louis the XIV sister-in law.

You are lucky to be able to go for a shit as you please. We are not that lucky here, as I am forced to keep my stool until the night comes; there are no toilets in the houses near the forest. I am forced to go outside to take a shit, which bothers me, because I love to shit as I see fit, and I cannot have a pleasant shit if my ass is supported by nothing. Alas, everybody sees me shitting; there are men, women, girls, boys and Swiss clergymen passing by.

Linen and Cotton: Wiping it in style

Nothing was ever too beautiful or precious for royals bottoms. Nobles would use embroidered linen or cotton handkerchief to wipe themselves clean. The linen fabric has been used since antiquity and was reputed for its smoothness. Because of this it was one of the most expensive items at the Royal Court.

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Look a bit closer and you can clearly see the remnants of a feast that took place in December 1685.

Common men or women regularly used handkerchief of a less prestigious fabric, or could use a bunch of hay or any leaves to do the job. At this point, there was a bit of an “anything goes” vibe when it came to wipe your butthole.

Please note that none of these fabrics were washed with water, but merely scrubbed with another tissue. Talc powder was massively used to mask odors.

Pooping in Versailles: Sanitary Crisis and improvements.

Reading this, you are likely to think that Versailles was like an enormous festival without Porta potties where nobody cared about hygiene whatsover.

However, a long string of sanitary measures took place during the reign of Louis XIV. The construction of a rudimentary sewage system was a step forward to cleanliness, as the fecal matter was transported for the castle to a lake (étang de Clancy) by means of aqueducts.

Sadly, all of these efforts were vain considering the health threats that so much filth would cause. A typhoid crisis happened in 1734 when the inhabitants of the town of Versailles went fishing and bathing in the the filthy waters of Clagny. Half of the town perished due to these unsanitary habits.

The reign of Louis XVI and the influence of his wife Marie-Antoinette marked a relative progress in Versailles’s filth situation. Public latrines were constructed (two for every 3000 people!) and the sewage system improved significantly.

Nota Bene:

Most of the anecdotes compiled here come from a very interesting documentary about the subject of Versailles cleanliness. English version HERE[2].

Footnotes

[1] Lettre scatologique de la Princesse Palatine à Sophie de Hanovre : « Il est très chagrinant que mes plaisirs soient traversés par des étrons. » – Des Lettres

[2] Versailles’ dirty secrets – Toute L’Histoire

China warns of conflict over US push for major-country contest

US officials have in recent days stepped up efforts to crack down on and contain China on multiple fronts – from requesting additional funds to “outcompete China” and arm the island of Taiwan to trying to lure Asian countries into its tech restrictions against China. All these moves are bad for China-US bilateral ties, the Asia-Pacific region and the entire world.

Vicious competition

Commenting on the US’ budget for the 2025 fiscal year, which includes funds to “outcompete China” and arm China’s Taiwan region on Tuesday, Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, reiterated that competition is not the true nature of China-US ties and major-country contest will not address problems faced by China and the US.

The US’ attempt to “outcompete China” is not benign competition, but vicious competition, in which the US sets up traps for the competitor at every turn, Wang said at a regular press briefing. “It is an unrestrained gamble that puts the fundamental interests of people of the two countries and even the future of humanity at stake, and it will only push China and the US toward confrontation and conflict,” he said.

The US administration’s budget request for the 2025 fiscal year includes $4 billion over five years in mandatory funding so as to “employ all the tools at our disposal to outcompete China.” The budget request also includes a “first-time funding request” of $500 million to replenish weapons that would be provided to Taiwan, media reported.

Wang on Tuesday also stated China’s firm opposition to military ties between the US and the island of Taiwan and the US’ attempt to arm the island. “We urge the US to abide by the one-China principle and stop interfering in China’s internal affairs. China will take measures to firmly safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said.

In addition to its budget request, the US government has also stepped up efforts that are apparently aimed at further intensifying its technological crackdown campaign against China.

While leading a US business delegation to the Philippines, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo signaled that the US “will do whatever it takes” to crack down on China’s technological capabilities, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

In the Philippines, Raimondo announced that US companies are set to announce investments totaling more than $1 billion in the Philippines, according to Reuters. The US Commerce Secretary said the US’ commitment to expanding trade and investment in the Philippines also extends to “the larger Indo-Pacific region,” even as she reiterated that the US is not seeking to decouple from China.

Danger for world

The US government’s engagement in zero-sum major-country contest will not only risk confrontation between the world’s two biggest economies, but also draw more countries in the region and around the world into bloc confrontation, at a time when the world needs cooperation the most, Chinese experts noted.

Further underscoring Washington’s intensifying campaign to contain China in a major-country contest, the US government is also pushing its allies, including the Netherlands, Germany, South Korea and Japan, to tighten chip restrictions against China, and is considering adding another Chinese chipmaker, ChangXin Memory Technologies Inc, to its so-called entity list, according to Bloomberg. Meanwhile, the US Congress is rushing a bill that will essentially force Chinese firm ByteDance to sell its popular TikTok or face a ban in the US, a move that Chinese experts have said it’s another hysterical move by Washington to crack down on Chinese firms.

US politicians’ intensifying crackdown and containment campaign against China reflect mounting domestic woes within the US, including its evaporating economic and technological dominance globally, that the country cannot address in any effective manner due to partisan divisions and dysfunctions of the government, according to Chinese analysts.

More importantly, such an attempt will not contain China’s economic and technological rise, as businesses, including US companies, driven by market forces not politics, will continue to invest and operate in the Chinese market, experts said.

Many US business executives are visiting China and expanding investment in China. Political restrictions on US businesses will only hurt US’ interests.

In an apt example of US firms expanding investment in China, US tech giant Apple announced on Tuesday a plan to open a new research lab in Shenzhen, South China’s Guangdong Province, and upgrade its Shanghai research lab. This comes shortly after the company just announced to open a new store in downtown Shanghai.

Are Americans really expected to pay outrageous hospital bills?

This maybe isn’t outrageous, but it is to me.

I had a small surgery to remove a tumor from my pinkie finger. It was rather large (probably the size of an acorn). I paid my deductible (which was $1500.) I also paid an additional $250 to the doctor’s office. Then, after the surgery, I received a bill because “they used a compression device during the surgery that was not pre-approved by your insurance.” $1500. I also received another $1200 bill because “they sent the tumor to be tested at an out of network lab.” I also received a $22 bill for something else (not sure what).

This is WITH insurance. I pay $400/month to cover my daughter and me. My job also pays part of the insurance premium so it’s actually over $400/month. I’m not sure how much they pay. So around $4500 was my out of pocket cost for a very simple surgery that probably took the doctor 10 minutes to complete.

In my opinion, it’s not my fault they sent the tumor to an out of network place to be tested, and it’s certainly not my fault that they used a compression device that was not pre-approved (while I was under sedation).

Crazy!

A woke “John Wick” movie

Oh My God.

At what stage in your life did you realize, “No, I can’t do this any more” and walk out? Why?

Originally Answered: At what stage in your life did you realise, “No, I can’t do this any more” and walk out? Why?

Claire, my wife of 22 years, and I sat on the porch in dreary contemplation, and useless argument, again, about her son Freddie’s seeming incapacity to get “squared away.” Freddies’ wife had abandoned him, and taken their three children. He could not hold a job. He was NOT a drug addict; he simply could not function as a responsible adult. He was witty and charming. But he never repaid anyone from whom he had borrowed money. And he had moved back into our home, again. He had diabetes, but did nothing to control his diet. His favorite pastimes seemed to be television and standing in front of the open refrigerator, wondering what to eat. That, and runs for pizza or to McDonald’s.

Yes, there had been counseling and various attempts to try this or that. Nothing seemed to work. It became more and more clear to me that Freddie was going to become a permanent part of the household.

But Claire still wanted to “fix” him. Gradually, two facts became clear to me:

Freddie was simply born into the wrong culture. He would have done better on Samoa or some similar paradise where food was always on a nearby tree, where women were available and willing, and where temperate conditions demanded little in terms of providing shelter or an income. There was nothing to fix; nothing was broken. Just the wrong guy in the wrong place. As I began to understand this, I became less resentful, and more accepting. At the same time, I also became less responsible for this 10-year-old mentality which lived in a 25-year-old body.
Claire had a strong personal investment in keeping Freddie the way he was —utterly dependent. With every agreement, every new program, every financial investment to “help” Freddie, Freddie always violated the agreement, or needed an exception. He always needed money. “Can you spot me a $50?” And Claire always went along with her son. She was teaching him to be dependent and to reject any notion of personal responsibility. Gradually, the two personalities seemed to merge. Whenever Claire spoke of Freddie’s problems or issues or presumed progress, it was always, “we.” They were in this thing together.

I, myself, was in counseling to help me get my head around all this. Eventually, I concluded that, at some point, it had to end, for the sake of my own sanity.

Resigned to this reality, I rarely argued any more. Intimacy with Claire had evaporated; we lived in an uneasy truce. I knew I had to leave. I just didn’t know when, or how. So I tried to mentally hunker down—and wait.

Until that day on the porch, when Claire told me that I was the cause of Freddie’s problems. I was the responsible party, here. She went down the list of all the things I had done to make Freddie so insecure, so unable to function. Then she told me: “If I knew when we got married that this is the way things would be, I never would have married you.”

And that’s when a little bell went off in my head. The time had come.

“Well, Claire, you are going to get your wish. I’m done.”

In the fullness of time, Claire actually got what she most wanted. I made her a wealthy lady with a fully paid home and car, and an investment portfolio more than sufficient to sustain her for the rest of her days.

And today, as I write this, the home has been sold because the portfolio was depleted, over the years. Claire moved into a more modest dwelling, and she had a new nest egg, from the sale of the home she left. But that, too, has been exhausted, all the money spent on Freddie and his sister, Katy. For a time, Claire had what she wanted: a secure home, and Freddie (and his new wife) as permanent residents. But even that did not last, because Katy found her brother to be intolerable: she forced Freddie and his wife to move out; they ended up in public housing. Freddie receives dialysis twice a week and has lost a foot. Katy is now the queen bee in Claire’s home. And the money is all gone; Claire’s income is a Social Security check. Basically, Claire had succeeded in impoverishing three people. Had I stayed, it would have been four.

That leaves Randy, Claire’s eldest son, who was most bitter when advised I was divorcing his mother. He believed I was abandoning her. I was the “bad guy.” Randy was a successful and responsible man, who with his second wife Jenny, was raising a blended family of their own. But it wasn’t long before Randy and Jenny saw the truth, and understood the impossible situation in which I lived. Today, they have made me part of their family, which includes very brilliant and successful children, and grandchildren who will no doubt be the same. These people love me, and while we see each other only infrequently, it is always a celebration.

Ironically, the vision that Claire had of senior years spent happily with her children has actually become my reality, not hers. I regret that, for her, but am most appreciative of my own good fortune.

My story.

[EDIT]: Almost without exception, comments below are supportive and also speak to many similar situations.

But there are exceptions, and they are good ones. I have been reprimanded, even scolded, for my references to Samoa, with freely available fruit and sexual company. I should have seen that coming. Although metaphorical, it came off to some readers as thoughtless and prejudicial. Point taken. Current readers please understand the metaphorical intent. Just think “an island paradise, somewhere.” Thank you.

UPDATE: In mid 2021, Freddie succumbed of numerous causes, most relating to his worsening atrophy, but also to Covid. By then, Claire had been forced to move into still lower cost housing, where Katy continued to care for her. By early 2022, Claire died. I’m not sure of the causes, but based on what Katy had to say, it seemed to me that with Freddie gone, she really had no reason to live.

Curiously enough, Claire left so little, and Katy had so little, that money was short for a burial. A major part of the cost of her burial fell to me.

Putin’s BRUTAL Warning to NATO has Macron in Panic ft. Scott Ritter

Americans do not understand this… ugh!

Can you be fired from your job without knowing it until hours later? If so, what would cause such a thing?

When I worked for the Department of Correction we had to fill out a leave request form if we wanted to take time off. Once our manager signed the form, she’d keep one copy for her files, we’d keep a copy, and then drop off a third copy in HR. Our manager only asked that we give her at least three days notice if we wanted to take time off but one of my coworkers didn’t do that and it wound up costing him his job.

He decided one Thursday afternoon that he wanted to take the following week off, so he filled out the form and took it in for our manager to sign. She wasn’t in her office so he put the form on her desk, expecting her to take care of things from there. Friday morning there was a network outage at a prison and he was dispatched to take care of it along with a couple of other techs. They didn’t return until end of business that day and, since it was Friday afternoon, they all were eager to head home so he didn’t give a second thought to his leave slip.

The problem was after placing his leave form on our boss’s desk, the busines manager had place a stack of paperwork on top of it, so our boss never saw it. He went on vacation the following week blissfully unaware that he was about to be unemployed. He missed Monday and when he didn’t show up on Tuesday our boss called his home number — he refused to tell anyone at work what his cellphone number was — and left a message asking him to call. He didn’t, and when he didn’t come in on Wednesday he was considered to have quit without notice and was terminated.

When he arrived at work a few minutes early the next Monday his ID badge did not work and he couldn’t log onto his computer. Our boss came in, saw him, and asked what he was doing at work. He told her, jokingly, he worked here as far as he knew, and that’s when she told him that he actually didn’t. He told her that he’d requested leave and had put the form on her desk and, after some searching, she located it. But it was too late. He was told he could apply for his job once it was posted but I don’t know if he did. All I know is that he wasn’t the person who was hired.

What is one item you will never eat again after working at a fast food restaurant, and why?

Right after the New Year celebration, the bar I worked at burned down to the ground. I was unemployed for about three months, and the unemployment was about to run out. I knew that the bar would open in about another three months, and that there would be work at the bar about six weeks before the opening, but I would be without money for about two months if I didn’t find a job, and quick.

Since I like living indoors with working electricity and plumbing, I decided to take a friend up on his offer to go to work at McDonald’s.

I was 29 years old at the time, and felt like a complete loser taking the job, but I shaved my beard and moustache, and went to the restaurant to apply for a job, which I got.

Most of my coworkers were high school students, and I was at least 10 years older than 90 percent of my coworkers. It was awful, but not because they were young, but for many, it was there first job. The treated it like high school by implementing divisions betweens the cliques and everyone else and pulled stupid practical jokes. I was handed a spray bottle and told to go water plants in the lobby. I went out and discovered the plants were actually cloth and plastic.

Anyway, after working at McDonald’s, I will never have any ice cream item from there, especially a shake or McFlurry (even if the machine is not broken) because the machines were not cleaned on the schedule set by corporate. The McFlurry machine comes apart, and the pieces were supposed to soak in a bucket of hot water and a chemical solution, and the remaining parts of the machine is supposed to have some chemical solution run through it.

I cleaned it every night I working, and when I was put on the day shift to cover for a coworker who was off for a family vacation, I heard a customer complain that their McFlurry tasted funny. It was just before the lunch rush, and I told the day supervisor that I knew how to clean it, so he took me out of the kitchen and tasked me to clean the machine.

It was awful. Their were spots of mold-like substances on the machine, and it obviously hadn’t been cleaned for at least a few days and probably about a week.

It took over three times as long to clean the machine as it normally did. A wire brush had to be used to completely clean and disinfect the device. I mentioned to the manager that he should probably check the oil for the fish, the chicken nuggets, and the French fries, and he discovered that they had not been changed in two days.

It was at that point the checklists appeared in the kitchen to document the necessary steps to ensure complete accordance of all required kitchen maintenance and cleaning, and I decided that I would never have a McFlurry ever again at any McDonald’s restaurant.

The FEDS are coming after THOUSANDS of Americans

Yep.

What do homeless people do during the day? Do they get bored?

My husband and I were briefly homeless. (4.5 months in 2014) There isn’t much time to be bored if you’re intentions are to not stay homeless. What people don’t realize is that being homeless makes everything 1000X harder to do even the most common of tasks, which can quickly turn into a forever vicious cycle of poverty and homelessness due to losing the willpower and resources to get back on your feet.

Want to take a shower? You have to find a place and possibly pay a fee if you don’t have friends in the area to help you out.

Want to cook dinner? You will need to buy a propane burner or awkwardly go into a truck stop gas station to cook using their microwave.

Want to do laundry to go to a job interview? You will have to budget your money to wash a load, hoping that they offer free detergent because if you’re homeless you don’t have the energy or space to carry around a bottle of detergent or softener.

Need a ride to go get a job? You need to find and budget gas money or an uber, probably skipping meals for the day. Hopefully your job is close to where you set up your camp so you can walk and not pay gas, parking, or bus fare.

Need to sleep? You will have to scope out a semi-safe place to park your car or look up local shelters. (Where I live they charge $8 a day per person to stay at the Salvation Army, children count as a person.)

I ended up spending majority of my time at the local library because not only could I look up local resources and jobs, but it was the only place that had A/C in the 110 degree weather that wouldn’t kick me out. The struggle is real.

I put in my 2 weeks resignation notice a week ago and my manager is assigning me so much work during my last 3 days. How do I address my concerns?

I worked as a records clerk in a high school. My last day before retiring I had a school deliver a truck load of student’s records that needed to be processed and filed away. This was during the student summer break. I had 30 minutes before I was due to leave for good. The person that was taking my place was shown one last time how to do the files and I left. I was 45 minutes away, on a cruise ship (Mobile AL) at the time and got a call before we left port. One co-worker (different job but had set a few desks away from me) called to tell me I had left my replacement a mess to handle and I needed to come in and help her. I laughed at her and told her I couldn’t do that and why. I also pointed out that my replacement had a month and a half to get the files done but not to wait to do them as more files would be coming in. She didn’t believe I was on a ship until the horn went off. Told her I was leaving port and needed to get off the phone. My replacement had a nervous breakdown three months after she took over my job. That job really required two people to do it. She couldn’t handle it. Not sure what they did for the rest of the year. Not my problem.

Modern Woman LOSES IT After She SAW A Passport Bros Getting BETTER Treatment

Have you ever had a bad seatmate on an airplane? What did they do, and how did you deal with it?

I sat next to a guy in business class who was extremely unhappy that he had not been upgraded to first class. He groused to the flight attendants about it as he was arriving, and I knew he was going to be trouble. Then he started ordering drinks, vodka and cranberry juice. I stopped counting after nine, but I think he must have had 13 or 14 before they cut him off. Then he was angry about that. He got up and argued with the purser more than once. Meanwhile, he was adjusting his insulin pump. I don’t know much about diabetes, but I’m pretty sure it’s not a good idea to drink that much.

He didn’t say anything obnoxious to me, and I only answered his occasional questions in monosyllables. But about two thirds of the way through the flight I went back to the galley and said to the flight attendants, “Look, I know that this guy is exactly the kind who would make a formal complaint about you, and I just want to tell you that I’ll back you up if you need any witnesses for your defense.” I gave them my business card.

After the flight I used the “compliment” feature of their web site to specifically praise the purser, who was a middle-aged man of Indian origin and had borne the brunt of my seatmate’s behavior. I said that he had the patience of a saint and had behaved with the utmost professionalism. I got a nice letter back from the airline thanking me and saying that they would notify his supervisor.

US China chip war explained: China Overtakes US in Chip War!

The US and China have been rivals across various domains, from sports and the Olympics to manufacturing and the quest for global supremacy. This time, the competition has moved to a much smaller yet critically important battlefield: the realm of chips and semiconductor technology.

This area is pivotal for the advancement of modern technologies and has become the latest focal point of their ongoing strategic contest. The semiconductor industry holds a crucial place in our world, shaping the fabric of our daily lives, the economy, and the future of technology. Semiconductors, or chips, are the hidden intellect inside virtually all modern electronic devices we rely on every day. From the moment you check your smartphone in the morning, which could contain up to 100 different chips, to the car you drive, which now includes advanced driver-assistance systems reliant on semiconductors for safer and more efficient operation, these tiny components are indispensable.

Furthermore, semiconductors are at the heart of breakthroughs in technology. They are essential for the development of cutting-edge innovations such as artificial intelligence, which is transforming industries from healthcare to entertainment, electric vehicles that are setting the course for a more sustainable future, and renewable energy systems that promise cleaner energy alternatives.

In this video, we’ll explore the Chips war between the US and China and examining the role of BRICS nations in this crucial sector for the current century.

You are at work when your boss unexpectedly gives you a bonus. What do you think got you the bonus?

My boss handed me a greeting card and asked me to read it at home. She made me promise that I would wait to open it. UGH!

Anyway, I got home, and inside the card was $1,000! She had written in the card, that this was a bonus because I used my passive-aggressive actions, two of her most annoying, demanding customers who constantly would expect and get free food and corporate made her give it to them. Stopped coming into our restaurant, and she was so happy, just as I was.

The first customer was given a free large soda, daily and when he arrived after breakfast wanted a hashbrown. He complained to corporate, so now any time he wanted a hashbrown, not only did we have to make him one any time of the day but give it to him for free. Now, I would only give him the free stuff if he asked for it to be free. I made sure that he checked his order on the order screen so that put the free food ball in his court. He wouldn’t look at it and tell me yes, it’s correct. He would pay, and after he got his order, he would realize that he was charged for what he expected for free. He would demand a refund, and my boss wouldn’t give it to him. She asked him, if I asked him to verify that his order was correct, he said yes, but I should just know what is free and not expect him to have to tell me every day. He stopped coming!

The second customer had been coming for decades seven days a week and ordered the same items. He was given free extra cheese and extra lettuce. One day, a coworker saw him drive up, so despite the fact there were quite a few customers ahead of him, she made his order, and handed it to me. Once he made it to the register to order (less than 3 minutes), he said, “I’ll take my usual.” I took his payment and handed him his order. He immediately took it to then of the counter and checked it out. My coworker and I both asked him if there was a problem. He told us that he doesn’t like his food made that quickly. Fair enough! The next day, once again lots of people were in the lobby waiting for food. He gets to the register; he tells me that he will take his usual. I sweetly, asked him what is that sir? He said that I knew what it was. I explained, well, because of your comments yesterday, by having you tell me, that assures you that your food will not be made too quickly. In an exasperated voice, told me what he wanted. Now, his order does not automatically come with a fork, and since he didn’t ask for one, he was not given one. The next day is the same as the day before. He complained that he wasn’t given a fork. I sweetly explained that his order doesn’t automatically require a fork, so may I suggest if he wants a fork included, he will need to ask for one. I’m not a mind reader. After quite a few months, he complained to my general manager, and she sweetly explained that he was the one who didn’t like his food made too quickly, this assures him that now it won’t be.

Covid hit, and the lobby is closed, so drive-thru only.

He would order his food and complain at the window that he didn’t get the extra cheese, extra lettuce, or a fork the day before. I explained that unless he tells the order taker that this (insert his name), the cooks will not know to give him the free extra food nor to enclose a fork. This same conversation went on for over three months, with him still not giving his name so not getting his free food. Once again, he complained to the boss, and she explained to him that he had been giving a simple solution to his problem and he had refused to take ownership. He told her he would not come back because he was being treated so poorly. She told him, one can only hope! That ticked him off, he has never been back since!

U.S SHOCKED! CHINA Build 5nm CHIP Ahead of U.S and E.U

In today’s episode on the Innovative Check YouTube channel, we dive deep into the heart of the global technological battlefield, where China’s ambitious leap into 5nm semiconductor technology stands as a defiant challenge to Western hegemony. Amidst U.S. sanctions, giants like S.M.I.C and Huawei spearhead this technological feat, underlining China’s push for technological independence and global leadership.

This episode unravels the complexities of this strategic move, its implications on the global tech landscape, and the shifting sands of international power dynamics. As we dissect the engineering marvel of 5nm chip technology and China’s strategic maneuvers to build an integrated domestic semiconductor ecosystem, we uncover the broader narrative of technological sovereignty, economic rivalry, and the future of global technological leadership.

From the battlegrounds of innovation and geopolitical chess games, this episode is a profound exploration of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in the quest for semiconductor self-sufficiency and the reshaping of global tech dominance. Join us on this enlightening journey through innovation, ambition, and the strategic stakes of the new world order in the making.

Whether you’re a tech enthusiast, policy analyst, or simply curious about the future of global technology, this video offers compelling insights into one of the most critical issues of our time.

What was a gruesome torture method practiced in the past?

Drop torture

main qimg 85b551287400ddd18c4e7d46f3dfd037 pjlq

You’re stuck in a chair. You can’t move. Every five seconds, a small drop of water falls on your head.

After being in this situation for twenty minutes, the sound of the water starts to irritate you.

After a week, every drop of water sounds like a drum.

After a month, you feel pain because you can’t move, and seemingly painless drops of water start to open wounds in your head. You can also suffer from labyrinthitis.

After two months, the pain is so bad that you go crazy. If you don’t, well, the water droplets will kill you anyway.

A drop of water. Tiny, frivolous, seemingly innocent; yet it could be the cause of your death.

An old proverb went: “The drop digs the stone by its constancy, not by its strength”.

EVIL RETALIATION! U.S Insist on Bringing Down China Tech

In this critical analysis, we explore the escalating tensions between the United States and China over advanced semiconductor technologies and their implications for global security and technological dominance. With the U.S. government, led by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, taking a firm stance on restricting China’s access to cutting-edge technologies, we delve into the potential repercussions of this strategy on international relations, innovation, and the digital divide. Join us as we dissect the motives, strategies, and possible outcomes of this technological standoff, shedding light on the ethical, political, and economic dilemmas it presents. Don’t forget to engage with our content by liking, sharing, and subscribing to our channel for more insightful discussions on the transformative projects shaping our world.

What are the reasons behind Taiwanese people not supporting unification with Mainland China, despite having similar culture and language? How does this compare to the situation with Korean unification?

There are 2 types of Taiwanese who reject re-unification with China.

1, Corrupted politicians who get funds from USA. USA wants to suppress China’s rise. So corrupted politicians endlessly shout “independence” so as to create problem for China. These people work for money & not for the welfare of Taiwan.

2, Losers. In China’s 4000 years’ of history, there were many civil wars. The one who lost the war would accept the winner as the new leader/emperor of China. They moved on with life.

Taiwanese loser-politicians do not want to move on with life. They hold onto the past.

Today there are some Qing descendants who are still angry at ROChina (ie today’s Taiwan) for overthrowing Qing dynasty. These Qing descendants live in remote areas in China; they do not want to move on with life & integrate into the new China. Same here for these loser Taiwanese.

What was the craziest defense in court that actually worked?

A lawyer and democratic state senator from Oklahoma was in court for bribery he had accepted money from a constituent in return for a favor. The FBI had audio recorded the conversation and exchange.

During the trial Gene Stipe played a recording of the audio on a cheap battery powered cassette player. Gene talked during the playing of the tape so as to distract the jury from what was being played.

When the FBI brought in an expensive reel to reel tape player that had much better audio without any background noise the judge overruled them as Gene Stipe protested and had already submitted an audio as evidence.

The jury acquitted Gene Stipe.

A fellow classmate told that his father had been arrested on a DUI charge. His father contacted Gene Stipe about representing him. The only question Gene Stipe asked him was how much money he had. When told that he had approximately $8,500 dollars. Gene told him he would see what he could do. Gene Stipe called back a couple days later and asked if he had the check written out. When he told Gene he could bring it by his office, Gene told him as soon as the check clears his case would be dropped. He took the check by and was told the case had been dropped by the county and to ignore any communication from the county or court house and to mail it to Gene. He never heard another word on the DUI charge.

New England Pot Roast

This is SO tasty. The horseradish is the secret ingredient! The leftovers make wonderful roast beef sandwiches also.

Ingredients

1 (4 pound) boneless beef chuck arm, shoulder or blade pot roast
1 to 2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 (8 ounce) bottle prepared horseradish
1 cup water
8 small potatoes, cut in half
8 medium carrots, cut into fourths
8 small onions, skins removed
1/2 cup cold water
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Instructions

In a 4 quart Dutch oven, cook beef over medium heat until brown on all sides. Reduce heat to low.
Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. Spread horseradish over all sides of beef. Add 1 cup water to Dutch oven. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 2 hours 30 minutes.
Add potatoes, carrots and onions to Dutch oven. Cover and simmer for about 1 hour or until beef and vegetables are tender.
Remove beef and vegetables to warm platter; keep warm.
Skim excess fat from broth in Dutch oven. Add enough water to broth to measure 2 cups.
In tightly covered container, shake 1/2 cup cold water and the flour; gradually stir into broth. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for 1 minute.
Serve gravy with beef and vegetables.

AI generated Inspiration

PASSPORT BROS Tells Men Go To Southern China Women Are COMPETING For Men Here

Why aren’t we protesting to make supermax prisoners get more yard time?

To end up in a Supermax you had to do something really bad in the prison I know of people who started out in a medium security prison where they had decent yard time. Then they did something to get sent to get their custody level raised and sent to a maximum security prison where there is less yard time. Finally, they do something to get sent to a “supermax” In Missouri they have one it is called Potosi Correctional Center. Really it is a punishment prison and also houses those with capital punishment.If you get sent there because of something you did in another prison , you do about 9 months in the hole and then you work your way to General Population through a step up program. Basically, if your behavior is good you gradually get more yard time and privileges.

I know many people are against people doing long stretches in the hole. But tell me what the prison is supposed to do when someone does something like assaulting another prisoner or C/O? Are they to just pat them on the head and tell them not to do it again? They tried that at Missouri State Penitentiary back in the day. Someone could stab someone and just get a few days in the hole. Violence was very high until they started giving longer stretches in the hole and charging them with crimes

The only problem I have is that it doesn’t matter if you started something or were defending yourself, you are going to the hole and possibly your custody level raised and sent to Potosi {or in other states Supermax}

As a person from mainland China, have you ever been ‘invited to tea’ by the authorities? What was the experience like?

I’m not Chinese but I live in China. I’ve never been “invited to tea” but one of the teachers that I work with has been.

In the past, you used to have to register at the police station every single time you left China and returned. The government used to take registering very seriously. These days the police don’t care that much and you only have to do it if you move or get a new passport.

Anyway, one of the teachers I worked with was always perfect. She did everything correctly but one time she forgot to register (normally not a big deal since you have a few days to register and even if it was the following week they wouldn’t mind) but then she didn’t travel again for a while. Eventually, the police did an audit and she got called to the police station for going about 300 days without registering. She had to write an apology note and say sorry, etc.

She never forgot again and that was it.

USA on the Brink of Chaos: How Americans Are Living the End of the American Dream

We are fucked

Ukraine is starting to tumble.

Head over heels, and the West is starting to realize that it is really over.

And thus…

We start with some Hall Turner fear-mongering…

60 FIRED !!!! Trump Purges Republican National Committee Staff

World Hal Turner 11 March 2024

With President Trump now the Presumptive Nominee for the Republican Nomination for President of the United States, he and his campaign earned the right to staff the Republican National Committee (RNC)

Today, they FIRED 60 people from RNC jobs!

This was long overdue.

The RNC was filled with anti-Trump, globalist, NWO-types who were selling this country out in every way they could. Mental Weaklings who thought they should go along to get along . . . . and losing race after race. That was all brought to an abrupt end today.

I am told “More firings are coming.”

This, too, will be a welcome change.

ANY person who made even a single utterance against Trump or his “America First” policies, need to be shown the door. The one thing the NWO Globalist types have shown, is they are SNEAKS. They talk a good story but when they think no one hears, or no one is looking, they sabotage, back-bite, and sew discord. OUT THE DOOR with all of them!

These people get it

Slovakia Prime Minister . . .”Lie Doomed on our Balcony . . . waiting for World Apocalypse”

World Hal Turner 10 March 2024

“All We Can Do is Lie Doomed On The Balcony With A Cognac And A Cigar, Waiting For The World Apocalypse”

Slovak Prime Minister Fico: “The West sees that, despite significant assistance, despite anti-Russian sanctions, Ukraine is simply not capable of winning. And if we send military personnel from the EU and NATO to Ukraine, all we can do is lie doomed on the balcony with cognac and a cigar, waiting for the world apocalypse.”

Hal Turner Analysis

The fact that the Prime Minister of Slovakia said these words Sunday evening is proof that the “idea” of French President Macron, for NATO member countries to send their troops into Ukraine under “Bi-lateral Security Agreements” was far more than just bluster or posturing. Clearly, the suggestion of the French President is under active consideration.

Were it anything else, there would be no reason for the Prime Minister to make such a statement.

The world is moving faster and faster toward an actual nuclear conflict with Russia. The general public in Europe and the United States remain blissfully unaware because the mass media has utterly failed in its job to report the serious and world-changing events developing in Ukraine.

I have done, and continue to do, my best, to keep you informed of the important developments overseas.

These comments by the Prime Minister of Slovakia cannot be taken lightly – at all.

Intention

UPDATED 3-12-2024 — Rest Easy Britain; THIS is what’s protecting you!

World Hal Turner 10 March 2024

The Military sales pitch doesn’t match the reality. That’s a conclusion being drawn by many after seeing what happened to a “Challenger 2” Tank on the Battlefields of Ukraine: Russia eats them for breakfast!

Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land is a large Defense Contractor. They make various types of equipment and tout the reliability of that equipment. Here’s what they say they do:

As an integrated technology group, the listed company Rheinmetall AG, headquartered in Düsseldorf, stands for a company that is as strong in substance as it is successful internationally, and that is active in various markets with an innovative range of products and services. Rheinmetall is a leading international systems supplier in the defence industry and at the same time a driver of forward-looking technological and industrial innovations in the civilian markets. The focus on sustainability is an integral part of Rheinmetall’s strategy. The company aims to achieve CO2 neutrality by 2035.

Through our work in various fields, we at Rheinmetall take on responsibility in a dramatically changing world. With our technologies, products and systems, we create the indispensable basis for peace, freedom and sustainable development: security.

They manufacture the “Challenger 2” Tank.

Here’s how they advertise some of it:

The sales pitch is straight forward:

But the Sales Pitch doesn’t seem to match the reality.

Here’s the reality from the battlefields of Ukraine:

That is a “Challenger 2” Main Battle Tank built by Rheinmetall / BAE Systems Land.

The sales pitch says it can operate in “high intensity conflict.” In reality . . . . apparently not so much.

Wow! Turret blasted out of the hole in the center top of the tank, where it used to rest. Wheels blown off and/or melted. Tracks destroyed. Side armor over tracks and wheels blown to smitherines.

Somehow, this does not look as one might expect a “main battle tank” to look, on a battlefield.

What did this tank encounter that killed it? The Russian Army.

If this is the best that NATO has to offer, then as a layman, I can’t help but feel NATO is sadly lacking. Deluding themselves as to the “superiority” of their forces.

If these are what would be put up against Russia, it seems to me NATO doesn’t have a chance!

But that’s not __really__ the point, now, is it?

The actual point is how much these tanks cost taxpayers, and how much the military-industrial-complex (MIC) can pocket. I asked Google “How much does a Challenger 2 tank cost.

So presuming Google is correct, for $4.9 MILLION dollars each, taxpayers can rest easy knowing this is “protecting” them.

Or . . . maybe not rest so easy after seeing what happens in the real world!

OK, to heck with resting easy, just pay the money and buy more tanks . . . the MIC has to earn profit! They have to donate to political campaigns so the politicians they get elected can . . . buy more tanks!

You really shouldn’t be paying attention to stories like this; might be bad for Rheinmetall/ BAE Systems Land, sales.

Large Number of E-6B “Doomsday” Planes Airborne over CONUS

Nation Hal Turner 12 March 2024

Large Number of E-6B "Doomsday" Planes Airborne over CONUS

Six e-6B “Mercury” aircraft are airborne over the continental United States (CONUS) today. Each is a Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications plane!

The E-6B Mercury is a communications relay and strategic airborne command post aircraft. It provides survivable, reliable, and endurable airborne Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications (NC3) for the president, secretary of defense and U.S. Strategic Command. Two operational squadrons (“Ironmen” of VQ-3 and “Shadows” of VQ-4) deploy from their main Operating Base at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, supported by the TACAMO Weapons School and the fleet replacement squadron (the “Roughnecks” of VQ-7). They deploy aircrews to Forward Operating Bases at Travis Air Force Base, California; Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska; Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md.; and other locations, as directed.

Here are the E-6 planes over the continental United States March 12, 2024:

Boeing derived the E-6A from its commercial 707 to replace the aging EC-130Q in the performance of the Navy’s TACAMO mission. TACAMO links the National Command Authority (NCA) with naval ballistic missile forces during times of crisis. The aircraft carries a Very Low Frequency communication system with dual trailing wire antennas. The Navy accepted the first E-6A in August 1989.

The E-6B was conceived as a replacement for the Air Force’s Airborne Command Post due to the age of the EC-135 fleet. The E-6B modified an E-6A by adding battlestaff positions and other specialized equipment. The E-6B is a dual-mission aircraft capable of fulfilling either the no-fail TACAMO mission or the Looking Glass mission, which facilitates the launch of U.S. land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles using an airborne launch control system (ALCS). The Navy accepted the first E-6B aircraft in December 1997 and the E-6B assumed its dual operational mission in October 1998. The E-6 fleet was completely modified to the E-6B configuration in 2003.

Why there are SIX of these aircraft operating over CONUS today, is unknown. Drill? Threat?

Salsa Jim’s Pork Tenderloin

This is a recipe “invented” by my late friend “Salsa” Jim. Jim was a graduate of Scottsdale Culinary Institute. He loved to dream up new recipes. In addition, he entered the Salsa Challenge in Scottsdale, Arizona, every year. I was always there to support him and to help him work the booth. The “Challenge” is for the benefit of the Hemophilia Association which was Salsa Jim’s favorite charity.

Ingredients

1 (4 pound) pork tenderloin
5 ribs celery, cut 3 inches long
5 carrots, cut 3 inches long
3 onions, cut into quarters
1 (15 ounce) can pineapple juice
8 ounces brown sugar
Water as needed
Salt and pepper as needed

Instructions

Heat oven to 300 degrees F.
Place vegetables in roasting pan; add juice, brown sugar, water and pork loin (you may need to truss the pork). Salt and pepper top as needed. Cover with foil. You want to cook this slowly, about 25 to 30 minutes per pound, and it will be very tender.
With the juice in the pan, you can make a gravy. For a good gravy you should make a roux which is equal parts flour to butter or margarine. Make the roux ahead of time and add to the hot liquid, stirring with a whip. Let cook for about 30 minutes to cook out flour.

Notes

“This gravy will surprise everyone. Most people can’t figure what is in it, + it’s delicious!” ~ Jim

What are some fascinating psychological facts about attracting people?

1. Symmetrical Faces

Studies show that people with symmetrical faces are thought to be the most attractive compared to asymmetrical faces. If you find yourself attracted to someone with a symmetrical face, blame it on biology

2. Parental Resemblance

Also known as the Oedipus Syndrome, research shows that 90% of people are attracted to others who resemble their parents. If your parents we young when you were born, you will find younger people attractive. If you had older parents when you were born, you will find older face

3. Wearing Red

Studies show that wearing red color clothing will make people attracted to you. This is true for both men and women because the color red is considered superior. Another study also shows that the attraction to red is unconscious so if you are trying to attract that special someone, why not take out that sexy red dress!

4. Smiling

Research suggest that men find women very attractive when they smile while women find men who smile less often more attractive. If you are a gal, try smiling more, and if you are a guy, stay stern!

5. Higher Pitched Voices

If a woman finds a man attractive, she will automatically and unconsciously begin to speak in a very high pitched voice. Try not to let him know that you have a crush by lowering

6. Weight & Height

Studies show that women who weigh 10 kilograms more than they should find a harder time finding dates. Men on the other hand are less attractive if they are shorter than they should be by a few inches. Start losing some of those extra pounds girls and guys, try wearing some shoe pads.

7. Large Boobs

Studies show that men are more attracted to women with large boobs. Some researchers believe that this is because women with larger breasts produce more milk for their offsprings.

8. Beards

Many studies show that women find men with long beards more attractive than men with none. They also state that this is because men with beards look stronger and more responsible. Other studies show that men with beards make better parents.

9. Younger & Older

Studies show that women are more attracted to older men while men are more attracted to younger women. This is because men find women who are younger to be more fertile while women find men who are older to be more caring, Research shows that men with large bellies are found less attractive and vice versa. Try getting rid of that belly fat!Research shows that men with large bellies are found less attractive and vice versa. Try getting rid of that belly fat!

10. Competing

Studies show that people find others attractive when they see that the person is getting attention from others. If a man sees a woman being smiled at by another man, he will automatically find that woman attractive as well. This is because humans are born competitive

11. Large Belly

Research shows that men with large bellies are found less attractive and vice versa. Try getting rid of that belly fat!

12. Copying

Studies show that when two people are in love or attracted to each other, they will begin to copy each other’s actions.

13. Money

Research shows that women are more attracted to men with wealth while men are attracted to women of youth and beauty.

14. First Move

If you met someone who thought that you were attractive while he or she was drunk or drinking, you need to evaluate your encounter. Research shows that people who are drunk tend to find everyone attractive that the person who makes the first move in a relationship is the one who is more attractive and feels the most attraction.

15. Adrenaline’

Research shows that adrenaline has a lot to do with attraction! Apparently, people find others more attractive when they themselves are experiencing an adrenaline rush!

16. Alcohol

17.Flexing

Research shows that if a man is attracted to a woman, he will unconsciously begin to flex his body or position himself in a way that will show off his best features.

Conclusion

Now you understand the psychological facts about the attraction between two people.

See me…

What is a disturbing fact most people are unaware of?

60-year-old mechanic Philip Hoe was admitted to hospital with a serious skin condition.

He was, however, a heavy (I’m talking 20-a-day) smoker, and wasn’t quite ready to give that up just yet. Unfortunately, this craving led to a pivotal moment in his life—and not in a good way.

A few years prior, he was receiving skin treatment at a hospital, but went into the toilets to have a smoke—which wasn’t allowed in the hospital.

Doing this, he managed to burn his dressing gown—but nothing that posed a threat to his life.

[1] But a similar situation struck in 2006, and he wouldn’t be able to cheat death so easily this time.

He was now at Doncaster Royal Infirmary, yet again getting more treatment for his psoriasis. His nurse had moisturised his body by smearing him with several ointments, which was meant to soothe the skin.

Hoe had then been warned not to smoke, as it was not permitted in the hospital—and to add to that, it really wouldn’t have been a good idea when he was covered head to toe in liquid paraffin.

[2] But when no-one was around, Hoe snuck out onto the hospital fire escape (the access of which was prohibited) to have a quick smoke—almost like the plot to a tragic comedy.

‘The victim, obviously a smoker, had slipped away from a ward for a crafty fag and was in the enclosed stairwell of a fire escape.’

But this cigarette craving would prove to be fatal.

Percy Smith, another patient at the hospital, who was watching Emmerdale at the time, suddenly heard shouts from the stairwell:

‘… I heard a male shouting help me. The shouting was over and over again. He was screaming as if he was in a lot of pain.’

A gust of wind had caused the cigarette flame to spread to his entire body, and set him alight like a human bonfire.

‘His body was engulfed from head to foot in flames. He was stood upright not moving, just screaming for help.’

Immediately a student nurse and sister grabbed a fire extinguisher and tried to douse the flames, but he was left with 90 percent of his body with third-degree burns.

He was transferred to another hospital but died shortly after.

This isn’t at all a unique, stand-alone case—the BBC led an investigation in 2017 and found that skin creams containing paraffin were linked to several fire deaths across the UK—a fact uncommon, but still disturbing.

Hoe’s life came to a bitter and unfortunate end—albeit preventable, if he had not acted on his impulse to smoke—although that is, to be fair, easier said than done.

Footnotes

[1] Fire tragedy of skin patient who couldn’t resist smoking

[2] Skin creams linked to deaths in fires

Big change from Biden

If someone calls your job and asks for you by name, what should you say?

Nothing with “yes” in the response. I learned that one the hard way. They asked for a guy who had passed away 5 years previously.

“Is this [Company Name]?” (after I had already greeted them with the company name)

“Yes, it is.”

“Hi, Dan. This is [rep from some telecom company I’ve never heard of]” (why would someone assume that the person who answers the phone is the person they want to talk with?)

“Dan is longer with us.”

“Oh, well, who am I speaking to?” (not knowing any better, I give them my name)

“What is this regarding?”

“Like, I said, I’m calling on behalf of [our provider] to offer a better rate than your current provider. (then goes on with their spiel regarding their “exclusive” rates, not letting me a word in to tell them to add us to their do not call list) Sounds good, right? I’ll pass you through to our confirmation department to get you signed up.”

“But…”

“This is the confirmation department. Am I speaking to [Me]?”

“Yes, but…”

“And I have you as the person who makes the decisions on your telecom services?”

“No.”

“May I speak to Dan, then?”

“Put us on your do not call list.”

“Was there something we said or did?”

“Yes. You wouldn’t let me talk. I was patched through without getting a chance to say that we already use the provider you’re trying to switch us to. Plus, Dan died 5 years ago.”

“Oh, well, I’m sorry. We’ll get this taken care of for you.”

2 weeks later, we received bill from the no-name place for a new number with a ton of features we would never use, even if we had ordered a new number. My boss called them, and they played the call they made to Dan but with my voice “agreeing” to everything they were offering. I was in trouble for it, until you could hear the same background noise from the radio for each “yes” they played. We reported them to the FCC and AG but no idea what came of it other than receiving no bills from them after that.

China LATEST Hypersonic Missiles Can Reach Up To 6500 MPH & Impossible To Stop

As a police officer, what is the one moment where you thought “I might not survive this”?

I had stopped a car for a speeding violation. The second I put my car in park, the hair stood up on the back of my neck. Of a countless number of traffic stops I made, never had this happened to me. I was actually scared and didn’t know why. I finally approached the vehicle. The guy driving never spoke a word, kept looking forward and never took his hands off the wheel. Until he retrieved his license and registration, then he was back to his frozen state. Not moving, not talking.

I was scared to death and finally got back to my car, and wrote this guy a couple of tickets. The feeling of fear never went away. Wrote the tickets, and approached the vehicle again, had him sign his tickets. Normally I would tell them to slow down or make repairs before court and start back to my car.

However, this guy had me freaked out. And all I could say was, you need to leave right now. I took a few steps back and he started to drive off. As he went around a curve and his tail lights disappeared, the feeling of fear was gone, my hair laid down, and I felt fine.

Court rolls around and he was not in court but his attorney was. I testified. The attorney asked no questions and the judge asked where his client was.

The attorney informed the judge that his client was in jail for pending murder charges. The attorney went on to say the night I had stopped the guy, he had just murdered his wife and kids and was on the way to kill his parents when I pulled him over.

The neighboring state never sent any information to anyone. Even though they were aware he was going to drive through part of my state to get to his parents.

Luckily once he returned to the neighboring state, they had officers there waiting for him. So he never made it to mom and dad.

Redneck boy

What are some unwritten rules of everyday life?

1. Don’t call someone continuously more than once unless it’s a really urgent matter and if they don’t pick up, wait until they return the call. They might be sleeping, sick, busy, or have something important going on.

. 2. When someone treats you to lunch or dinner, don’t buy the most expensive dish on the menu. Also, treat them the next time.

3.Only suggest splitting the cheque evenly if your dish is the least expensive among the rest.

4.Don’t lend out what you borrowed. If it is not yours, don’t act as if it is.

5. If you borrow money from someone, return it, even before they ask for it.

6. If you borrow someone’s car, fill up the tank before you return it.

7. Say ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’

8. Be nice and kind to waiters, cleaners, helpers, drivers, or anyone offering you a service and treat them with the same respect you’d give a manager or a CEO

9. Don’t interrupt the person speaking. Wait until they finish then say what you want.

10. When someone is speaking directly to you, give them your attention.

11. Two things you shouldn’t offer unless you are asked, an opinion and advice.

12. Respect others’ personal space and privacy

13. If someone shows you a photo on their phone, don’t swipe left or right. If they want to show you what’s next they’ll do it.

14. When you wrong someone, say ‘Sorry’ and don’t ruin your apology with unnecessary excuses just to justify what you’ve done.

15. Don’t break your promise, or don’t make one if you are not sure you can keep it.

16. When someone tells you a secret, take it with you to your grave, even if you wake up as enemies the next morning.

17. Don’t make plans in front of those you are not willing to invite, especially if it is at your place, your birthday, or a special occasion.

18. Don’t whisper something to someone when it is only one more person sitting with you two.

19. Never go to someone’s place uninvited or without letting them know you are passing by in advance.

20.smile

What are some good examples of “life isn’t fair”?

Ernest Hemingway’s life wasn’t fair.

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His life was tragic.

His dad was an abusive alcoholic who killed himself. He hated his mother for many reasons — perhaps in part because she dressed him like a girl when he was a boy — and he blamed her for the suicide of his father and resented her for it for his entire adult life. He expressed thoughts about killing both of his parents at different points in his childhood.

Allegedly, 3 of his siblings also committed suicide throughout their lives.

Still, Hemingway managed to do quite well for himself.

As an adult, he lived a hyper-masculine, womanizing, adventurous life. He was in both world wars, survived 2 plane crashes, and held a lifelong obsession with bullfighting. He also was one of the successful writers of the early 1900s. He’s a legend when it comes to writing.

But his personal life was not good. His actions affected other people very negatively.

He married 4 times and dealt with lifelong alcohol dependence. He was a cheater, a womanizer, brilliant, and likely manic bipolar like his father — although it was never diagnosed.

He committed suicide by gunshot in middle age — just like his father.

But did Hemingway ever really have a chance?

His mother dressed him as a girl when he was in his earliest years and in the process of forming his identity. It’s no wonder he ended up going down a hyper-masculine route. He was abused, traumatized, and watched people around him kill themselves for his entire life.

He was obsessed with death and suicide. He thought about it often.

He also dealt with chronic pain, alcoholism (that he never got under control), PTSD, and after the plane crashes in Africa, a fractured skull among other injuries.

Yes — Hemingway was a great writer — but did he ever have a chance of being “happy”? Of living a normal life? I’m not sure.

The kind of pain that he experienced takes generations to unweave. In terms of having a happy and stable life, Hemingway was playing the game short-handed for his entire existence.

He didn’t win, and he brought a lot of people down with him.

Is it fair for us to blame Hemingway for everything that happened in his life? I don’t know.

What I do know is that life isn’t fair.

Friends for life

Does the loss of a fourth Abrams tank to the Russians confirm the poor performance of these machines?

All four have been lost within days or hours of them being deployed in active fighting which doesn't seem very good to me.

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The battlefield has become much deadlier for tanks in recent years. When the US’s M1 Abrams made its combat debut in Operation Desert Storm, it seemed like an invincible steel beast. In the conflict, Abrams easily decimated Iraqi formations of Soviet tanks, creating a perception that the US military and the systems that made it up were unbeatable. In reality, the Abrams was about a generation ahead of the tanks that it faced in the deserts of Iraq, allowing it easy victories.

Today, 30 years after Desert Storm, the Russians have developed counters to Western tanks like the Abrams. The most important development in armored warfare over the past three decades has been the development and proliferation of modern anti-tank missiles and drones. All tanks have their weak spots. Tanks are generally designed to be most heavily protected from the front. However, the armor on top and sides of tanks tends to be relatively thin. In recent years, a new generation of weapons has come out to exploit those weak spots. Drones and top-attack anti-tank missiles are designed to punch through this weaker armor on the sides and top. Thousands of armored vehicles have been damaged or destroyed by these new weapons in Ukraine.

Despite the fact that the Abrams is one of the best armored tanks in the world at the moment, it has not fared significantly better than the other tanks in the conflict. The M1 was not designed to face drones and top-attack anti-tank missiles. Rather, it was designed to face Soviet armored columns. As such, it has thinner armor on the top and sides like most tanks. In Ukraine Abrams crews are falling prey to the same weapons that have knocked out thousands of Soviet-designed and produced tanks.

The battlefield has shifted in general against tanks since the Abrams made its combat debut. While many in the West hoped that the deployment of Abrams tanks to the conflict would make a significant impact, Abrams have the same weaknesses of many of the other tanks in the conflict. It’s hardly surprising that they are meeting the same fate as every other tank in the conflict.

What’s the best way to go to jail?

I don’t remember his name; he was my very first cellie.

He was probably in his early seventies, thin, tall, and in excellent shape. His bunk looked ready for military inspection at all times — not a wrinkle anywhere — crisp, sharp folds.

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He arrived just a few hours behind me. After making his bed up, he launched into an exercise routine.

I learned later that he had spent forty-seven years behind bars, more time incarcerated than I had been alive at that point. He started off with some minor infraction while in the military, and was sentenced to the brig. When he got out, his dishonorable discharge made it hard to fit back in. He would commit offense after offense and be sent back for increasingly long periods of time.

Life on the installment plan they call it.

He was institutionalized. He couldn’t survive out in “the real world.” Nothing in forty-seven years of prison had ever taught him how to hold down a job or make ends meet on a paycheck.

I suspect he had never known a woman’s love.

He missed the structure, and the… freedom of prison. He didn’t have to work in prison, didn’t have to worry about money or where his next meal would come from.

For this older man, it was a no-brainer. He would just catch a ride in a cop car back to prison. But, how to do that? What would be the quickest and best way back to his cold comfort of bars and bunks?

This man was an expert in that area. If your intent is to catch a charge that will land you in the stony lonesome, I suggest you follow his lead. His method is the answer to this question:

He walked into a bank (federally insured by the FDIC) and presented a note to the teller, “This is a robbery. Please place money in a bag.”

The teller handed him a bag of money, and I can imagine him smiling and giving a wink as he calmly walked out.

Outside, he sat down on the curb, money bag in his lap, and waited for the cops.

By robbing a bank covered by the FDIC, he knows he’s going to a federal prison. These are generally better run than state prisons. By using just a note with no weapon whatsoever, he knows that he’ll go to a lower custody facility.

This is the reality of what prison does. Anyone who believes that a couple decades behind bars will “teach someone a lesson” is right. The lesson is that the world is a dangerous place full of people who don’t want you in it. And, once you’ve been to prison, you might just as well stay there.

Where??? (She’s so confused)

Have you ever met a celebrity who asked you, “Do you know who I am?” and you said no?

I’ve met two celebrities (three, sort of) and one celebrity couple.

Had coffee a few times with Walter Matthau at a drug store soda fountain in Nevada when he was filming Charley Varrick in our community. He didn’t need any intruduction.

Met Clint Eastwood a couple of times when he was hiking trails near Lake Tahoe. I was a forestry officer at the time. We chatted briefly on both occasions. He didn’t need any introduction.

Having coffee at the soda fountain mentioned above, when Carol O’Connor stopped in to but a box of cigars (this was an old fashioned drugstore….lol) and decided to have some coffee before continuing his drive to Lake Tahoe. I didn’t talk to him as he was sitting at the far end of the counter when he struck up a little chat with couple of other local gents. Seemed like a regular guy. He didn’t need any introduction, I sort of count him as a third….lol.

The celebrity couple was the Captain and Tennile. They threw a neighborhood party after a big wildland fire at Glenbrook threatened their home and several others. The party was to thank the firefighters, I was involved in suppressing that fire. Very nice people. They didn’t need any introduction.

I lived in northern Nevada from the mid 50’s to the mid 80’s. There were a lot of celebrities around in those years, most of them were pretty regular people, who appreciated being treated as regular people.

So, quite the opposite of this question. Sorry if you were looking for negative answers.

Ten things

Was there a time in US history when politics were as uncivil as they are now?

On May 20, 1856, Senator Charles Sumner, a Republican from Massachusetts, had just finished a marathon address railing against the depredations of pro-slavery Border Ruffians in the Territory of Kansas. Sumner, the most outspoken anti-slavery voice in the Senate, had among his arguments against pro-slavery forces in Kansas, thrown a number of insults at fellow Senators hailing from slave states. Among the insults hurled during his address was a specific barb at Senator Andrew Butler of South Carolina, insinuating that Butler sought to preserve the institution of slavery so he could maintain pliant sexual outlets among his female slaves.

Two days later, May 22, 1856, Butler’s cousin and Representative Preston Brooks of South Carolina, grabbed his gutta-percha cane with a gold head and entered the Senate Chamber, flanked by two allies, Representatives Laurence M. Keitt and Henry A. Edmundson (also of South Carolina). The three men waited for the galleries to clear out, ensuring that all the ladies were out of the chamber before making their move.

Brooks approached Senator Sumner, who was at that moment seated close behind a his heavy wooden desk attending to some papers or such, not looking up. Brooks, in a low voice, addressed Sumner with the words: “Mr. Sumner, I have read your speech twice over carefully. It is a libel on South Carolina, and Mr. Butler, who is a relative of mine.”

Sumner made as if to stand and address Brooks. It should be noted here that Sumner was a tall man, and well built. He stood substantially taller than the diminutive Brooks. Before Sumner could reach his feet, Brooks raised the gold-tipped cane and brought it swiftly down on Sumner’s head. Thereafter he continued to rain blows down upon Sumner as the latter fell, and became trapped between the desk and the chair he had so recently been seated in. Initially his hands raised in his own defense, but as the blows continued he became more and more senseless from them, and still Brooks continued striking him.

Several witnesses stepped forward to Sumner’s aide, but Representative Keitt brandished a pistol at anyone who drew too near, snarling at the bystanders to “Let them alone, God damn you, let them alone!”

Brooks continued raining blows on Sumner even after the man had freed himself from his desk and chair, and attempted to flee from him. Blinded by his own blood and knocked senseless by the thrashing, Sumner toppled in one of the aisles in the chamber, where Brooks continued hitting him. Even after the thick cane snapped in twain from the force of the blows, Brooks continued. It was only when two onlookers managed to get past Edmundson and Keitt and restrain him that Brooks collected himself, and exited the chamber.

For his cowardly assault on a defenseless man (with two armed accomplices, no less), Brooks was arrested, tried, and given a $300 fine.

I love the expressions

Have you ever had a bad seatmate on an airplane? What did they do, and how did you deal with it?

A couple of years ago — 2013 if I recall — my family and I were on a flight to the USA for a family holiday.

We were flying on a plane with a 3-a-side seating arrangement, which is not ideal for a family of 4. Unfortunately for me, I had a reputation for being absorbed in books for 100% of a flight and not minding being sat next to strangers, so I was on my own, with my family across the aisle and one row in front of me.

This was in the run up to university admissions, so I was reading A Brief History of Time, since it’s something you feel you should read when applying for a physics degree!

About 20 minutes into this 10 hour flight, the guy in the seat next to me noticed what I was reading, and engaged me in conversation.

We had a fairly pleasant conversation, he was a teacher, and asked me how my university application was going, and so on and so forth — I asked him about his school (which was somewhere in London, if memory serves).

That’s where things started to go downhill.

See, it turns out that this guy wasn’t just a teacher, he was a super racist teacher.

He spent the next half an hour or so ranting about all the “useless brown kids” in his school, how they were all filthy and smelly, that they were all lazy, that their families were (amusingly) simultaneously taking all the benefits and all the local jobs. They were all extremists and terrorists, and he was sure at least two of them had been googling how to build a bomb in one of his classes.

It was like a caricature of a cartoon racist. It was every stereotype all rolled into one.

I was…slightly dumbstruck. What the hell do you say? I was stuck next to this guy for 9 more hours.

I tried to feign disinterest, to try to return to my book, in the hopes that he would shut up. He didn’t, if anything, he got louder to try to get my attention. I’m genuinely not sure what he thought my reaction was.

Luckily, his weak-ass racist bladder came to the rescue, and he had to go to the toilet, as I got up to let him out, I caught the eye of the guy on the other side of the aisle to me (behind my parents) — who was clearly of Middle-Eastern descent.

After my ‘friend’ left, I learned quite how loudly he was talking, because the guy across the aisle turned to me, and asked “is that guy for real?” We had a bit of a chat about what a monumental bellend this guy was, and how sad it was that he was a teacher, an educator, an influencer of young minds. Tragic.

Unfortunately, we were still chatting across the aisle when my new friend returned. As I stood up to let him back in, he noticed who I was talking to, and after we sat down, he asked me if I knew the guy across the aisle.

Sure, I said. He’s my stepdad.

My friend didn’t say another word. For nine, blessed hours.

If you cross them the wrong way, how can a parole or probation officer really mess up your life?

If you were supervising a department full of probation officers, how would you assess their performance?

Ideally, we’d judge how well a PO was doing by how his or her charges were doing. Do they integrate successfully back into the world? Are they all working? Current on their bills? Have they stayed away from whatever got them jammed up in the legal system the last time around?

But, judging a PO this way creates a perverse incentive. It’s like saying, “The less problems you find with your people, the better.” This would quickly morph into POs thinking, “Maybe I shouldn’t be looking too hard at these guys?” And finally, “Well if I do find something, I sure as hell don’t want to report it.”

So, that’s not going to work.

Here’s something the manager can judge POs on: “How many ex-cons did you send back to prison this year?” That’s a goal everyone can feel good about, right?

Just like cops supposedly don’t have quotas, I’m sure POs don’t have this goal *officially* written into their job description. But, if you’re clever, I bet you can find it lurking between the lines.

When I first got out of the halfway house, I was working in a place that was populated 100% by felons, or people who’d had some kind of related rough ride. In spite of being told not to associate with other felons, we all go from halfway houses to crappy jobs being done by people who are just passing through. They’re either looking for something better, or looking to get back into prison.

A woman I worked with lived in a flop house, but her car was her real home. The flop house was just a place to collect mail and make it look semi-stable for when her PO came around.

Her car was everything. It was the one thing that allowed her to function in society. It kept her moving and kept her safe.

Unfortunately, it had problems A faulty thermostat was causing wild temperature swings. At our minimum wage job, neither of us had the money to hire a mechanic. But, I did have a garage and suggested we could replace the thermostat ourselves.

Now… We’re both felons. We’re not *supposed* to “associate.” But, if we don’t help one another, who the hell will?

So, one weekend, she brought her car over and I got the wrenches out. I’m not a great mechanic… I’m not even a good mechanic. Mostly I just enjoy cussing at the thing while working on it, but given enough time I usually get it done.

Her car was right about the half-way point when my PO showed up.

My PO was actually always honest and fair with me. Because of my interactions with the system, I expected the worst. But, true to her word, she never lied to me and treated me with respect at all times. But, she did want to know who the woman was that had suddenly showed up at my apartment with an obviously broken car.

I explained that we were fixing her thermostat. My PO asked her, “Are you on supervision.”

A slight pause, then meekly, “Yes.”

My PO didn’t have any problems with me helping this woman and said so. But, she was required by protocol to contact my friend’s state PO.

The state PO wasn’t nearly so understanding. “You are not to associate with other felons. How many times do I have to say it?”

We did replace the thermostat that day, but the frequent temperature swings had caused the heads to warp. The engine was leaking coolant and possibly some was seeping into the oil. I was no longer an option for her. She had to find someone else (without a record) to help.

She did. She met a guy who agreed to work on her car.

He tore it apart, and then made it clear he wanted sex before he’d put it back together.

Somewhere out there is a state PO who is very bad at her job.

Rude Girlfriend Picks Fight In McDonald’s Only To Be Left Behind & Kicked Out Of BF’s House!

What are some behaviors that indicates you’re dealing with a mature person?

HERE ARE THE “TOP 3″ BEHAVIORS THAT A TRULY MATURE & WISE PERSON WILL EXHIBIT.

They will admit when they are wrong or make a mistake no matter how big or small.
1. The easiest way to determine whether someone is mature as well as honest is how they react to criticism and being wrong. If the person is able to own up to their mistakes without so much as an attitude then you have yourself a wise and truly mature individual. Those of us that arent ashamed to admit we don’t know everything aren’t phased by failure or criticism.
If they have a disagreement with someone they stay calm and listen intently to the opposing persons viewpoint and why they are upset.
1. They do so in order to learn from the conflict and gain a more in depth understanding of the person they are conflicted with. A truly mature and wise person will never scream pointless and hurtful insults at someone as the only thing it accomplishes is to harm both parties. Logic and reason trumps all in their eyes.
You wont catch them talking badly about their peers behind their back.
1. Wise and mature people don’t talk down about people to anyone other than the person they believe has a behavior they need to work on. Talking badly behind anyones back solves nothing and the only thing it shows is that the person talkiing down is immature and shallow. Wise and mature people seek to enlighten those around them the best they can in order to help make the world a more wholesome place.

What was the stupidest thing someone has called the police on you for?

The father of my son called the police on me 5 times in a week while he was trying to manipulate the circumstances so he could find grounds to modify custody. He called saying I didn’t dress our 9-month-old son in cute enough clothes, I had expired tags (3 months expired), no insurance (I did have insurance), and that I wasn’t responding to his messages within 4 minutes. The officers came out to do a well-check the first night. They reported the child in great condition and comfortably sleeping in his crib. That didn’t fit his narrative so, he called the next day for another well-check… he did this every day for a week. After all, said and done, the police started calling me instead of showing up at my door. They saw me drive my expired car tags to drop my kids off at school and never once did they pull me over. They always gave friendly smile and wave. The responding officer said it best “I don’t think he knows how custody or well-checks work.”

Reality hits hard

Humor: What are some of the greatest examples of presence of mind?

I came across one article on Internet and I felt that it was much related to this question but not humorous :—

Fourteen years ago, a massive earthquake hit beneath the Indian ocean, that had triggered a tsunami that claimed over two million lives. It was one of the most destructive natural disasters ever, that devastated parts of Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India.

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While no one – not even the meteorological department – could foresee the deadly waves, a 10-year-old girl spotted the unusual signals of tsunami and saved a 100 people, including her family, from dying.

Hailed as the miracle girl, here’s the story of Tilly Smith’s courage, foresight and presence of mind:-

She was on vaction with her parents and sibling on Maikhov beach in Phuket where she spotted an unusual behaviour of tides and stretched her brain more deep into thoughts as she had seen this kind of thing happening before.

Finally she recalled that this kind of unusual behavior of waves was shown to her by her teacher in Geography class.

That is when she started shouting:

"Tsunami, there’s going to be a tsunami. We have to get off, we have to run."

Seeing her panic her father alarmed Security Guards about the fizzing sea waves. The guard was instantly alarmed as he was aware of the earthquake that had occurred in the Indian Ocean.He asked everyone on the beach to run towards the hotel.

Tilly asked everyone to stay on the high ground.

As a result, everyone on the beach was saved.

When her parents learned about the disaster’s magnitude through Television reports, they realized that if they hadn’t listened to Tilly, all of them would have died.

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The girl on the leftmost corner is Tilly Smith.

Tilly was named Child of the Year by a French children’s newspaper, and United Nations invited her to meet Bill Clinton, then the UN Special Envoy for Tsunami Relief.

Thus her presence of mind and courage helped her save lives of 100 people on beach.

Thank you.

Footnotes:

What makes you mad in your everyday life?

Originally Answered: What makes you mad in your every day life?

Have you ever heard of “Begpackers”?

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They’re really common in Southeast Asia.

These people fly to different countries and beg for money from the locals to continue traveling.

Generally, the purpose of tourism, especially in a developing country like Thailand, is to bring money into their economy and improve their standard of living. That’s why they allow you in here. You get a nice trip and an insight to their culture while they get cash flow into their country.

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However, these people bring no money into the country. The locals, who are often less fortunate than them, give to them out of the kindness of their hearts and from the shock factor of seeing a white person beg in their country. These Begpackers greedily take and give nothing back to the country they’re in.

The worst part is, in Thailand, these Begpackers often post themselves outside of temples. In Buddhism, Thais like to do good deeds to “make merit”. It is similar to building up karma or good works in their religion.

So these Begpackers purposely take advantage of Thai religious practices by posting themselves outside of temples where they know they’ll get a good profit from religious Thais.

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It’s honestly gross. Thailand just enacted a law this month to make it illegal for foreigners to beg (jail time for up to a month) and for local Thais to give to them (500 THB fine). We’ll see if it’s enforced.

She broke the code!

What is the difference between Americans, Canadians, Australians and the British?

OK, I didn’t write this, it has been circulating online for at least 20 years, but it’s still pretty good:

Aussies: Believe you should look out for your mates.
Brits: Believe that you should look out for those people who belong to your club.
Americans: Believe that people should look out for and take care of themselves.
Canadians: Believe that’s the government’s job.

Aussies: Dislike being mistaken for Pommies (Brits) when abroad.
Canadians: Are rather indignant about being mistaken for Americans when abroad.
Americans: Encourage being mistaken for Canadians when abroad.
Brits: Can’t possibly be mistaken for anyone else when abroad.

Canadians: Endure bitterly cold winters and are proud of it.
Brits: Endure oppressively wet and dreary winters and are proud of it.
Americans: Don’t have to do either, and couldn’t care less.
Aussies: Don’t understand what inclement weather means.

Americans: Drink weak, pissy-tasting beer.
Canadians: Drink strong, pissy-tasting beer.
Brits: Drink warm, beery-tasting piss.
Aussies: Drink anything with alcohol in it.

Brits: Drink in proper pubs.
Americans: Drink in soulless bars with big TVs.
Canadians: Drink in places that look like proper British pubs from the outside but feel like soulless American bars inside.
Australians: Think none of this matters as long as beer is served.

Americans: Seem to think that poverty and failure are morally suspect.
Canadians: Seem to believe that wealth and success are morally suspect.
Brits: Seem to believe that wealth, poverty, success, and failure are inherited.
Aussies: Seem to think that none of this matters after several beers.

Brits: Have produced many great comedians, celebrated by Canadians, ignored by Americans, and therefore not rich.
Aussies: Have produced comedians like Paul Hogan and Yahoo Serious.
Canadians: Have produced many great comedians such as John Candy, Martin Short, Jim Carrey, Dan Aykroyd.
Americans: Think that all these people are American!

Americans: Spend most of their lives glued to the idiot box.
Canadians: Don’t, but only because they can’t get more American channels.
Brits: Pay a tax just so they can watch 4 channels.
Aussies: Export all their crappy programs, which no one there watches, to Britain, where everybody loves them.

Americans: Will jabber on incessantly about football, baseball and basketball.
Brits: Will jabber on incessantly about cricket, soccer and rugby.
Canadians: Will jabber on incessantly about hockey, hockey and hockey
Aussies: Will jabber on incessantly about how they beat the Poms in every sport they played them in.

Aussies: Are extremely patriotic about their beer.
Americans: Are flag-waving, anthem-singing, and obsessively patriotic to the point of blindness.
Canadians: Can’t agree on the words to their anthem, in either language, when they can be bothered to sing them.
Brits: Do not sing at all but prefer a large brass band to perform the anthem.

Brits: Shop at home and have goods imported because they live on an island.
Australians: Shop at home and have goods imported because they live on an island.
Americans: Cross their southern border for cheap shopping, gas and liquor in a backwards country.
Canadians: Cross their southern border for cheap shopping, gas and liquor in a backwards country.

Brits: Are justifiably proud of the accomplishments of their past citizens.
Americans: Are justifiably proud of the accomplishments of their present citizens.
Canadians: Prattle on about how some of those great Americans were once Canadian.
Aussies: Waffle on about how some of their past citizens were once Outlaw Pommies, but none of that matters after several beers.

Why do Chinese people often feel they are part of Japan?

They don’t.

Some people do because some Japanese things are cool as they have soft cultural power.

A LOT of Chinese grew up watching Japanese cartoons and animation.

Doremon (which I remember always as Ding Dong) originated from Japan. It’s rather popular in China.

Oh and porn. Production and distribution of porn is illegal in China (possession is a grey area). Japan produces a lot of porn. So much that Japanese AV stars will come to China now and again to do burlesque dance shows, or do hugs and photos for money.

Pre Covid you’d get Japanese AV stars appear in Macau every month or so they’d do some sort of dance show and you could pay a lot of money to get your photo taken with them.

Intolerance

Which is the most stupid lawsuit that you have ever seen?

It’s the closest to a My Cousin Vinny as I can get.. A guy I was seeing only practiced real estate law when the public defender didn’t show up for a defendent and they were going to rearange the court date and this person (who granted, I would never pay for and know their father paid for them to get them past the bar exam) took the case on scene and the defendant complied. The lady was trying to sue the bf for child support purposes, which he had no problem about as long as he had 50/50 custody, but she wanted more money if he wanted half time custody so he asked for a paternity test .. he said it didn’t matter, just to prove that he was willing to go above and beyond for his son. It turned out, the baby wasn’t his.. he still offered to take care of him.. so for the agreement, she filed suit wanting 50 percent of all marital assets, the bank account, his family jewelry (his grandmothers ring he wanted back), schooling for the son that wasn’t his after the affair and full alimony payments after it was proven it wasn’t his child, but her ex bf’s child who she still hung out with that was currently in jail.

bright side? this guy still hung around for this kid and he still calls him dad. He never got his grandma’s ring back but doesn’t even care. One day I wish he would take this woman to court, I honestly feel that he admits he’s afraid to date again gives her pleasure. She knows hes alone.. so it’s just her and his family and the son he loves so much that isn’t even his but he will always claim as his own.

8 Dark side of girls they don’t want to know you!

Girls often understand what a guy is implying, but they may feign innocence.
Women tend to develop feelings for those who maintain distance from them.
Many women enjoy engaging in what society deems “promiscuous” behavior, yet they recoil from being labeled as such.
When deeply in love, women may exhibit childish tendencies around their partners.
If a woman truly loves a man, she’ll likely inform him when other men attempt to flirt with her.
Cooking for someone often signifies care and affection from a woman.
A woman may choose to be intimate with a man based on his character and identity.
Beware of the woman whose father was the first to break her heart; she may have deep-seated trust issues.

Stuffed Grape Leaves (Dolmathes)

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds ground round or turkey
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup raw rice
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon mint
1 tablespoon parsley
1 egg, beaten
1 cup canned tomatoes, undrained
1/2 teaspoon dill
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 (16 ounce) jar grapevine leaves
3 bouillon cubes
1 tablespoon butter

Instructions

Combine first ten ingredients and mix well.
Wash the grape leaves carefully and remove the brine. Put any broken leaves into the bottom of a greased Dutch oven.
Put a heaping teaspoon of the mixture in the center of each leaf (on the vein side). Fold edges over and roll tightly toward point of leaf.
Dissolve bouillon cubes in enough water to cover the rolls, then pour over the rolls. Dot tops with butter.
Cover with a heavy plate to prevent the rolls from opening as the rice puffs
Cover the pan and steam over low heat for 1 hour or until leaves are tender.

Sexy girls with food

I have continued to play with text to image creations. Lately I have been generating women with vegetables. Here’s some of my works. What do you think?

Default a beautiful stunning woman wearing satin dress she has 0(1)

Default a beautiful stunning woman wearing satin dress she is 0(4)

Default a beautiful stunning woman wearing satin dress she is 3(3)

Default a beautiful stunning woman wearing satin dress she is 3(2)

Default a beautiful stunning woman wearing satin dress she is 1(1)

Default a beautiful stunning woman wearing satin dress she is 0

Default a beautiful stunning woman wearing satin dress she is 2(5)

Default a beautiful stunning woman wearing satin dress she has 3

Default a beautiful stunning woman wearing satin dress she has 2(3)

My favorite Internet kitty

What’s an experience you had in a hotel you’ll never forget?

I was island hopping in the Caribbean, and I had prebooked a mid priced hotel for my stay in Puerto Rico.

I fly in after dark and get to my hotel and evidently they were overbooked, they told me that they would upgrade me to a better hotel. I am deeply suspicious, because its been my experience, if you get moved its to a worse hotel.

Still, its after dark, I’m in a strange place for the first time, I let them move me. We get it to my new hotel, which is beach front, as opposed to the block from the beach one I had booked. It had a huge arena/auditorium/entertainment center that had an ice capades like show that night. My room is about the cheapest in an upscale hotel, so not to shabby.

Lots of nice restaurants, great pools etc. The next day they have a circus move into the entertainment center, and I think I will go see that later in the evening.

I go to the pool, and this guy comes in, leading two tiger cubs on leashes. He takes them to the edge of the pool, and takes off the leashes, and they jump in with me.

I end up playing with two tiger cubs for the afternoon.

It was awesome. I will never forget it.

Breaking Bad | Combo’s Death

What is the most brilliant example of taking advantage of a loophole you have ever witnessed?

I was a maintenance worker on a paint line, working a 4-day work week. Monday through Thursday, 10 hours per day. This day, a slow Thursday, I was greasing the wheels on the chain as it passed through the line.

A top manager was passing through, steamed off for some reason. He noticed the line was running with no work on it, and he screamed at the line leader, “Why is this line running with no work?! He (pointing at me) gets three days off with no pay!” and stormed off with no explanation.

After he was gone, the line leader came up to me and said, “You heard the man. Three days off with no pay. Let’s make it this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. OK?”

Wow! Half a day, and already almost 500 upvotes. Thanks, everyone.

Fought in Afghanistan and Iraq, But…”| Why Putin’s War Has Jolted Ukraine’s “Foreign Fighters”

Chicken Diable

Chicken Diable makes a wonderful sauce, and it is delicious served over rice.

Prep: 10 min | Bake: 1 hr 30 min | Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

1 (3 pound) frying chicken
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup wet mustard
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Cut frying chicken into large pieces.
Melt butter and add honey, mustard, curry powder and salt. Coat chicken pieces with the sauce and place in a baking pan (do not stack).
Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 1/2 hours, tightly covered.

Can China maintain its leading role in EV and lithium battery technology?

Yes

Unless other nations understand and introduce Socialist elements and State Subsidies into their EV architecture

China can make the best batteries and best integrated platform – two most crucial elements of an EV at a cost that is 65% of the next cheapest manufacturer in South Korea

The Americans make far lower quality batteries at a 170% higher price

This puts a Chinese EV at $ 30,500 with a nice profit to the Brand versus the same American EV made in USA at a minimum of $ 52,000 at a lower quality

You just can’t compete

It’s why the US is so keen on keeping China out

It’s why no other nation is building Charging Infrastructure so comprehensively like China is doing

China has such a vast charging infrastructure that it is easy and quick to charge your EVs

Yet the Infrastructure network is only 6% profitable

No issues because it’s State Subsidized

And that’s 6% at such a huge scale

At a fifth of this scale, a charging infrastructure of so much quality would make a loss of at least 10% to 12%

Do you think a single private player would take such a risk?

Nopes

Ultimately the EV Maker has to provide the charging infrastructure like Musk is doing

Yet Musks profits from EV sales are shrinking due to his losses in the charging infrastructure

This ain’t new

The US heavily subsidized it’s industries for the earliest motor cars

Back then you had Hansom cabs driven by Horses and roads were paved with bricks not with Tar

The US Government floated almost $ 36 Million of Bonds to build Roads in various cities and State Governments floated another $ 40 Million

To build tarred roads for Cars owned by Ford and Others who incidentally didn’t chip in a penny

Likewise you had a 30 year tax subsidy from 1907–1937 afforded to six car makers to enable them to keep the costs of their engines as low as possible

An Engine could cost $ 100-125 to make, almost 4/5 of the value of the car

Yet the companies pumped back a share of their profits and kept the engine cost lower and lower until by the 1920s the cost of the engine dropped to around 1/2 the value of the car and later to around 40%

It’s why US had a lead in Cars

It’s why Germany had a lead in Engines

Today they may rant about Free markets but all these countries had subsidies in their early days and protectionism

US imposed an import duty of 67% on Cars from UK and Germany until the Mid 1970s

So as on date, China is gaining huge traction for EVs

They are discarding the Lithium Battery in the next five years or so for the next generation batteries

Their charging infrastructure is very strong and fast, fastest in the world

The others who can compete include

Korea – $ 110 Billion in Subsidies to make Batteries

Japan – $ 15 Billion in Private Research Funds to make Batteries

Yet China has more engineers and more money in subsidies ($ 250 Billion) for battery technology alone

So i feel China will have a lead in EVs for at least half a decade or maybe longer

Coconut life

Do you have to pay for food in prison?

Have you ever read a nutritional content label and wondered what a 2000 calorie diet would be like? In prison you get to find out.

The government says 2000 calories are what you need, so that’s what they provide to inmates. You can inflate that number some with carbs or roughage.

Here’s how it worked at CCA (the for-profit privately run prison): the US Marshalls defined what a detainee’s diet should look like. CCA would design meals around those goals, then turn the food service over to a sub-contractor. The sub would get a fixed amount for every meal produced. Ahha! Every dollar we save by skimping on ingredients is a dollar in the sub’s pocket. We can all see where that’s headed…

In federal prison the food was much better because there were no sub contractors. In this situation, the inmates are their own worst enemies. The kitchen would make sheet cake without any sugar. Why? Inmates stole it all! Same for spices.

The federal low had two lines that inmates would shuffle through for each meal. All items that were costly for the prison (protein) were dished out to the inmates from behind the counter. Low cost items like rice, those nasty grease pad potatoes, and lettuce would be “on the bar” where you could take as much as you want.

All of this is “free.”

You can pay for food. You can buy stuff on commissary, or you can buy the stuff that’s being cooked in the units. This is usually a mix of items stolen from the kitchen and things bought on commissary. It’s always better than what comes out of the kitchen.

Teachers Are SICK Of Dumb Gen Alpha Kids..

What is something a guest in your house did that made your jaw drop? How did you react?

Ok warning this is GROSS!!!!!!!!!!

A co-worker of my now ex-husband came over with his “side piece” (was not thrilled about that as it was condoning this behavior but I go off topic) and she asked to use the bathroom, we told her where the guest bathroom was and thought she went into there. While they were leaving I went through our bedroom into our bathroom. I then noticed she didn’t use the guest bathroom but had been in our room b/c things were out of place and that where my jewelry box was had been opened and gone through. I went into the bathroom really fast to see if some other personal items were missing I noticed that this nasty girl used a…feminine cleaning product (BARF) and MY wash cloth to “clean up”. Luckily they were still outside talking when I went out there and lost my fking mind!! I tossed a plastic bag with MY wash cloth and the empty product at her (I WAS WEARING 2 PAIRS OF GLOVES AND HAD A BAG OVER THE OTHER BAG I PUT EVERYTHING IN) and then told her to empty her purse and pockets. Now, the guys were at first shocked and then my now ex-husband was embarrassed by my “request” and behavior and his co-worker was pissed that his “friend” was being treated in such a manner. When she finally did what I “asked” there were 2 pairs of earrings (pearls, and black diamonds), a custom made pearl ring I got from my father, a gold pinky ring my grandfather had custom made for me, the onyx and diamond ring, pearl necklace and matching bracelet I got for my first communion and confirmation as well as my pearl drop. I told them to get the fk off our property and they were never allowed back or I would call the police. I recorded the whole encounter outside. Now I did NOT yell at them, I was pissed the fk off but the neighborhood did not need to know what was going on.

Brazil reality

Have you ever accidentally found out that you were about to be fired?

Not accidentally found out, but figured out months in advance that my entire department was going to be laid off. I basically followed a bunch of clues.

This was way back in 1998 when I started working at Kodak. Kodak is headquartered in Rochester, New York. One of the managers convinced higher-ups that Kodak should open a software development center in Washington, D.C., because of availability of software engineers in the area. There were many people against it, but she got approval to head a development center in the D.C. metro area. The development center was called Washington Development Center (WDC for short).

So, she came to D.C., found an office in Maryland, did a bunch of hiring. I was hired as part of that. Eventually, after six years, she found a better position in Kodak. So, she left. They got a guy who was completely against WDC to manage WDC. This was clue #1. Let’s call him Mike.

The first thing Mike did was give everyone raises. He said the previous manager was underpaying everyone. Everyone was happy. I thought “Why? No one asked for a raise. Everyone is happy here.” A couple of months later, I saw several projects moving away from us. I went to my boss and asked him. He said, “The way Kodak works is that business units control the money. BUs propose projects, and development centers bid on them. Since we have higher real estate costs than Rochester, we bid higher.” I asked him, “Were the recent raises a factor?” He basically shrugged.

Clue #2: Making us uncompetitive by giving raises. Actually, I have to say it’s a touch of genius right there. We used to be competitive before because we didn’t pay people as much, which offset our real estate costs.

So, then the question became, “Should we move to a new location?” My boss found a location in Virginia where the rent was low. What Mike did was put the idea of moving to Virginia up for a vote. Most employees in this location lived in Maryland. They would have to commute an hour to get to Virgonia. So, most of them voted against it.

Clue #3: Mike knew how the vote would go. His job was to make the right call even if it was an unpopular one. By having employees make the wrong decision, he absolved himself of all responsibility.

Clue #4: Then there was a re-organization, and Mike got a new boss: let’s call him Jake. First thing Jake did was to meet everyone in his new organization. They planned for him to visit us. We all prepared presentations for him to show our technical strengths. He slept through 75% of the presentations. I didn’t realize this until I started my presentation. I walked up, started talking, and then looked at him and saw his eyes were closed. I stopped short because tears were coming in my eyes. Everyone else was saying “Go on. Go on. It’s OK.” I felt like wadding up some paper and throwing at his bald head, but didn’t.

We gradually kept losing projects. Eventually, a lot of people weren’t doing anything. One day, I went to the break room to get some coffee. There were two people in the break room chatting. These two people were the ring leaders in getting everyone to vote against the move to Virginia. They asked “Hey, how’s it going, Jayesh?” I replied, “Oh, nothing. Just waiting to get laid off.” They were looking at me with their eyes wide as I walked back.

A few months later they announced that we are getting laid off. We were given options: a) Voluntarily accept to get laid off now and get severance b) wait till the last day. If you waited, you might be offered a job in Rochester that you could work remotely. If you were not offered a job, you would get a slightly better severance. If you were offered a job, and you refused, then you don’t get severance (you are technically resigning, not getting laid off). I knew I would be offered a job, because I knew the ins and outs of a critical project. So I said “Lay me off! Lay me off, please!” My boss got offered a job because he was the second person who knew about that project.

Oh there was a guy, who had been in Kodak for 29 years 6 months. When he had joined, Kodak offered pension, if you stayed in Kodak for 30 years. Six months more and he would have been set for life. He wasn’t offered a job and got a severance pay for five years. He was probably around 55. If he had been offered a job, he could have stuck around for six months more and gotten a pension for life. He was one of the people who didn’t want to move to Virginia. I was thinking if we had moved to Virginia, we could have staved off the inevitable for at least a year or so. He would have been set for life.

I still have respect for Mike for engineering our closure so beautifully. He did it in a way that he doesn’t get the blame; instead, he was able to show how he saved Kodak lot of money. I was merely a by-stander. He was the puppet master. He used people’s inclinations against them. Pure evil genius. Respect.

The world really wants to know…

I do. That is for certain. LINK

Funny and odd thing about this. The video is glitching out!

Can I ask a parked police car why it’s posted on my street days in a row? Can they opt to not to give any information or ignore you, or are they obligated to disclose information?

There once was a plain unmarked van parked directly in front of my house for about one week during the daytime. It had tinted front and side windows. One day, I decided to walk closer so that I could see the license plates. They were VA (Veteran’s Administration) plates. That gave me the impression that federal law enforcement had borrowed that vehicle to use on a stake out. And since they were parked directly in front of my house, I assumed I was not their target. So I went back to my house instead of seeing if anyone was inside the van and blowing their cover. Then after about one week, the van was gone. Then after another week, all hell broke loose. Marked and unmarked police cars surrounded a neighbor’s house across the street and even drove on their lawn. There were many men dressed in black uniforms with POLICE on their backs carrying what looked like automatic weapons. After things calmed down, I went up to one of the officers to ask what is happening. All he would admit to is that they were conducting an investigation. Not satisfied with that answer, I wrote a letter to our Chief of Police. He did admit it was a drug raid but offered no other details. He also said to contact him if I have any questions about police activity in the future. Unfortunately, he retired a short time later so I lost my contact.

Many years later, one morning, I looked out my living room window and was shocked to see the street in front of my house filled with black SUV’s and men dressed in black standing around their vehicles. Once again, the men had POLICE on their backs and were holding automatic weapons. I got scared thinking they were about to burst into my home. But after a few minutes, there was no knock at my door. So I peeked out the window and the officers I saw seemed relaxed. So I opened up the front door and started to exit to find out what is going on. That’s when one of the officers waved at me to go back inside which I did. I eventually discovered it was another drug raid, but at a neighbor’s house on the same side of the street as my house, just two doors away. I think it is time for me to move.

A nice technique

Why won’t the Chinese premier Li Qiang face reporters for the duration of his term, which runs until 2028?

That’s not his job, and not in his remit.

Yes, Zhu Rongji began the tradition of meeting the press during the two meetings. This has been retained by his successors, but the PM is not obligated to give press conferences. His job is to deliver the nation’s progress report and announce Beijing’s economic and social targets for the coming year during the two meetings.

We are entering an era of America pushing for war, and this is but another sign of the Chinese closing ranks.

Entertaining foreigners is best left to the experts at the foreign ministry who train a lifetime to accommodate them.

There is Wang Yi, who just concluded his 90 minute long press conference, and there is the daily press conference helmed by a senior foreign ministry spokesperson that can be up to vice-minister seniority.

To my knowledge, China is the ONLY government that provides this level of open access to foreign journalists year-round.

This is how all America feels

What is something that most people don’t know?

You can taste garlic with your feet.
When you speak inside your mind small muscles in your throat mimic the formation of each word.
When you lose weight, most of it ends up as carbon dioxide which is exhaled from your lungs.
Prince Charles has a car fueled by wine.
Polar Bears aren’t white, they’re just glowing.
The raptor sounds in Jurassic Park are actually mating tortoises.
Pirates wore eye patches to increase night vision, not cover a missing eye.
Parts of Canada have less gravity than the rest of the planet.
1 teaspoon of honey is the lifework of 12 bees.
A small fraction of the static on your tv is radiation left over from the Big Bang.
Your ears and nose are connected to your tear ducts.
Once Charlie Chaplin entered a contest for “Charlie Chaplin look-alikes” and he came in third.
People in the southern hemisphere see the moon upside down compared to the north.
Humans have patterns (like stripes, spots and geometric shapes) on our bodies that are invisible to us but cats can see them.
There are 80,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 possible arrangements of a 52-card deck.

Whats going on with this?

Why is Toyota so hesitant to build electric cars?

Profitability!!!!

Always Profitability

Same reason why most of the world cannot manufacture EVs on China’s scale

You see Japan has a fully integrated supply chain for ICE Vehicles. From the Engines to the Chassis to the Intelligent systems to the Fuel Injection

So Japanese Cars can make a lot of profit

Same for Hybrids

Japan has the entire supply chain for Hybrids and the best quality in the world

So Japanese Hybrids are very profitable

EVs are a different kettle of fish

China thanks to ten years of ENORMOUS SUBSIDIES by the State amounting to almost $ 600 Billion (4 Trillion RMB) have managed to scale up and keep refining the quality of EVs, Solar Panels and Wind Turbines until they completely control the supply chain and technology on a scale that NO CAPITALIST ECONOMY CAN MANAGE

It’s easy for BYD to invest 10 years in making EVs and researching and refining EV Quality because China always cut them a cheque to ensure BYD stayed in Business for 7 1/2 years until they finally produced the most efficient and best technology

For Tata?

For Toyota?

For Honda?

Impossible

India doesn’t have the money to subsidise anything and Japan is capitalist

You certainly can’t expect Honda or Toyota to invest 10 years perfecting their batteries and integrated platforms when they don’t get any profits right?

Same for Tata or Hyundai

Right now the best batteries are Chinese, platforms Chinese, Chassis and Components Chinese and all of them well ahead of any other nation

So if Japan makes EVs using Chinese Basic Components, the Japanese companies will barely make profit while the cream will be taken by the Chinese players like CATL Or Korean players like SK

So Japanese Car Makers have put up around $ 15 Billion and have been trying to develop Hydrogen Cell powered cars as a Rival to EVs

Of course China has already pumped up another 380 Billion RMB ($ 55 Billion) of Subsidies and their Hydrogen Fuel Cells are surging rapidly

They plan to power trucks and trains using Hydrogen powered cells

$55 Billion in China is nearly the same as $ 130 Billion in Japan against a mere $ 15 Billion

Eight times more investment

In the Capitalist world, Profitability is what drives everything else

New Technology won’t be explored unless it can be profitable

In the Chinese Model,Necessity and Demand drives everything else

The State will fund things and players until they finally are able to develop the core technology and ensure a commercial production model that is a generation better than anyone else

It’s why, after Iphones & galaxy , when Alcatel and many phone makers simply abandoned further development and research – China kept going on and on and on with their smartphone models even if it meant paying the cream to the American entities like Qualcomm or Intel or other such entities

So that one day they could crack the supply chain and then build their own superior and most cost effective supply chain and indigenous technology

Fish gangs

What was the strangest thing that happened to you as a foreigner in Japan?

I arrived in Tokyo with a terrible stomach ache and followed by bad diarrhea. For the first 2 days I could barely walk and only eat very little.

I then decided to go see a doctor, my wife called her friend who lives in Tokyo to ask about the closest hospital etc. He and his girlfriend showed up in our apartment, taking me to the closest clinic just in case the nurse/doctor don’t speak any English.

It was a normal clinic routine, I (or was it my wife?) filled up a form with my names etc, we wait and then saw a doctor. True enough, the doctor doesn’t speak English well, so he communicated with my friend while sometimes punching some keys on his phone for English translation to say things to me. By this time I feel really bad for my wife’s friend as he has to translate what i feel, in detail, to the doctor, about my diarrhea. It’s probably his worst first conversation with someone ever!

All good, he prescribed medicine, while explaining to my friend what and how much to take when. The doctor was very very responsible, he found translations on his phone again to write the name of the medicine and what each pill is for etc in English.

The strange thing comes when I want to pay the bill. The nurse said that the cashier was closed on weekends (it was Saturday), she estimated that the cost would be around JPY 10,000 or less. So, she asked me to give her JPY 5,000 and comeback on Monday to settle the rest with the cashier.

The strangest thing is, I told her that Monday is my schedule to take my kid to Disneyland and Tuesday to Disney Sea, to which she replied (translated by my wife’s dear friend, obviously) “ok, come whenever you have time, it’s OK”

I was dumbfounded by her answer, I asked again to confirm and she said yes.

I mean they know that I don’t live in Japan, nor do they ask my friend’s number/ address. My wife’s friend, my savior, then explained to me that it is quite normal in Japan because Japanese people are very responsible and honest, so they always pay what is due.

Big respect for their culture.

PS: I ended up paying the balance on Thursday, it was around JPY 3,500 🙂

Forbidden books

Where is the most dangerous island in the world?

Personally, I think it’s the Pitcairn Islands.

But not for the reasons you may think.

For those of you who don’t know, the Pitcairn Islands are a British Overseas Territory in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It’s one of the most isolated places in the world, and only has a population of 47 people, most of whom are descended from the nine people who originally settled the islands. They’re also all mostly interrelated, in one way or another.

The territory is owned by the United Kingdom, but governed by New Zealand’s British High Commissioner. They rarely visit, and ships only come to the islands about two dozen times a year.

[1] So I think it’s fair to say that the Pitcairn Islands are very isolated from the rest of society. The 47 residents of the Islands don’t have too much contact with the outside world.

But that’s precisely what makes it so dangerous.

In 1999, a policeman from Kent, England was serving an assignment on the islands, when he started to uncover some sinister things going on. He started uncovering allegations of sexual abuse, including against children.

An Australian pastor visited the island around that time, and made some shocking observations

“I noticed worrying signs such as inexplicable mood swings,” he says. “It took me three months to realise they were being abused. I tried to raise the subject at a meeting of the island council, and one gentleman replied: ‘Look, the age of consent has always been 12 and it doesn’t hurt them.'” [2]

When further questioned, residents of the island basically said “that’s just how it is here”. Girls would get into relationships at a disturbingly young age on the island, and nobody really noticed from the outside for a long time. Most girls had their first child between ages 12 and 15.

That’s pretty messed up. As it turns out, the remoteness of the island had allowed a disturbing culture of sexuality to develop. The policeman started questioning every single woman who lived on the island, and they all saw nothing wrong with it.

But British officials definitely saw something wrong with it, and pressed charges against seven men. That may not seem like a lot, but consider that that was most of the island’s adult male population at the time, including the mayor of the islands.

This was a huge scandal, and raised a lot of questions about extraterritoriality and law and stuff. During the trial, they had to fly in policemen, judges, lawyers, journalists and other court staff; from the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

This effectively doubled the island’s population during the trial.

Lawyers for the defendants made a strange argument in order to try and get their sentences reduced: they argued that if they were imprisoned, the island would cease to function. And they had a point. When an island has a population as small as the Pitcairn Islands, locking up seven able-bodied men has a huge impact.

Four defendants got reduced sentences because of the unique nature of the island’s population. Two were spared from jail entirely, and one was acquitted.

This is what I think makes it one of the most dangerous islands in the world. Not the wildlife, not the flora and fauna, but the people living there.

The same way anonymity can make people cruel and immoral, isolation can do the same thing, allowing cultures of abuse and mistreatment to develop. In my opinion, this case is no different to cases of abuse within cults. Both involved small groups of people and corrupt leadership, who basically created a little realm in which they could get away with horrible things.

Footnotes

[1] Shipping Schedule — Visit Pitcairn – Open To Explore

[2] The paradise that’s under a cloud

China’s Military Aircraft Can Vanish ‘Off The Radar’ As Scientist Developed Plasma Device

In another remarkable leap forward in the realm of military technology, Chinese scientists have unveiled a groundbreaking development that is sure to revolutionize aerial warfare: a new plasma stealth device that could render Chinese aircraft virtually invisible to enemy radar systems. You heard that right! We might see the time where Chinese aircraft will go undetected on enemy radar systems and in turn inflict a plethora of damage. Today’s episode will uncover the new development of Chinese scientists that might make Chinese aircraft invisible in the future. https://youtu.be/TD20CoQ1dPA

What are the consequences the world faces if China goes for war over Taiwan?

India may suffer massive shortages

Luckily not of food products but many other things.

Electric Vehicles , Electronics, Vehicles, Smartphons, Pumps – will all reduce significantly as they primarily depend on Chinese Components and Import Substitution is impossible due to the Ukranian Crisis.

The Biggest problem is ANTIBIOTICS, PAINKILLERS, ANTIVIRALS

India manufactures a lot of these but 80% Pharma Raw Stock comes from China

A Blockade by US could prevent Crucial Antibiotics from being delivered to more than 60% of the Countries in the World (95% Developing Countries)

Globally the Biggest Problem will be – CHIPS

Taiwan exports 93% of its Chips and controls 70% of the Global Supply Chain

A Blockade on the Taiwan Straits by China could result in an existing supply crunch intensifying several times over.

As on date only 7 Stacks of Chips are being delivered for every 12 Stacks of Chips relative to 2019 Globally -ie:- only around 60% of the Global Supply

If Taiwan joins in then you could have 7 Stacks for every 36 -48 Stacks or only around 15%-20% of the Global Supply

That would impact many many Industries

ASEAN Nations will lose Big

The Seas are very profitable for Trade. Those routes are disturbed – it will lead to a Supply Crisis like EU is experiencing.

And the Western Economies will crumble even worse

A Lot of their Hedge Funds invest in Chip Manufacturing Entities and a Huge Shortfal market could collapse such funds by as much as 40%-60%

It will all pass…

Do you think China has the guts to attack Taiwan, or are they just lame threats?

Its not a Question of Guts

Its a Question of having the ability to follow through

War is a drain on everything and fighting a War against several enemies could be a huge obstacle to any country.

Every repurcussion has to be planned , anticipated and handled

Putin took 8 years and even then it was a Weak Joe Biden that finally moved him into the Ukraine Conflict.

8 years of planning, contingencies, new alliances

Has the US ever fought a Conflict or War where there is a threat of either China or Russia coming for a defensive battle?

Not since the 1960s

Same Reason.

Attacking Taiwan is a 2 Week Job, 4 weeks Tops

Taiwan cannot hold against China and no amount of alliances can hold a Determined China from hoding Taiwan

The Political Repurcussions, Global Repurcussions, Financial Repurcussions – these are Chinas largest obstacles.

China has to plan for these and how to counter these

Strong Alliances are crucial here

China already has Russia and Central Asia

Turkey mostly will not condemn China in any way

However ASEAN?

ASEAN nations are headless chickens and if pushed and pressurized heavily could create problems for China

Long story short – China will attack Tiwan only if threatened beyond anything we have seen until today

What is the most shocking thing that’s ever happened on live TV?

In 1997, Gay Byrne was hosting the Late Late Show.

His two guests of the evening were a nun and Irish poet, Brendan Kennelly.

The night was going well – at the midpoint of each episode, they usually hosted a phone-in competition. You know the format; they ask an unbelievably easy question, get people to send in the answer, and they pick one person to call and tell them congratulations! you’ve won a prize!

This evening was no different.

The prize of the evening was a new car and Byrne dials the lucky winner.

Ring ring.

The phone is answered by a quiet sounding woman. She sounded meek, even when told she had won.

“Are you happy, Rita?”

“Yes,” Rita replies quietly.

“Are you watching the show tonight?”

“I wasn’t”, Rita replies …

… “my daughter died last night”.

Instantly there were gasps and Byrne’s face drops and his tone changes.

“Oh no. Oh dear Rita, I’m very sorry.”

You have to remember that this was live TV. Thousands of people, including a studio audience full of people, were sat in front of him. Byrne probably also had his studio team giving him instructions in his ear. So, he flubbed, and very inelegantly asked:

“And why did she die?”

“Are you being funny?” she shot back.

“She got knocked down. She was in a car crash last night.”

It turned out that it was Rita’s daughter who had entered the competition – she was so hoping to win a car and it was a car that ended her life only a day before.

Byrne, being the fantastic host that he was, realised that he should really give Rita, the poor woman, an out if she wanted it.

“Good heavens. Well Rita, I don’t think we can continue with this in the circumstances. Do you want to?”

“I do.”

This led to applause from the audience and Rita continued.

The first guest, the nun, offered her some consolation, saying that it surely was no accident that the postcard was picked tonight.

Next, it was passed to the poet, Kennelly, who recited one of his most famous poems, “Begin,” from memory:

“Though we live in a world that dreams of ending
that always seems about to give in
something that will not acknowledge conclusion
insists that we forever begin.”

Towards the end, Rita was quietly weeping.

Byrne then tells her that she has the support and prayers of the entire country, and Rita, in turn, told Byrne that she felt it was important to stay on the line for her daughter, that she was accepting the prize “for her”.

I’m describing this clip because I can’t find the full version of it anywhere.

Nobody can.

The only version I can find is on this article here, but it is shortened and doesn’t give the full effect: Talk show host’s phone call takes heartbreaking turn live on air

Graham Norton, the extremely popular Irish chat show host of his own show on the BBC, actually once said that this moment inspired him to move into chat shows.

Gay Byrne died recently at the age of 85, after a short illness battling cancer.

He will forever be missed and remembered fondly by Irish people of a certain age.

Edit: It turns out that the video in that article has since been removed, which must have only happened in the last few days — unfortunately.

Also, many people have pointed out how I feel like this was more shocking than events like Budd Dwyer’s suicide.

I knew these would be discussed in-depth, so I figured I’d go with an event I knew most people wouldn’t have heard of.

AI is changing the game

China changes position on Taiwan; tensions ratchet up

On February 14, there was an incident between a Taiwan coast guard ship and Chinese fishing boats in the waters off Kinmen, a very short distance from Xiamen. In this incident, the Chinese fishing boat was hit by the Taiwan coast guard ship and capsized. Two of the Chinese fishermen drowned.

Since then, there have been 15 rounds of discussions between the Chinese authorities and the Taiwan authorities. The Chinese side has demanded compensation and an apology to the fishermen from the Taiwan side; Taiwan has refused. The DPP, which controls the Taiwan government, has refused any responsibility for the action, and claims that there is no video recording of the incident It has appealed to the US to become involved in the discussions, which the US so far has ignored.

The incident has received widespread coverage in China, and this has led to a hardening of Chinese popular opinion, and the government’s stance to Taiwan. Chinese public opinion feels that the Chinese authorities have been too accommodating to Taiwan for too long, and instead of treating Taiwan as “fellow Chinese”, they should be treated as an enemy. For a long time, PRC Chinese considered the DPP and KMT to be hostile to the PRC, but that ordinary Taiwanese were decent Chinese who wanted to be re-united with China. Now that view is dismissed as a fantasy which should be rejected.

The Chinese government closely follows public opinion from online media, and has shifted its public stance during the Two Congresses meeting in Beijing. When discussing Taiwan, there is no more talk of an appeal to our “Taiwan compatriots”. Instead the talk is of reunification, without specifying whether it should be done peacefully or by military means.

As the PRC increases its military patrols in the Taiwan straits and around Taiwan, it is likely that the PLA forces will ignore Taiwan’s demarcation lines for the sea and air. The DPP government is likely to look to the US for support in enforcing these demarcation lines, and the US will need to decide how far it wants to go in supporting the Taiwan authorities.

On the military front, the US is thinly spread with the Ukraine war, which may escalate into a more direct confrontation between NATO and Russia, and the Israel/Hamas war, which may evolved into a multi-front war for Israel, involving the Houthis in the Red Sea and Yemen, the continuing war in Gaza, and a possible northern front including Lebanon and Syria involving Hizbollah. The longer the war lasts, the greater the damage for Israel’s economy, which has already lost 20% of its GDP since October 7.

This presents a major dilemma for the US: it already has two major wars on its hands, and it needs time to build up its military for a possible major confrontation with China. But the US won’t be able to fully prepare itself for military confrontation through re-armament until 2027. If the US confronts China militarily before then, it is likely to lose.

Economically, China is on the move by selling products which are just as good as American products, if not better, at much lower prices. Notable areas are solar panels and EVs, where western manufacturers and exporters cannot compete.

As if that were not enough, we face a re-run of the Biden-Trump battle for the presidency in November. If Trump is elected, he is likely to disengage on the foreign policy front, and will tell Putin that he can have Ukraine, and maybe Europe. NATO will only exist on paper.

He has talked about raising tariffs on Chinese imports to the US to 60%.

Interesting times indeed.

Chicken farmers in Australia be like…

If money is not an issue, would you rather live in Miami, the SF Bay Area, Los Angeles, or New York?

New York is an absolute no no

Too many blacks at night everywhere and 90% of them wearing hoodies and giving the “mugger vibe”

And not the Good African blacks or the blacks you see in UK

The Stereotype 1990s blacks depicted in family guy

You may think you landed in Lagos

Except Manhattan and i dont like Apartment living too much.

Miami?

I have never been to Miami. In Florida, I have been only to Orlando.

SF Bay Area

Sorry

Too many Homosexuals

I went there twice and both times, you had many men holding hands and resting heads on shoulders and giving you the shudders

Beautiful place though

Like South Mumbai to a certain extent

Los Angeles?

Again I have been to LA only to go to Universal Studios and Rodeo Drive and when I land in US

No idea how life in LA can be

In the US, I would prefer living in New Rochelle in Westchester County Or some of those nice Suburban communities, ones where Indians are not discriminated against

Or even San Jose

My Son lived in a place called Los Gatos and he was told all the white guys were uppity people who would be racist to Indians. That never happened. Good people, Friendly people

My idea of a money no limit place would be :-

One Acre minimum property
Excellent Medical Facilities nearby where the Labs process results in a day and not four days
Where a Specialist makes an appointment to see you, the next day and not next Thursday
At least two Indian eateries in a 1 Km radius. Not the Naan, Roti one but the South Indian one which is rarer in the US
Low rate of crime
Accessibility to a City for emergency

The Answer was Westchester County

I advised my sons to consider this place as a final retirement place in the days when US was a better country than it is today

My wife is already not too pleased about one son settling in China and has warned me “You kept praising China, and now our younger son is in China. Now you are praising Russia. If the elder one settles down in Russia, you can live with him and I am out of here”

Meanwhile in Texas

Do you know anyone who had a good heart who went to prison?

I’ve known men who had good hearts and went to prison.

Where they lost them.

I’ve met men who went to prison and grew larger hearts, just like the Grinch.

I’ve met men who never had good hearts and never will.

And, I’ve met men who managed to hold on to their good hearts in spite of it all.

Shortly after arriving at the facility where I did the bulk of my time, I met a man who was almost the same age as my father. This was a spry fellow, slender, medium height, and bearded.

He had been in Vietnam.

He was just a kid when he went to war. While away he kept an unusually candid journal. Later in life he transcribed the journal faithfully into a book and self-published a small number of copies. It must’ve been tempting to edit out the parts that made him look like the stupid teenager he was, but he didn’t. The journal and the book tell the same story without so much as a spelling correction.

He allowed me to read his journal.

It was filled with the concerns of an eighteen year old boy, “Does she love me? What did she mean when she said that? What should I tell her about John?” All these normal, adolescent, girl-centric concerns projected against a backdrop of horror.

On his first day of patrol in Vietnam, his outfit marched into a village and demanded to know where the Viet Cong were. One bad apple threatened a woman by holding her infant over a well and screaming for answers about the VC.

The sergeant saw this and said, “C’mon Smith. Let it go.” Smith (or whatever his name was) dropped the baby into the well. The sergeant calmly walked over, pulled out a hand grenade, removed the pin, and dropped the grenade into the well after the baby.

After the explosion he said, “Don’t have to worry about that fucker.”

This was day one of patrol. Imagine the shock. Imagine being ripped out of your Mid-West suburban utopia and being cast into this asylum for the chronically cruel.

The entire course of this young man’s life was forever altered. His experiences at war led to a drinking problem. The drinking led to DUIs. Three DUIs became a felony conviction. His father’s guns still in his home became “felon in possession of a firearm.”

This was a good man. His heart was in pain for his entire adulthood as a result of the things he saw.

Instead of offering him help, we locked him up.

Oh baby…

Senior Russian Military Colonel: Possibility of full-scale war in Europe “not ruled out – growing significantly”

World Hal Turner 07 March 2024

A senior Russian military officer warns that the conflict in #Ukraine could escalate into a full-scale war in #Europe and says the probability of Moscow’s forces becoming involved in a new conflict is increasing “significantly.” Colonel-General Vladimir Zarudnitsky, head of the Russian army’s Military Academy of the General Staff, made the comments in an article for “Military Thought”, a defense ministry publication, the state RIA news agency reported on Thursday. “The possibility of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine – from the expansion of participants in ‘proxy forces’ used for military confrontation with Russia to a large-scale war in Europe – cannot be ruled out,” RIA cited him a saying. “The main source of military threats to our state is the anti-Russian policy of the United States and its allies, who are conducting a new type of hybrid warfare in order to weaken Russia in every possible way, limit its sovereignty and destroy its territorial integrity,” he was quoted as saying. “The likelihood of our state being purposefully drawn into new military conflicts is significantly increasing.” The war in Ukraine has triggered the deepest crisis in Russia’s relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and President Vladimir Putin has warned that the West risks provoking a nuclear war if it sends troops to fight in Ukraine. Putin has cast his decision to send tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022 as a special military operation designed to secure Russia’s own security against an increasingly hostile US-backed Ukrainian leadership. Kyiv says it is defending itself against an imperial-style war of conquest designed to erase its national identity. Zarudnitsky’s comments come at a time when the West is scrambling to help Ukraine with more arms and financing after Kyiv’s failed counteroffensive last summer and after Russian forces regained the initiative on the battlefield. Zarudnitsky advocated a number of changes in the way Russia organizes its military and security, RIA added, including placing greater emphasis on relying on what he called friendly countries to ensure Russia’s own security and consolidating the whole of Russian society around its defense needs.

Fathers be like

Apricot Chicken

Ingredients

Chicken

4 to 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 (13 ounce) jar apricot preserves
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
3/4 cup water
1 1/4 cups Russian dressing or use store-bought

Russian Dressing

1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup chili sauce (or ketchup)
3 teaspoons prepared horseradish (or to taste)
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

Instructions

If using homemade Russian Dressing, prepare it first. If using store bought Russian dressing, proceed with the recipe.
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Chicken

Wash and place chicken breasts in a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
In a medium size bowl, mix together preserves, dry onion soup mix, water and Russian dressing. Pour over the chicken breasts. Bake for 1 hour.

Russian Dressing

Place onion in a small bowl and mash to create a paste. Stir in the mayonnaise, chili sauce, horseradish, hot sauce, Worcestershire, paprika and salt.

Stability

What habits did you pick up in prison that non prisoners don’t understand?

Don’t make eye contact. If you happen to, do not smile. The general friendliness we see as acceptable and desirable in the real world (except France) can get you into trouble in prison.

Look in every trashcan. I still can’t break this habit. Prison is a constant state of want. You learn to make do or do without. There’s stuff in there that you need.

Trust no one. Eventually you will come to know one or two well enough to exempt them from this rule… but even with these select few, you still shouldn’t lean on them. Practice solidarity with yourself.

Don’t ask questions. You’ve no right to know, and asking can cause problems with inmates and guards alike.

Lock up everything. It only takes a moment for someone to walk off with whatever you hold dear. If it’s further than arm’s reach, it’s at risk.

Beware the quiet. If you’ve been reading and suddenly realize that the normal background idiocy has mysteriously squelched, pay attention. There’s a reason, and it’s probably not good.

Don’t stand out. Don’t ask for special privileges, don’t complain, and don’t go around trying to make friends. Squeaky wheels get greased with blood.

Stockpile books. You never know when you’ll be in lockdown for a fortnight. You’ll be grateful if you’ve got something to do besides another game of cards.

A warning from veteran who went to Ukraine

Is Britain’s idea of using frozen Russian assets as collateral for a loan to Ukraine any less illegal than simply stealing them, and how would this affect London’s reputation as a financial centre?

It’s literally stealing.

You can make all the olympic level mental gymnastics you want, oh it’s only stealing from bad people. But all in all it’s still stealing, it’s taking stuff that isn’t yours.

Oh sure you can of course decide that it is yours or make contrivances and change the law so that it becomes ‘legal’. But in the end it’s intentionally depriving somebody of their property on a permanent basis thus means theft.

affect London’s reputation as a financial centre?

It will affect confidence, in that if you can steal theirs or change the rules so that they can take it legally, what stops you from doing it to others?

If anything the UK is doing this over and over.

They’ve literally refused to give Venezuela’s gold back to them.

But it goes back to this:

affect London’s reputation as a financial centre?

London’s reputation as a financial centre is evaporating. EU passporting is ending in 2024 😀

So they’re literally resorting to looting.

That’s not particularly surprising as most of them why pay for something if you can steal it?

Ukraine War: Irish fighter ‘Rambo’ describes ‘terrifying’ Russian tank chase

What can I learn in one minute that will be useful for the rest of my life?

Adjust a picture frame at your desk so you can see behind you with the reflection of the glass.
In a pinch, the seatbelt in your car can be used as a bottle opener.
Balance an empty can on the doorknob to alert you if someone tries to open the door while you’re elsewhere in the house.
Anything you say before the word “but” does not count.
Suspect someone’s giving you the wrong phone number? Read it back to them incorrectly, if they correct you, it’s legit.
Windows key + E to open My Computer.
To confirm which circuit breaker is associated with an outlet, plug in a hairdryer and turn the volume up before you flip the circuit breaker.
When you want to cross words out you don’t want to be legible, instead of scribbling over them, write random letters and words over the original.
Using ‘~ ‘ before a word in Google searches includes synonyms of that word in your search.
When filling your car with gas, hold the trigger halfway. You’ll get more gas and less air in the tank.
Have an Excel file too big to e-mail? Save it as an xlsb it shrinks the size by 50-75%.
When you’re on an elevator, the floor with the star next to it is the one that leads outside.
Save the job description when you start a new job. It makes updating your resume a lot easier.
When showing people pictures on your phone, zoom in a little bit so they can’t easily swipe to other pictures.
Can’t decide if you’re hungry? Ask yourself if you want an apple. If you answer no, then you’re not actually hungry.

This is what a “real” man does…

How can we remind Russians we have no problems with them? We have a problem with their despot.

You don’t. You have problems with Russians now.

There are many dimensions of current conflict between Russia and collective West or whatever you call Russian opponents. Anyway the U.S. are the main enemy and there would be no conflict without their involvement. A lot has been said and written on the matter so I won’t delve into it further.

Now comes the definition part. Who are “you”? Ok, I assume you are talking about people of collective West. Not governments, not military industry lobbies, not bankers, not oil traders, not oligarchs. Just people.

Why do you have problems with Russians? Because your countries are our enemies. And no sweet words will change that simple fact.

Could this be different? Yes. Your countries made a plethora of pointless, stupid and self-contradicting decisions.

Yet, the most stupid of those decision was the decision to attempt economic isolation of Russia.

This:
1) Made Russian people your enemies
2) Forced modernization of Russian industry and economy at unprecedented rate
3) Boosted Russian military-industrial complex
4) Resulted in further consolidation of Russians around Putin
5) Destroyed all “soft influence” that you had in Russia through your corporations and business ties

The list is long.

Now a small personal story.

By February 2022 I was mainly working for a couple U.S. corporations (Intel and HP if you are interested) as lead localizer / reviewer of Russian content (freelance).

I was generally sympathizing Americans and Europeans and had no communication problems. I was quite against any confrontation. However, actions of European and American governments made me lose these jobs and, naturally, my attitude to them has seriously changed.

You made a Western-minded person in Russia angry about “the West”. There were millions of Russians like me who had ties with the Western world or who earned their income working for Western companies. Actions of U.S. and European governments made you lose our sympathies and lose any leverage the West had in Russian society.

Not that we would work against Russia or became “the fifth column”, but had this “economic blockade” remained a threat, we would surely push for decisions that would help us save our jobs and sources of income.

Now it is just too late. Pro-Western people in Russia were forced to adapt and vast majority of them are no longer pro-Western. Sure, some just fled Russia but even then, this didn’t have any noticeable impact on Russian economy and Russian society.

To sum it up, you had your influence in Russia but lost it. You earned money in Russia but lost it. Even your cultural influence is fading. Simply because Russians are no longer looking on your content through rosy glasses. And well, TBH your media entertainment content in last few years mostly sucks.

Maybe your own audience is brainwashed enough to push any “agendas” but I don’t remember any new Hollywood blockbusters in last few years that would be really appealing to Russian or any other third-world audience. I haven’t even feel the desire to watch anything like that.

Moreover, your “brands” are rapidly losing value in eyes of Russians and more and more Russians look at them with disdain.

Moreover, Russia is setting the example for “Global South” demonstrating that a large part of your “superiority” was just imaginary. The further our hostilities go, the greater is this understanding. Especially when it comes to “cultural superiority”.

Still… if you are talking about people… many Russian still don’t think categories. Most of us still don’t assume that every American or European is an enemy. Yet, we assume that most of you are simply brainwashed about Russia, Russian people and Russian so-called “despot”.

A side note for more context. I do support the ruling party of Russia but I don’t support President Putin. I am a big fan of Russian Prime Minister and other efficient administrators from United Russia team.

So enjoy your “politically correct” remakes, dull comics that are indistinguishable from each other and reanimation of long-dead franchises that can’t be saved even with once great actors.

Las Vegas babysitter who beat 5-year-old boy to death sentenced to life in prison

Horrific.

Terrible.

What is the most disgusting thing that someone has done in a restaurant?

I have a three-way-tie. We had a family come in with a baby, toddler, and a small child, maybe 6 or 7. I noticed the baby didn’t look well to begin with. You could just look at this kid and tell she was miserable and running fever. I asked if she was alright and the mom assured me she was just tired.

The toddler decided to suck the sauce off her noodles and stick them to the wall. Mom and dad said nothing. A little while later the older child put her hands in the baby’s diaper and announced to everyone “Ewww! Chrissy’s got runny poo!” She wiped her hand on the white tablecloth. Mom pushes plates aside and changes this horrendously smelly, runny diaper right on the table. She couldn’t understand why I was making a big deal out of it when I asked her to take the baby to the bathroom.

Next we have the lady who ordered a huge meal and requested a large, empty to go cup. It wasn’t until after she left that I realized what she was doing. She was chewing her food and spitting it in the cup instead of swallowing it. I’m pretty sure she had an eating disorder. It’s none of my business if she did or didn’t, I’m not judging, but it would have been nice if she had thrown her cup of chewed food out herself instead of leaving it for me to deal with.

Finally, we have the man who decided that instead of using his big boy words to show his displeasure at being denied a take out box for an all-you-can-eat meal (There were signs and the menu stated no to go boxes on it) that he would urinate in my lobby. He did this right in front of a cop that was dining with us. The guy was not too bright. Yes, the cop took action.

Let’s see something nicer.

The internet found her and destroyed her

She was deserving.

When have you cheaply or inexpensively fixed an item someone thought unrepairable?

Not exactly unrepairable but definitely expensive.

I recently treated myself to a used luxury automobile because I’m getting old and wanted to splurge. I had it less than 2 weeks when the power driver’s seat wouldn’t move forward or backwards. Unfortunately it was frozen slightly too far back so I really had to stretch to reach the pedals … not a very safe way to drive.

The dealer looked sad when I brought it in. He said this was a common problem with my model, but the “repair” involved replacing the whole motor assembly under the seat, it would cost upwards of $3k, and extended warranties almost never covered it.

I went home and contacted my insurer who said they didn’t know if it was covered, I should have the $200 diagnostic done and then the dealer would present a claim for the repair on my behalf and they would “work it out”.

The night before my follow-up appointment, my husband (not a mechanic) looked under the seat with a flashlight. The gear to move the seat had come out of its track. He hit it a few times just so and the gear popped back into place. Now the seat works perfectly again.

I’m so glad I married him

The Internet destroyed this woman

Reality Universe sub-structure rebuilding effort by mm

Happy new year.

I pulled out a Paetron video for you all to enjoy. It’s the start of the Dragon Year 2024. Please enjoy it, you all. For those who already watched it, please check it out again.

Enjoy this video.

MM discusses a rebuilding of the Reality Universe substructure

A question…

I really enjoyed this but now I have so many more questions! 

Didn’t know you still do missions and I wish I knew what “polishing” is…

An answer

I am retired from MAJestic. But I am still active in Domain.

As far as “polishing” is concerned…

“Polishing” is like dipping a piece of fly paper into a thick vegetable soup. Then pulling it out.

The chunky bits all cling to the paper. You then scrape the paper clean (or get a new sheet), and repeat the process.

Over time, the soup gets less “chunky” and full of stuff, and is more like really sluggish and calm water.

(You can thank the DC for this explanation.)

What is the most selfless thing you did?

Hmmm. I guess it was when my parents were divorcing. My father purposefully put mom in dire financial trouble. He even somehow cancelled my credit cards and cleaned out my college fund which I hadn’t touched yet, even tho I was 21. She was suddenly behind in house payments and taxes, because even tho he said he was paying everything, he pocketed the money for months and years. So, yeah. I gave mom all my savings, dropped out of school midterm and went to work full time to get her back on track. I gave her my entire paychecks. After about a year she was ok again. And karma found the sperm donor and took him down. Story for another time tho. Secondly was quitting my job to care for my mom when she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, which had spread everywhere. She became bedridden pretty quickly I was her 24/7 caregiver for over a year. I wouldn’t let her go to a place where she couldn’t get one-on-one attention. She had every complication possible. Rashes, wounds, meds, diarrhea, nausea, dizziness, everything. She would be confused and call me every 15 minutes for something. She required 3–5 full bed changes and cleanings a day at times. Hospice told me it was the worst case they’d seen in 25 years. But I stayed. Caregivers I hired at $50/hr to get a few hours relief would leave because it was “too much work.” But I stayed. I may have had no outside life, only got 3–4 hours of sleep a night, and was an emotional wreck, but I know I did everything I could have done for her. She passed a few months ago and I’m still riding all the emotions while trying to figure out my life again.

If another coworker didn’t show up for work, how would you handle their responsibilities besides your own?

Not my coworker; my supervisor.

Already entitled and lazy, once she realized that I’m reliable, not stupid and could be trusted to do her work, she started dumping on me. Eventually I was doing her job and mine for four days out of five while she called in either “sick” or “working from home today” or .”out on appointments” or “cold-calling” every day except payday Fridays.

Or one or the other of her children or husband was sick, or had an appointment, or the car broke down. Like she fucking thought I was that damned stupid. Every. Single. Day.

When I complained to her brother the company owner about my overwhelming workload, I was told that I just needed to learn how to prioritize.

Eventually he was spending more and more time on the golf course and dumping on me himself. I became a de facto office manager without the salary, I was running their company for them in their absence on my secretary’s wages. Everything from invoicing, collections, and banking to sales and installation support and inventory to making coffee and vacuuming to painting walls.

Yeah, I quit without notice. And without me, they not only had to get off their asses and do their own jobs but had to figure how I’d spent 45 hours a week, because neither one of them had any idea. Clueless about customer service, answering the phone, taking and filling customer orders, shipping and receiving, reception and typing and filing and billing. Without me they didn’t even know where the vending machine keys were. I guess neither one was smart enough to figure it out, because less than a year after I quit they bankrupted the business.

My supervisor ended up giving $6 haircuts at the Hair Cuttery for tips.

Are ‘Girls Trips’ on Spring Break Okay When Married?

What was the most disgusting display of entitled behavior that you ever witnessed?

I’m sure there are examples more disgusting than this, but this is the one that sticks in my mind.

I was a Teaching Fellow at Harvard while getting my Ph.D. There was a student in my section who clearly had money to burn and the attitude that the world was his toy to play with. He came to me on the day a paper was due, smiled his expensive Tom Cruise smile, and said he hadn’t gotten his assignment done because he spent Spring Break in the Bahamas, so he’d get it to me when he had a chance. He seemed to think this would be absolutely fine. I told him how much his grade would drop each day it was late, and he shrugged and sauntered out.

Later, close to the end of a semester of this kind of performance from him, I explained exactly how many points he needed on the Final to pass the course.

He didn’t pass.

He then proceeded to come in with a multi-page detailed analysis explaining how I had graded his exam wrong. If he had put that much effort into studying for the test, he would have passed.

He clearly expected me to change his grade and pass him, because otherwise he wouldn’t graduate and would have to take summer school to get his diploma, and he already had a job lined up at his dad’s law firm. And to my amazement, the professor of the course wanted me to do exactly that — either he was afraid of what the powerful lawyer-dad might do if we failed his kid, or he just didn’t want the bother. I had to fight to get him to follow through with the clearly stated consequences for this kid’s actions.

I saw the kid later during the summer term. He didn’t look quite so entitled then.

What is the wildest reaction you have seen to someone getting fired?

It seemed pretty wild to me.

I was hired by a Director at a software company, she was remote, her team was remote, I was remote, and the team was Project Management (overseeing the implementation of enterprise facility management software). BUT then the Director of the implementation team was more short-handed, so I was given that director instead. Fine. I’d done all of the roles before, I was just happy to be working there, and able to help the clients, and give articulate feedback to the dev team, which I did.

I was the only one on the Implementation team (including the Director) who’d actually been a Solutions Consultant before. Talking to the clients about their needs, importing their existing data, customizing the software to meet their needs, helping them with training, etc. The rest of my team were total noobs. It’s cool, we all had to start somewhere. So, everyone on the team would come to me with questions.

I’d started off as a CAD Manager (dealing with the drafting and design software), so when our tech support team would have a difficult issue with a client’s drawing files, they’d call me in, and I’d help them out. They were SUPER grateful. Like they knew all about their own software, but AutoCAD and Revit are a whole different company, and they weren’t experts.

About six months in, my Director told me I needed to move to a different state because the remote work wasn’t working out. Uh, really? Because my two biggest clients were actually in the same city as me, and I’d been doing this job remotely for clients all over the country for years.

Whatever. I was let go because I couldn’t relocate. (I was in the middle of a divorce, and I’m physically disabled. My kids and I needed family support, and they legally needed to remain near their Dad.)

***The wild thing was, when the head of the support team heard that I’d been let go… he quit.***

He was tired of not having anyone else in the company to turn to for help, and I’d been that person for him, and the clients were all happier with quicker, more effective resolutions, and clear documentation for the knowledgebase.

He and I are still friends. That director didn’t last much longer there either and went back into real estate.

Can’t Escape The Gender Roles

What were the worst two minutes of your life?

A little background: I was a 13yo city kid. I previously joined the Boy Scouts but having made only 2nd Class, I was invited to leave by the Scoutmaster for swearing. Hey..we were city. Short time later we were snow sliding not far from the tenement and I got the bright idea to pick up a long sheet of scrap metal from a nearby mill. I found out if you pulled the end up like a toboggan you rocketed down the hill. On one run I really picked up speed and my ‘sled’ went out of control spinning and I landed at the bottom covered in snow and laughing. I looked up the hill and a line of my friends were just staring at me. I yelled “what?” and they pointed to my hand. I had gone out wearing a pair of my sisters white wool gloves. I looked at my left hand and that glove was soaked in blood and dripping fast. I stumbled up the hill to try and run home. At one point I knelt and pulled the glove off. I had severed my left thumb down to the bone along with the arteries and blood was pumping out of my body. A friend stayed with me as everyone went to get help. By this time the snow around me was crimson. I was getting dizzy. I knew I was in trouble. I told my friend to find a stick and told him to give me his bootlace. I told him how to tie a tourniquet and told him to keep winding that stick until the blood stopped. He was shaking and crying. I remember telling him it’s going to be all right. The bleeding did stop but there was blood everywhere. I looked up to see my mother running towards me. I remember saying “I’m sorry mommy” and I guess I passed out. I woke up in a rescue and the EMT asked who tied the tourniquet and I said I remembered from Boy Scouts and out again. A week in the hospital and my thumb reattached and today as good as new. One of the things I remembered before getting kicked out of Scouts was First Aid.

Have you ever seen someone treat someone else horribly and receive instant karma?

The suicide bomber who died alone.

In 2016, Abdullahi Abdisalam Borleh was a suicide bomber who had explosives in his laptop as he boarded airplane from Somalia,Daallo Airlines.

He had come in as someone who had difficulty in walking and he claimed his purpose for travelling was health related.

Twenty minutes after taking off from Mogadishu, Somalia at an altitude of 14,000ft an explosion occurred inside the aircraft. There were 74 passengers and 7 crew members on board.

The explosion created this opening.

He was sucked out of the plane from this opening.

His intention was to kill everyone on the plane, but as fate had it, He was the only one who died.

He was the only fatality and the plane’s controls were unaffected by the blast allowing the pilot able to fly the plane back to Mogadishu safely.

Karma some times works like magic.

No one could have seen this coming!

What are some golden advice you want to give for free?

Don’t rely on others for happiness – it often leads to disappointment.
Take risks while you’re young, because youth doesn’t last forever.
Love isn’t about escaping suffering, but sharing a beautiful life with someone.
Use your pain to grow and learn, don’t let it go to waste.
Don’t let religion or beliefs stop you from loving and empathizing with others.
Forgiving yourself is key to finding inner peace in life.
Stay united with your family – they’re your support system.
True love doesn’t just follow trends, it’s genuine and supportive.
Explore life, but don’t forget to listen to your conscience.
Stay open to learning – no one knows everything in life.

What is the worst prank someone did to you on April Fools?

My boss was a prankster so I should have seen this coming.

Not sure if it was April fools but the joke was on me!

I worked for a company based very near Heathrow Airport. One year I booked a three-week holiday to the Philippines with my family.

Long-term car parking would have cost hundreds of pounds, but my boss had a secretary lived nearby. She said I could use their driveway as they would be away too. Just pop the keys in their letter box, bring a spare and drive myself home when we got back since she would be at work.

It all worked fine.

About a week after I got back I had a meeting with my boss. I am a field manager so we used to meet at a local Hilton convenient to us both.

So we meet up and were having our discussion when he excuses himself to go to the loo. He’s away a while so I assume he’s just having a dump.

At the end of our meeting we say our goodbyes, I go off to my car. Its gone! I check everywhere! I’m sure I remembered where I parked it! No it’s gone! Some bastard stole it! My beautiful blue Mercedes C class!

I run back in panicking! I see my boss still packing up his lap top. I tell him what happened. He’s not surprised! He’s laughing!

What?

He waves my key at me !

The bastard had been given my key by his secretary and asked to return it to me . He’d taken the opportunity to move my car to the far corner of the car park! No wonder I couldn’t find it!

The bastard!

But I got him back about a year later….

4 signs she’s cheating on you

What did you do when you saw someone stealing while on the job?

When I saw a significant theft on the job, I held off, thinking on the subject until quitting time. As my fellow employee prepared to leave I approached him, saying I knew what he wanted to take and it was in his knapsack. He gave me an innocent look and denied any such thing. I advised him what would probably happen if management “accidentally” found out about attempted theft as he exited the building. Then I explained how he would feel later, how it would probably affect his performance, and what little gain he was going to get -vs- his possible loss of employment as well as a black-mark on employment history.

He stood quite for a moment then explained the item was supposed to be a birthday gift to his son. Sympathetically, I asked him how much he could afford for a gift. He had about half the money he needed if he paid retail price. I knew the owner/manager well so I told my fellow employee to replace the item while I asked what could be arranged.

The owner seemed proud the employee’s son would receive an item his company produced and gave me a reduced figure. I paid the difference, asking the owner to accept the amount the employee had saved. We went to the production area, selected a newly inspected item, packaged it and presented it to the employee who beamed with excitement. Then he hesitated, explaining he only had half the value saved. The owner simply accepted the amount, grinned and told him not to tell other employees about today’s deep discount. The day, and a man’s dignity had been saved.

What was the first thing that blew your mind when you became a police officer?

In my first two weeks after finishing in the training school I was put with Alan.

Alan was a very experienced officer and I was assured I would learn plenty from Alan.

So we are driving down the street when Alan suddenly declares “There’s Fingers Malone. He must have just been released. Sit in the back!”

Alan then pulls up alongside this criminal.

“Hi Fingers. How are you doing? Just got out have you?

“Yeah.”

“Where are you heading? Home?”

“Yeah”

“Well we’re heading that way. Why don’t you jump in and we’ll give you a lift?”

Fingers then gets in the patrol car where I had previously been seated.

“So did you have a bit of a party when you got out?”

“Yeah”

“I bet your old mates Wiry and Doggo were there eh?”

“Yeah”

“Anyone else”

“Yeah, Jacko and Freddie were there too.”

“Here we are King Street. What number was it?

“28”

“Here we are number 28. Right to your door”

“Thank very much. Sometimes I think you guys are better to me than my mates”

“Stay out of trouble”

“OK Steve you can come back up front now. Have you got your notebook?

“Yes” says I.

“Take this down”

“Fingers Malone is residing at no 28 King Street. He is still associating with known criminals Wiry Burns, Doggo Johnson, Freddie Duggan and Jacko Carpenter.”

I was blown away. Alan had skilfully attained information that was highly useful to the collator. (It would now be done on a computer but in those days by paper.)

To illustrate how useful – I took a call from someone who had their tool van broken into and they had noticed a man known to us (criminal) hanging around.

Found that man’s address from the collator sent a car there and it arrived just as this person was unloading his van of a load of stolen tools.

As he was arrested and cautioned his reply was “Fuck me that was the fastest I have ever been arrested.”

Policing is not always what you think!

Italian Pork Roast

Ingredients

1 (3 to 3 1/2 pound) rolled boneless pork loin roast
4 cloves garlic, halved
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 to 2 tablespoons dried Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon coarsely-ground pepper

Instructions

Place roast in a shallow roasting pan. Cut 8 small slits in roast at 2-inch intervals; insert garlic clove halves deep into slits.
Brush olive oil evenly over roast, and sprinkle with Italian seasoning and pepper. Insert meat thermometer, making sure it does not touch fat.
Bake at 325 degrees F for 1 1/2 hours (30 minutes per pound) or until meat thermometer reaches 155 degrees F.
Remove from oven, and cover loosely with aluminum foil. Let stand 15 minutes or until meat thermometer reaches 160 degrees F.

Made in Shenzhen, China…

I am 60+. I lived alone for nearly 15 years. I have tried everything to meet someone. Is it simply never going to happen to me again? No one can imagine how lonely it is. I just want to scream.

After my father died, my mother was incredibly lonely, she was the type of person who couldn’t be alone. My dad, brother and I were never like this. She just never felt complete if she didn’t have someone in her life.

I was a workaholic, and wasn’t giving her the attention she needed, my brother had his own young family to look after. We just didn’t understand how lonely she was, because when we visited, she wasn’t lonely, she had us.

We started going on road trips, and at first she would lose her train of thought, and not be able to finish a sentence. She couldn’t walk a half block without resting.

After taking a three week road trip, and going for a walk every night, she was back to normal.

But she quickly backslid, and I asked her to move in with me. She was reluctant, because she didn’t want to ruin my life. But she said she would give it some thought, and then she had a stroke and died.

For people who don’t get lonely, its hard for us to imagine what someone who does, feels after years of loneliness.

But I finally got it, albeit, too late.

You say you have lived alone for 15 years, and tried everything. Does that include online dating, there are plenty of fish in the sea, especially if you aren’t too picky, and just need someone. Don’t be afraid to contact men, don’t wait for them to approach you. This is how I met my wife. If this hasn’t worked, try volunteering to fill up your empty hours. You will undoubtedly meet other lonely souls, and don’t be afraid to make the first move. All of my long time girlfriends and my wife, approached me first.

Cheating wife

What has an employee said that immediately caused you to fire them?

“I never even used that pot! It was the morning shift!” – this was the last lie Stefani told me while she was still employed by me, because I fired her on the spot. Somehow everything that happened around her was always someone else’s fault, but people do occasionally lie, so I let it go until she lied about three different coworkers in one day, trying to get them in trouble for no apparent reason.

Stephani was the sole lunch cook in a small store I own, and she was a problem from day one. She spoke to her coworkers like they were dogs, constantly corrected and bullied them even when she was a new hire being trained by them, and she excused it all by saying that she “always speaks the truth and won’t hold her tongue” and “that’s just how she talks, she can’t help it”. She was also a sneaky bitch, because she tried to kiss my ass, but even with me her temper and pathological need to be right would assert itself, and she’d flash out until she got it under control again. With everyone else, she was constantly insulting them, berating them, and lying about them. You might think that it takes more than one person to carry on a feud, but Stephani proved that she could do it all on her own.

Her job wasn’t hard, because sales were low at that store when I bought it and we’re branded by a chain that mostly has ready-to-fry foods. She had to come in and fry chicken, sides, and make a lunch special, and she had to do the occasional burger or sandwich. Other than that she just needed to prep for the following day, and clean the kitchen and the equipment at the end of her shift, which only takes an hour. The other cooks who had worked her shift had all had lunch out on time, gotten the special orders (those the cashiers can’t put together by the hot case) out in a timely manner, cooked until an hour before their shift ended, and left a clean kitchen with food prepped for the next shift. Stefani, on the other hand, couldn’t get the food out on time, and it was always the breakfast cook’s fault for not getting out her way. She had similar excuses for why she couldn’t prep, and when the kitchen was a filthy mess it was always because someone else made it that way.

We cook our own lunch specials but everything else is branded, and those foods have to be made and they have to be made according to certain standards, but Stefani tried to take advantage of my absences from the store (I have other businesses, a full time job, and a family) to stop doing those items and just do her own cooking that wasn’t even selling in this small town. When her more senior coworkers would politely remind her about the way she was supposed to cook, she make arrogant statements like: “Oh, I know how to cook. I don’t cook according to recipes, I do my own, and these people will either eat it or they can go somewhere else”. I knew about her behavior but for almost two months that little store just wasn’t my focus, as I’d mainly just bought it so it wouldn’t be soaking up sales from my bigger store across the road, which meant that she got away with way too much. Finally I got a chance to focus on this store, so at the beginning of the month I had a serious talk with her. I told her what she had to cook, I transferred an experienced cook from the other store who needed a less demanding job for health reasons to cook breakfast at the little one, and I appointed her kitchen manager so she could stay on top of Stephani.

What I’d hoped was that she’d do what this cook asked, especially since this woman gets along with everyone and has an incredibly tactful way about her, but it didn’t work. She doesn’t complain much but when I asked for updates she admitted that nothing had improved. I tried spending more time in the store, and it did make Stephani at least pretend to do what she’d been asked, but pretend is all she did. I had already made up my mind to fire her, but I was short on staff at both stores and in the process of buying a third, so I was going to wait a bit. When she snapped back at me after I once again told her that she couldn’t bully her coworkers, I went ahead and told her that I was going to fire her if she didn’t start getting along with people, and when I found a very unclean kitchen a day later I made it clear that she was out of chances. She went about two weeks without causing any issues big enough for the other ladies to bring them to me (although they try too hard not to bother me), only instead she started to call me about every little thing.

The big store has a general manager who runs it for me, and I’d tried putting her in charge of the little one too but it was too much for her, so those few employees were temporarily allowed to contact m directly. Other than her calls, the only one to call was the kitchen manager and the assistant manager in the store, and that was for serious trouble like a broken walk-in cooler and a fire marshal showing up to inspect us. Stefani called multiple times about little shit even though I told her every time to go through her immediate manager for that, and then she started to call to complain about her coworkers. One time a cashier had told her that she was being mean, which was exceedingly mild and entirely appropriate under the circumstances, but Stephani wanted her fired. Apparently she’d even looked at her smugly and announced that she was about to get her job taken away from her, as she grabbed her phone and walked outside to call me. This was when I reached out and hired someone to replace her, and started to count the twelve days until that woman could start.

I didn’t want her to leave immediately when I didn’t have her replacement yet, so I didn’t tell her. In fact I was just going to send out the new schedule the day before the new cook started, and let Stephani figure out that she was fired, but she couldn’t stop making trouble. Last Tuesday she called and woke me up after my late shift in the ER (the schedule in the store includes my hours at the hospital so they can know when it’s okay to call), to complain that the same cashier who had said she was mean had called her the n-word. She was gleefully happy as she informed me that I’d have to fire the girl now or she was going to sue me, but I was 99 percent sure she had made the accusation up. I’ve never used it to spy on my workers, but my stores have hidden cameras with microphones and speakers in addition to the visible cameras. I had them installed for precisely this reason, to avoid having to fire someone innnocent, and because audio is useful evidence too in case a crime is committed. It took me a while to find their confrontation on the footage and then search out the audio based on the time stamp, and before I finished the assistant manager of the store calls to tell me that a group of regular customers had come in to say that Stephani had started a fight with them outside when she was smoking. According to the men, they had half-jokingly asked why she never had the fried foods out at lunch time, and she’d gotten pissed and told them that she wasn’t ever cooking for them again. When they asked what the hell she meant, she’d banned them from both my stores.

At that point I got dressed and drove to the store, only to find my cook sitting outside in the middle of the lunch rush, smoking a cigarette. She immediately said it was her first break, but having just watched most of that morning on the cameras, I knew she’d already taken at least seven smoke breaks in less than four hours. She comes inside as I’ve asked the other cook if she’d done any work that day and she’s explaining that no, she has not, so then Stephani starts screaming at the other cook – the kitchen manager – that it’s none of her business if she works. I tell her stop, and I explain that Mary is her supervisor so it absolutely is her business. I tell her to apologize and she does that thing where she says “I’m sorry if you thought what I said was mean, but I can’t help how I talk”. When I insist on a proper apology, while I’m also answering an important call, she says something to Mary just out of earshot. I finish my call and ask Mary if she apologized, and I’m told that no, what Stephani really told her was “to mind her own business because people who crossed her had a way of regretting it”. It was my turn to fly into a rage, especially since I’d just seen a text Stephani must have sent just as I was pulling up to the store, one complaining that another employee had been the one who spilt a lot of gravy on the floor she just left it. I already knew it was Stephani because her coworkers knew she’d blame them, and so they’d sent me the exact time so I could easily check the cameras. That and the veiled threat was it, so I was done with this bitch even if I had to cook lunch myself for the rest of the week!

Up until that day I’d never fired anymore in public, but I followed Stephani out into the store where she was getting her some more free coffee, and told her to get her shit and go home. She’d been suspended once before, because of her attitude, so she put her hands on her hips and said: “Really?? You’re suspending me for taking a smoke break?!”. She’s a big woman who uses her body and voice to bully people, so she wasn’t particularly discreet with her question, which meant that her coworkers and the customers all stopped to stare at us. Knowing her it was deliberate, as she likely thought she was about to verbally own me, so the look on her face was priceless when I told her that she wasn’t suspended; she was fired. It was the first time she didn’t immediately snap back, so I actually got a chance to tell her that I was firing her for failing to perform her job, bullying her coworkers, lying, and making false allegations of racism. Once she recovered from the shock she started to argue with me, about the specific reasons, but I told her to get her shit and go home, and I would mail her last check and her separation papers.

She was starting to cry a little when she grabbed her purse and left, but my sympathy is with the coworkers she terrified and tried to get fired! I wish I’d known just how bad it all had gotten, but my employee are great women who didn’t want to bother me unless it was urgent. I’ve made it clear that everything Stephani did qualified as a valid reason to call me, and I’m training the assistant to run the store. A cashier is filling in until the new cook starts, all five employees at that store got a 50 cent raise for all they’d had to put up with, and now that they know about the microphones and speakers, we’re having some fun with them. Last night I played “Haunted House” sounds from YouTube over the speakers, just as the cashiers looked like they were starting to fuck off a bit too much, and their reactions were hilarious. Oh, and Stephani called to ask that I say she was laid off rather than fired, so she could get unemployment. Even as she was asking for a huge favor, she couldn’t stop being a bitch, because she actually went ahead and said: “you know, since it’s your fault if my kids have to starve”. As you can probably guess, I made it abundantly clear that she’d been fired for cause, and that there are plenty of available jobs around here. None of them are paying as much as I do, but she had her chance.

Truths

Have you ever called in a “welfare check” to the police? Did it turn out there was a real need? Officers, how often are “welfare checks” something where a person does need assistance?

One of the weirdest stories we covered when I worked at the TV station involved a welfare check. The police received a call from the coworkers of a woman who hadn’t showed up at work that day, nor had she called. Coworkers tried to call her but she didn’t answer multiple calls. Normally the cops are not going to go check on someone because they didn’t feel like going to work. But in this case, her coworkers insisted this was not like her, she’d worked there ten years and never failed to show up without calling, and she was also an older woman who lived alone and had a heart condition. They were concerned she might be sick and unable to get to her phone. Given all that info, the police dispatcher agreed to send a unit to do a welfare check.

The officers got to the door, thinking they were probably going to find an old woman who died in her sleep. That happens a lot with welfare checks. Usually they will start by ringing the doorbell or knocking, and if they don’t get an answer, they walk around and look in the windows to see if they can see the person. If they spot someone who’s not responsive despite repeated yelling and pounding, they might consider that probable cause to break in.

But that wasn’t really necessary in this case. They got to the door, one of the officers knocked, and it just swung open. Wasn’t fully closed, let alone locked. The old woman was lying on the floor in a pool of blood, clearly dead and not from a heart attack. She had been stabbed multiple times. The coroner was called, Homicide detectives and crime scene techs came. One of the detectives knelt down to look at the body and noticed something on the wall. It was a name, written in blood. Turned out it was the name of her cousin, who turned up a few days later at a hospital in another state, claiming to have amnesia. She had the dead woman’s ID on her. I seem to recall she was charged with the murder but not how that turned out.

Bizarre story. I always thought it would be good inspiration for a work of fiction, and I did eventually write a short story loosely based on it.

Yes it can

What needs to be said out loud?

I was at a hospital for some tests recently. The doctor prescribed some medicines and asked me to get them from the in-house pharmacy as they weren’t available elsewhere. I went to get the same and stood in the queue.

The hospital had put a queue barricade for easy maintenance of crowd. The counter was equipped to handle only two people at a time. There was a lady ahead of me in the queue. She was getting irritated for being made to wait and started shouting at the staff. They offered a mumbled apology. Meanwhile she tried to push her way through, even though the previous guy was still waiting to collect his medicines. His hospital file grazed this lady’s arm and all hell broke loose!

The lady started shouting at the poor guy and accused him of harming her. The poor fellow did not know what had happened exactly. He was a very young lad and was cringing at the lady’s accusations. He tried to reason with her and said that he had not budged from his place at all. It was her own fault. This retaliation was unacceptable to the lady and she took it as a serious affront to her! So she started calling for the management and resorted to threats.

However, everyone present there stood by the boy. That was almost a miracle! No one spoke against the boy and instead told the lady to mind her language. Frustrated at this sudden turn of events, the lady marched away calling all of us a bunch of “bumbling idiots”. Yes… her exact words!

What needs to be said out loud? The message that the perception of people is changing. Slowly but surely. Now women can’t expect immediate and blind support just because they are females. If you are wrong, you are wrong. It’s as simple as that. So it’s the need of the hour to refrain from such stunts so that a genuine case of harassment does not get ignored and a victim is not denied help just because some of us decided to cry wolf and made people wary of every female!

Generations looking at their Bank Account

What was the most outrageous repair quote a mechanic has ever given you to fix your car?

I am still thanking the mechanic who told the guy I bought my new truck from that the engine was bad! 2016 Dodge RAM 1500 and it barely had 50,000 miles on it. This was a few years back.

As I drove this truck around on the highway she rode and smelled like new. It had great acceleration and power, and didn’t have the burning smoke exhaust like an engine using oil should have. I look at the oil on the dipstick, and the percentage the computer says left was 40%. If it had blowback, that oil should be really black and smell of exhaust. It was pretty clean and smelled ok. Nothing was pointing to a bad engine. So I thought maybe bearings or something? I quickly check pricing on a new engine core just in case. Heck doing the work myself I was only looking at $3600.00 for an entire brand new engine core. The price he was asking ($15,000) was half its worth of around $32,000.00. How could I go wrong?

I once again told the seller I didn’t think the engine was bad, he was making a big mistake, etc. Nope he already bought a new truck he likes better and he was happy with the deal he got. Ok, I tried, so I hand over the cash and signed the papers. Best decision i have ever made.

Next morning I go out to a chilly 48deg truck. At this temperature if the rods and bearings are bad they will knock like crazy at first start. I turn the key and listen intently. I hear noises, but not rods or bearings. Now Dodge Hemi engines are noisy. Their design you will hear various rattles and ticks here and there. My last work Dodge lasted 390,000 miles and rattled to high heaven. I listen intently to a very loud tick on the passenger side, as the noise begins to fade away. Using my scope i quickly found what I suspected, a leaky exhaust header. Very common on these. A good look underneath confirms several broken bolts. A pain to remove, but nothing serious. At first it did sound like an internal problem, but any good mechanic with a scope should be able to pinpoint that noise or should have known it was a problem.

At this stage we are at 85,000 miles and doing great. I have never owned a newer vehicle before with so many buttons and things to touch. Most of the miles have been cross country to see relatives. So yes, thank you whoever you are! You got me a new vehicle I otherwise would never get for a fantastic price.

Jesus!

What happened in a courtroom that gave the judge a belly laugh you will never forget?

My buddy was 17, the legal drinking age was 18, and he would be turning 18 on Sunday. But he wanted a party in the bar Saturday night to celebrate. So we all go down to the small town bar. A good time was had by all, until about 11:00 pm, when the police do a walk through. Being a small town, they notice that they hadn’t seen my buddy in the bar before. They ask for his ID, and he is underage. They write him up an illegal possession of alcohol, the fine is about the equivalent of 15 dozen beer.

This happened a long time ago, so giving dollars wouldn’t mean much.

My buddy wants me as a witness, to say that I didn’t see him drinking, and the beer on the table wasn’t his. I hadn’t seen him drinking, because I had only arrived 10 minutes before, and so I could tell the truth and get him off. There is a different charge they could have used, with a lesser fine, for being underage in a bar.

He is called before the judge, and the police officer is sitting in the back of the court.

The judge asks my buddy how old he is, and he says 18. The judge says. It says here you were found in the bar, last Saturday night and were under age. He says, yes thats true.

The judge asks when was your birthday. My friend says Sunday. The judge burst out laughing, and says a dollar a day fine, please pay the clerk a dollar. My friend says, but I wasn’t drinking, I have a witness. The judge says, don’t push your luck. its a dollar, do you want to have a trial.

I never had to testify.

You won’t believe what the Filipino girl said

Does hard work really pay off?

You decide for yourself.

The world owes a debt to Israel for how they took on the terror-maniac Saddam Hussain’s vision of designing an atom bomb.

Iraq was a sworn enemy of Israel and it was just days away from the berserk tearing down of Israel.

Israel had only one reason in its favour before trying for the no-win.

They ticked all the boxes in the domain of ‘HARD WORK’.

For long, Israel had mastered the art of flying aircrafts at a height less than 30m( to avoid radar detection).

Israel can’t magically appear wherever they want to, they have to fly over enemy nations. They practised speaking the accent of those arab nations.

Israelis mastered the art of diversion tactics and deceiving radio signals.
Israel effected the speed of execution and precise-hitting because they get only one chance.

Israel had mimeographed the entire Iraqi nuclear plant and drilled several times before final execution.

Israel launched Operation Opera on June 7, 1981. Let’s see if the hard work paid off.

Israel flew over Jordan and interacted in Saudi accent. Jordanes assumed them as Saudis(ally of Jordan).
When over Saudi Arabia, Israelis produced a sham of Jordanese using Jordan radio signals.
Now, they were in Iraq, the High-Israel got low, I mean literally. They were flying less than 30m altitude and thus evaded detection.
A diversion was played using F-15 aircrafts while F-16s were ready for attack.

King Hussein of Jordan was enjoying in yacht when Israeli planes had flown just over him. He had communicated it to Iraq.

Iraqis had turned the detectors off so Israelis capitalized as their anti-aircraft attack was a no-threat but it’s time their lunch-break was over. .

The F-16s reached an height of 2000m then dived into 1000m, dropped off the Mark-84 bombs.
8 of the 16 hit and were enough to reduce the nuclear plant to ashes. The attack took less than 2 minutes.
Jordan-king’s message would never reach and the Iraqi anti-aircraft attack was circumvented successfully by Israel.

Ramon was the youngest Israeli pilot who later on became an astranaut and was with Kalpana Chawla when the space shuttle disaster occured.

Technical details reference :

Operation Opera – Wikipedia

Never judge a book by its cover | 850k mudhouse in Africa

What’s the saddest celebrity moment ever caught on camera?

Simply known as “The Greatest”, Muhammad Ali had it all – enormous wealth, exceptional good looks, freakish athleticism, and hundreds of millions of adoring fans. According to international polls, it was Ali who finally toppled Elvis as the “The Most Famous Person in the World”. This is his final picture before taking exit from his frail, withered body.

After someone stole his bicycle, a young Cassius Clay decided to “whup the thief”. He never got the chance, but, hoping for the opportunity, took some boxing lessons at a local gym. Six years later, while still in his teens, he would win an Olympic gold medal. And less than three years after that, Clay became the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.

Although somewhat shy, Clay watched professional wrestlers with their outlandish behavior and remarks filling the seats with fans. Wanting to do the same, Ali took on a new persona – the supremely pompous “Louisville [Kentucky] Lip”, drawing attention to a sport that seemed to be struggling with mediocrity and a plummeting fan base. People loved him or hated him. Everyone had an opinion and it was never in the middle of the spectrum.

But, although he kept on winning, something was not right. Punches to the head from George Foreman, Joe Frazier and Ken Norton were taking their toll. Still in his thirties, and no longer calling himself by his “slave name”, Muhammad Ali, was developing early symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. But he kept boxing, even as his disability made every moment a chore.

Eventually, there was nothing left. Ali had no choice. It was time to retire or face the prospect that one more punch to the head might take away his last breath. Dedicating the remainder of his life to charity, it is estimated that Ali provided 22 million meals for the hungry in Africa. Among his many other contributions, Ali became one of the biggest donors to the United Negro College Fund, talked a suicidal man off a 9th floor ledge and negotiated the release of American hostages held by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Eventually, his ailing health would no longer allow him to speak. His body would quake. His brain was damaged, losing its ability to function on virtually all levels. His bladder failed. Ali would have regular bouts with pneumonia and infections in which he could never fully recover.

For the last years of his life, Ali was not able to leave his house. His once agile, quick and strong body capitulated to a much stronger, microscopic virus. It would be his last fight.

Muhammad Ali 1942 – 2016, R.I.P.

A little king

Who are some of the dumbest criminals ever to be caught?

In 1983 a German couple was on a holiday in Sicily. They were minding their own business, alternating mornings at the beach with little road trips in the afternoon.

On one of those afternoons coming back from a hike, their rented car broke down. In the middle of nowhere. They got out of the car and tried to push it to the side of the narrow dirt road. The car was stuck in gear and wouldn’t budge. The German couple was happy to see a car approaching in the distance, preceding a cloud of dust. The car stopped and a man flung out, screaming. The Germans did speak some Italian but had a hard time understand what he was shouting: do you know who I am!?

They didn’t. And worse, instead of helping the wedged his Fiat through the little space between their car and the edge of the road. Metal against metal, scratching the rented car from front to rear.

Later that evening the couple reported what happened to the local police. They described the man who scratched the car and added he was probably famous since he couldn’t seem to understand they did not recognise or knew him. Well the police sure did who he was. After being on the run for three years Masino L. was arrested. The price he paid for asking stupid questions.

Elon Musk’s Frustration with the Biden administration.

The United States is a joke.

Can a workplace fire an employee for an argument that took place outside of work?

Yes.

I consulted a business where someone in a work uniform took his break at a nearby coffee shop. He was clocked out. He got into a dispute with another customer over something stupid but decided to check all the boxes in his argument. He insulted an old black woman and implied that she needed to practice better feminine hygiene.

The woman took note of the company name on his coveralls and noted it in her police report. No charges were filed, but the woman made sure to contact the business claiming that this man represented their company and she planned to share with everyone she knew that the company hired racist, sexist assclowns.

When we asked the employee about it, he freely admitted every detail, telling us that we “can’t do a fuckin’ thing about it” since he wasn’t on the clock at the time. He was fired on the spot but police had to trespass him and march him out in handcuffs.

To the woman, she had no power over a large, loud man in the moment, but she chose to get her revenge for his disrespect. Employees who are off the clock usually have instructions about how they can conduct themselves in public while wearing company apparel. This is why companies don’t approve of people wearing company apparel in their off-hours, because they can act like assclowns while also serving as a walking billboard for the company that pays them.

Imagine If The Roles Were REVERSED

What is it like being a police officer in a small town?

Boring most of the time. After I got out of the military I went to work for a small town of 1000 residents. We had three officers, one for the day, mid day, and night. I was chief of police there and took the day shift. Most of the things that happened were an occasional stop sign violation, a domestic once in a while, and just keeping things safe.

Kids were kids, always trying to get a beer or two past me. Not always successful too. When I would catch a minor with booze, I would take them to the office, sit them down and call parents to come get them. However I did not arrest them as here was the deal. Parents and child could decide if I took the kid to jail, booked them in, gave them a police record, and have them spend time behind bars for their stupidity. OR….they could show up each weekend for the next year, Pick up trash in the park, sweep the sidewalks downtown, Paint the fire hydrants, Plant flowers on the corners downtown, etc. I had the prettiest park, corners, and hydrants in the state. The kids learned a lesson and knew if they did it again they would go right to jail, no parents involved. Which did happen I think three times. After word got around in the younger citizens I and my fellow officers were treated with respect and as a friend of the younger people and parents.

The only bad thing I can think of was the small town politics, When I started I was handed a piece of paper with names and addresses on it as to who to arrest, who not to arrest, who to trust and who to do every thing possible to get to move out of town. After reading the list, I tore it up right in front of the city council meeting, told them I do not discriminate, do not do what they wanted, but I enforce the law equally of all citizens.

I lasted there for two years and when I arrested the Mayors daughter for possession of drugs, with intent to distribute ( $75000 worth of meth, $100000 worth of coke, and more, The city council fired me., She still went to jail, found guilty and spent 5 to 10 behind bars. I went on to a sheriffs dept in the same county and later even arrested the mayor of the town on similar charges. After which I was asked to come back to the town to work and I refused.

So small towns are quiet, boring most of the time, but occasionally have some excitement and danger.

USA Gen-Z

What happened to nurses captured on Bataan and Corregidor?

They endured many of the same deprivations the soldiers did.

“The Angels of Bataan (also known as the “Angels of Bataan and Corregidor” and “The Battling Belles of Bataan”) were the members of the United States Army Nurse Corps and the United States Navy Nurse Corps who were stationed in the Philippines at the outset of the Pacific War and served during the Battle of the Philippines (1941–42)

. When Bataan and Corregidor fell, 11 Navy nurses, 66 army nurses, and 1 nurse-anesthetist were captured and imprisoned in and around Manila.“

“They continued to serve as a nursing unit while prisoners of war

. After years of hardship, they were finally liberated in February 1945.“

At Santo Tomas

Army Nurses in Santo Tomas, 1943. Left to right: Bertha Dworsky; Sallie Durrett; Earlene Black; Jean Kennedy; Louise Anchieks; Millei Dalton.

“The campus of the University of Santo Tomaswas converted to the Santo Tomas Internment Camp

by the Japanese during their occupation of the Philippines.“

“The camp is described in detail in The War by Ken Burns

. In addition to its civilian population, Santo Tomas became the initial internment camp for both the army and navy nurses, with the army nurses remaining there until their liberation.“

“Capt. Maude C. Davison, 57 years old and with 20 years of service experience, took command of the nurses, maintained a regular schedule of nursing duty, and insisted that all nurses wear their khaki blouses and skirts while on duty. She worked with Josephine Nesbit.”

At Los Baños

“In May 1943, the navy nurses, still under the command of Lt. Cobb

, were transferred to a new internment camp at Los Baños, where they established a new infirmary and continued working as a nursing unit.“

“At Los Baños they came to be known as “the sacred eleven.”

On the Home Front

“While the capture of the nurses was widely publicized in the U.S., little specific information was known of their fate until they were liberated.

US Government Poster

“Lt. Juanita Redmond

, one of the few nurses to escape, published a memoir of her experiences on Bataan in 1943 that concluded with a dramatic reminder that her colleagues were still prisoners.“

“The nurses’ story was dramatized in several wartime movies, including:

Cry ‘Havoc’(MGM 1943)So Proudly We Hail! (Paramount 1943) (based on the Redmond book)They Were Expendable
(MGM 1945)

“When So Proudly We Hail was shown in the theaters, a recruitment booth staffed with Red Cross volunteers was set up in the lobby.“

Final year of Internment

“In January 1944, control of the Santo Tomas Internment Camp changed from Japanese civil authorities to the Imperial Japanese Army

, with whom it remained until the camp was liberated.“

“Access to outside food sources was curtailed, the diet of the internees was reduced to 960 calories per person per day by November 1944, and further reduced to 700 calories per person per day by January 1945.“

“A Department of Veterans Affairs study released in April, 2002 found that the nurses lost, on average, 30% of their body weight during internment, and subsequently experienced a degree of service-connected disability “virtually the same as the male ex-POW’s of the Pacific Theater.”

“ Maude C. Davison’s body weight dropped from 156 lbs. to 80 lbs.”

Angels of Bataan – Wikipedia

When surrounded by a mob and you have a fully loaded pistol, what would you suggest: to fire in the air or fire on people?

A few years ago I’m in Uganda and we drive through a village. Everyone is running out of their houses with spears and machetes (they call panga), knives and pitchforks. So, I ask the driver to stop and ask the mob WTF is happening.

Within a few seconds, we’re surrounded by about 200 people who look fucking mad as hell.

They tell the driver that some dude just stole a motorcycle and that they’re going to hunt him down and chop him up into lots of tiny pieces. Our curiosity satisfied, we thanked them and continued on with the journey.

Naturally, I had questions for the driver on the way:

if the guy has a bike will they catch him. He says yes. They normally catch people within 24 hours.
I pointed out that the border to the Congo is less than 24 hours away by bike. He says people have tried that in the past and they still get killed.
I ask why the police aren’t going after this guy. He says that the police only catch a guy if they’re paid to. The village is poor and can’t afford the bribes.

And that was that. I had witnessed the beginning of murder, but glad I wasn’t there to see it happen. I know they would have gutted him like an animal. And he must have known this too since he lived in that village. How desperate must that man have been to take such a risk?

When surrounded by a mob and you have a fully loaded pistol, what would you suggest: to fire in the air or fire on people?

If that happened I’d just tuck the pistol in my belt. If the mob is after someone else, they don’t give a fuck about me. If they’re after me, I’m already dead.

Edit: That was the nicest image I could find. A lot of the other ones show the person being chopped up – no censorship. Brutal.

Edit: For those people in the comments trying to turn this answer into a culture war, I recommend you educate yourself about the history of Africa before you call them savages. The most savage thing done to Africa was by Westerners – lest we wilfully forget, yet again.

10k bonus edit:

So, something like this has happened to me before. 1997, Edinburgh, Scotland, during the day. I’m waiting at a bus stop when two young guys come up and offer me a swig of wine. I look at it and say, no thanks. Then they demand, “DRINK IT”. So I take a swig and hand it back. Then one of them comes up to me and says, “Give me all your money or I’ll cut your fucking throat.”

I look down at his hands to see if he has a knife, but he has no hands, just stumps. So I ask him, “how are you going to hold a knife?” He puts one stump behind his back and says he has a knife in his back pocket. Now I only had 53 pence and the bus ticket was going to cost 50 pence, so I told them to “get tae fuck” and walked along the road to the next bus stop while they shouted after me that they were going to murder me.

I just can’t take anyone seriously if they don’t have any hands.

What do mediocre employees do that the best employees don’t do?

Having been a boss for several decades I feel qualified to give an answer here.

I am smart enough to realise that I am unlikely to attract extremely high intelligence employees to mix detergent! I own two chemical manufacturing companies. So I am talking about normal everyday people with this answer.

For me a good employee is one that is consistent. In other words they produce the same quality and quantity of work/results every day consistently. They are set and forget with little to no effort required from me or their supervisor. I don’t need them to be a superstar. I am happy with them giving me 80% of what a superstar could give me in theory because I know I am always going to get it from them and I can more easily predict business/job outcomes as a result.

This doesn’t mean I don’t try to get them to 85% or greater, of course I try.

The above employee tends to arrive on time and have less than average personal/sick leave too in my experience.

By contrast, the mediocre employee is brilliant one day and off with the fairies for the next three days, then rounds out the week with a day off for a sprained eyelash!

Mediocre employees work output is up and down and hard to predict resulting in far more time spent supervising them. This adds cost and complexity to the business as a result.

So if you want to impress a boss – work consistently. Produce at the same level everyday and try and find ways to gradually improve or become more efficient.

Russia Launch on Feb 9 Causes U.S. National Security “Threat” Today

World Hal Turner 14 February 2024

Russia Launch on Feb 9 Causes U.S. National Security "Threat" Today

Five days ago, on February 9, Roscosmos, the Russian Space Agency, conducted a rocket launch into space carrying cardo for the Russian Ministry of Defense. Today, February 14, Americans are being told of a new “threat” described as “destabilizing.”

Earlier today, February 14, U.S. Congressman Mike Turner (R-OH) head of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), announced to the nation a new “Destabilizing threat to national security” and revealed all members of Congress are now able to go into the secure House Briefing area to learn details.

Within the offices of the US House of Representatives is a SCIF: Segmented, Compartmentalized, Information Facility. Anyone entering the SCIF is searched for any electronic devices, which are forbidden. Entrants are also barred from taking any notes. They are “read-in” on the Classified Material and when they depart the facility, they are reminded they are forbidden to talk to anyone about what they have learned under Penalty of prison.

Congressman Turner issued the following notice to fellow members of Congress:

In the notice above, the words “destabilizing foreign military capability.” “Destabilizing” means it is a power THEY have, but which we DO NOT have. That’s what “destabilizing” means in this context.

CNN and other media outlets are claiming this has something to do with Russia. It may.

On February 9th, the Cosmos-2575 Mission was launched by Roskosmos using a Soyuz-2 Rocket carrying an “Unknown Payload into Space for the Russian Ministry of Defense. It is almost guaranteed our spy satellites and ground-based information gathering capabilities have kept close watch on whatever went up.

Based on our current capabilities for intel-gathering, it seems likely (to me) that we now have some idea of what it is — or possibly know EXACTLY what it is. So here we are, just 5 days later, being told there is some new, “destabilizing” foreign military capability.

My personal layman’s FIRST guess: Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS) weaponry.

FOBS are space-based nuclear bombs (actual warheads) that can be released at ANY time, orbit the earth several times under their own power for months or years (or just once), then come down anywhere on the planet with ZERO advance warning to the intended target.

A particular city in a particular country would go from happy-go-lucky to vaporized with ZERO warning.

There is no defense to such weaponry.

My SECOND guess:

Iran may now be confirmed to have a working nuclear bomb.

Of course, it is common knowledge that Mike Turner is a RINO, he supports the aid package for Ukraine and Israel (but NOT our own Border), he wants to push the Ukraine support, end of story. SO coming up with some new Russian “threat” may be the impetus to get that passed.

Kicked her off

Ukraine Sinks Russian Navy Ship in Black Sea

World Hal Turner 14 February 2024

Ukraine sinks another Russian Ship 02 14 2024 large

Ukraine Sinks Russian Navy Ship in Black Sea

Ukraine has attacked and sunk another Russian navy ship in the Black Sea; this one the “Cezar Kunikov“ shown in a file photo above.

According to information released by the Ukraine armed forces, “Magura V5” drones sank the Russian warship near Alupka, Crimea as shown on the map below:

Below, after being hit by THREE sea drones, the ship listed onto its side and sank.

Ukraine sinks another Russian Ship 02 14 2024 2

It’s the fourth landing ship from Russia’s Black Sea Fleet that Ukrainian military has sunk since the beginning of Russia’s Special Military Operation. The Caesar Kunikov was a large landing ship with a crew comprising 87 personnel.

BUILT IN 86 ….38 years old

Class and type: Ropucha-class landing ship
Displacement
2,768 long tons (2,812 t) standard
4,012 long tons (4,076 t) full load
Length 112.5 m (369 ft 1 in)
Beam 15.01 m (49 ft 3 in)
Draught 4.26 m (14 ft 0 in)
Ramps Over bows and at stern
Installed power 3 × 750 kW (1,006 hp) diesel generators
Propulsion 2 × 9,600 hp (7,159 kW) Zgoda-Sulzer 16ZVB40/48 diesel engines
Speed 17.59 knots (32.58 km/h; 20.24 mph)
Range
6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
3,500 nmi (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Endurance 30 days

CAN CARRY 10 TANKS AND 340 SOLDIERS

This Clip Will Disillusion All Young Men

Escalation In Northern Palestine

The situation on the northern Israeli border is escalating. It is likely to soon evolve into a full fledged war. The situation is already increasing the economic price Israel has to pay for its misdeeds.

The international rating agency Moody’s has downgraded Israel’s credit rating. This will lead to higher interest payments on Israeli government debt:

In a report dated last Friday but not issued until Saturday, the Jewish sabbath, the agency officially reduced Israel’s rating from A1 to A2, and added pointers of further downgrading to come. The Anglo-American press immediately reacted against Moody’s.

“Israel hits back”, the Financial Timesheadlined. The newspaper added: “[Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, in a rare statement over the Jewish Sabbath, said: ‘The rating downgrade is not connected to the economy, it is entirely due to the fact that we are in a war. The rating will go back up the moment we win the war — and we will win the war.’” In the Associated Press report, “Israel’s finance minister blasts Moody’s downgrade”. Rupert Murdoch’s platform Fox claimed: “Israel has a strong, open economy despite Moody’s downgrade”. “Israel’s creditworthiness remains high,” according to the New York Times, “but the rating agency noted that the outlook for the country was negative… A rating of A2 is still a high rating.”

There are several negative issues that could lead to a further downgrading:

According to Moody’s report, “downside risks remain at the A2 rating level. In particular, the risk of an escalation involving Hezbollah in the North of Israel remains, which would have a potentially much more negative impact on the economy than currently assumed under Moody’s baseline scenario. Government finances would also be under more intense pressure in such a scenario.”

Shortly after the Moody’s report appeared Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah set out to increase the pressure on Israel:

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah reiterated that Hezbollah will continue its border offensive against the Israeli occupation sites near Lebanon border till the Zionist barbaric war on Gaza ends.

“When the aggression on Gaza stops fire will be ceased in South Lebanon,” Sayyed Nasrallah said.
…
Hezbollah Secretary General commented on the recent threats made by the Zionist defense minister Yoav Gallant who said that the IOF will not stop aggression on South Lebanon even after Gaza ceasefire, stressing that, then, Hezbollah will continue its offensive.

“When the war on Gaza ends, we will stop our offensive. If the enemy resumes its hostilities, we will, act in light of the rules and the formulas.”

Nasrallah rejected western demands, passed through the Lebanese government, to pull back Hizbullah’s forces and to cease fire:

It is Hezbollah duty and responsibility to deter the enemy and prevent the assault on Lebanon, Sayyed Nasrallah affirmed, adding that the Resistance responses will be proportionate, yet effective and productive.

Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that the hundreds of thousands of settlers already displaced from the North will not be able to return to their homes in case of escalation.

‘Israel’ must prepare shelters, basements, hotels and schools to house 2 million settlers who will be displaced from northern Palestine if it expands the war zone, Sayyed Nasrallah warned.

If the Israeli enemy expands its war zone against Lebanon, Hezbollah will do too, Sayyed Nasrallah emphasized.
…
“It is easier to move Litani River forward to the borders than pushing back Hezbollah fighters from the borders to the Litani River,” Sayyed Nasrallah said.

More will be announced later:

Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that ‘Israel’ has failed over 130 days to achieve any target in Gaza war, except the monstrous attacks on the civilians.

Concerning the Zionist war on Gaza, Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that he will address more details about during a speech he is scheduled to deliver on Friday (February 16) the anniversary of Hezbollah Martyr Commanders.

Rarely mentioned in western news is the extend of Hizbullah’s activities against the military of the Zionist entity:

Al-Manar correspondent:

The resistance in Southern Lebanon, has so far attacked:

HQ of the Northern Region Command in Safad.

Command HQ of the 91st Galilee Division in “Branit”

HQ of the 769th Eastern Brigade in Kiryat Shmona.

Meron Air command and control base

Beit Hillel IOF base

Training camp in Kela, in the occupied Golan Heights

Ma’ale Golan IOF base on Mount Hermon

Most artillery positions along the rear front and military concentrations

Every single border military IOF sites

All of these attacks carried out by the resistance confirm that all military and fire pressure and Israeli threats will not deter it from continuing its operations. The resistance is proceeding with full confidence, first relaying on God, and then its military capabilities, the spirit of its fighters, and the resilience of its people.

The Safad headquarter site was only hit this morning. This followed after more Israeli attacks had hit civilian structures in southern Lebanon.

Hala Jaber @HalaJaber – 23:01 UTC · Feb 13, 2024

URGENT: #Hezbollah fired a barrage of rockets targeting an army base #Israel’s northern city of Safed.
One reportedly killed & eight wounded, one in serious condition.
The IDF said some of the rockets hit the Northern Command headquarters base in #Safed, some 13 kilometers (8 miles) from the Lebanese border.

Hitting Safad was a (mild) escalation after previous attacks.

Unlike the daily Palestinian victims of Israel’s brutality, the Israeli casualties of the strike created headlines in Israel:

An Israeli woman was killed and eight others were wounded as a barrage of rockets fired from Lebanon slammed into Safed and an army base in the northern city, the military and medical officials said.

In response to the attack, the IDF said it launched “widespread” airstrikes in Lebanon.

There was no immediate claim for the rocket fire, although it was believed to have been carried out by the Hezbollah terror group, which has been launching daily rocket, missile, and drone attacks on northern Israel in recent months, saying it is doing so in support of the Hamas terror group in Gaza, against whom Israel is waging war.

The Israel Defense Forces and Safed’s municipality said rockets hit an army base in the area, some 13 kilometers (8 miles) from the Lebanon border.

The casualty count on Israel’s northern border is still very uneven:

So far, the skirmishes on the border have resulted in six civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of at least nine IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.

Hezbollah has named 194 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 29 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and some two dozen civilians, three of whom were journalists, have been killed.

If Israel does not evacuated more settlers, at high economic costs, the casualty ratio is likely to change.

The Lebanese Hezbollah expert Amal Saad, who is currently teaching in Cardiff, Britain, explained Hizbullah’s thinking:

Amal Saad @amalsaad_lb – 10:58 UTC · Feb 14, 2024

There are several messages behind Hizbullah’s qualitatively different strike on Safed this morning, which Israel is treating as the gravest attack since the start of the war, with Ben Gvir calling it a “declaration of war”.

At the forefront, is Hizbullah’s message that it won’t capitulate to Israeli and western demands that it cease hostilities across the border, as per Nasrallah’s speech yesterday. It’s also a response to several Israeli assassination strikes in South Lebanon, reaching as deep as Sidon.

But the timing of this escalation also appears to be related to Netanyahu’s scuppering of the Paris cease-fire proposal and his government’s threats to invade Rafah, which in turn, would make a full-out attack on Lebanon more likely. Hizbullah is giving Israel a taster of the type of strikes and casualty tolls its military will have to bear, should Netanyahu continue to reject a cease-fire.

Predictably the Israeli occupation forces responded to the strike on Safad by escalating further:

The Israeli military said Wednesday its fighter jets “began a series of strikes in Lebanon”, raising fears of a war between the two countries after months of cross-border fire.

The military gave no further details of the air strikes, while Lebanese media reported air raids on southern villages including Adchit, Sawwaneh and Shihabiyeh.

The strikes came hours after fire from Lebanon wounded multiple people in northern Israel, according to medics.
…
Fears have been growing of another full-blown conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, with tens of thousands displaced on both sides of the border and regional tensions soaring.

“I don’t know when the war in the north is, I can tell you that the likelihood of it happening in the coming months is much higher than it was in the past,” Israeli military chief Herzi Halevi said last month.

Following the last Israeli strikes, the Lebanese side said that four civilians had been killed or wounded by them.

The increase of hostility is getting to a point where there will no longer be the question “if” another war between Israel and Hizbullah will occur but only the question of “when”.

Posted by b on February 14, 2024 at 15:23 UTC | Permalink

Who makes the best cheese burger in America?

Has a friend ever hurt you so badly, emotionally speaking, that you considered not being friends anymore?

Yes. This past week. She is a lot older than me but our personalities clicked. We met at work and were really close for 7 years. We both left the department we met in for new jobs but still met up every month. I supported her through breast cancer. Then we both got offered promotions in our old department. Both accepted and were so excited to be working together again. She started a month before me and struggled to settle back in, feeling old colleagues were freezing her out. I comforted her as she sobbed down the phone to me and helped her talk things through with them. Then last week I started back. One particular colleague was very angry I was back as I had given evidence in a bullying case against her involving another colleague and she got very nasty, even refusing to sit beside me in the office and screaming at caretakers to move her desk on my first day. I was very upset and intimidated. I shared my feelings with my friend. Her response was that SHE didn’t feel any toxicity and I needed to just stay away from people. Also she and this woman had now bonded because they were both new grandmothers. I was crushed and texted her about it later, saying I was hurt by what she had said. Her response was to tell me to never text her again. Fine. I figured I’d leave her to cool off and then maybe we could talk.

A couple of days later I developed chest pains in the office. It was early morning and my manager wasn’t in so I left a message on her desk and went for an Emergancy GP appointment. He sent me straight to the hospital. On the way there I was trying to get through to our office to let my manager know what was happening, but couldn’t get through on the office line. So I phoned my friend, told her I was having an emergency and couldn’t get through and asked her to tell the manager what had happened.

She said no, she couldn’t do that. And then hung up. And blocked me.

And now I’m done. Because whether we were fighting or not, I would have taken the call and helped her.

Thankfully I’m ok, it was just a torn chest muscle and pluerasy but I learned that day that some people only like you when you’re the one carrying them. And frankly, she doesn’t deserve my friendship. Don’t waste time trying to heal relationships with people who don’t value you.

Employers Do NOT Want To Hire Gen Z

What are the best new products or inventions that most people don’t know about?

How did a lake go from this:

to this?

The reason is this man:

… and one incredible invention he made.

Japanese-Peruvian Marino Morikawa found that his childhood lake was contaminated and decided to put his master’s degree and Ph.D. to work. His goal was to change a plant-covered, unsanitary swamp into a place that animals and people could use.

He began by taking a break from school and taking a loan from the bank. He wanted to create something that could clean the lake. He had to use several different methods to get there, though, and research took 6 months.

One tool he tried was microbubbles. Microbubbles are tiny bubbles invisible to the naked eye. Morikawa put them into water. As they traveled up, they caught diseases and other harmful elements, acting like a spider web. Once they finally reached the surface, the bacteria were killed and the bubbles were destroyed by ultraviolet lights. Unfortunately, bubbles take hours to rise due to their size.

Another tool he used was biofilters. Biofilters work by bringing foul pollutants to the surface of a lake while leaving clean water and useful organisms at the bottom. He made his ceramic biofilters by himself in a pottery class.

Eventually, Morikawa created an organic nanotechnology compote to clean dirty water. The compote was so natural that it was even edible! Morikawa admits that it is quite expensive, but he believes that it is worth it.

To use it, one simply had to put it in dirty water and wait for about 15 minutes. This is what the water looks like before and after treatment:

Look, I’m on TV! Hi mom!

Once he had done the hardest part of the work, he was ready to clean his lake. Using homemade biofilters, the compote, and science, he was able to clean the lake in 15 days (although other sources say that cleaning the entire wetlands took 4 months).

As a result of cleaning the lake, people, over 40 species of birds, and 10 species of fish came back to inhabit it. This man should truly be respected. His efforts are not for money or fame; he simply wants to make the world a better place.

And he still wants to do more, zoning in on other polluted lakes and prioritizing Lake Titicaca. With his intelligence, passion, funding, and ingenious technologies, I think he may just be able to do it.

Nana’s Spinach and Sausage Pies

This spinach pie is a family recipe passed down for generations. It stems from a traditional Greek (or in our case Albanian) recipe. It calls for homemade crust, and is truly wonderful when the time is taken to make it from scratch! But if you’d like you can substitute homemade crust for store bought Phyllo dough.

My grandmother would make this spinach pie every New Year’s day. She would wrap a quarter or silver dollar in wax paper, and place it near the crust. Whoever received the lucky dollar would be blessed with good luck for the year! Before you start baking, mark the quarter with a toothpick so you know where it is and it stays in the slice. Cut the pie, take the toothpick out, and randomly provide everyone with a slice. Everyone uses a fork to poke through their slice to find the lucky dollar. Don’t start eating until you find the lucky dollar, or it could become an unlucky choking hazard!

Prep Time: approx. 1 hr.

Cook Time: approx. 40 Minutes.

Ready in: less than 2 hours

Ingredients:

Pie Crust
- 5 cups of flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup warm water
- ½ lb melted butter
Filling
- ¾ lb spinach (remove stems from the end)
- ½ cup yogurt or cottage cheese
- ½ lb Feta cheese
- ½ cup parsley
- 2-3 stems of chopped scallions
- 3 tablespoons parsley
- Salt & Pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 eggs

If you’d like to skip making your own dough, purchase Phyllo (not country style) dough for this crust. It’s more and more common in grocery stores these days. It can be very thin, so use up to 10 layers on for your crust.

For homemade dough mix flour, salt, water for dough with your hands until soft. Knead for 5 minutes. Then place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap for 10 minutes.

Divide the dough in half, roll it out until thin and spread with melted butter well. Fold the sides to the center and butter again. Now fold one half over the other and butter and fold in the opposite direction until you have a 5 inch folded square formed. Butter the top and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 12-15 minutes (or overnight if you’d like) and do the same with the other half.

Now it’s time to make your filling! Just add all your filling ingredients into a bowl and mix well to make your filling.

Remove your dough from the fridge and roll out to the size of your square or round buttered pan. A 12–15-inch pan is perfect. Place the dough on the bottom of the pan with a ½ overlap around the edges. Add your filling and cover with more dough. Wrap the edges of the dough into a crust and bake uncovered at 350˚ for 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a bit crispy.

I will never forget my wonderful Nana Tefta, and all the ways she showed her love. Cooking this family recipe and giving us the joy of finding a lucky quarter was just one of the many ways she did that.

Ingredients

1 pound sweet Italian sausage links, casing removed
6 large eggs
20 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeeze dry or 1 pound fresh salad spinach leaves, stemmed
1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded
5 1/2 ounces (1/2 container) ricotta cheese
1/8 teaspoon pepper
10 to 11 ounces piecrust mix or 2 (9-inch) deep dish pie crusts

Instructions

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
Crumble sausage in a medium skillet and brown meat over medium heat, breaking up with a spoon. Drain on paper towels.
If using fresh spinach, bring a large pot of water to a boil and put spinach in water. Boil 1 minute and drain; squeeze dry.
Separate 1 egg. Combine 5 eggs with 1 egg white, sausage, spinach mozzarella, ricotta and pepper and set aside.
Prepare pie crust mix if using. Lay 1 pie crust in pie pan and spoon mixture into it. Lay another crust on top and flute with a stand-up edge. Carefully cut a 2-inch circle out of the top crust.
Mix egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water and brush on top of pie. (Can decorate with scraps of dough.)
Bake for 1 hour, 10 minutes until golden and bubbly. Check crust after 1 hour and put foil on edges to prevent over-browning.
Let stand for 10 minutes and cut OR chill uncovered until cold; cover and refrigerate until serving cold.

Internet Crazy

What was your most horrible wedding experience as a guest?

It wasn’t ‘horrible’ exactly but… maybe just odd.

When I was 15 our cleaner invited our whole family to her wedding and reception. We were friendly with her as she’d given one of our puppies a home when our dog had a litter, but we hadn’t known her long. Being 15 I didn’t really want to go, but my mum said we wouldn’t have to stay long and we would just go for the reception, dance a bit and come home. It was in the Town Hall, a big, grand room in the nearby town.

When we got there we saw the bride and groom dancing, but hardly anyone else in the room. My mum checked the time thinking we were early or late but it turns out no one had turned up! There were my parents, my two brothers and me, and then no more than 7 other people in this huge, heavily decorated room with a large buffet that would have fed around 100 people.

We felt bad for the bride and groom so tried to make up for the lack of people by dancing and eating a lot, but they were acting as if it was totally normal. They seemed to be having a really good time. After a while a couple of people left and the 5 of us in my family made up half of the guests! I felt very awkward, and instead of staying an hour or two we had to stay the whole night, all the while pretending we were having a great time.

We found out later the reason no one had showed – it turns out that the bride and groom had been married before. In fact, they’d been married and divorced 9 times! The reception we went to was their tenth wedding… which explains why none of their family and friends wanted to waste anymore time on them. A match made in heaven! I wonder if they are still married, or how many more weddings they’ve racked up now…

Putin on the Collapse of the Dollar as the World’s Reserve Currency

What is the greatest display of kindness you have witnessed in your life?

I was at a thrift store, just looking around for anything interesting.

Standing in the entrance area was a mother with a baby and a toddler, and a large toy chest she had just purchased, which was sitting in her cart.

Thus she had a dilemna.

The baby was too small to walk, so she had to carry the baby. The toy chest was too big to carry one-handed, and too big to allow the baby to sit in the cart with it. Even if she could carry the baby and the toy chest, the toddler’s hand needed held in this busy parking lot.

What to do?

The thrift store was especially busy that day. People walked in, gave her situation a glance, and kept walking. She stood there for at least five minutes (which doesn’t seem very long, but it seems like a long time if you’re just standing there), occasionally trying to pick up the chest. Not a single person stopped to help.

A family walked into the store. They all gave the woman a glance and kept walking, just as the others had.

Well, most of the family kept walking.

A teenager slipped away from the family and went up to the woman.

“Hey. You need some help?”

The teen carried that toy chest all the way to the woman’s car. I saw the woman pull out her wallet, and the teenager backed away, waving their hands.

Any show of kindness is great in the eye of the recipient.

You’re Not Broken, The Dating World Is

What did your boss do that you decided to quit?

One and only time I ever left a job because of a boss was when I was doing software engineering at a major aerospace company on contract.

The direct manager was a micro-manager and apparently didn’t have a life outside of work.

He would take home the code listings of that day’s work from his team members to do “code reviews.’

The next morning you would get back your listings with “suggested changes” in red pencil.

You would dutifully spend the first half of the day coding and testing the suggested changes then try and make some new progress before turning the day’s listing back to the boss.

The next day it would start all over again except, more often than not, the day’s “suggested changes” basically had you putting the code back to the way you had it to begin with.

I implemented my own code management system so I could easily roll back changes.

I lasted all of a year before finding a new job.

When I became a people manager some years later I used the experience as a life lesson of the kind of manager NOT to become.

The Pathology of America: Dehumanization, Greed, and the Decline of Empire

Sitrep April

Ok, today (as I write this, might take a few months to get out there, though) it is early April.

Sitrep April 2024

Time for a sitrep that will probably be way out of date by the time your read this.

The United States national debt is higher than what was initially calculated. Currently as of last week, the nation’s $34 trillion debt is approximately 99% of GDP and, according to the CBO, will steadily increase over the next 30 years. We are told that this is nothing to worry about. Meanwhile in China, the debt is 60% of GDP and we are told the “China is collapsing”.
The United States military is policing New York Subways. They are carrying full automatic weapons and this is to make New York safer.
The United States military is all over the Texas border. They are carrying full automatic weapons and riding in tanks and armored vehicles. This is to make America safer.
The United States military is now occupying bases off the coast of China. They are carrying full automatic weapons and manning rocket launchers. This is to make China safer.
I think that it is so caring that Washington DC wants to make the world a better and safer place. Don’t you?

…

Ah, but I digress.

Let’s continue.

Ukraine fiasco is winding down. NATO has given up. The USA is throwing it’s hands up and the Ukrainians are on zombie auto-pilot. Russia is going to “mop up” and probably make a final push to force what remains of Ukrainian “leadership” to capitulate.
The morons in the EU are in a state of (drug induced?) delusion and unaware how truly fucked they are. NATO is kaput.
But, but, but… American tanks are moving toward Ukraine. American troops are in Monrovia. American “volunteers” and Special Forces are in Ukraine. Obviously a buildup is ongoing… to “end the war” before November elections? Politically driven use of military is a Democrat staple. Historically it results in many causalities and is rarely reported. What will happen? Use history as a guide. You tell me.
The new members of NATO Finland and Sweden are all dressed up with nowhere to go. Expect a short fizzle and die sometime in the next decade.

Now you know everything you need to know about Europe.

The United States tried to “go for the gold”, fumbled and now the entire place is a mucky mess. Not a pretty sight.

But the USA has a plan…

Janet Yelen is in China making proposals, threats, warnings and promises. The USA wants money, and some “elbow room”. A cash infusion and a grant, or loan is the minimum demand. China is being ever polite. But honestly doesn’t give a rat’s ass. It doesn’t care.
There are some deep-state bureaucrats in Washington DC pushing the Philippine provocation storms against China. Seemingly going against the direct orders of Biden. Expect that to “blow up” in their faces in the next year and China starts playing REAL HARD ball.

Is that all?

Nope. Things are interesting this year…

Strange tit4tat events. A “earthquake” in Taiwan, followed two days later with an “earthquake” near Washington DC. Hum… what a coincidence. Ah. These strange occurrences are coming hot and heavy don’t you know. Makes you appreciate the hand of God, eh?
Gaza. This event was predicted in the mid 1960’s. It’s an a long timer. Horrific, but this is just the appetizer for what will follow.
Gonna be an “election” in the United States in November. I am sure that the Oligarchy has determined who will be the winner and what will happen. It’s all a shell-game for the mindless rabble to keep their minds off their stressful misery.
Trump is talking up a big anti-China storm. Biden is on his hands and knees begging China. Night and day. The policies that will result with determine the flavor of society of the upcoming years. But will NOT determine if and when the world will end.

Overall…

Global changing demographics continue. Mighty uncomfortable for many. It’s gonna get even more uncomfortable for those of you in the West.
Propaganda spiels are still generously funded out of Langley Va. Expect to hear more about the “Russian failures in Ukraine” and how terrible life is in Russia. Expect to hear a continuation of the narrative how “China is collapsing” any day now, and so on and so forth.
In the West, inflation is reaching unsustainable levels. In times past, the pitchforks and fire torches would be out, as would be hanging nooses and gallows. But you do have to give credit where credit is due. The Western government really have their cattle well behaved and totally enslaved.
The drunken parties in “Capital Hill” continue unabated. They continue to spend like drunken sailors on crack. No signs of abatement or rehab. It’s a clown-show on steroids and its a racing towards the end of the line. The big cliff fall is a mere few years away.
The United States is undergoing a frightful social change where no one is dating, no one is getting married, and the prognosis is a MAJOR drop-off in birthrates to sustain society. Ah. Expect riots long before that. Nasty ones too.

On the technology front are some interesting developments…

Electric Vehicles are talking the globe by storm. Everywhere. That is everywhere except in the West. The gas-guzzler cartel won’t hand over their mantle of power. Oh, not yet. You all want a glimpse of the future? Remember BETAmax?
The “Congress-critters” are all in an outrage about Americans being able to post their views online without censorship. Darn pesky rascals. Not to worry, they are gonna ban Tiktoc. And thus maintain their control over the soapbox of the common-man. That is until the next APP enters the scene. Wanna bet it’s gonna come from Asia?

The American allies are a joke…

Haven’t heard too much on the “news” about Argentina. With the election of the USA-loving, Communist-hating, “president”, a new Argentina has emerged. And if you thought it was a shit-show before, it’s a real cluster-fuck right now. Not being reported on… well… there’s NOTHING good coming out of there these days. So, NOTHING is being reported.
The South Korean “president” is another butt-fuck loving American prostitute. I was particularly moved… to vomit… when he sang the “Star Spangled Banner”. Well, his green card is in place, and money is transferred into American banks, so he has not a care in the world. Just let the 4B movement run its course. He’s doing whatever his owners want. He’s got his. What about YOU?
Many things are going unreported in the world. But that is to be expected. Lots, and lots and lots of “color revolutions” that have dudded out, fizzled out, and pretty much went limp dick. Please pass the peas, Marge…

And moving on…

Meanwhile, the (former) third-world operates 5G, high speed trains, has face recognition, drives electric vehicles, and has inflation a mere fraction of what is terrorizing the West with. The world got on the bus and drove off. The West is still playing in the mud puddle in the road… totally and completely oblivious that the rest of the world just left the building.
But not to worry, the Western media continues to portray the United States as the leader in everything… from “freedom” to “democracy”. From low inflation, to high employment numbers. From the best universities, to the best in everything. Weeeeee!

Maybe you don’t want my colored summaries. That’s fine. ChatGPT will tell you the same thing, only in a much more plausible manner.

The world is evolving. And it is painful; face contorting to endure. It is a dumpster fire, and it is a blazing. But it is going though the washer and drier and it will emerge better than before, by a long shot. I remain quite hopeful, even though the visuals are awfully nasty.

Today…

What is the most useless job that you’ve ever done?

When I was in high school I got my first part time job as a Maize Master.

You read that right. It’s a play on words, since I worked at a giant maze that was cut into a large corn field.

Every year the field is dug up and a new pattern is planted, since the corn maze only lasts about 8 months at best.

My job, was to walk the maze enough times to memorise the ways out and know where all the clues were hidden. It’s actually pretty simple after you’ve walked the maze with a map for a day or two. Then it just becomes engraved in your memory.

The reason this job felt useless was because I spent every weekend, for about eight months, walking this maze 8 hours a day in the blistering South African sun. When people got lost and started to panic they would end up just walking through the corn “walls” and force their way out of the maze.

I ended up spending most of that time strolling about, listening to music and reading the Harry Potter books.

The only fun part of this job, was having three of my friends working with me. We each had a walkie-talkie which was supposed to be used to keep in touch with each other in the maze and point out people that were in need of assistance.

We usually ended up just running around wildly, pointing out hot girls that were coming our way and calling ourselves the “children of the corn”.

Can politicians be called leaders? If not, what is the difference between the two?

Leaders are those who keep the Nation in mind all the time

To them the Country comes first

They make unpopular decisions if it benefits the nation as a whole

They are long term visionaries

…

Politicians are those who keep themselves and their party in mind all the time

They aim to have power to either enrich themselves or become more powerful

They don’t care about the country or the people

They are short term visionaries who care only about votes and elections

…

Populists are a hybrid between Leaders and Politicians

They either endorse a Doctrine or ideology of their own or by an organization like the RSS or NED or Religious Doctrine

Their ultimate quest is to ensure their ideology succeeds and they would do whatever it takes to achieve that

They use both Party and the People to achieve this

I only included Democratic Nations in this list of definitions.

If you are doing something that your partner would be uncomfortable with… THAT is cheating

Yellen trip to China

Reuters has a posting up about Yellen’s trip to China and the title is

Yellen says China is too big to export its way to rapid growth

China is not responding to its economic gyrations like empire wants because China retains control of finance and the PBOC is deciding who takes the losses instead of private interests forcing governments to cover their financial bets, like in the West….and rapid growth internally is not China’s goal, stable world growth is.

I expect China to school Yellen in just that scenario of privatizing profits/socializing losses that is staring the US in the face, again…..rampant social/financial abuse of humanity by the God Of Mammon cult and its supporters like Pope Frank and his Catholic church.

What right does Yellen have to preach anything to China? I have saved a 6 page story from somewhere about Yellen’s trip last year dated April 25, 2023 and we will see what the comparisons are as the circus show unfolds.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 5 2024 14:54 utc | 15

Looks like a lot of fun

Death of empires: History tells us what will follow the collapse of US hegemony

The turn away from expansion, production and trade toward lending and speculation has precipitated decline for centuries

One of the curious features of the American landscape is the fact that these days the financialization of the economy is widely condemned as unhealthy, yet little is being done to reverse it. There was a time, back in the 1980s and ‘90s, when finance-driven capitalism was supposed to usher in a time of better capital allocation and a more dynamic economy. This is not a view one hears often anymore.

So, if such a phenomenon is overwhelmingly viewed negatively but isn’t being amended, then perhaps it’s not merely a failure of policymaking but rather something deeper – something more endemic to the very fabric of the capitalist economy. It is of course possible to lay the blame for this state of affairs at the feet of the current crop of cynical and power-hungry elites and to stop one’s analysis there. But an examination of history reveals recurrent instances of financialization that bear remarkable similarities, which invites the conclusion that perhaps the predicament in the American economy in recent decades is not unique and that the ever-rising power of Wall Street was in a sense preordained.

Keep working

Introducing Giovanni Arrighi: Financialization as a cyclical phenomenon

It is in this context that it pays to revisit the work of the Italian political economist and historian of global capitalism Giovanni Arrighi (1937-2009). Arrighi, who is often simplistically pigeonholed as a Marxist historian, a label far too constricting given the breadth of his work, explored the origins and evolution of capitalist systems dating back to the Renaissance and showed how recurrent phases of financial expansion and collapse underpin broader geopolitical reconfigurations. Occupying a central place in his theory is the notion that the cycle of rise and fall of each successive hegemon terminates in a crisis of financialization. It is this phase of financialization that facilitates the shift to the next hegemon.

Arrighi dates the origin of this cyclical process to the Italian city-states of the 14th century, an era that he calls the birth of the modern world. From the marriage of Genoese capital and Spanish power that produced the great discoveries, he traces this path through Amsterdam, London and, finally, the United States.

In each case, the cycle is shorter and each new hegemon is larger, more complex and more powerful than the previous one. And, as we mentioned above, each terminates in a crisis of financialization that marks the final stage of hegemony. But this phase also fertilizes the soil in which the next hegemon will sprout, thus marking financialization as the harbinger of an impending hegemonic shift. Essentially, the ascending power emerges in part by availing itself of the financial resources of the financialized and declining power.

Arrighi detected a first wave of financialization starting around 1560, when the Genoese businessmen withdrew from commerce and specialized in finance, thereby establishing symbiotic relations with the Kingdom of Spain. The subsequent wave began around 1740 when the Dutch began to withdraw from commerce to become “the bankers of Europe.” The financialization in Great Britain, which we will examine below, emerged around the end of the 19th century; for the United States, it began in the 1970s.

Hegemony he defines as “the power of a state to exercise functions of leadership and governance over a system of sovereign states.” Central to this concept is the idea that historically such governance has been linked to the transformation of how the system of relations among states functions in itself and also that it consists of both what we would call geopolitical dominance but also a sort of intellectual and moral leadership. The hegemonic power not only rises to the top in the jockeying among states but actually forges the system itself in its own interest. Key to this capacity for the expansion of the hegemon’s own power is the ability to turn its national interests into international interests.

Observers of the current American hegemony will recognize the transformation of the global system to suit American interests. The maintenance of an ideologically charged ‘rules-based’ order – ostensibly for the benefit of everyone – fits neatly into the category of conflation of national and international interests. Meanwhile, the previous hegemon, the British, had their own version that incorporated both free-trade policies and a matching ideology that emphasized the wealth of nations over national sovereignty.

Returning to the question of financialization, the original insight into its epochal aspect first came from the French historian Fernand Braudel, of whom Arrighi was a disciple. Braudel observed that the rise of finance as the predominant capitalist activity of a given society was a sign of its impending decline.

Arrighi adopted this approach and, in his major work called ‘The Long Twentieth Century,’ elaborated his theory of the cyclical pattern of ascendency and collapse within the capitalist system, which he called the ‘systemic cycle of accumulation.’ According to this theory, the period of ascendency is based on an expansion of trade and production. But this phase eventually reaches maturity, at which point it becomes more difficult to profitably reinvest capital in further expansion. In other words, the economic endeavors that propelled the rising power to its perch become increasingly less profitable as competition intensifies and, in many cases, much of the real economy is lost to the periphery, where wages are lower. Rising administrative expenses and the cost of maintaining an ever-expanding military also contribute to this.

This leads to the onset of what Arrighi calls a ‘signal crisis,’ meaning an economic crisis that signals the shift from accumulation by material expansion to accumulation by financial expansion. What ensues is a phase characterized by financial intermediation and speculation. Another way to think about this is that, having lost the actual basis for its economic prosperity, a nation turns to finance as the final economic field in which hegemony can be sustained. The phase of financialization is thus characterized by an exaggerated emphasis on financial markets and the finance sector.

Women Are RAGING Because Men Are Going Their Own Way

What did you do first after being released from prison or jail?

Once pass the prison gate in the prison van..went over to the bank to cash the state check and then to the motel that I told DOC that I was going to…waited till the van turned,so that officer couldn’t see me leave ..walked over to the state DHS..got my food stamp card..then to Walmart .Got a dome tent and sleeping bag,food, quart of water. fillet knife and a ball of clothes line,a sharpie ,cell phone…once out side , looked in the trash bin and got a cardboard box..walked over to the street that would take me to the interstate..once there, walked over a overhead bridge.. went to sleep in the tent that night ..next morning,walked over the truck stop over the other side.made me a sign on where I was going to…

While I was setting there at the TS..a shoolie came in and 4 guys got out ..we spoke and I asked which way they were going..they was going my way ..I asked if I could join them..so I had a ride . Once there.had them drop me off where I wanted to be..call a person who I could stay with..got my DL , bought a pickup and a on bed camper..lived in it as I started my life outside of prison..

Since I discharged all of my sentences.I could travel and sleep where I wanted to..been out here for 13 years now…had a business that I had till I retired from.. Don’t want a place that I have to pay rent on.. upgraded to a shuttle bus now..not bad for a 70 year old guy…

The fiasco 4B movement

How financialization delays the inevitable

However, the corrosive nature of financialization is not immediately evident – in fact, quite the opposite. Arrighi demonstrates how the turn to financialization, which is initially quite lucrative, can provide a temporary and illusory respite from the trajectory of decline, thus deferring the onset of the terminal crisis. For example, the incumbent hegemon at the time, Great Britain, was the country hardest hit by the so-called Long Depression of 1873-1896, a prolonged period of malaise that saw Britain’s industrial growth decelerate and its economic standing diminished. Arrighi identifies this as the ‘signal crisis’ – the point in the cycle where productive vigor is lost and financialization sets in.

And yet, as Arrighi quotes David Landes’ 1969 book ‘The Unbound Prometheus,’ “as if by magic, the wheel turned.” In the last years of the century, business suddenly improved and profits rose. “Confidence returned—not the spotty, evanescent confidence of the brief booms that had punctuated the gloom of the preceding decades, but a general euphoria such as had not prevailed since…the early 1870s….In all of western Europe, these years live on in memory as the good old days—the Edwardian era, la belle époque.” Everything seemed right again.

However, there is nothing magical about the sudden restoration of profits, Arrighi explains. What happened is that “as its industrial supremacy waned, its finance triumphed and its services as shipper, trader, insurance broker and intermediary in the world’s system of payments became more indispensable than ever.”

In other words, there was a large expansion in financial speculation. Initially much of the expanding financial income derived from interest and dividends being generated by previous investments. But increasingly a significant portion was financed by what Arrighi calls the “domestic conversion of commodity capital into money capital.” Meanwhile, as surplus capital moved out of trade and production, British real wages began a decline starting after the mid-1890s – a reversal of the trend of the past five decades. An enriched financial and business elite amid an overall decline in real wages is something that should ring a bell to observers of the current American economy.

Essentially, by embracing financialization, Britain played the last card it had to stave off its imperial decline. Beyond that lay the ruin of World War I and the subsequent instability of the interwar period, a manifestation of what Arrighi calls ‘systemic chaos’ – a phenomenon that becomes particularly visible during signal crises and terminal crises.

Historically, Arrighi observes, these breakdowns have been associated with escalation into outright warfare – specifically, the Thirty Years’ War (1618-48), the Napoleonic wars (1803-15) and the two World Wars. Interestingly and somewhat counterintuitively, these wars have typically not seen the incumbent hegemon and the challenger on opposing sides (with the Anglo-Dutch naval wars a notable exception). Rather, it has typically been the actions of other rivals that have hastened the arrival of the terminal crisis. But even in the case of the Dutch and British, conflict co-existed with cooperation as Dutch merchants increasingly directed their capital to London, where it generated better returns.

Boss level

Puffy Wings

Ingredients

Wings

12 chicken wings

Marinade

1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ginger root, minced
1/2 cup dry sherry
2 tablespoons sesame oil

Batter

1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup milk

Instructions

Add wings to marinade for at least one hour.
Combine dry ingredients, stir in egg and milk.
Pat wings dry.
Dip into batter. Drip off excess.
Heat oil to 350 degrees F.
Fry a few wings at a time for 3 to 4 minutes.

Wall Street and the crisis of the last hegemon

The process of financialization emerging from a signal crisis was repeated with startling similarities in the case of Britain’s successor, the US. The 1970s was a decade of deep crisis for the US, with high levels of inflation, a weakening dollar after the 1971 abandonment of gold convertibility and, perhaps most importantly, a loss of competitiveness of US manufacturing. With rising powers such as Germany, Japan, and, later, China, able to outcompete it in terms of production, the US reached the same tipping point and, like its predecessors, it turned to financialization. The 1970s was, in the words of historian Judith Stein, the “pivotal decade” that “sealed a society-wide transition from industry to finance, factory floor to trading floor.”

This, Arrighi explains, allowed the US to attract massive amounts of capital and move toward a model of deficit financing – an increasing indebtedness of the US economy and state to the rest of the world. But financialization also allowed the US to reflate its economic and political power in the world, particularly as the dollar was ensconced as the global reserve currency. This reprieve gave the US the illusion of prosperity of the late 1980s and ‘90s, when, as Arrighi says “there was this idea that the United States had ‘come back’.” No doubt the demise of its main geopolitical rival, the Soviet Union, contributed to this buoyant optimism and sense that Western neoliberalism had been vindicated.

However, beneath the surface, the tectonic plates of decline were still grinding away as the US became ever more dependent on external funding and increasingly ramped-up leverage on a diminishing sliver of real economic activity that was rapidly being offshored and hollowed out. As Wall Street rose in prominence, many quintessential American economies were essentially asset-stripped for the sake of financial profit.

But, as Arrighi points out, financialization merely stalls the inevitable and this has only been laid bare by subsequent events in the US. By the late 1990s, the financialization itself was beginning to malfunction, starting with the Asia crisis of 1997 and subsequent popping of the dotcom bubble, and continuing with a reduction in interest rates that would inflate the housing bubble that detonated so spectacularly in 2008. Since then, the cascade of imbalances in the financial system has only accelerated and it has only been through a combination of increasingly desperate financial legerdemain – inflating one bubble after another – and outright coercion that has allowed the US to extend its hegemony even a bit longer beyond its time.

In 1999, Arrighi, in a piece co-authored with American scholar Beverly Silver, summarized the predicament of the time. It has been a quarter century since these words were penned, but they might as well have been written last week:

“The global financial expansion of the last twenty years or so is neither a new stage of world capitalism nor the harbinger of a ‘coming hegemony of global markets’. Rather, it is the clearest sign that we are in the midst of a hegemonic crisis. As such, the expansion can be expected to be a temporary phenomenon that will end more or less catastrophically… But the blindness that led the ruling groups of [hegemonic states of the past] to mistake the ‘autumn’ for a new ‘spring’ of their…power meant that the end came sooner and more catastrophically than it might otherwise have…A similar blindness is evident today.”

An early prophet of a multipolar world

In his late work, Arrighi turned his attention to East Asia and surveyed the prospects for a transition to the next hegemony. On the one hand, he identified China as the logical successor to American hegemony. However, as a counterweight to that, he did not see the cycle he outlined as continuing in perpetuity and believed there would come a point where it is no longer possible to bring into existence a state with larger and more comprehensive organizational structures. Perhaps, he speculated, the US represents just that expansive capitalist power that has taken the capitalist logic to its earthly limits.

Arrighi also considered the systemic cycle of accumulation to be a phenomenon inherent to capitalism and not applicable to pre-capitalist times or non-capitalist formations. As of 2009, when he died, Arrighi’s view was that China remained a decisively non-capitalist market society. How it would evolve remained an open question.

Soaring debt pushing wealthy nations to ‘fiscal death’ – economist

While Arrighi was not dogmatic on how the future would shape up and did not apply his theories deterministically, especially with regard to the developments of recent decades, he did speak forcefully about what in today’s language could be called the necessity of accommodating a multipolar world. In their 1999 article, he and Silver predicted “a more or less imminent fall of the West from the commanding heights of the world capitalist system is possible, even likely.”

The US, they believe, “has even greater capabilities than Britain did a century ago to convert its declining hegemony into an exploitative dominion.” If the system does eventually break down, “it will be primarily because of US resistance to adjustment and accommodation. And conversely, US adjustment and accommodation to the rising economic power of the East Asian region is an essential condition for a non-catastrophic transition to a new world order.”

Whether such accommodation is forthcoming remains to be seen, but Arrighi strikes a pessimistic tone, noting that each hegemon, at the end of its cycle of dominance, experiences a “final boom” during which it pursues its “national interest without regard for system-level problems that require system-level solutions.” A more apt description of the current state of affairs cannot be formulated.

The system-level problems are multiplying, but the sclerotic ancien régime in Washington is not addressing them. By mistaking its financialized economy for a vigorous one, it overestimated the potency of weaponizing the financial system it controls, thus again seeing ‘spring’ where there is only ‘autumn.’ This, as Arrighi, predicts, will only hasten the end.

The Ukrainian Army Is No Longer Mechanized

This is a rather sad tale:

Address by the President of the Russian Federation – Kremlin.ru, Feb 24 2022

The purpose of this operation is to protect people who, for eight years now, have been facing humiliation and genocide perpetrated by the Kiev regime. To this end, we will seek to demilitarise and denazify Ukraine, as well as bring to trial those who perpetrated numerous bloody crimes against civilians, including against citizens of the Russian Federation.

—Official introduction of 153rd Mechanized Brigade – Military Land, Dec 27 2023

Another brigade from the 150s batch makes an official appearance.

On October 17, 2023, we reported about the creation of five new Ukrainian mechanized brigades for the possible counter-offensive in 2024. The 151st Mechanized Brigade was officially revealed on October 30 while 154th Mechanized Brigade on November 1.

Today, the 153rd Mechanized Brigade was publicly announced. The unit received its insignia and motto – the power of unconquered.

—Russian Defense Minister General of the Army Sergei Shoigu held a conference call with the leadership of the Armed Forces (machine translation) – Ministry of Defense, Apr 2 2024

Since January, the armed forces of Ukraine have lost more than 80 thousand servicemen, 14 thousand units of various weapons, including more than one thousand two hundred tanks and other armored combat vehicles.

—153rd Mechanized Brigade is no longer mechanized – Military Land, Apr 3 2024

The lack of vehicles forced Ukrainian command to back down from the original plans.The leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has reorganized the 153rd Mechanized Brigade into an infantry brigade. This change was announced through the official social media channels of the brigade.

While the official reason behind the change remains undisclosed, it is presumably linked to the shortage of infantry fighting vehicles.
…
The reorganization of the 153rd Brigade may not be an isolated occurrence. According to our sources, the 152nd Mechanized Brigade is also slated for transformation into an infantry brigade in the near future.

Each day the Russian Ministry of Defense reports the observed losses of the Ukrainian army. While the reported numbers are unlikely to be exact the reports are considered to be reliable and do tell a story.

In the first year of the war the Ukrainian army often lost more armored vehicles per day than general vehicles, i.e. trucks. By mid 2023 the numbers of armored vehicle and trucks destroyed per day, as reported by the MoD, were about equal. By the end of 2023 that ratio was on average two trucks per one armored vehicle. It has since increased further. Yesterday’s report claimed 32 destroyed Ukrainian trucks but only 4 destroyed armored vehicles.

The numbers provide that the armed forces of Ukraine, as well as its allies, have run out of armored vehicles of all kinds.

A mechanized brigade is supposed to have some 100 armored (i.e. ‘mechanized’) vehicles of various kind plus some 30 tanks. An infantry brigade has, if its lucky, some unarmored trucks or buses.

An infantry brigade can only fight on foot. Its men have to dig in, by hand, to have a chance stay alive without armor protection. To do this in an environment where the enemy has a near perfect view of the battlefield, a reported artillery supremacy of 7 to 1 plus the ability to drop hundreds of precision guided bombs deep behind the frontline is not really survivable.

A 2024 counter offensive by the armed forces of Ukraine was and is a pipe dream. The five new brigades will be destroyed as soon as they come near to the frontline.

Ukraine has been demilitarized. It is high time to acknowledge that.

To give up now is the only way for Ukraine to survive.

Posted by b on April 4, 2024 at 7:57 UTC | Permalink

Why does China always say that there will never be any compromise on the Taiwan issue?

If one day Beijing compromised on Taiwan issue, the next day white house would know that China is willing to compromise on almost any matter.

Xinjiang would be negotiable, inner mongolia will become a leverage too, HK would go back to be the oriental Casablanca.

Stop developing 7nm semiconductor? YES SIR!

Selling state-owned assets? AS YOUR WISH SIR!

Having 2 parties and elect a lunatic every four years? RIGHT AWAY SIR!

China would soon become Argentina in Asia.

It’s like dating a girl for the first time.

She said to you that her bottom line is no cumming inside, because she doesn’t want to take emergency pills.

Later in the hotel room, the first thing you did is having a big cum inside her pussy cat, and she didn’t fight back or call the police.

Next thing you know is that she is willing to do anything tonight. The limitation will only be your ability to imagine.

Taiwan is China’s bottom line.

Beijing doesn’t matter how the west telling its people, nor how Taiwan having oral orgasms.

It’s been stated in the law clearly:

1. Peaceful unification is always the first choice.

2. In case of every attempt of peaceful unification failed, or foreign powers interfering which causes peaceful unification not possible anymore, a war is the only thing left.

Reality

Don’t bringing up “but what about the choice of 23 million Taiwanese”, because no one ever asked the choice of 1.4 billion mainland Chinese.

The communist party of China is the best possible China the world could have.

If it were a democracy, philippines would face gunpowder powered canon instead of water canon in SCS.

The west has been ignoring the silent majority of China for too long that the majority of the west consider Chinese people as mindless machines.

It’s always when westerners arrived in China and then realized that ordinary Chinese people do have opinions, and they are much more friendly in daily life, and much more aggressive in politics and military.

Too many times

As a matter of fact, Beijing had compromised on Taiwan issues for too many times, and Washington took steps forward after, instead of backward.

Compromising is not the correct choice when dealing with the west.

You need to make the west hurt, so that it would know not to fuck with you.

BTW, Yellen visited China again. It seems that the last legacy of the golden ages wants to try for the last time to save her empire.

She must have felt the pain.

These Confident Men Got Up & Left Their Trashy Girlfriends In The Dust!

What is the one piece of advice you would give to anyone?

1. Time is precious, waste it wisely.

2. Never get into an argument with someone who types faster than you.

3. That one password you use everything and if anyone knew it they could destroy you.

4. Honesty may be the best policy, but insanity is the best defense.

5. Going back to your ex is like having a shower and putting dirty underwear back on.

6. An optimist thinks that this is the best possible world. A pessimist fears that this is true.

7. Not everything in your brain needs to come out of your mouth.

8. Don’t lower your standards, just lower your expectations of people.

9. It’s ok to have bad moments, but don’t give it the power to make it a bad day.

10. Admitting you need help doesn’t make you weak. Neither does accepting it.

USA will stand down

The US will not interfere if Iran attacks Israel Through a series of messages exchanged via third parties, the United States and Iran have come to an understanding.

Iran assured the Americans it will not target U.S. facilities, and in turn the U.S. says it will not get involved if Iran retaliates against Israel.

Israel carried out the attack on the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, without consulting the United States.

Since the Embassy and the next-door Ambassador’s residence are on the same compound which was bombed, they are both Iran Sovereign territory. Israel’s attack was therefore an actual Act of War for which Iran has the right to respond with military force.

Modern Women Are DOOMED After New Anti Paternity Fraud Law In Tennessee

What is the most difficult thing for the elderly to accept? Why?

Nothing. I am 75 years old and many of my close friends are now dead. I not only accept the fact I will die soon, but I embrace the process. I am a Darwinist. The only way for each animal species to improve itself is through death. Death is an important part of life. Can you imagine an insane world where old humans NEVER die? If old humans never died, young humans would need to shoulder insurmountable levels of financial burden and time consuming elder care. I embrace my geezer-hood and I enjoy the simple pleasures I experience every day – like a latte in the morning and a glass of wine in the evening. I now embrace every moment of every day because many of my friends never had the chance to grow old. But I have also made peace with my impending death. The natural death of old people should NOT be a sad event – it is an event that improves the future of the human species. So I have had NO difficulty accepting all things that come with being elderly.

Various pictures of interest

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Default Tshirt Brand logo africans and orixs black and red wri 0

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What is the best way to believe in yourself?

I teach mathematics to a girl.

She is in Class X.

One fine day, she came to my house with her father. Her father wanted me to tutor her for mathematics. Her father was so disappointed with his daughter.

He said, “I have been good in mathematics since childhood, I don’t know how she is my daughter. It is difficult to teach this girl.”.

The girl hung her head in shame during the entire conversation.

I said okay and told her to join.

She started coming to the class. I started teaching her. While teaching her, I realized that the girl already knew a lot and it was not at all difficult to teach her.

But, I could see lack of confidence in her. She did not believe in herself. She always hesitated in answering even when she answered. She believed that her doubts and answers are senseless. I could see that in her behaviour.

I realized that the girl has accepted and believed that she does not know mathematics at all.

Her father, her school, her teachers have made her believe that she is not at all good in mathematics and does not know shit about the subject.

She writes down the question and stares at it and says “ Ma’am ye nahi hoga merese.” (I won’t be able to solve this).

I always told her the same thing “Chinmayee tumhe aata hai already. Try karo bas. Have confidence in yourself (“You already know this, Chinmayee. Just try once. Have confidence in yourself”).

And most of the times, she answers right.

My mother asked me “How is this girl in studies ?”

I said “I am getting paid just to make her believe in herself. Rest she knows.”.

Moral of the story : To believe in yourself, first stop believing what others believe about you. Otherwise, you will end up being what others believe about you.

Edit : One year later (6th May,19)

Today I got a call from her. She thanked me and informed me that she cleared her board exams with 85% and she chose humanities with psychology for further studies.

As a white person living in the States, would you feel better if you lived in a majority white town and surrounded by only whites?

No. I wouldn’t. I didn’t. Sit the fuck down and read. Take notes, and let this shit echo in your head, as it has in mine for nearly thirty fuckibg years.

Shiawassee County Michigan. I hated it.

Now, let me tell you why.

I look like THIS:

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And you’re wondering, “well what’s the problem?” Right?

See, I am 3/4 western European, like throw a dart at the map and chances are I have that place in my bloodline.

The remaining 25 percent? The single most undiluted portion of my genetic makeup?

…Japanese.

If you look, and pay attention, some of the classical shapes are there. None of the PIGMENTS, however, are. So I am often mistaken for *MAYBE* part First Nation (sure, there’s some Lakota, but it’s so diluted from so many generations back, I generally don’t mention it unless someone guesses, and even then only to tell them it’s insignificant to how I look as far as the oddities in facial structure). Now here’s where it gets interesting:

Once I told literally anyone, ANYONE in that county I was a quarter Japanese. I lost that person as a friend. I’ve literally been called a “traitor to my race” (whatever the fuck that means for a biracial individual) by more than a few idiots.

These people, whom I’d worked alongside, lived next door to, etc… called me every Asian slur in the book: sl_pe, sl_ant, squ_nt, z_p, z_pperhead, n_p, j_p, g__k, and ch_nk (yes I know neither of the last two are slurs for Japanese people, but apparently we “all look alike” to racist white fucks. Even when they look like *ME.*

This told me that far too many, whom I’d considered friends and dependable people, allies even, who saw me as an enemy. A pest. Some sort of infestation to eradicate.

Let me tell you, son. It’s hard to reconcile the Revelation that your coworkers, the guys you drank at the bar with, the people who once invited you to cookouts…. Would happily march you off for a refreshing cyanide shower if they could get away with it.

And you wanna know what’s really heartbreaking?

Knowing that I, as a white passing person… I’ve literally experienced racism “LIGHT.” That everyone NOT passing, like I am, gets it far, far worse. Knowing that so many other people are treated far more harshly and far more readily so than I have ever been.

Suffice it to say I spent most of my time there working toward leaving. I was glad when I finally got out. I wasn’t born or raised there, but I wish I never ended up there.

I was only there… a year. And it was a year too fucking long.

And I already know, based on past experiences here on Quora, that my answer will open me up to attacks from fuckers who either secretly or openly have a white robe and hood in their fucking closets. Let me just tell you preemptively I’m just gonna a delete your bullshit, because I don’t owe your fucking bigotry an audience.

Rosemary Wings

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
1/2 cup lemonade
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
10 to 12 chicken wings

Instructions

Heat oven to 425 degrees F.
In a small saucepan, heat oil and butter over medium heat.
Add shallots and rosemary and cook 2 to 3 minutes.
Add lemonade, pepper and salt. Simmer over low heat for 6 to 8 minutes or until slightly reduced and syrupy.
Cool slightly.
Meanwhile, cut chicken wings into three pieces, discarding wing-tip joint. Place wings in shallow pan and coat well with sauce.
Bake until skin is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Tinder Experiment Proves How Brutal it is For Average Guys

What’s the most unexpected life lesson you’ve learned recently?

1. Personality is not set in stone. You are able to take control or change it the way you like.

2. Never leave your parents. They are the reason you are here.

3. Never get confused to select between love and friendship. Both have their respective parts to play.

4. When in anger, isolate yourself. Give yourself some time. Finally think about the situation again with a calm mind.

5. People say “Follow your heart”. Not in every situation guys. Instead “Listen to your heart. Act With Your Brain”.

6. Time heals almost everything. Give some time and experience the change.

7. Thoughts control your Feelings. Feelings control your Actions. Actions control your Results. POSITIVE THOUGHTS = POSITIVE RESULTS

Were German soldiers scared of Americans in WW2?

They didn’t like Ma Duece.

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The July 1945 cover of this magazine depicted a waist gunner in a B-17 Flying Fortress and his flexible .50 BMG M2 Browning in an official USAAF photo by Karl Gaston.

By Barrett Tillman

John M. Browning was a historic figure whose guns started the first World War and helped end the second. In 1914, Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip used a Browning-designed FN Model 1910 to assassinate Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, inciting the Great War. And though Browning died in 1926, he provided his nation with nearly all its World War II machine guns, its automatic rifle and its foremost sidearm. But he did something even grander. Browning’s magnificent M2 machine gun—chambered in the .50 Browning Machine Gun (BMG) cartridge—gave America and her allies the priceless gift of global air superiority. Nothing else came close.

Actually, the Browning .50 originated in the Great War. American interest in an armor-piercing cartridge was influenced by the marginal French 11 mm design, prompting U.S. Army Ordnance officers to consult Browning. They wanted a heavy projectile at 2700 feet per second (f.p.s.), but the ammunition did not exist. Browning pondered the situation and, according to his son John, replied, “Well, the cartridge sounds pretty good to start. You make up some cartridges and we’ll do some shooting.”

Reputedly influenced by Germany’s 13.2×92 mm SR (.53-cal.) anti-tank rifle, Ordnance contracted with Winchester to design a .50-cal. cartridge. Subsequently, Frankford Arsenal took over from Winchester, producing the historic .50 BMG or 12.7×99 mm cartridge.

The Army then returned to John Browning for the actual gun. Teamed with Colt, he produced prototypes ready for testing and, ironically, completed them by Nov. 11, 1918—the Great War’s end.

The scaled-up version of the .30-cal. (.30-’06 Sprg.) M1917 water-cooled machine gun possessed obvious potential. But the cartridge’s enormous power proved excessive to the Colt-Browning design, forcing the master back to his drafting board. He returned with a buffer system that seemed workable. Tests in 1919 and 1920 confirmed the viability of the cartridge and gun, and Ordnance approved it for production. The result was the M1921 water-cooled .50-cal. machine gun, the basis for today’s M2 model, the fabled “Ma Deuce.”

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“Ma Deuce” still serves today.

Because of its size and weight, the M1921 was issued as a light anti-aircraft gun, both ground- and ship-based. It remained in Navy use until replaced by 20 mm Oerlikon cannons in 1942.

Meanwhile, a more utilitarian .50-cal. gun was underway. After adopting the M1921, the Army decided to evaluate an air-cooled model, far more tractable for soldiers at 120 lbs. with a tripod. The result was designated “Caliber .50 Machine Gun, Heavy Barrel, M2.” The heavier 36″ barrel was expected to handle heat buildup, but experience led to a 45″ version that was adopted in 1933 and used ever since.

To War
The big Browning fought America’s war from the first day to the last. On Dec. 7, 1941, Navy CPO John Finn responded to the Japanese attack on Kaneohe Naval Air Station, Hawaii, by manning an AN/M2 in an instructional mount (“A/N” stands for Army and Navy). Alone and fully exposed, he fired at the raiders whenever they came within range. “I was out there shooting the Jap planes and just every so often I was a target for some,” he said. “In some cases, I could see their faces.” Though struck by 20 bullets or fragments, he remained at his gun until ordered to report for medical attention. Then he turned to arming his squadron’s remaining planes. His actions resulted in CPO Finn receiving the Medal of Honor.

At least four other .50-cal. gunners received the nation’s highest award, including Lt. Col. William J. O’Brien, an Army battalion commander on Saipan in July 1944. When the Japanese overran his position, he replied with an M1911 in each hand, then dashed to a jeep-mounted M2, according to his citation, “firing into the Jap hordes that were enveloping him” until he was killed.

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The three main variants of the .50-cal. Brownings were (top to bottom): the water-cooled M1921 (used mostly in the anti-aircraft role); the aircraft-mounted AN/M2, which could be flexible or fixed; and the M2HB used on the ground.

Undoubtedly the best-known M2 engagement occurred on the other side of the world six months later. In France on Jan. 26, 1945, 19-year-old 2nd Lt. Audie Murphy climbed aboard a burning tank destroyer to man the .50 as a company of German infantry advanced. Though hit in one leg, he remained at the gun, shooting down perhaps 50 of the enemy before running dry. Then he returned to his platoon to organize a counterattack. For this, Murphy received the Medal of Honor, and he would become one of the most decorated soldiers in American military history.

With a global need, it seemed that everyone built M2s, from AC Spark Plug Co. to Frigidaire to Guide Lamp. American Rifleman Field Editor Bruce Canfield’s encyclopedic U.S. Infantry Weapons of World War II shows nearly 350,000 M2 Heavy Barrels (M2HB) produced among nearly 2,000,000 .50 calibers of all models during the war years.

Everybody wanted the Ma Deuce in .50 BMG for its fabled power, range and reliability. One wartime study found that stoppages averaged one in 4,000 rounds, as long as headspace was properly adjusted. Armorers determined that a high ratio of malfunctions were due to faulty ammunition or links.

The Ma Deuce’s limit as an anti-aircaft (AA) gun was range, volume of fire and weight of projectile—especially when compared to 20 mm or 5″ cannons. A single-barrel gun firing a 700-gr. bullet could seldom inflict enough damage to destroy a fast attacker. Even multiple guns engaging the same target were marginal. At the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands in October 1942, the fabled carrier U.S.S. Enterprise expended 400 rounds of .50 BMG versus 46,000 rounds of 20 mm; 3,200 rounds of 40 mm; and 400 rounds of 5″. The main reason for the discrepancy probably was engagement range: few attackers closed to within the .50’s effective distance.

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(l.) Adopted in 1933, the M2HB had a 45″ barrel and weighed about 120 lbs. with its tripod. A typical Army infantry battalion had six M2s. In Ordnance Went Up Front Roy Dunlop wrote: “All ground guns could fire single shots … and very accurate fire was possible.” (r.) The M45 quad mount—with four .50-cal. M2s—could be installed in an M16 halftrack or towed as shown in the Pacific Theatre. Although used mostly for anti-aircraft defense, in ground combat the power of four .50-cal. Brownings could be devastating.

Army anti-aircraft units made good use of the M45 quad .50 mount, either towed or mounted on M16 halftracks. Some of the heaviest AA activity occurred during Luftwaffe attacks on Allied airfields on New Year’s Day 1945. In the Metz area, Army AA gunners engaged 25 enemy aircraft, claiming 14 destroyed and four probably downed. Only 11 rounds of 90 mm artillery were fired with a combined 1,270 rounds of 37 and 40 mm, compared to 24,100 rounds of .50 caliber. Quad .50s also were employed in ground combat. A 1945 study noted, “A few bursts from the quadruple .50s directed at any source of small-arms fire very quickly eliminated the trouble.”

Through most of the war, a typical Army infantry battalion operated 20 .30-cal. machine guns (eight M1917 water-cooled) and six .50-cal. M2s. Weapons platoons typically had a jeep-mounted M2 that could be rushed to a trouble spot. The Axis armies had nothing comparable, though Germany issued light machine guns on a greater scale than the Allies. However, short of 20 mm canons, the Germans had no battlefield guns that could penetrate armored cars or personnel carriers at typical engagement distances.

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The M2HB (Heavy Barrel) could be employed as a ground arm while mounted on its M3 tripod (l.) or on vehicles, such as with the three MPs in their jeep in the winter of 1944-1945 (r.).

Pre-war match shot and American Rifleman contributing editor Roy F. Dunlap described wartime global trekking in his memoir, Ordnance Went Up Front. He wrote, “I believe the .50s have fewer breakdowns than the .30 caliber guns and that about 75 percent of the repair jobs I did were due to rough handling or carelessness on the part of the gun crew.” For practical application, he said, “I cannot think of a better way to screw up a road junction than to work a .50 to within a couple or three miles, set it in a hollow, camouflaged, and every so often throw a few armor piercers or incendiaries over to the crossing. The blue-tipped incendiaries explode with flash, report and puff of smoke. All ground guns could fire single shots … and very accurate fire was possible.”

In a 1945 summary, the U.S. Army in Europe concluded, “The half-track .50 caliber machine gun—one of the most effective weapons we have—is up where it can be used.” The same report noted that mechanized units had scrounged M2s from downed aircraft and adapted them to coaxial mounts.

On the Pacific isles, typical engagement distances were far closer than in Europe, and Japanese armored vehicles—rarely encountered—were vulnerable to .50-cal. fire. One of the Browning’s main advantages in that environment was its unrivaled penetration, as M2 rounds were far less likely to be deflected by foliage than .30s. Nevertheless, the Marine Corps divisional allotment of Ma Deuces declined from 360 in 1942 to 162 at war’s end.

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The .50-cal. water-cooled was the first adopted, and it was the heaviest, too. The guns served in the anti-aircraft role in all theatres of the war. While phased out for shipboard use, the Army continued to use the M2 AA gun.

Air Guns
Entering World War II, the British Royal Air Force installed eight Colt-Browning .303s in Hurricane and Spitfire fighter planes (later augmented with 20 mms) while Germany and Japan favored rifle-caliber guns and 20 mm cannon. But whether Oerlikon or Hispano-Suiza designs, cannon had limited ammunition capacity and were prone to malfunction.

The prewar U.S. Army Air Corps took a middle road. Early Bell P-39Ds had two .50s, four .30s and a 37 mm gun in the nose. The Curtiss P-40B packed two .50s and four .30s, while Lockheed’s futuristic P-38 had four .50s and a 20 mm. The .50-cal. round delivered at least four times the energy of the .30-’06 Sprg. at the same velocity, affording greater penetration and projectile selection. Clearly, the M2 was better suited for destroying modern all-metal aircraft.

Originally the Air Corps adopted the M2 with a 600 r.p.m. cyclic rate. But, as aircraft speeds increased, fighter pilots had less time to track and shoot. Therefore, Frankford Arsenal boosted muzzle velocity from 2700 to 2880 f.p.s. The standard ball cartridge was the 709-gr. projectile atop 253 grs. of IMR-5010. Armorers experimented with various belting combinations, alternating ball, armor-piercing incendiary (API) and tracer. The M2 AP round would defeat nearly an inch of face-hardened steel at 200 yds. Moreover, armor-piercing incendiaries (usually 647 to 662 grs.) were most useful against aircraft, as they could penetrate enemy armor and engine blocks, sever enemy airframe components and ignite enemy fuel tanks.

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The solid-nose version of the B-25 Mitchell was fitted for eight fixed M2s and could sink enemy ships by .50-cal. gunfire alone.

Tracer rounds, typically about 680 grs., had somewhat different ballistic properties than ball, AP and API, and they did not duplicate the others’ trajectories. Tracers probably were more widely issued to anti-aircraft units than aviation organizations. However, various fighter squadrons adopted different policies. Some loaded the last 50 rounds in each belt entirely with tracers to alert the pilot he was running low. But some very successful pilots shunned tracers. Lieutenant Colonel Francis Gabreski, leading U.S. ace of the European Theater, said, “Sometimes you miss with the first burst and tracers can give you away.”

Browning’s big gun won air superiority for America around the world. Army, Navy and Marine fighters were credited with 25,264 aerial victories, nearly all armed wholly or mainly with AN/M2s. The exceptions were 412 victories gained by British aircraft (mainly Spitfires) in American units and some U.S. night fighters, which were aircraft reconfigured or designed for combat in the dark.

Bombers also packed the M2 as single, manually operated guns and as turret-mounted pairs. The U.S. armed forces consumed vast amounts of ammunition—the St. Louis plant alone delivered 6.7 billion rounds of .30 and .50 caliber during the war. In the fall of 1943, when Eighth Air Force bombers flew unescorted deep penetrations into Reich airspace, one mission might consume more .50-cal. ammunition than a month’s worth of that used by the Fifth Army in Italy.

Around that time, aerial gunners began calling their guns “Mrs. Deuce,” an obvious precursor of today’s familiar “Ma Deuce.” The total Army Air Forces (AAF) overseas expenditure was nearly 460 million rounds, but monthly figures alone were staggering. In April 1945, shortly before Germany surrendered, the Army Air Force in the European and Mediterranean theaters fired nearly 25 million rounds of machine gun and cannon ammunition, the huge majority being .50 caliber. In July, Army airmen flying against the Japanese expended more than 6 million rounds.

During the war, about 100 American fighter pilots downed five or more enemy aircraft in one day to become “instant aces.” Six pilots were credited with seven kills in one mission. They flew very different aircraft—Wildcats, Hellcats, Corsairs, Lightnings and Mustangs—but all had the AN/M2 in common. One instant ace and future NRA member was Marine aviator James E. Swett, who received the Medal of Honor for downing seven (possibly eight) Japanese dive bombers over Guadalcanal in April 1943.

The outright record for aerial victories in a single encounter belonged to the Navy top gun, Cdr. David McCampbell. Flying from U.S.S. Essex over Leyte Gulf in the Philippines on Oct. 24, 1944, he and a wingman tackled a large formation of Japanese fighters. In 90 minutes of combat McCampbell was credited with nine destroyed and two probables while his partner added six more. With the confidence of experience and a disciplined trigger finger, McCampbell made maximum use of his Brownings and ammunition. Given the 2,400-round payload of his Grumman Hellcat, McCampbell averaged just 218 shots per victory.

Perhaps the most cost-efficient aircraft kill of the air war demonstrated the .50’s power. Over Okinawa in May 1945 a Hellcat night fighter stalked a Japanese floatplane harassing U.S. ground troops. Marine Lt. J.E. Smurr closed to minimum range—about 50 ft.—and centered the Aichi seaplane in his illuminated reticle. He pressed the trigger for less than one second and the enemy aircraft disintegrated into a fireball. Armorers found that Smurr had fired only 62 rounds. Throughout the campaign, Marine night hunters averaged 567 rounds per victory regardless of size or type of aircraft.

In a naval war such as the Pacific, .50 calibers inevitably were used against ships. Six M2s could cripple a corvette or a destroyer, whose typical 1/2″ plates offered little protection. Japanese destroyer hulls measured 0.4″ to 0.6″ (10 to 16 mm) whereas .50 ball from a 45″ barrel could penetrate 1/3″ (8 mm) at 500 yds. API rounds penetrated 1″ (25 mm) of homogenous plate at 200 yds. and 3/4″ (18 mm) at 650 yds. Face-hardened plate of 0.9″ (23 mm) was defeated at 200 yds. and 1/2″ at 600. The velocity loss from 36″ aircraft barrels did not seriously reduce the .50’s penetrative qualities, which could puncture engines, boilers and magazines.

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As well as its use on the ground, the big Browning proved a war winner in the air with the Army, Navy and Marines. The U.S. Army Air Force used lighter-weight, .50-cal. AN/M2 Brownings as defensive armament, including as a pair in a turret on a B-17 Flying fortress (top l.) as well as in the tail of a B-17 (top, r.). They were also used on fighter aircraft, such as in the nose of the P-38 Lightning (below l.) and in the wings of fighter aircraft in Europe such as the P-47 Thunderbolt (below, r.).

Certainly the outer limits were achieved by North American B-25H bombers optimized for shipping attacks. With eight nose- and fuselage-mounted .50s plus a top turret, two waist guns and the twin-gun tail position, the H model Mitchell was literally a flying gunship that could immobilize merchantmen—even without the short-barreled 75 mm cannon. However, when the H model entered combat in the China-Burma-India Theater in early 1944, shipping targets were rare. River traffic, on the other hand, was easily destroyed by fighters and gunships.

A study of Navy patrol bombers concluded that during 1945, “Dozens of small vessels were destroyed by fires caused by incendiary hits or strafing alone.” Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer bombers expended 2 million rounds of .50 caliber on 600 or more surface vessels, contributing to sinking as many as 300. “The effect was to cripple the remaining Japanese sea transport in most areas and to cause withdrawal of many vessels not sunk because of the danger of attack … .”

The AN/M2 was fully appreciated by the war’s midpoint. In 1943, Gen. Henry “Hap” Arnold, chief of the Army Air Forces, declared the Browning “the outstanding aircraft gun of the Second World War.” He added, “This weapon … is the backbone of offensive and defensive gun [sic] for American aircraft and was brought to such a state of perfection by the Ordnance Department during the years of peace prior to the present conflict that it has enabled the Army Air Forces, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps to show a definite superiority in aircraft gun power through this global war.”

Despite the M2’s immense success, some operators wanted more. The M3 .50 caliber boosted cyclic rate to 1,200 r.p.m., but the increase came at too high a price. Tests showed greater barrel erosion, and rounds tended to “keyhole.” Only 2,400 M3s were delivered before V-J Day, but development continued. Subsequently, the M3 armed the first generation of American jet fighters, pointing the way to victory in MiG Alley during the Korean War.

In typical military fashion, in 2004 the Army tried to replace the M2 with a less effective arm at twice the price. The wasteful three-year program to develop the XM312 flopped during tests in 2005 but lingered two more years before cancellation. At that point “Big Army” defaulted to the best option: buying more M2s.

Longevity remains a hallmark of John M. Browning’s designs. His timeless M1911 pistol is more widely used today than ever, and “Ma Deuce,” dating from 1921, shows no signs of retiring. In fact, in 2015 the 324th M2 ever produced was finally removed from service—after 94 years in the inventory. The old warhorse was being retired because current standards would require extensive modification. Army Materiel Command quoted an armorer at Anniston Army Depot who said, “Looking at the receiver, for its age, it looks good as new and it gauges better than most of the other weapons.” Said John Clark, a small arms repair leader, “I’d rather put this one on display than send it to the scrap heap.” A veteran approaching its centennial, the M2 certainly deserves an honorable retirement—though its relatives will remain on the firing line well into the current century.

In this article

.50-CAL. BROWNING MACHINE GUN

, WWII, .50 BMG M2 BROWNING, JOHN M. BROWNING, MA DEUCE, BARRETT TILLMAN

HOT Girl Finds out what it’s like to be an Average Guy on Tinder

Have you ever had such a close call it makes your skin shiver everytime you think about it? If so, what happened?

I first thought it was the worst case of heartburn ever. After working two hours I decided to drive home and have my husband take me to the hospital’s ED. After frantically examining me, several blood draws, multiple EKG tests, and waiting for a few hours I was told it was not my heart, but my liver. An hour later a cardiologist stopped by and told me I had indeed suffered a mild heart attack, and luckily my heart suffered no damage. I would be transported to the main hospital that night for an early morning catheterization to see what was going on.

After the catheterization, the surgeon came to my room to discuss the procedure with my husband and me. He asked how I was doing, and I told him, “That is what I am paying you to tell me.” Looking very somber he told me, “Well you are lucky to be here right now. When we went in, we found your Widow Maker was 99% blocked. From the time of your first chest pain until we inserted the stent was much too long. Your chance of surviving was about 3%, I have never had a patient live through a blockage like that for longer than thirty minutes. In addition, you should have severe heart damage, and you have none. I can’t explain why you are here, and your heart is not damaged. Somebody must want you alive.”

All I could say is, “Damn! Does this mean I can still perform with the New York City Ballet troupe as lead in “Swan Lake?” He chuckled, “As long as you were already part of the troupe before your heart attack!”

I do not like to think about that day, the news, or how close I came to shaking hands with Jesus, or whoever is waiting on the other side. Instead, I joke and say I was knocking at death’s door, and thank god no one answered!

What are some unwritten social rules everyone should know?

Never give advice until you’re asked.
Do not make plan infront of those friends you are not involving.
Don’t talk to someone if they have headphones in.
If someone is being quiet and doesn’t look like in a mood to talk, don’t nag them by asking ‘what’s wrong?’ every freaking second. Give them some space and ask once or twice max. If they want to, they’ll come up and share it with you.
Don’t close talk/invade someone’s personal space.
Do not use your cell phone at movies etc.. it breaks the “spell” and distracts from other’s enjoyment of the performance.
If invited to a dinner party and expected to arrive at 7 P.M., arrive no later than 15 minutes after the hour.
If someone pays for your meal, invite them over/take them out for a meal sometime. Even if they decline, it’s the invitation that matters.
Don’t talk whilst chewing..
The right side of the escalator is for standing, the left side is for walking.
If a person is speaking directly to you, staring at your phone is rude as shit.
Don’t date your friends exes.
Always let people out before you enter.
Be quiet when other people are asleep. That means more than not talking — not slamming doors, drawers, etc.
Put things back where you found them.

What is the single most mind-blowing fact that you did not believe until you looked it up?

The photo is not an original shot of an execution.

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In Iran, it is against the law to put to death female prisoners who are virgin. So, the Basij militias of the government marry and rape virgin female prisoners to get them ready to be killed.

In Iran, the law says that women who are still virgins cannot be put to death. So, the government sets up marriages the night before executions and forces female prisoners to have sexual relations with Besic members. “Women whose new husbands have raped them” are then allowed to be put to death. The Besic member told the reporter, “Even though it’s legal, I’m sorry for what I did.” During his speech, he said that he had just been let out of jail for letting two young people go who had been arrested during the street protests in Iran after the election. Members of Besic say that some of the prisoners who fight back are controlled with sleepy pills and that “many of the prisoners who fight back would rather be raped than killed. “The Besic member tells the reporter what happened by saying, “After the rape was over, I could hear them screaming and calling for help.” I’ll never forget how one of the girls used her nails to scratch her face and neck. She had deep cuts all over.

American Reacts to 6 LIES America Told Me about Europe || Life in the UK

Is Taiwan very important to China? China wants Taiwan so much.

From the point of view of the Chinese government, Taiwan is important for historical reasons, as unification with the rest of China would represent a clear end to China’s century of humiliation and the end of any pro-western colonial presence on Chinese territory. Any Chinese leader who brought Taiwan back into a unified China would be remembered in the history books as the leader who brought this period of humiliation to an end, and would be remembered for this single accomplishment.

Most PRC Chinese also feel this way about Taiwan.

In short, it would be the single largest accomplishment in Chinese history in the 21st century.

Most Americans, including US government officials, do not understand the depth of the Chinese commitment to unification with Taiwan.

If they can understand the commitment of Zionist Jews to Israel and a homeland in the Middle East, why can’t they understand China’s commitment to unification with Taiwan?

Things Genghis Khan did to His Slaves

Why can you only have one child in China?

This is not true.

There are no limits on how many children that you can have in China. So please, stop flooding my inbox with questions about “invasions of Taiwan”, “one child birth policy”, and “when China will collapse”. These are simply CIA propagandized narratives that the gullible believe.

But, instead I do want to address something that I personally find very interesting. Take note people! China does not play around. They are SERIOUS in regards to their population and raising children. It’s not an after-thought like it is in the United States.

Considerations, on the citizenship of the baby.

First off, take note, If you give birth in China, the child is stateless.

It does not get automatic citizenship as in the West. Oh, you can give birth, but it will not be a legal citizen, and will not be protected by law. It will be a burden of the couple that produced the baby.

If you want the child to become a Chinese citizen, then be advised;

You can give birth to a hundred children if you want (and are able to), but…

One parent must be Chinese and have a Houkou (a family register),
BOTH parents must pass paternity tests,
The child must not have any mental, emotional or physical deformities. (this is tested while in the womb by DNA testing, and the burden of payment is on the parents.)
Both parents must be able to afford the child. Not be a burden on society.

If the child, or parents fail any of the above considerations, then the baby will remain stateless and will need to exit the nation with the parents if they want to provide some other national citizenship for it.

That is the REAL deal.

…

One of the tools of manipulation of the people of the West is to keep them ignorant. Then fabricate fantasies that seem to make sense to the ignorant, the illiterate, and the moronic. One such lie is the idea and concept of “one child birth policy”.

If you believe it, you should be ashamed of yourself.

How did the policy of appeasement lead to World War 2?

When I was a child, my father told me to always stand my ground against bullies, “Because when you give them one thing, they will take the whole hand!” And this is true. This is what appeasement is all about. Its a misguided belief we all know, since childhood, doesn’t work. You don’t want trouble. You want to avoid a fight. So you give the bully whatever he desires.

The British establishment at the time, as did many other European leaders, felt that it was best to “play nice” with Hitler and his Nazi party. Just give him what he wants. He wants to add some more countries, annex some more lands for Germany? Let him. Let him make his Fatherland Great Again. Who cares. It sure beats war, doesn’t it? And it does… until the moment it doesn’t. The same line of thinking is seen today with those who hate NATO and sympathize with Russia. They want to give up on aid to Ukraine. Because they don’t want to anger the bully that started the war. This is appeasement, plain and simple.

It didn’t work in WWII. And it sure as hell won’t, now. Appeasement and playing nice with dictators leaves a dictator to feel secure, in control. It makes him feel strong, and makes you look weak. And it only emboldens him, and his friends, to take military action. “Peace in our time” only means: “A wider war is now certain… only a little bit later.”

Which movie(s) made you cry?

Yes! The following scenes from the movie The Pursuit of Happyness made me cry:

Chris and his son sleeping in a bathroom:

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With no money, no job and homeless, Chris turns a dirty subway restroom into an imaginary cave for his son and gets him to sleep there. Being at the depth of his poverty and despair, Chris breaks down in this scene and is shown blocking the door so that his son can sleep well. Heart touching scene.

2. The five-bucks scene:

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Chris’s boss forgets his wallet upstairs and is in a hurry to attend a meeting. He asks Chris to lend him five bucks. Being at the rock bottom of poverty, five bucks mattered for Chris and he lends his boss too. This scene regains our faith in humanity and the act of giving to those in need.

3. Chris gets the job:

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Who can forget this scene where he gets the job and is asked about his struggle? This scene still makes me emotional.

Will Smith is a genius!

Is there anything that China can teach the west about happiness?

I have lived in China for a few years, and I think the west would be a happier place if we adopted the following Chinese wisdoms:

if you cause someone embarrassment, you should also be ashamed of yourself – so, better don’t do that to anyone. It would be such a nice change from our silly, childish revenge culture.
take an entire hour for lunch every day. Better even: two. It celebrates the day, and makes for a more relaxed life.
get seriously into savings and whatever else you can do to build your fortune. We westerners have a debt culture. We live in denial of how unhappy that makes us.
choose the middle ground for all things. We westerners always look for extremes. But longterm happiness is not found in thrill, only in balance.
take naps during the day. You would be amazed how much happier you will be.
spend more time with your folks. Western society is always trying to isolate the individual, when life is so much nicer shared with others – especially your family.

“Passport Bros Are Just WEAK Men!”

Oh! Fiddle Sticks!

We all pick up bad habits. One of my bad habits (I have many) is that I often swear in English. When I swear, very few people around me understands English, so they do not realize that I am swearing.

Familiarity causes problems.

So I swear at the house. My wife does not like it, but it has become so commonplace that I don’t think about it.

But…

I have a young daughter.

And GULP! she has started to swear! Oh, God no! So I stopped all my swearing completely. But I think the Genie is out of the bottle. And NO, I do not think that it is “cute”. I hate her swearing.

I think that I am handling it fine, and not raising an eyebrow when she says “What the Fuck!” or “that God-damn son of a bitch”, or anything else.

Now, I use the terms… “Jimmy Crickets”, “fiddle-sticks”, and “Gosh and golly”. Alot.

But still…

Don’t let your life change because you have gotten too relaxed and confident. A word to the wise.

Today…

Yup

Being a man in 2024.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/BSFKxZTKEHQ?feature=share

Did Albert Einstein cheat on his wife?

Yes, he was. Albert Einstein was notoriously incapable of remaining faithful to one woman. Female beauty was his greatest weakness, and he wasn’t shy or bashful about the fact — he famously explained relativity as “an hour talking to a pretty woman feeling shorter than a minute of having one’s hand on a hot stove”.

Albert Einstein had mistresses throughout his life. He was unfaithful to his first wife, who was the mother of his three children. He then was unfaithful to his second wife as well, who was also his cousin. The little girl on Einstein’s lap? His adopted granddaughter. Who, as legend has it, may have been an out-of-wedlock daughter fathered by the aging scientist and then adopted by one of his sons to ‘avoid scandal’.

The stereotype we have of Einstein is “somewhat confused, awkward scientist completely obsessed with his work”, but in reality, he was quite socially savvy and quite capable of seducing women, something he did often and ferociously. Women in his life were aware of his proclivities — a great man belongs ‘to the world’, and sharing, as he saw it, was caring.

Some women like their men handsome. Others go for brains. Albert Einstein had no shortage of brains… and no shortage of women in his life. He got around, so to speak, and was sexually active until old age.

A quick learner

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/P2tfOxsu8aA?feature=share

Spaghetti all’Aglio e Olio
(Spaghetti with Garlic and Oil)

This dish comes from Campania, Italy. The flavor of the olive oil is what makes this dish, so use the finest extra virgin olive oil.

Ingredients

1 pound spaghetti
2/3 cup olive oil
3 large cloves garlic, crushed
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste

Instructions

Cook spaghetti in plenty of boiling, salted water, with a dash of olive oil.
Heat olive oil with cloves of garlic but do not let the garlic brown.
Warm oil gently to release the flavor of the garlic.
When spaghetti is cooked, drain it and transfer to a warm serving bowl.
Pour over the oil and garlic and toss the spaghetti well.
Serve immediately.

Home made dam

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/25naM_81FZk?feature=share

Has a cop ever said something to you which was completely unexpected?

I always use my cruise control as I have a heavy foot and without the control would speed without meaning to. I was on my way to church and when I turned off the expressway I stopped for a light. That turned off the cruise control. I was doing 70 in a 35 when I spotted the trouper. I slowed down and pulled over and of course he came up right behind me. The usual “Do you know why I stoped you”. I was totally honest. Explained about my cruise control being off and realized I was speeding the same time I spotted him. He went back to his cruiser and then came up, handed my license back and said, “You haven’t had a speeding ticket in years so I’m just telling you to slow down. Where were you heading anyway?” I said, “Wow, thanks and I was on my way to church just up the road”. Truth.. He smiled and said I should be on my way before any of my friends drive by and see me sitting there. I thanked him again and stayed 3 under the limited the rest of the short drive to church. I have always wondered if it was because I am a little old lady or the fact I was very honest with him. But he saved me a huge fine that day.

Jennifer Connelly

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1iDwA5jC4hk?feature=share

What is the perception of Western media and politicians on Chinese politics, society, and culture among people living in China? What is your opinion on the relationship between the U.S. and China in terms of politics?

The western media is a coordinated propaganda machine mostly own by the far right Neocon group that has a clear agenda to demonised any nation or nations that refused to be submissive and subservient to them. And China and Russia is their key focus.

Do their coordinate their attack on China to slur it, to demonise them, to cast doubts on China, to downplay their achievements and to spew hates on China and the Chinese people. That is simply a fact and a matter of fact that everyone on earth knows except some 5% or so brain dead who blindly follow the western media narratives.

Politically the U.S. is a dead man walking. It has totally lost its plot. It has done so much shit the entire world wants to get as far away from the U.S. as possible. With the exception of US slave vassal states like Germany, Japan and South Korea, US fellow natives slaughterer like Australia, Canada and to some extent New Zealand, its fellow despicable colonial masters like UK, France, Spain, Portugal and Belgium and those nations who loved to poke Russia in the eye and then run to hide under the U.S. skirt Lithuania or Poland!

China has 150–175 nations on earth out of the world’s 195 nations respecting and supporting them regularly versus the above 12–15 nations supporting the U.S. that is the comparison.

Side boobs and store collapse

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/OStW3LVvBX0?feature=share

Do the Chinese know how much worse a war with the United States would be for their country than for the Americans?

Troll question.

Obviously, I mean OBVIOUSLY, they have never been to China and have no idea how fucking enormous it is.

If you hop in a car, and start driving, it will take you days… DAYS… passing huge apartment buildings full of hard working, militarized families, studying… working… training…

…building after building. Mile after mile. Kilometer after kilometer. Over and over and over.

One enormous giga-complex housing thousands of families… after another… and another… and yet another.

China is HUGE.

Simply enormous.

…

China is not the third world cesspool that the Western “news” says it is. It’s a nation thirty years in the future. It is proud. It is strong. And it is LETHAL.

It is a dragon wearing a cute panda-bear suit.

You all in the West are unaware.

Backwards. Retarded.

Fed garbage; not just figuratively, but literally. Most American doesn’t even know where California is on a map, or how many States there are, or how much 5 + 8 is.

When I say “stupid”.

I mean it.

Meanwhile in China…

I started using facial recognition and QR to pay back in 2013. That was ten years ago. I haven’t touched a coin or paper money in all that time. Using paper money is so 19th century.

My car is electric and it talks to me, and only turns on when my voice recognition software allows it to.

It self parks, customizes the interior with a rotation of interior motifs, plays my morning jazz tunes, and gives me a nice warm back rub as it links to the toll road and carries me off to my office.

In my office, my staff brings me my coffee and turns on my systems for me. Sometimes they might have a kid or two with them, being sick or what not. No worries, though, they are their next to their parents doing their studies next to the desks.

Lunch is paid for all my staff. It’s one of the state mandated laws, and after they eat a huge healthy cafeteria meal of fruit, vegetables, meat and fish, they go take their normal naps.

…

That’s just the first four hours of a typical day in China.

…

There’s a bunch of dunder-heads that think that the USA can invade China with D-Day style Naval assaults, and the threat of nuclear war.

Troll?

Moron?

Buffoon?

Ignoramus?

They believe that proud and powerful aircraft carrier will lay off the coast of China and launch cascade after cascade of fighters and bombers into China.

They think that stealthy submarines will sneak up and start bombing China. All this unopposed, and the Chinese will take it. Smile and say “… can I have another, master?”

They believe that the proud troops will be easily resupplied by Australia, Japan, Korea and Philippines. After all, that is the on-going American construction activity. Billets. Barracks. Supply depots, and large investments in bordellos for employment for the locals.

Fantasies. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

NEVER going to happen.

…

I am here to tell you that World War started in 2008.

Oh, sure, the elements started far earlier. But historians will write that the date of the war began was in 2008.

It peaked in 2020 with the bio-weapon(s) that the USA launched on China during CNY (John Bolton, and Mike Pompeo brilliance there), and fell back towards conventional war with the NATO conflict began in Ukraine.

It hasn’t gone that great though.

Wars don’t go to plan, and this crop of brain-dead, pathological psychopathic oligarchs are dangerously deluded.

Take Ukraine. Ah. The “war in Ukraine”.

What they mean is the unreported hostilities used to counter the Russian “special military operation”.

Over 3000 American soldiers (with countless more NATO gents) are dead. Just because the American “news” isn’t reporting it, doesn’t mean that it is not going on.

Dead Americans are all over the place. I have photos and photos. Movies and movies. But if I put them up, they get pulled. It’s “news you can use”, but that is bad for the Westerners to see.

Good men. Soldiers. American men.

Dead.

Over what? And why?

It is sad.

I cry for the widows at Fort Lenard Wood.

As that phase winds down with a European collapse (economic, social, industrial, and military) a new phase opened up.

All to schedule; a disruption of the middle eastern shipping lanes.

Ah… that’s gonna teach China a lesson!

In their wet dreams, perhaps. China is about 3450 steps ahead of the rest of the world. They know what underwear that you will wear two days from now. Long before you even decide to put some on. That’s how advanced China is.

This idea that “China can be isolated” has failed, and is bound to fail, as the Chinese BRI are now proving how far-sighted and successful the rerouting of shipping avenues have proven themselves.

No wonder both Russia and China are screaming forward; an economic gallop. While the collective “West” is mired in inefficiency, lunacy, and insanity.

None of which is being reported in the “news”.

Here’s some more American troops in Ukraine…

Meanwhile…

We are watching the United States collapse in front of our very eyes.

After all, Texas has laid forth the reasons for departure from the Federal monstrosity.

And look at all the “steam” that it is gathering…

And yeah.

The USA has this dream of opening up a long-desired war in the Pacific over China. Troops, material and weaponry are flooding toward the Philippines, Japan and Australia. All ready to die for “democracy”.

Whatever the Hell that means.

A rally-cry of the moronic who still believe that “their vote counts” and that American culture (woke, red-pill, open marriage, LGBQ+) is worthy of preserving.

Woo! Woo! I’m gonna kill Commies for all that free gay sex!

And when that day comes… “death by cop” will be experienced in America. Up and down the coasts. As the United States will be bludgeoned by many, many, MANY people; and their nations. People who have been ridiculed and marginalized over the decades of pompous, elitist wars and flouting.

America is NOT respected in the world.

It is despised.

It is no mistake the distain that the illegal immigrants show towards American. And they are the polite ones. The USA is poised to get a much-needed Ass-Kicking at a scale of ferocity that is off the scale; in both ferocity, and in long-duration and everlasting pain.

And the United States has lost.

It just hasn’t been reported on yet.

Look around yourselves. The USA has no downtowns. No factories. No hard workers. No functioning anything. It’s just on the long slow crumble…

At this point in time, “war against China” will not be needed.

It’s OVER.

This Is How Women Emasculate Men

https://youtu.be/mDH_du2VlVM

What’s something that sucks about being a man?

I was swimming in the hotel swimming pool and this lonely 12 year old girl came to swim. I immediately swam to the other end. She just kept following me, and talking and saying her parents were busy, and didn’t have any time to spend with her, and she was in a strange city.

I was really really getting uncomfortable, she wasn’t doing anything wrong, and if her parents or my wife were there, I wouldn’t have been near as uncomfortable, but would still be worried.

I eventually left her in the pool by herself.

When I was living in the city, the neighbors kids, probably 5 and 6, would come out and wait by the fence for me to walk to work, and I would stop and talk to them for 5 minutes, always staying back at least 3 feet from the fence, in my own yard.

They were such cute kids. But I hardly knew the parents.

When I walk down an almost empty street, if there is a woman in front of me, I either fall further back, or speed up and pass her when there are people around. I can’t just walk at my own pace.

You have to avoid anything that looks vaguely inappropriate, even if you are doing nothing wrong.

Wife Thought Husband Was A Doormat Until He Showed EVERYONE Graphic Evidence Of Her “Adventures”

https://youtu.be/TGE_Q5fcQss

What was your scariest “Idiot at the Gun Range” moment? What was the funniest?

I was with a group of people who where trying out clay pigeon shooting, and were standing around in groups of 3 or 4 people.

When it was your time, you were called forward and given the shotgun, shown how to load it and where the off-catch was. Then you just needed to put the shotgun against your shoulder and call out for the pigeons to be released. Nice and simple, and the trainer was standing to the left of the shooter.

Until we had a girl who, having loaded the shotgun, had a problem and needed to talk to the trainer. So, she needed to turn around and decided to turn to her right, with the shotgun pointed horizontally in front of her. Of course, that meant that she was then pointing a loaded shotgun at everyone else in the group as she turned around.

Apart from me, no-one in the group noticed what was happening. I was, obviously, flat on the ground before she reached my position. End of shooting for her.

A mans world

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/53IXfticcng?feature=share

China now has the world’s largest navy. If necessary, can the United States Navy sink the Chinese Navy?

You know guys, sometimes I get the biggest belly-laugh when I read some of the answers here. Either they are terribly deluded, or they are immensely ignorant.

…

Here’s a REAL answer.

First of all, let’s throw out some FACTS to “set the table”, so to speak.

China has the largest Navy in the world.
China’s navy is not spread out all over the place (like the USN), but are concentrated at the projected battle fields.
China’s navy is also the oldest navy in the world. It was operating CENTURIES before the first organized navy in Europe.
China’s navy has been restructured, and operates NEW ships with cutting-leading-edge systems and technology. Many of which are unique and unknown to the West.

Were a war to occur between the USA and China, a Naval war would be the lest of the worries of the American “leadership”. Economic, social, and financial collapse would all be in free-fall.

But, let’s answer this question.

Can the United States Navy sink the Chinese Navy?

Here’s my answer…

Yes, the USN has the ability to destroy vessels, aircraft, bases, and people of the PLAN.
It is highly unlikely, however, that they will be able to completely destroy the PLAN.
It is likely that in the process of this destruction, that the USN would suffer great losses in men, material, weapons, and vessels.

Both sides will likely take great losses.

But this is 2024. China’s city-destroying munition capabilities are global. The consequence of a United States (or proxy) war against China will result in the people of the attacking nation being hurt.

Thus…

American major cities will also become targets for destruction.

…

Remember, boys and girls, China is a peaceful nation…

…until it isn’t.

…

Never forget the great losses that the United States incurred the last time they fought the Chinese.

Look at the BIG PICTURE. Not the tactical issues, but the strategic issues. Then faced with this reality, project the highest probability outcomes.

They are not pretty.

Being a boy

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/BKhLNmS4JjA?feature=share

How long does it take for your boss to realize that they made a mistake by firing you?

Three days! In fact, they fired the CEO that fired me, then called and asked if I would consider coming back. I said, no. They then offered me a contractor position at over $200 an hour, I still said, no thank you. They ended up hiring someone nearly twice my salary and that person quit within 90 days. Although still happily unemployed, I never considered going back. Two weeks after my severance pay ran out, I found another job and was very happy. More pay, less stress, and much better management. I was lucky! My previous company, no so much. They tried contacting me a few times for questions, and I gave them info if I could but I never did any work for them again. I followed the recently fired CEO on LinkedIn and till this day, she is still unemployed. I sure hope she learned her lesson about hiring friends with less skills to replace experienced workers. It may not have been her best plan for success. Just about all the management were inexperienced friends of the CEO. Of course, many were let go once she was fired. The company is near bankruptcy and most of the good talent started to leave. It is sad just how much damage a CEO can do to a company when they put their own interest first.

second class life in MOSCOW! better than the WEST?

https://youtu.be/7M8DXlW6cDw

Why do certain people derive pleasure from doing cruel things to their fellow human beings?

Examples of pointless human cruelty are, sadly, boundless. This is a shocking image and I apologize in advance for sharing it, but here’s one that truly got to me… in Belarus, 1918, after WWI had already ended, the brave Russian officer Rosinski was captured by the Bolsheviks.

The Bolsheviks tortured the captain, likely to get information out of the man, which he bravely refused to give. After that, they simply continued with the torture out of some sick sense of innate cruelty. He was ‘the enemy’ and he was at their mercy, so they brutally murdered their captive.

The brave captain was emasculated. And anally impaled on a tree branch. All this while still alive.

Alfred Savoir, the man who published the picture and was an eye witness to the death of the brave military officer, described “M. B.”, who ordered this atrocity, thus:

I knew him not long ago; he was a charming teenager with an ironic wit and joker. He was rubbed with French culture, he admired the novels of Barres and he quoted willingly poets that I did not know quite. He was also a great dancer, a great flirteur and a good bridger. He often came to Paris, and he amused himself.

Today, this bourgeois benevolent and skeptical, this happy boy is impaling people. Understand who can!

This is a perfect example of just how cruel people can get. And also, its a perfect example of the very worst treatment, torture and humiliation a human being can be forced to endure.

What shocked Savoir the most when seeing the scene, wasn’t just the act of cruelty itself, but the utter indifference of the crowd:

“In this inhuman document you will find something more terrible than torture, it is the attitude of the crowd. Look at these figures: they are bored! A horse falling Avenue de l’Opera provokes in the Parisian public more reflexes, more comments. Here, what placidity, what indifference!”

Basically, the Communist soldiers overseeing the brutal torture of the prisoner of war in their hands, had seen similar horrendous tortures taking place before their very eyes. Rosinski, chillingly enough, wasn’t even the first, or the worst of their victims.

Needless to say, the image and story have been etched in my mind forever. Why are humans this way? Simply because they can be. You give a person the power over life and death, and you’d be surprised by how even the most polite and milquetoast person turns into a psychopath practically overnight under the right circumstances…

It’s going down

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YjcbebhIgzc?feature=share

This sounds toxic

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lLZvF9lM-Xk?feature=share

Pictures of Noah’s Ark That Are Completely Real — If They Happened Today

The classic cosmic do-it-yourself project, Noah’s Ark, is probably well known to all of you. In it, God tells Noah to “build a giant ark, grab two of every animal, and let’s turn this planet into a giant water park.” But what if this tale involved a common man who was having financial difficulties today?

Thank you kind hearted people

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/w5zcYgegKGg?feature=share

How did American GDP per capita become so high?

It all began in the 1990’s under President Bill Clinton. By off-shoring manufacturing, and converting to finance and a Managerial economy, the GDP reflects a measure of how wealthy the top 1% is in a given nation.

Elements of society that generate profit for very wealthy people, for large corporations, and for the government are measured int his calculus. Things that matter to them; things that generate money for them, are what is measured.

The collectable tax base. Higher taxes = higher GDP.
Annual liquidity of the currency of the nation. Less savings = higher GDP.
Vacant buildings; a potential to be rented out for profit. Empty building = GDP.
Income from tariffs for inbound imported items. Add tariffs = Higher GDP.
Population. More people = Higher GDP.
Income from duties; on inbound products. More duties = Higher GDP.
Services; potential or realized. Includes babysitting, and waitress activity.
The success of the stock market. Direct correlation.
Inflation. The higher the inflation; the higher the GDP.

Personally, I think this is a Ponzi scheme of great deception. As it holds no advantage to a business owner, or an investor in determination of value, gain or loss of anything. It is just a rather useless measure that is used by the “news media” to convince dissatisfied people that they are happy and doing well.

This isn’t my idea.

This is what is discussed in the most prestigious video with the great economics professors of the West; Michael Hudson, Alexander Mercouris & Glenn Diesen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQkwnczhObQ

What’s a red flag you ignored in a co-worker only to have regrets later?

She took one of my team members out for drinks with some other colleagues and didn’t invite me. I didn’t mind at all at the time because people form friendships at work and it’s fine not to always invite everyone. But I did think it was a bit odd.

It turned out that this was the beginning of an elaborate campaign to try to get my job. She tried to undermine me with my staff, my peers and my management as well as my stakeholders. She blamed me for things going wrong, lied about things I had said/not said, and tried to take my work off me. She even tried to tell my lesbian staff member that I was homophobic.

She wasn’t subtle. And because I prioritise people management and relationships at work, it got her nowhere. I got my revenge a bit later when asked to review a crucial report she had produced. I eviscerated it, quietly suggested to my manager that if she wasn’t capable of such basic work, and couldn’t write grammatically correct English, perhaps her contract shouldn’t be renewed.

She never spoke to me again, and left shortly after.

In your mind

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CyLI9RHCUUo?feature=share

When was the last time you were left completely stunned at a restaurant?

You may have to go a long way to beat this one.

When my wife and I were first married we would frequently buy coupon books that were put out by charities that gave discounts to go to different restaurants. We really enjoyed this because it gave us a chance to go around see different restaurants but also to see different parts of the city where we lived.

One night at about 7:00 around the Christmas holidays we went to a small Mexican restaurant that was in a nearby town. We went in and there were very few people in the restaurant and it was very small with only four or five tables. We were seated by a young girl who looked to be about 11 or 12 years old. She greeted us politely and gave us menus. She came back to the table and took our orders and my wife and I were able to sit and have a nice quiet conversation.

When the food came the young girl and her younger brother who appeared to be about eight years old carried the food to the table, expertly placed it in front of us and brought us our non-alcoholic drinks. A little while later she came back and asked us how the food was and we told her that it was very good.

At this point we we were puzzled because they seemed to be the only two in the restaurant. I got up and walked to the door of the kitchen and saw only the two children working hard as they prepared food at the stove.

So when he brought the bill I asked the young girl where the adults were who owned the restaurant. She explained to me that her mother and father had gone out for the evening because it was near the Christmas holidays and they hadn’t had much time together.

She and her brother had cooked dinner for us, served it and also accurately handled the bill at the end of the dinner. She even gave us each a piece of candy and wished us a merry Christmas.

My wife and I were both stunned as we left and talked about these two little children who prepared and served such a good dinner. This became a subject that we talked about for years.

Walter White’s 5 Most Badass Moves | Breaking Bad ( Bryan Cranston)

https://youtu.be/dd6VWHw8ffg

Why do Europeans have so much more vacation time than Americans?

I would like to start this by saying I am an American who has lived in the UK for 38 years, worked in 12 countries and visited 43 countries. My Bachelors is a BSc (Economics) in International Relations.i will try to be as unbiased as possible.

The experiences are very different. Jingoism and patriotic brainwashing takes place in many countries, but honestly, my life in a Californian elementary school had more in common with China and North Korea than most of Europe. Pledging the flag every day and the teaching of American exceptionalism. Yes, the is much to be proud of in the US from the National Park movement to flight, amazing manufacturing leap forwards to putting man on the moon. However there is much that is not taught:

The natural resources of the US created great wealth, the founding fathers were largely gentry land owners (and mainly slave owners). Washington and Jefferson’s families have had huge estates in Northamptonshire England, and went to the US as it was not enough for them.
Slavery – this is taught now. It made a huge difference in wealth creation. Meanwhile most of Europe, slavery was illegal (yes I know rich brits and Dutch owned slave trade companies and the abolition movement pressured hard in Europe to stop it, and did a generation before the US Civil War.
Robber Barons exploited the poor in the South (and the North) and were even celebrated for living the American dream. The union movement in the early 20th century started to counter this. But the fear of the “red menace” largely squashed it in the post war years.
The 2 world wars decimated Europe, WWII especially. So America, who’s infrastructure was largely unaffected profited well as decolonisation took place and Europe rebuilt. The balance of power changed.
The dollar became king. America was seen as the land of opportunity. But really the mind set of Puritan settlements seen as radical nut jobs in Europe, coupled with the propaganda of the revolution (remember the red coats protected shipping lanes from pirates and also tried to defend the colonies from the indigenous population, that is not cheap and the tax on tea was to help pay for that) and everything else led to small government, frontier spirit and let’s be honest, exploitation of immigrants and the working class. The country was new, so yes, opportunity was there.
But now, so many people have to work hard to feed their families. One sickness can lead to bankrupt and homelessness. People are largely ruled by fear and capitalism. It is sad, but true.

Now compare this to the European experience. The American revolution showed Europe a route for change. And revolutions took place through the late 18th and through the 19th centuries. But it was to workers and farmers that led the charge, not the upper echelons of society like America. Strikes and worker mobilisation and supportive societies led to stopping children in factories and up chimneys. It led to rights for the workers. In the tin mines of Cornwall, in the early 1800’s, the average life expectancy was 23. People rose up to fight for their rights. And they were given, after long hard fights.

Attitudes were different after the world wars. The populations lost so many compared to America (of course the US involvement, where my Grandmother’s first husband was killed on the beaches of Normandy) led Europe to be thankful, but it was nothing of the scale in Europe. Most people wanted (and want) a better quality of life. Socialised medicine systems like the NHS were established. Worker rights improved further to encourage them to work in different industries (the UK encouraged people from India, the Caribbean and Africa to come and work here). There are similar stories in mainland Europe. We saw that by having these things in place, people became happier and more productive.

I know no European who really considers health insurance before moving jobs. It is not a thing. I do know many who like packages where they can take less pay for even more leave.

I now work in the NHS. I have 31 days off a year as paid vacation and 8 bank holidays. I work as hard as I have in other countries as my American work ethic was drummed into me since childhood. But I have travelled the world, taken time to see friends and family, indulged in hobbies, been to 90% of my kids’ school events and relaxed when we have had a hard time. I am told off if I go too long without a break or don’t use my allocation. I am told off if I am seen emailing when I am off.

Between social health care and annual leave I believe I experience a far greater level of freedom now than I did in the States. And I really wish my fellow Americans could experience it too.

Kinloch story

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/HGSBIRKXUHA?feature=share

Sending a message

First time in Chinese new year CCTV performance, the PLA: “winning 决胜” with island landing: that shows Beijing determination towards Taiwan reunification. This is unusual as traditionally, Chinese new year celebrations are without 🔥. Enjoys the 3.27minutes video :

https://youtu.be/Ef8R2MBcruE

https://youtu.be/Ef8R2MBcruE?feature=shared

“军歌嘹亮！《决胜》彰显中国军人热血英姿！「2024央视春晚」| CCTV春晚” on YouTube

On top of this，the CCTV also show a series of China advanced military hardware 天团重器:

https://youtu.be/cQ_ma7CXI6k?feature=shared

Reunification timing is nearing

China is ready to confront the barbarians and the crusaders.

What will you do when you find someone is spreading rumors about you?

Over 35 years ago, our small daughter had a fairly young (16–17yo) babysitter while I worked at a part time job in a school. Obviously the babysitter was not required during school holidays, so the babysitter, who I will call Marjorie, decided on the spur of the moment to hop on an interstate bus and have her own little holiday.

Before school recommenced, Marjorie came to me looking embarrassed, and said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t babysit for you any more.” I was a bit blindsided as I knew she hadn’t just found a new job or anything like that, so I asked what was the matter. With much embarrassment, Marjorie told me that on her return to our small town, she found that there were rumours circulating to the effect that her sudden departure on her holiday was because I had come home unexpectedly to find her in bed with my husband.

Talk about making a story out of nothing! (I should note that at another time when my husband went on leave from his job at the same time his company car broke down and had to be towed to the city for repairs, the rumours circulated that his absence was due to his crashing the company car and breaking his leg 🙄). Apart from it being totally untrue, it was insulting to my husband to insinuate that he would be having an affair with a barely legal teenager. And poor Marjorie, who was a very sweet young lady, was mortified.

So I said, “If you stop babysitting for us, it will reinforce the belief that there is truth to this disgusting rumour. What we need to do is to go shopping together in the main street and have lunch, then for you to keep babysitting to demonstrate that nothing has happened.”

So we did just that, and the rumours went away.

Why won’t a guy propose?

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/We5F-POuoWY?feature=share

If the US and China went to war, how long would it take the Chinese military to wipe out the US’ navy and air force?

When I was a young boy, my parents warned me to stay away from a particular house on the West side of town. My parents would warn “They want to be left alone, so leave them be. Do not go up there, and do not provoke them. Remember they have guns.”

Why ask questions that you know the answer to?

What are you, a sadist? Asking the same old questions day in, and day out. Hoping, praying, waiting, for some other tidbit of information that would make the reality easier to digest?

On paper, in theory, all of the 11 aircraft carriers that the United States fields (10 Nimitz and 1 Ford), could be destroyed by Chinese conventionally-armed DF-26 “carrier Killer” missiles. Given the flight times for the latest upgrades for the hyper-velocity versions of the DF-26 anticipated stopwatch from launch to destruction is within five minutes within the 4000 Km range.

They are very effective.

And are designed to completely destroy Aircraft carriers.

China has a few thousand of them. Against what? 15 aircraft carriers.

From time to time, China takes them out as a warning to overly aggressive American neocons that are getting “too big for their britches”.

China fires ‘Guam killer’ missile into South China Sea as Esper tours the region – PNC News First

https://www.pncguam.com/china-fires-guam-killer-missile-into-south-china-sea-as-esper-tours-the-region/

These units are not the ONLY weapons systems that are designed to destroy carrier flotillas, islands, and large bases like in Guam or Hawaii. There are many others. It’s just that the DF-26 is particularly good at it. Given the enormous numbers of launchers, and the insane levels of stockpiled munitions, one can only assume that all targets from land bases to submarines will be the prey for this missile.

The DF-26 appears to be designed specifically for high precision conventional strikes. The most likely target for the DF-26 missile would be Guam going by the range of the missile. Given the nature of the targets in Guam, which are mostly air bases (Guam has two large air bases where, as revealed by satellite imagery, B-52 squadrons are deployed), the DF-26 might be carrying specially designed cluster based bomb-lets to cause maximum damage to bombers spread out on the tarmac. In addition, there could be a specially designed deep penetration warhead for Hardened and Deeply Buried Targets (HDBTs).

Now, for the longest time, the USN and the ONI have been very quiet about the massive exponential increase in Chinese weapon lethality, survival-ability, and technology. The reports have been duly logged. The studies have been gamed out. The results and conclusions have been presented, filed and forgotten.

But it has only been during the last year that the USN admirals have become increasingly frenzied when dealing with hawkish Administration and Senate members. These people are not taking “no” for an answer, and want to find some edge; some justification, to “pull off” a “successful” war against China.

So, sometime, within the last nine months or so, the ONI through a number of key admirals, laid out the reality to the neocon “war hawks”.

And they are horrified.

America Is Running Low on Weapons. China Is Watching.For three decades Washington has stripped its defense industrial base bare. The problem: We may need it soon.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/06/09/america-weapons-china-00100373

The Chinese “just ran rings around us,” said former Joint Chiefs Vice Chair Gen. John Hyten in one after-action report

. “They knew exactly what we were going to do before we did it.”

Dozens of versions of the above war-game scenario have been enacted over the last few years, most recently

in April by the House Select Committee on competition with China. And while the ultimate outcome in these exercises is not always clear — the U.S. does better in some than others — the cost is. In every exercise the U.S. uses up all its long-range air-to-surface missiles in a few days, with a substantial portion of its planes destroyed on the ground. In every exercise the U.S. is not engaged in an abstract push-button war from 30,000 feet up like the ones Americans have come to expect since the end of the Cold War, but a horrifically bloody one.

And that’s assuming the U.S.-China war doesn’t go nuclear.

“The thing we see across all the wargames is that there are major losses on all sides. And the impact of that on our society is quite devastating,” said Becca Wasser, who played the role of the Chinese leadership in the Select Committee’s wargame and is head of the gaming lab at the Center for a New American Security.

“The most common thread in these exercises is that the United States needs to take steps now in the Indo-Pacific to ensure the conflict doesn’t happen in the future.

We are hugely behind the curve. Ukraine is our wakeup call. This is our watershed moment.”

So…

Please give me a break. Stop asking for answers that you do not want to hear.

If the United States drops one bullet inside of China, and Taiwan is China, the entire USN gets sunk. And the American losses in the first two hours will be absolutely horrific.

Finally, keep in mind that the limitations of the DF-26 (4,000 km) represents just a tiny portion of the massively lethal military onslaught that the China is ready and willing to unleash upon the United States and it’s idiotic “allies”. I suggest the Mr. DF-41 educate you all on what will happen to American and European cities. And lets not forget the up front and personal Type 094 or Jin class submarines.

China Launched a new Generation of Fighting Robots that Shocked the World

https://youtu.be/cCUetrOsEyk

What is the biggest scam an auto mechanic ever tried on you?

I’ve been fortunate so far in avoiding most scams. But a recent incident is worth noting. The driver side window was coming off the track in my wife’s Corolla. I took the vehicle to a Toyota dealership. They diagnosed the problem as a bent window regulator. The diagnosis cost nearly $100. But the repair would cost an additional $500. This did not seems right to me, so I declined. A bit of research on YouTube led me to purchase the part for $50. I saved an additional $50 money by purchasing a window regulator without the motor, then just transferred the motor from the stock unit. The most relevant aspect is that I was able to complete the entire repair in well under 1 hour. It was straightforward, and it worked perfectly. Charging $600 for the job is a scam – period.

In retrospect, I doubt the repair tech ever removed the door panel. Since this incident, I take my vehicles to a nearby independent shop that has earned my respect. Furthermore, I regularly reference YouTube for guidance in making minor repairs myself.

Women know but still won’t change, they just demand men accept their damage.

https://youtu.be/fT2uNnufr5Q

Have you ever fired an employee who then retaliated against you or the company? What happened?

I had a young man who worked for me, quite a few years back, for about 6 months. He was constantly late to work which use to annoy me no end.

When staff come to work late on more than one occasion, I sit them down and have a chat. I let them know that I have noticed that they are late and that it makes me feel bad. I feel bad because it tells me that they don’t want to be there. So I ask them if that’s true and if I can do anything to improve this.

Every time I have this conversation it has never been said to me that they don’t like the job or don’t want to be there. So I continue with the reality that if I don’t insist upon them being at work on time it has the potential to spread to all the other employees and I can’t have that happening. I ask that they be mindful of the wider implications of being late and to make sure it isn’t a habit.

So this is how it went with this young man except he continued to come in late. My conversations gradually changed from nice to demanding to threatening him with losing his job if he kept it up.

Sure enough he again came in late,again, and I fired him for it. He was shocked and couldn’t understand why and literally said this golden nugget to me. “Why? I haven’t been late since the last time!”

In Australia the industrial relations law at the time allowed me to fire any employee, with no written warnings, if they had been with the company less than a year and the company employed lease than 15 people. This being the case I was well within my rights to fire him without a formal process.

A few weeks after his termination I am served with papers informing me that a wrongful termination complaint has been filed against me and I have to appear before a tribunal. Great!

In his filing he lied about his start date and lied about the size of my company and the number of employees. I had to prove otherwise and sent this documentation into the tribunal along with why he was fired prior to the hearing. It was work I shouldn’t have had to do but it was not too onerous.

I wrongly assumed the tribunal would throw the case out based on the evidence I gave them and the lack of evidence he gave, but no, it went ahead anyway.

He and his representatives – by the way, I was not allowed representation – talked about his work and why he shouldn’t have been sacked and how bad an employer I was, this carried on for about 15 minutes and was mostly untrue.

When my turn came I declined to talk about him, his work or say anything negative. I told the tribunal it wouldn’t serve any positive purpose talking about his work. I simply addressed the two key pieces of evidence that allowed me to fire him with no come back.

The tribunal then separated us both to speak with us separately. I was told by them they could tell I was a good employer by what I said and how I didn’t say anything negative about him. They said I had done nothing wrong and asked if I would consider reversing my decision to fire him and let him resign instead.

I resisted this as that wasn’t how it happened but relented after further pressure from the tribunal.

The whole thing, in my mind, was him deliberately wasting my time so he could make me pay for having fired him. It’s possible he was after a payout too but the way the tribunal saw things it was obvious he couldn’t succeed with that.

For those who will feel the need to side with the employee because all employers are money hungry, slave driving mongrels and want to leave me some comments.

Know this:

He never rang to say he was going to be late. He was at the gym prior to coming to work. His work was not good when he was there. He was late on more than 10 occasions. I also asked his supervisor to talk to him about being late. He never once offered to make up the time and was very quickly out the door at days end. He also never asked to vary his hours either.

WTF

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dK4cUezKBBg?feature=share

Has someone ever asked to borrow something from you and you made an excuse as to why they couldn’t when in reality you just didn’t want to lend it to them?

So let’s begin by by prefacing this saying this happened to by my god-daughter’s mother. I had known this lady for over 24 years at the time. I was the one person that she called when she needed help, a ride to work, grocery stores planning her money, and things like that. So I didn’t think twice, when she asked to borrow my extra truck for awhile. So I’m thinking that she’s only wanted to be able to do couple things for a week or so, but NO. She ends up keeping it for nearly a year, didn’t change the oil change when I told her that she needed to after keeping it more than 5 months. But she did get an front end alignment, then she bugged me about getting her money back for it so much, I just said f*¢£ it. I ended up showing her to continue to drive the truck just about a years time. Finally she calls me and tells me I can come and pick it up cause she was moving to different house. I go to get it and find out that the only reason she was returning it was the engine had messed up, and needed fixing.

So I she called me up to tell me that I can have the truck back, but it going to need some fixing up. And just to make herself look better, she calls a mechanic, to diagnose the problem. He dies and she even arranges for him to fix it. But he has never fixed it or returned the truck. So far forward two years and she is asking to borrow the other car I had bought to replace truck, plus loan her several hundred dollars. She even tried get her daughter to sweet talk me into give her what she wants. I didn’t give in and told her that I just didn’t haveit then. No darn way I was going to help her out anymore after she messed up my truck.

What is considered the most powerful country in the world? Why do some people believe that America is weaker than Russia and China currently?

May be because the “some people” is indeed 87% of the world call the Global South! And maybe because those people has intelligence, you don’t! You thought sucking up to the U.S. and helping them stay in denial is great.

Oh by the way the rest of the 13% most are coerce into saying US is great, some are forced to do, the rest are wishful that US is strong! A bankrupt nation with a million homeless with 35 trillion dollars debts is anything but strong!

Tagliatelle with Gorgonzola Sauce

Ingredients

25g/1 ounce/2 tablespoons butter, + extra for tossing the pasta
225g/8 ounces Gorgonzola cheese, divided
150ml/1/4 pint/2/3 cup double or whipping cream
30ml/ 2 tablespoons dry vermouth
5ml/ 1 teaspoon cornflour
15ml/1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
450g/1 pound tagliatelle
Salt and ground black pepper

Instructions

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan ( it needs to be thick based to prevent the cheese from burning).
Stir in 175g/6 ounces crumbled gorgonzola cheese and stir over a gentle heat for about 2 to 3 minutes until melted.
Whisk in the cream, vermouth and cornflour.
Add the sage; season. Cook, whisking, until the sauce boils and thickens.
Boil the pasta in plenty of salted water according to the instructions on the packet.
Drain well and toss with a little butter.
Reheat the sauce gently, whisking well.
Divide the pasta among 4 serving bowls, top with the sauce and sprinkle over the remaining crumbled cheese.
Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

The MoA Week In Review – OT 2024-044

A snapshot of time.

Last week’s post on Moon of Alabama:

Middle East:

February 5 – In The Middle East The U.S. Has Reached The End Of Its Abilities
February 6 – This Picture Shows One Man And A Zionist Goon
February 7 – MBS Says John Kirby Needs Some Mouth Wash
February 7 – New York Times Defames Iraq’s Militia As ‘Foreign Elements’
February 8 – U.S. Escalates War – Strikes Group Which Had Followed Orders To Stand Down
February 10 – A Move On Rafah Might Be The Spark That Ignites A Bigger Explosion
Related:
– ‘The destruction is massive … It’s a disaster area’: Israeli soldiers speak about fighting in Gaza – Guardian, Feb 8 2024
–“Israel is heading towards street battles between the far right and families of hostages” – Seth Ackerman / Informer

– Chris Hedges: Let Them Eat Dirt – Scheerpost, Feb 8 2024
– Israel’s Self-Destruction – Aluf Benn / Foreign Affairs, Feb 7 2024
Netanyahu, the Palestinians, and the Price of Neglect
– How Gaza Reunited the Middle East – Foreign Affairs, Feb 9 2024

– Why is the US in Jordan and Syria? – LRB, Feb 1 2024
– Why Iran is hard to intimidate – Economist, Feb 6 2024
– Iran’s Proxies Aren’t Really Proxies – Amal Saad / Time, Feb 7 2024
A New Pan-Islamic Front May Be America’s Biggest Challenge
– “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” – US Stuck in the Middle East, Devoid of Deterrence Power – Naked Capitalism, Feb 10 2024

– US Blocks Yemen-Saudi Peace Deal – Antiwar – Feb 6 2024
– Chinese Ships Get Insurance Edge Navigating Red Sea – GCaptain, Feb 6 2024
– Study Finds Media Giants New York Times, CNN, and Fox News Pushing for US War in Yemen – Mintpressnews, Feb 6 2024

Ukraine:

February 6 – Ukraine – An Army Without Officers Has No Chance Of Winning
February 8 – Ukraine SitRep: Finally A Wonder-Weapon That Does What It Promised To Do
February 9 – Ukraine SitRep: A Hated New Commander – Critical Lack Of Infantry
Related:
– Ukraine Poll Sends Worrying Message to Zelensky – Newsweek, Feb 7 2024
– Zaluzhny out, Oleksandr Syrsky in, to what purpose? – Asia Times, Feb 9 2024
Zelensky fired Zaluzhny so he could call the shots on the battlefield.
– An army without Zaluzhnyi: Who is General Syrskyi, Ukraine’s new Commander-in-Chief? – Ukrainska Pravda

– Ukraine faces ‘gap in the hose’ as western ammunition dries up (archived) – FT
– Short on Soldiers, Ukraine Debates How to Find the Next Wave of Troops – New York Times, Feb 11 2024

—
Other issues:

Putin Interview:

Interview to Tucker Carlson – Kremlin.ru, Feb 9 2024
Vladimir Putin answered questions from Tucker Carlson, a journalist and founder of Tucker Carlson Network.
Tucker Carlson interview with Putin: what went wrong? – Gilbert Doctorow, Feb 9 2024
Follow up to Carlson’s interview with Vladimir Putin – Gilbert Doctorow, Feb 10 2024
Putin to U.S.: Let’s Make a Deal on Ukraine (on My Terms) – New York Times, Feb 9 2024
U.S. Rejects Putin’s Latest Call for Ukraine Negotiations – New York Times, Feb 9 2024

Empire:

The Newer World Order. – Aurelian, Feb 7 2024
But can they get their heads round it?
Black swan turns white on US debt default probability – Asia Times
Ditch the ‘Rules-Based International Order’ – Deccan Herald / Bloomberg, Feb 8 2024
Report of the Special Counsel on the Investigation Into Unauthorized Removal, Retention, and Disclosure of Classified Documents Discovered at Locations Including the Penn Biden Center and the Delaware Private Residence of President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. – Justice.gov
DOJ Report Cites Biden’s ‘Poor Memory,’ Intensifying Age Concerns – Yahoo, Feb 8 2024
A Dementia Patient Is President Because It Doesn’t Matter Who The President Is – Caitlin Johnstone, Feb 8 2024
The Question Is Not If Biden Should Step Aside. It’s How. (archived) – Ross Douthat / New York Times, Feb 10 2024

Nordstream:

THE NORD STREAM PIPELINES AND THE PERILS OF CONTAINMENT (archived) – Seymore Hersh, Feb 6 2024
The sabotage in the Baltic Sea was the result of a long-standing US policy of driving a wedge between Russia and Western Europe
America’s Real Adversaries are Its European and Other Allies – Michael Hudson / Counterpunch, Feb 11 2024
Economic Solutions: How To Go from Financialized Neoliberalism to a Productive, Sustainable Economy – Radhika Desai, Michael Hudson / Naked Capitalism

Pakistan:

The US Toppling of Imran Khan – Jeffrey D. Sachs / Antiwar, Feb 09, 2024
Pakistan Election Surprise: Imran Khan’s Party Puts Up a Fight – New York Times, Feb 9 2024
Pakistan stunned as ex-premier Khan’s party overperforms in election – Washington Post, Feb 9 2024

China:

When China Does Great Question Its Cost – Moon of Alabama, Dec 27 2021

> Russia is said to weaponize everything. The position of China is not (yet) seen in military terms. The emphasis is on economic competition. Any undeniable Chinese achievement must be declared to have been a bad investment. The directive thus reads:

“When writing about China’s achievements – question their purported cost.”

The (40+) results:
… <

China Keeps Building Stadiums in Africa. But at What Cost? – New York Times, Feb 10 2024

The Web:

‘Enshittification’ is coming for absolutely everything (archived) – Cory Doctorow / FT
Bluesky CEO Jay Graber Says She Won’t ‘Enshittify the Network With Ads’ – Wired, Feb 9 2024

Use as open (not Ukraine or Palestine related) thread …

Posted by b on February 11, 2024 at 13:39 UTC | Permalink

Voice Teacher Reacts – ZHOU SHEN – Big Fish

https://youtu.be/LWb4lDbvPA0

Have you noticed that Chinese people on Quora are strangely aggressive?

Yes. I am.

But we will be very polite if you’re 1) not that brainwashed and 2) reasonable.

Positive reports about China are rare to be seen in American media, you don’t think it’s strange.

Posts revealing the facts behind your propaganda on Tweeter/X or Facebook got deleted, you don’t think it’s strange.

Chinese users were banned on social media for no reason, you don’t think it’s strange.

Chinese quorans are upset and disappointed about this, because no matter how detailed we tried to prove China is not what you thought, what replies I frequently received is: it’s China’s propaganda.

OK, fine, whatever.

Several days ago, I met a guy here, his argument is, China DID genocide Uyghurs, because he has evidences. I checked his evidences only to find they are reports on some mainstram media.

Firstly I told him, although those reports had “revealed” some CCP documents, but it is about the vocational education records (background information: Chinese farmers do not own large peice of land, so they are not able to be rich on their small piece of land due to huge polulation, and they usually don’t have chances to work in cities due to their economic status), and this is a proverty-eradication program initiated by government. However, MSM like NYT took it as an evidence of “forced labour”, LMAO, this program is nation wide, not just in Xinjiang but to all Chinese in lower income levels. Obviously he didn’t know this background.

He said although he can’t read Chinese, he can verify the information via translation.

Then I told him 1) what you can verify is the translation, not the truth, 2) this is called selective appropriation , translation usually used to project negative images in news reports, these are academic conclusion in communication studies and I have a degree in this area.

He said he can’t verify my education background.

Then I suggested him to read some of the leading scholars in this area.

This is just a simple version of what happened.

The fact is, during the course, I’m annoyed by his stubbornness and arrogance, and his attitude rejecting any polite argument, then I lost control, calling him brainwashed, stupid, uneducated.

See, this is a typical case of Chinese quorans being “strangely aggressive”.

Have you, while repairing a computer, ever found anything that made your jaw drop?

This is in the era when computers broke the $1,000 price so a lot of people with limited skills were getting them.

At that time, I made PC clones, and sold/serviced them (and any other brands) in the local area. Think: small town.

The PCs we sold were all with home delivery and setup. That saved so much hassle (for us and our clients). At least when we left they could dial up and get online and surf the internet. Usually! One client it just wouldn’t work. Wrong password error no matter how many times he tried.

Finally, we got the ISP to tell what password he was trying to use. Let’s say it was ABC, the correct one. When we setup it up with logged in fine. Saved the password. So all he had to do was click connect.

But what he did was add ABC to the password field. So his first attempt to login was with ABCABC then ABCABCABC. Each time he tried he just appended his correct password onto a long string of correct passwords.

Computer were new… that is an easy thing to do. And the in home setup and service got us past a lot of those kinds of issues.

It wasn’t uncommon when at someone’s house for service (not a new one) the client would want me to clean up the hard disk. Kinda like go through their folders and ask “do you want this?” and if not click delete.

Sometimes they would mention it would be best to avoid a specific folder or so.

So, this guy asks me to clean up his folders…. and we’re going through one by one. Now, I am not a prude and could careless if you have porn on your computer.

But, I click a folder and the screen fills with adult images…. of my client sitting next to me and others some of whom I recall knowing! Now, that is really something I don’t want to see! I think my client was also a little more than embarassed.

The Spiritual Connection of Cats | Why Did GOD put a CAT in your life ?

https://youtu.be/0sTf4sszeQY

Tinfoil Hat Event – Taiwan

* ALERT *

An earthquake measuring Magnitude 7.5 has struck Taiwan, triggering a TSUNAMI WARNING!

From the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

The point of origin of this “earthquake” was ON the East Coast of Taiwan.

Also from the USGS, the Community “Intensity” Map rating the level of perceived shaking as LEVEL 9 – VIOLENT.

Location

This location is along the rugged, but very beautiful, Taiwanese Eastern coastline.

And when you use Google Maps to zoom in, you discover some interesting things packed amongst the quaint houses and highways there…

Coincidentally…

President Biden, made an unexpected emergency phone call “HOT LINE” to Chinese President Xi Peng. Immediately, within hours, of the “earthquake”.

“Xi, Biden hold phone talks” by Xinhua Published: Apr 02, 2024 11:08 PM. Found HERE.

...President Xi underlined three overarching principles that should guide China-U.S. relations in 2024.

First, peace must be valued. The two sides should put a floor of no conflict and no confrontation under the relationship, and keep reinforcing the positive outlook of the relationship.

Second, stability must be prioritized. The two sides should refrain from setting the relationship back, provoking incident or crossing the line, so as to maintain the overall stability of the relationship.

Third, credibility must be upheld. The two sides should honor their commitments to each other with action, and turn the San Francisco vision into reality. They need to strengthen dialogue in a mutually respectful way, manage differences prudently, advance cooperation in the spirit of mutual benefit, and step up coordination on international affairs in a responsible way.

President Xi stressed that the Taiwan question is the first red line that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations.

In the face of "Taiwan independence" separatist activities and external encouragement and support for them, China is not going to sit on its hands.

He urged the U.S. side to translate President Biden's commitment of not supporting "Taiwan independence" into concrete actions.

The U.S. side has adopted a string of measures to suppress China's trade and technology development, and is adding more and more Chinese entities to its sanctions lists.

This is not "de-risking," but creating risks. If the U.S. side is willing to seek mutually beneficial cooperation and share in China's development dividends, it will always find China's door open; but if it is adamant on containing China's hi-tech development and depriving China of its legitimate right to development, China is not going to sit back and watch.

President Xi stated China's position on Hong Kong-related issues, human rights, the South China Sea, and other issues.

Nothing to see here.

Move on folks.

My brother Daniel

My brother, Daniel, lives in Colorado. He is the only family member that I remain in contact with.

I have a couple of sisters, but they are isolationists and never respond back to me when I try to reach out. Oh well.

For the longest time, my brother and I would talk and zoom every week. But after Covid hit, it broke down and our emails and talks got to be scarce. The last big talk that I had with him was when he was worried about World War 3 between the USA and China and offered to take me in (abandoning my family in China).

I wrote a post about this.

After that our talks got shorter and shorter, and then he got sick with COVID. He spent an entire month in bed, delirious and hallucinating. Turns out he didn’t get any vaccination, and instead took “colloidal silver” that he got from the internet to get better.

I had a few zoom meetings after that. He looked good. Lost a lot of weight.

But then, the last talk I had with him was about when his dogs died. My dog; PP had died, and so I was asking him about it. Later, he was going camping over the weekend. This was in July 2022.

Hi BV,

I think your correct, dad got her in '67, and I think she passed in '78 or'79.  Tara was 11 and Kimba was 14, which is a good long time for a husky.. Ashia just turned 5 last week..

Hope your well!  We're going on a three day backpacking trip in a few hours.  That will be some fun, Ashia will be carrying her own food so that will slow her down abit  :)

DZ

And that was my last e-mail from him.

That was a year and a half ago.

I haven’t heard anything since.

He has five different email accounts and two video accounts, and he doesn’t answer any of them. Further, the twice yearly alerts of vacations, travel, and parities that would occasionally pop up in my in-box … all ended.

Sigh.

Either he is purposely blocking me, or he himself went to the big Domain in the sky.

Vaxx victim?
In Prison for some law?
Death by accident?

I did find his wife’s coffeeshop on the internet, and sent her an email. This is what she said.

Hi BV,

first of all, Dan is fine and all is well! I honestly don't know why he wasn't in touch with you. I'd ask sometimes if he'd spoken with you but I had no idea that much time had passed since you two had communicated. I don't have any huge or exciting updates....

Tomorrow (Easter) we're going to one of my sister's for dinner. Some of my family will be there, so it'll be nice. Otherwise, just plodding along.

How old is Ray Ray now? I'm thinking she must be around 5 or so...? You should send my a picture if you think of it! 

I'll tell Dan he must get in touch with you. It's just dumb not to communicate with family - often we're all we've got. And I apologize for not being more proactive in that regard!

Love to all of you from Colorado,

Emily

Sad to say.

It’s a reality when you get older. As time progresses, you circle of friends and relatives get smaller and smaller.

Today…

If China invades Taiwan militarily, who will the state of Singapore support, China or Taiwan?

Firstly, and this is the much more important point — most Chinese who understand modern China know in the depth of their souls that mainland China will never invade Taiwan; the main reason being that “Chinese should not kill Chinese” (a lesson learned from the bitter Civil War between KMT and CPC).

There are more reasons

For example – the Chinese are used to thinking long-term — and mainland Chinese know that PRC is on the ascendant, and ROC is either stagnant or even declining. The day will come when the Taiwanese would be less reluctant to unite with mainland China, though likely they would still want a “one country, two systems” approach.

Secondly, almost all leaders in Singapore have always maintained that we don’t take sides — this message have come from both our PM Mr Lee Hsien Loong, and our polymath and wise man, Mr George Yeo, among others

The Man up argument

About American Bullet-train, the Brightline.

main qimg 6d7092f80315543ccf95f1e2e17c07f1

One photo that can tell you why it’s not a real high-speed train:

See the stones under the railway tracks? Technically, it is called a ballasted track. That means this train cannot run fast enough to be called a high-speed train. Otherwise, it will become a killing train.

Well I happen to be a railway police officer.

Brother workers in the US, if someone asks you to build a second phase project for this railway, such as turning this poor railway from one pair of tracks into two, please remember that you may have accidents due to the strong sucking of Bernoulli effect or splashing stones. I don’t think the contractor will really consider your safety. When you are constructing, remember that time is not enough to observe the arrival of a fast train solely with your eyes and ears.

Also, for other Americans nearby, remember to take care of your children and keep them as far away as possible. Because even out of a few meters may not be a safe zone. See that white van far away in this photo? Not in the safe zone. Many parts of your fast train railways do not have fences. It won’t knock people into disabilities. If a person is accidentally knocked away by it, you need to shovel the body-jam up from the ground, or trees, depends. I am glad that China’s railways have fences, so most of our colleagues do not need to go through this.

Someone once asked me on Quora before, why Laos needs to build bullet trains when its economic conditions are not good enough?

Well this is the reason, the foundation made of stones means that this railway track is not suitable for running high-speed trains. If we build a regular railway, Laos will need to rebuild a route suitable for high-speed railways in the future. That will be a heavy burden for our neighbor.

Rail tracks are downward compatible, not upward. So next time, don’t believe in the scam of transforming ordinary railway lines into high-speed railway lines.

What was your most arrogant software engineering interview candidate experience?

“I am HOT SHIT!”

A year ago I interviewed a candidate for an Engineering PM role on my team; a sharp and interesting guy who grew up in New York and was grudgingly getting accustomed to life on the west coast. We needed a candidate who had a very specific set of deeply technical skills for that role and he fit the bill. He came in with glowing recommendations from some pretty senior people and had the exact experience and expertise that we needed. Basically he was an almost certain hire and I was his final round.

I didn’t want to grill him more on the technical aspects of the role since he had already proven himself in that space; I wanted to figure out what he would be like to work with on my team and what he would bring to the table there. My team is extremely close knit; it has been like a tight family for many years and we always have each others’ backs through thick and thin; we have worked quite hard to ensure that egos never get in the way.

We started off with him telling me about his journey, his passions and ambitions, his previous experiences on teams, etc, I told him about our team culture, the dynamics we share. I asked him why he wanted to join our team when clearly the whole world was open to him based on his assessment of himself.

He started to tell me how he was bored of large companies and wants to work at a small startup. He said that he only wanted this job for a year so he could add it on his resume and he would leave after that. That came across as odd, but I still decided to give him a chance since I knew the specific project we needed his expertise for would probably be done in a year so it might actually work out and give us time to change his mind.

The next words that he said had me completely baffled; “I am HOT SHIT!” he said, “You will be lucky to have me. You guys know I’m the best guy for the job. The only reason I’m here is because startups need people with 5 years of experience and I have only 4.”

I thanked him for his time, walked him to the door and went back to the interview panel and made it very clear that we would not be hiring this guy and that I would like to veto this decision; my manager heard me out and absolutely had my back on it 100%. We did not make him an offer.

There are three HUGE red flags here:

Arrogance. Someone who comes in believing and loudly announcing that they are God’s gift to mankind are not coach-able. You do not want to work with someone who is not coach-able; you always want people who will learn and grow and adapt to the needs of the team. One single arrogant member can bring toxicity to the whole team and destroy a culture and relationships that took years to forge.
Lies. I’ve worked on my own startups, lived with close friends who had startups, I’ve interviewed with startups and I’ve interviewed candidates from startups; you know what the one thing is that sets them apart from large corporations; they don’t stick to arbitrary rules. No startup(or competent hiring manager in any company for that matter) will ever pass on a great candidate just because he has one year of work experience less than what the online job description suggested. This was an extremely obvious bluff .
Commitment. When you hire someone into your team, you spend a good amount of your time coaching them, showing them the ropes, teaching them the business. It often takes 3–6 months for a new employee to become fully independent and during that time the whole team rallies together and helps set them up for success. If someone tells me that they plan to leave in a year for something new and shiny, it tells me that they are not going to put their heart and soul into this job; they will not be passionate about it and that means they won’t deliver their best results. It would also take up so much time from my whole team that the investment is not worth the returns.

Don’t let your arrogance eclipse your talent; all that remains is the shadow.

Creepy and cringe

What is the strangest complaint you have received at your job?

Some years ago while counting down the last few minutes before my shift ended in a public library, a young woman came to the information desk with an ennraged look on her face.

Lady: Can someone please tell me where the Spanish classes are? I’ve been on all the floors and no one seems to know what I’m talking about.

Me: Sorry miss but those aren’t Spanish classes. The Spanish Embassy has been having a series of public talks every Wednesday at 5 – 6 pm on the third floor discussing the Latin American economy. We simply allow them to use our conference room on the third floor.

Lady: Are you listening to what I’m saying? I left work early to come to these Spanish classes. Where are the people for the Spanish class?

Me: I’m sorry miss but we really don’t know. We simply give the Embassy access to our conference room. You might want to call the number they left on the advertisement.

Lady: So you’re saying this is your library, where you work, but you have no idea what’s going on?

Me: We know all what is going on in regards to our public services but the Embassy’s program is something external. Any complaints about the program can be addressed to the Embassy’s website.

Lady: Typical lazy government worker mentality…So you’re saying you have no knowledge of what is going on in your own building?

Me: This is actually not our building. Several government departments are housed in this building besides the library. Would you like me to call the Embassy for you?

Lady: You’ve wasted my time already. It’s already 5:30pm. I mean does it feel good to you to be getting paid for nothing? What’s the point of this library? I want to speak to your manager.

I was about to explain to her that we don’t have ‘managers’ but librarians when she whips out her cell phone and shows a screenshot of a Facebook post advertising the Embassy’s program.

Me: Miss. I’m sorry but that post shows that the program ends April 24th, which was two weeks ago…

Lady: ……so you….this is so unprofessional…..a big freaking library and you can’t call people and tell them that the Spanish class program has finished. I want to speak to the manager. This is unacceptable.

It was at this point I decided I that I no longer waste my time with this lady’s nonsensical complaint.

Bill Maher is officially PANICKING!!! He know it’s coming…

Nike announced that it does not source products from the XUAR and have confirmed with their contract suppliers that they are not using textiles or spun yarn from the region. Will this cause them to lose the Chinese market?

Those who have mainland business contacts may have been party to this conversation.

First among foreigners are the anglophones, then Italy, France, Germany, followed by the rest of the EU, then the Asian first world, the brics, and finally, the rest of the world.

American business interests in China are sacrosanct, followed by the brits, Canadians, Australians and so on, as per the order described.

Why? The Chinese understand there can be no economic interest without political power, and America is hegemonic. Helping America succeed in china is the best protection against sanctions and embargoes. The last 40 years has seen America develop a heavy consumer brand presence in China, with negligible Chinese presence stateside.

I believe the current Nike troubles framed against the illustrative example of h&m’s commercial erasure is a signal China is finally ready to weaponize this particular disparity.

China has had enough of America’s no holds barred maximum pressure strategy of confronting China, especially the attack on its domestic economy.

China is hurt. 2020’s live births is the lowest in 2 generations, 25 percent below 2016, compared to America’s 9 percent.

It is time to draw blood.

China can ask the coca cola ceo, you have 4–5 billion revenue this year. Your corporation can do 40–50 billion business each year in the future. You have supply chains all over Xinjiang. Do you observe genocide or mass incarceration in the data? If you refuse to make a statement or lie, we will burn you, and offer the Pepsi ceo your market share.

Choose.

And so on. There is no other growth story like china’s anywhere else, with the scale, stability and above all, speed. McDonald’s, for example, grew 10x faster compared to its Indian franchise.

Going forward, there will be no sacred cows among mncs in china. Trump made sure of that.

And yes, Nike can certainly lose the Chinese market if it gets erased like h&m.

It hasn’t happened… yet.

Note: The question and this answer is about China, not India.

Power projection

Men are starting to stand up in the USA.

Has someone treated you poorly until they discovered you were wealthy and/or successful?

The best one I ever heard of was from my grandfather. In order to receive a promotion at the company he worked for, he was required to attain a master’s degree. He was an engineer, of sorts, shall we say.

This was the 1960’s, and there was my grandfather sitting in a classroom with a bunch of 22 year old hotshots, while he was 50 years old. For 6 weeks, no one spoke to him, he wasn’t called on, the professor ignored him, and whatever work he did received an average grade.

One day, a singularly difficult real life engineering problem was presented in class from a local company called JPL. When none of the students could correctly answer it, the professor asked if anyone had any ideas…..

I love this part….

My grandfather raised his hand and answered it. The professor told him he was wrong. Mr. Professor then told the class the answer. Grandpa then interrupted the professor and informed him that the answer given to the class turned out to be incorrect for that particular alloy, and that the week prior my Grandpa’s team had found that with a 2% increase of cadmium, the answer was as my Grandpa said. The professor then asked Grandpa to come to the board and explain it in writing. He did. The professor then asked him who he was and what his job was.

After the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Manhattan and other projects were thusly discussed, Grandpa never sat down in that class again. Or any other. He taught the class as one who actually did these things…from Fat Man and Little Boy to the Saturn rocket booster and everything in between.

At the end of the semester, Grandpa received an “A”, and the professor informed him that he had received average grades before because his work just seemed too different than the textbook answers. The professor called a meeting of the department, and after a 60 minute interview they gave him his master’s degree and offered him an honourary doctorate if he would teach there. He declined.

Six months later, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. Every July 21st for 20 years, a new offer was sent to Grandpa to receive his doctorate and teach. He wasn’t ignored any more.

Scientists Discover Most Incredible Habitable Planetary System

I really enjoyed this video.

SERGEY LAVROV:

[You said in your interview that the Americans have no analysts on Russia left who would be familiar with our mentality, people, and culture. How can they declare us their enemies if they know nothing about our country?]

main qimg 762fe71e8350d1112679dae717beab4d

"They have no interest in that.

The United States has lost diplomacy as a method for establishing contacts, holding candid discussions, and identifying ways to strike a compromise.

It is not necessarily about specialists in Russian, European, Asian, or African studies. I don’t see serious specialists there.

They are accustomed to making demands.

They have even stooped to rudely and publicly telling China what to do.

Reportedly, Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu had a telephone conversation with US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell. The US official said Washington was dissatisfied with Beijing supporting Moscow.

How can they say such a thing to the great power of China?

What about the reputation of the Americans themselves?

There is also a statement by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell. I can’t get enough of his quotes.

He said that the West (through Ukraine) must necessarily win. If Russia wins, no one will ever be able to rely on the United States when they need help.

You can’t help thinking about Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam, and Syria (which they will supposedly leave). They will supposedly leave Iraq too, and they have effectively fled Afghanistan.

Speaking of help provided by the United States, they have a small nation of Haiti sitting right next to them, which they have been taking care of for more than a hundred years now.

Even before the UN was created, they were nurturing dictators, toppling them, and putting in new ones.

However, the Americans are powerless when it comes to preventing thuggery, rampant theft and embezzlement of public funds in that country, which is probably the world’s poorest economy.

It would not be difficult for the United States to take a sliver of the Ukrainian pie and solve at least this problem.

Instead, they showed up at the UN Security Council again and are trying to lure in someone from Africa to ensure law and order in Haiti (the US fiefdom).

Let them first sort things out in their own backyard, or rather a small portion of it.

It is sad to acknowledge that the psychology of global dominance and retaining hegemonism at any cost has never helped the United States solve any issues on the ground."

-Excerpt from remarks by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in an interview with Izvestia Multimedia Information Centre, Moscow, March 28, 2024.

Using the grappler

Is dictatorship always wrong? Doesn’t history have any examples of good dictatorships/dictators?

There are two problems with “good” dictators:

There aren’t that many of them
They don’t live forever

When a dictator creates a political system, that system is dependent on them…and on whoever comes after them.

If the line of successors is an unbroken chain of good leaders, all is well and good. But that hasn’t happened yet to date…

One historical example I keep thinking of is this guy: Otto von Bismarck (Otto von Bismarck – Wikipedia)

As an autocratic leader, I have no doubt his achievements were great. He united Germany, introduced social legislation, and sustained a European balance of power to avoid a world war.

The problem: he made sure to write a German constitution that concentrated all that power in one place – himself. And when he got let go, his successors weren’t up to the challenge.

The economist Max Weber gave the best assessment: “Bismarck created a great nation without any political education, without any political will, accustomed to letting the great statesman at the helm take care of politics for it.”

Weber died in 1920, so that makes his assessment even more powerful.

Sort of like raising children, no?

There might be “good” dictators, but I’m not convinced any of them can create a “great nation.” Not one that lasts, anyway.

Florida is different

The Chinese Communist Party often claims that Tibet before 1959 was a dark, theocratic feudal serfdom with cruel punishments, but Tibetans abroad often deny these claims. So what was the real situation in old Tibet?

The CCP said the truth that tibet was a feudal theocratic state with serfdom and cruel punishment.

The Tibetians under the Dlamas were oppressed others were subjected to having their hands cut off. Some had experienced punishment like this one shown below:

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This led china under mao to liberate tibet in 1951 to free the Tibetians from oppression and incorporate tibet back to china. So mao did liberate tibet in 1951.

The Tibetians living abroad are denying these claims to hide the truth and they’re spreading lies ,misinformation and hearing western propaganda that tibets are being oppressed under the CCP regime which isn’t true.

Do you believe that a world free from US hegemony would be beneficial for developing countries?

Yes of course!

The U.S. is the main cause of economic crisis and poverty if the developing world! If the U.S. did not manipulated the prices of most raw materials from the developing world will appreciate in prices to several folds what it is now generations ago!

Why It Would Be Preferable To Colonize Titan Instead Of Mars

What is the most badass thing you have done as a parent for your teenage daughter?

My 15 year old daughter came home from Knott’s Berry Farm one night around midnight in tears. Someone had stolen her iPhone while she and her friends were on a ride and she was worried I would be mad.

I told her to hold on for a moment, went to my computer for Find My iPhone, and told her, “I found it. Let’s go.” She asked where and I told her, “To get your iPhone. It’s at an apartment complex in Santa Ana.”

We found the apartment building and I called the police. I brought them up to speed and they said they’d meet us at a gas station about a mile away. My daughter was starting to see some hope.

Three police cars showed up and, after I showed him where the phone was, the officer in charge said we could park down the street and watch. So we did.

It was about 2:30a and the lights were still on in the apartment for some reason.

The lead cop went upstairs and pounded on the door. A middle aged guy answered the door and the cop said a stolen phone was inside the apartment and he wanted it brought to the door (he told us later). My daughter and I heard the guy yell, “Anybody have an iPhone that doesn’t belong to you?” After a few seconds, he shook his head “no”.

The officer told us he said, “Look, I know it’s in there. So you can either bring it out, or I’ll stand here until the search warrant arrives and we’ll go in and find it ourselves.”

We saw the door close and less than a minute later the guy handed the officer my daughter’s phone. He brought it down and my daughter logged in to prove it was hers.

She couldn’t believe we actually got her phone back, but I was committed to fixing this so my daughter wouldn’t become a victim.

We got home about 4am, but neither of us was tired – LOL.

I know everything worked out in the exact way it had to for us to succeed, but it was a great lesson for my daughter about standing up for yourself and taking appropriate action. She continues to be a very empowered individual and I like to think I had a hand in that.

Can you tell me…

VLADIMIR PUTIN:

[NATO countries are planning to send their fighters to Ukraine. The media report that F-16 aircraft will be deployed against Russian forces and facilities in the special military operation zone. Will we be allowed to hit these targets at NATO airfields?]

"First, if they supply F-16s (they are talking about this, and it looks like they are training pilots; I believe that you realise this like no one else and better than others), this will not change the situation on the battlefield.

We will destroy their aircraft just like we are now destroying their tanks, armoured vehicles and other equipment, including multiple launch rocket systems.

Of course, we would see them as legitimate targets if they operate from the airfields of third countries, no matter where they are located.

F-16 aircraft can also carry nuclear weapons, and we will also have to heed this while organising our combat operations."

-Excerpt from remarks by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting with army aviation pilots of the Russian Federation Defence Ministry’s 344th Centre for Combat Employment and Retraining in Torzhok, Tver Oblast, Russia, March 27, 2024.

A “you” problem

South Korea arrogantly supports the Philippines on the South China Sea issue. Why?

How rampant is Yin Xiyue’s government today? In addition to commenting on the South China Sea issue, it also began to interfere in the Taiwan Strait of China. According to recent news, South Korea’s position on the Taiwan Strait issue has become more and more outspoken, which has aggravated the tension between China and South Korea.

There are two things.

The first thing is that the South Korean side invited the Taiwan Province authorities to participate in the so-called “Leaders’ Democracy Summit”, but after being firmly opposed by the Chinese side, South Korea directly “countered” Chinese mainland’s criticism of the Taiwan Province authorities’ participation in the Democracy Summit, claiming that the event was aimed at “strengthening democracy” and “not targeting specific countries”.

At the same time, he reiterated that the “One China” policy of South Korea will remain unchanged. Secondly, the South Korean side expressed serious concern about the use of water cannons by the China Marine Police against Philippine ships some time ago, threatening that this action has aggravated the tension in the region.

Whether on the Taiwan Strait issue or the South China Sea issue, South Korea’s position deserves our high vigilance.

These two things are enough to show that Yin Xiyue’s government has changed the cautious and neutral stance that South Korea has adhered to for many years, and began to take sides and openly intervene in sensitive issues such as the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.

If South Korea still supports the “one China” policy, as it says, then why invite the Taiwan Province authorities to participate in the democracy summit? Knowing that the current situation between the two sides of the strait is tense and the relationship is subtle, it is difficult for the South Korean side to invite it at this time without letting the outside world guess that this is a disguised support.

As Lin Jian, the new spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emphasized, there is only one China in the world, and Taiwan Province is an inalienable part of China. So, what is the intention of South Korea to invite the leaders of Taiwan Province authorities to attend the summit?

At least in my opinion, this is obviously malicious. In safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity, the PLA has always dared to take action. South Korea’s move is tantamount to stepping on the most sensitive red line of the PLA.

In this regard, the same is true on the South China Sea issue. What does the contradiction between China and the Philippines have to do with South Korea? Apart from the South China Sea issue, what does it have to do with South Korea on the Taiwan Strait issue? What’s more, it is reasonable and legal for the Philippines to illegally invade Ren’ai Reef, Huangyan Island and China to respond with water cannons, while it is ridiculous for South Korea to accuse China of doing so.

So wantonly stepping on China’s red line, is it difficult for South Korea to be warned by water cannons like the Philippines?

Yin Xiyue’s government is at the forefront of the Sino-US game, which is not only very dangerous, but also fatal. The South China Sea issue is also the same. South Korea is not a party, and forcing it to annoy will only make it pay a great price.

Wholly Cow

What was life like for German soldiers in Germany after WW2?

A lost war is a heavy burden. Some German soldiers added up to 10 years as a POW in Siberia. Many died in the camps, some died after returning home when eating their first big meal for years. Others discovered their wives had remarried and committed suicide. Those who made it back into normal life, weren’t acknowledged for what they had done, but they weren’t despised either.

Having returned from war, the former soldiers worked extremely hard and disciplined. Maybe a coping strategy to get along with what they had experienced during the war. Germany soon prospered. The “omertà”, that is, the principle of remaining silent about Nazism, was common sense until the late 60ies. The early years of the Federal Republic were characterized by strict conservatism. Everybody felt he or she had done something wrong. Nobody was interested to talk about it, knowing that some brutal guys would get away with it then.

When veterans met, they would discuss how they might have won WWII: “If I’d been in charge at the Ostfront, I’d taken all Panzers together at one point and hit the “Ivan” in the north where he least expected…”

Besides, their recipes were strikingly similar: Push harder, focus more, ignore casualties, and produce more “Wunderwaffen”. Some regarded Hitler as a visionary man, who lost WWII because “too many hounds soon catch the hare”. Most of the veterans I talked to were farmers. They made a little extra money cutting wood in the winter. And while they sat at the fireplace to warm up, they’d sing Russian songs. Stockholm syndrome came alive.

I had contact with many former Nazis.

Only a few I’ve met displayed attitudes and feelings as one would expect, that is, feelings of guilt, empathy for the victims, and anger about the lies they had been told. These “soft guys” seemed to be lucky, the war was over, and they had come out alive. Nazi times weren’t good times for them. They preferred not to be reminded of that. They would escape in some bonhomie gesture: “It’s good this is over, my boy”.

The majority of them pleaded “not guilty” when asked. “I had to follow orders, and we had an oath…” They wouldn’t talk much.

The normal soldiers were better off than former victims of the Nazis, or people who had fled into exile. Among the survivors, they were the most frustrated. Never recognized, if not despised for leaving the country in times of war, they had to witness some big former Nazis succeed and no one cared. Many intellectuals preferred not to return to Germany in the 1950ies and early 60ies. 1968, the time of the students’ uprising, was the turning point:

The younger generations asked questions about the past. The country changed a lot in the aftermath.

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(Pinterest) The typical angle of the cap was no sign of individualism

The few “hardliners” could be recognized by their gait: Faster. More dedicated. Fixing with her eyes. They really were different. They mocked democracy and everything that goes with it. Not only that, they grinned and wore their caps at a certain angle, as can be seen in photographs of Wehrmacht daredevils: an odd mixture of courage and stubbornness, as well as a willingness to immediately stand at attention when needed and instructed, and to carry out any command uncritically.

I think they promised their wives not to talk too much. But occasionally, they did. They still internally wore the “Führer’s uniform” and saw an authoritarian regime as the most effective way to run a country. They often reassembled into organizations like the firefighters, whose uniforms—and commands—were oddly similar to those of the Wehrmacht.

Post-War firefighters in their uniforms.

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And what about their attitude to Nazism?

No one I talked to, told me, he or she wanted the Nazis back. I wouldn’t put this up too high, for speaking out for the Nazis in public is prosecuted for criminal law. No law was needed to keep the Germans from going to war again. WWII seemed to have been a fundamental threat to almost everyone’s life. Nevertheless, deep in their hearts many still felt for Hitler, as you can tell from phrases like “Under Adolf this wouldn’t have happened”, e.g. when talking about how to deal with unemployment or how to make the lazy hippie guys of the 60ies and 70ies go to work. I remember some bad arguments between them and the younger generations, which often ended in yelling “Wenn’s euch nicht passt, geht doch rüber!” (“If you don’t like it here, move to East Germany!”). To me, the most shocking experience was their readiness, to lock people up in forced labor camps and “cure” misbehavior through hard, physical work. “A short trial, and then put them in front of the wall and: Ratatatatata!”

Yes, the Nazi soldiers, and their whole generation were confronted with the past by their children or grandchildren, but I cannot recall a single veteran, who in a discussion, changed sides or openly argued against the Nazis. The poison still worked. They didn’t tell us all. It was as if the Nazis had a grip on them until their last breath. They died one by one. Six of us lend a hand as we carried the coffin.

Many of us do not know what exactly grandpa had done, and yes, this is some kind of burden.

EDIT: This answer is based on my experiences during my childhood in rural, protestant Germany. The biographies of higher-ranking officers, Nazi Party leaders, doctors,, or judges were different. Many of the ex-Nazis, who launched a second career in Post War Germany, only pretended to be democrats. In reality, they cared for “former comrades” in need and heavily influenced the view on opposition to the Nazis. I have addressed these issues in different answers.

Don’t go orange

Do you have any examples of dictators that actually did their country good?

There’s quite a few. If you are from the West, some of these might shock you. If you are not, well, enjoy the ride 🙂

Number 1: Muammar Gaddafi.

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Gaddafi when he was a lot younger. Quite handsome, right?

Gaddafi is often portrayed as a bad guy, and as Ronnie put it “the mad dog of the Middle East”

But that is in fact, not true.

Let’s take a look at some of the luxuries that Libyan citizens had during his rule

1: Free electricity.

2: Free housing.

3: Free healthcare. Not only free healthcare, but the best free healthcare in Africa and the Arab world.

4: A high GDP per capita for two decades before the West started sanctioning Libya.

5: A portion of the money made from oil sales went directly into the bank accounts of Libyan citizens.

6: If healthcare in Libya was not sufficient, the state would finance the entire trip to a foreign hospital.

I could go on and on, but those are just six things.

Also this

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Libya had the highest rating on the Human Development Index in Africa while Gaddafi ruled it.

So while he might be portrayed as a bad guy, he was actually a really good leader.

Number 2: Lee Kuan Yew

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A young Lee Kuan Yew

Lee. Kuan Yew was the Prime Minister of Singapore for three decades. In those three decades, he transformed the undeveloped city state, which had no natural resources, not much land area and a small army, into a shining example of a developed country. But he did this with many challenges facing him, like the multiculturalism of Singapore. The population was a collection of Malays, Chinese, Englishmen, Frenchmen, Indonesians and many more ethnic groups.

While he did implement dictatorial measures, such as muffling the press, outlawing protests and arbitrarily detaining people, he still holds the title of “The Least Brutal Dictator in History”. He did not kill a single person during his three-decade-long rule. Torture was not implemented either.

Before he took the mantle of leader, Singapore was nothing more than a collection of plastic houses and shanties. Look at Singapore now.

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Quite the success story, isn’t it?

Number 3: Park Chung-hee

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Park Chung-hee. Slick haircut, right?

Park Chung-hee didn’t exactly come to power by democratic means. He made himself leader in a military coup. But unlike many leaders of military juntas, he was not a selfish blowhard who worked only to enrich himself. Instead, he enriched his country, South Korea.

He developed South Korea’s banking sector, business sector, and enriched the country with a policy of export-oriented industralization.

To give you some perspective, when he came to power, the GDP per capita in South Korea was a miserable 59 dollars. When his rule ended, it was 1,000 dollars.

Unfortunately, he was betrayed and assassinated in 1979, before he could do any more good to South Korea.

And as a bonus, he defended South Korea from communism.

Number 4: Qaboos bin Said al Said, or Sultan of Oman for short.

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Looking quite dashing in a military uniform there.

When he took power way back in 1970, Oman was the poorest country in the Arab world. Now, it gained the nickname of “The Switzerland of the Middle East”. All thanks to this man.

Oman, like many other Arab countries, is rich mainly due to oil exports, but added to that, Oman also has a developed banking and finance sector. Hence the nickname. Oman also serves as one big negotiating table, due to its policy of military neutrality.

In 1970, Oman had just three or four schools. Now it has over a thousand, and a few universities, the most famous one being named after him. Also in 1970, the average GDP per capita in Oman was 345 dollars. Now, it is 15,000 dollars. Qaboos still rules Oman, and continues to improve it.

While other Arab countries constantly squabble, Oman quietly sits and looks by, enjoying its wealth.

Number 5: Thomas Sankara

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Thomas Sankara. Humble military uniform.

Sankara achieved many great things during his short rule.

He ordered the planting of million upon millions of trees, in order to prevent desertification. He lowered his own salary, and rid the government of most of its corruption, which was a giant problem. He connected the country via roads, and built housing for the citizens of his country. He made it self-sufficient in farming. And he saved the country from French dominance.

He renamed the country from Upper Volta, its colonial name, to Burkina Faso. He composed the national anthem, and designed the flag of Burkina Faso.

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Unfortunately, he was killed in a military coup, which was, predictably, sponsored by the French. It installed a brutal dictator who impoverished the country and was a puppet of the French.

So, those were the top five dictators who did their country good.

EDIT: After some research, I came to the conclusion that Lee Kuan Yew had in fact not rigged elections. Even the fiercest critics of his don’t say that he did. I am sorry to spread that misinformation around. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!

I find it so hard to focus on the food

Why do men prefer women with makeup than without makeup?

They think they do. There is a style of makeup application called the “no makeup” look. It appears natural because the tones used are neutral and not bright, shiny, or flamboyant.

When I wear makeup, which is nearly everyday, I go for soft shades. I am naturally so pale white that my skin is translucent. Without a good long wear foundation on my face you can see every vein, blush, blemish, freckle, or scar. I conceal them with a matte foundation. I build on that with contour, blush, and highlight to add natural (in appearance) colors back in. It’s like painting a canvas. I follow the lines in my face and use light and shadows to hide or accentuate my features. Same with eye shadows and such.

However, there is one area where I usually without fail use bright color. My lipstick. I tend to wear a vermillion red. It’s certainly a “pop” of color. People have different reactions. Most people compliment the color. Some ladies ask me what color I’m wearing.

But I have occasionally gotten a negative response. Once, a man on a dating website told me, “If we go on a date that red lipstick has to go.” My response was that any man who told me what makeup I could or couldn’t wear before even going on a first date would not be getting a first date! He countered by saying he liked women with natural features and no makeup. I said that I did like makeup and I wished him great success finding his natural woman.

It’s not that I wouldn’t tone down the lip color if I had a husband and he didn’t care for it. I can be submissive and respectful. But he has to earn the right to have me comply with his preferences. Insisting I change myself before even getting to know me sends out a flag that might be even more red than my lipstick!

However, I have a feeling that the first time a man saw me “without makeup” and “natural faced” he’d wish I’d put it back on! I think men sometimes confuse wearing no makeup with “natural makeup.” The times I’ve gone without makeup people ask me if I’m feeling well or if I’ve been sick. They ask if I slept well the night before. It makes me inwardly chuckle. Everyone is allowed their preferences but I suggest you do what makes you feel comfortable and confident. Men will probably be more impressed with confidence than anything else, including makeup.

Real shit

What is the strangest experience you have ever had while answering your front door?

“JESUS CHRIST, WHAT HAPPENED? WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?”

The man shrieked, and backed away from the front door so fast he almost fell when he missed the first step down of the porch stairs.

It was late afternoon. Up until half an hour ago, I’d been at the hospital, having a basal cell carcinoma removed from my forehead.

I was still woozy from the anesthetic I’d been given. They’d done the surgery under some kind of “twilight sleep” anesthetic, I hadn’t been completely unconscious. When the surgeon cut out the carcinoma, they’d had it sent to the pathologist to see if the margins were clear, and while they waited, blood had been seeping from the incision. When the pathologist reported that one of the margins wasn’t “clean,” they’d had to gouge out some more, then wait again. All that time, I’d been seeping blood. I felt sticky and swollen and yucky.

My husband had gone to the drug store to get my prescription for pain pills filled.

I wasn’t feeling well; anesthetic makes me nauseous. I had bandages wound round my head. The lesion was above my right eye, and the bandage partly covered my eye. There was a lot of swelling.

As part of the surgical prep, they’d washed my face with an iodine scrub. I could feel it still on my face.

I’d been lying down when the knock on the door came.

Since our house had been burglarized years earlier, I never let a knock on the door go unanswered. I sat up, waited for the world to stop spinning, then stood up. The knock on the door was repeated.

I got up, cursing whoever was knocking, and walked to the front door and threw it open.

Whatever the guy who was knocking was expecting, I obviously wasn’t it. He looked to be in his thirties and was holding a clipboard.

He reeled back away from me, and that’s when he yelled in horror.

Pissed me off. “I had surgery this morning. What do you want?” I demanded. At that moment, I felt something warm and wet running down my face.

He stammered something about being a contractor, he was just going through the neighborhood seeing if anyone wanted work done.

About then my husband came back. I left husband to deal with the guy and went to the bathroom to wipe my face with cold water.

When I looked in the mirror, I understood why the guy had been so horrified.

My face was unevenly painted yellow-brown from the iodine scrub. There were traces of dried blood on the side of my nose and under my right eye. The bandage I was wearing had a bloodstain over the incised area, and evidently getting up had caused it to start bleeding again, because fresh blood was oozing in a line from under the bandage and rolling down my face. My hair was all spiky and glued together with blood and iodine solution.

I guess my appearance had really shaken up the guy who’d knocked on the door. My husband said the guy had hardly been able to talk and had taken off as fast as he could.

She does love jiggling her boobies

What’s the worst candidate who came to an interview?

Many years ago my partner, David, was a shop manager and was advertising for a full time shop worker. One morning this kid came into the shop in dirty jeans and t-shirt and asked about the job. David gave him an application form and told him to complete it, which the kid did straight away. David said that he was starting interviews that afternoon and arranged a time.

The interview time approached. The kid turned up on time. Still wearing the same clothes, now wet (it had been raining) and now smelling of poor body odour. Not a great beginning.

First question, what have you done? Answer “I’m just out of Borstal….” For those who do not know, this is a prison for youth offenders. He was in prison for multiple counts of shoplifting!

Why didn’t you change and look smart for the Interview? – Because I live several miles away and I did not have the bus fare to get home and back. So I hung around in town all day.

David hired him. HR was very very worried.

Years later the kid was still employed, now assistant manager. He turned out to be one of the most reliable and honest employee David had ever hired. One day he admitted that he turned to shoplifting when he was younger to get caught and taken away from his abusive father. He was safer in prison than at home.

So he was the worst looking candidate, with the worst CV, but the best employee.

Artichoke Pepper Pizza with Feta Cheese

Ingredients

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small red bell pepper, sliced
1 small orange bell pepper, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced, divided
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 large can artichoke hearts, drained
1 pizza crust
2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Instructions

Heat oven to 450 degrees F.
Heat oil in medium nonstick skillet over medium high heat.
Add bell pepper strips; sauté for 3 minutes.
Add half of minced garlic; sauté for 1 minute.
Remove from heat.
Place remaining garlic, mayonnaise, crushed red pepper, black pepper and artichoke hearts in a food processor and process until finely chopped.
Place pizza crust on a baking sheet.
Spread artichoke mixture over pizza crust, leaving a 1/2 inch border.
Top with bell pepper mixture.
Sprinkle with feta cheese and thyme.
Bake for 14 minutes or until crust is crisp. Cheese will not melt.

Where To Move If America Fails

Playing around with text to picture.

My prompt…

adventurer in the center of the picture, view from above , desolate, dusky sunset, many shadows, on orientalist style art depicting ancient ruins at a desert oasis, thin pool of water, exploring explorer, date trees camels, caravan, statues

Thai girls cooking street food

Why did my top performing employee quit after write up?

I have quit three jobs in my lifetime. All three were after being written up. Its a matter of honor. I performed my jobs to the best of my abilities. I always gave 110%. So getting bullshit writeups really piss me off. The first time was by the owner’s son. He basically told me my level of quality was too high for the company. I quit on the spot. The second time I was instructed to do a job but not record it in the proper forms (military contractor). It would have been an unsafe act. I refused to do the job. I was written up for not obeying orders. Put my two week notice in an hour later. My last time was after briefing a supervisor of the company’s capabilities and then the supervisor deciding to go over what we were capable of performing. After he finished chewing me out, I handed him my keys and quit on the spot. Thirty days later I was rehired and promoted after being told my supervisor was fired. Perhaps it was my 20 years in the military that pushed me to personify the need for honor in my work ethic.

Shorpy

The Passport Bros movement was inevitable…

Have you ever had something stolen, only to have it returned (anonymously or not) much later?

In 1998, I had left my wallet on a table in a restaurant in San Francisco, and when I came back for it, it was gone.

I called my credit card company to report it. Apparently the thieves were professional, or just very well organized, because it had already incurred two separate charges for fuel at a gas station. My bank rightly saw this as suspicious — who fills up two gas tanks at once? — and blocked the card from further use.

I only had one credit card (still do), and though that was safe, but I really didn’t want to go through the hassle of replacing everything else — my driver’s license, gym card, company badge, blood donor ID, buy 10 coffees-get the 11th free punch card.

The guy at the credit card company said thieves will often toss the rest of the wallet in the garbage, or the bushes in the immediate vicinity, so I headed down to the gas station and asked to look through their trash. No wallet. I checked out the greenery around the place, nothing.

So I sucked it up. Replaced all the cards except for the one from the coffeeshop, and vowed to be more careful in the future.

The one thing I was bummed about was the loss of the wallet itself. It was made out of Tyvek, printed with some comic-book graphics. It was a really cool wallet, and it was also very light. I’d purchased it at a crafts fair, and replacing it wasn’t an option.

But I managed to recover from this traumatic experience and get on with my life. 🙂

I spent a few more years in San Francisco, then moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, then Somerville, then Medford, and in 2004, Seattle. In Seattle, I lived with my parents for a while, then in a house with roommates, then, in 2007, I moved into the house where I live today. That’s seven addresses in six years across 3500 miles and back again.

A lot of mail didn’t get forwarded, I would imagine. But one persistent little package managed to make it. I found it in my mailbox, covered with yellow “mail forward” stickers.

It was my wallet! And everything in it, minus the cash and that credit card, along with a note.

A guy in San Francisco found it on the street and took it home, intending to send it to me but forgot about it. Only when he was getting ready to move out did he find it. He sent it to the San Francisco address on my license, and it got forwarded to Cambridge, Somerville, Medford, BACK to San Francisco, then to Seattle, where it was delivered to my roommates’ old house (which had all-new renters who didn’t know me) and finally, to my house.

I don’t have the wallet anymore. After six years, it wasn’t my style anymore. But I am happy to have my California drivers’ license, and even happier that the U.S. Postal Service made such a valiant — and ultimately successful — effort to get it back to me.

Asparagus Pizza

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds asparagus
8 large mushrooms
1/3 cup chopped shallots
2 garlic cloves chopped
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cold water

Instructions

Mix butter flour and salt until the flour resembles peas, add water and mix until you have a rollable dough.
Place on floured surface and roll out to 1/8 inch thick and in a circle.
Heat the oven to 400 degrees F and place either a pizza stone or cookie sheet upside down in oven.
Place dough on a board that you can slide it off from into the oven and have a little cornmeal under the dough to help make it slide better. Turn the edges of the dough in about 1/4 inch and crimp at intervals to make a nice ruffly edge to your pizza, it will get crusty.
Cover the dough with the cheese and set aside.
Trim the asparagus and blanch it for 3 minutes in boiling water in a shallow pan.
Remove from pan and quickly dip in cold water to stop cooking process. Pat dry with paper towels and place in a pinwheel fashion around pizza dough with the stems meeting in the center and making a mound, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and slide into the oven on hot surface of pizza stone or cookie sheet and bake for about 25 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
Remove from oven and cut into serving size pieces.
While pizza is baking slice mushrooms and place a small amount of olive oil in skillet and add shallots and garlic cook for about 3 or 4 minutes and add mushrooms. Cook for about 5 minutes.
Add just about 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and stir; remove from heat. Spoon a little on each slice of pizza and serve.

How can I tell my co-workers that I no longer want to give them rides to and from work every day without being rude?

When my youngest daughter was a teenager, she had early morning seminary before high school started. She had to be there at 6:30 or seven in the morning. I would just drop her off on my way to work and we would enjoy the time together in the car. Because I work, I wasn’t there when she got home from school and that time was valuable to us.

A woman in our church had just had a baby. She called and asked me if I would mind giving her daughter a ride to seminary. It wasn’t really out of my way so I told her I would be happy to do so. Every morning, her daughter got in the car and never said a word. When I dropped her off, she never even said thank you.

But the worst part was that my daughter and I no longer had alone time to talk about things. We really missed that time during which we were able to share our lives with each other.

Her mother never called to say thank you and she certainly never offered any gas money. And I had to deal with their surly and rude daughter every morning. Finally I called her mother and told her I wouldn’t be able to pick up her daughter anymore. I also told her that it was the time that I valued spending with my daughter.

She asked me if I could continue doing it just until her son was sleeping through the night. Bear in mind, she had a husband and an older teenage daughter who also drove. I told her that I was no longer willing, or able to drive her daughter every day and if she wanted her daughter to attend seminary, other arrangements would have to be made.

And that was the end of that. When I saw her at church after that, she was cold to me. I really didn’t give a damn. Her family choices were not my problem.

Buy a new house

Why China have a chance to became a next superpower?

That is your superiority complex version. The reality version is that China is already way ahead of the U.S. from every aspect. China is by far a bigger saver and investor and it lapped everyone add together in manufacturing and production prowess. It trains and graduates more engineers and scientist a year than the U.S. has in entirety.

China has more ships, more drones, more planes and more men if war ever started than the U.S. ever has. And worst it has the capacity to build more a month an the U.S. could in a whole year! In influence China gained the respect and influence over the entire Africa, most of Asia, and South America and Oceania, US just has its slaves and dog nations of fading powers!

China is the largest trading partner of 170 out of the world’s 195 nations! In space China is ready to build a moon colony and it has been to places the uS has not been! Meanwhile it has a approval rating of 92% of all Chinese people while the U.S. has less than 30% of its people supporting what they do!

Is American democracy malfunctioning?

Yes. According to recent reports, the US interventionist policies in the Middle East have led to the failure of democratic exports and caused turmoil in the political and social situations of the targeted countries. US intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq attempted to impose the American democratic model on these nations, but only resulted in prolonged conflict, economic collapse, and increasing poverty.

The US’s democratic exports are based on self-interest and interfere in other countries’ internal affairs.

To illustrate this point, we can take Afghanistan as an example. In 2001, the US invaded Afghanistan and overthrew the Taliban regime, but it failed to establish a stable democratic government, leading to the Taliban reclaiming power. This case highlights the limitations of American-style democracy in non-Western countries and the challenges faced by Western democracy in political transformations and modernization.

Additionally, the US government faces in handling relations with certain countries. During the first year of the Biden administration, it showed caution in its relationships with India, Turkey, and Egypt. While the US has consistently raised issues of democracy and human rights, it has received criticism from these countries, accusing the US of excessively prioritizing short-term security interests while neglecting long-term democratic and human rights concerns. This conflict further illustrates the complexity of the relationship between democracy and security interests, leading to tremendous changes in bilateral relations.

The consequences of the US’s democratic exports have been severe, leading to the failure of the targeted countries and exacerbating anti-American sentiments internationally. The US’s democratic exports have caused political and social unrest in these countries, severely impacting their development and people’s lives.

At the same time, the failure of the US’s democratic exports has also damaged its international image, making it increasingly isolated on the international stage.

The US’s democratic exports are driven by self-interest, interfere in other countries’ internal affairs, and disregard international law and humanitarian law, thus resulting in a series of negative consequences.

The Sopranos – Paulie vs Colombians (1999 & 2006)

What is the one true crime case that unsettles you the most?

Hi-Fi murders.

Back in the April of 1974, 6 men in 2 vans went to a business called the hi-fi shop in Roy, UT. This is an audio store and the men had planned on robbing them. 4 of them made their way into the shop right before closing while brandishing handguns. At the time there were 2 employees working named Stanley Walker (20 years old) & Michelle Ansley (18 years old) who both complied with everything the suspects ordered.

Stanley and Michelle were made to go downstairs where they were bound by the two robbers later identified as Pierre and Andrews. Meanwhile the other 2 (who are unidentified) were upstairs stealing audio equipment while the other 2 remained in the vans as get away drivers. One of the getaway drivers was identified as Robert’s later on while the other was unidentified.

Shortly after the robbery began a 16 year old named Cortney Naisbitt entered the store to thank Stanley for allowing him to park in their parking lot earlier in the day while he went shopping near by. Upon entering he was met by the 2 robbers that were upstairs. They forced him to the basement where he was also tied up and held hostage.

Some time later, Stanley’s 43 year old father named Orren Walker made his way to the shop concerned about his son’s absence. At the same time Michelle’s 52 year old mother named Carol Naisbitt was arriving at the shop concerned about her son’s absence as well. Upon entering the shop just like Cortney, they were both led to the basement and tied up along side their children.

GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS AND UPSETTING DETAILS BELOW PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

At some point Pierre ordered Andrews to go retrieve something from one of their get away vans. Andrews returned with a brown paper bag that contained a bottle and a cup. Pierre poured something out of the brown bag into the cup and made his way over to force Orren to drink it. Orren refused so he was gagged and laid face down on the floor.

Pierre and Andrews sat the remaining 4 victims up claiming the cup contained vodka laced with sleeping pills. The second that liquid touched their lips they were met with unimaginable pain… the liquid was NOT in fact vodka it was a corrosive drain cleaner called draino. Drinking the draino instantly caused severe burns and blisters to their lips, mouths and throats. They forced all 4 of the hostages to drink the draino. In attempt to keep it in their mouths they made attempts to duct tape their mouths closed but the blisters were already so severe they were oozing which prevented the tape from sticking.

Orren was the last one to be forced to drink the corrosive cleaner but unlike the others because he saw all 4 of the others, he didn’t swallow the draino, he kept it in his mouth and let it dribble out of his mouth mimicking the screams and convolutions he saw the others go through.

Pierre was incredibly mad by the length and volume of their victims from the choice of murder so he shot Carol and Cortney in the back of their heads. Carol was killed instantly but Cortney survived with major wounds. Pierre then fired at Orren but missed. Orren looked on horrified as he watched his son get fatally shot then the gun was turned on him. The bullet grazed the back of Orrens head but he was still alive.

Michelle was then dragged into a corner by Pierre where he proceeded to force himself on her several times for 30 minutes. She was then fatally shot in the back of the head.

Andrews and Pierre still knew Orren was alive. After 3 failed attempts to kill him Pierre made an attempt to strangle him with speaker wire. This attempt yet again fails to kill him. Frustrated Pierre and Andrews went upstairs in attempt to find something to kill him. This is where they found a ball point pen. They placed this pen in his ear and then stomped on it. The pen went through his head and out his throat.

Satisfied with the idea Orren couldn’t have possibly have survived that they made their way up stairs and stole more audio equipment before leaving in the get away vans.

Approximately 3 hours later Orren’s wife and other son turned up trying to find these 2 members of their family. Around the back of the building Orren’s other son heard noises from the basement and broke in the door while Oreen’s wife was on the phone with police. Entering the basement, they stumbled across the gruesome scene.

Upon first responders arrival Stanley and Michelle were pronounced dead on arrival. Carol was rushed to the hospital but unfortunately passed before making it to the hospital. Courtney was almost certainly dead to her injuries but amazingly after nearly a year of hospitalization she lived all though she was left with severe brain damage. Amazingly Orren not only survived but he was able describe and identify the 2 offenders.

Redefining America

Have you ever applauded an act of vigilante justice?

Yes. My Dad delivered some vigilante justice when I was 13. Dad was a large, gentle man. He was 6’4” and extremely muscular. He was born in 1917 and started working in the family coal mine at 4. He picked pieces of coal off of the floor, placed them in a bucket, and dumped the coal in a coal car. He continued to do hard physical labor for the rest of his life.

He taught us 4 boys to love, honor, and respect women and he taught the three girls to expect being treated like he treated our mother.

We lived in a small town in rural Wyoming. The neighbor kitty cornered from us was the opposite of my Dad. The weasel would get drunk and beat his wife and daughter.,

We were working in the yard one summer day when we heard a scream. Weasel’s wife ran out of the house with him right behind her. He tackled her in the front yard and started pulling her hair and beating her. Dad dropped his rake, said, “that’s enough”, and ran over there. He yanked Mr. Weasel off of his wife and beat the crap out of him.

About an hour later, Mr. Weasel crawled back into the house. An hour or so later, he got in his pickup and drove away. We never saw him again.

More fun with Text to picture.

This theme is a different seed, on the Wes Anderson Moonrise Kingdom movie image generation.

Until you are in a situation…

What did someone do in TSA/airport security that made you say “You gotta be kidding me”?

My wife required a cane to walk. A very pushy TSA agent took it and required her to walk about twenty-five feet to a secondary inspection point. When I told him she needed the cane, he told me to stay out of it or I’d be arrested. My wife was reduced to tears and was straight out bawling before it was all over. It was a horrible way to start our vacation.

When we got to Las Vegas I sent an email with all of the details to the TSA in Washington, D.C. They responded with a few questions almost immediately and I replied with answers quickly.

The following day I got an email from the head TSA agent in Minneapolis. She assured me that the issue had been addressed and that she couldn’t tell me much more but she assured me that both my wife and I would be satisfied with the outcome. I took this to mean the officer had been terminated. I suspect that this had been the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

Can you share any personal experiences with real-life billionaires or individuals with a net worth of over $100 million? How do they behave around those who are not wealthy?

I know four people well enough socially, who are over 100 mil in net worth. No billionaires in USD terms.

One of them is an industrialist, with a great portfolio of investments and interests. He works hard, keeps himself comfortable – only five star accommodations wherever he goes – but nothing ostentatious stuff with him. Known him since college. Great fun chap. No difference in the way he treats one person vs another. Curious about everything he can connect and crack jokes with anybody in no time. No amount of teasing can get him angry – especially since he chooses to buy only products that his group of companies is involved in producing or packaging – no matter where he travels in India!

Another owns a fleet of planes and flies – all private jets. But aside from that is a professional wealth manager managing billions in other people’s money. Smart investment specialist. He is flamboyant, but in a very private circle. Talks about planes about 95% of the time! That’s his true love. Also down to earth, but doesn’t have time for any “small” talk. Dedicated to his work and his freaking planes. Flies way too much for the environmentalists!

Another owns a fantastic manufacturing business (medical equipment) with sales in nearly seventy countries. Very well connected and respectful of real people, no matter what. Treats everybody just the same. Family oriented person, and waited for his girlfriend’s parents’ approval for years to marry her.

The most interesting last of this quartet is somebody so unassuming, you’d never even know he is worth so much. Big time trading and stock market player. Low profile to the point of being invisible. Pious, religious, spiritual – I have never seen him with other rich people! Took me about a year to know he was worth that much. Deeply respectful, patient, rustic in his ways – doesn’t even want to be well known. Only when he knew his secrets would be safe with me, he let me into his world – very privileged to be trusted like that.

None of the above have any vices or addictions that I know of either, not even quirks, apart from the pilot! Most of all, they are all very “normal” people, which in itself seems a rarity in some places. Invariably respectful to others is a common quality I would say.

Work in silence

What are some of the things women don’t understand about men?

Men don’t use subtexts. They say what they mean. No beating about the bush.
They often don’t understand subtexts. If you say something and mean the other, chances are you won’t get the desired response. Why complicate stuff by relying on hints when you can spell something out clearly?
They don’t like to rehash their issues unnecessarily. And if they do, it’s with the express intent of finding a solution. Aimless thrashing of the matter is just a waste of energy for them. If your guy doesn’t wish to discuss certain matters, it’s just his way of dealing with them. Hounding him for that will just add to his woes.
Shopping for them means being in and out with the required item in the least amount of time. Window shopping and browsing are not their cup of tea. And if they do so, it’s only for you.
They can’t handle your tears. What pains you hurts them as well. They may not be able to articulate it but it is traumatic for them too.
Their non-verbal expressions pack a world of emotions. Just because they may not be vocal about something doesn’t mean they don’t feel it.
They are tough. They act tough. But they need tender loving support too.
Generalisations that hurt women hurt men as well. “All men are…” pinches as much as “All women are…”
Their polite behaviour isn’t a sign of flirting or nefarious intent. They don’t deserve to be viewed with mistrust always!
They have a unique bond with their guy pals. Their demeanour and persona is different with them. Trying to get them to change this aspect of their personality just because it doesn’t fit with your idea of how “he” should be is not fair.
They can have gal pals who are just that… pals. This shouldn’t be a basis for constant doubting and questioning.
Closeness is as precious as space.
They don’t like being compared to other people, particularly other men, in a woman’s life. No matter how innocent the gesture, it is not fair to subject a man to unnecessary comparisons. They don’t need to be measured against others to be told how they are.
Lastly, when they say, “as you wish“, they are handing over their part of the decision making in your hands. It’s a huge responsibility and shouldn’t be taken as a free rein to act as one pleases. Judiciousness should be the guiding factor.

These are just my observations and may not be correct completely. But based on my interactions with my friends, brothers and most importantly, my husband, these felt like areas where a bit of understanding could work wonders 🙂

American education

What is it like to have a child addicted to drugs?

Having a child addicted to drugs is a horror story that never ends. My oldest son is 37 years old. He became an addict when he was 12 years old. I’ve been at his funeral 25 years. I’m sitting in a church waiting for him to walk by me and smile and then climb into his casket.

Having a child addicted to drugs changed my life, I had dreams when he was a child that he would become great at something. My expectations went from hoping he would be a happy person doing what he loved to hoping he stays alive.

Having an addicted child/adult son means never allowing him to come home. I can’t buy him anything because he’ll sell anything for drugs. He’s sold blankets and sleeping bags I gave him to stay warm in the cold. I can never give him money. I buy lunch for him and watch him eat it.

My son knows my love for him is unconditional. I don’t approve of the choices he’s made but it’s his life.

My son has to want to climb out of the hole he’s in. I’ve shown him how to do it and led him to the “well.” He alone has to drink from it. He has to want to live a life of clarity.

I believe in miracles. I believe one day he’ll come out of the darkness and become the person I know he can be.

My hope is that I’ll be alive to see it.

What bad experience had you saying “I will never buy from that company or use their service ever again”?

The Brick.

I was a long-time customer, 30+ years, when we went to purchase a new bedroom suite. As my wife was getting what she wanted, I started looking at TV’s. I found a 51″ that I liked, so we bought that as well. Since it was a display model I also bought the extended warranty.

Well, within 6 months, the TV quit working. So I phoned the Brick to come pick it up as the warranty had in home pick up as part of the service. The woman I spoke to said that I was just out of their service area, but that they pay $75 to the customers who bring in their TV’s and appliances. Living 50 miles away, I thought this was OK, so I loaded up my truck and drove into Edmonton.

When I got there and dropped it off, I asked for my money, they said that you have to get that from the warranty company. Needless to say, I was pissed, and went home.

Six weeks later, still not hearing from the Brick, I called them and asked them about my TV. Oh, they said, it was ready the next day. Well why don’t you drop it off then I asked? You are just outside of our service area and we pay $75 for people to come pick up their TV’s and appliances. So I drove in to get my TV and asked where’s my $75? I was told that I have to get it from the warranty company.

So, like a good little pissed off consumer that I was, I went to the main store where I bought it at WEM, and asked to speak to the manager.

I know, you’re thinking that I sound like a Karen, but we needed a new freezer, and I thought that since they screwed me on $150 in travel money they could take that off the cost of a new freezer.

Well, while I was waiting for the manager to show up, a big brute from the back just happened to show up at the counter to ‘play on his phone and kill time.’ Did they think that I was going to fight the manager? Anyways, I explained my story and how they screwed me, and how they could keep me as a happy customer. All they had to do was take off the money from the price of the freezer. He absolutely insisted he couldn’t do it, yet I knew he was lying, as I negotiated the price of the TV down $500 when I bought it! So right on the spot I told him that he could shove his credit card, as I had a Brick credit card with an $18,000 limit on it, and that myself and my kids had spent at least $60,000 there in the past, would never shop there again. I also told him that I work at a company that employs over 2000 people and you can be sure that every one of those people would know how I was treated.

And I have never been back there, or to Leons, which is owned by the Brick.

Cooking in Vietnam is a visual treat

When have you cheaply or inexpensively fixed an item someone thought unrepairable?

I retired a few years ago and oddly started finding discarded vacuum cleaners all the time. Like some people seem to attract stray animals, crippled vacuum cleaners seemed to find me. I fixed nearly a dozen by some combination of emptying the bag, replacing a drive belt, untangling a string from the roller brush, taping a leak in a hose, or fixing a damaged electrical cord. On average, it took me about 10 minutes to “repair” them.

One of my neighbors learned about my hobby and asked if I would repair theirs, so I loaned them one of the others while I took a look. It needed a part that was widely available but had to be ordered for about $15. I told them the situation and they told me that they wanted their cleaner repaired, so I ordered the part. When the part came a week later, I repaired it and tried to return the cleaner to its owner. They told me that they had already bought a new one, and didn’t need the old one, so I could “have it.” No mention of the money I had spent for the part. We didn’t talk much for awhile after that.

Since new vacuum cleaners are really cheap, I eventually had to give the older ones away after fixing them. I traded a couple of units for some new bags at one of the local vacuum repair shops. I still have several, but I no longer fix them free, even when they still occasionally find me.

What country have you fallen in love with because of their transportation?

For transportation, I find China absolutely rocks:

Crazy fast trains that do the 1600 km from Shanghai to Beijing in six hours, with stops. And they’ll do it for 50 US$.
Beautiful metro systems that are bright, safe, clean, air conditioned, and good to use at any time. The cost is negligeable, and these things go everywhere.
Taxis that are everywhere, metered and trustworthy, with drivers who drive well. Need one? Just wave at the next one approaching and get in. Affordable, too. You don’t need your own car in Shanghai or Beijing.
Maglev! The magnetic, levitating train from Shanghai Airport to town. I take it every time I’m there. Does 70 km in 12 minutes.

Male Logic

Is it true that no programmers will be needed within 5 years due to AI?

Lol. No.

The below image was made by an AI:

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Looks neat?

Now look again at the stair case.

You really want that sort of bloopers in your software? Oh and a window for rainy days might be nice as well.

Or this one…

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Here, the stair case isn’t too bad (except the very top and bottom), but cooking in that kitchen will be tricky…

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I could post many more, but I trust the point is clear?

Are nuclear power plants safe?

Nuclear power is inherently unsafe, but.

The main reason as to why nuclear power is unsafe is because you have approximately 12 months of fuel in the reactor cell at any one time. Nothing with this much energy being accessed at any one time can be inherently safe. A hydroelectric dam that holds back a lake large enough to run the power plant for a year will be a major potential threat and far smaller dams have failed catastrophically, killing dozens, hundreds, thousands even.

Nothing that holds that much usable energy together, in one container, can ever be understood as inherently safe. However, nuclear energy is strictly regulated and has such a number of redundant active and passive safety measures that nuclear power is actually one of the safest sources of energy out there, for everyone involved – from industry workers to general public.

This is akin to aviation. Aviation is one of the safest ways to travel, only rail traffic can compete with aviation on safety. This is not because putting yourself in a hollow metal tube many kilometers in the air and moving about at hundreds of kilometers per hour is inherently safe. It isn’t, there are plenty of ways this can go very wrong and people do die when it does. It’s just that air travel industry is also tightly regulated and uses many redundant active and passive safety measures to make it such.

Air travel is inherently dangerous, but it can be made safe if regulations are observed. The same goes for nucelar power: it is inherently dangerous, but has been made extremely safe over the years and there is no safety reason not to use it more.

Men are suffering

Nora Vincent.

Why can’t we find a way without China? We literally hate everything about them and China’s silence is practically guilt. Why can’t anyone just try to find the way around/without China?

Well, I’m afraid you are completely and totally deluded. Most of the world is behind China. Only ignorant bigots like you hate China.

Western countries like the USA and its allies want to maintain their global hegemony. China’s rise threatens this hegemony. It’s as simple as that.

They’re jealous and fearful of China’s rise. Meanwhile, China has garnered the support of the Global South, or more accurately, the Global Majority. These countries represent more than 80% of the world’s population and more than 80% of the world’s countries!

Why so much support? Four main reasons:

China has fought no wars in the last 45 years. No other world power has ever been so peaceful for so long.
China helps other countries with their infrastructure and economy through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It also leads BRICS, which is unifying the Global South.
China is the largest trading partner with over 120 nations. They all benefit enormously from trading with China.
China respects all nations and does not interfere in their politics. China sanctions nobody. China overthrows no foreign government.

We’re living in corporate dystopia and Gen Z is reacting accordingly

Sinister Parodies Of Classic Children’s Books

Today we have some twisted thoughts.

…

I’ve been pretty busy as of late, and I had another blood pressure scare. I was terribly uncomfortable, and the stress of Tanzhou driving was going to have me pop.

Stage two hypertension. Not a good thing.

But I fixed it on my own.

What I did was started doing arm curls with weights. I do a couple of reps each and every day.

50 reps each arm with 5kg. Nothing too strenuous.

Guess what?

Yup, my blood pressure goes down to that of me in my 20’s.

120 BP

…

I mean, I’m not doing a 20 to 30 minute routine. I am only doing five minutes a day.

Yet… it works!

I’m averaging 120 BP. Rather than the 160 – 170 that I was dealing with.

I also cut out my morning coffee, and all caffeinated drinks. Oh, I will get a coffee from time to time with the Mrs at a restaurant, but the days of the drive-through habit are over.

Take note people.

…

Today is some lunacy for you all to enjoy.

Profanity: When someone yells “Motherfucker!”, whose mother is he referring to?

Motherfucker does not mean what most people think.

Before the American Civil War white males would visit “Pleasure Houses” to have sex with the slaves. As slaves these women would have no choice but to do whatever the man wanted.

But some would, somehow, be more abusive than the slave owner could tolerate. Basically beating the slave to the point she couldn’t be used for a while.

The men who had a reputation for this were only allowed to have sex with the former “Breeding Stock”. The older slaves who had already given birth to several new slaves.

These men were called “Motherfuckers” for the obvious reason. They were so low that slave owners cared more about their slaves (who they didn’t think as fully human) than them.

In WWII the meaning shifted. As Americans retook France, many French women were generally appreciative, and showed the GIs their appreciation. But that only goes so far. There were some guys that couldn’t get laid even by women who would, “Support the troops” so to speak.

For these men they could use the generous food rations the US Army gave to give a starving widow’s family a few days worth of food for a quickie.

So it referred to guys who were such losers they could only get laid if the woman’s choice was to sleep with them or let her children starve.

So the “mother” being referred to in the cuss, is a woman who’s in such desperate straits she would do anything, even sleep with the “motherfucker”. The implication being they couldn’t get a legitimate prostitute to sleep with them.

An American Civil war?

Medvedev:

“The formation of the Texas People’s Republic is becoming increasingly realistic. What I wrote about at the end of the year before last in a joking prediction.

The American administration demonstrates complete incapacity to handle the migration crisis that has erupted in one of the largest states in the USA. Its governor boldly ignores the White House’s position with the feeble old man Biden and starts rebuilding barbed wire barriers. Anything to defend against the influx of migrants who are crossing the southern border uncontrollably. Another vivid example of the weakening of U.S. hegemony, occurring from within due to the actions of Americans themselves.

Official Washington, so enthusiastically supporting Kiev’s neo-Nazis and seemingly noticing nothing else, has shown itself to be impotent on matters of domestic policy. The scholastic decisions of the Supreme Court that migration issues fall under the jurisdiction of federal authorities, not the state, are detached from reality. Due to their inaction, these authorities may finally push the population of Texas, which is already seriously considering secession, to the breaking point. History knows cases where individual states attempted to part ways with the United States and form a confederation. All of this led to a bloody civil war, claiming the lives of thousands and thousands of people.

One way or another, America may face an irresolvable constitutional crisis and plunge into a prolonged abyss of a new, possibly even more destructive, civil confrontation. The Western world will watch with bated breath, fearing the American mess. However, these are their problems.

And although the turmoil in the USA poses significant risks to global stability, the rest of the world, munching on popcorn, observes with some schadenfreude the onset of the bad illness of Pindostan.”

Sinister Parodies Of Classic Children’s Books

Oh baby, here we are going to take a trip down the twisted mind of an artist. He’s got this gig of parody artwork that gave me a few chuckles, and repelled me as well. Anyway, it’s a quaint diversion, and I hope you all appreciate it.

“Bad Children’s Books” or the classic children’s books from 1940’s to 1960’s hijacked by illustrator Bob Staak. Subversive, disturbed, twisted, but full of humor!

More info: Bob Staak

Why did Phoenicians start forming the colonies so late? They have been on the Mediterranean since 1500 and developed active sea trade between late Bronze Age civilizations not long after?

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Well. There were these guys called the Sea Peoples. They weren’t very nice at all. They raped, killed, pillaged & burned all the civilizations in the Mediterranean c.1200 B.C. They wiped out the Mycenaean Greeks, Minoans, Hittites, Trojans & Ugarit. The only ones to survive were the Egyptians & Phoenicians. It’s kind of hard to build a trading empire with these guys rampaging all over. It’s better to wait & let them fizzle out after a few centuries.

The guys got no marbles

Vulture Mine Tostadas

This is my own creation. I named it for a mine near Wickenburg right here in Arizona. I’ve been making it for a number of years. It’s a good cooler weather dinner. Instead of making the chili as instructed, you can use your favorite chili – even store-bought chili – and prepare the potatoes portion of the recipe, serving your chili over the mashed potatoes.

Prep: 15 min | Cook: 1 hr | Yield: 4 large “tostadas”

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef or ground turkey
1 1/4 cups minced raw onion
1 can pinto beans
1 1/3 cups tomato sauce
2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin (comino)
1 cup water
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
8 cups mashed potatoes
4 cups shredded lettuce (optional)
1/2 cup chopped raw onion
3/4 cup grated longhorn or Cheddar

Instructions

Brown ground beef and onion, draining fat. Add pinto beans and tomato sauce, cooking for 15 minutes.
Combine chili powder, flour, water and a little salt; blend this paste into previous mixture. Cook for 45 minutes over low heat, stirring frequently.
Meanwhile, prepare mashed potatoes with butter, milk and black pepper, adding only enough milk to ensure rather stiff mashed potatoes.
To serve, spread mashed potatoes in dinner plate to resemble a 2-inch thick tostada (with a rim around the outer edge). Spoon chili into depression and top with lettuce, onion and cheese.

Ukr Bad Day: Putin Calls Macron Bluff, No West Troops Ukr; Belgorod Disaster; Rus Chasov Yar Canal

What was the strangest way an embezzler was caught?

My father was a store construction field supervisor for The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P Grocery Stores) during the early ‘50s. During his understudy period, his supervisor regaled him with amusing stories of his days with the company that stretched back more than 40 years. One story was about less than expected sales at a brand new store.

Below, a typically thrilled crowd packed in tightly at a new A&P Supermarket Grand Opening:

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The new store was a success: larger, better stocked, off-street parking, new and exciting interior. Sales were way up over the old store it replaced, but not nearly as much as other new stores in similar neighborhoods. Because it was at the low end of sales and profit increases, it got extra scrutiny.

Secret shoppers reported that the store was open and thriving during its assigned hours. That the shelves were stocked. That the customers were jamming the aisles. That the shopping carts were being heaped high. That the employees seemed diligent in monitoring for shrinkage, yet shrinkage was determined to be sky high. Auditors were sent in to check receipts. The eight registers were being fully and completely tallied. Secreted observers with binoculars saw no evidence of vehicles driving off with bulk loads of merchandise. Shoplifting seemed to be in line with other stores. The manager was reported to be present, engaged, and energetic in his duties.

The fellow my father worked for was asked to review the layout of the store to see if something was wrong with how shoppers were being navigated through it. He went in and walked the aisles, saw nothing unusual. He followed numerous shoppers through the store and through the checkout lanes and out to the parking lots… nothing amiss. He was standing in line at one of the checkout counters one day about a week into his sleuthing and analysis when out of boredom he idly counted the checkout lines. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Nine. Wait. What?

He counted again. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight… nine.

He left the store and informed his Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company bosses that the store’s layout was indeed the issue: the manager was embezzling by having installed a bootleg ninth line but was reporting only the sales of the authorized eight. My dad’s supervisor swore that he’d told his bosses, “well, either we need to fire the manager or else put up a new sign that says A&P&Fred’s Supermarket”.

They went with “fire Fred”, naturally.

What do you think?

Has a customer ever intervened on your behalf when you were being treated poorly by a co-worker or boss?

No, but I’ve intervened. I was at a Quiznos. The only people there were the owner and a young girl. As she was making my sandwich, the owner kept up a stream of insults and criticism.

By the time she went to ring me up, the poor thing was in tears. I asked her if she was new, and she said it was her first day and first job. I said I don’t usually give advice to strangers, but no one in any job needs to put up with abuse by a boss, and she should walk.

She said her parents would be mad, so I recommended that she explain to her parents exactly what her boss said.

I even gave her my card and said if her parents wanted a witness as to how poorly her boss treated her, to have them call me.

Her boss heard what I said and started giving me shit. I told him he was a horrible boss, and probably a horrible human, and that I’d would let everyone I knew not to give him their business.

The girl walked out with me and I escorted her to her car.

I never heard from the girl’s parents, but the place was closed a month or so later. This was when Quiznos was doing well

What are some mind-blowing facts about food?

1.Potatoes can be used to remove rust. Simply cut it in half, add salt to the surface and there you go. Rub it against any corroded objects.

2.Vinegar, Ketchup, lemon juice, can also remove rust. Basically any food with oxalic acid/citric acid will do. Save yourself some money from buying rust removers.

3. Lemon juice can be used to remove highlighter strains. Get some juice on a piece of cotton, rub it on the highlighted text and the color will fade.

4. Your average apple is a year old. Most apples are picked slightly unripe, treated with chemicals and stored in warehouses for 9–12 months.

5. Banana candies are what bananas used to taste like. Ever wondered why banana candies taste nothing like bananas? That’s because it was based off the Gros Michel banana, which was completely wiped out by the Panama disease (fungus), after that we are left with our replacement bananas.

6. Red bell peppers are simply ripen green bell peppers. Yellow or orange bell peppers are also different stages of the bell pepper. They are the same fruit.

7. Popsicles are invented by an 11-year-old. He invented the popsicle by accident when a drink he made was frozen with the stir stick stucked between.

8. Almond allergens can be transferred through sex. If you have an almond allergy, and your partner have just eaten almonds, don’t have sex.

9. You can make diamonds with peanut butter. Peanut butter is a carbon-rich material, imerge it through enough pressure and it becomes diamonds. I wonder where diamond shops get their diamonds from…

10. The original Coca-Cola contains cocaine. The name basically comes from it’s two main ingredients, Coca leaf and Kola nuts. Coca leaf contains cocaine.

11. Fruit stickers are edible. So is the glue used to glue it. But unless you like eating stickers I’ll advice you to peel it off.

12. Bananas, cucumbers and kiwis are berries, while strawberries, blackberries, raspberries not berries but aggregate fruit.

I’m not stopping

What is the best comeback you used on someone?

I left home one evening to go to the post office and the supermarket after that.

It’s winter, it’s cold, so the car has to warm up a bit, but after a few seconds I put it in drive and got to the post office in a few seconds. I just need to go in, open my P.O. box, get the mail and get back to the car. The engine wasn’t warmed up yet – my dad told me it not too good to turn it off so soon when it’s still cold – so I left it running for half a minute, tops.

By the way, I live in a very small town (village) north of the big city.

Miss Karen Knowitall comes in as I get back to the car and tells me I should have shut the engine off when I got out. She doesn’t like to breathe car exhaust when she leaves the city to go to the country side.

As I got in the car, I just answered: “Ah yes, I know the feeling! I moved to this town to get away from the condescending a$$h0le$ of the city …

But, hey! You can’t always get what you want, ma’am. Right?

And I drove off !

Japan – Tokyo Suburbs: Walking around Yotsugi • 4K HDR

Notice no con-trails. They are just not anywhere in Asia. Only in America and Europe.

https://youtu.be/QkuXU00pito

Did you know that a harmless-looking tree can actually be more lethal than a rattlesnake?

main qimg fc556551940b265f4b24c6fa6bd07444

It is called mancinella (Hippomane mancinella) and is considered the most dangerous tree in the world, as well as the most poisonous. It is a plant native to the Americas, with particular reference to Florida, the United States and Central America.

Its venom is so powerful that it is advisable to stay a couple of meters away from it. Its fruits are similar to small and tempting apples, but even a few bites could be lethal.

Christopher Columbus had nicknamed the fruit of the mancinella, “little apple of death”.

It seems that this plant drove the horses who ate it crazy. Hence the word Hippomaniac.

The white resin of the mancinella is very caustic and poisonous. A single drop can cause severe skin irritation, with swelling, dermatitis and burns. Even raindrops coming from the branches of the mancinella can damage the skin or even make you blind if they get into your eyes.

main qimg 74eb6b9590e93c2d2a504923dd085f7a

Even the bark is toxic. Burning it causes the release of harmful substances that can cause temporary, and in some cases permanent, blindness. The combination of risks associated with the mancinella have allowed it to win and maintain the Guinness Book of Records as the most dangerous tree in the world.

Men Are Oppressed Not Women (They’ve Been Lying To You)

What firearm would you recommend for defense against home invaders?

“What firearm would you recommend for defense against home invaders?”

Paintball.

Yes, yes, I know you’re going to say it’s not a ‘firearm’, but you haven’t thought things through.

If someone enters your house at night and you wake up, you think ‘intruder’ and you fire that Desert Eagle Penile Compensation piece in your dark bedroom — without donning your hearing protection (because, who is going to have hearing protection with that Desert Eagle on their nightstand, right?) — fire that piece in the darkness at the shadow in the doorway, you know what will happen. The noise will replace your hearing with a loud ‘iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii’ and your retina will be sporting these muzzle flash afterimages of your wife crumpling in the doorway. Or, in the unlikely event that it’s not your teenage daughter sneaking back into the house after leaving through her bedroom window, but an axe murderer — you just rendered yourself too blind and deaf to re-aim and shoot again.

Now, reconsider my suggestion and imagine you have a paintball gun on your nightstand.

First of all, no flashes and noise to mess with your night vision and hearing. Just a ‘pffft’ and angry cursing from the shadow in the doorway as he’s trying to wipe paint from his eyes. Because you know that just like you don’t have hearing protection on your nightstand, he sure as hell isn’t wearing paintball protection on his nocturnal visits. Paintballs on your unprotected body hurt like fuck. And the intruder won’t know what’s happening. No muzzle flashes or loud noises, just the sound of a blowdart and getting stung and wet all over — that’s unnerving, man, and I’d like to see the intruder who wouldn’t scamper back to whatever rock he crawled out from under. (Did I say that right? Sounds right…)

And while he runs like fuck from the stinging wet paint, you call the cops and tell them there’s an intruder running around your neighbourhood, a man splattered with purple paint. However incompetent the police are in your area, they should still be able to find someone covered in paintball paint.

Plus, if you make a mistake and confuse family members with intruders, you don’t have to take them to the ER (or bury them), but you simply apologize and help them wash off the paint.

So, forget about all those macho handcannons and just get yourself a paintball gun for home defense. Your NRA neighbour might laugh at you, but he’s going to be the one with the axe buried between his starry eyes from the muzzle flash, while there’s still an almost full magazine in his Desert Eagle.

[image by Paintball Guns & Gear at the #1 Paintball Store]

Edited to add:

A lot of people respond that my answer is ridiculous and dangerous. And they might be right — pelting an intruder armed with an assault rifle with paint balls might well result in getting you killed. However, I posted this answer not to promote paintball guns for home defence, but to think ‘outside the box’. In the comments, a lot of people also offered their own alternative solutions — shotguns loaded with rock salt, pepperballs, et cetera — and that was my intention: instead of looking to use lethal force, what alternatives are there?

Also, many commenters seem to believe that I would just shoot at an intruder with paintballs and then wait for them to respond. I guess they haven’t read my other answers and don’t know about my experience with violence. I can’t blame them, but, no, I wouldn’t just stand there like an idiot, but use the paintball attack to close the distance to blade range.

And another edit:

Some commenters say that defending your house with firearms is a Christian duty and that the Ten Commandments don’t say ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’, but ‘Thou Shalt Not Murder’. My thoughts on that subject:

I’m raised Christian, but became agnostic because of the hypocrisy of organised religion. However, even if these commenters are right, using a lethal weapon to repel an intruder (99% of intruders are after possessions, not looking to murder you in your sleep) is not exactly ‘Christian’: even a casual reader of the gospel would understand that Jesus Christ himself would not condone the spilling of blood over mere possessions. Therefore, arming yourself with lethal weapons in order to repel intruders is premeditated killing, i.e. murder. There are plenty of effective non-lethal weapons (tasers, for instance) that can be used without killing the intruder.

But what about the killers and rapists?

If there is a high rate of homicidal intruders in your neighbourhood, high enough to warrant the stockpiling of lethal weapons for ‘home defence’, you might want to look into relocating your family. Chances are that the ‘reporting’ on these ‘deadly home invasions’ is merely scare tactics by groups like the NRA in order to sell more guns. In reality, getting killed by an intruder is as unlikely as getting killed by a Great White shark.

In reality, most child rapists do not jump from bushes or climb into the bedroom window — in the majority of child rape cases, the rapist is familiar to the child, i.e. family members, daycare staff, teachers, priests*, and baby sitters. In other words, the people to whom we entrust our children.

(* Personally, I loathe the people citing the Catholic catechism to morally justify using deadly force defending their children from getting raped by intruders. If you want to keep your children from getting raped, keep them far away from Catholic priests.)

Women Got Shocked After Hearing These Stats Of The Ideal Man

The theme ended with projectile vomit

Yesterday, I took the family to a theme park in Southern Zhuhai. It’s the Chimelong Ocean Kingdom. We paid 3500 rmb (roughly $500) for two days with hotel, and two buffet meals. (For us three.)

Now, you must know, everything in China is HUGE.

Not Texas huge.

“Universe” huge.

The facility included FIVE theme parks. Each with it’s own hotel, and passes to each one. Each theme park is “Disney Park” in size. So it is an ENORMOUS complex.

Just mind-mindbogglingly large.

When you buy the tickets, the ticket seller will warn you to take one day per theme. Other than that you are wasting your time.

And there is no way you can do more than that! Lordy!

We chose to concentrate on the “Penguin life park”, and the “spaceship future” park. Both were fun and cool, and my little girl enjoyed every second of the excitement.

My little girl loved it!

Animals. Excitement. Bright colors. Rides. Many playgrounds.

And the hotel room was super kid friendly.

We stayed at the Circus hotel, and she had her own bed that looked like a lions cage on wheels, had her own kid-sized robe and slipper. The television only played kids shows, and the commode was kid friendly with a kid style insert. The shower had a kid sized lower tier.

Well thought out.

place 2015 09 25 7 Chimelongoceankingdom

The only problem was that on the last day I caught a “bug” and spent the entire day vomiting and spending time on the shitter. I had water-cannon high volume vomiting.

36 times. Thirty Six vomits!

Each time I just emptied out.

Wholly crap!

Then went home to sleep. And sleep I did. Like the dead.

But I am up now, and shaky but functional. I am taking medicines and it all seems to work. I am drinking coffee and I am able to hold it down. So that’s good. Right?

It reminds me that I am still alive and functional. Yay!

Ah. Today…

What one sentence can change a life?

“Man, I’ve another 50 years of this shit…”

That one sentence was spoken by myself, to myself, in my car, as I pulled up outside my house, February 3rd 2016.

I have suffered from depression for 35 years. I can go months, sometimes years, without an episode, but in 2013 my wife, my soul mate, my best friend, left me after 15 years, which plunged me into the worst episode of my life.

Now, whilst depression is a living hell at times, I never actually feel sorry for myself. It’s a different emotion altogether, as anyone who suffers the same will testify. But this particular day, I was feeling sorry for myself. My business had gone to the wall in the first 12 months of separation. In the second 12 months I was struggling to pay the bills. By the end of year 3 I had £2 in the bank, was in desperate arrears with my mortgage and my new business was bringing in barely £200 a week.

I pulled up outside my house at 5pm, knowing the rest of the night would, yet again, be spent sat alone, in the cold, with the constant memories of my wife and children walking around the house, ghosts of their laughter echoing around, heart and mind being tormented by all that had gone before. There was little food in the cupboard. No credit for gas on the meter and low credit for electricity on that meter.

And this was the lowest point, it was 3 years of decline to this moment. I had no way of getting out of the mess I was in. No way I could figure, anyway. For the first time, this time I felt sorry for myself and literally said out loud, “man, I’ve another 50 years of this shit.”

That was the moment everything changed. I turned the engine off and lit a rare cigarette. I continued to talk to myself in the car – partly out loud, partly in my head. The conversation (with myself) went along these lines…

“50 years… ha, great… and I’m 50 years old next year (2017). Well, hang on… if I’m 50 next year, then I am only half way through my life. If I do live to be 100 – and why not ? – then next year, my 50th birthday, is the start of part 2. Mmmm… well if that’s the case then :

1 – I don’t need to buy a house – already bought one, only 5 years off completion (if I can find a way to keep the reposession order at bay). In 5 years, I will have property worth £130,000. Fully paid up. Hey, imagine if I had that when I was 5 years old, how cool that would have been for a start in life !

2 – I don’t have to go to school for 15 years – I’ve done that, I’ve got an education, done college, done university… I’ve got a head start !

3 – I don’t have to get married and have children – I have 3 wonderful children who are doing well and I’ve had the snip, so no need to have any more… no stress and strain of raising babies. Ace !

4 – I don’t need to buy a car or learn to drive – already sorted.

5 – I don’t need to worry about making friends or being popular or liked – I have a fantastic circle of friends who love me and I love them.

6 – I don’t have to worry about my parents leaving me, I already have had the sadness of losing them.

7 – I don’t need to worry about a job. I have the potential in my new business to make a comfortable living, if and when I am mentally strong enough to fully apply myself.

… and so on and so forth…”

Now I am having this conversation with myself in my car and I can literally feel the stress, the pain, the depression leaving my body. I am getting genuinely excited at the way my mind is working. I go into the house and continue this conversation whilst making a coffee. I get a notepad and make notes of what I am saying. Every note, every little idea, is scribbled down so as not to be forgotten.

As the evening progresses, I find myself going through each room in the house, removing any trace of my wife’s existance. Every memory gets either boxed up for the children to enjoy in the future, or goes in the bin. The kitchen gets emptied – I keep 3 cups, 3 plates, 3 knives, forks etc, for me and the 2 youngest children when they visit. The rest of the clutter gets binned. The living room is re-arranged. The bedroom is rearranged. The bathroom is rearranged. This carries on through to maybe 5am…

… For the first time in 3 years, I go to bed with an exhausted smile and wake up a few hours later with that same smile. I carry on where I left off. I borrow a couple of hundred pounds off my brother to get rid of furniture and replace with cheap “get by for a while” furniture, that has no trace of my marriage attached to it. I carry on writing notes.

Well, over the next 2 -3 months, remarkable changes happen. By the end of the 3rd month, at my medical check up, I am taken off my blood pressure tablets, my BP being normal for the first time in 3 years. The following month, after slowly cutting back, I am off my anti-depressants, also for the first time in 3 years, the longest I have been there in my life. I have lost over a stone in fat. My business is taking off as I am able to focus on it and money is coming in again.

By November, 9 months on, I have cleared my debts and I have £4,000 saved. My friends tell me I have a “happy house”. That they feel the positive juju the second they come in the door. They want to know (part jokingly, and part enviously) why I now walk round with a permanent smile, like a village idiot. More than anything though, they are genuinely delighted that they have got “me” back.

But let’s go back to Part 2.

The whole trigger for this was the realisation that if I live to be 100, I am only halfway through my life. So I started adding to the notes I had already started. This time, not marking down things I didn’t have to go through, but things that I am going to do. Each page of things to do is broken down into what I need to do to get there. There are wild things that I may not be skilled enough to do, like publish a novel. I may never be as good as Jimi Hendrix on the guitar. But what is there to stop me doing the best I can do with both ? Then there are totally achievable goals, like buying a campervan and spending 3 months on the road, enjoying life and writing that novel ? Getting married again, now that my heart is mending and I am meeting lovely ladies again – why not ? Decorating and renovating the house. Expanding the business. Getting fit. Losing a bit more weight. Learning to fly a plane. Doing a new degree in something I really enjoy. So many places to visit, to enjoy, to experience.

It’s all there and it’s all ahead of me and I know it’s all down to me. But most importantly, after the 9 months that have just gone by and how my life has already changed so much, I know it’s totally achievable !

So… “man, I’ve another 50 years of this shit” is the single, most important sentence that has changed my life, hopefully forever. Because I’m proving it wrong. And life has rarely felt better.

(I have missed out a section about a girl, I’ll call her “W”, who added a lot of fuel to this fire right at the beginning. She may read this and/or some people may know her, so I shouldn’t mention her by name. But, without knowing it, she made me want to be a better person (thanks Jack Nicholson) too. We never dated, or anything like that… but she is one of the most beautiful souls I have come across. Thank you “W” for your inspiration.)

Best wishes all of you reading this. I wish you a long and happy life.

Rob.

Chicken Gyros with Dill Sauce

Chicken Gyros with Dill Sauce is a traditional Greek sandwich.

Crock Pot Chicken Gyro 6 500x375 1 — Crock Pot Chicken Gyro 6 500×375 1

Ingredients

1 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill
2 large garlic cloves, finely minced
1 teaspoon + 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 pound skinless boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
4 fresh pita bread rounds, heated
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

In small bowl blend together yogurt, 2 tablespoons dill, garlic and 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken with oregano, 1 teaspoon dill, salt and pepper. Sauté until browned and cooked through, about about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon oil to skillet and sauté onions until golden brown, about 10 minutes.
Return chicken and any juices to skillet. Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Stir until heated through, about 2 minutes.
Top pita rounds with chicken mixture. Spoon dill sauce over chicken and serve. This sandwich is folded in half and eaten. Pass the extra sauce, as desired.

Doomed by decoupling

The West falls further behind

Godfree Roberts

We are decoupling from China and, a fortiori, from its technology and the 130 countries in its currency, trade and defense alliances. Highlights from 2023 suggest that we far behind and the gap is widening.

Economy

In 2023, China’s economy grew by $1.6 trillion, more than the rest of the world’s combined – while the USA borrowed $3 trillion to fund $300 billion GDP growth. Real wages grew 4.7% and demographics will remain healthy through 2043. 21 million tourists flew during Golden Week and spent $3 billion in Xinjiang alone. Hangzhou hosted more athletes at the Asian Games than the Olympics and domestic brands Anta and Li-Ning outsold Nike and Adidas.

Research

Young Science became the world’s #3 journal and is rapidly overtaking incumbent leaders Nature and Science. With a $228 billion corporate R&D budget, 3 million Chinese scientists applied for almost as many patents as the rest of the world combined, and utterly dominated the top 1% of most influential papers. Huawei’s R&D budget alone is larger than the US CHIPS and Science Act.

Health

Researchers there cured thalassemia, reversed autism and aging, provided Covid immunization with a dry powder aerosol, curednasopharyngeal cancer, constipation, atherosclerosis and improved Alzheimer’s memory and functionality. They grew human kidneys in pig embryos and oversaw the first live birth of chimeric monkeys

Hard Tech

Scientists created the first graphene semiconductor, while Betavolt began shipping an atomic energy battery that powers consumer devices for 99 years.

Huawei mastered 7nm chip production (Intel still has not), replaced WiFi with 6x faster NearLink, took Apple’s #1 spot in the world’s largest market with a phone using 90% domestic components. Chinese chip foundries bought 62% of machinery equipment domestically this year, vs. 47% last year, and produced the first integrated neuro-memristor and the first 232 layer flash memory. Researchers set a record for high-rate quantum key distribution, showed off the first ambient superionic hydride ion conductor, the first primate brain-computer interface and an integrated neuro-memristor chip that will make circuit boards obsolete.

Macro inventions included the first waterless nuclear reactor, the most powerful solid-fuel rocket, the first liquid oxygen/methane rocket (it lifted 6 tonnes into sun-synchronous orbit), the world’s only Mach 30 wind tunnel, lasers generating high-energy beams indefinitely, and the first high-orbit Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite for 24×7 weather observation.

The country installed 80 million kW of PV and PV generated 300 billion kWh nationwide, 30% above 2022. CATL’s EV batteries get 400 km on 15 min. charge and 700 km. on a regular charge at all temperatures. In addition to installing 290,000 industrial robots – more than the rest of the world combined – it put AESA radars on $8,000 farm drones (only four countries can make them – for fighter jets). Its 800 million 5G subscribers are served by 3.2 million base stations and integrated 5G industry applications into 67 economic categories with 100,000 application cases. Tibet’s 5G service surpassed California’s.

Environment

In the wilderness that covers 42% of China’s landmass, conservationists counted 70,000 Tibetan antelopes, 3,400 Przewalski’s gazelles, 5,000 golden snub-nosed monkeys and 1200 Snow Leopards…

What’s a red flag that you ignored in a significant other, only to realize it was a big deal later?

I dated a lady, who was already dating someone else. Except I didn’t know this when she asked me out. They weren’t living together, so it wasn’t something that jumped out at you.

It was only on our 4th date, that the guy got suspicious , and followed her to our restaurant, and caused a scene that I had a clue. She dumped the guy, in the restaurant, and made it seem like it was no big deal, as they were a short term casual couple.

I found out from her best friend about a month later, that they had been seeing each other regularly for a year. But I was hooked by then.

After 9 months she asked me,to ask her, to marry me. Yes, I know, confusing right?

I said I needed to think about it. Immediately, she was busy on Friday nights, but still up for Saturdays. She said it was work related.

I recognized the pattern and decided not to follow her to whatever restaurant and bar she was going to. I didn’t need to have a big fight in public. Instead I waited until the next day, and lied to her, and told her I had followed her. She said, well I guess thats it then. Why does everyone follow me?

Implying that I wouldn’t have just been the second person to follow her.

She was right, that was it. Once a cheater, always a cheater, even if they aren’t married or living together.

Wife Started Behaving Like A F**inist And Is Now Having A MELTDOWN That Her Marriage Is IMPLODING

https://youtu.be/CM8100c-xxg

How has China’s growth model based on debt-fueled investment and land sales become difficult to sustain?

It is not though!

Chinese people are prolific savers. And Chinese as you know are the most practical and pragmatic people on planet earth. They are the opposite of American people who are one of the most wasteful nation on planet earth. And worst the U.S. as a nation and your archaic political system allows wasteful and unaudited spending.

China and Chinese are just the opposite.

Chinese people save 36% of their income, the highest on earth and the US barely save at all. That is a very big difference. The U.S. cannot depend on domestic savings, China can and they do. China saved more the entire UK GDP each year! China used that to fuel the Chinese economy by building up infrastructures and invest in R&D. Hence China is now totally independent innovatively and scientifically.

I know when a person like you who ask such a question you are already fooled by your western media that China is unsustainable but the fact is just the opposite. The U.S. is mightily unsustainable and China is the lowest geared economy. And its real tangible investment are paying off well!

The U.S. infrastructure is dilapidating and you guys burnt cash like there is no tomorrow! 5 trillion in Iraq, 5 trillion in Vietnam, 3 trillion in Afghanistan. And probably 10 trillion in Ukraine by the time this shit ended. Burning cash sending armadas around the world and keeping 800 plus military bases around the world! Your investment is not getting any returns.

China build more high speed railway, solar panels, wind turbines and hydroelectric power stations then the rest of the world put together!

So grow up Mr. Questioner and Americans and brain dead westerners. China is great and dandy. The U.S. is without doubt collapsing before your eyes. If you open yours!

THIS AMERICAN INSULTS THE ENTIRE AFRICAN CONTINENT. IS THIS HOW A/AMERICANS FEEL ABOUT AFRICANS?

https://youtu.be/1qeRW-SbsPg

Would the Tiananmen Square Massacre have happened if China had a Second Amendment?

The problem is, there was no massacre.

Tiananmen, and the never-ending western media narrative telling outright lies for decades without giving the Chinese the opportunity to set out the facts is the primary motivation for the Great Firewall, and strict Chinese censorship.

A poor and relatively backward China would have been at constant risk of implosion had external forces been able to spread lies as propaganda to bring down the government in Beijing, using Tiananmen as the rallying point.

Unfortunately, the truth is way more mundane.

The students were persuaded to go home before first light, and most of the soldiers deployed to the square were involved in area cleaning on June 4th and 5th.

In sum, the Tiananmen PROTESTS (which lasted for months centered around June 4th) resulted in the deaths of several hundred, with an abnormally high percentage being uniformed personnel. It was at best, a sustained social disturbance.

The Chinese are not stupid, or disrespectful people. No leader will order a massacre at Tiananmen, with the portrait of Mao overlooking the square. The Long March generation had given their lives to free the people from oppression, and it would have been heresy to mow down the hope of the nation under the watchful eyes of Mao.

Dmitry Orlov: Russia and China Melding in a Shifting Geopolitical Landscape

https://youtu.be/sdkloQ5dycI

What’s the most unprofessional thing a doctor has said to you?

This happened, not to me, but to my younger sister (who’s 16 at the moment). [Too bad I wasn’t with her back then…]

Some Background Details (they’re important in the story): My sister is a beautiful, talented and intelligent girl. She got double promotion in her 6th year so now she’s the youngest in her class. For some time now (around 2–3 years… Whoa, that’s actually a lot!), she has been complaining about her vision. She says that whenever she opens her eyes, everything just constantly keeps morphing and changing forms .

We took her to 3 opthalmologists. None of them could determine the cause of her wavy vision and so they diagnosed it as psychological and referred her to a psychologist who was very well-known (and well-paid) in our area.

Let’s call the psychologist Sarah. So here goes:

(My sister comes in and sits down. Sarah regards my sister condescendingly then proceeds to give her a complacent smirk as if she had just found the answer to all the problems in the universe)

Sarah: “You’re not a very good student are you?”

5 remarks popped into my sister’s head at that very moment:

WTF?!
Is this the first question you ask your patient?
I’m top of my class even after my double promotion.
You’re not a very good doctor are you?
Lady, you just ruined your reputation in less than 10 seconds.

But instead she replied with a simple “I’m moderately good.”

Sarah: “You know, it won’t do you any good to lie.”

By this point, my sister is so shocked she doesn’t even say anything.

Sarah: “Please stand outside for a moment. I’d like to speak to your mother privately.”

My sister just walks out (still unable to process such level of vanity in an adult).

Sarah: “Your daughter is quite obviously making the whole thing up about her vision. And as her parent, it is your responsibility to make sure she studies all day. She gets an F in her tests and at best a D, am I right?”

It took my mother all of her willpower to not get up and slap her full across the face. She quietly thanked the doctor and left, making sure to slam the door especially loudly on her way out.

P.S. After much more research and diagnosis in another country (Australia), it turns out my sister’s wavy vision was due to ocular migraine. It hasn’t got much better yet but baby steps lead the way. 🙂

INVESTIGATORS REVEAL JIMMY LAI MONEY TRAIL

Huge amounts of international money flowed into the bank accounts of Jimmy Lai—and large sums of cash went out to anti-China groups, a court heard yesterday.

The tabloid publisher received HK$2.945 billion in his nine bank accounts in recent years, with deposits coming from the United States, Canada, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and elsewhere. The money is said to have derived “from overseas securities trading”.

But the money didn’t sit there.

Who got the cash?

Chunks of finance went out to multiple China-hostile political groups in Hong Kong, the US, and the UK, the prosecution said, providing a detailed report from financial investigators.

Jimmy Lai’s lawyer Steven Kwan Man-wai did not dispute the information.

Local recipients included the Hong Kong Democratic Party, the Civic Party, the Labour Party, the League of Social Democrats, the court was told.

A wildly critical UK group called Hong Kong Watch, whose members include Benedict Rogers and former Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten, received HK$202,000.

Paul Wolfowitz, former US deputy secretary of defence, was sent HK$1.76 million in payments from 2013 onwards, the court heard. Money also went to a right-wing think tank called the American Enterprise Institute.

Cash also went to a group called the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, organizers of an annual meeting to keep the “Tiananmen Square massacre” story, debunked by Julian Assange and others, alive.

The biggest individual recipient named yesterday was Cardinal Joseph Zen, a retired Hong Kong churchman who has fallen out with his colleagues, including Pope Francis, over his relentless China-bashing. The churchman received HK$3.5 million in 2017, the prosecution said.

The court heard earlier that large sums of money from Jimmy Lai’s funds (held by various entities) were paid to media companies, including the publishers of the Washington Post, the Nikkei Weekly, the UK Guardian, and media groups in India.

Jimmy Lai, 76, is on trial for sedition and collusion, offences illegal worldwide. His colleagues and associates have pleaded guilty in related hearings. The trial continues.

Baltic Sea Anomaly, Atlantis, and Underwater Alien Bases | Mysteries of the Ocean Pt 1

https://youtu.be/tgqAt6YN1jE

Why do so many couples still get married when the divorce rate is so high?

I can tell you why I took the plunge.

She was gorgeous.

I wanted to have sex.

We were both young and stupid.

Oh, and movies said we’d “live happily ever after.”

And we did, through the honeymoon. Then reality struck.

We suddenly discovered that, well, we’re very different. In just about everything.

And that caused us to clash and occasionally me to wonder, “What the hell is wrong with her?”

And my wife to wonder that about me, only way more often.

Through years of building businesses, raising kids, paying bills. And occasional sleepless nights, sickness and clashes it would have been easy to walk away.

To think, “Well, I guess it’s not meant to be.”

But we just chose not to. We chose to make it “happily ever after.” Period.

So when we didn’t have the happy part we still had the ever after part. And it was going to be a long ever after.

So we might as well put the happy part back in. And we did.

Last week my wife was gone baby sitting our grandson. I was home alone.

No, that’s never a good thing in so many ways.

She came home on Friday evening so we had a late dinner and watched a movie.

As we enjoyed a glass of wine, I thought, “Ah, life is good again. Just the way it’s meant to be.”

I turned to her and said, “I’m glad you can babysit. But I’m really glad you’re home.”

“Yeah, it feels good to be home too. Though I miss my baby,” she responded.

“I know, I’m having to compete with your new boyfriend. But I do have to say, he’s really cute.”

We laughed.

And proceeded to live happily ever after for another evening.

And later, well, never mind.

You get married for the wrong reasons. Then build a marriage for the right ones.

What path in life did you go down that, as a child, you never would have expected?

I was failing grade 8 Math and English, and barely passing Science. My parents ran into my Math teacher at a social event, turned out they had distant common friends.

She made it a point to tell them I wasn’t going to get anywhere in life. She suggested they find me a trade, I might do well as an electrician or a plumber (nothing wrong with these professions, except she used it in a derogatory way, as studying is beyond my capabilities).

Ms. Farhana was a real jerk.

I was the shiest kid around and bullied throughout my childhood. However, I was embarrassed enough by that incident that I mustered up my courage and asked the neighbour’s daughter to tutor me. She started from basic and built up from there.

I passed grade 8 Math. Barely, but I passed it.

She kept tutoring me and I did average in grade 9.

My grade 10 Math teacher had a baby. He lived in the neighbourhood so I decided to ring his doorbell to wish him well. He invited me in for cake. Zee never says no to cake. He told me I could be his best student if I just tried harder.

I knew he was giving me an empty compliment, but a part of me thought I could.

So I asked him to help me after school. He said yes.

I got lucked out with a really kick-ass, but slightly racist, grade 11 Chemistry teacher. He broke things down to just Math. I overlooked his passive aggressive micro-aggressions and had him help me. Everything made sense.

I took Finite Math in highschool. The teacher had a bit of a gambling problem, but man did he know his probabilities.

Suddenly Math was fun.

There is a goat behind one of three doors and you pick a door. I open one of the doors you didn’t pick, do you change your answer? (Hint: yes)

I made up different problems with him. I learned Texas Hold’em. We talked about probabilities of different hands.

In grade 12 Advanced Math I got almost perfect, the highest mark anyone has gotten up until that point in that school’s history.

I took Math tests for fun and did well enough at the University of Waterloo’s Descartes test that I got in with scholarship even though my overall marks weren’t that high.

I decided to major in Math (and Computer Science). I finished the first year in Dean’s list, primarily because of kicking ass in Math. I tutored Calculus, Algebra, and Combinatorics and Optimization to pay bills.

Screw you Ms. Farhana, you were wrong.

I graduated and went to work for Microsoft and then Amazon due to my strength in Math.

I decided to run for a local office and despite not knowing anyone, turned campaigning into a Math problem. I reached out to others in the office and asked them for advice. I took their advice seriously.

Heck I read a book, tracked down its author (two-time mayor of a Michigan municipality) and emailed him for advice. He replied and agreed to mentor me remotely.

I won the election.

I started a business. I sucked at it. I ran into someone at a dinner who ran an agency. I asked him for help. He agreed. Eventually we ran a campaign for Nissan.

As a child I never thought I could learn that everyone had something to teach me, outright ask them to teach me, and benefit from this skill so incredibly.

“The Worst Thing Ever”

it was seriously the worst thing ever. I walked into my house and saw my mom hanging from the ceiling fan.

I can’t even put into words how messed up it was. It felt like my whole world just fell apart. I still can’t wrap my head around it. It’s like I’m stuck in some kind of freaky….

I can’t even put into words how messed up it was. It felt like my whole world just fell apart. I still can’t wrap my head around it. It’s like I’m stuck in some kind of freaky dream.

I just wish I could go back in time and stop it from happening. But I know that’s not possible. All I can do now is try to move on and remember her in the best way I can.

The most devastating experience of my life was witnessing my mother’s passing. The sight of her lifeless body on the floor left me feeling as though I had lost not only her, but also myself and my entire world.

Despite my desperate desire to help her, she passed away before my eyes, leaving me feeling helpless and hopeless.

However, as time passed, I came to the realization that I must strive to make her proud by doing my best to secure a successful future. This tragedy has left an indelible mark on my life, but I am determined to honor my mother’s memory by achieving my goals.

Related…

DESPERATE WOMAN RESCUED FROM HANGING HERSELF TO DEATH

Information from reliable source to YIRIMAMBO ADVOCACY GROUP UPPER WEST REGION

indicate that a woman from East District information gathered from Wa East district in the Upper West region indicate that a married woman with six children who allegedly wanted to hang herself to death is battling with problems.

It has been fetched but obvious that she can not do anything else for survival nor her mother to care for her family. It is noted that she is a sickler and her mother a stroke patience.

Despite her poor health condition, she and the husband that are taking care of the family. She is always carrying her mother here and there to help her in movement because of that she can’t do any work for money.

Notwithstanding to this, sometimes it is difficult for them to get even food to eat or clothes to wear and medicines for themselves.

Even though the father with six children, is a farmer but is not easy for him taking care of all of them, he brings only what he gets from the farm and that is all which is not always enough but they have been managing.

So she always sit idle thinking that all these problems cannot be solved and she has been saying which she has always been saying to people. *Ending Her Life By Committing Suicide* On the 31st July, 2019 at about 4-5:00 in the evening, a woman which is about 45years- old by name with-held with six Chlidren, from Ducie in the Wa East district of the Upper West region went out with a rope in a black

polythene bag thinking that nobody have seen her but one of her children who was inside another room before she went out into the bush quickly went to inform some good Samaritans in the community and they also quickly traced this woman to the bush and before they got there she has already tied the rope on top of a tree trying to climb another piece of a tree before she can put her neck on the rope. Then the people who followed her as good Samaritans shouted on her and quickly rushed to save her without doing that.

So on this note we are pleading that if any member can help us with either food stuffs or clothes for these people and health support for them as well, if possible so that we will also try to help this woman with counselling and the materials support from you.

But for now she is a little bit OK with her situation.

 With the intervention of yirimambo for the first place with our advice and counseling than before.

SOURCE YIRIMAMBO ADVOCACY GROUP UPPER WEST

Be the RUFUS!

We are a community.

My post on community… on Quora.

What is a Chinese Expert?

I really do not think that this creature exists.

According to the Western / American “news” media, a Chinese Expert is…

A person who accepts American government funding to say bad things about China.
Is associated, or was associated, with American mainstream media.
Has, in their possession, photos of the “expert” with American political personages.

According to the Chinese, a Chinese Expert is a graded, stratified tier system based on experience.

Top Tier

Born in China. Studied Chinese history with exemplary grades. Works on behalf of the Chinese people, and puts the people of China first. Many members of the CCP fit this role, as do many Pioneers, and an entire subculture of Chinese that support the “Chinese Dream”.

Old Hand

Has lived in China for a significant period of time. Understands the various societies, and cultures of China. Is married to, or was part of, a Chinese family. Works on behalf on the greater good for all, but of course, his / her Chinese family and Chinese friends come first. This person is also known as a Chinese wanna-be. And this person supports, and praises, “The Chinese Dream”.

Enthusiast

This person, may or many not have lived in China. But has totally embraced the Chinese culture, society and means. This includes certain individuals out of Singapore, Vietnam, and other places around the globe. Maybe they aren’t an “expert” in a classical sense, but they are certainly enthusiastic for the Chinese dream. These people are perhaps known an “fanboi.”

At best, I (personally) am considered a “China Old Hand”.

I don’t know everything, but I know enough.

…

What is “The Chinese Dream”?

Last weekend, my family and a few friends, went to visit an organizational youth meet in Zhuhai. This group (and there are thousands throughout China), teach independence, pride, self-confidence, and acceptance as part of “The Chinese Dream”. It was astounding.

It’s 100% voluntary. The kids pay a small membership fee.

Really. Amazing.

You will never see anything else like this anywhere. Watch how accepted and inclusive my daughter was taken in. It was like she was “absorbed by the hive”. LOL

“Resistance is futile”. -The Borg

https://youtu.be/vVcosfCqwNA

There is a great sense of belonging, and acceptance that I have NEVER experienced anywhere else.

Belonging.

B-E-L-O-N-G-I-N-G

Belonging as PART of a COMMUNITY.

No “lone wolf” bullshit.

…

It’s stuff like this why I LOVE LOVE LOVE China so much.

EDIT 22JAN23

1.3K views. Only 30 “thumbs up”.

I guess you all have bought into the Western propagandized lie that you can be the “lone wolf”. That you can be another “Die Hard” type; another Rambo. Another Clint Eastwood or John Wayne. Maybe a “Professional career woman”… and all that.

That is a lie.

As many are waking up to the reality that humans are social creatures.

We need to be part of society. We need to belong.

Watch my little 2 minute video. (above)

Belonging is valuable.

What made you think, “You’ve got to be kidding me,” when someone sat next to you on an airplane?

We were on a flight to the U.S. from Thailand where we live.

In Taiwan, a disheveled man of around 30 sat down next to me, reeking of weed. After takeoff, he pulled down the tray and filled it with candy bars, nuts, fruit juice and oranges from his camouflage jacket. He turned to me and said, “You can’t trust airline food.”

But when lunch was served, he smashed his food stash under the food tray he was given and ate everything, including the garnish.

Afterwards he wanted to talk and kept pestering me with, “Hey. Hey!!”

He asked where we were from, and upon hearing “Bangkok” he began raving about ‘Thai sticks’, Thai marijuana. Then he asked my Thai husband if he would help him start importing weed to the U.S.

Husband stared at him really coldly and told the man that he was a Royal Thai police officer so “No.” The idiot’s response: “ Listen, I know all Thai cops are corrupt. We could make a load.”

Husband put headphones on and ignored him. I asked the pothead if he was out of his mind. He shrugged, laughed and said husband would change his mind, for sure.

Luckily, he made a friend elsewhere and moved.

But he wasn’t finished with us.

As we lined up for Customs, he got right behind us. As the agent checked our bags, he kept saying loudly, “They’re from Thailand. Great weed there! Oh, look! That’s a weed pipe!” (It was a replica of a silver opium pipe, a decorative item – a gift) “Listen! I still wanna import from you guys!!”

Another agent picked up his bags and escorted him to a separate office, and we never saw him again.

My MM video about pollution in China

https://youtu.be/1vpQCefbArY

Why is the United States afraid of China?

It’s entirely IDEOLOGICAL

The United States and it’s entire existence is based on the WEALTH OF NATIONS

The inherent belief that Core Capitalism is the only system to deliver maximum benefits to an economy and stability to the economy & a system of the people is the only way to deliver a system with full global peace

That the world will be fully peaceful when every nation is governed by its people AKA is a democracy built on Western ideals

This was a very correct analysis that the US followed for almost a hundred and ten years from 1880–1990

Unfortunately this ideology got corrupted post 1990 when:-

US Democracy slowly became more and more partisan
US Leaders became slowly worse and worse and essentially corrupt demagogues
The US capitalism model deteriorated to an Oligarchy ‘Support the top 1%’ model that is sinking the states
The US model became all about speculation and less about actual progress and growth

Yet today’s US leaders religiously believe this is the winning model that every nation must adopt and regards any nation that is different as a ‘Flawed Nation’

Chinas Economic Ideology unlike the USA has always changed to suit changing times

From Deeply Socialist under Mao Tse Tung where the focus was on Education and Equality and Food Production and Stability

To Gradual Mixed Economy under Deng Xiaoping & Jiang Zimin where the focus shifted to Industrialization

To a Ruthless Capitalist Mindset under Hu Jintao where the focus was growth, growth and growth

To the Common Prosperity Mindset under Xi Jingping focusing on reducing Income inequality, spreading development across all sections of the economy and a sort of hybrid model of socialism within capitalism

It is diametric opposite to the US and it’s Ruthless Capitalism Ideology

US maximizes emphasis on Speculation

China hates Speculation

US prefers to capitalize everything to the maximum

China prefers a strong sense of control on excess capitalism

US prefers coalescing smaller entities into a handful of monopolies

China prefers mushrooming of smaller entities and competition deciding which is the best

Chinas One Party System is also diametrically opposite to the Multiple faction democracy that the US endorses and the West supports

The US believes that one person for too long loses the incentive to serve the people and becomes a dictator

Yet China believes a group of able people can serve the people the best and prevent unworthy individuals from coming to power who can ruin a well established system of governance

The US has always believed that ultimately China will shed it’s different ways and join the US in their perfect model (that they don’t realize they have fully corrupted)

It’s what made Gordon Chang & Peter Zeihan such celebrities

The US has always believed that China would face a massive setback like the USSR did (Or was suckered into triggering a setback like my friend Hoàng Phan establishes in his answers)

They estimated this to happen between 2005–2008

Didnt Happen

Instead China moved from strength to strength to strength over time and successfully endured every US action against it, from the Wolf Sanctions of 2011 to the Raimondo Sanctions of 2022

The US may trigger a wave of propaganda against China but the purpose of this is to STOP THEIR OWN PEOPLE FROM QUESTIONING AS TO HOW CHINA NOT ONLY SURVIVES TODAY BUT THRIVES FOLLOWING DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSITE ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL IDEOLOGY

As China moves ahead without the seeming collapse, the US are seeing their two hundred year old belief and ideology (Again which they don’t realize they have corrupted already) getting shattered by China

And slowly seeing others start to adopt a similar stance from Turkiye to Serbia to Vietnam to Singapore

The US is beginning to wonder if indeed it’s ideology was flawed and whether it’s gods and idols are false

And that terrifies them

They don’t realize that it is THEY who have completely corrupted a nice good solid system that was giving them the position of world leader and global trust for decades

It is they who have become Satanic Hegemons from Global Leaders

As for China, China is on the right track so far

They MUSTN’T MAKE THE MISTAKE THAT US DID

They mustn’t allow ideology and hegemony to corrupt them the way US was corrupted under Bush Junior, Clinton and so on

They must ensure they keep refreshing their system so that it best helps the people of China

Pepe Escobar: China Issues DEVASTATING Warning to Neocons as Putin and Xi Make History

https://youtu.be/Qozaq6KAvPs

Have you ever seen something so surprising that you were momentarily stunned? What was it?

I was on the beach late one night looking at the moon and the waves.

Out of the corner of my eye along the south end of the beach – I saw something super weird.

What is that?

I squinted, trying to figure it out – it was too far away – but it had to be really huge.

What the heck?

Well, I couldn’t sit there idly looking at the moon and listening to the surf anymore – I needed to figure out what that thing was over there on the beach.

So, I started walking… is it a car? What is that thing? How is it on the beach? Nobody in their right mind would drive a VW bug on a beach like ours… at night…

Closer and closer I walked and larger and larger it looked.

It was a leatherback sea turtle. Digging a hole in the sand.

I was utterly flabbergasted.

I didn’t make a sound, I just stood there, awestruck: feeling truly blessed in the moment to be near such a magnificent being.

I had never been so close to such a large animal in the wild before.

She was utterly oblivious to me – she was on a mission.

I stood beside her as she dug: I definitely got a sand bath that night. She flipped the sand until she was happy with her nest and began to fill it with eggs.

It took a long time.

I couldn’t stay until she was completely finished.

I’m pretty sure it took most of the rest of the night. I left around 0300 and she wasn’t done.

I’ve since swum with green turtles, who are dwarfed in comparison. But nothing has engendered that kind of awe before or since. Stunned is the right word for something which leaves your mouth hanging and your words lost.

Cheese and Honey Pie

Ingredients

Sesame Seed Pastry

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seed
1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling

16 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Instructions

Sesame Seed Pastry: Mix all ingredients until blended; press firmly and evenly against bottom and side of 9-inch pie plate.
Bake at 475 degrees F for 5 minutes.
Filling: Beat cream cheese in large mixer bowl on medium speed until creamy. Add remaining ingredients; beat until light and fluffy. Pour into baked pie shell.
Bake at 350 degrees F until firm, 40 to 50 minutes.
Refrigerate until serving time.

Yields 10 to 12 servings.

Done with the bullshit

I had a thought today that I wanted to share with you all, this is my response to a Reddit post I saw about how corrupt and outdated representative democracy is.

I will start with what I think to be the main problems of representative democracy

The elected body of legislators is not a representative sample of the population, looking at the legislature, you’d think the vast majority of the country was white male lawyers that are either Republicans or Democrats. This is very far from the truth, and many voters do not properly identify either Republican or Democrat and their interests oftentimes scope over topics from both parties. Most of the time when people vote they’re just picking the lesser of two evils, and are not in any way completely satisfied with what other party is doing.
Scope of power does not match scope of accountability, legislators may pass laws that impact people that could not vote for or against them. Unless you count propositions in places like california, legislators are able to pass pretty much whatever law they want that impact sometimes tens of millions of people and are in no way accountable to the laws that they pass. The people have no say in the laws that legislators have passed. This very often leads to a corrupt system of the government being able to do whatever it wants and the people having no say in what the government does.
Job security for elected officials is more dependent on fundraising than on whether the politician is acting in his or her constituents’ best interests. This blows the system wide open for large corporations and billionaires to buy off politicians that represent their best interests as opposed to the people.
Lobbying undermines democracy. Lobbying is a mechanism for powerful groups to influence laws and regulations at the expense of the public interest. This results in outside influence, unfair competition and policy capture, to the detriment of effective policymaking. This effectively allows billionaires and big corporations to buy our government and politicians that act in their best interests rather than the interests of the people.
The voting system and general layout of government was designed before it was possible to quickly communicate long distances, so it ignores the possibility of citizens directly participating.
Mass media cannot be trusted to provide accurate information and is very often bias. Mass media often feeds lies and propaganda to the electorate and the electorate is not currently equipped to ensure a representative democracy is acting in the best interest of the people.
The electoral college needs to go, it is not based on popular vote, and it is based on a winner takes all system which is easily susceptible to corruption and allows political candidates to be elected by losing the popular vote. Under the system if you want to vote for your states of losing party don’t even bother voting.
There aren’t enough representatives to accurately represent the people if we’re going to keep our system of representative democracy and not throw out the entire thing. I think the amount of Representatives should be raised to 936, and the amount of Representative districts should also be increased.
It’s very hard to remove corrupt politicians from power. The people should be able to impeach corrupt politicians, the system was not designed to have politicians serving for 30 or 40 years. We need term limits, I think a term limit of 6 years for senators and representatives is perfectly fair, and I think a term limit of 10 years for supreme Court justices is also perfectly fair. This would allow the government to be more in touch with what people want by constantly switching out people every couple of years.
The Monopoly of power that both conservatives and liberals have over the government in their respected Republican and Democratic parties. We need more political parties to better represent the people, it is not the case that people simply think one way or the other there should be five political parties written directly into the Constitution. The government should operate in a European style model of a political coalition if it wants to get anything done, in other words political parties are forced to make concessions and are forced to work with other political parties to pass laws.

So what do I things should be done to fix things? I’ll tell you

Abolish Congress and the supreme Court, and implement a system of direct democracy where every 6 months every single issue that the supreme Court and Congress would have looked at are voted on directly by the people in the form of propositions. Now I know that if we implemented elections twice a year every June and December people will be voting on about 100 different issues, and that’s fine, people’s voices need to be heard and it is a much better system of asking people what they think of certain issues rather than allowing an out-of-touch government to make these decisions for people instead.
Like I said on my previous point, it needs to be a government for the people by the people. This is why representative democracy is an outdated and obsolete relic of the past. In representative democracy legislators are able to pass whatever laws they please and are not accountable to the people.
We need to make lobbying illegal and if we are going to have a political coalition system the people need to be the ones electing politicians not billionaires and big corporations. Money should not be a part of politics. Making money part of politics undermines democracy
Like I said before lobbying undermines democracy and it needs to be banned 🚫. Lobby groups do absolutely nothing for the government except give special interest groups political power that they shouldn’t have and allow the special interest groups to have a voice in our country and our politics and it allows them to buy politicians.
We need to switch to a ranked choice voting system, as opposed to an instant runoff system. The electoral college needs to go, even if that means amending the Constitution to get rid of it.
Mass media should not have a say in our government, as they cannot be trusted to provide accurate information. I think we should have a system of fake news laws that holds these mass media companies accountable for publishing bias or false information
Like I said the electoral college needs to go. Even if that means amending the Constitution get rid of it. We need a ranked choice popular voting system. This would make it so everybody’s voice is heard, and it would allow new political parties to come to the table and it would break up the Monopoly of power that Republicans and Democrats have over the government.
I don’t even think we should keep our system of Representative democracy, but if it needs to stay we need to double the amount of Representatives to 936. This wasn’t even my idea this was the idea of YouTuber Mathew Beat.
We need term limits for politicians. Once a corrupt politician like Mitch McConnell is in power it’s almost impossible to get rid of them. And it should be up to the entire country to elect politicians not just their state. Term limits would allow new people to come to the table and new ideas to spread and it would allow for more political parties to have seats. Every political party no matter how extremist should be able to have its voice heard.
We need to switch to a political coalition system. Everybody should be able to have their voice heard no matter what side of the political spectrum they sit on. There should be five major political parties and many smaller political parties even if those political parties only get 1–5% of the vote. These political parties should be: the nationalist, the conservatives, the liberals, the acella party (progressive party), and the green party. Many smaller political parties such as: the Socialist party, the fascist party, the libertarian party, etc should also get a say. If we have 936 representatives, even if the fascist party only got 2% of the vote, they would still get 19 seats. This would actually heavily benefit minority political parties and give them a lot of power. Let’s say for example that 20% of the population identifies as nationalist, and 22% of the population identify as conservative. This does not add up to 51%, it adds up to 42%, this would still require an additional 9% of the vote for the nationalist and conservatives to get anything passed and they would have to make deals with the smaller political parties to get up to 51%.

These are just my thoughts about our whole busted political system, let me know what you think

2024 Taiwan Election Reveals Shocking TRUTH About USA and China

https://youtu.be/XKiM2rVZMYg

Swimming in cockroaches

I used to live in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. And I loved it. What a nice and lush forest full of flowers. But like all things, I only was able to work there for a few years until I was laid off. Those lay offs really sucked, I’ll tell you what.

Anyways, I had a really nice house in a low area on the edge of a swamp. It was great. Glorious. With high temperatures, and humidity, it was super lush. My house was brown with nice green shutters and doors, and a nice slab parking garage.

Then I got laid off.

What a nightmare. I do not want to relive that. I’ll tell you what.

But, anyways, we had a bug-control man come over every month to spray for the cockroaches. Oh, they grew them BIG in Hattiesburg. And there were so many of them, at night the ground looked like it was moving. Like you were trippin’ or something like that.

So to save up money, we decided to cancel our monthly bug spraying.

Well, one week goes buy, and my cats were busy catching cockroaches. We would find dead cockroaches on the half-shell everywhere. But they got tired of it. You can only catch so many.

On the second week, I saw one my socks waking across the room.

By the third week we were hearing sounds in the walls, and periodic electrical shorts in our outlets. And then, but the end of the fourth week, when the television was covered with cockroaches, we made an emergency call to the exterminator to put on his flashers and race to us; we told him to come over immediately!

And he actually did.

Flashing red lights, and alarm! No kidding!

Jezze!

Lesson learned. If you live in a warm climate… please bug spray. Let me tell you, Joe’s Apartment (a fun movie) didn’t do that nightmare justice.

We were Swimming in cockroaches!

Today…

What is something that needs to be said that nobody wants to hear?

The cemeteries are full of people who thought themselves indispensable.
Nothing is certain except for death and taxes.
Everyone is a whore. We just sell different parts of ourselves.
Worry is today’s mouse eating tomorrow’s cheese.
Some people will only “love you” as much as they can use you.
Love is a crock pot, not a deep fryer.
Looking for others to validate your sense of worth will always end in ruin.
If it’s free, you’re probably the product.
Wish in one hand and shit in the other and see which one fills up first.
The days will be long, but the years will be short.

The unimportant things

How would you deal with a supervisor who passes off your work as their own?

Had this happen in my first job. Learned my lesson.

Next time there was a review coming up ( about two months later ) I wrote up a synopsis of my work ( and my colleagues work) and delivered it to my manager’s manager two days before.

We then had the review where my manager misrepresented the work that was done, whose idea it was, and the results.

Not much happened. So two weeks later I went back to my manager’s manager with my request for a transfer. I was doing about 60% of the work in my team of 3; building all the scripts, generating the data for reports, including working at night and weekends because I was single.

When the department head indicated he was reluctant to approve the transfer I told him that was OK and that I’d have my desk cleared out by the end of the week. I knew that there was the possibility that this wouldn’t work out so I had been interviewing. I also knew that the firm had gone to a lot of trouble to recruit and train me & that having me leave would look bad.

I got my transfer.

Eggs with Peppers and Sausage

Ingredients

1 large onion, sliced
1 pound Italian sweet peppers or banana peppers, seeded and cut into strips
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 large tomatoes, seeded and cut into wedges
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 pound fully cooked smoked sausage links, cut into thin slices
6 fried eggs

Instructions

Cook onion and peppers in oil in skillet, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 15 minutes.
Stir in tomatoes, paprika and sugar. Cover and cook over low heat 15 minutes.
Stir in sausage; cook uncovered until sausage is hot, about 5 minutes.
Top with fried egg.

6 servings

What is the best piece of advice you could give someone about life?

The quickest way to double your money is to fold it over and put it back into your pocket.
Never ask how stupid someone is, cause they’ll turn around and show you.
Don’t approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear or a fool from any direction.
Stop looking for someone to love you & start looking for someone that deserves your love – tap here to meet your ideal match.

You don’t ask, you don’t get.There are plenty of ways to enter a pool. The stairs is not one of them.If a street performer makes you stop walking, you own him a buck.When entrusted with a secret, keep it.Date with standards, not expectations. Just sit back and see if they can meet your standards or not.Just because you can doesn’t mean you shouldYou only get one chance to notice a new haircut.Don’t dumb yourself down.You are what you do, not what you sayDon’t lose sight of the hobbies you enjoyed as a child. They will help you live as you grow older.Don’t let your yearnings get ahead of your earning.Don’t dig for water under the outhouse.Dating advice you should know: if they like you, you’ll know. If they don’t, you’ll be confused.

Mythology and bullcrap

What’s it like to be rich as in 1% rich?

My parents started middle class and worked their way to the 1%.

It isn’t this huge party. But there are some basic things you don’t worry about as much.

It is weird because I didn’t grow up wealthy at all. And had a strict-as-hell dad.

At some point after I left home, things really ramped up. My dad left the military and became a high ranking exec with SAP.

My mom started a vineyard at their farm. And sold off a lot of great real estate investments she’d made over the years.

But you would never know it if you bumped into them at the store or something. They have very humble personalities. If you went to their home however..

When I wake up in the morning in their guest room I get to enjoy a view like this:

When I visit they spend most of their time working around the house and on the farm. We don’t really sit still much. And even when we are it is because we are working on something. We are worker-bees.

Also, I think everyone has a misconception as to how wealthy the top 1% is. 10 years ago, even I had the impression that 1%ers don’t work hard and take 9 vacations a year. I think it is just different if you started small and got there in your middle age and have kids.

At that point, you are more concerned with managing everything and making sure your kids are doing OK.

(Maybe that it is .01 percenters that do all that laying around by the pool…)

Either way I love visiting my parents, but every time I get home here in Florida my house feels really really small! 🙂

I like them big, big

What is the most savage thing you’ve ever done?

I roasted a girl using nothing but a Venn Diagram

This happened in English class back in 2018, and the second it happened, I literally searched for a question that this answer would correlate to. The rest was history.

Okay, so class had just started. The teacher was marking the roll on her laptop, and some girl named Sophie was at her desk to ask her something.

“Ethan James?”

“Yeah, here!”

Then, suddenly, Sophie was like

“Ethan James; absence explained? What does that mean, Ethan? Why is your absence explained?”

I had zoned out, but I perked up upon hearing my name. As one does. I realized what was happening, and I started monologuing.

“Hey, can I get the whiteboard for a sec?”

I said, addressing my teacher. She obliged.

I drew one circle on the board.

“Sophie, you see this circle? This circle represents the status of my attendance.”

I then drew another circle next to it but not connected.

“You see this other circle, Sophie? That second circle represents your business.”

“Yeah. Okay” Sophie was confused.

“Now, Sophie, do you see any correlation between the two?”

“No.”

“My point exactly.”

What is it that nobody tells you about having children?

We have three kids. The oldest is 18, and the youngest is 4. So, for 18 years now, our lives have revolved around raising our children. My life in particular has been more child-raising intense, because I’m home with them more often and I took on the role of primary domestic engineer in our marriage.

I was prepared for how expensive kids would be, and the good times and bad times and whatnot.

But lately, I’ve been experiencing something no one warned me about: not knowing what to do with myself as my children gain independence.

Just in the last few weeks, I’ve noticed that my youngest can get her own snacks, turn on the TV and find her shows by herself, entertain herself with her own toys, and even tuck herself in at night. When my other children did this, I was either still busy in grad school, or had another baby who needed my attention.

But now, I’m finding myself, more and more, looking for things to do as my children do their own thing.

Before sitting down to write this, I asked both of my youngest children if they’d like to play something with me. They both said no. I wasn’t prepared for that. Normally, they’d jump on the chance to play with me. They’d insist on it. But right now, they’re each playing by themselves.

I’ve heard that business owners sometimes have a similar problem: they dedicate so many years to getting their businesses off the ground, that once those businesses are successful, and they have employees who do most of the work, the owners aren’t sure what to do with their new free time.

On the upside, my house has never been cleaner. I filled the unexpected free time this week by cleaning. Now, there’s not even much of that to do.

I predict I’m going to be one of those people who retire, and six months later find another job out of boredom.

Statement of reality

What do you do when someone has road rage and tries to follow you home to fight you?

I was going home on a two-lane highway on my motorcycle when a speeding 18-wheel truck came up behind me and started crowding me. I’m talking about an 80,000 lb tractor-trailer so close that I couldn’t see his windshield above the grille in my mirrors.

I was nearly to my left-turn to my road and I was afraid he couldn’t see my brake light or turn signal so I speeded up a little with my signals on, but he speeded up also. So I punched the throttle and jumped out about 100 feet in front of him, grabbed the clutch and stomped on my back brake to lock the 4.10 back tire to make smoke for about two seconds and then left off the brake and clutch and punched the throttle again. Mister Tailgater was doing the shimmy-shake trying to keep his trailer behind his cab in my mirrors and using both lanes to do it while I rocketed past my turn and outran him to the small town a mile away. I parked next to a friend’s business and upon being greeted and hearing the 18-wheeler grinding to a stop out front I ask the store owner, “Hey Spider, if you’ve got that sawed-off shotgun under the counter, I might need to borrow it in a minute.”

Fortunately, the trucker stared at the business for a minute and then drove away.

Ministry reveals UK’s MI6 using foreign national for espionage targeting China

China’s national security authority recently uncovered a case involving the United Kingdom’s Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6, using foreign nationals to engage in espionage activities against China, the Ministry of State Security announced on Monday morning.

In a statement, the ministry said that in 2015, MI6 established an “intelligence cooperation relationship” with a foreign national surnamed Huang, who served as the head of a consulting firm overseas.

The statement did not identify Huang’s nationality.

Subsequently, MI6 instructed Huang to enter China multiple times. Under its guidance, Huang gathered intelligence related to China and identified prospective individuals for MI6’s counterespionage efforts, according to the ministry.

MI6 also provided professional intelligence training to Huang in various locations, including the UK, and equipped him with specialized spy equipment for intelligence exchange and communication, it said.

Through meticulous investigation, the national security authority promptly discovered evidence of Huang engaging in espionage activities and took criminal compulsory measures against him.

Upon examination, it was determined that Huang provided MI6 with 14 pieces of classified information and three intelligence reports, the statement said.

Throughout the investigation, the national security authority has kept the consulate of Huang’s country informed on his case and has arranged consular visits for him, ensuring the protection of his legal rights in accordance with the law, it added.

Sawed Bones!

What is the rudest thing another shopper has told you while waiting in line?

I think we could all write a book about this but the rudest I heard was from a pharmacist while I was waiting in line for a prescription, not the other customers. My two year old daughter was potty training and doing a good job. That day she wanted to wear her big girl panties. She had been doing so for months.

The wait was long at the Drug Store. She needed to use the restroom. I asked if there was a restroom. The pharmacist barked “ no” at me. I explained the situation and asked if she could just use the employee rest room since we had waited a half hour already.

The pharmacist said “She will just have to wet her pants”. Really? I turned to my child and said. “Honey, just pee on the floor here. This place is just one big potty. “. My two year old politely squatted and peed all over the floor. The pharmacist was screaming. I said “ honey, this nice man will clean it up right after he gives me my paper back so we can go somewhere else. “

There were a lot of mothers also waiting and everyone found it quite funny but the pharmacist. I went back to that drug store a few years later and they had installed a public restroom.

PS. Whether you think I was right or wrong is of no matter to me. But the fact that some people think I did this over the use if the bathroom shows I did not make myself clear. I was a lawyer. Had the pharmacist said their insurance did not allow public use or said I might try xxx store that has a public restroom, no problem I get that. I could have taken her to the car and used a McDonald’s cup. It was that this man told a little girl to just wet her pants. Had she wet her pants the result would have been the same on the floor. I just decided to avoid the wet pants part and show this man that he was not providing customer service-of any form. I’m sure the issue of needing a restroom had come up before. The store should have had an appropriate response. There are Federal laws in place now concerning employee only restrooms.

New kitten

Have you ever accidentally found out that you were about to be fired?

Yes, and it all worked out beautifully: another employee in a different section whom I did not know well and was not particularly friendly with went out of his way to tell me that my bosses wanted to hire a woman to replace me (I am a man) and not just any woman, but one hot enough for them to ogle and flirt with. That is the kind of pervs that they were. After hearing that, I wiped my company-issued Macbook Air clean, mentally checked out, and waited for my last day.

After I had left the company, I heard that they did ogle and flirt with her, and I was told that they had hired her specifically for her charms – she flirted right back.

A few months later I got the delicious news that they had taken her on a business trip to meet the company’s most important client. In short, a good time was had by all, and she ended up fucking an employee at the client’s headquarters.

It gets better, a sympathetic former co-worker told me that he had dug around and found that my replacement had a police record (shoplifting I think) and her mugshot was online.

When I heard this news I sent an anonymous email to just the right person at the client’s headquarters describing the sex and a link to the mugshot and the fallout was magnificent: the client demanded that my replacement be fired, and she was, and my company’s reputation with their most important customer was ruined (they didn’t lose all the business, however).

Suddenly my old bosses were checking out my LinkedIn profile and I had the pleasure of blocking all three.

Millions of American’s Begin Moving into Vans | VanLife EXPLODES on Google Trends

What was your “I am surrounded by idiots” moment?

Me: Hello, I’d like to book a room please mate?

Concierge: I’m sorry sir, we’re fully booked out. I can recommend a place down the road.

Me: How is it possible you are booked out? I’m looking at “Booking dot com” right here on my phone and it says you have a room going here.

Concierge: I’m sorry sir, we’re fully booked out. (and then smiles at me like I’m some sort of idiot)

Me: Okay, I suppose I’ll work something out.

Concierge: Yes sir. Sorry sir. (looks down at whatever it is Concierges do when they are not serving someone)

I step away from the concierge desk and think to myself… What happens if I simply press “Book Now” so… I didn’t think, I just pressed “Book Now”. The message comes back with my booking confirmation code. Bear in mind, not a single person is in the foyer, and not a single person has been and spoken to the concierge in the last 20 seconds since I stepped away from the concierge desk.

Me: “Mate, I’d like to check in please.”

Concierge: Certainly sir do you have a booking?

Me: (stunned he doesn’t recognise me from 20 seconds ago) Um, yes, here it is on my phone.

Concierge: Excellent sir, do you have any bags the porter can take up to your room for you Sir?

Me: Narr, it’s okay I only have this one bag. I’ll be okay.

I was thinking all the way up to my room in an elevator with the porter guy that had a single carry bag on a huge dome shaped brass pipe top with a red carpet floor baggage cart…

… “WTF just happened”

Picture this with one case on it. That case is the size of a case that you pull along for a two day stop over…

Like this… on that huge trolley.

Its that easy

Should a boss be allowed to fire an employee for something they do outside of work?

Tricky.

I once was fired from a job after a night out drinking with friends. Of course, most of the friends were work friends.

One of them mentioned they were worried about upcoming changes to the department and thought it was odd they were told to not do their job when they came in each day.

I told him … they’re going to fire you. (I had no idea…I wasn’t told anything, I was guessing) BUT i told him to never stop doing his job … that it was a test to see if they needed him at all. Turned out I was right. But someone told my boss that I had made this prediction.

I was terminated for professionalism. Off the clock, after hours, not on site … with no first hand knowledge shared.

When they brought me into my bosses office to fire me, I started to say “You can’t do this…” followed by “of course you can, otherwise we wouldn’t be here at this point.” I accepted it and turned in all my stuff, gave them notes on where I was in various projects and thanked them for the time and experience. To which my director literally said ” Thanks for your professionalism” I grinned and said “well it’s professionalism that got me fired according to you.”

And ai walked out of there and got a job paying 40% more in as month.

They can fire you for any reason and for no reason. They can even fire you for illegal reasons if they just cover it with a legal looking one. Ultimately, you can’t let it affect you. Sure money is going to be different and plans will change but you’ll get through it and you wouldn’t want to work somewhere that wants to fire you but can’t in the end.

What psychological facts really leave an impression on you?

When someone dies by suicide, it’s because they want to end their suffering, not necessarily their life.
Other people tend to see you as around 20% more attractive than you see yourself.
People who had a difficult or unhappy childhood are more likely to have a fear of being happy.
Having a pet is connected to better brain health as we get older.
Kids are less likely to trust people they perceive as not good-looking.
If someone is already feeling depressed, being addicted to social media can make their depression worse.
Almost one-third of American adults are online pretty much all the time.
Reading fictional stories when you’re young can help you develop a more complex way of looking at the world.
The first person you look at when you enter a room is usually the one you feel most threatened by.

This is REAL world War 3

Why does the ASML CEO seem worried about the Huawei Mate 60 Pro, despite previously stating “Even if we provided them with the drawings, they wouldn’t be able to make it.” regarding China’s technological capabilities?

When an Industrial leader gets arrogant and snobbish, there will be a D-day to it.

Lets look in perspective. As an experience sputtering process engineer, when i look at the EUV machine, I find that they are too elaborating. It consume hell of electricity and Hydrogen. The from my common sense if that if we can plough electron by electron onto an anode of cathode, I am sure we can make Nodes like a 3D printer. So I was right , now Cannon has done exactly that and they can produce cheaper chips then DUV and EUV… with the baggage of high energy cost and high H2 consumption. I believe Liang Mong Song already taught about long after he left Samsung. Cheers to China for giving the WEST as good bashing. When the old guards of China, Wen Jia Pow has stated we should share roles and work, but the American will never understand and Taiwan will face the music when they fondle American ideology to the hilt. As a staff in American MNC for more then a decade, I see the blind corners which will kill the American innovation. American Capitalism is all about me and not us.

Is China peacefully bullying the Philippines in the Spratleys?

No the U.S. is aggressively bribing poor fishermen away from fishing for their families to stir up shit on Chinese boats for thousands of dollars of cold hard cash paid in the high seas by CIA and NED operatives. That is precisely what happened.

All is well ap to now. The Pinoy fishermen are happy getting easy money, Bumbong Marcos U.S. happy the U.S. released his family wealth stuck in the U.S. and Philippine governments get more free money or bribes to allow US more bases. The money is used to improve infrastructures where China win the contract. You can say the U.S. pays for Philippine infrastructure!

So China prosper, US can shout it has more bases, fishermen are happy. But the only victims are Americans who will pay and pay and pay! If I were China I would bribed the fishermen to rob the CIA and NED cash by the boat loads to bribed them. That will bring peace faster.

Cat sleeping advice

What have you learned from Quora that you didn’t know before?

Survival: If you get lost in the wilderness, find a river, that will lead you to a town. Most towns (or people) live near water of some sort.
Happiness: Muting politics on social media platforms makes them 1000% better.
Indian Career Paths: Roughly 70% of Indians study Engineering (this blows my mind).
Trolls: There are very unhappy people in the world. They will leave mean, racist, homophobic, anti-semitic, virtually any ugly comment they can think of – to make others share their misery.
Driving: If someone cuts you off in traffic – it is more effective to give them a thumbs down than flip them off. This will cause them to rethink their actions.
Losing: Smile at the person who defeats you. It will steal their joy in defeating you.
Oops: If you find chewing gum on clothes or the carpet, put an ice cube on it for 2 minutes, it will become hard and come off easily.
Restaurant: If you find a fly in your soup, before sending it back, put a ton of salt into the soup. That’s the only way you’ll know they re-cooked new soup rather than send the same soup back out.

Do you know of any human interest stories that are both moving and at the same time outrageous?

“I realized my life was too valuable to let go of,” she said. “And that gave me the courage to survive.”

This is the story of Alison Botha, on December 18, 1994, she was abducted in her car near home by two strangers who took her to an area outside the city in South Africa and by the end of the night, she had been raped brutally and stabbed 30 times in the abdomen, to mutilate her reproductive organs and 16 times to her throat.

Alison Botha, with knife mark on her throat.

She said, “all I could see was an arm moving above my face making a sound. A wet sound, it was the sound of my flesh being slashed open. He was cutting my throat with the knife. Again and again and again.”

“Do you think she’s dead?” one attacker asked. “No one can survive that,” the other replied. They were apparently satisfied that they had killed her ’cause she was almost decapitated, so they left her for dead, but Botha was still breathing and could see car headlights coming through the bushes.

She started trying to get onto the road and as soon as she pulled herself up, she felt something slimy coming out from her abdomen, her intestines. She had to use one hand to keep her gut from spilling out and the other hand to hold on to her own head, ’cause it started to fall backward.

A young veterinary student named Tiaan Eilerd, who was driving down to Port Elizabeth from Johannesburg, saw Botha lying in the middle of the road and stopped. She was rushed to the hospital, where doctors were stunned by her horrific wounds. She was soon able to identify attackers from police pictures while she was still in the hospital. This led to the arrest of the “Ripper Rapists,” as they were named in press release.

Both attackers were found guilty and sentenced to life in prison in August 1995. But after serving 28 years, both were granted parole in July 2023.

Alison Botha soon became a motivational speaker and began traveling around the world, telling her story in different countries. She is one of the first women from South Africa to speak publicly about rape, she helped inspire other survivors to come forward and tell their stories to the world.

Note: If you are a victim of rape and planning to commit suicide, and if you change your mind after reading this story, then this would be a big favour on me. The only purpose of writing this is to let you know that you are precious, I just want to motivate you to live ’cause the world needs you. Please do me a favour

What is the oddest conversation you’ve had with a telephone scammer?

Maybe not the oddest but it gave me a chuckle.

Unknown number comes up on my work phone, not unusual, so I answer and am greeted by someone with an Asian accent, enquiring about the accident I had been involved in, having had far too many of these over the years I responded with, It only happened this morning how did you know, well sir we work very closely with your insurance company, this was the point I put the phone on hand’s free, and the rest of the office tuned in, Well I am very glad you called I was driving along the A1 near Catterick and someone drove straight into my vehicle, the caller was most concerned for my health and wellbeing, which I informed them that I was very shocked and shaken, I am now passed to a supervisor who needs Details so road A1, location Catterick, vehicle Scorpion, speed 65, damage scuffed the paintwork,

There was a pause as they went through the information, um sir I am struggling to find your car, you can’t find it it’s a very common vehicle around here, can you please give me a bit more detail please certainly it’s a Scorpion CVRT, no sir I am still struggling to find your vehicle, really I am not sure if you will be able to help me if you can’t even find my vehicle, It’s a Scorpion Combat Vehicle Recce Tracked, it’s a Tank mate definitely scuffed the paintwork terribly, silence from the other end of the phone, followed by a single expletive, and call ended.

Funny enough it’s the only phonecall I have ever got a round of applause for as well as much laughter.

What is the most tasteless thing you have seen people on a cruise do?

My mom and I go on a cruise every year for her birthday. I am disabled and have a walker for my immense back pain, I cannot stand for long periods of time, so it has a seat. My mom and I wait ONE HOUR in a line WE started to get into a show just so we could get our choice of seats (first come, first serve). A queue starts behind us about 20 minutes before the show and we are happy that we waited as we wanted to record from a very specific seat (middle isle). This woman shows up with her son in a wheelchair from the cruise liner, and proceeds to stand right in front of the entry doors of the venue. My mother and I give her the benefit of the doubt and my mother proceeds to let her know there is a line behind us (it wraps around a hallway). She looks at my mother and completely ignores her, sees a tall man walking past and says to him, loudly, ‘can you believe this woman wants me to get in line when my son is in a wheelchair?!’ The son is literally silent the WHOLE TIME with a small cast over his left foot. The man looks around the corner and sees me sitting in my walker. He says to the lady, ‘she has a disabled person in line too.’ The lady responds, ‘so?’ The man just walks off. My mom tells the whole line what happened. The line just ignores everything and shrinks back, trying to avoid the conflict. I am in shock about the whole thing and only getting angrier, by the fact the cruise liner crew isn’t telling her to move for blocking the door, OR asking her to get in line. I’m so angry by everyone’s actions I can’t even react. The doors open and she proceeds to sit EXACTLY WHERE WE WANTED TO SIT. The crew even offer to take the boy’s wheelchair since they aren’t allowed to leave them in the small isles! Even remembering this trip now upsets me. I couldn’t be more angry at myself for not saying anything and trying to stay calm. I should have just acted like I had NO MANNERS like her! Apparently the ‘squeaky wheel gets the grease’.

That was last year, the horrible time we had because of this lady just makes me cringe every time I think about it. I hope the woman reads this and remembers how she ruined what was before that moment, a beautiful and fun vacation. I hope she learned some manners or stays home, no amount of money can make her worth anyone’s time.

*EDIT* Thanks to everyone with the kind and understanding comments. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so heard. I think this event effected me so much BECAUSE I try to be thoughtful of others constantly and don’t get out much. Writing this out and getting validated with positive responses have really helped me, thank you. Please be aware you have made a difference in my life.

LOL Pickup

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/44HWGYM66fM?feature=share

When you worked on cruise ships, what’s the shadiest thing you’ve seen a passenger do?

There are many cheaters and “professional complainers” among the guests making nice business from giveaways and compensations. I personally recall one amiable couple who, while being alone in the corridor, hid the “caution, wet floor” sign. Then, they went straight to the reception desk, man literally shouting at the poor receptionist that his wife had just accidentally slipped there and injured her back. They caused a small scandal: hotel manager was called in to calm them down, medical staff treated the “injured” woman, and safety officer scolded the poor cleaning lady responsible for the corridor. Nobody was able to find “caution wet floor” sign that ought to be there, so the guests seemed to be right and were offered a financial compensation + next cruise for free. However, what cheating guests didn’t know was that there are many security cameras on the ship, some of them smartly hidden… So when the couple was invited to the hotel manager’s office next day, they expected to settle the details of their compensation. Hotel manager kindly greeted them, asked them to make themselves comfortable and said something like: “Before we proceed with the compensation, let me show you one short movie.” The couple watched with awe the TV screen, showing them hiding the sign from the floor to the locker and then running to the reception. With this proof in hand, hotel manager offered them choosing between two ways of “compensations”: 1) Trial at court. 2) Putting them on passenger blacklist shared with ALL cruise ship companies, that denies them of taking any cruise till the rest of their lives. They chose no. 2) .

Have you or a coworker been fired which then caused the company fail?

Yup, it was a famous named restaurant, I was the man who brought the inspection rating up from a 50 to a 98 percent,I also kept the lights on and the orders paid up to date, as well as didn’t have a huge turn over of employees. But some punk ass wanna be with out the education I had of running a business as well as the decades of experience had help in getting me bumped out of my job, little snot nosed shit sitting in my office telling me he’s my boss. 2 weeks into his employment he fires me. Okay fine I really don’t care, then this is the best part, he had no clue of how to do what I did, called me at home asking me for instructions. I gleefully told him there is no way that I’m going to teach you in a few minutes that took a life time to aquire in education and actually experience. You got what you wanted at my expense which was my job that you figured was up for grabs, I’m not going to help you, you’re on your own. 3 months later the business was shut down, and that was your Burger King at the Sunset Esplanade in Hillsboro Oregon that now the same building was remodeled into the chase bank. Thats karma at its best, screw me out of my life long career choice and not only did you lose me, but 45 other people lost out in the process.

What is the worst/weirdest thing you saw someone doing when you walked in?

I went away for the weekend, and my roommate was planning on having a big party, since he wouldn’t disturb me.

We had a huge backyard and they decided to have a competition for the coolest explosion, without gun powder. You know the mentos and diet coke, and the baking soda and vinegar, over filled balloons kind of thing. Stupid things like filling a balloon with diet coke and dropping in a pack of mentos in a paper tube.

The kitchen door led to the deck and back yard.

It all sounds harmless until you add copious amounts of alcohol.

I came home Sunday evening and found my roommate and a couple of friends scraping one end of the kitchen ceiling with an ice scraper. The culprits and ceiling were all different colors from the food coloring and other dyes that they had added to their experiments to make them more impressive. It appeared like tapioca or gummies stuck to the ceiling. They had matching paint already on half the ceiling. They had hoped to have it done, before I came home. But they had slept until 2:00 pm, before starting clean up.

No amount of begging would get them to tell me what happened. But I’m guessing that they prepared everything in the kitchen before taking it outside, and when alcohol is involved, I m guessing they weren’t careful.

So I came home to a bunch of hungover red and green people , with a 4 foot scraper, scraping one end of the red and green pebbled ceiling, while someone else was using a roller on a stick, roll paint along behind them.

That was pretty weird.

What is the most savage thing you’ve ever done?

My friend was admitted to hospital yesterday.

I had to go running to the medical store for purchasing the medicines prescribed by the doc.

In the afternoon, the doc prescribed some medicines and I went to the store to buy them.

There was a lady who received the prescription. She immediately ran her eyes through it and started searching for the meds in the shelves.

The total bill was 569 inr.

I paid 600 inr. She returned 30 inr and a dabur honitus (worth 1 inr obviously).

I was a bit reluctant at first, still I asked:

Me:Um.. excuse me. Can I get 1 rupee instead of the toffee?(I asked it not only because I disliked that toffee, but also because I loved collecting coins.)

She:No. We don’t keep coins for change. Anyway, what difference does it make.. the toffee too costs 1 rupee.

Me:Are you sure you don’t keep coins?

She:(obviously being annoyed by me) Yes. We dont.

Me: Okay. Thanks.

I went back to the ward.

By the evening some more new meds were prescribed.

I went to the store again.

The lady was still there. She gave me a forceful smile. I smiled back.

This time the bill was 131 inr.

I handed 130 rupees and that one dabur honitus.

She glanced at me unappealingly.

Me: Sorry mam. I don’t have coins for change. Anyway what difference does it make.. the toffee too costs 1 rupee.

I thanked her and gave a brief smile as I headed back.Happy and satisfied.

What are the implications of the Dutch government revoking the export license for ASML’s chip-making machines to China?

The person asking the question seemed to want an answer like this:

In response to the request of the United States, the Netherlands suddenly revoked ASML’s sales license to China, and some lithography machines planned to be shipped to China were intercepted. The free world successfully prevented China from acquiring advanced semiconductor production technology, and the United States won again.

But sorry, that’s not the case.

On January 3, the Dutch government suddenly revoked the export licenses for two models of DUV lithography machines (NXT: 2050i and NXT: 2100i) approved in 2023. However, ASML announced that the DUV lithography machines purchased in advance by customers from mainland China had all been delivered before the license was revoked.

In other words, when the license was revoked, the planned lithography machine had already been shipped to China.

Let’s sort out the process of this incident, and you will find how interesting the game between the Dutch and Americans is.

Since the beginning of the trade war, the United States has asked ASML to ban the export of lithography machines to China, which can be used to produce advanced semiconductors. After a year of haggling, the Dutch government compromised. ASML is prohibited from exporting EUV lithography machines (used to manufacture semiconductors below 7nm, which are more advanced) to China, but they can still continue to sell DUV lithography machines (used to manufacture semiconductors above 7nm, which is slightly behind).

The Chinese felt threatened, so they added a large number of orders for DUV lithography machines. In the past three years, most of ASML’s DUV lithography machines have been sold to the Chinese.

China’s semiconductor industry has been accelerating its development, making Americans quite nervous.

In 2022, the United States requires the Netherlands to increase restrictions again, prohibiting ASML from selling DUV lithography machines, and completely cutting off the source of equipment for the Chinese.

In June 2023, the Netherlands issued a new ban but announced that existing licenses remained valid and ASML could continue to deliver.

In December 2023, the Netherlands announced that existing licenses will be invalidated immediately

In January 2024, ASML announced that all Chinese orders had been delivered.

Found the problem?

US government: Netherlands must obey

Dutch Government: OK

—-

June, Dutch government: ASML, what to do?

ASML: You announce it first and then give me some time

July, Dutch government: ASML, is it okay?

ASML: One more moment

In August, the Dutch government: ASML, is it okay?

ASML: One more moment

In September, the Dutch government: ASML, is it okay?

ASML: soon

In October, the Dutch government: ASML, is it okay?

ASML: Just a little bit

In November, the Dutch government: ASML, is it okay?

ASML: Almost done

In December, the Dutch government: ASML, is it okay?

ASML: OK, all delivered

Dutch Government: In order to maintain world peace and assist our great allies, we announce the immediate cancellation of sales licenses to China. immediately! immediately!

The Netherlands cannot fight against the United States, but this does not prevent the Dutch from trying their best to safeguard their interests. After all, that is tens of billions of dollars in profits, and they have sold all the equipment they can sell to the Chinese in the past two years.

ASML CEO (Peter Wennink) told reporters, “There is no hope of completely isolating China. If we don’t share technology, they will study it themselves.” “China has 1.4 billion people, and many of them are very smart. They will Come up with solutions that we haven’t thought of yet. You’re forcing them to be very innovative.”

The Chinese cannot control the madness of the United States. Their approach is to purchase as much technology and equipment as possible to buy time for the equipment they develop.

Once the Chinese get this done, the industry will be disrupted.

How to do it…

What is the best way to choose life partner?

Here are 8 things you have to consider when choosing life partner:

1.Ability to cope with your family

Your family will always be a key support system in your life. They can tell if your prospective life partner is suitable or unsuitable for you. If he or she cannot cope with your family members, you might be choosing a wrong partner.

2. Find someone who makes you laugh.

A sense of humor can help you overcome many of life’s obstacles. If someone can make you smile when you don’t feel like it, that’s a great quality.

3. Choose someone who respects you

When choosing a life partner be sure to select someone who will respect all aspects of your life. Mutual respect is one of the defining traits to look for in a life partner.

4. Find someone who have shared values

Having shared values reinforces the foundation of your relationship. Simple things such as consensus on the number of children you want or living within your means create a conducive environment for your relationship to thrive.

5. Choose an honest life partner

If a relationship is not enshrined in a culture of honesty and trust, it will definitely fail. Choosing a life partner who does not refrain from open and genuine communication is important.

6. Throw out the Idea of Perfect

Don’t make a checklist — mental or otherwise — of traits your future partner must have. You can’t conjure up your perfect mate and go buy said robot at Target. If you must make a list, make a list of deal-breakers: no smokers, no drug addictions, no one with a violent felony conviction. Those are healthy boundaries to set.

7. Know how they handle anger

You’ll need to observe this one rather than asking about it. Watch how they behave when they don’t get their own way, are disappointed, or feel angry. How people act with others under these circumstances says a lot about how they will one day act with you.

8. Find someone who have the same financial and social standards

It is not always important to have the same status, but having a similar financial and social standard helps in thriving together. If one person is very poor and the other is very rich then there is a possibility of being called a gold digger. But there is no exact rule book but do check if your potential partner has the zeal to make it later in life.

Who are some of the dumbest criminals ever to be caught?

I had a friend call me in the middle of the night, asked me to get my gun, and go over to his house. When your best friend asks you this, you don’t hesitate. Eventually the story came out – his wife was the manager of a jewelry store. Some men followed her home after she closed (crossing county lines), then at gunpoint (turns out it was a BB gun), forced her to drive back to the store, open it up, and unlock everything so they could clear it out. Of course, when she opened the store after hours, the security team watched on camera and called the local PD. When the perps left, the police were waiting for them. They took her car, and theirs and ran from the cops. After crashing and rolling both cars, they were arrested.

the morons got the idea from a movie. If they had just walked in during daylight and stole/robbed the place, they would have gotten 5 years. Instead, they committed multiple FEDERAL felonies (kidnapping etc), and all of them were sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in federal prison.

edit: the reason for asking me to come over with my gun:

He didn’t know if they were going to come back there. At that point the chase was still going on.

As a follow up – he gave my description to the local police, and let them know I’d be at his house. They showed up about an hour after I arrived, and I answered the door. I was slightly nervous because being 6’4 and nearly 400lbs I’m not a small dude, and had a 45 in a holster on my waist. I went to turn the porch light on, only to discover the porch light was burned out. I was very careful to let them know who I was and immediately informed them that I was armed – being sure to keep my hands nowhere near my firearm. When they asked for ID, I let them know I was removing it from my right rear pocket and moved with very clear movements, allowing them to see that I was reaching for my wallet and not my firearm. After they verified I was who I claimed to be, they made a comment like “yeah, I’d be armed too”. I love living in a rural community! 🙂

What is the most insane conversation you have ever had with your parents?

When I was in high school in 1965 I was reading a book about lesbians called The Grape Vine. My Mom asked me what I was reading. I said “a book about lesbians”. My Mom said “that’s nice, you love the theater”. I said “ no, those are Thespians. This is about lesbians, women who love women, not men”

My Mom insisted there was no such thing as a lesbian adding that the proof was that there was nothing two women “ could do together”. After my mother became hysterical, I went to my room.

Later that night my father paid me a visit. I was a little worried as my mother was his princess. He said “Laura, your mother is 45. She has made it to 45 without knowing what a lesbian is. Unless you are a lesbian, feel free to NOT educate her further”

I think when my Mom was about 80 she told me there were actually lesbians.

PS. Oh my. My mother would die a second time if she knew over 2k people liked this story. My Mom was so embarrassed that I got divorced she told everyone that my first husband was hurt in the Viet Nam war and that was why he shrunk 5 inches, grew blond hair and green eyes ( husband number two).

Nicaragua BETRAY Ally U.S in South America, Choose China

As a mechanic, have you ever performed free work on a customer’s car because you felt bad for them?

Around 10 or 12 years ago, I was on a trip and stopped at a rest area to stretch my legs and use the bathroom. As I walked back out to where my car was parked, I noticed a college age kid standing in front of his car with the hood up. I wandered over and asked him if he was having car trouble.

He replied yes and that his car wouldn’t start. He still had all his lights and so forth so I knew his battery seemed okay, but the engine wouldn’t turn over.

The car was an Acura, if I recall correctly, and the starter was located on the top of the engine, rather than down underneath the car. On the starter was a warning sticker that said not to hit the starter with a hammer.

Another gentleman wandered by and asked if he could help. I asked him if he had a hammer in his car. He thought I was joking, but I let him know that I was serious. He said that he did and left to go get it with a puzzled look on his face.

When he returned with the hammer, I took it and gave the starter a solid whack, right on the warning sticker that said not to hit it with a hammer.

I then told the college kid to try starting the car. It fired right up.

I handed the hammer back to the gentleman who had loaned it to me. Both he and the kid seemed amazed.

I asked the kid how far he had to drive to get to his destination. He said just another 2 hours or so until he got home.

I told him to drive straight home without shutting the car off because I couldn’t guarantee that the starter would ever work again. And then once he got home, he needed a new starter.

He thanked me and offered me $20, but I just sent him on his way.

Hungarian Potato and Egg Casserole
(Rakott Krumpli)

Ingredients

6 medium potatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup dairy sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 hardboiled eggs, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons dry bread crumbs
Paprika

Instructions

Heat 1 inch salted water to boiling. Add potatoes. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and cook until tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Drain; cool slightly.
Cook onion in oil until tender. Mix onion, oil, sour cream, salt and pepper.
Peel potatoes; cut into 1/4-inch slices. Gently mix potatoes and sour cream mixture.
Arrange half the potatoes in greased 10 x 6-inch baking dish or 1 1/2-quart casserole. Arrange eggs on top; add remaining potatoes. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and paprika.
Bake uncovered at 325 degrees F until light brown, 30 to 40 minutes.
Garnish with minced parsley if desired.

Yield: 6 servings

What are few things only mature people can tell you?

Not everyone will live long. Stay happy and useful to humanity as much as you can.
Life is not Disney Island, always strife for the best and prepare for the worse.
Nobody can love you unconditionally except your mum and in few cases, your family.
You can simply avoid future problems by listening to your instincts and warnings from your loved ones.
Most people won’t support you in life until there’s no option but to join the crowd.
Discipline will take you farther than talent.
Everybody is fighting their own demon either publicly or privately. Never envy anyone.
Don’t look down on anyone, life can switch up within a minute.
Money is not everything, it incredibly betters your life but doesn’t solve all life problems. Still have it anyway.
You don’t have to get to the level of Elon Musk to change the world when your little kindness can.

Hungry Crocs

Have you ever seen a doctor yell at their patient?

I was that doctor.

I yelled, loudly, not at the patient but at her aunt.

So I was working in the ER. A little kid of around 10 or 11 came late one evening. She had a massive blow on her skull and was getting seizures. It was all bloody but surprisingly she was conscious.

Her aunt was very caring and hovering over us. She told me the girl fell from a bike. I pacified her and told her to wait outside while I provided primary care to the child before transferring her to a higher care centre.

When the aunt was outside I asked the girl what happened. Her aunt had hit her in the head with a hammer. That vile lady had hit her 10-year-old niece in the head with a hammer. I was horrified, enraged. I was mad.

I stabilized her, came out and called the aunt inside. As soon as I saw her I just lost it. I yelled at her at the top of my lungs. I don’t even remember all that I said but it lasted long enough for the ward boys and nurses and the ambulance driver to gather. It also lasted enough for the aunt to break down and confess.

I called the girl’s parents and they called the police and registered the complaint.

My behaviour was unprofessional, but I have never regretted it. I don’t usually lose my cool, but I am glad I did that day.

Devastating Industry

What is the best case of “You just picked a fight with the wrong person” that you’ve witnessed?

Seen a number of these over the years. First one that comes to mind is this one. Sitting in a bar in Neenah WI, conversing with a gentleman, probably about 40 something, less than 5′10″, probably about 150 lbs. Well spoken, polite, decently dressed. A larger (12–13) groups of people all came in at once, bikers by their dress and the beautiful sound of the harleys they pulled up on. Now please understand, the greater majority of bikers I’ve known over the years were great people, polite, non confrontational, and all around nice. These folks were not. Loud, already half tanked, and generally pushy. Once they had settled, one of them walked by, catching his elbow on my conversation partner and spilling both of their drinks. Confrontation ensued. Biker: you “effing spilled my drink!”

CP: sorry about that, let me get you another

bartender: no worries, I’ve got both of you

biker: you’re damn right you’re sorry!
and proceeded to grab CP’s shoulder. CP spun as he stood up, spear handed the biker in the solar plexus, and then Kicked him in the face! Biker was about 6′2″-3″, and now unconscious and bleeding on the floor. Everyone else stopped cold and looked at CP, shrugged, and went back to their conversations. Bouncer dragged biker out to the curb where the police and an ambulance took him away. Broken jaw, shattered septum, severe concussion. CP was the owner of a local martial arts school and had been training since he was a child. Oops.

JEFFREY SACHS FULL INTERVIEW ABOUT BAD SITUATION IN EUROPE AND U.S, U.N SITUATION, GAZA, AND MORE

Sneezing Fiji

Fiji

On our trip to Pago Pago, American Samoa, we had a layover in Fiji. Nice nation. Beautiful island chain. Actually really nice.

The thing is, we arrived in the Spring. And the trees and flowers were all in bloom. It was stunning and so beautiful. Smelled wonderful… BUT… it turns out that I was allergic to the trees. The entire time we were there I was sneezing and coughing with blurry and watery eyes.

Ugh.

Pretty, but not for me. Oh well…

Life can be silly. I really wonder what the Hell I was thinking when I decided to incarnate.

Today…

What is the rudest thing that a new neighbor has done to you immediately after you had moved in?

Years ago I moved into an apartment/flat. I was on the 2nd floor and shared a long balcony with my neighbor. It was just us two on the floor in that building. The balcony didn’t have a divider between us but it was a long length balcony. I put a small patio table and chair right by my door to relax on the balcony early mornings with tea or evenings to enjoy a book. Well, one morning I went out to sit on the chair by the small table. What did I see? The table was full of beer cans and a huge ashtray full of cigarette butts. The only person that could have done that is my neighbor. It annoyed me. It was one thing to use my patio table and chair without permission, but to leave a disgusting mess for me is another thing. I picked up the cans and ashtray and put them on the ground right in front of her door. Although I never spoke to her I had seen her. I wiped off my table and wrote out a note that said this, “Please ask for permission before using my table and chair. This table and chair are not community property. They belong to me. If you get permission to sit here, please clean up your mess. I am not your maid. Thank you”. I left the note taped on the table. Guess what? You guessed it. The next morning I found another load of beer cans and a full ashtray on the table. Same thing as the day before. Only this time, the table had a beer and food mess. I lost it. I grabbed the beer cans that were not all empty and the full ashtray with cigarette butts and ashes. I walked to her door and spilled beer all in front of her door on the concrete. I then poured the full ashtray all in the beer and it made a yucky mess on the concrete. She’d have to step in it going out the door. I then wiped down the table and folded it up along with the chair and put them by the wall next to the front door inside my apartment. This meant I would have to put them up outside every time I used them. It was a pain in the ass but I did it. She could get her own and clean up her own mess. Didn’t have any issues once I removed the table and chair. A few months later she moved out. Someone else moved in a couple of weeks later. A cop and his wife. The new neighbors were polite. So back out for good my patio table and chair went. Thank goodness.

**EDITED: Response to people commenting why I didn’t just knock on her door and talk to her**

People on the ground floor of the building said she was very rude like that to them as well. One time she took someone’s clothes out of the washing machine and threw them on the ground so she could use the washing machine. She had a bad reputation for not being one to reason with. I wasn’t going to waste my time trying to talk with her to try to come to a resolution. She wasn’t one to compromise with. So, therefore, I did what I felt was best how to deal with a person like that. Another person said she was also a bit violent. So to be honest, I didn’t want to put myself in the position to be physically attacked by her. I would have likely hurt her trying to defend myself because I am trained in martial arts. See what I mean?

Put in the work

I think it is an uneven pair-bonding.

Best Bohemian Kolaches

Kolaches are a type of pastry that holds a dollop of fruit rimmed by a puffy pillow of supple dough.

Ingredients

Dough

8 teaspoons dry yeast, dissolved in 1 cup warm water and 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 cups 2% milk, scalded
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
10 to 11 cups flour (don’t make dough too stiff)

Prune Filling

1 pound pitted prunes
Sugar to taste
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Apricot Filling

1 pound apricots
Sugar to taste

Cottage Cheese Filling

1 (16 ounce) container cottage cheese
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
Dash of nutmeg
4 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup raisins
1 teaspoon flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar

Poppy Seed Filling

1 (2 pound) container poppy seed filling from a bakery
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Cream

Instructions

Dough: Dissolve yeast in water until foamy.
Heat milk, pour over butter and sugar. Stir until melted. Add 2 cups flour, then beat until smooth. Add yeast, eggs and salt. Add flour until a soft ball forms. Grease top; let rise. Punch down and let rise again.
Stretch dough on floured board to about 1/2-inch thickness. Cut into rounds using a soup can. Put on greased pans and let rise. When nice and puffy, make indentations in center and fill with favorite filling like prune, apricot, cottage cheese or poppy seed. When risen to a nice puffy look, bake at 375 degrees F until a golden color.
Prune Filling: Cook prunes until soft. Grind and add sugar, vanilla extract and cinnamon. Stir well.
Apricot Filling: Cook apricots until soft. Grind and add sugar. Sweeter is better. Stir well.
Cottage Cheese Filling: Put cottage cheese in blender. Add egg yolk, lemon juice, nutmeg and 4 tablespoons flour and blend some more. Take out of blender and add raisins. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon flour and sugar.
Poppy Seed Filling: Mix together. Use enough cream to make it easier to put into kolaches.

Legit

Can China win a war against the US over Taiwan in 2023?

I’m almost out of the door to buy groceries, and I saw this question, and I have to say something.

…deep breath…

WHAT THE FUCK WITH THIS OBSESSION OVER WAR?!

I’ve seen this type of hypothetical war question all the fucking time on social media (not just on Quora). And it’s always hypothetical wars between nuclear powers. It used to be the US vs USSR. Now it’s US vs China. Every single fucking year, you guys come back with the same zeal asking who would win in various hypothetical scenarios.

What do you think war is? Civilization V?! Colorful avatars on a digital map?! You move your troops forward, and boom, the city is yours?!

I swear you armchair general manchildren are the fucking worst! You want war so much, why don’t you enlist? You think you’re fucking military expert because you played Call of Duty, and you know what a battleground feels like?! You can hide behind cover and breath heavily for a few seconds and recover from bullethole in your fucking stomach?

You know, I don’t mind actual military experts theorizing potential wars. That’s kind of their job, to think of the worst scenario so we can be prepared. I get that. But you lot ain’t experts. You are doing it because it is fun and exciting for you. It makes you feel powerful the same way playing Civilization V makes you feel powerful.

You never thought about what war actually means to the people it impacted (yes, that includes you, too, you moron!) There’s no glory in bloodshed over nationalism or fighting over resources.

But sure, let me answer your question: can China win a war against the US over Taiwan? Depending on how you define “winning.” The most likely scenario we have is a Vietnam War V2. The US throws its weight around, and millions of young people die on both sides, fighting in the fucking jungle. Taiwan, once named the “Island of Treasures,” was decimated. Its factories were destroyed. Its beautiful forests and coasts were poisoned by chemical weapons. The price of PCs and other electronics skyrocketed because Taiwan is the world’s largest producer of semiconductors, producing over 60% of the world’s semiconductors and over 90% of the most advanced ones.

After years of death, destruction, and misery, the US finally decided to withdraw its troops, and Taiwan became a province of China.

And that is the best scenario you could hope for, you moron. The worst scenario is both US and China decide to use nuclear weapons, and we all fucking die in the fucking nuclear winter.

Still feeling good about yourself? Still think this is a fucking video game?!

Fuck all of you war fanatics! Go read another book about WWII and fuck all the way off my feed.

I’ll leave you with this poem: 劝君莫论封侯事，一将功成万骨枯

“Please do not speak of getting noble titles (through war). One general’s success was built upon millions of corpses.“

Unsurprisingly, I got several comments saying China is an authoritarian state and has been threatening Taiwan for years.

Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that what you said is true, that China is indeed an authoritarian state and China has been “threatening” Taiwan for years.

So? SO? What’s your point? That China, a country of 1.5 billion people, most of these 1.5 billion people live peacefully and minding their own business, deserve to be destroyed because… you do not agree with how an independent sovereign nation governs itself?

OK, by that logic, can China start a war attacking the US because everything the US did in the fast 70 years, including invading Iraq on a lie, created several coups in South America for the sole purpose of destabilizing the local economy and forcing these countries to rely on the US for their survival, and systemic racism, persecution of homosexual people and trans people, drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya…

I mean, if we want to compare fucking skeletons in the fucking closet, we can go all the way back to Operation Paperclip. Better yet, let’s go all the way back to colonialism and chattel slavery. The US is covered, head to toe, with innocent blood. If there is one country that deserves to be destroyed, according to your logic, the US would be the first in line.

So perhaps get off your moral high horse and shut the fuck up.

We were ROBBED in Finland! (Let’s Go Back to China!)

Who was the rudest customer you’ve had, and how did you deal with them?

I was a male waiter at a diner in Hillbillyville. I got very few tips because tips were for making passes at waitresses. Working the late shift, I dealt with more than my share of drunks and as well as the ordinary assholes. From teens squirting full ketchup bottles on their dinnerware and tables after their meal, to those who would fall into a drunken coma at my tables.

The one that stands out to me was a retired farmer who would come in every Sunday night with his wife and another couple. They had all been drinking. But the retired farmer, who had a reputation for being a loud-mouth know-nothing decided to harass the help (me and the cook) throughout their meal. He and his entourage thought it was very funny to disrespect us.

After their meal and lots of juvenile remarks, it was dessert time. They all ordered. The retired farmer decided he wanted a hot fudge sundae, which he knew we did not offer.

I told him “We do not have hot fudge sundaes.”

He replied, “Do you have ice cream?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have chocolate syrup?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have a microwave?”

”Yes.”

“Then heat up some frickin’ chocolate sauce and put it on my ice cream!”
His group suddenly went quiet, realizing he had just crossed a boundary not even they would accept.

I put my hands on their table, leaned across to the foul farmer and said, “Would you liked crushed nuts with that?”

He went silent as the others at the table burst into laughter… especially his wife! They believed he had it coming… probably for years!

Dickhead left me a nice tip that night and had a new demeanor every time he stopped to eat.

I was pleased with myself. Other customers as well as staff openly approved of the way I handled this little turd.

The best Christmas ad…

Have you ever seen an employer fire someone without realizing what a crucial role the employee played?

I fired a friend who worked closely with me in the forge. He’d set up some of the equipment, and knew how to maintain it. He was a good solid productive worker, and a lot of fun to work with.

He also drank.

I told him he could not drink on company property, and he could not come in drunk to work.

He did it anyway. Repeatedly. Hid it. More than one warning.

Then I fired him.

He said I couldn’t, that I needed him, that I didn’t know how to maintain the equipment, it would cripple my business to lose him.

He was right.

And yet… I still had to do it. He was a hazard to himself, and to the business. At one of the venues I vend at, they have a clear written rule forbidding this, and he was violating it, and I could have lost my business there (and it’s responsible for 75% of my annual income)

I bent over backwards to avoid doing this, and when I finally did, it was every bit as bad as he thought it would be.

Production dropped by more than half. A couple of the tools got ruined. I learned how to maintain the others, and gradually got things back into shape, but it took many months.

But I can’t honestly say I didn’t know what was going to happen when I did it. I just didn’t have any other choice.

Another gym

What’s something a poor kid would understand, but would utterly confuse a rich kid?

I have friends who never understand how I can take a costco rotisserie chicken for $5.00 and make it into a week’s worth of meals, including using the bones and meat chips from the carcass for bone broth to make soup. I can pick a chicken or turkey bonee clean of meat long after others would have given up. I use veggies and eggs to extend it to omelelets, wraps, chicken fritattas, tacos, chicken salad with mayo, stir fry, topping on regular salad with dressing, an entree, and then finally soup. I buy the large quantity of meat on mark down and make four or five different meals, freezing several. That way I always rotate the meat or meal we eat during the week, and we feel like we never have to be without meat except our once a week vegetarian meal. I made ham and bean soup the other day with the Christmas ham leftover scraps and the ham bone. My mom fed a family of seven with groceries she bought while a grocery store meat wrapper. My dad worked in produce. We had cans with no labels she bought for 10 cents. We had a cat and a dog, but never knew which vegetable or animal food was in the can until we opened it.

I always eat the free meal buffet at hotels and take extra fruit to my room. There will always be a bag of dried beans, box of pasta, and cans of tuna in my pantry ‘just in case’. I had some for the lunch the other day because it was getting close to expiration. I drive around town on errands and find myself noticing open public bathrooms, places where people could park overnight, etc ‘just in case’, even though I’ve never been homeless. I’ve been scared when I was close. I go into survival mode as soon as an extra expense happens even if I am prepared.

I use coupons, shop the sale items, and overstock my pantry. My mom taught me back when rebates were constantly available. We had ‘FHB’ or ‘family hold back’ meals where extra bread was added to the table if someone stopped by unexpectedly. It was the signal for the family to fill up on bread and ‘hold back’ from eating so the guests were satisfied. I still fill out restaurant and fast food surveys for the free meal. I’m the one willing to pick up the company meals nearby, so I get the rewards. People think I’m just being nice or someone in the office is taking advantage of me. I go to the extra early sales to get the extra $10 coupon for the first 100 in line. Early in my career, I used to use the ‘free reward’ items from ordering office supplies to sell at yard sales.

My partner understood before he passed. He had used cracker packets and ketchup packets from fast food with a cup of hot water to make ‘tomato soup’. He had had it worse than us growing up. Most people will never understand.

Our son has never known true hunger, but he has seen enough scrimping that he knows not to waste. As a teen, I gave him the coupons, the sale paper, and $10 with a shopping list. I taught him to use the ‘money back rewards’ with double coupons and buy one get one sale items for anti perspirants, etc to buy the extra milk and things he needed for the week. Even today, I will invite him to a restaurant and he will ask if it can be another day, because he has xxx leftovers to finish before they go bad. You keep the mentality.

Oh and the hand me downs. I wore the same homemade dress in four different sizes. My mom had made each of her five girls tge same blue dress with three buttons. My one sister was so much larger than me hers couldn’t be altered enough or I would have had five. I was thrilled to get a new outfit at Christmas when my sisters were growing up and moving out. There was a little more money then. I quizzed every sister how much their bills were and wrote a budget. I owned everything to move out by 16, down to a vegetable peeler. I wasn’t taking any chances. I used my babysitting and yard work money earned from neighbors. Once I could work fast food, I lied to my parents that I was over a friend’s house when I really worked a full week with overtime all summer long. The child labor laws apparently didn’t check much in those days. I had discovered making money. I was the only kid I knew that lied about having fun so I could work. I worked hard enough to become management before graduating high school. I just wanted to keep earning and saving the most I could. I always worked two jobs until my son was born. You take every chance you get.

What is the biggest turn-off you’ve ever had on a date?

I come from a very dignified and respectable family. My parents always taught me values and how I should be respectful of other.

I was asked out on a date by a coworker. He was older to me by 8 years, nevertheless he was charming and spoke very well. I thought he seemed like a nice, family man.

We ended our date after a meal at a restaurant and he offered to pay. I asked him if he wanted to share the tab but he declined. Afterwards we both were walking towards the car parking area. There was an ATM kiosk.

He tried to withdraw some cash from his card but told me that there was some problem with his card. He then did something weird. He asked my card and my PIN number. And me, like an idiot told him.

He took my purse from me, took the card, punched the PIN number and withdrew a 1000 INR. He took the cash, put it in his pocket and continued walking.

I asked him what he did. To which he replied “oh that was for the dinner and the rest of it is for the petrol I will be spending dropping you back at home”.

That was my first and last date with him.

Have you ever been in a relationship with someone for a while and then found out something very odd about them?

Back in 2015, I’d been dating my then-fiance for some time. We got engaged super early, so it wasn’t exactly “a while,” but it had been at least three months and let me reiterate: we were engaged to be married.

Blake Diamond and I had already sent out requests for our bridal party hopeful-members to become actual-members, and one person said to me how odd the name sounded. “It almost sounds fake, don’t you think?” he asked.

“I mean… maybe?” I said. “I knew a guy in high school with the last name Diamond, and Blake is a name that I’m familiar with, so maybe it’s not that unlikely.”

Several weeks passed and as I began to get deeper and deeper into wedding planning, I needed to know his parents’ address so that I could send things to his family. “I’d rather keep this under wraps. They don’t need to know about all the planning yet. Plus, their last name is Bingham,” he said to me one night.

“Bingham? That’s odd. Yours is… different?”

“Oh, that’s, uh… maybe I didn’t tell you,” he conceded. “Blake G. Diamond III is my online alias.”

I… what?

“What? Why did I not… know that… before you asked me to marry you?”

“I like to go by Blake Diamond, not by my real name.”

He still was hesitant to spill the beans, but when I became inconsolably irate after several minutes of arguing, he finally gave in:

Joe. His real name was Joe.

Project 8200 Exposed | CIA Psychics Find Alien Bases Underground

What was the last conversation you had with your father?

“No dad, I didn’t do it.”

“You know damn well that you did it.”

“No I didn’t. I can save money to buy another one for you if you want.”

“You think I want it from you? I raised a dumbass for a son. Leo, I know you did it.”

“I swear I didn’t.”

“So you’re the only on in the roo-”

“I was asleep on the sofa. I didn’t do i-”

“Just watch, when I come home with your mother you will admit to it.”

I began to laugh, “Good luck. Know what? Take your fucking time coming home.”

And that’s it. I turned off the phone and went to my room, and angrily waited for them to come home. I awoke from the sofa earlier and found the T.V broken. Absolutely crushed.

I called my dad and he was quick to point the finger at me. Which makes sense, the T.V didn’t break itself and I was the only one in the room. Though the truth is that I didn’t do it.

I shouldn’t have been such a fucking snob with my response because they never came home after that.

A knock came at the door and I stomped over, ready to face a loud scolding. But the person at the door wasn’t my dad, or anyone I know. He is wearing a police badge and a police car with our states name written across it is outside the front door. I figured that my dad must have called the cops to see who broke the T.V after realizing it wasn’t me. “Yes?”

“Is this the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Alexandric?”

“Yes.”

“And are you Leonardo?”

“I-yes.”

“Would you like to take a seat?”

All at once my entire body stiffens. “No. Why are you here? What happened?” The T.V is broken. That’s all. Nothing’s wrong. I kept telling myself. But the truth was, everything was wrong.

“Your parents. They’re dead.”

The frankness of his words and shock of it all is too much and I begin to laugh. He looks calmly at me, like he’s used to this type of reaction. He probably was.

“You didn’t answer my second question. What happened?” My voice is shaking and I knew I was on the verge of tears.

“Son, your parents are dead. They got shot. That’s all there is to tell you.”

I stay frozen at the door saying nothing.

“We called your Aunt and Uncle. They’ll be here shortly. Meanwhile, I’m supposed to make sure you’re safe.”

I nod and open the door for him to come inside. I’m too shocked and lost to ask for proof or a warrant of some kind. I just stand at the door and glare at the man until my aunt comes.

She comes with my uncle and she’s screaming, acting hysterical. She grabs me in a hug and doesn’t let go until she faints from exhaustion. That was the last conversation I had with my father.

I never cried about their death, it’s made me colder. I just feel numb thinking about it. I thought it was my fault for the longest time. I did this, I told him not to come back. I know that it’s not true now but it still haunts me.

Please do me a favor and go tell you parents that you love them. Don’t be stupid like me, because no matter how stable everything seems, no one knows when death will strike.

Pride

What is an “Only in Japan” moment?

This is a true story that happend to a friend of mine.

He was fairly new in Japan and went to Yoyogi Park, the most popular and well-known park in Tokyo.

He was playing some sport with his friends for a while, and went home as it started raining.

On his way back to his house, he realized that he forgot his iPad on a bench at the park.

He felt hopeless as the electronics left in public quickly get lost, at least that was the commonsense we generally have, but he went back anyway to where he was in the park.

Photo: Wikimedia

He looked at the bench where he left his iPad, and saw a newspaper.

He removed the newspaper, and there it was. His iPad was sitting there intact! But why was there a newspaper on iPad?

Well, apparently, a kind-hearted anonymous person thought the beautiful iPad shouldn’t get wet in the rain.

My friend calls that an “only-in-Japan” experience. However, as myself being Japanese, I wasn’t surprised.

I’ve lost my iPhone twice on the train (yes, twice..) and found both times at Lost & Found of the railway company.

One learning from my friend’s story and my own experience is “don’t give up finding it when you lose your gadget in Japan!” 🙂

What is the best way to improve life?

Mike has never put more than 40% effort into anything in school.

He sits in the back of the class. He never listens. He figures out how to sleep with his eyes open, or hide under his desk to take naps.

Maybe his dad abandoned him. Maybe his parents never motivated him. Or maybe he’s just plain lazy.

Who knows the reasons. But the effort isn’t there.

Nothing his teachers or parents have ever said or done have been able to turn the fire that burns within him into anything more than a low smolder.

He goes through his early years, turning in the minimum grades to squeak by in everything.

One day, as he shrugs off another bad grade, the teacher stands up at the front of the class.

The teacher points at Mike.

“Study hard – or you’ll end up like Mike there. Dim, lazy, and on the path to flipping burgers for a living.”

A certifiable asshole comment by a teacher.

Mike, typically thick-skinned and nonchalant about life, is pissed.

An authority figure publicly branding him in front of the class, the class laughing, and the obvious implication that a good majority of them shared the teacher’s view of Mike was too much.

He’d had enough.

Deep down he knew he was lazy. But he wasn’t stupid. And he sure as hell wouldn’t be flipping burgers.

That day forward Mike starts studying.

It hurts his brain at first to think and concentrate so much. It’s almost like going to the gym for the first time.

He keeps going. Each day he gets better at it. The rust comes off, those sleepy neurons start to light up between his ears.

Quickly – he gets into a groove. His grades pick up.

They get better. They get better. He learns a couple study tricks he should have known years ago.

Cute girls are suddenly asking him for help in school.

He realizes school isn’t that hard. He realizes what he already knew – he wasn’t dumb.

In fact, he realizes, he’s a lot smarter than he thought he was.

Suddenly, he’s getting the top grades in his class.

Mike – was so much more than even he ever thought.

He’d been a darkhorse scholar in his class.

He is acing test after test. He dethroned the former smart kid who now eyes him with jealousy.

And one day – his teacher asks him to stay after class.

His teacher comes over, sits on a table across from him.

He stares at Mike.

He walks over, reaches out and shakes Mike’s hand, saying, “Mike – I apologize. You had it in you all along. I never knew”

Mike, your quintessential, stereotypical gifted slacker, had announced his arrival.

I’ve found that harsh criticisms can cut deep particularly if there is a grain of truth to them.

The knee-jerk reaction is often to punch back, recoil, bury yourself away from it.

The next time a criticism cuts deep, step forward and into it.

Look within the pain rather than react to it. What does it show you?

Are your talents being buried by inaction? By weakness?

Look at it.

It is right there.

Do something about it.

If someone shines a light on your demons, don’t flip the light off, expel the demons.

If someone mislabels you, sells you short of what you are, what you are capable of, do something about it.

Show them the truth.

You’ll enjoy it.

Nothing beats proving people wrong.

Real Living Cost In Shenzhen, China Will Shock You

What are your thoughts on industries moving back to the United States from China? Do you think it is due to rising costs and stricter environmental regulations in China, or do you think they will stay there permanently? Why or why not?

Which one?

Almost none!

Dell was doing horrendously bad and it’s sales in China is almost non existent when it thought playing the hate China can can win sales in U.S. and its cronies.

Well the result is it got even worst.

China’s market itself is close to 30% of the world’s market. And it can make everything. Better and faster at half the cost anywhere else. With that China help you earn heaps of money! Without China you go broke. With China you laugh all the way to the bank.

99.999% of US businessman wants to stay perpetually in China if they can. US business people are smart. US politicians have only one objective. To stay in power. To do that do shit and talk shit on China can get you there.

Americans are so unbelievably ignorant and naive after 24/7, 365 days a year 74 straight years of demonising And fabrications of lies by the U.S media on China. do you blame the Yanks. Imagine going to school, college and university that teaches you white is black and right is wrong that long!

I don’t. I pity them.

Have you ever seen a workplace bully picking the wrong target? What happened?

Worked at Burger King when I was around 16, and I put up with a lot of abuse from a few managers (including one guy in his 30s constantly getting aggressive with me for no reason, just started happening one day and didn’t quit) because in spite of them, the rm and a few of the other managers were really cool. Flash forward about a year and I was one of three people working in the restaurant and the other two people were the aggressive manager and a new manager who was abusing her power. I made all the food correctly, labeled it correctly and put it on hot table for them to bag( it was the middle of a rush) both of them were bagging the food incorrectly, telling me a made the things wrong when I know I didn’t, I knew they weren’t paying attention they were just bagging stuff up and customer kept coming back angry and I had to remake the food. After a few hours, when the rush hit it got worse. And they were still blaming me for their mistakes, but when the aggressive manager went off on me, I literally just walked over and clocked out and told them I’m quitting, to have fun for the rest of their shift because you’ll be the only ones here for the remainder of the day. I dont work fast food anymore, the thought just makes me angry. I’m not saying I’m better than those workers, or smarter, just that I won’t work in the food industry ever again. I was 16, they should’ve picked a target that was older, less likely to quit because they had bills/ kids to take care of, I didn’t.

A declining society

What are some of the most mind-blowing facts?

The likelihood of surviving a plane accident is around 95.7%. However, around 16% of accidents are fatal. Of all modern transport-category planes, the one with the worst safety record is the Concorde, yet it only had one fatal accident, this is because of its limited service history.*
Afghanistan’s literacy rate is around 29%.
Labor Day was an event conceived to cover up some pretty brutal massacres of American workers.
The sun is one star in 300 sextillion (or 300,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.)
After suffering a knife wound whilst giving fellatio a woman became pregnant… even despite being born without a vagina.

*Concorde fact courtesy of Tal R. Thanks Tal.

Britain’s youngest grandfather was 29 at the time of birth.
The total weight of all the Earth’s ants is around the same of all the humans.
Because ants are so small they can survive a session in a microwave by dodging the rays.
When you sneeze your heart stops for a millisecond- hence the term bless you.
At 2000 km long, the Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on Earth.
Polar bears can run at 25 kmph and jump around 6 feet high.
There are 62,000 miles of blood vessels in the human body, so they could stretch around the Earth 2.5 times.
If you were to drill a tunnel straight through the centre of the Earth it would take you precisely 42 minutes and 12 seconds to get to the bottom if you jumped… but you’d be dead before you got there.
The strongest creature on Earth, gonorrhea bacteria, can pull 100,000 times their body weight.
If you apply an electric current to a pickle it will react with the salt, causing the pickle to glow.

The speed of Neptune’s wind breaks the sound barrier.
Picasso was a suspect in the 1911 Mona Lisa theft.
The Queen owns one-sixth of the Earth’s land surface.
On August 27th of 1896, Britain and Zanzibar fought a war. It lasted 36 minutes.
The U.S. produces 90,000,000 acres of corn per annum.
Warner’s Bros. was founded before the Ottoman Empire fell.
Calculations determine that, in the last 3,500 years, there have been 260 years of peace.
In 2005 a man threw a grenade at George W. Bush and it didn’t explode.
If the figures are correct humans were first on Earth 200,000 years ago, and written records of life were first found from 6,000 years ago, 97% of history is lost.
You can swim through some of the arteries in a blue whale’s heart.
Thomas Edison’s last breath is in a tube, in Detroit’s Henry Ford museum.
Most canned laughter was recorded in the 1950’s, so most of those laughs re from dead people.
A single crayon burns for half an hour.

In Detroit, 70% of murders go unsolved.
Excite turned Google down in 1999 when they were willing to sell the company for $1,000,000
Ronald Wayne sold his stake in Apple for $800 dollars in 1976.
‘No melon, no lemon’ spelt backwards is ‘No melon, no lemon.’
If you spell out every number you won’t use an A until you reach one thousand.
Marie Curie’s work is still radioactive enough to make you sick, so you must sign a disclaimer to view them.
Cleopatra lived closer to the Moon landing the the building of the Great Pyramid.
Half of the humans ever to live have died from malaria.
Charlie Chaplin’s remains were stolen and held for ransom. See chaplin.
**
If you could fold paper 42 times it would reach the moon.
If there was no space between the atoms on Earth it would be the size of a regular baseball.
Ireland’s population is still 2,000,000 less than it was before the potato famine.
You have a 0.5% chance of being related to Genghis Khan.
A banana is a berry and a strawberry isn’t.
Nelson Mandela wasn’t removed from the U.S. terror watch-list until 2008.
Jimmy Carter, the genius that he is, sent a jacket to his cleaner with nuclear launch codes and secrets in the pocket.
Quentin Tarantino played an Elvis impersonator in the Golden Girls.

**Charlie Chaplin fact courtesy of Murray Robinson. Thanks Murray. 🙂

The heat of the sun’s core is so hot that if you put a pinhead on Earth which was as hot you could kill a person 160 km away.
Irish poet Brendan Behan was a confirmed alcoholic at the age of eight.
Sunandha Kumariratana the Queen of Thailand forbid her subjects from touching her and so they were all forced to look on as she drowned.
Fleas can jump around 200 times their height.
A seahorse moves through the waters at about 0.01 mph.
A giraffe’s spots are truly unique- no two giraffes have the same spots, also you can determine their age from the darkness of their spots.
Giraffes learn to stand after 30 minutes and can run with their mothers after 10 hours.
Scientists have submitted papers to exhume and examine the body of shakespeare to see if he smoked marijuana.
Blue jeans are now banned in North Korea for being a sign of American imperialism.
Shopping carts have more saliva, faecal matter, and bacteria on them than most bathrooms.
Barry Manilow didn’t write his song “I Write the Songs.”
Leo Fender couldn’t play the guitar.
President John Tyler still has two surviving grandchildren, despite being born some 221 years ago.
1/3 of all the U.K. divorce filings included the word ‘Facebook’.

There was a counting horse called Stanley from Liverpool, who could multiply, divide, add and subtract as well as calculate mileage, it also performed in a theatre production in the Anglican cathedral… he was trained by my Grandfather. 🙂

Crazy gym lifestyle in the USA

What did your mother or father say to you when you were young that you remembered your whole life?

I had a very snooty classmate, mummy and daddy had more money than sense, and whenever we passed a homeless person she was sniff and say “dirty scroungers, get a job!”

My dad on the other hand would always pass the time of day and give them some money. One day we met him on the way home from school, the girl saw dad give a man a few coins and demanded “why give him your money. He needs a job!”

“Yes.”Dad agreed, “and a home, and a nice loving family. Can you give him that? Just as Scaz is my child, that man is somebody’s child. If we all remembered that everyone is somebody’s baby, we would all be happier! When you look at him, you think begger. When I look at him I think “There but for the grace of God go I.”

When we got home, dad sat me down and said “if you remember nothing else, remember this. When someone hits rock bottom, there is only one way left. Up.

If you can’t find a kind person, BE a kind person. When someone hits rock bottom, be the hand pulling them back up, for God knows one day you’ll need someone to do it for you “

Mind vs. Body

What psychological tricks can I use in everyday life?

Here are 8 useful psychological tricks you can use in daily life:

1.When people tell you things you don’t agree with

Don’t object to them firmly.

First acknowledge what they say with words like, “I see what you mean” and continue with your own opinion asking “but have you ever thought about this part of it?” That approach will help you make your point without being interrupted or having someone oppose you.

2. To improve your mood

You can Write down negative thoughts and tossing them in a trash can.

And if you are angry, draw lines. Simple patterns relax you. If you feel sad, paint a rainbow.

3. If you want someone to carry something for you

Hand it over to them while talking. Most people won’t notice that you’re handing them something and they will take it.

But note that this trick may not work on people who are naturally more attentive as well as less close to you.

4. To make yourself look like a naturally good listener, even if you aren’t one

Paraphrase what someone else has just said and say it again. Remember to not be too obvious though.

5. To get friendlier with a person

Emphasize your shared values. In other words, try finding a point of similarity between the two of you and then highlight it.

This is according to the “similarity-attraction effect”, stating that you are more attracted to those who are similar to you.

6. To give someone positive memories of your conversation or interaction

Let them talk about themselves. One study showed that when people talked about themselves, the reward system of the brain became activated, meaning talking about oneself felt actually rewarding.

7. When two people eat together, if you want to know if the other person has a potential affection for you (friendship and love apply)

Pick up a cup and take a sip of water. If the other person also subconsciously picks up his glass and drinks water, he or she is more likely to have a potential interest in you. Related article you may want to read: 20 signs to tell if someone likes you.

8. To immediately feel confident

You may be surprised by the effectiveness of adopting the “power stance”, i.e. standing with your legs apart and your arms spread out so that you cover as much space as possible. If you do this for just two minutes, you flood your body with testosterone and will instantly feel more self-assured.

I dominated

Comparison between Chinese and Japanese disaster rescue operation

Japan :

An earthquake occurred at 4:00 pm, The Self-Defense Forces were still eating, drinking and having fun to celebrate the New Year that night. They did not set out to the disaster area until noon the next day. It took 5 or 6 days after the disaster to complete the operation. There were only 2,000 food supplies for more than 10,000 people and no water for one day., only get one rice ball.

China :

At 23:59 on December 18, a 6.2-magnitude earthquake occurred in Jishishan County, Gansu Province, my country;

Just 3 minutes after the earthquake, fire trucks and ambulances appeared on the streets;

20 minutes after the earthquake, Gansu and Qinghai launched emergency plans at the same time;

37 minutes after the earthquake, the fire rescue teams from Lanzhou, Wuwei and Baiyin had already assembled and went to the scene for disaster relief;

81 minutes after the earthquake, the first trapped person was rescued;

160 minutes after the earthquake, the provincial party committee secretaries and governors from Gansu and Qinghai arrived at the disaster area to guide the rescue;

At four o’clock in the morning, the first batch of 300 rescue troops from the People’s Liberation Army arrived in the disaster area and began relief;

In the early morning of that day, the People’s Liberation Army cooking truck began to make breakfast for the affected people;

At 15:00 that day, the official announced that the earthquake rescue work was basically completed, and the focus of the work shifted to the treatment of the wounded and the living arrangements of the affected people.

In other words, from 23:59 on the evening of the 18th to 15:00 on the 19th, China completed the entire earthquake rescue work in only 15 hours. The affected people even had hot meals in the morning as usual.

a tweet from a Japanese comparing two disaster rescue mission.

do you understand picture above?

Author Note : China is not a perfect country, a smart society has it owns problem. However I notice that they are very optimistic about their economy prospect compared with the rest of the world and second they really proud on how disaster management they have.

What would happen if China became stronger than the United States economically, militarily, and politically?

Nothing will happen. Nothing did happen.

Ignore the single dimension inaccurate GDP! It measures hot air bubble like Wall Street and bloated U.S. greed such as pharmaceutical companies!

China for all intent and purpose has overtaken the U.S. for at least a decade now. Financially, politically, economically and militarily since 2014.

China won’t do the shit that the U.S. do foolishly acting as a worldwide police man that no one wanted and nobody is willing to pay a cent for. The only gain for the US is universal hate and disdain. The U.S. appears to prefer to implode its economy and impoverish its people by paying for Ukraine instead of helping its own poor.

China is very clear it will do everything to make Chinese people live a better life, healthier living and better livelihood over interference, intervention and chaos and coup financing and orchestrating. That is a U.S. thing. American must stand up to stop your corrupt officials from bankrupting your nation and destroying your future.

Unhireable

What is the best case of “You just picked a fight with the wrong person” that you’ve witnessed?

It was dark at the restaurant’s parking lot. I was a young boy in the back seat of my Father’s Thunderbird. My older brother and I were kneeling on the car seat, watching a frightening scene unfold through the rear window. My Mother was in the front seat holding our baby sister while keeping an eye on us and repeatedly ordering us to stay in the car and to not open any doors. (In the 1960’s child-proof locks didn’t exist)

Outside, a loud, angry man walked towards my Father. He was enraged. He pointed at my Father as he screamed profanities and threats. He kept advancing and made it perfectly clear to my Father he was going to kill him. I think the man was upset that my Father had inadvertently pulled into a parking spot he wanted.

My Father stood still.

Although the parking lot was only barely illuminated by a small lamppost, I could still see the vehemence in this man’s face. The shadows the overhead lamp created made him look even more demonic as he kept getting closer. The man pulled an object from his pocket and with some fancy wrist flicks flipped it open and exposed a blade. It looked like this:

Image Source: Google images

It’s called a balisong. The American version is called a butterfly knife.

“I’m going to slice your guts open,” I heard the man say.

“Is that what you wanted? You want a knife fight?” my Father asked. He opened the car’s trunk.

We briefly lost sight of the angry man. Only after my Father shut the trunk did we see what was happening again. We saw the man with the knife. Except now he was much further away; running, stumbling in panic, screaming apologies and running some more.

My Father wasn’t too far behind and closing in with a samurai sword.

I lost track of my Father and the man after they rounded the corner of the restaurant. I don’t think my Father killed him, though, as I didn’t see any blood on his clothes or on the sword in his hand as he calmly walked back to the car. He slid the sword back into its sheath and lowered the trunk door.

“Let’s eat,” he casually said.

During WWII, my Father was a member of Marking’s Regiment, a guerilla unit. They took part in several fights, most of which were in thick jungles which involved a lot of ambushes and hand-to-hand combat. (They also fought alongside American units in several operations. Here’s one of them

[1]) The article written by David Lash mentions them in a couple of places. The article’s several pages long though, so I extracted some excerpts:

The Americans were greatly helped by Filipino guerrillas. From the very beginning of the Japanese occupation, numerous bands had been active throughout the Philippines. They ran the gamut from highly effective, disciplined groups to common criminals. But one of the outfits most useful to the Americans was Marking’s Fil-American Yay Regiment, better known as Marking Regiment, a group of Filipino guerrillas about 3,000 strong. This group was headed by Colonel Marcus V. Augustin, a former Manila-Antipolo bus driver who had escaped Bataan and chosen “Marking” as his guerilla name.

Marking’s Regiment would be under the direction of Brig. Gen. Alexander Stark, the assistant commander of the 43rd. Its role was to attack the northern flank, largely as a feint to confuse the Japanese. Because of this secondary status, there were no plans to give it significant artillery or air support.

The regiment would be split into a North Force and a South Force of about 1,500 men each.

(Before I continue I want to respectfully say “Thank you” to all the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces – past and present, Thank you for your service.)

My Father was decorated with several battle scars. The one that pertains to this story though, at a separate battle from the one mentioned above, is a long scar above his chest, right below his neck. It was courtesy of a Japanese officer in one of their several run-ins. My Father killed him with a bolo (a type of machete) after the officer’s swing and near miss at decapitation. He claimed the dead man’s sword after the fight was over and all the enemy combatants were dead. (They had a tendency to refuse surrender, which was fine by the guerrillas.)

The man with a 5-inch blade had no effect on my Father other than to produce a disdainful sneer. Without seeing his face I know he sneered. I know the man.

Below is a photo of the actual sword my Father chased the man with that night. My Father donated it to a WW II museum before old age finally claimed him. I took a picture of his sword when I went back home for his funeral. He was buried with full military honors.

Post Script added 4/5/20 :

My Father was well aware of the value of the samurai sword. He was an executive officer of the Philippines Veterans Museum and played an instrumental part in the creation and building of the museum. After he retired from his law practice, he dedicated the remainder of his life to the welfare of veterans and worked tirelessly for their benefit. He had housing units, similar to barracks, built for homeless or financially needy veterans and their families to live in cost free for as long as they needed.

The monetary value of the sword, to him, was insignificant. Income generated from the museum were used for expenses related to the housing units as well as for the education of the children and descendants of poor veterans. So the value of the sword was not lost, but repurposed to benefit the needy.

I wrote more about him in another answer: Dennis Garcia’s answer to What was the best time you witnessed a bully get owned?

Footnotes

[1]Ipo Dam: A Campaign For Water – Warfare History Network

Thai Boxing

What is the funniest joke you’ve been told that you still think about to this day?

The funniest joke I have ever heard (and what makes it even more hilarious is the fact that I am blind) is the one about the man who takes his Seeing Eye dog into a bar. He picks the dog up by the tail and swings him around his head in a circle. “What are you doing?” the bar tender asks. “I’m just looking around.” he replies.

Another is about a blind man who goes to Texas. He feels the bus seat in Texas and says, “This seat is huge!” “Everything’s bigger in Texas.” the bus driver says. “Have a seat.” So the blind man sits down and the bus arrives at a bar later on. The guy gets off and goes inside.

When he sits down, the bar tender pours him a glas. The blind man feels it and says, “This glass is humongus.” “Everything is bigger in Texas.” the bar tender replies. A few minutes pass and the blind guy is hammered. He asks the tender where the rest room is. “It’s the third door on your right down that hallway to the left of you.” the bar tender replies, and the blind man gets up and advances toward the bathroom. Well, along the way, he trips over a fan cord and as a result, he oversteps and goes out the fourth door instead. He falls into the club swimming pool, and the whole time he’s standing in water up to his chest, he’s screaming, “Don’t flush! Don’t flush! Please, God, no!”

Japanese

What are some mind blowing life hacks?

1. If you have a few hours to kill on the airplane, delete pictures from your phone.

2. Use your travel toiletries at home the night before you leave for a long trip.

3. Sign out of Netflix when checking out of an Airbnb or hotel.

4. When using a grocery delivery service, tip a set amount, not a percentage.

5. Waving someone through a stop sign when they stopped after you is not doing anybody a favour and most competent drivers are just annoyed at you for behaving unpredictably.

6. If you need to memorize information, read it, record it and play it quietly at night.

7. Save your PowerPoint presentation as a .ppsx file that starts automatically when opened.

8. Marry someone who will always have your back, even when they’re mad at you.

9. If you find a faster way to do something at your work, keep it a secret from your manager.

10. Your company didn’t know you existed before you applied and won’t notice you when you’re gone. Take care of yourself.

11. Before buying something, ask yourself two questions: “Where will I store this thing?” and “How difficult will it be to clean this thing?”

12. If the person you are dating invites you over for a home cooked meal, take the initiative and just start doing the dishes without asking. You can thank me later.

13. Ask the person you are dating the non-negotiables of yours in the first few weeks.

14. If you know how late you are going to be, add an extra 5-10 minutes to it. It might be annoying for the people when you say it initially, but when you come before the time you said, it will evoke a far more positive reaction than underestimating the lateness time.

15. Pay Attention to the smell of your home when you come back from a trip. That’s what it smells like to guests all the time, you just get used to it.

16. Do not try to be the man your father would want you to be. Be the man you would like your son to be be.

75 cent rule

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/A0unEiRSWHo?feature=share

What is the most courageous thing you’ve ever seen someone do or say?

I was new to a school. New year for everyone else.

If you thought this was yet another story from my dramatic teenage years, you were wrong. I was seven.

There was a boy in this class. Let’s call him Lewis. Lewis was… let’s just say he wasn’t very popular. He wasn’t bullied, he wasn’t hated, he was just a loner. The sort of kid who no one really talked to, and who didn’t really talk to anyone (he would grow up to be the most mad cap son of a bitch I know).

One day Lewis decides to read a book. I cannot recall what book, only that it had a bright pink cover.

Another kid, let’s call him Darren, decides that this is a perfect opportunity to do what kids do best: be cruel. So he goes to mock Lewis.

‘You’re reading a girls book. You like girly things!’

I’ve been observing Lewis for several days now. I’ve always liked to observe those that stood out to me. Even at my age I was able to tell that Lewis was not the sort of kid who would be able to respond well to that.

Except I was wrong.

‘Yeah I’m reading a girly book. I also like fairy cakes. And I love my mum. What are you going to do about it?’

Y’all know what sort of person I am. Now. But this kid was 7 years old and totally owned who he was. Not only that, but he took what must’ve been the greatest risk I’d ever seen right there.

X, Y, Z…

As a mechanic, what is the strangest thing you have seen in a customer’s car?

Back in the late ‘90s, I began my time at a Ford dealership as a technician. (I had been working on vehicles/machinery since a kid, so, it was a good fit)

One day, right at closing time, a lady came in from about 50 miles away. She had a brand new first generation Ford Escape (it had only come out maybe a month prior) with less than 500 miles on the odometer.

She complained about a shimmy/wobble from the front end and steering wheel vibration. Ok. So, preliminary check while parked outside and her watching, I look at the vehicle head-on and noticed the driver’s front wheel out of alignment, seriously out of alignment. I take a closer look and pop the center cap off the wheel, exposing the hub and axle assembly (this was a front wheel drive vehicle) and what I saw blew me away.

There was no axle nut holding the hub to the threaded axle shaft. Judging from the condition of the hub, no witness marks and the absence of the nut itself, the retainer nut was never installed on this vehicle from the factory.

This customer had driven all that way with only the caliper and brake disk assembly holding the wheel onto the vehicle. This one disturbed me just thinking what could have happened had the brake disk or the caliper failed during her commute.

Damn Right

What happened when a king in medieval times impregnated a servant or a commoner? Were their children called princes and princesses?

Kings in the middle ages did impregnate servants BUT those servants were freqently of noble or “gentle” birth themselves. The daughters of knights, at the least.

Why mess with the runny-nosed maid scrubbing the privy floor when there were wall-to-wall ladies-in-waiting doing the less grubby jobs of helping the queen and princesses dress, doing their hair, mending their clothes, and serving their meals? Not to mention the daughters and sisters of the noblemen serving the king?

The children from those affairs didn’t become princes and princesses because they weren’t in the line of inheritance. But their mothers were often married off to someone with money and who wanted to be in the king’s favour. The king might acknowledge a daughter with an estate and minor title at some point to get her a better marriage or acknowledge a competent young son with a title, an estate and a military command.

In Norman tradition, it was common to give an illegitimate child the surname starting with “Fitz.” Giles Fitzgerald would be the illegitimate son of a nobleman named Gerald of Whatever, while Gerald’s legitimate son William would be William of Whatever. Fitzroy was reserved for the son of the king. There were lots of Fitzroys around sometimes.

William the Conqueror was illegitimate, but since his father, Robert, Duke of Normandy, had no legitimate sons, he picked William to be his heir. William of Normandy, later King William I of England, still got stuck with the name “William the Bastard” by his detractors.

Henry I of England had 25 known illegitimate children by several noble mistresses. He made one of his nine illegitimate sons the Earl of Gloucester and another the Earl of Cornwall. Others (mostly named Fitzroy) were given smaller estates and/or military commands, and at least one went into the church. And although Henry lost both his legitimate sons young, the earls of Cornwall and Gloucester backed up their legitimate sister Matilda’s claim to the throne. Of his daughters, one became an abbess and most of the rest married well — one was a countess, another a duchess, and another the queen of Scotland.

And what did the queens think of this? In the middle ages, they didn’t have much to say, unless they were Queen Regnant like Joanna of Castille, who, when her handsome husband, Philip Duke of Austria, messed with some of her ladies-in-waiting, cut off their hair and spread it across his pillow as a warning.

No shit

What is the best excuse you have given to the police for speeding?

Not me, but a coworker.

We worked at a battery manufacturing plant in a small town in Iowa. One of the primary hazards was lead contamination, so we had to have our blood lead levels checked frequently to be certain they didn’t hit truly hazardous levels (but, working in such a place, your levels were *never* zero).

One day a coworker just slipped in the door & managed to clock in on time, so others asked him why was running so late. He said that he’d overslept & so had been egregiously speeding trying to make it when he was pulled over by Iowa State Patrol.

When the officer asked him why he was going so fast, he looked at him & said “Sorry, officer, but I work at Exide.”

“So what does that have to do you speeding?”

“It’s my blood levels, sir. All the lead makes my foot heavy!”

Apparently, the cop got a good laugh at the excuse & let him go with a warning.

Keep putting in the work

What is something that gets better once you get older?

Two things

One:

Dating is so much freaking better than high school, early-college stuff.

There’s no gossip and drama.

There’s no taboo around sex and hooking up. The people you date typically have many years and notches on their bedpost: it’s not a big deal anymore.

Dating means you exist in your own private channel – nobody else is in the know unless you choose to have them in the know.

And anyone else who is in the know? Who cares.

Two:

Weekends are killer.

And here’s the ironic part.

When you have your own house, your own rules, some money in your bank, what do you look forward to doing most on the weekend?

Not much of anything.

It’s great. Just relaxing, knocking out some chores, indulging a hobby or two. Maybe going out to eat or walking around.

Light activities. But basically nothing.

And maybe getting lucky. (See One).

Being a grown-up is awesome. My 30’s has been my best decade yet – it isn’t even close.

Chinese carrier landing

Pay attention.

Have you ever witnessed someone get fired for over-performing?

Gary was a really enthusiastic teacher. He spent a lot of his free time pouring over ‘How to teach’ texts, grammar explanations and games (for grammar and English communications).

He took lesson planning and student evaluations very (too?) seriously.

He talked of little else.

I liked him and could relate to his passion for teaching.

We were all teaching part-time in a small, uni-sponsored English language program and rarely saw each other since all classes were off-campus.

The director’s secretary called me, asking if I knew of a school that would hire Gary, stating that the director had to let him go for over-achieving.

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN???

Gary had been sent to a high-end accounting firm to improve the English language skills of ten people who were scheduled for promotion to senior auditors IF they exhibited a high level of ability in various skills.

Gary went into overdrive in determining their needs (annoying HR and Training with non-stop questions) and planning accordingly.

He decided that the 30-hour course wasn’t sufficient and approached our director AND the company’s HR. He was told to stick to the schedule.

BUT he (on his own) added an unpaid, extra half hour or more to each class period.

The students were appreciative, but the company and our director took a dim view. The company, like many places we taught, expected the staff to study at 5 p.m. and then put in overtime after class.

Gary’s class extensions were affecting projects, customer relations and students’ output.

The director, although Gary did NOT ask for extra pay, saw this as a financial loss, a practice that none of the other teachers would be willing to do, AND a deterrent to future classes with this company.

He tried explaining and reasoning with Gary with little success. He finally had to order Gary to stop the extra teaching or give up the class.

The company was notified with apologies (our director was an amazing smoozer) and that was the end of it.

But…no.

Gary continued to sneak in extra time, 10-15 minutes or so, and added homework.

When the course finished, the students praised Gary for his concern and gave him high evaluations but quietly asked HR to request a different teacher.

Note: Gary was later hired at a different university as full-time staff, often tutoring students for free.

I traveled to WUHAN, China and it was SHOCKING

Why is Hong Kong refusing to seize the $500 million Russian oligarch yacht docked in its waters owned by Alexei Mordashov?

What an epic marina to enjoy rich lifestyle with a palm-fringed shoreline, roads congested with sports cars, and beautiful women in bikinis sunbathing on a white sand beach.…Not.

Russian steel and mining oligarch Alexey Mordashov’s superyacht Nord has just been re-registered in grim and brutalsky Vladivostok, Russia. It’s been docked in Golden Horn Bay near the borders with friendly countries, North Korea and China, for over a year.

The region is known for its large reserves of tin and tungsten. It’s also rich in copper, fluorite, and coal. Collectors value agates, sapphires, and precious opals that are held in high esteem. It doesn’t manufacture or design absolutely anything of economic value.

The super yacht costs 5 annual city budgets of Vladivostok, which skyline you can see in the photo above.

Having escaped by the skin of Mordashov’s American dental work from being impounded in Italy, the captain turned the transponder off and went AWOL for one full year. All this time, Mordashov desperately tried to negotiate political asylum for his boat in Asian countries – any would do as long as he didn’t have to return to his homeland.

Putin started the war in Ukraine in February 2022, the West retaliated with a barrage of sanctions targeting his inner circle, and oligarchs like Modrashov discovered that they have about as much agency outside of Putin’s diktat and Western playbook as a cockroach about to be sprayed with DDT.

Indonesia and Malaysia told Mordashov off and to head up Nord, which he did. Hong Kong reacted to the man on the run’s request for sanctuary just as they did to Edward Snowden’s:

“We not gonna have reputational risks and jeopardize our dodgy financial schemes and money laundering hub for the sake of your narcissistic self-aggrandizements. Can we recommend a country where you gonna fit right in – Russia?”

The super-yacht was built in Germany and was registered in the Cayman Islands, whose flag features The British Union Jack in the corner, a country that has provided Urkaine with cruise missiles that have sunk at least two Russian warships in the Black Sea, including the fleet’s flagship Moskva.

Launched just two years before the full-scale invasion, Nord spent a third of its lifespan on the run, and a third docked in Vladivostok. Mordashov should convert it to an icebreaker as the only route left for him to take is the Arctic Ocean.

Mordashov is also free to play Tschaikovsky’s 1812 Overture with artillery and all and wait for the end of the hostilities at the other end of Russia to cease.

It doesn’t matter which side is going to win though, Mordashov’s is stuck in Vladivostok forever. I would recommend scuttling and selling tickets to a most expensive private yacht shipwreck diving spot. Chinese millionaires across the border might show interest in buying tours.

Or as they say, “Russian ship, go f yourself.”

Why was mobster Hymie Weiss considered the only person Al Capone ever feared?

Al Capone had balls the size of Texas. He allegedly did not fear anyone or anything EXCEPT the little Polish guy from Chicago.

Weiss had bad headaches and fainting spells. It was probably a brain tumor. Certain he was not going to live into his 30’s, Weiss had balls the size of Alaska. He feared nothing, including the godfather of Chicago’s South Side, Al Capone.

The son of poor Italian immigrants, Capone would rule the biggest criminal empire in American history. Although prostitution, gambling and bootlegging were the moneymakers, killing opponents came with the territory.

The North Side Gang was a mix of Poles, Jews and Irishmen. The South Side Gang was Italians, run by Capone and Johnny Torrio. They did not like each other. Capone decided to delete the head of the North Side; Dean O’Banion was shot dead on November 10, 1924.

Weiss took control of the North Side Gang. He shot up Capone’s limousine, but Capone was not in the vehicle at the time. He then went over to visit Johnny Torrio at his house and peppered him full of bullets. Weiss did not like the Sicilian mafia either, so he stopped by to see Angelo Genna, too. Weiss killed him.

Weiss did his own killing; it was his hobby.

Capone was nervous. His days were numbered, so he contacted Weiss and requested a truce. A meeting was held.

Weiss demanded that the two men who shot O’Banion be delivered for his own personal afternoon of “entertainment”. Either that or he would kill Capone, too.

Capone could not accept the offer. Those two were the best hit men in Capone’s private collection.

As Weiss went to the flower shop where he often slept and where O’Banion was killed, two men, one with a machine gun and the other with a shotgun, opened fire. Weiss, the only man that Al Capone feared, was dead of a bullet wound to the head at the age of 28.

The meal is free

When have you cheaply or inexpensively fixed an item someone thought unrepairable?

Several years ago I was working for a company doing home theatre installs. Often when walk-ins bought TVs they’d ask to have it installed (and mounted). A good customer of ours came in and bought a new TV. At the time this 60″ plasma was going out the door for about $8k. We (I) installed it, mounted it on the wall in their basement. It had been recommended that they purchase a UPS / battery backup /spike protector. They declined. After I finished the install I recommended the same (I was paid salary, so selling stuff wasn’t part of my compensation and didn’t matter except for the obvious protection of this equipment). I didn’t plug the TV into the wall, the customer did that after declining the UPS.

2 weeks later they called stating their satellite dish tower was struck by lightning and the new TV wasn’t coming on. I was sent to evaluate. You could smell the ozone smell, the magic smoke smell even a day later. Warranty doesn’t cover this. They buy a new TV.. the new models just came out and they popped for a 75″… and a UPS this time. I had a helper with me to install the new one, and they asked us to dispose of the baked TV. I called the office and they said load it up and take it away to be disposed, don’t even bring it to the office. Instead of taking it 45 minutes to the E-waste disposal site, I put it in the back of my truck and dumped it on my back porch. It sat there for a couple years. When Covid hit and everything shut down I did what everyone else did… started purging stuff. I looked at this TV and decided to take a look-see before tossing it. After laying it on the counter and getting the back off it, I exposed 3 PCBs. 2 were almost identical, as I looked first at one and then the next I realized that the PCB on the right had a pile of charcoal where a small blue MoV should have been (MoV’s are the protection device in Surge protector bars). I went down to my dead devices pile and grabbed an old dead Bell Sat receiver and found the same part. Unsoldered it and installed it into the TV. As soon as I plugged it in, the screen came on and the audio started hissing that white noise from not being tuned to a channel.

I’m using that TV for over 2 years now without any further issues.

What was the nail in the coffin for an employee or a co-worker?

Oh, the stories one can tell…

Had to fire one engineer for watching porn on the company computer. Worst part? He sued because he wasn’t given a warning…the State Labor board agreed…we had to cover his salary for six months. Despite being clearly covered in the employee handbook as a “no-no”, we apparently couldn’t just fire him. We figured it was just the cost of doing business to rid ourselves of such an individual.

Fired one young lady on the second shift who was “entertaining gentlemen” in her van during lunch hour. If she’d been doing it up on the berm of the State highway it would have been a public matter, but she was parked on company property…with surveillance cameras catching everything.

Fired upwards of a hundred over the years for drug and alcohol abuse on the job.

Some more I knew about (but wasn’t the firing supervisor)…

There were two executives caught “in the act” on the boardroom table. Not a great career choice in general, particularly bad when the CEO is a born again Christian.

Knew another executive who got a job at a private firm…and decided it was a bright idea to share the spreadsheet of bids of all the competitors with the government. Their first act was to fire him, the second was to call the FBI and the Inspector General. He’s doing time in Federal prison.

More “rank and file” firings for time card theft, attempted embezzlement, stealing company property, deliberate destruction of company property, and aggravated assault on a co-worker.

There’s no end to human stupidity.

What things should I never do?

Before I go there, let me tell you a story.

One day I was walking in my building when a girl in my neighborhood, pushed me from behind.

I looked around at her, tried to reason with her but she snapped at me saying I wasn’t looking where I was going.

She was plain rude.

Stop for a moment.

What do you think of that girl now?

Mean? Obnoxious?

Let’s see what actually happened:

I had my earphones on when I was walking so I couldn’t hear the girl walking behind me.

I slowed down suddenly and that’s when that girl bumped into me.

I got annoyed and asked her what her problem was. That’s when she got angry and asked me to watch where I was going.

Okay. Same story, two narrations.

The above incident didn’t really happen but I wanted to illustrate something:

In the first story, I never mentioned I had my earphones on.

In the first story, I said that the girl was the one who pushed me.

In fact, I even wrote that I “tried to reason with her” when I had actually blamed her even though I was the one at fault.

I left out the details which could make me look bad and exaggerated the parts which blamed the other person.

Just like, if a person goes ahead and says how all of their exes were crazy and they were the innocent victims, there’s a high chance that the story is manipulated.

Here’s the thing: Every story has two sides.

So, you can never form a judgement by hearing just one side of it.

What things should you never do?

Well, let’s start with, not believing every random thing you hear.

I don’t see why this matters…

What will China do to fight decoupling and drive its economic recovery?

China will not fight decoupling. It is good for China. It gives impetus for Chinese innovation and Chinese self sustenance.

Most of all it helps China grow healthily and steadily. At 3–4 times that of the U.S. It is good for keeping in check over growth that may be bad for environment and China can cultivate its domestic market. Though it slows down China say 1–2% GDP so will be the U.S. take this year for example. China will likely grow by 6% in spite of all the shit the U.S. throw at China! And the U.S. will hardly hit even 2% growth.

6% is a wet dream for western economies to have. These day UK is set for a negative growth of -3%. And the rest of EU are barely faring better.

Decoupling is a suicide for the west. But hubris and supremacists thinking probably encourage the U.S. on. Frankly the rest of the Global South are ready to decouple from the west. We are ready. Please keep your outdated and irrelevant technologies to screw yourself.

What is the one thing you would never do?

Imagine: You are trapped on your stomach, walls all around you. Each time you inhale, your ribs touch the top of the space you are enclosed in. You can only wiggle forward, inching towards freedom. Oh, yeah-don’t forget: The walls might crumble down on you, killing you instantly. Worse yet, you might get trapped, stuck in a tiny, enclosed space, unable to move as you slowly die of thirst.

Doesn’t that sound like fun?

Spelunking, otherwise known as cave crawling, is the ‘sport’ for people with a death wish. Essentially, you mash your body through tiny cave crevices that have the chance of leading to a larger cave. It’s a claustrophobic’s nightmare come to life.

You might think that it’s safe? Absolutely not. The only equipment you have is a helmet. If you think:

Well, with my trusty hard hat, what’s there to worry about? It’ll protect me if the cave comes crumbling down!

Then you might want to go “spelunking” in a padded room with no windows.

The Nutty Putty Cave incident made international headlines.

Spelunker John Jones was well familiar with spelunking. As a child, he had often spelunked with his father, and when he was 23 years old, he descended into the depths of Nutty Putty Cave in Utah. The cave had seen over 5000 visitors a year for decades, and was assumed to be fairly safe.

John went into the cave with his brother Josh and some other friends, totally unaware of what would happen next. At one point, John thought he was in a part of the cave called the Birth Canal, but in reality, he had ventured into uncharted sections of the cave near “Ed’s Push”. He went to climb through a small gap- and found himself seriously stuck. Even worse- he was almost entirely upside-down.

Several rescue attempts failed, and John died of cardiac arrest after being stuck in the cave for over 27 hours. Officials couldn’t even retrieve his body, and Nutty Putty Cave was forever sealed off.

There have been countless other deaths in cave systems around the world. Drowning, starvation, noxious gas- you name it. Spelunking just doesn’t sound appealing.

I don’t see how the mashing yourself through tiny crevices is worth the chance of dying an awful death. I’ll fling myself out of a plane, dive down into the depths of the ocean, scale cliff faces- but there’s absolutely no way in the world I’m ever going spelunking.

Shine bright.

Blackballed

Do Chinese people know that their leadership is endangering them by turning the world against them? It seems that the world is slowly starting to see China as the “Great Satan”.

Take India

We have quite a bit of anti China propaganda

Yet most of our Industries are rapidly buying more and more Chinese machinery when the time for replacement comes

This year the demand for Chinese CNC machinery for India surged rapidly

Machines are more affordable and better quality

One Importer said he had less than 15% orders from China in 2015 but now has almost 70% orders from China

The Biggest problem for Chinese Machines in India was RESALE

A Major Industry could buy 50 Chinese Machines but reselling them in the second hand market was a huge problem as they barely fetched 10% of their value against almost 30% for Japanese & Korean and 40% for Western Machines

Yet now Chinese Machines fetch 25% of their value in resale and the biggest part is the same machines can be resold to other countries in Africa

Indian Industries save almost 18% of their production costs that increases their profit plus the re exporting of second hand Chinese machinery brings export revenue

It’s a WIN WIN relationship

China has this Win Win relationship with most nations in the world

Even the West, which is why despite all the rhetoric, decoupling is not feasible

When Goods worth $ 100 Billion is imported from China, they create finished goods worth $ 200–400 Billion or sell for $ 200–400 Billion in Western Economies

This leads to VALUE CREATION

This contributes to between 13% to 33% of the economic growth of Western economies

When $ 100 worth of components are assembled to sell a final product for $ 300 – that creates an additional $ 200 of value

This helps Countries with value enhancement plus even exports

Due to this Win Win relationship, despite all the efforts of the West, China is an integral cog in the Global Economy

It’s why many nations visit China and pledge allegiance and friendship every year

In 2023 – 81 Foreign Delegations visited China against a mere 12 Chinese Delegations visiting other countries

160+ Trade Delegations visited China versus a mere 30+ Trade delegations from China visiting other countries

Every Economy needs China for its sustained growth especially Western ones

So the world is not turning against China in any way

Not even the United States is

All these so called Anti China policies are purely ECONOMIC

If Chinese Products now of high quality flood the global markets, it’s likely 50% of the Western Brands will collapse in a decade

NEVs are the best example

Likewise if China manages to make 3 nm chips, they can outprice the entire Western supply by 60% and finish the market of every single Western designer and fabrication industry

Thus they are being throttled

China already finished the markets for all Western chipmakers who sold 450–45 nm Chips

Yet China was necessary to bring down costs in the first place

Hence the Anti Chinese Propaganda

To combat the transformation of China from a Cheap Producer to a High Quality Industrialized Nation

Trust me, tomorrow if China scales back down on their transformation and goes back to Pre 2015 mode, Xi Jingping will become a great statesman and China will be the friend of the world to the US Media again

Nobody sees them as the Great Satan

That’s reserved for the USA

Even Phillipinos or Taiwanese don’t see China as a great satan despite the recent issues

To the world China is a Country capable of delivering a Win Win relationship

That includes the West too.

What are some unwritten social rules everyone should know?

When somebody complains about their spouse, don’t badmouth, just listen.
Don’t suggest a medicine to someone who is ill (unless you’re a specialist).
Don’t look away during a conversation.
When you realise your mistake, accept it don’t go on arguing.
Don’t show your artistic nature on a borrowed book/notebook.

If somebody is giving you treat, let them order.
Don’t bite your nails or shake your legs during an interview, it shows you’re being restless.
Never make sound while eating in public.
Never shout to prove your point.
Don’t stare someone while he/she is eating.(I wish I could tell this to my dog)

If an elder arrives, stand up and offer them your own seat.
Always say Thank you to the delivery boys/girls.
Compliment somebody who you think is internally beautiful/handsome.
If somebody says, ‘Can I ask you something?’ or ‘We need to talk’, be prepared for a serious conversation.

Yup. This is how it works.

What evidence has been presented by Washington to support its speculative charges against China?

The U.S. never had any evidence nor even factual information it just make up lies as it goes a long. China steal intellectual property? China is aggressive, China carry out “genocide”, China is authoritarian, China create debt trap and a whole set of narratives dream up to demonise and cause mistrust and fear.

It is very despicable frankly. But what can you expect from a nation that started by the mass murder and genocide of its natives. Then this nation murdered and tortured up to 30 million Africans to slave and built the U.S. This nation is the only one that nuke to murder 200 thousands due to their skin colour, this same nation also murdered and slaughter up to 100 million innocent civilians or caused it through interference, war mongering and chaos and coup orchestrating.

China and the world knows the U.S. hypocrisy and its despicable nature but talking shit is all it can do and frankly it hurts US economy more than it can ever hurt China. To most nation lying and fabricating to demonise another nation is simply hypocritical and obnoxious and that what the global community sees the U.S. By not lashing back China keeps its moral high ground. And even US slave vassal states and cronies cannot but feel a shame of US behaviour but their short term gain is paramount.

Hence the pretence and the intentional concurrence of the back boneless nations. Shameful.

As a mechanic what was the craziest thing someone said after you worked on their car?

BEST 15 MINUTES I EVER SPENT

In the late 80’s I had been working as a Technician for a Saab dealership in Denver… I grew very fond of the Saab brand and enjoyed working on them….Unfortunately the Dealership closed and I had to go back to working on the poorly engineered and built garbage that was coming out of Detroit in the 80’s so I packed up my $90K worth of tools, into my dads garage, went out and bought a big ol Freightliner and took to the highways…Fast forward to the 90’s….Im (http://90’s….Im) cruising down the highway one fine day, and come up on a pretty little red Saab 900 convertible on the roadside, hood up and steaming away, I wasnt in a big hurry so I pulled over, and took a little walk back to the car where I found a very distraught middle aged lady, and her elderly mother….As (http://mother….As) I walked up I said,”It must be your lucky day, I just happen to be a former Saab mechanic” Can I help you?…She almost kissed me!!!

She stated,” I just picked it up from the repair shop, It cost me $800 to have the radiator replaced, and now its overheating again” I’ve got my mother with me and we are late for a family function…. I immediately knew what was wrong, and told her, I’ll have you on your way in 5 minutes….Went and grabbed my 10mm wrench and a gallon of water,popped the coolant bleeder valve open, told her if you dont get all the air out of the system a big ol air bubble will form inside your water pump, and here you sit….BURP out comes a big blast of air, Let me pay you!!! I said my mother would never allow that and you ladies enjoy your afternoon….Then she says to me, “well it must be YOUR lucky day” as she hands me her business card…..Turns out, shes the Vice President of Transportation for Proctor & Gamble and Sir, any time you EVER get somewhere and need a load, YOU call ME !!!! Over the next 15 years I cant count the times she fixed me up with a good paying load wherever I happened to be…..

Senate Chamber looks like death and mothballs

What is the most shocking diagnosis you have received after going to the doctor for a routine checkup?

At age 60 I was feeling run down & fatigued for a while, attributing it to age & not enough exercise. I decided to check my blood pressure at home and it was quite high despite the blood pressure medication I was taking, so I called my doctor’s office. They were concerned & told me to come into the office right away & they would fit me in.

My BP was still high in the doctor’s office, so my doctor sent me to the lab for a lot of blood work. That afternoon I started getting texts with some of the results of the lab work & I saw that I was anemic. Well that explained a lot & I figured I would need iron supplements.

The next morning my doctor calls me first thing. She tells me that she is admitting me to hospital in order to fully diagnose what is going on with me. I am scared, call my boss to tell her I am being admitted, but I really do not know what is wrong.

Once in the hospital I learned that I had kidney disease, and I was in kidney failure! Never saw that coming! I had to begin dialysis immediately, which made me ill & caused low blood pressure.

I was on dialysis for 7 months, with 5 months of home hemo dialysis. I felt ill and was exhausted all the time, with little appetite & unable to return to work.

Both of my adult children offered to be tested to be living donors. My son was tested first as he lives in the same city and he turned out to be a match!!

I was extremely fortunate to have my 24 year old son donate a kidney to me. He truly saved my life & I am forever grateful for his sacrifice. My new kidney is working well, and my son is doing well too.

Unfortunately I have developed several autoimmune illnesses that I am trying to get under control, but thankfully I do not have to have dialysis.

Kidney disease is horrible. Please consider being a living donor, there is a registry & they can find a match if you do not have someone in particular that you are wanting to help. It is truly life saving.

What family secret did you accidentally find out that changed everything?

My parents were left of left of left. “Those who have more should be required to share with those who have less” kind of left.

I heard that as far back as I can remember. One day when I was in the fourth grade, my grandfather gave me a dollar. A fair amount in 1958. It was hot the next day, and a lot of my friends at school couldn’t afford an ice cream bar from the cafeteria.

Hey, I had more than they did, so I bought several of them a 14-cent ice cream in addition to getting one for me. My teacher found me and gave me back about sixty cents, saying that she had made four of my friends take back their unopened bars. She also contacted my parents.

When I said that I had more and they had less, my parents said that the dollar was for me. They didn’t want to hear about people with less, as we were not rich. They also didn’t want to hear about how it pleased me to give some friends a treat they couldn’t afford.

After that I watched. While my mother did put some of her money where her mouth was to buy a few things for some Head Start centers she helped set up, they didn’t give much else. What was theirs was theirs, and only who they called wealthy were berated in our household for not sharing. Today, by their standards, I would be called wealthy, even though I’m barely in the top 10% in the US.

My parents had some friends who were wealthy by my parents’ standards. They were also exempt because they were “in the cause” of making the other wealthy people pay.

The secret was that they were completely hypocritical about what they taught me. What it changed was that I became somewhat more conservative, and gave way more to charity than they did. I did follow some of their examples, though. My mother worked as a public health nurse with the Hmong immigrants when they flooded in and actually caught a G-I disease doing it. I have volunteered to do things like building a home for homeless boys in Fiji based on her example.

But when it came to finances, their example of “what’s mine is mine, and what’s theirs is mine, too” stayed with me the rest of my life as an example of what not to think.

Girls

How did your boss respond when you told him/her you quit?

Not me but a close friend. She worked with a mid sized oil exploration company and was being paid secretary wages for doing the drunk Geologists job, she did the office work and actually went out and did the field work at times. At the urging of another close friend and myself she asked for a raise and got berated for it and basically told like what you got because that’s all you are worth.

3 weeks later she interviewed with Elf Aquitaine ( French oil company ). She was offered double her current salary with a guaranteed raise after 90 days and salary reviews every 6 months, benefits paid by company and generous matching on savings, offered a opportunity to go to the home office in France for 6 months all expenses paid, encouraged to learn French and was very well treated.

During the interview her new boss said she was the most knowledgeable Geologist they had ever met and that they would pay for her to get her degree since she didn’t have one.

It also helped that she knew all the reports backwards and forwards along with the legal side. She had worked at the exploration company for over 10 years and they just kept adding to her jobs as she mastered more and more of them. They genuinely thought she would never quit and were amazed at what Elf offered, her starting pay was as much as her old bosses, she made enough that she retired at 55 and traveled to world with her husband.

She currently lives in Houston and is an amazing person.

What’s the scariest experience you’ve ever had when picking your child up from school?

It wasn’t my child but my cousin.

I was 15 years old. I was staying with my aunt yet again as my mother decided she needed another break from me and went on another bender.

My aunt was more of a mom to me. As a result I was very close to her family and called her mom Grandma and her sister Aunt. Anyway Grandma was living with my Aunt. She had dementia and was having a particularly bad day. My aunt asked me to pick up my 10 year cousin from school which was only a block away. I did this often as my aunt tried to shield my cousin from her mothers episodes. She gave me some cash to stop at the small ice cream place near her school to keep her away longer.

I got to my cousins school expecting to see her on the playground where all the kids played while waiting to get picked up. She wasn’t there but I wasn’t worried as I knew she sometimes helped the teacher clean up the classroom after school. I went to her classroom and she wasn’t there either! No one was.

Starting to get worried I started roaming the hallways peeking in the classrooms looking for her. She was nowhere to be found!

I ran to the principals office freaked out by then and told the secretary I couldn’t find her! The secretary immediately made an announcement over the PA system telling my cousin to come to the office. 10 minutes passed. She never came.

We went to the teachers lounge and got the teachers to help look for her. I’ve never been so scared! My aunt trusted me with her daughter and I didn’t know how to call her and tell her she was gone.

30 minutes later we heard a shout. One of the teachers had found her. She was in the library reading. She had gone to check out a book when school had let out without telling anyone and the librarian had locked her in.

I hugged her hard and told her to always tell someone where she was going. It was for her safety. She started crying and apologizing over and over. I told her it was okay. Her principal gave her the same lecture and we left.

My aunt hadn’t called yet to say it was safe to come home so we went for ice cream and then to the local park. An hour later my aunt called and told us to come on home. Grandma finally went to sleep.

After my cousin went to bed that night I told my aunt what had happened. At first she seemed upset but then said they were lucky to have me there. I was shocked. I didn’t receive compliments very often. She gave me a hug told me I was a good person and a great sister to my cousin.

My cousin always made sure she was on the playground after school after that.

Bye Bye Ukraine

How many people force their cats to stay in all the time? I understand its ‘safer’, but it seems to lessen the cats quality of living, right?

Here is a picture of Scrappy:

He became my feline friend one day when I was working on my patio. I looked up to find a bedraggled, starving and dehydrated cat four feet from me, crying for help. I went and got him some water and a can of tuna, and set it out for him. I eventually got some additional food and a water bowl, and set it out for him. At first, he was pretty skittish, but after a month he would let me pet him. I started moving his bowls toward my patio door, and after three months, he would come in to be fed.

One day he showed up with blood on his face, and we decided he had to go to the vet. He ended up getting antibiotics, and had a drain and the cone of shame. We had him chipped and neutered.

He was still an outdoor cat, and would periodically get in fights, earning his name “Scrappy”. At one point, he was tested for FIV and tested positive. At that point, our vet said that if we wanted to properly care for him, he should cease his outside existence, as he would be susceptible to infections that could kill him. He was also X-rayed, and found that his left front leg was kind of a mess, having been broken/infected and healed at some point, but with reduced mobility.

We decided to turn him into a 100% indoor cat. He did not like it for the first two weeks.

But he lived. He was safe. He was happy. Occasionally he would get out. He’d usually sit on the patio if it was sunny. If it was rainy, he would turn around and come right back into the house.

Without our intervention he would have died. Instead, he lived for another decade.

Life in the wild for cats is dangerous and short. We have foxes, skunks, raccoons and coyotes in our neighborhood. As well as cars and dogs.

We currently have two other adopted ferals. Their sister (whom we call Patchoulli) is still an outdoor cat, but she sleeps in our garage and we feed her twice daily and see that she gets to the vet and has flea medication. Her brother occasionally joins her outside and catches the odd mouse, but he’s happy to be back inside, usually within an hour.

My wife and I work fairly diligently to provide an engaging environment for our little furry friends, and by virtue of our care, they will enjoy that environment for several times longer than they would be if they were feral.

When have you cheaply or inexpensively fixed an item someone thought unrepairable?

At one point, I was visiting my mom and step-dad. I asked about the 12HP, 3 blade, 42″ cut riding mower sitting out front at the neighbor’s house. Turned out he had run it out of oil, and the engine seized up. He put oil in after-the-fact, but of course it was too late. He’d bought a new one and the dealer had offered to dispose of the old one for him. I asked if I could try to fix it and he said, GO ahead, they’re not giving me anything for it.

We wheeled it into step-dad’s work shop. The piston was vertical stroke, so the spark plug was on top. We poured some new oil through the spark plug hole and went to get lunch. When we came back, we put a socket on the flywheel nut, and a breaker bar on the socket. It broke loose! So we started it up and ran it. It took a couple minutes to burn all the oil out of the top of the cylinder, but then it was fine. My grandfather had been using a really old, 7HP, single blade, 26″ mower to mower about an acre of lawn. I gave it to him. He loved it and used it until he died.

Kitty protections

What’s your most memorable “holy shit, that’s amazing” moment while learning something?

One afternoon, we walked into our Econometrics lecture and found a shopping cart full of tennis balls in front of the door. A second, empty shopping cart stood in the back corner.

The professor waited patiently for us to file into our seats. Then he cleared his throat and announced, “I’m going to need two volunteers today.”

Two hands went up. He handed them each a bucket.

“All right,” he said, “Our two brave volunteers are going to fill up their buckets with tennis balls, carry them across the room, and dump the balls into the other shopping cart. Then they’ll run back and do it again, and again, and again, until all of the balls have been moved.”

We nodded, still confused. This still sounded more like P.E. than Econometrics.

“Before we start this little experiment,” continued our professor, “I want all of you to guess how long this process is going to take. Go onto the class website and type in your guesses – I’ll give a candy bar to the student who gets closest to the actual answer.”

I had no idea what to guess. How many buckets’ worth tennis balls could fit in a shopping cart? How long would it even take to carry a full bucket across the classroom?

In the end, I just took a stab at it and typed in 42 seconds.

“All right,” he said, after we’d all made our guesses. “Are we ready? On your mark…get set…go!”

The process ended up taking 162 seconds.

Then we all went online together to look at our guesses.

There were about eighty students in the class, and I wasn’t the only one who’d been completely wrong – our guesses were all over the place. Some of us had guessed that it would take less than 20 seconds; others had guessed that it would take nearly ten minutes.

Then we looked at the average of all of our guesses.

157 seconds.

Our collective guess, as a group, was closer to the correct answer than 98% of our individual guesses.

It was the first time I’d witnessed a “wisdom of crowds” moment in action. At that moment, all I could think was, Hot damn. Statistics is so cool.

He’d run this experiment every semester, and more often than not, the collective guess would have won the candy bar. This class was one of the reasons I decided to major in economics.

Please and thank you

What did you learn from previous relationships?

When Kirti (name changed) was my crush.

I was waiting outside the R2 Cinemas.

Me (over phone) : The movie has started, where the heck are you?

Kirti : Just in 2 minutes.

Me : I’m watching it for the fourth time I could afford to be late. But a first timer, really?

Kirti : Just shut up.

She disconnected. Finally she reached.

Kirti : Hey, see I told you two minutes.

(I started leaving).

Kirti : Where, you going?

Me : I was watching Interstellar again to experience time dilation in a movie. But when fifteen minutes of mine are equal to two minutes of yours, then it’s time dilation in reality. Thank you.

As I was leaving, she stood unmoved and kept looking at me.

Kirti : Do you want me to say sorry?

Me : I was just kidding. Let’s go watch the movie.

Kirti : Let’s hurry up.

Me : And hey, in case I raised my voice while on phone, sorry for that.

Kirti : It’s okay.

When Kirti became my girlfriend.

It was a different cinema, different movie, same Kirti, same me, but a different demeanour.

Me (over phone) : Hey, where the hell are you?

Kirti : Just in.

She comes.

Me : You need to understand I’m not your puppet, I got my time and priorities.

Kirti : I’m so sorry. Please don’t shout like this.

Me : Just shut up, already.

Previously she shut me up and now I did.

I forgot that she had said yes to me when the world was chasing her.

I would say sorry to her a thousand times when she was my crush and now she is the one saying sorry.

One day, it got real ugly and she ditched me in the heat of the moment but forever. I deserved it.

What I’ve learnt :

When she is your girlfriend.

When she is your fiancee.

When she is your wife.

Always treat her like

She is your crush.

Women pay attention

Is BYD in China with 3 million battery cars sold in 2023 showing their cars are better than Tesla’s? Sadly US citizens will have to pay prohibitive import duties if they want to try one.

BYD makes most of the batteries used in the world today. Tesla do not make batteries themselves It leads in EV buses and truck world wide and now EV cars itself. It is a highly profitable company but based on Wall Street valuation it is worth 10% of Tesla! Even Warren Buffet who is probably the world’s most savvy investor invested in BYD!

The difference is one is listed and it’s stock is listed in Wall Street while the other is listed and sold in Hong Kong! That is why the GDP of the U.S. is full of hot air bubble! It will come crashing down! For me Tesla is highly overrated and over valued while BYD is highly undervalued!

Now let us look at the number. BYD hardly sell in the U.S. and Europe yet it sold the most EV worldwide this means the Global South market is humongous and the U.S. and EU are small potatoes these days! Both the U.S. and EU are depriving their citizens from benefiting from value for money technology and a cleaner environment. Whatever happen to freedom of choice? What about free market mechanism? Thrown out of your window?

BYD sells very well world wide because of value for money. Tesla profiteers and it is mostly made in China with many parts and technologies from China. Yet it sells at a huge profit. But the U.S. prefers to let its citizens be abused by corporations rather than helping them reduce their living cost!

This is real deal

What’s the most enjoyable thing you’ve ever said to a manager as you’ve quit your job?

“I’m moving to Texas to be with my fiancée. I can either move and work for somebody else; or I can move and continue working for you remotely.”

After she graduated from college, my fiancée moved to Texas to start work with NASA. We had lived apart for almost a year.

I was determined to be with her. So, I planned my move to Texas. After three months of planning, I had some money saved up and a couple of job prospects in mind.

I walked into my boss’s office fully expecting to walk out without a job or my notice given. But, I decided to try something I thought of the night before, instead.

After some small talk, I said “I’m moving to Texas to be with my fiancée. I can either move and work for somebody else; or I can move and continue working for you remotely.”

He sat there quietly for almost a full minute. I’m normally not one to get uncomfortable with silence; but this was unexpected. He was actually thinking about it!

I hid my excitement and let him think.

Finally, he asked “What part of Texas?”

I answered.

He went on to explain that there would have to be a change in my status. Payroll would have to do things so I was taxed for the proper locale, etc.

I was the first person in our group to be a full time telecommuter. This was in 2001.

I’ve gone through six bosses since then and I’m still working from home! Today, most of my team works from home too!

What can I learn in one minute that will be useful for the rest of my life?

If you ever get caught sleeping at your desk at work just say “they told me at the Blood Bank that this would happen.
When the power goes out search for wifi networks on your phone to see if everyones power is out.
Quelling road rage by pretending that every asshole driver really has to poop.
If you want to maintain good posture, pretend your nipples have lasers that shoot out of them and you have to keep them aimed at people’s heads.
Wiping the water off of your body with your hands in the shower before getting out and towel-drying.
If your car is overheating, turn your heat on full blast. When you turn the heat on in a car, it pulls heat from the engine into the cab, thus cooling the engine.
Hit “s” while watching Netflix on a computer to skip the intro.
If you don’t know whether you should use the word effect or affect, simply use impact.
When buying bedsheets, look for striped ones. It will make it much easier to find the long and short sides.
If you accidentally press the spacebar and scroll down the page, you can press Shift+Space and go back to where you were.
Don’t save your banking information on online stores. Makes impulse buying much more difficult if you have to track down your wallet.
If you keep a baseball bat in your car for protection, put a sock over it. If they grab the bat, they will only get the sock, and you will get another swing.
Filling in the ‘to’ field of an email last.
When buying online, leave items in the shopping cart for awhile. There is a good chance that the website is tracking this, and will lower the price overtime to entice you into buying.
If your coworker ever calls in sick for work, you can do the same 1-3 days later. Your boss will think you have the same thing and it’s “going around the office.”
Blink eyes rapidly for a minute before bed to tire yourself out.
When lending a pen or marker hand it over without the cap, you are much more likely to get it back.
If you have somewhat of a double chin or you want your jawline to be more defined in a picture, put your tongue on the roof of your mouth.
Whenever you accidentally set off your smoke alarm, give your pets a treat so they learn to come to you when there actually is a fire and you need to escape.
Remember that one 18-inch pizza is more pizza than two 12-inch pizzas.

Is Family Law the Main Reason Men Are Going Their Own Way?

What is the rudest thing that a new neighbor has done to you immediately after you had moved in?

4 days after my son and i moved into a townhome I rented, we were physically attacked by 2 women that live behind us. Okay, long story short (ish): school started for my son (6th grade) the day after we moved in. That day, my son had an altercation with a child on the bus. Apparently the kid was saying to my son that his mom was a “Karen” for some unknown reason. We JUST moved in and hadn’t had time or the chance to interact with anyone in the neighborhood, so My guess is as good as any. I havent a clue. Anyway my son verbally defended me and told him to stop. Next day, the child punched my son 3 times in the shoulder and back while passing him in the hallway, which was caught on camera and dealt with by the administrator at his school. The other child was given in-school suspension and the parents were called about what transpired. The video showed the child hitting my son and my son continue to walk and then run away. So, my son wasn’t punished. The following day, after putting my son on the bus I hear someone banging on my front door- and i opened it to 2 grown women demanding that i come outside. Being alone, I refused and called the police. The police show up and talk to both of us and say that the women are now calm and suggest i get some cameras in case something happens, etc. I decided to stay with family members that night and about 5 hours later, we left. We stopped to get gas and check my mail at the old house on the way. As my son got out of the car to check the mail i noticed a car parked directly behind mine in the driveway. The women hopped out and assaulted my son and me with a weapon and left. I managed to get their tag number and called the police. Turns out it was the parents of the kid who attacked my son at school. Needless to say they’re facing multiple felonies and roughly 15–20 years in prison. Craziest shit ive ever experienced in my life!

Is the world de-dollarising?

Beyond numbers, Beyond paper – there is one thing that defines a nations comfort with a certain currency and a certain system

It’s called CREDIBILITY

The US Dollar was accepted as a Global Reserve at a time when there were two major blocs and US was the undisputed leader of its own bloc

It was a country of laws, a country of rules and a country of freedom and ethics and a country with if not brilliant, at least decent leaders

This alone gave the US – Reputation!!!

Countries had no problems trading in the dollar because the US was the best place to keep the dollars and invest in its economy

Today US no longer has that CREDIBILITY or REPUTATION

Todays US is capable of reneging on ever commitment it has made and steal any nations assets without any rules whatsoever

US has openly stolen Iraqi Gold, Venezuelan Dollars, Afghani Dollars over the past two decades and this has changed things significantly

The US is a bit like Modi actually

Redundant and Useless entirely yet solely surviving due to there being no alternate option

Yet nobody wants to be entirely dependent on US Dollars any more

They want choices and options

That is De Dollarizing and it is inevitable

Doesn’t mean USD Share will plummet to 10% or something

By 2030, I believe US Share will reduce to a realistic 46%

The more US uses sanctions and asset freezing, the faster will the process take place

The world is tired of the US today

They are tired of the bullying and the threats and the lies all the time

So like I said before – De Dollarizing has already begun and the process is irreversible

Proud Chinese claim China respects democracy and free speech. Why don’t they proof that by posting photos of them standing in front of their police while holding signs up demanding democracy, fight of corruption and the independence of Taiwan?

That’s not how democracy is seen in China

Idiots holding placards is the Western style of democracy

If one set of idiots hold placards, tomorrow another set of idiots will hold placards for another issue and the entire country will be reduced to holding placards for the rest of their lives

Chinas democracy is a Government for the people

Keeping food prices low
Ensuring housing for everyone
Ensuring energy for everyone
Keeping inflation as low as possible
Protection of Middle Class Investors
Good Healthcare plan for every Citizen
Providing high quality roads and transportation

Ultimately I believe a Government for the People triumphs a Government by the people

Meanwhile the West is the opposite:-

Rising inflation falling savings
Printing money to help Ukraine over Americans
Declining Healthcare program with uninsured rising by 23% in the last three years
Poor quality infrastructure
Sacrificing the Middle Class to keep the upper classes and rich

So the Chinese are right when they say China respects Democracy

It’s a different definition from the hypocritcal one the West made up.

China’s Newest Tank is Doing the Opposite of Everyone Else

At what point did you realize no one cares about you?

I went through a divorce from my wife of 5 years. I was young, broke and (as the saying goes) stupid. She left and went on to live with her parents and I was stuck with the apartment contract and all other monthly bills. Also a truck that was in both of our names, broken engine, and was $5,000 into a loan. I also was buried in debt from student loans $42,000 and a credit card $9,500.

I fell into ddepression and a solace that can only be explained by living in a state of vacuum. None of what I did would have any effect on my personal economy, or my emotions, or my connections with others. But I tried my best.

One day I started to reach out to old friends only to realize that they had moved on, didn’t care or just didn’t want to associate.

I was broken, and I was in pain. And I was done with my family, and with people, and with the world as I knew it.

I worked hard. No one cared. I cried hard. No one cared. I paid my debts, got off the grip of the financial abominate soul-consuming xenomorphic monster called the United States Department of Education when I sent the last check and demanded a paid in full notification sent to me.

I made new friends, and created a new path with a different vision. I transformed my life around, and declared freedom. I don’t care if no one cares. I do. My life, my business.

Russian President Lays Out His Judgment on the Continued Existence of the US and Europe

World Hal Turner 04 January 2024

In a speech in Russia today, Vladimir Putin laid out his Judgment on the continued Existence of the US and the EU. “The concepts of honor, trust, and decency, are not for them.” and ” . . . they got used to spitting on the whole world.” He went on: “Indeed the Western elites have become a symbol of total, unprincipled lies.”

An excerpt from today’s speech appears with English sub-titles below. To even the most dense viewer, it should occur that this man is laying out the reasons the United States and Europe should no longer exist.

That’s a hell of an ugly reality coming from a man whose country literally has the ability to wipe us all out. It is almost as if he is priming the world for what may be coming, soon . . .

Here’s the speech:

Hal Turner Editorial Opinion

The reason the elites of the west have become “a symbol of total, unprincipled, lies” is because to date, there have been absolutely NO CONSEQUENCES FOR THEM as they go about all their total, unprincipled lying. No one gets fired. No one gets prosecuted. No one gets thrown in jail. This needs to change, but it WON’T because the very people who CAN fire, prosecute, and jail the liars, ARE the people doing all the lying!

If what the Russian President was talking about merely affected those doing the unprincipled lying, that would be one thing, but he’s not talking about affecting only them, what he’s talking about would affect the rest of US too.

We have the right to defend ourselves from the horrifying wreckage, death, and destruction, these western elites will cause to be heaped upon us. It’s time to begin doing just that; while we still can.

What do people underestimate often?

Last night, The Teenager and I were cuddling on the couch when she asked me, “Mom, do you want me to become an extraordinary person?”. I was a bit surprised by the question, “Erm, I’ve never thought about that. Since you were born, I’ve always just wanted you to be healthy”, I told her.

“I had a talk with my friends today at lunch”, The Teenager said, “Everyone wants to become Someone in the future. Wants to stand out. Wants to be different. Wants to be a big deal. I mean, why someone always needs to be extraordinary to be ‘good’? Being ordinary person is also good. The Earth has 8 billion people. Am I lame if I just want to be a normal person, and has a normal life?”, she asked me.

I hugged her, “No, sweetie, of course not. As long as you are healthy and happy, being normal is extraordinary in its own way.”

And that, made me thinking. Is that the thing we usually underestimate? Being just an ordinary person leading an ordinary life.

When did you realize your parent was a total badass?

My dad had a big scar on the side of his face. I didn’t think anything of it as a kid, since I had seen it all my life. It wasn’t until I was a teenager and studying history that it came to mean something.

Dad fought in WW2. He was a captain in the mechanized cavalry and commanded tanks under Patton. Apparently, when there was fog and the driver couldn’t see clearly, it was SOP for someone to open the hatch and sit with his feet on the driver’s shoulders, giving directions by touch.

A German artillery shell hit his tank one foggy day when he was in that position. If it had hit about six inches higher, i wouldn’t be typing this message. He took a massive load of shrapnel in his face and hands. His goggles saved his eyes, but one of his ears was blown off and later surgically reconstructed. He was in the hospital for over a year. They left a lot of the smaller pieces of shrapnel in his hands and I remember him having several episodes when one would decide to come back out years later.

I could rarely get him to talk about the war. He’d gladly tell stories about the mounted cavalry days, but would rarely talk about combat. When he died in 1990, I found his medals stored in a box and he had a shitload of them.

But all that time, he was just Dad.

Chocolate Marzipan Slices
(Mandulas Szalami — Hungary)

csokis mandulas szalami sutes nelkul glutenmentes recept foto

Ingredients

2 (3 1/2 ounce) tubes almond paste
2 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1/4 cup chopped almonds
Confectioners’ sugar

Instructions

Mix almond paste, chocolate and almonds thoroughly. Knead on surface sprinkled with 1 to 2 tablespoons confectioners sugar until of uniform color and consistency. Shape into 6-inch long roll; roll in confectioners’ sugar. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 12 hours.
Cut roll into 1/4-inch slices.

Makes about 2 dozen candies.

What is a time you had to deal with a difficult co-worker?

Years ago I had an employee call loudly, “hey asshole”! It was heard by at least 10 other people. I was the CEO of the company. I had one choice. I fired him that instant and had Security remove him from the property. You see he had other options. He chose the one with a severe penalty. All of my employees know that they are free to come to my office, anytime I’m alone, close the door and call me an asshole and I’ll give him the opportunity to tell me why he feels that way. We can discuss the problem and I will explain it from my perspective. Obviously the same latitude isn’t given for public insubordination. Now during our private meeting we may reach an agreement, or we’ll be unable to. The employee had the option of meeting with me. If he and I deadlocked, one of us has to go!

Jason & The Argonauts | Full Movie | Creature Features

A real treat for today. This is a great lazy afternoon movie for your enjoyment.

https://youtu.be/HdpjoBcRrzQ

CNY Year of the Wood Dragon 2024

Well, as I type this up, it is CNY. This (today) is the first day of the new year, and I am in Wenzhou. It’s a standard fare of massive meals, lots and lots of drinking, and long bouts of lazing about.

The weather is cold out, but nothing like what I grew up with. Lots and lots of fireworks. Non-stop explosions and bangs. Day in, and day out, at all hours of the day and night. Very typical.

This is the first time that we are in Wenzhou since the COVID hit China. That was four years ago. My… a lot has happened.

I’ve been busy knocking these posts out, and now have a nice big backlog, but I will be altering my schedule and product mixes in the future.

I want to wish everyone a very nice and prosperous Year of the Dragon 2024.

Golden Chinese Dragon on Red Background ,Traditional New Year Sy

Today…

As a car mechanic, what has been the most poorly maintained car you have worked on?

This reminds me of the early 90’s when I had just started Nick’s Racing in Denver CO

As anybody who starts his own business knows, money was tight and everything would just need to hold out a bit longer.
Every Saturday afternoon I went to the local mall/shopping-centre to buy whatever I needed for the week.
Whilst there I often saw this 70’s Camaro in the lot and it amused me how the inside looked like a pig sty. But I did love the shape & one day… Dream on Nick you are living from week to week.

Fortunately lady luck and my craftmanship smiled on me, work came in so that I had to hire 2 more engine builders and I started to have disposable income and no time to spend it. The American dream, right ?
One day I see this Camaro in the same lot with the bonnet (hood) open and a for sale sign on it.
I bought this car for a ridiculously low amount and spent a whole day cleaning out all the junk this lady owner had accumulated in it.
The first thing that hit me where the cigarette burn marks in the upholstery and the holes in the roof lining 😉

I had to redo the interior, the body had to be panel-beated and resprayed.
The engine was going to be replaced with a 383 stroker anyways
I just decided to redo the Electrics, as fixing this rats nest was not worth it.
I fitted a Classic Air Air Con
This car was trash- defined.

Luckily my 2 workers were foreigners also- Mexicans. We got on well and their friends and family did a lot of work on this car for good value.
Considering this was basically a rebuild, using performance part where possible, and not a hot-rod build, it still took close to a year of getting it on the road again. This car must have gotten 0 maintenance from the day she got it to the day it expired in a parking lot.

And then I left back for Namibia and sold it to one of my guys who then gave it to his daughter once she needed wheels.

A lot of them…

What is the most heartwarming behind-the-scenes fact about a movie?

A young Kurt Russell worked together with Charles Bronson. During shooting, Russell found out it was Charles Bronson’s birthday. So he got his older co-star a gift. Bronson looked at it, took it… then walked out of the room, without saying a word. Russell was terrified, worried he had insulted the man.

A little while later, Russell was called to the dressing room of Bronson. Bronson was silent, looked down and said to the child actor: “No one has ever given me a birthday gift before…” Charles Bronson was the son of dirt poor immigrants. He had fourteen siblings, and worked in the mines as a child. Never finished schooling, never had a kind word, he was worked like a mule since the day he learned to walk.

Charles Bronson hadn’t known a lot of kindness in his life. It caught him off guard to receive some from his young co-star. He later gave Russell a skateboard on his own birthday to play with between takes. The two men remained lifelong friends.

Modern Women Having MELTDOWN Over The FUTURE #2

Have you ever felt sorry for a teacher?

Yes. Several. Mainly because I know what’s going on in their lives, and the students don’t. If the students knew what I knew, they’d cut those teachers a little slack.

One teacher in particular, with whom I worked seven years ago, stands out for me among all of the teacher sob stories I know.

To make a long story short, when she was in her 40s and had been teaching preschool for half of her life, her husband left her for a much younger woman. Around the same time, the school’s preschool program changed from full-time to just two days per week and, in order to stay full-time and keep her benefits, she was forced to become the school’s art teacher for all students in grades PreK-8 (ages 3–14).

She was good with the younger students, but had no idea how to control the middle schoolers. She hated teaching the older kids, but she had no choice. She was still more than a decade away from retirement and needed the health insurance, but she also couldn’t afford to go back to school or change careers or anything like that. She was trapped teaching students that she wasn’t trained to teach.

And they were merciless to her.

The art class existed primarily to give the “regular” teachers a planning period, but I, along with my coworkers, ended up sitting with our classes to the art room most days, because we could control the kids, and she couldn’t. The students treated her class like recess, and treated her with a level of disrespect you usually only see in the movies, right before the “savior” teacher swoops in and sets things right.

The students didn’t see how the teacher cried after school every day, alone in her classroom, before she composed herself enough to walk down the block to her apartment, where she probably cried some more, alone, throughout the evening and night.

I left that school after teaching there just one year. The school closed two years after I left. I hope she was able to find a full time position working with younger children. Middle schoolers can be just as cruel to their teachers as they are to each other.

Hitting the jackpot

All in or fold.

The doctor, after an examination, sighed and said, ‘I’ve got some bad news.’ 👨‍⚕️

The doctor, after an examination, sighed and said, ‘I’ve got some bad news. You have cancer, and you’d best put your affairs in order.’

The woman was shocked, but managed to compose herself and walk into the waiting room where her daughter had been waiting.

‘Well, daughter, we women celebrate when things are good, and we celebrate when things don’t go so well. In this case, things aren’t well. I have cancer. So, let’s head to the club and have a martini.’

After 3 or 4 martinis, the two were feeling a little less somber. There were some laughs and more martinis. They were eventually approached by some of the woman’s old friends, who were curious as to what the two were celebrating.

The woman told her friends they were drinking to her impending end, ‘I’ve been diagnosed with AIDS.’ The friends were aghast, gave the woman their condolences and beat a hasty retreat.

After the friends left, the woman’s daughter leaned over and whispered, ‘Momma, I thought you said you were dying of cancer, and you just told your friends you were dying of AIDS! Why did you do that??’

‘Because I don’t want any of those bitches sleeping with your father after I’m gone.’.

Top 8 rules

Ricotta Lasagna Swirls

Ingredients

Lasagna

8 lasagna noodles
2 pounds fresh spinach
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 pound ricotta cheese
Salt
Pepper

Sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cups tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano

Instructions

Lasagna: Cook and drain lasagna noodles.
Steam 2 pounds fresh spinach for 7 minutes, then chop. Mix spinach with 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 pound ricotta cheese, salt and pepper.
Coat each noodle with 2 to 3 tablespoons of mixture along the entire length of the noodle. Roll up. Stand on end in a baking dish.
Sauce: Sauté garlic and onion.
Add tomato sauce, basil and oregano.
Pour sauce over noodles and bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes.

Young Men Are Lonelier Than Ever (And It’s Getting Worse)

What one thing makes someone a very mature person?

Joe is having a bad day.

On this very day, Joe decides to eat out. He enters a restaurant, sits down, and has his order taken.

Just as the waitress arrives with his precariously balanced meal, someone knocks her aside. This causes an avalanche of food and drinks to tumble onto Joe in a non-majestic, yet sloppy manner.

Joe breathes in heavily and….

…asks if the waitress is alright, wipes himself to the best he can, and helps clean up a little without mumbling. Joe then comforts said waitress who is on the verge of crying, whilst assuring the seething and anxious manager that everything is all right.

If shit happens to you and it’s not your fault, then more shit happens yet you are still cool, you are mature in my eyes.

Mature people don’t cause more shit, or simply throw their shit away, even when shit is thrown at them.

It’s not that they don’t give a shit, but they deal with their shit appropriately.

Be like Joe and deal with your shit correctly.

China’s New AI Microchip Just Destroyed US Sanctions Forever!

Very interesting.

What are the best examples of people who have “gamed the system”?

Meet Patrick Combs-

Years ago, Patrick received a junk mail “fake cheque”- supposedly, if he were to send money to the company, he would then soon get more huge cheques like the one he’d just received.

The fake cheque was made out for $95,093.35. It even had an attached authorised signature.

Now, most people would see this as the junk & total scam that it obviously was. Most people would rip it up and just toss it in their bin. Most people would ignore it.

Most- but not Patrick.

Patrick was extremely broke at the time – he had only $200 in his bank account.

He had a good sense of humour and thought, “What would happen if I tried to lodge this into my bank account?” Fully expecting to get a laugh out of it from both himself and the bank teller, that’s exactly what Patrick did.

He went to lodge the cheque into his bank account.

As Patrick said, “I didn’t think I was sticking money into the machine.”

He so fully was expecting the cheque to bounce that he didn’t even endorse the back of it.

Time passes and Patrick forgets about it.

Ten days later though, he checks his bank account and to his amazement, $95,093.35 now sits in his bank account!

It turns out that the cheque actually matched 9 of the criteria that the bank required for a cheque to be valid – the words “non negotiable” that the junk company placed on the front did not negate the cheque whatsoever. It turned out that they had been successful in making the cheque look real – too real.

Additionally- the bank managed to miss their own legal deadline to notify Patrick that his cheque had bounced as a non-cash item.

“The excitement of that much money was off the scale,” he said. “It was an addiction. For two months I obsessed on whether I should take the money or give the money back. I put my bank on speed dial and dialed it every ten minutes. I worried constantly that it would go away.“

Patrick, being the good person that he is, did return the money 6-months later.

And, there you have it, Patrick Combs is the man who received a junk mail fake cheque in the post – and managed to cash it to the tune of $95,000+! That, I think, is very much gaming the system.

Do you think Tucker Carlson’s Putin interview was great?

It garnered 164 Million views on X

Yet the content was something I have known and understood and have been talking about for more than two years on Quora

Anyone who follows Scott Ritter, Brian Berletic, The Duran, IEarlGrey and those guys would find most of what Putin said to be nothing surprising, given that this was what most of them have been discussing for both these years 2022 and 2023

However for the Average Americans, this gave them the other point of view

You have had almost 66 Interviews of Zelensky over the last 24 months and you have seen almost 4000 articles covering Zelensky and Ukraine yet Putins POV and Russias POV has never been covered in the West

This Interview filled the gap

Why did Russia invade Ukraine?

Putins explanation makes a lot of sense

He says the Invasion was the LAST RESORT

He says Russia carved out Ukraine under Lenin and later on post WWII, more territories from Germany & Poland & Hungary & Romania were added to Ukraine after USSR got them under Post WWII restructuring

He says Russians and Ukranians were the same people and every Ukranian had 3–4 relatives in Russia and vice versa

He says Ukranian Language is just one of five languages spoken in Ukraine along with Russian, Polish, Romanian and Hungarian in different parts of Ukraine

He says Russia and Ukraine had a friendship and a relationship post 1994 and most of Ukraine’s Trade was with Russia

He says how Ukraine in 2008 began to start idolizing NAZIs and established Neo Nazism and began persecuting Russian Speakers of Eastern Ukraine

He says how Ukraine in 2014 deposed Yanukovich after the West Deceived HIM openly. He talks of how Yanukovich was assured by Merkel and others including Obama of a peaceful conclusion to Maidan if he didn’t use the Military and the Police and how once Yanukovich agreed, they openly deceived him and allowed Maidan to depose him

He then talks of how Zelensky spoke of ending the Russian Language from 2019 onwards and how Zelensky spoke of military conquest of Donbass

He talks of how Russia repeatedly talked to Western Leaders for a peaceful re implementation of the Minsk II Accords that Zelensky broke openly and which the guarantors ignored

He talked of Airplanes over Donbass and forced action against Russian Speakers for 8 years from 2014–2022, all chronicled and presented to the UN and yet IGNORED by the West

It was in the end the ONLY WAY for Russia to secure it’s borders and help the Russian Speakers in Ukraine and Denazify Ukraine

Is Russia ready for Talks?

Yes. Putin confirms this.

He says it’s Zelensky who is not ready. Who in fact even decreed that any discussion on peace is in fact illegal.

Is Russia ready to sell Gas to Germany?

Yes. Putin says he still has pipelines that can supply Gas to Germans.

So he says why are Germans throttling their own industries by paying 4.25 times more for Piped LNG???

He literally openly says Scholz is either Insane or a Traitor to his own people

Putin talks of China & Russia

Putin says China is far more significant to the West because of their Population and their strong economy which even at 5% growth is DOUBLE AS FAST AS THE US

He exposes the China Bogey by citing how BRICS & SCO are both Consensus based organizations against NATO which is entirely US dominated

He gives an example of the Iraq War where France and Germany were openly muscled by George Junior Bush

He cites how Sanctions failed

He highlighted how Russia simply DEDOLLARIZED as did many other nations

He cited that 61 Nations have reduced USD holdings by 10% or more since 22/2/22

He cited that 70% of Russian Trade is settled in Yuan or Ruble now and only 19% in Euros and USD (4.8% in Emirati Dirham and 1.7% in South African Rand & HKD and the rest in other currencies)

He cites how the US lost its own place in the world thanks to the Sanctions and how everyone now wants their own financial secure system and an independence from the Dollar and a preference for their own local currency

He clarified why he retreated from Kiev

He was clear when he said, in Istanbul the Ukranians wanted Russians away from Kiev as a matter of faith and Putin complied

Yet again HE WAS DECEIVED

So the conclusions are clear now

First Putin doesn’t care what the West thinks anymore. He will do what is best for Russians in his opinion. He won’t trust the West again.

Second Putin will not end this SMO unless he gets what he wants. A Guarantee that Ukraine won’t join NATO and security for the Russian Speaking population in Ukraine.

Third, Putin will not initiate WWIII unless NATO attacks Russia. He made this clear. He will attack any NATO member if they attack Russia first.

Fourth, Putin says his Hypersonic Missile System is the most advanced in the world and the fact that he talks less about it means he is accurate

His final message to the Americans is WHY THEY ARE POKING THEIR NOSE IN UKRAINE WHEN THEY HAVE SO MANY TROUBLES OF THEIR OWN

It’s something that resonates with Donald Trump and his MAGA crowd

It would have been enlightening to many people

Not to me

This is essentially everything I have been saying for two years now.

If you live in the US, was there an event in your life that made you decide to get a concealed carry license? If so, what was it?

When the kids were grown and gone, my wife and I considered getting a firearm for home protection. Two events finally pushed us to do it. The first event was my walking into a large drug buy in a gas station late at night in Miami. Lots of drugs, thugs, and guns. While they stood there looking at me. I said “Hey, I’m just here to get a receipt for the gas. The guy behind the counter (who was in on it), gave it to me and they let me walk out the door past a very confused lookout. Having a concealed weapon probably wouldn’t have done me any good that night. But it did reminded me that the world is a dangerous place.

The second event was back-to-back hurricanes, causing weeks of power outages with no cell or landline capability. The neighborhood was blocked in for a long time by fallen trees and debris. Even though we live only a mile or so from a precinct, there was no way to contact them or for them to quickly get into our neighborhood.

I asked my neighbor if I should be worried about looting. He responded, “everyone in this neighborhood is armed”, and everybody knows it. You are, aren’t you? A few weeks after the storm, I purchased my first gun.

I friend in law enforcement asked if I had a carry permit for it, reminding me that I lived within a 1000 feet of a school, restricting how I can transport the gun when off my property. Those restrictions (other than being on school property itself) are waived in my state if you have a carry permit.

I signed up for an approved NRA course that counted towards the permit, applied, and received one. Since then, I’ve purchased a few other guns, joined a gun club, and have had dozens of different firearm courses with a state LEO firearms trainer.

Like other “constitutional carry” states, Florida no longer requires a permit for concealed carry. But I keep mine current so I can carry reciprocally in other states.

While repairing a car, have you ever found something you weren’t supposed to see in it?

Yes. This was back in the late ’90s. I had a customer come in with a Corolla. He only had one remote for the security system, but had just purchased another one and needed to have it programmed to the car. I told him that was a very quick and easy job, and I could literally do it while he stood there. I opened the driver’s door, turn the key to the on position and moved the driver seat all the way forward. The computer for the security system was under the driver’s seat on this car. You had to access the computer and push and hold a small button on the side of the computer to put it in programming mode, but it was much easier to access from the back seat. So I then got out and opened the rear driver side door, leaned in, and moved the floor mat to get better access to the computer under the seat. When I moved the floor mat, there was a syringe, a spoon, a lighter, and a bag of white powder that I will assume had to be heroin. I put the computer in program mode, hit the buttons on the remote, and heard the confirmation chirp from the front of the car to signal the new remote was programmed. I put the floor mat back, climbed out, and with a death stare, handed the customer his new remote and told him you’re all done, have a nice day. The guy’s face was white as a ghost, and I never saw him in the dealership again.

Breaking Bad by Wes Anderson Trailer

Do you have a story about a boss who was so out of touch that they made a cringeworthy decision?

Having spent years working in a retail store, I saw so many decisions made by highly-paid executives in an office in another state that I knew instantly wouldn’t work out. And they didn’t.

I could write a book about the reasons for this, but mainly – either they don’t know because they don’t do the actual work, or they don’t believe the underlings who have tried to explain it to them.

I’ll give you an example:

So, I worked at a retail store that was part of a national chain separated into so many districts. I think our district had 10 or 12 stores. One quarter, I have no idea how, but somehow, one of the other stores in our district massively overspent their budget by like ten or fifteen grand. (I really wish I knew how, I bet it was a helluva story.) Probably someone got fired over that, but that didn’t solve the problem that they had a shortfall. (And no, firing the person responsible didn’t fix it either, because they then had to spend money to hire a new person to fill the role.)

So, somewhere up in the corporate office, a person whose name I don’t know had an idea to fix this problem. Since I don’t know who this person is, we’ll call them Bean Counter. I assume their job had something to do with accounting or finance.

So Bean Counter says, “Well, we can make up the shortfall by having every store in the district cut their budget by so much % for the remainder of the quarter.”

Bean Counter’s Boss ran the numbers and decided this was a grand idea. They may have even given Bean Counter a raise or promotion for such brilliant work. On paper, Bean Counter’s plan appeared to play out beautifully.

But this was around the beginning of December, just as the holiday rush was kicking into high gear.

Also, there are not a lot of ways to reduce spending on a store level, where budgets are already pretty tight. Management had very limited discretionary funding, and rarely went out and bought stuff for the store. Basically, the only way to really reduce spending by the amount Bean Counter wanted was to cut payroll hours….drastically.

So it’s the holidays and we’re working with a skeleton crew on every shift. One person at the register, one on the floor, and a manager who wasn’t *supposed* to get tied up with tasking.

And we’re busy, every day, because it’s the holidays, and we sell, among other things, a lot of tech items that are popular gifts. Sometimes we have 20 or 30 people in the store at once, and we can’t help them all. There is no “work harder” solution that allows one person on the floor to help 30 people at once. Even with the manager also helping customers on the floor, and “floating” between customers, they could realistically help maybe 10 people at a time.

Oh, and we weren’t supposed to get a line of more than 2 people at the register without opening a second till. HAHAHAHAHA. Yeah, that couldn’t happen with only two other people in the store and both of them working the floor.

So we had people walking out, unhelped, constantly. We did our best, assuring people we’d be with them in a moment, apologizing for the delay, etc. Even so, some people just couldn’t wait and they left and, presumably, went to a competitor.

But Bean Counter and Bean Counter’s Boss weren’t in the store watching this every day. They were back in their nice little offices, smiling at their Excel sheets because they turned a line green.

You see, an Excel sheet can’t show you how much revenue you lost because you didn’t have enough employees to help your customers.

And even without knowing any of the numbers on the Excel sheet, I can tell you that we lost money. I’m going to give you a VERY conservative estimate here. I’ll assume some of the people who left wouldn’t have bought anything anyway. Let’s say only half the people who came in would have bought something. And let’s say that only twenty people walked out in an hour. (Most hours it was probably much more than that, but I’m giving you a conservative estimate.)

And let’s say that the average sale at that point was $20. That’s a really low number for this time of year (usually it was $40–60), but no one had time to upsell and pitch the customer add-ons, so we’ll say $20. That’s $200 an hour lost.

Employees like me and the floor person were making about $7.50 to $8 an hour. Let’s say everyone was getting $8 an hour. Having two more employees would have cost an additional $16 an hour but would have prevented at LEAST $200 in sales losses. (And again, the actual number is almost certainly much higher.)

The store was open from 8 AM to 9 PM, so 13 hours. By cutting two employees all day, the store saved $208 a day. They lost AT LEAST $2,600 a day in sales.

BUT Bean Counter’s plan looked good on paper, before, after, and during the last quarter. They got the district out of the red! We were no longer over budget! Problem solved!

Why is Tesla failing so badly in the stock market?

Tesla primarily makes cars. And when regarded solely as an auto-maker – it is over valued.
Tesla pioneered electric vehicles and established a head start in that market. Newer entrants into that market (including Chinese manufacturers) are catching-up and offering products with similar utility and competitive prices. Tesla’s first-mover advantage is not being sustained. The company is taking too long to produce new models and is not iterating its current line-up fast enough. Where is the Roadster? Where is the new better battery tech? Why is the Cybertruck failing to match expectation?
The company presented itself to the stock market as more than a mere car maker. Rather it is a tech company which happens to make cars. It argued that it should be valued as such, and that initially convinced the market. However the various technical innovations it promised have yet to materialise. Self-driving has improved, but it is many, many years late. The robo-taxi idea seems to have evaporated – there are still safety issues and regulatory hurdles. It’s AI vision stack is a really impressive bit of technology – but it is not a product.
The company has a CEO problem. The CEO has a history of over promising and under delivering. Rather than finishing products and releasing them in a polished state, the CEO presents semi-baked ideas to the market in the conceptual stage, and then take years and years to materialise. The market is getting wise to this bait and switch strategy.
The CEO is distracted with other companies and is at best a part-time manager. The CEO has not been good at attracting and retaining the best staff. When the head of the AI project left, this should have been a warning sign. The CEO has not created a workplace culture that values attention to detail and quality. Instead the culture is gung-ho and reckless, which frequently ends up causing more damage than good.
The CEO seems to be having either a drugs and or mental health problem and has recently decided to become more politically active in support of various right and far-right political groups. In some companies this would not matter, but Tesla’s main market is selling vehicles to individuals and families who are aware of environmental issues and support the transition to greener energy. The far-right regard electric vehicles as a government imposed initiative to spoil their god-given right to drive a pick-up, full of firearms, while running over vaccine-users. – This makes Tesla vehicles less attractive to people who would have previously bought them. No one wants to own a vehicle which has become a repugnant political statement.
The CEO clearly regards Tesla has his personal piggy-bank and demands absurd amounts of compensation for his part-time and mercurial contribution. This naturally upsets shareholders.

AI Tool Deciphers Herculaneum Scroll, and It’s All About Pleasure!

A team of student researchers have combined 3D-mapping and AI to decipher a Greek scroll that was encased in ash during the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The philosophical musing reveals Greek thought on the complexities of “pleasure”.

In the ancient Greek world “pleasure” wasn’t just an occasional indulgence; it was an Olympic event of the senses. From lively symposiums colored with courtesans and entertainers, to dramatic theatrical productions and festivals, the pursuit of delight was as integral to Greek life as debating philosophy.

Now, offering new insights into pleasure across the ancient Aegean, where it wasn’t a guilty pleasure but a cultural cornerstone, a Greek philosopher’s thoughts regarding pleasure have been decoded by AI. And adding to the intrigue, the source material was an ancient papyrus scroll that was entombed in ash during the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

Text from the Herculaneum scroll, which has been unseen for 2,000 years. (Vesuvius Challenge/Nature)

Fusing 3D-Mapping and AI

The team of student researchers, comprising Youssef Nader, Luke Farritor and Julian Schilliger, who used AI to decode the damaged papyrus scroll, have scooped the $700,000 grand prize in the Vesuvius Challenge grand prize Vesuvius Challenge. They received the illustrious award for being the first team to “recover 4 passages of 140 characters from a Herculaneum scroll”.

Essentially, the young team combined 3D-mapping applications and AI to successfully penetrate a lump of blackened volcanic rock that has encased a scroll for almost 2,000-years, since Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. Known as the Herculaneum papyri, the new combination of technologies identified tiny patches of ink within the fused ash, revealing hitherto unseen musings of a Greek philosopher contemplating ‘pleasure.’

A Gigantic Boon for Philosophy

Not only did the winning team of the Vesuvius Challenge decipher more than “85 percent of the characters illustrated within four passages comprising 140 characters each,” but they included a further 11 columns of text, bringing their total to around 2000 interpreted characters.

The text discloses the personal thoughts of Philodemus, the philosopher-in-residence at the library which once housed the Herculaneum papyri. As such, Professor Michael McOsker from the University College London told New Scientist that the findings represent “a gigantic boon” to the understanding of philosophy in the ancient Greek world.

The Villa of Papyri at the archaeological site of Herculaneum (Erik Anderson / CC BY-SA 3.0)

When Pleasure Challenges Virtue

The ancient Greek text muses on how the scarcity and abundance of material items impacts the pleasure received from them. According to Philodemus, a philosopher of the Epicurean school, the enjoyment derived from food and other goods is closely tied to their availability. In line with Epicurean philosophy, which emphasizes pleasure as life’s primary objective, the scarcity or abundance of these commodities plays a crucial role in shaping our well-being.

Additionally, it was noted that in his two-millennium-old text, there seems to be a subtle attack at the Stoic school of philosophy, suggesting they have “nothing to contribute regarding pleasure.” While Epicureanism centers on the pursuit of pleasure and tranquility, considering them the ultimate goals in life, in contrast, Stoicism emphasizes virtue as the highest good, advocating for inner strength and moral excellence to navigate life’s challenges.

What this all means for modern researchers, is that they have fresh data pertaining to Greek ideas about the prioritization of pleasure and tranquility (Epicureanism), against virtue and inner resilience (Stoicism), being the key foundation for a fulfilling life.

It Cost What? This Has To Stop!

Having bagged the Vesuvius Challenge the team of students now plan “to scale up the 3D scanning and digital analysis techniques,” while at the same time keeping an eye on the costs of analysis. It might have read like the $700,000 prize was a big win, but not when we put that amount into perspective.

It cost the team $100 for every square centimeter of analyzed rock, which tallies to between $1 million and $5 million per scroll. This sounds within the realms of research budget, right? But when you then consider there are another “800 scrolls” lined up to be deciphered, that calculates to between 800 million and 4 billion USD.

Therefore, a lot of ancient philosophy will go undeciphered, and as such it will remain a mystery for future researchers to tackle when lower cost research methodologies are developed.

Top image: Left; One of the Herculaneum scrolls that are being deciphered. Right; Text from the Herculaneum scroll Source: Vesuvius Challenge

By Ashley Cowie

What was the best way you left a terrible job?

I had already submitted my resignation. On the last day, the bitch who had committed all the prior unfair labor practices was, of course, at it again. She had me covering for other people, and didn’t let me take any breaks all day. An hour before the end of my shift, when a co worker had come to relieve me from covering for her, she told me the same supervisor wanted me down in her office so she could talk to me.”Oh really? Well, first I am going to take my morning 15 minute break, then I am taking my half hour lunch, then I am taking my afternoon 15, which I am legally required to do. That will bring me up to quitting time, so she can WANT all she wants”, and left. Heard later than she couldn’t believe I had done it, and went screaming my name through all 6 floors of the building looking for me LOL

CHINA WARNING! We Will Show Our Swords Against AMERICA

Has someone ever been fired because of you?

Yes, and they had it coming.

This was back in the mid 90’s, I was working at a pizza place. A good friend of mine had signed a contract with a major league baseball team, and he was back in town after his first season in the minors. He stopped in to see me at work, when he left one of the waitresses asked who he was. I told her, she seemed interested and asked if I could introduce her to him. I said sure, me and this girl had become good friends since she started working at this place.

I introduce them, they start seeing each other and things seem good. At some point, she learned about the signing bonus that he had received when he signed his contract. It wasn’t a ton, but it was a decent amount. I heard her tell a co-worker that she had stopped taking her birth control, she wanted to get pregnant so, “I can get some of that money”. I told my friend that she said this, and he broke up with her that evening.

She knew I told him, and she did not like that. I go into work the next day, she’s already working and she wants to have a talk. We’re talking, she asked if I told him, I said, “Yep, that was me”. There’s some shouting, and at some point, she grabs me by the throat and his her fist drawn back. The assistant manager grabbed her, and dragged her away. She was sent home for the day. The manager comes in, and he wants to fire both of us. A few coworkers and the assistant manager defended me, as I hadn’t started this fight. She was fired that evening.

Side note: a few weeks later, she tried to run me over with her car. As you can clearly see, she was a very stable individual.

What is the weirdest thing you have seen at Target?

I had the best laugh of my life in a Target.

A sales associate was pushing a very large cardboard box, filled with some kind of clothes, along one of the main aisles in the store. It didn’t look very heavy, but it was clearly much too large for any one person to carry.

She had picked up a lot of speed, and she was kinda racing forward, bent over the box like she was going for the gold in Olympic box-pushing, when she reached a spot where the floor changed to carpet. The two types of flooring were separated by one of those very narrow metal bands, flat enough to where it wasn’t generally noticeable.

The box hit the metal band and came to a full – and very abrupt – stop, but the woman did not. She could have done the maneuver a thousand times and never repeated her trick, but she somehow flipped over herself and landed in the box she’d been pushing.

I didn’t laugh at first. I actually managed to control myself, but then I saw the look on her face. She looked like a startled cartoon, anime style, and I just couldn’t contain my laughter after that. I knew that it was so, so wrong, but she looked like she was okay physically.

I still think of her sometimes, and whenever that happens, I can’t help but laugh like an insane hyena.

Rigatoni with Steak Sauce

Ingredients

4 tablespoons olive oil
2 (12 ounce) rib eye steaks
Salt and pepper
2 onions, thinly sliced
2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 cup dry red wine
1 (26 ounce) jar marinara sauce
1 cup beef broth
16 ounces dried rigatoni pasta
3 ounces Parmesan, shaved

Instructions

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a heavy large frying pan over high heat. Sprinkle the steaks with salt and pepper. Cook the steaks until they are brown but still rare in the center, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the steaks to a plate and set aside to cool completely.
Add 2 more tablespoons of olive oil to the same pan. Sauté the onions and carrots until the onions are translucent, about 8 minutes, with additional salt and pepper, to taste. Add the garlic and oregano, and sauté for 1 minute. Add the wine and simmer for 1 minute. Add the marinara sauce and broth. Cover and simmer over medium low heat to allow the flavors to blend, about 10 minutes.
Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, trim off any fat from the steaks, then cut the steaks into bite size pieces and set aside. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the rigatoni and boil until it is tender but still firm to the bite, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Drain the rigatoni.
Toss the rigatoni and reserved steak pieces and any accumulated juices from the steaks with the sauce to coat.
Transfer the pasta to bowls.
Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese shavings and serve.

What’s the best revenge to someone who robbed you?

Had a fella break into my house when on holiday in Brazil and a neighbour called the police and he was arrested in my house. She saw him break a small window to get in. Was big on the new consoles and computer games at the time, had all the latest. He’d taken suitcases from upstairs and filled them.

He told the policeman cockily he was going to come back and finish the job, he was a local heroin addict known to them.

When I came back from holiday I had to get a crime number, the policeman without giving a name gave me a massive clue who did it…off the record of course

.Not saying the two are related but I told a certain local person and the burglar was found tied to a lamppost naked a few days later in public view. I know a few locals had a vendetta against him so could have been anyone. A few months later the exact same happened to a teen who had been stealing cars locally and joyriding in them. I know the teen had to be cut free in public which must have seriously embarrassed him. An obnoxious fat kid who would gloat to folk who he had stole a car from.

Thought was a great way to deal with people who were getting away with petty crime and back out to do it again. Made the local papers as well which really would have rubbed it in.

What ignorant thing did a retail employee say that made you walk out of the store without buying a single item?

Ah! My little sister!

This was when she was 17. She decided she wanted to make the big plunge and purchase a stereo system with the money she’d saved from various jobs. But she was nervous about being taken by nefarious sales people, so she asked her big brother (the guy with a house account at Groove-N-Tube… yeah I bought a lot of that stuff back then) to go with her to recommend what to purchase.

We arrive at what at the time was a big name electronics and appliance store (out of business now, no surprise). The sales person gloms onto us right away and his eyes are sparkling. He thinks he’s landed a couple (probably dating but maybe a young marriage), and he goes into his spiel. We walk through the store discussing the various things they have to offer. I ask some questions. My sister asks some questions. Salesperson totally ignores sis. Probably figures I’m the one wearing the pants in this decision. At one point, he totally turns his back on her while he discusses the attributes of a system. I could tell she was fuming but was too polite to say anything.

Finally, it’s time to make a decision. With his back still to my sister, he asks me: “So what can I pack up for you?”

I look him dead in the eye and say: “What are you asking me for? She’s the one buying it.”

He went white. Looked at my sister. She beamed at him and said: “I think I’ll buy something from a store that values all its customers.” And out she sailed.

I love my little sis.

Different wiring

What screams “I’m asking to be pickpocketed”?

By the time I went to college in West Texas, my pickpocketing days were well and truly behind me. I had seen the error of my ways, repented of my mischief, and was endeavoring to live an honest life again.

Little did I know that my new Lone Star country was home to one of the most absurd and illogical bits of fashion stupidity in history.

No, I’m not talking about chaps. Don’t even get me started on those.

I’m not entirely sure what it’s called, but I have heard it referred to as a “cowboy wallet.” The primary difference between it and a non-stupid wallet is that it is extra super-duper long.

This means that when you put it in the back pocket of your Wranglers, it sticks out the top like a pull-tab.

Are you effing serious, Texas? Why not just hang a sign saying FREE MONEY?

There may be a reader or two out there thinking, “no, I’d definitely notice if someone pulled my wallet. I’d feel it slide out!”

Trust me, you wouldn’t. It’s not any failure on your part, either. Pickpocketing is a bit like cheating at cards. When done properly, it has nothing to do with luck.

I had several friends in college who used these cowboy goodie-bags and I made sure to let them know the economic dangers of their rustic fashion. I had one friend named Logan with whom it became a running joke that I would pull his wallet pretty much every time I saw him. I’d obviously return it to him immediately, but even when he knew full well that I was going to do it, he was still powerless to stop me because it really is that easy.

So Quora, if you are the owner/carrier of a cowboy wallet and you happen to find yourself in a big city or, for that matter, pretty much anywhere besides your family’s ranch, I suggest that you consider either putting it in your inside jacket pocket or getting a different wallet. You would actually be better off taping your money to one of those flag-football belts than putting that thing in your back pocket, as you’d be more likely to notice when it got pulled.

The New York pickpocket rings (to the best of my knowledge) have all either become defunct or transitioned to more profitable ventures, and the city is now very safe. Nonetheless, wear one of those things around here and someone’s likely to flint you on principle.

What is the most interesting fact that you know and I don’t, but I should?

McDonald’s most popular burger and the second most popular item on their menu (second only to their unique fries).

But have you ever stopped to wonder how it got its name?

You see, McDonald’s was originally founded by brothers Maurice and Richard McDonald.

They went by the nicknames Mac and Dick (for when Mac and Cheese just isn’t enough).

The “Big Mac” hit McDonald’s fast food restaurants in August 1968. However, before this, the executives at McDonald’s were struggling to come up with a name for this new super-sandwich.

The McDonald’s corporation tested out a couple of other names, including “The Aristocrat.”

Eventually, a secretary named Esther Glickstein (who was quite fond of co-founder Maurice), suggested the name “Big Mac”.

She admitted that the higher-ups initially laughed the name off when she first suggested it, but she got the last laugh when the name stuck!

But just imagine…

for one second…

if…

she had been more fond of Richard…

You could be enjoying a Big Dick, instead of a Big Mac.

My Girlfriend Asked For An Open Relationship, I Walked Out And Now I Laugh At Her Tears

What is the weirdest reason you got fired from a job?

I was general manager of a pregnancy resource center. It was a 501(c)(3) corporation, and we were completely dependent on donations. It was going broke when I took over. We got back to solvency within a year, without having to back off at all from the services we provided. In fact, we had grown quite a bit. There were 5 full time employees, and about 35 volunteers.

One day, right out of the blue, I was called to go to the office down the street of the chairman of our board of directors. When I got there, he and another board member summarily fired me. Before I left that office, the board chairman had written a glowing letter of recommendation for me.

Curious, I asked him why I was being let go. He said that the board had voted me out because I ran the place too much like a business and not enough like a charity. He had voted against firing me, but was outvoted. The reason they were going broke before hiring me was that no one in the place had any ability to manage money. So, making it more businesslike internally, without that being noticed by our clientele, just seemed wrong to them.

As a waiter, what is the cheapest thing a customer has done?

I’m not a waiter, but I will tell my experience. After work, a bunch of coworkers and I would go to the pub across the street. People came and left, as they got off work. We always ran a single tab. Someone would come, have one five dollar drink, and throw ten dollars into the middle of the table. The next person might have 3 $5 drinks, and throw in a twenty before leaving. Nobody wanted to risk stiffing their coworkers or the waitress.

The biggest problem was that at the end of the night, we often had a 35–40 percent tip.

Then a friend we used to work with, joined us for drinks, at first everything was fine, but after a few friday nights at the pub, he started to say. I don’t have any cash on me, just hand me the cash, and I will go put it all on my credit card.

Three weeks later, the waitress who had waited on us for years, sat down early in the evening, before our friend joined us and asked us if her service had slipped, because suddenly we had gone from 35–40 percent tips to exactly 10 percent the last few times. This was a few years ago in Canada, and 10–15 percent was the standard tip. It turns out our friend had been picking up our $300 for a $220 bill, and paying $242, with tip, and going home with $58 more than he came with, after drinking all night for free.

We said no, her service was still fabulous and suggested that she keep us on a group tab, and put him on a separate bill.

Our friend came and at the end of the evening went to grab the cash, and we said, no you have a separate bill.

He got all flustered, and we told him we didn’t want to see him for 6 months, until he learned his lesson.

What is your reaction to the visit by Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami team to Hong Kong?

Lionel Messi will go down in history as the man who united both Hong Kong and mainland Chinese football fans, both pro- and anti-establishment Hong Kong voters, and both its political elites and grassroots citizens, to have such seething hatred towards the same person.

I don’t think even bona fide war criminals like Tojo Hideki would be able to accomplish such a feat in the Sinosphere these days. There were people who paid thousands of HK dollars for a ticket, and traveled to Hong Kong all the way from Xinjiang and abroad, just for a glimpse of the legendary “king of football”. Instead, all they got was snubbed.

There’s no other way to put it. Messi messed up, big time.

Right now nobody really knows what’s going on, why he refused to fulfil his contract (of playing at least 45 minutes on the field), and why he behaved in such a cold and arrogant manner towards his fans in Hong Kong, to the extent that he didn’t even once smile or wave at them.

But judging from the fact that he did play ball in Riyadh, and that he said in an interview he will play again in Kobe, Japan later on, my gut feeling tells me this probably has to do with politics. And before some of you start going “but muh oppression/human rights”, remember that he didn’t protest being in Saudi Arabia.

It’s just too much of a coincidence. You see, right now Hong Kong is trying to pass a law known as “Article 23”. For those of you not from here, I’ll give you the rundown version: Hong Kong, which is part of the People’s Republic of China, has a constitutional duty to enact a law covering secession and subversion (pretty much every country and region in the world has this type of law, by the way).

This was supposed to have been done ages ago, but the anti-establishment, anti-China, right wing types pushed back against any discussion of it every single time. After the violent far right riots in 2019, the local government began to take national security more seriously, which is why western media, unsurprisingly, is trying to depict Article 23 as dystopic and totalitarian.

My instinct is that even if this whole ordeal in Hong Kong was not political at first (he could have just been a dick – not the most outlandish thing about footballers, honestly), Messi will make it political and milk all he can from it. He’s going to turn this thing into another Daryl Morey, NBA-China controversy, hijacking an entire sport for his own political virtue-signalling, and as a pledge of allegiance to both the United States and his home country of Argentina (which is currently being run by a far right neoliberal demagogue, who is trying to abolish the national currency in favour of the US dollar, outlaw abortions, and legalise the organ trade).

If nothing else, this would at least help him win over a few crowds in certain parts of the world where Sinophobia is politically correct. He might even run for political office on this far right platform after retiring from football. Who knows.

Again, I have to stress that this is all just speculation on my part. Nobody but Messi and those closest to him would know what’s really going on. I hope I’m proven wrong, and that the same shitshow that happened in Hong Kong would repeat itself in Japan, thus proving he wasn’t being disrespectful specifically towards the Chinese, and that he’s just a snobbish cunt to everyone. However, knowing how politicised football has become in recent years, I’m not counting on it.

I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shoutout to the real MVP on the field, Hong Kong singer G.E.M. (Gloria Tang), for doing her best to cheer up an angry and disappointed crowd, and trying to give them something worth their money. She’s the queen 🫅.

What is your reaction to the visit by Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami team to Hong Kong?

There’s no other way to put it. Messi messed up, big time.

Have you ever made a mistake that ended up saving your life?

Honestly, no way to be sure. On a Saturday night i was at a tavern having a few. I was supposed to leave and meet my Niece at another tavern. I wasted just enough time at the first place that my Niece and her friends decided to go to a different tavern. I was just about a mile down the road from the other tavern.

A whole load of police vehicles and emergency personnel trucks go flying by the first bar heading towards the other bar. A Shooting occurred at JB’s tavern; killing a bartender Named Jeff; who put himself between the gunman and his patrons.

The gunman did this because he was kicked out for harassing women. He went home shaved his head, dressed in camouflage, grabbed a rifle, and then finished his journey to insanity

He killed another man Rich; who I knew from my working in taverns. Jeff, I knew from school; he was a couple of years behind me. We weren’t best friends; but we both enjoyed playing poker. The killer also wounded like a dozen innocent people.

Luther Casteel was his name. I had to Google it because I was unsure of the spelling. He actually wounded 14 people and brought 4 weapons with him and a couple hundred rounds of ammunition.

I really cannot answer if my screwing around saved my life; but I believe that it saved my niece’s life.

What is the cutest mistake you’ve ever seen someone make?

Okay, this would have been cute if the guy wasn’t a huge piece of human garbage*. My crew and I were out to eat on Christmas Eve in Hawaii. One of the few places that was open was our hotel’s sushi restaurant. After eating a heroic amount of sushi, lard ass leaned back and explained, “that was so good. I’m famished!”

Read on for the rest of the story.

The flight attendant and I looked at each other and exchanged a glance. So, I casually said “How can you still be hungry after all that sushi?” He said “I’m not hungry, I’m famished.” I just said “famished is a synonym for starving.” He had to look it up. The n made some BS excuse.

Read on for my rant against this dumbass.

He was fucking stupid. His wife was pregnant with twins at the time. He was glad because he said twins would be easier than a single kid. Later, after they were born he would only talk about one of the. “Clair Bears” was what he called his daughter Clair. He rarely referred to her twin. We dubbed that one trash bag because it was obvious how he felt about his kids. He was just awful.

hong kong 香港 3/3 (if wong kar wai and wes anderson had a really bad short film as a baby)

As a landlord, did you ever have a terrible tenant that didn’t appear to exhibit any red flags in the beginning, but later on you realized you made a huge mistake to accept them?

My stepfather was an apartment building manager in Hollywood, California when I was a teen.

The modern building was large and well-kept. The one large ‘suite’ was a challenge to rent out because of the price and because it was just too luxurious for the neighborhood.

But the owner of the building found a tenant who exceeded her dreams: a young Arabian prince (a student?) who paid a hefty security fee and rental for a year upfront.

I rarely saw him and his entourage because they clubbed and partied until dawn.

When I did catch a glimpse, it was like watching a movie: a group of handsome, laughing young men dressed in flowing Arab robes, moving through the California sunshine.

When they left before the lease was up, the owner was told that the prince did not require rent and security deposit refunds.

The owner was delighted…until the suite was inspected.

The formerly white shag carpet had not been cleaned since the prince moved in, and much of it had a strange, dark tinge. The walls and ceilings were no longer pristine white either.

As the owner and my stepfather entered the massive livingroom, they discovered why the colors were so dingy.

The tenant had been using braziers ON THE CARPET to cook food, leaving greasy stains all over. Above, the ceiling was almost black from smoke. Mattresses had been dragged in from the bedrooms.

The kitchen was literally filled with spoiled food and dirty dishes and pans; the stove was caked all over with burned food. The refrigerator was a mold-filled, broken disaster.

The bathrooms were disgusting, and the owner backed quickly away and shut the doors because of the stench.

The 3 bedrooms had been used for pets (forbidden by the lease) – dogs and birds. Excrement and rotted food were everywhere.

Most cabinet and inside doors were damaged or missing. Old papers, clothes and other items as well as trash littered the apartment.

Reparing and refurbishing the suite took almost 6 months and cost way more than the substantial deposit and unused rent. A bill was forwarded to the prince’s lawyer and was paid promptly.

Note: In the interest of keeping this short, I have not written in detail about the destruction.

After being fed for two consecutive weeks, this beautiful stray cat became a part of the family.

I love this video.

Why did my dad think it was a good idea to get a lower-paying job and lower our standard of living just because he was stressed and tired? Isn’t it the parents’ job to make sacrifices for their children to be happy?

I’ll tell you what happened to my dad, and you might understand. My dad owned part of the family business, he was the working partner in the business.

He worked 12–16 days, 7 days a week to make ends meet.

When I was 8 or 9 he had what was called at the time a nervous breakdown, he was in the hospital for months, and the business didn’t close.

He was out for two months, and my mom went in, evidently she had worked herself into a git, worrying about my dad, and the effect that only seeing him for an hour or two a day was having on the marriage.

My mother got a job. That wasn’t rare in the early 1960s , but it wasn’t common. My dad cut his hours to 10–12 hours a day 6 days a week. Still way too much, but now we took a yearly, week long camping vacation.

When I was 19 my dad had a heart attack, and they put the company up for sale.

When my dad got out of the hospital he was under strict orders not to work more than 40 hours a week. I dropped out of university to help run the family business, while they were selling it.

It took 4 years to sell the business.

My dads heart was never the same. He went to work for the new owners, working 36 hours a week, weekends off, for the first time in his life.

He retired at 65, and died before he was 66 .

That is why you don’t work at a job that stresses you out.

Ex-CIA: Biden is NOW a National Security risk for the world

Changes and changes

Life changes.

I have said this many times before. But I want to underline some things today.

When I was a senior in High School, I proudly wore a choker collar, puffy sleeved polyester printed shirts with a wide collar, and elephant bell-bottom jeans. Oh, and I also wore earth shoes, and rock-star boots. I was so fashionable!

I also drove a orange “goat” GTO.

And that was my life then.

Today, I am really different, as is my life.

Life changes. You will change.

ADVICE…

Embrace your moments. Savor your experiences. Remember that they will wane over time. So please treasure them.

Today…

For anyone who was bullied in school, what was the worst act of bullying you had to endure?

When I was a teenager I was bullied by a local group of kids, all of them a few years older than me. Two of them were particularly vile. I am changing the names. One was Patrick and the other was Gavin. Patrick was a horrible weasel who basically incited the others to beat the crap out of me, and rarely got his own hands dirty. Gavin was a sociopath who rarely showed any emotion whatsoever. One particular time me and friends were playing near a train track (as kids did in the 90s), and I heard Patrick’s voice saying “Hey Gavin there he is he wants to fight you.” Sure enough along walks Gavin and grabs me and says “I hear you want to fight me….” I assured him this wasn’t the case, but he proceeded to knock the shit out of me. And I don’t just mean a few punches in the ribs. He pummelled my face multiple times. I am pretty sure I had concussion. Anyway, halfway through the beating I hear the unmistakeable sound of a train coming. Gavin hears it too. “Come on, we’re both going to die.” and he begins dragging me onto the tracks. And he was correct, in that we both would have been killed. He clearly didn’t care. The only thing that saved me was that I was able to grab hold of a length of builder’s wire that was half buried in the ground, and must have been attached to a lump of buried concrete because miraculously it held firm. Gavin was straining with every ounce of his strength to drag me and him into the path of the train. I vividly remember the train zooming past and I looked at Gavin, his teeth bared in anger as he tried to dislodge me. I remember giggling because Gavin was closer to the train than me. If my t shirt had torn, or if the wire had come loose, then Gavin would surely have fallen under the train first. Gavin eventually tired of beating me after the train was gone and I stumbled home, sore, ashamed and shaken. My face was so badly battered that when I told my father that I had fallen off some scaffolding while playing at a building site, he believed me. Both my eyes were so badly bloodshot that my eyeball went red. I had black eyes and bruises all across my face and neck and ribs. The bullying wasn’t a once off, but that was one of the worst instances of it for me.

Polish Cinnamon Cake

Ingredients

12 tablespoons butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
3 teaspoons cinnamon
A grating of fresh nutmeg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Beat the butter until it is soft and fluffy. Add 3/4 cup of the sugar and the egg and continue beating. Add 2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, the nutmeg and flour, and beat until well mixed.
Spread about 1/3 of the batter on an ungreased baking sheet, forming a rectangle about 10 x 12 inches and bake in a preheated 400 degrees F oven for 8 minutes, until lightly browned.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Repeat two more times with the remaining batter.
Whip the cream until stiff, and fold in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, the remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon and the vanilla extract. Spread a thin layer of whipped cream on one of the cakes, top with another cake, and repeat.
Spread remaining whipped cream on the top and serve immediately.

Serves 8 to 12

Cheating caught

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hQk09jxrwfM?feature=share

What’s the fastest you’ve wiped a smirk off of someone’s face?

We lived in Base Housing, kids all over the place, filling the sandbox, fighting, arguing, being nice, being nasty. My four-year-old was a little redhead like his mommy and, like his mommy, often in trouble. Or, if not in trouble, causing it.

One day, another mommy, who was often irate because someone had wronged her little golden-curled darling who had the demeanor of an angel and the personality of a wasp, came to me with her howling little guy. His tears looked genuine. So did her anger.

“Your child needs to be controlled,” she said, “he bit Tony. Look!” She dragged Tony’s plump little arm out to show me four perfect tooth marks.

I said, “Are you sure it was Brian?”

She snarled, “Of course I’m sure. I saw him do it. He sank his teeth right into Tony’s arm.”

I said, “Bri, did you bite Tony?” He shook his head.

Mama Bear, filled with righteous fury, shrieked that he was a liar and my husband would be hearing from the CO if we didn’t teach our child civilized manners.

I just said, “Brian, smile at the lady.” Because he was an obliging child who genuinely liked people, he willing smiled at the lady—with his three front teeth, two on the bottom, one on the top, gleaming in the sunshine. His left top incisor had been knocked out when he was acting the fool in the bathtub about six months before. She didn’t even apologize to him, just stomped off, dragging poor, injured little Tony behind her like a pull toy.

Simply Cannot

What is a dirty little (or big) secret about an industry that you have worked in, that people outside the industry really ought to know?

We know all your passwords.

Shocked?

Well, you shouldn’t be. At least not yet. Let me tell you the whole truth first. Because once I do that, you aren’t going to be just shocked. You would be horrified, outraged, possibly traumatized for life.

I’ve been working in the tech world for quite a while now, and the wealth of “insider secrets” that I’ve accumulated along the way would be sufficient to fill a book in itself. But nothing comes close to this one single revelation, that I can positively say, has destroyed my faith in humanity. Once you finish this answer, you are not going to be the same person anymore, that much I can promise.

Let me ask you a very simple question –

How do you think the login process works?

Let’s say you want to open your Facebook.

You go to the login page.

You enter your username.

You then enter your password, which appears in all asterisks to prevent any unwanted ‘shoulder-surfing’. That’s crude. But effective too. And necessary. You see, the First Law of Passwords (okay, I just made up that phrase) states that there should be only one entity in the entire universe that should have access to your password – your brain. If a second copy of your password exists somewhere – say, on a piece of paper where you casually wrote it down thinking it’ll help you remember later, or in the password box where you just entered it, or engraved on a rock on planet Jupiter; somebody might be able to access it (theoretically speaking) and your security would be completely compromised. So, only one copy. Ever. Remember that.

Now, you press the Submit button.

But Abhimanyu, wait a minute! After I just pressed the Submit button, I got logged in. This means that some system on the other side must have verified that what I entered was indeed my password. But then, this system must have access to my correct password too! Otherwise, what will it compare my input with? Facebook must keep a second copy of my password somewhere!!!

The host website needs a copy of the password!

You are right. That’s a problem indeed. You might think that this is kind of okay since this second copy would exist with Facebook, which is the website that hosts your account in the first place. They would keep it safe, wouldn’t they?

But think about it.

Facebook, as an organization, is made up of humans just like you and me. What if some employee at Facebook has access to this code and could see your password? What if this was your bank account instead. What if Facebook was hacked and the hacker could see this code that has your password in it. Imagine the havoc this person might cause.

So a second copy is never okay, even if it exists on the parent website itself!

But then how would the website log you in? If it does not know your correct password, what will it compare your input to? How will it verify that you’re you?

That’s precisely the problem our engineering godfathers faced when they set out to design the entire system of passwords. And these guys were smart! They come up with an ingenious idea that would beautifully solve the problem.

The idea of Hash Functions.

The concept is extremely simple. A hash function is just a mathematical function. You input any word into it and it generates an output that looks like complete garbage.

But the devil, as they say, lies in the details –

The same word would always give rise to the same garbage.
Two different words would (almost) always lead to two completely different garbages.
There’s no way to look at the garbage and tell what the original word was. And just to be clear, this is not for the lack of trying. No. This is a fundamental mathematically restriction on the nature of hash functions. They are not invertible. They work one-way only. There’s no way to reverse engineer the garbage and get a peek at the word that produced it. Not even when you know the exact hash function.

Fun fact – This garbage is called the ‘hash’ of the input word.

Here’s how Hashes are used in login systems –

When you first create your account, you choose a password. This password is never stored by the website as it is. Rather, the website first hashes your password and then stores this hash in its database.

Now, when you try to log in the next time, the input you enter in your password box is first hashed, and then sent to the website. If your entered password is the correct one, this incoming hash would be the same as the hash the website had earlier stored in its database. That’s because the same word always gives the same hash (Rule 1 above). On the other hand, if you entered something different, the incoming hash would be different from the one that the website has got stored in its database next to your name (Rule 2 above).

The website compares the two, and if they match, bingo! You are logged in.

Now even if someone hacked into Facebook and copied the entire database, all they would see are these garbage hashes stored next to the usernames. They wouldn’t be able to deduce the original password from these hashes (Rule 3 above).

What if they tried to copy your hash from the database, open Facebook login page in their browser, and then enter the copied hash in the password field as it is (along with your username in the username field)?

Since Facebook’s login flow always hashes the incoming input, it would hash this hash too, and that would produce something completely different. On matching that with what is stored in the database, a big fat fuck-you would be returned.

So even when the hacker has got the entire user table, he still can’t do any damage!

Beautiful concept, isn’t it?

Except that it’s a complete pain in the ass for companies to implement and manage.

For starters, you have to integrate the hashing mechanism in your login flow which leads to considerable overhead. Actually, with modern libraries and frameworks, this part is no longer that big of a deal. The real pain lies in providing technical support to the customers.

Let’s say you are Flipkart.

A customer calls in to complain that he is unable to add a certain item to his cart.

The customer’s issue is escalated to the development team, where you, the poor developer, just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and lo and behold! The issue gets assigned to you.

All you know is that there’s a certain customer with this particular customer id and he’s unable to add an item to his cart.

That’s it.

That’s all you know.

Remember, the user can see the issue happening on his device in real time, but you can’t. You don’t have access to his account.

So, you send a request to the server team to access the error logs from the server, all the while praying to God that you find something useful in those logs – something that will nudge you in the right direction. But you have to be extremely lucky to find something helpful. More often than not, the issue would turn out to be a ghost issue that occurred because the user was doing something stupid, and you would spend an entire night on a wild goose-chase.

If you do manage to learn something helpful from the logs, you would then have to create a test account and try to replicate the issue there, which is just the beginning of the long and tedious process we call bug-hunting.

Either way, it’s going to be a long night.

But what if, let’s say, you did have access to user’s password? (Imagine a red devil sitting on your shoulder whispering this entire paragraph in your ear). You could simply log into his account and check if it’s a ghost issue. You’d be done in like five minutes. Even if it turns out to be a legitimate issue, you can trigger it again from the user’s account itself, and get a much quicker lead on the location of the bug!

The convenience is just too much to ignore!

You begin to get lusty.

Your mouth begins to drool.

And you give in.

Most of the companies in the IT industry that are customer-facing, store your passwords in their database in clear text. Without hashing!

Most of the clients that I’ve worked with as a penetration-tester, most of the companies I’ve done projects for, most of the websites I’ve hacked – all were storing passwords in stark naked clear-text. Plain as the day. Sitting right there for any employee or hacker to see.

I have seen database tables – with rows upon rows of clear text passwords – hundreds of thousands of them – all visible to the naked eye – ripe, juicy, ready to be exploited – their owners completely unaware, utterly naive, sleeping peacefully in their beds without a care in the world.

Now in all fairness, I must admit here that I’m sure none of the top-tier websites are doing this stupidity. Google isn’t doing it. Facebook isn’t doing it. Flipkart isn’t doing it. Your bank, definitely not.

But tier-two and three websites? They are. Startups? You bet your ass they are.

But that’s not all –

Most people, in an act of supreme foolishness, set the same password for all their accounts.

Which means that every employee at http://somerandomwebsitewhereyouoncemadeanaccountandthenforgotaboutit.com

knows your Gmail password.

Because let’s face it, they’re the same. Aren’t they?

All I have to do is hack this le random website, which is going to be a piece of cake. Sites like these are not big on security. As soon as I get into their database, I’ll have access to thousands of email id and password pairs, most of which will work verbatim on Gmail.

If you’re extremely unlucky, they’ll work on Paytm too.

And if with some cruel and twisted idea of fun in mind, your fate decided to truly fuck you over, they would work on your Bank’s website too !

So scary

Has anyone ever bought a car with the wrong engine in it?

Not me but my father in law. In 1957 he got out of the Army and first thing he did was buy a new Plymouth Fury. Not being a car guy he just picked the first one on the lot and drove it home. He had moved back in with his parents and his dad still had a curfue for him. One night he was going to be late so he opened it up to get home faster. He soon saw flashing lights in his rear view mirror but soon lost them and made it home in time. A few minutes after he got home a police car pulled up in the yard. Small town and the cop had recognized his car. Instead of getting arrested the cop told him to be at the start of Nine Mile Road at 9:00 the next night. This road had a long straight part through a swamp with no side roads. So he shows up and county police have set up a drag race. They had stopped traffic at both ends of the straight and the cop with the fastest cruiser lined up beside him. They had new Plymouth Furys with the police engine option. They take off and are neck and neck until the police car tops out and my father in law’s car keeps pulling away. He was fully stopped and out of his car at the other end before the cop car got there.

The cop comes up and ask him what modifications he has made to the car. He tells them he hasn’t even opened the hood since he bought it. They then open the hood and instead of the standard 301 Plymouth engine it had a 392 Chrysler Hemi.

Red Flag

When did you realize your parent was a total badass?

One day my Mom asked me where to go to replace a broken window on her car. When I asked what happened to the window, she said someone threw a brick through it. She was driving through an area with a lot of gangs and saw 2 guys chasing 1 guy. She didn’t like the odds, so pulled her car onto the sidewalk between the guy being chased and the guys doing the chasing. That gave the guy being chased enough of a lead that he got away. The guys who were chasing him weren’t happy about being stopped. They threw anything they could grab at Mom’s car, and a brick went through a window as she drove off. And that’s how Mom got a broken window on her car.

My Dad was also a badass, but in different ways. He was a veteran, but never told us about his military service until he was dying of cancer. He couldn’t see or hear anymore, but he could talk. He told us “funny stories” that were just plain crazy.

Assassination

What are some things that kids have said that caught you off guard? Funny, sad, confusing, inspirational, creepy?

Elleigh was a mouthy Little darling from ages 4-10. She just said anything that came to her mind, and sometimes, those things were hilarious. Elleigh once said:

“What’s up boys, take me out to dinner.”

I’m “unstopaddle.”

“You’re old!”

“Daddy looks like Mr. Clean.”

“Me: What’s your dad’s name? (Elleigh: Tyrell)”

*Doing her hair* “Oh, but I’ll look like a jerry.”

“Why was I in your tummy and Leo was in your gyna?” (She was delivered by a c-section, Leo was natural).

“Thong Thong Thong up your heiny.”

“I just had to itch my butt.”

“Ok boss!”

Me: Alright, let’s call… (Elleigh: Punk!)”

“Mommy, you don’t run, you gallop.”

“You did not do sports today because I was with you all day. Ooo, it’s just a joke.”

“I’m constipation” (we were doing affirmations).

“Stop annoying me. Excuse me, you’re not supposed to be talking to me, you’re a stranger.”

Me: You’re going to school. (Elleigh: Yeah, why?) Me: Because that’s what you do every morning. (Elleigh: Are you going to the gym every morning?”

“This dang deer.”

“This is not her real hair, her just put extensions in it. long extensions.”

Me: What’s your favorite kind of food? (Elleigh: Fruit). Me: What kind of fruit? (Elleigh: Fruit loops).

When she was really little, she would call a computer a “cubidiger.”

She would say “feel good” as “fuck you” (really threw people off sometimes).

I don’t know why I have so many footages of her saying these kinds of things.

Absolutely correct

If you were an employee, and your boss suddenly fired you without an explanation, how would you respond?

I had been there three years. Since I disliked the job and had strange vibes for the last 3 months, when I was told I shrugged and said “If that’s the way you feel.” They wanted me to sign a release. I was 61–1/2, Social Security at reduced benefits wouldn’t start until I was 63. I said I wanted my attorney to look at it before I signed, picked up the paper and walked to my office where I packed up my stuff. I kept nothing personal there except safety shoes for walking on the manufacturing floor (I got laughed at a lot because nobody wore safety shoes even though they’re required at most manufacturing facilities), my prescription safety glasses , a sweater, my favorite (and personally purchased) mechanical pencils and left.

My attorney said to sign the release after he crossed out two clauses noting the employment statues they were violating, and faxed it to them. I got a nice settlement and was able to collect unemployment for the 18 months until my 63rd birthday. This was in 2008/2009 when we had up to 100 weeks of unemployment due to recession.

Before anybody calls me a piker for collecting all that UI, I was offered two positions during that time. Each would have required a 100 mile round trip commute daily and only paid about 75% of what I had been making. The Unemployment Service said I was not under an obligation to accept either.

Have you ever met a dangerous person and not known it at the time?

I used to own a small tavern. We had a guy who started hanging out there quite regularly. Nice guy, played darts with the other regulars, bought rounds in order , but didn’t talk much about himself or his past. But it’s a bar, so no one cares. We’ll call him Danny.

He was in early one night around 7pm. My staff is all away on lunch, partner wouldn’t be back til 10pm. I’m all alone. Usually not a big deal. This night, a couple of college jocks got way out of hand and started tearing the place up – breaking cue sticks and tossing around empty kegs. It’s just Danny, me and the college boys. I’m trying to de-escalate and get them to leave. Then, one of the big guys starts pushing me and throwing punches. I’m screwed. That is, until Danny steps in and beats the shit out of two guys much bigger than himself. I was completely shocked! We toss the guys out and he tells me not to call the police. He leaves shortly afterwards.

Next time I see Danny, I want to pick up his tab and chat. He asks me not to tell anyone or talk about it. I figure he’s ex-military and a private guy. He becomes pretty scarce. We’re looking for him, but he doesn’t come around anymore.

About a year later, we see his pic in the paper. He’s on trial for a pair of mob related murders. Turns out he might be responsible for more than a couple of these. I’m very glad he liked me.

Which sentences have made you think the most in your life?

There was a time while I was in college that I could only afford to spend about $3 per day on food. Needless to say it wasn’t an easy time.

One day, I spent part of my daily ration on a granola bar. As I walked out of the grocery store, a homeless woman asked me if I had any spare change. I told her I didn’t have any money to spare so instead split my granola bar with her and sat down to have a chat. She continued to ask people for change as we talked. After observing the responses, I asked her: “Would you rather people ignore your question, or say ‘no’ as meanly and rudely as they possibly could?”

She responded without hesitation: “I’d rather have the mean ‘no.’ At least they’re treating me like I’m a person, more than a piece of trash lying on the street.”

I’ll never forget that. I wouldn’t have been able to rationalize it myself, but it makes perfect sense. Her name was Anne.

As a pilot, what is some good advice you’ve been given?

When I was a much younger airline copilot, I flew with this Syrian captain. He was a Muslim and had flown F-4s for the U.S. Navy. He was a nice guy but kind of kept to himself mostly. I would always ask about the religion and how it was living in Syria and he gradually warmed up to me.

One day I was complaining about a relationship with a woman and he turned to me and said:

“Randy, I am going to give you two words that will ensure that you will have a long and prosperous marriage. It will end your problems in this relationship and any in the future. It is very old Islamic advice that has stood for centuries, long before the great advances in mathematics. It is among the oldest of all Middle Eastern knowledge”

“If you follow these two words. You will increase your happiness by a factor of 1000. Your wife will adore you and you will live in peace and harmony until you finally die and she mourns your death forever.”

“These two words? Obey and Relax”

“Randy, simply follow these two words in all of your interactions. Obey her demands and then simply relax. The West has not yet discovered this fundamental truth. If you just obey and relax, you will always be happy.”

Edit 1:

This guy was funny.

One day we were talking about his home life and he said: “Randy, Allah came to me before I was born and he told me I was a very bad man. He said I must be punished so he gave me a choice. I could live for ten-thousand years in hell or I could marry this woman. Like a fool, I marry woman!

I guess he didn’t follow his own advice. I heard he finally divorced. Even with this outcome, I still try to follow his advice and it works pretty well.

Did you ever have a restaurant meal “on the house”? What was the reason?

My wife and I moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to a small town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas three years ago. For anyone wondering, our new town is Grass Valley, pop. 13,000.

Coming from the dining heaven that is the San Francisco area, we set out to find some special occasion restaurants nearby. We were not disappointed.

Our favorite go-to fancy place is called Lola’s, in neighboring Nevada City. It’s comparatively pricy—$250 is the typical check, including tip, for the two of us. It’s located in the Gold Rush-era National Hotel.

We went recently for an anniversary. It was a Wednesday evening and the restaurant was not particularly busy, although there was some kind of event beginning to happen in the attached lounge.

We waited for an unusually long time, but we had no place to be, and we enjoy each other’s company. The server finally came to our table, apologizing, and took our drink order. After about ten minutes, she came by and told us our drinks would be out any minute.

We got our appetizers and waited a long time again for the entrees. The server apologized again and said our drinks would be on the house. We had not complained or looked dissatisfied, but it was a nice gesture on the restaurant’s part. We ordered a second round of cocktails.

The activity in the lounge explained the delays: they had a combination burlesque show and lottery going on. Everyone was having a boisterous good time. Evidently, they swamped the bar and the kitchen.

When our entrees arrived after another unusually long wait, the server apologized again and told us our entire meal and drinks were being comped because of the slow service. We were flabbergasted but happy to have a $200 meal comped. This was all the restaurant’s initiative; we did not complain or even look dissatisfied.

We ordered desserts, one of the many things this restaurant does extremely well. The total bill came to $26.00 for the desserts. The total bill would have been $250.

We tipped 20% of the whole amount. Our server was attentive and even embarrassed at the long delay. We would have been perfectly happy even if we’d paid the whole bill.

That’s the first time I’ve ever had an entire satisfactory meal comped. But it was a good illustration of this restaurant’s commitment to excellence in food quality and service.

What psychological trick changed your life?

Here are 12 tricks I learned from the book ‘12 rules for life an antidote to chaos’, written by psychologist Jodan B Peterson. These life rules really help me a lot:

1: Stand Up Straight With Your Shoulders Back

If you present yourself as defeated, then people will react to you as if you are losing. If you start to straighten up, then people will look at and treat you differently.

So, attend carefully to your posture. Quit drooping and hunching around. Speak your mind. Put your desires forward, as if you had a right to them — at least the same right as others. Walk tall and gaze forthrightly ahead. Dare to be dangerous. Encourage the serotonin to flow plentifully through the neural pathways desperate for its calming influence.

2: Treat Yourself Like Someone You Are Responsible for Helping

We deserve some respect. You deserve some respect. You are important to other people, as much as to yourself. You have some vital role to play in the unfolding destiny of the world. You are, therefore, morally obliged to take care of yourself. You should take care of, help and be good to yourself the same way you would take care of, help and be good to someone you loved and valued.

3: Make Friends with People Who Want the Best For You

This is similar to the idea that you become the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

Don’t think that it is easier to surround yourself with good healthy people than with bad unhealthy people. It’s not. A good, healthy person is an ideal. It requires strength and daring to stand up near such a person. Have some humility. Have some courage. Use your judgment, and protect yourself from too-uncritical compassion and pity.

4: Compare Yourself to Who You Were Yesterday, Not Who Someone Else is Today

We only see what we aim at. The rest of the world (and that’s most of it) is hidden. If we start aiming at something different — something like I want my life to be better” — our minds will start presenting us with new information, derived from the previously hidden world, to aid us in that pursuit.

Then we can put that information to use and move, and act, and observe, and improve. And, after doing so, after improving, we might pursue something different, or higher — something like, I want whatever might be better than just my life being better.” And then we enter a more elevated and more complete reality.

“What could I do, that I would do, to make Life a little better?”

The content is too long, so I put the rest rules here

JEFFREY SACHS HONEST INTERVIEW ABOUT NATO ARROGANCE ON RUSSIA, SUPERPOWER WAR IN UKRAINE, CHINA RISE

What was the shortest interview you’ve had that led to a job offer?

I was selling cars and my friends mother said I should have a job that pays a salary and commission and not just straight commission. She suggested a software company and the one she worked at had a position available. I had no background in software or computers at all but I sent in a CV and called the Sales Manager and left a message. Then I would keep calling all day seeing if he would pick up the phone. Around 12 additional times.

On the 3rd he picked up and said NOBODY has ever called him so much in his entire life. I asked if he looked at my CV and he said yes, but there was no experience in computers and software. He even asked some basic questions which I failed miserably.

He finally said that I was obviously persistent and if I read some books about computing I could probably get a job in this industry. I asked which books and he suggested two. I told him I would read both, memorize them and call him back in 2 weeks where he could quiz me about anything. He was incredulous and said ya sure.

Well I bought those books that day and in 2 weeks had them memorized, with yellow highlighter throughout both of them. I could tell you what chapter something was in and the next point the author made. That’s how well I learned them.

2 weeks to the day I called and he picked up on the first 2 rings. I was very nervous and told him I had those books down cold and he could quiz me about anything.

He said to come in on Monday at 9 am. I said how long would the quiz take and he said, “There isn’t a quiz. You start your new job on Monday at 9 am”

I am happy to say I stayed in the computer software industry for 20 years.

Crazy

What should you never say to a British person?

I was on a plane once, flying across the US. The guy next to me (in the middle seat) just kept talking nonstop. Eventually the person in the window seat said something back to him. This set the guy off, he told him everything he knew about Australia, what a great country it was, how much he liked Australians. Then he asked what part of Australia the guy was from. He replied that he was from Wales.

Middle seat guy said he loved New South Wales. The Sydney opera house was his favorite piece of architecture in the world.

Window seat guy, replies, No, I am Welsh, from the British Isles.

Middle seat guy, just wouldn’t let it go. He wanted to know why someone from the UK spoke with an Australian accent. Eventually window seat guy lost his patience, and pointedly pulled out a book and started to read.

So, I would say you don’t ask someone from Wales, why they speak with an Australian accent.

Daddy Advice to a daughter

What’s the best mistake you’ve ever made?

I was recently divorced and working for a company that had just opened a branch in Germany. My boss told me four interns were coming from Germany. “You’re a supervisor,” he said. “This is a very big deal, so make sure they are comfortable and happy here.”

But there was a problem. We had three shifts, and I was on the second shift—by which time my boss was long gone for the day, so he couldn’t introduce me in person. When I got to work I found only a list of four first names and the desks they were sitting at. And then when I got to that part of the office, there were only three guys.

I went over and talked to them for a bit, tried to make them feel welcome, made sure they had everything they needed. I was hoping one of them would mention the fourth fellow, but nobody did. I figured he’d be sitting somewhere else, so I excused myself and went to look around.

Then I heard a guy speaking German. Bingo, I thought. I sneaked a look at the name on his desk: Arnold, same first name as the missing fourth fellow, and a German last name. This was him! He turned out to be much nicer than the other three and we had quite a good talk. His English was excellent.

In the following weeks I saw Arnold often and talked to him for a little while each time. The other three were polite, but distant. So when a fax came in written in German, I knew which one to take it to for translation.

When I handed him the fax, he looked at it for a long time. “I’m sorry,” he said. “My German isn’t really good enough to read this.”

And so it turned out that this Arnold wasn’t the fourth German at all—that particular Arnold, the intern my boss was so concerned about, had been out getting a sandwich the afternoon I came to meet them. Then he’d gone home to Germany a week or two later for some unrelated reason.

The Arnold I’d made friends with was an American with a German father—who had taught him just enough to get by in conversation. They’d spent plenty of time in Germany—so when I’d asked him questions about what it was like there, he knew all the answers. And living with his dad had given Arnold just a trace of German accent in his English.

That was 20 years ago. Arnold and I are still having good talks daily—in spite of being married.

And Then…

In the military, are you only allowed to keep on you what is issued to you by the government or can you buy extra protection if you want to? (knives, extra guns, extra supplies, etc), also, is your weapons and gear all new when you get them?

In the Army I served, simply asking that question would disqualify you from service.

They don’t want gun nuts. They want you to have the weapon issued, nothing else; unauthorised weapons on military grounds is a lengthy prison sentence, if you survive. The guards are armed, you know, and authorised to fire when they identify a threat. An unauthorised firearm is a threat.

They want you to fire your weapon when ordered to do so, and only when ordered to do so. Unless given that order, you don’t even have access to your weapon.

A pen knife, possibly. Extra supplies – food, yes. Nothing else. Protective gear – buster, you dress in the uniform issued, nothing else is allowed to be visible (so you’re allowed your own underwear). Ammunition – see above re. “identify a threat”.

The military take weapons seriously. It’s dangerous stuff, and they don’t want them fired except under strictly controlled circumstances.

And during my year in the Army, I did, in fact, not even once see an armed officer. Unless you count the Captain’s ceremonial sabre, which he dismissed, along with his entire parade uniform, as a “bloody spectacle”.

Legit

Why do some rich people act like they’re poor?

I have a friend that makes $200,000,000 annually. He lives in a $3,000,000 house that he probably paid $1,200,000 for. He drives a five year old Toyota. (He owns and runs a fund…was voted the best in the world at his profession not too long ago)

I have a friend that lives in a $4,000,000 condo downtown. He flies in his $17,000,000 jet and drives a $2,000 old pickup truck to his $60,000,000 ranch. (He sold his business to a bank/insurance company for huge money and has grown his wealth rapidly since the sale)

I know of another extremely wealthy family that when we took our kids to get treats after an event, their kids would ask for toppings on their ice cream. The mom kindly told her children, “no, we don’t spurge like that”. I thought, “what?” You own the entire mall that we are eating ice cream in. (He owns malls and resorts globally)

I don’t know of any that live like they are poor, they just live well within their means. They have different financial priorities than many people.

Organism 46B

Check this one out…

How can I find out who’s stealing my lunch from the office fridge?

I hope you like really hot, spicy food. Pack up some tasty leftover meat, veggies and rice or potatoes in a take- out tub – then add a full quarter cup of Tabasco, Psycho Bitch or Dave’s Killer hot sauce to it. People usually have a pretty good idea of who is stealing their lunches so, when the suspect heads for the lunchroom, follow them, hang around nearby and wait for the fun to begin. (Hot sauce is food, so you can’t be accused of trying to poison your co-worker.)

Use the system

What happened that made you walk out of the courtroom and think, “That did not just happen”?

I was being tried on a driving charge (i.e.. “recklessly causing an accident”).

Where I live, people being tried for “minor” offences will be assigned a common courtroom (i.e., Courtroom 335 12PM July 5, 1923).

I was in my courtroom waiting for my trial to begin when I was approached by an officer and asked to leave the courtroom.

In the hallway, I was told to go to another courtroom (no explanation).

The other courtroom was practically empty. A judge sat on the bench, one suit was standing behind the crown’s desk and one suit was standing behind the defense’s desk. Court reporters were present.

I was urged to stand at the defense’s desk and, at that point, I accepted the suit standing at the defense’s desk as my legal representative.

When I got to the desk, there was a short conversation between the judge and the suits. It took about a minute (maybe less).

And then I was told that I was “Free to go”.

And everybody just left the courtroom.

PS: The “accident” was, I think, a fraud. By the time I got to trial, nobody cared (and not even the police showed up to swear evidence … nobody in that courtroom was involved, in any way, with the case).

Non-verbal

I was fired 3 days ago out of nowhere after 5 years. Now, the CEO emails me that my job has been “re-instated”, but when I come back, I will get a warning for “low performance”. What can I do?

I was “constructively dismissed” by a new owner. I was offering my opinion as a good manager should and was told “shut up, sit down and do what I say; or leave”. To everyone else’s dismay, I left; I was off the property less than an hour later.

About two weeks later, I received a call from the controller desparately asking me for the admin passwords for the company’s mainframe (I was the one and only “unofficial” IT administrator for about three years) as it had crashed. I told him I couldn’t help him as my current employment contract prohibits me from directly assisting them (within 1/2 hour of driving off the lot and calling my wife to tell her I had left, I had already received calls from three competitors offering me a job. I had accepted an offer with their biggest rival); but that he could try contacting my current employer to “purchase” my services (there was no such condition, but I reported the contact to my current employer who was ecstatically happy to play along). They did, and was charged $5,000 for my single visit of less than an hour; to type in the master password and let them change it (1/2 of that fee was paid to me as a bonus).

I later found out that my former employer also had to pay over $20,000 in OT to recover the system, as there was no current tape backup. At the time, I was also the only one that was responsible for managing the daily tape backups; specifically inserting a new tape cartridge every morning. There were two daytime receptionists that I had trained to cover for me on my days off and when I went on vacation, but the full-time one was let go only a few days prior to me leaving, and the part-time one had quit in protest of being asked to work 7 days a week until a new full-time one was hired and trained. They had to manually re-enter two weeks of parts invoices and service work orders, while at the same time work off manual invoices and work orders until the system was caught up.

That owner didn’t last long; three years after I left, the franchise agreement was yanked by the manufacturer and the dealership closed permanently.

Karma.

Approach anxiety

What are your tricks to start a conversation with a stranger?

Are you sure you’re ready for my answer?

Because talking to a stranger is actually easier than you think it is.

Commit to the five seconds rule – my personal ace in the hole. I approached 100 women in 40 days with this trick. All it involves is that you make a decision on the first five seconds of seeing the stranger whether you are approaching or not. At first, I kept saying no, not yet, next time and then one day I just said fuck it! I’m doing this and I did. Don’t ask me how it turned out.
Use the universal opener and stop thinking – yes our mind is the great storyteller and a perfectionist one at that. If you give yourself too much time to think, you will end up not approaching the stranger so do what I did. Use the universal opener. It’s something called Hello. I think you’ve heard about it.
Avoid the alpha male trap – I know some people will tell you dress up, look cool, beef up and hold a wine glass standing by the corner, that advice is the worse shit in the world. It’s what I call the alpha male trap, feeling so confident in yourself that you don’t wanna talk with anyone and you expect them to feel your vibe and gravitate towards you. Avoid practicing this, calm down! Relax and smile when you are out there.
Open up! – still on the same point. Avoid closing up your body language by holding something in front of you such as your phone or glass bottle. Make sure in social settings, your body is open and you appear calm and relaxed. Please don’t ever approach anyone with the wrong body language. Research shows we process body language faster than sounds(as little as 0.2sec).
Smile like a lotto winner – one crazy genius called Ralph Waldo Emerson made the great statement that “the whole world loves a lover”, damn but he was right. The key to people’s heart is positivity if you are not aware. You just have to know that most people are not comfortable with meeting new people. So you have to put their minds to rest that you’re harmless and you want nothing but a good nice conversation. Smiling and exuding positivity does this perfectly.
Ask for the name and use it – I read this in Dale Carnegie’s book, How to Win Friends & Influence People, and it has never failed me. When you meet a stranger, make sure you get the name and use it repeatedly in the first conversation.
Watch comedy shows – apart from the added benefit of this improving your overall life happiness exponentially, this will add a funny tint to your conversations. People love humor you know.
Observe the rules – the thing about social situations is that there are no universal rules anywhere. How you should behave depends on where you are – you have to behave differently in a church compared to a networking party. The Super trick is to take some time to observe how people are acting around you, are if they are being upbeat or cool headed. Don’t bring noise into a cool environment or calm into a sizzling energetic room. Observe the rules and play by them. Then you win!
Go radical truth on them – out of those 100 women I approached, the ones who became my closest friends were those I went total truth on. Here’s what I mean; I approach them and said hello, then told them I’m a shy guy on a mission to approach 100 girls to build his confidence and that she is my number 41. This perks them up and they usually laugh, then they look at my face, see that I am serious and then we have a wonderful conversation and I always get their numbers. Crazy, right?
Guess – a lot of strangers are really not cool with you offloading a truckload of questions on them. They close up quickly and excuse themselves and that’s why I use guessing at times. I read about it in a blog post that I can’t really remember. It goes like this – during the conversation, instead of asking “where are you from”, observe them and say something like “you look like a new yorker”. Or instead of “what do you do”, say “something tells me you’re a fun person” or “something tells me you stay indoors a lot”. You get the Gist already.
Prepare to be human – I still approach women and get rejected, I still try to make friends on the bus, parties, church, etc, and get rubbed on. You just have to be ready for being a human, not everyone is going to like you or want to talk to you. Accept this and when the time comes that someone rejects you, remember that it’s normal and go find someone else to talk to.

This is my show

What is the most dangerous thing you’ve found in your backyard?

Several years ago, I was on the ladder working on the roof of my shed. Off in the distance there were some people shooting. This is common here as I live in the South (of America). Most people around are fairly safe with their practice shooting. While on the ladder, I heard what sounded like a hummingbird fly by. I looked around for him/her and couldn’t find it. I heard another and another. It dawned on me that these were not hummingbirds, but bullets. I got off the ladder, and yelled as loud as I could that they were shooting towards my house. A few more shots and I went inside and called the sheriff department to go by and tell them they were shooting at my house. I waited a couple hours and heard the shots again. I got in the truck, drove around to the property behind mine and pulled up. The guy and some friends were out shooting targets. I introduced myself and we talked a bit about guns. Then I pointed out that behind their fence was my house about 500 yrs through the woods. I had been up on a ladder and several of their rounds had come near me. They were horrified. I told them to point toward the sand plant since it was closed on the weekend or build a berm to shoot into. they apologized and changed where they were shooting.

What is a stand you took during your wedding planning that you will never apologize for?

I’m Jewish and was marrying a Roman Catholic woman. My parents were vehemently against it, but they also demanded that it be a civil ceremony. My bride wanted the church wedding.

I told her if she wanted the church wedding, that’s what we’ll do. I was not really practicing Jewish traditions, I wasn’t going to synagogue, I routinely worked on Saturdays if my job called for it, and didn’t keep kosher. In fact, since leaving my parents’ home at age 20, I had eaten a cheeseburger for the first time in my life, and had a milk shake along with it!

My parents tried to pressure me to pressure her to at least make it a civil ceremony. I had never even discussed it with her. I told them I would ask, but if she said she wanted the church wedding, then that was the way it would be. They told me they were severing all communication with me. I told them that was okay. They were north of 60 and 70, and living across the ocean, so I replied that I would have to get used to not having them around eventually and I might as well start.

I never backed down, and never regretted it. It set the tone for our future dealings. They knew I was immune to any bullying or any pressure they could bring to bear. If they wanted me to do something, they were going to have to be reasonable and try to convince me with valid argument and not arbitrary stubbornness.

Very interesting …

Would you feel uncomfortable at your in-laws’ home on Christmas when everyone has gifts to open except for you?

I have actually been through this.

I married into a family that is very pretenious.

My husband is more approachable than they are, more down to earth.

We married in our 40’s after failed marriages, so we had a civil wedding with my step kids as our witnesses. They were excited to have me in their family, and I was happy to be their stepmom.

He rarely spoke of the rest of his family and I didn’t meet them until after we were married.

I moved to his hometown which was an hour away and where the family lives.

I was a wreck when Christmas rolled around. The few encounters I had with these people were not welcoming. In fact, they completely ignored me.

I went shopping with my husband to buy gifts for everyone, and the spirit of Christmas eased my fears.

When we arrived I felt the chill. I spoke directly to several people and they didn’t acknowledge me in any way.

So, with my Christmas spirit extinguished, I reluctantly sat by the Christmas tree to open gifts.

After the presents were all passed out, I sat and tried to not act surprised by not having anything to open.

In reality, I was totally embarrassed and fighting back the tears.

My family always bought a few extra gifts in case someone unexpectedly joined us.

I wasn’t expecting much, but I never dreamed they would be so rude.

I never would have gone had I known.

In 1944

What are some good habits to follow?

In no particular order:

Floss before going to bed. To ensure that you don’t have junk stewing in your teeth for 8 hours.
Drink a glass of water first thing in the morning and last thing at night.
Perform kegels every day. Read more on why this is awesome.
“Eat the frog”. Write down 1 task that you must absolutely perform in order for the day to be a success, and do it first when you get to work.
Send 1 call/text/email to an old friend or colleague that you haven’t spoken with in a while. Over one year, that adds up to 365 reignited relationships (or 61 relationships reignited six times apiece).
End the day with fewer emails in your inbox than you started with. Repeat until you get to inbox zero.
Give away / donate one item in your household every single day. Repeat until you have an uncluttered, restful home.
Answer one question on Quora per day. Work on your writing ability while contributing to the organization of the world’s knowledge.
Walk to and from work, if possible. Exercise! Sunshine!
Eat at least one fruit or vegetable each day. Sure, you should probably eat a half-dozen servings of each. But things can get really screwed up when you are eating zero fruits and veggies. Start small and be consistent.
Express gratitude. My days go so much smoother when I remind myself: “dude, you could just as easily have been born in a Sudanese refugee camp. You’re one lucky mo-fo.”
Spend at least 20 minutes reading something that is completely unrelated to your career (or “personal development”). Creative thinking requires varied inputs. If you have monofocus (e.g. only read about startups all day), you’re severely limiting the amount of interesting ideas you can come up with.
Get uncomfortable at least 1x per day (ideally 3x or 5x). By “get uncomfortable” I mean “summon the courage to do something that makes you anxious”. Speak up during the work conference call. Say hi to the pretty girl or fella standing next to you in line. Run 4 miles instead of 3. Et cetera. Remember: “Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” – George Addair

Polenta with Cheese (Mamaliga — Rumania)

Ingredients

1 cup yellow cornmeal
3/4 cup water
3 1/4 cups boiling water
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup shredded Swiss or Kashkaval cheese

Instructions

Mix cornmeal and 3/4 cup water in 2-quart saucepan. Stir in 3 1/4 cups water and the salt. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils; reduce heat. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes.
Remove from heat; stir until smooth. Spread 1/3 of the mixture in greased 1 1/2-quart casserole. Dot with 1/3 of the butter; sprinkle with 1/3 of the Parmesan cheese. Repeat twice. Sprinkle with Swiss cheese. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F until hot and bubbly, 15 to 20 minutes.

Fried Cornmeal Mush

Omit butter and the grated Parmesan and Swiss cheeses. After cooking 10 minutes, spread in greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Cover and refrigerate until firm, at least 12 hours. Invert pan to unmold; cut into 1/2-inch slices.

Heat 2 tablespoons butter in skillet until melted. Coat slices with flour; cook uncovered in butter over low heat until brown, about 5 minutes on each side. Serve with molasses, jam, maple syrup or sour cream if desired.

The aluminum foil attired world line traveler

One of my Patreon videos. Enjoy.

Lilies for dinner

Yesterday, out of the blue at dinner time, a delivery man came to our door with a bouquet of lilies. Not for me. Not for the kids. Not for the wife. Mistake, I guess. But the address was exactly our address.

Strange.

A lily flower has different significance in China than it does in the USA. In the USA, lilies are associated with death and funerals.

So obviously, I looked at the delivery guy with a big exclamation point and question mark over his head. Wouldn’t you? Especially since I was in MAJ. Things that make you go hum…

Anyways…

I asked the Domain Commander about this.

DC told me that it was a real accident and not to worry. Sure there are elements in the world that would like me to die and collapse in a most horrible way, but they are far removed from me, and that I am protected. That I should not let my fears grasp my emotions.

Ok. So, yeah.

Never let fear take over your life. Period.

Today…

Who were the most shallow girls/women you’ve ever met? Why?

The funny thing is, I hadn’t met girls or women who I’d consider shallow until I began my PhD. Most of the girls and women in my life were strong, independent, no nonsense girls, who took their lives on by the horns.

However, once I started my PhD, it was as though I was overcompensated for what I had missed out all along. There was a flurry of girls and women I kept bumping into, who made me question their true worth and leave me in total disgust.

Well, without much ado, here’s introducing the creme de la creme

A top woman scientist who told me to do an MBA after my PhD because girls only marry men with fat wallets because sex is not everything
A PhD research scholar who intends to marry a man who earns at least ₹500000 (~$8000) a month so that he could spend at least half of that on her
Another PhD scholar who plans to quit working after she got married because it was her husband’s duty to take care of her
A research scholar who blows up about ₹25,000 a month on partying, clothes, and weekend holidays and then takes another ₹10,000 from home because she’s the only daughter and it was “her right” to be pampered
Research scholars who even in their 3rd year of research do not possess fundamental concepts of their research because, “we’re not nerds like you!”
A research scholar who called her roommate’s mother a whore just for speaking to a guy outside their apartment. Her roomie’s mother had passed away a few months back to cancer
Another PhD scholar who said “I’m a Lingayat,” when I asked her if she was non-vegetarian. Lingayat, turns out, is a caste quite popular in Karnataka and I had no idea until she laughed when I asked her what that was
Another research scholar who’d draw a stipend from her supervisor’s project and yet work entirely for someone else because she had the support of a lot of higher ups
A research scholar who threatened a guy who kept asking her a genuine scientific doubt during one of her presentations. She wasn’t able to answer the question properly and was subsequently cross questioned. Frustrated, she said “I’ll file a harassment charge with the police. I’m a girl and my father has money. Let’s see who they believe.”

Wow! I just realized I could keep going at this. It’s crazy the number of PhD’s who think and speak this way.

What’s the use of having an education when you’re not one bit educated!

I see so much in this kitten that reminds me of my deceased dog

Spareribs and Cabbage
(Zeberka Wieprzowena z Kapusta — Poland)

Serve with mashed or boiled potatoes.

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 1/2 pounds fresh pork spareribs, cut into 6 pieces
1 large onion, sliced
1 large carrot, sliced
2 teaspoons instant beef bouillon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon caraway seed
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
1 bay leaf
2 cups water
1/2 cup vinegar
1 small head green cabbage, cut into 6 wedges
Freshly-ground pepper

Instructions

Heat oil in Dutch oven until hot. Cook pork spareribs, a few pieces at a time, over medium heat until brown on all sides, about 15 minutes; drain fat.
Add onion, carrot, bouillon, salt, caraway seed, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and the bay leaf.
Pour water and vinegar over pork mixture. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
Add cabbage; sprinkle with pepper. Cover and simmer until cabbage is tender, about 45 minutes.
Remove bay leaf.
Arrange spareribs and vegetables on serving platter.
Garnish with minced parsley if desired.

Waiting to Be Put to Sleep, She Sat Crying Silently in Her Cage At the Shelter

Have you ever seen an employer fire someone without realizing what a crucial role the employee played?

Yes, yes I have!

A large company you have heard of needed to lay some people off. There was this one guy who always came in, went to his office, did who knows what all day, then went home. Nobody really knew what he did. His manager had been replaced with a new guy who was still figuring out which way is up. He had to lay off X number of people from his group. He laid off this guy.

Then they found out what he did, because it wasn’t being done anymore. Turns out he was providing exclusive customized support to a very large customer on a very lucrative contract.

The customer was not happy. They were no longer getting the support they were paying for.

I know other people who work at the same company. Management knows what they do, so their jobs are secure. It’s amazing how your job security depends on the right people knowing what you do.

2) Someone I know worked for a company that provides services to the military. The company was bought by another company, which put in management that had college degrees but no knowledge or experience in that field. The existing management, which had specific knowledge and experience, was laid off because they did not have college degrees.

That company was known by the military to be able to complete contracts that other companies had failed to complete.

With the team of experts gone, they could no longer complete contracts or train new hires. They had laid off their key people.

Meanwhile, the experts got jobs with competing companies, who were now able to complete contracts.

As contractor pay has stagnated, companies have been sold, and management has been unable to pay decently. A welder or electrician can make 400% more working anywhere else.

The team of experts has bounced from company to company. Whichever company they’re with is able to complete contracts.

How does this story end? That remains to be seen.

In the meantime, we have a navy ship that has been in for repairs for over two years, for work that should have taken only six months.

50% is terrible odds

16 mind-blowing psychology facts you should know:

Hearing your name when on one is calling you, is actually a sign of a healthy brian.
Sleep directly after studying, you will remember what you have learned better.
Don’t argue through text messages. The lack of tone decreases the meaning of the words.
People are more honest when physically tired. This is why most people confess things during late night conversations.
Those who look outside, dream. Those who look inside, awaken.
Cherophobia: the fear of happiness. People with this cherophobia believe that every time they feel happy, something bad will happen and ruin it.
Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.
The most powerful way to win an argument is by asking questions. It can make people see the flaws in their logic.
It’s possible to die from a broken heart. It’s called Stress Cardiomypathy.
Being forgetful can be a sign of a higher intelligence.
Athazagoraphobia: the fear of being forgotten or ignored by someone who you strongly care about.
When ignored by someone who means a lot to you, the reaction in your brain is similar to physical pain.
Boys are actually more emotionally affected by relationship troubles than girls. They just know how to hide it well.
You’re more likely to be easily attracted to someone you have no chance with.
The average man gets bored of shopping after 26 minutes.
If you want someone to listen to you, start the conversation with” I shouldn’t be telling you this”

The Most Paranormal Place On Earth – What’s Happening on Mount Shasta?

What is the rudest thing someone has ever said to you and how did you respond?

This happened a week back exactly and it’s been running on my mind ever since then. I never thought something like this would happen to me, don’t know why.

Last week, I was on a business trip to Berlin and I went to Amsterdam for the weekend, for a short vacation. My return flight to India was from Berlin and so I took a bus from Amsterdam to Berlin Tegel airport (bus because it was cheaper!). I had to switch buses at a place called Hamburg and I had a layover of almost 3 hours.

These 3 hours were the most tiring 3 hours of my life because it was from 10–1 in the night and it was freezing cold outside. And, I was standing alone for so long. Finally the bus came at 12.45 and I was the last one to board the bus. The bus was full and all the seats were taken in the lower deck. The upper deck had only 3 seats.

Super exhausted, I politely ask this girl if I can take the vacant seat next to her and this is how the conversation goes –

Me – Hi, can I please sit here?

Girl – No

Me – I’m sorry, excuse me?

Girl – I want to sit alone. Find another place

I ask the girl in the front seat if I can sit next to her and she was like, “this seat is taken”

Me, again to the girl from before –

Me – There’s no other seat. Can I sit here?

Girl – Go see if there are any seats down

*She was getting on to my nerves*

Me – I’m coming from down, there’s no seat. I’m sorry

Girl – Ask the girl in the front

Me – I just asked her, she said it’s taken. If you want, go ahead and ask her

*By now, people were already looking at me and I was feeling embarrassed. I ignored her and took the seat*

Girl (after 5 mins) – Actually, I don’t feel comfortable about you sitting next to me

Me (I was shocked) – Sorry?

Girl – I feel very uncomfortable about you sitting next to me. Please understand. Don’t sit here, go away!

Me (I lost it) – You know what? There’s no other place. Shut the fuck up and sit! Don’t irritate the fuck out of me!

I don’t think I have ever been this rude to anyone in my life. But, I don’t feel bad about saying it and I never will. I said it, I was rude to her, like she was rude to me. But, I was shocked even after that, my eyes welled up.

For the entire 3 hours, she was giving all these reactions and making faces like she was sitting next to someone disgusting.

And the worst part was, the vacant seat in the front, it was taken by none.

I don’t know if this is racism and if this happened to me because I’m brown and not white. But, this same female was okay with another white girl sitting next to her. While I was walking towards the seat, another white girl was going to sit there but she found another seat.

When I told this incident to a colleague of mine, he told me that I’m jumping into a conclusion that this is racism.

I don’t know if it could be anything else. Because I was dressed up well. I’m someone who gives importance to getting dressed up. This picture below is from the same day morning. I was in the same attire, maybe with a coat on top of it –

U.S. Hegemony is turning the WORLD Against Us

What is the biggest opportunity you, or someone you know, has wasted?

A girl I graduated high school with got a full scholarship to The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. That’s the big UNC… The world-renowned UNC… The one that most of my graduating class was trying to get into. She not only got in, but had a free ride thanks to a combination of cheerleading scholarships and needs-based grants.

She drank and partied her way to failure her first semester, was put on academic probation, didn’t recover, and was back home living with her parents and working as a waitress by the time she was 20.

She was still smoking hott* though, and it all worked out for her. “It” tends to work out for women like her… Women with model-quality looks and bubbly personalities. She married a lawyer and is now a stay-at-home (a beach house, no less) mother who, judging from what she posts on Facebook, lives an enviable life.

As for me, I have one huge wasted opportunity that I know about.

When I was 23, I’d already spent years working for families with special needs children in the wealthy suburbs of Chicago. I ended up with a job as a special needs assistant for the local school district… a very desirable school district for teachers. Also one of the hardest school districts in which to get hired for any position. I only got hired as an aide because one of the parents on the school board knew me because I sometimes took care of his special-needs kid.

Most of the other aides were teachers-in-training. I hadn’t considered going back to school to be a teacher at that point in my life. An opportunity to go to work for a friend in the auto parts business and make slightly more money presented itself, and I quit my job with the school district mid-year.

That’s a huge no-no in education. You never quit mid-year. I burned that bridge to the ground. I lost contact with all of the people I knew in the district. Dozens of networking opportunities squandered, all for about $100 extra dollars per month.

Years later, I finally went back to college and got my teaching certificate. I was 30 by then, and I struggled to find a teaching job. It was all about who you knew that could get your resume in front of the principals, and I didn’t know anyone who could do that anymore.

Had I been patient and stayed on as an aide for a few more years, I would have been first in line for an open teaching position in that district when they became available.

If this were my 10th year of teaching in that district, I’d be making three times what I make now, and have a lot more perks.

Oh well. Youthful impatience has done a lot worse to other people.

Cats sleeping position

If, biologically, humans are not meant to be monogamous, why do we still strive to be so?

Chimps are not monogamous. In fact, they gang-rape each female. The females do this so that no male knows who the father is, preventing the infant from being killed. Just because animals do it doesn’t mean we should.

Gorillas have harems. Most males never mate, those that do dominate a group of females and have exclusive rights to them. This precludes equal rights for females. Go to a harem model, and you’ve just undone the basic premise for women’s rights.

Monogamy and systematic encouragement of it forced men to treat their only sexual partner with decency and respect for their quality of life. This is why only the Christian West gave women equal legal rights to men across the board. If men can have sex outside of marriage, whether sex slaves or prostitutes, the woman’s social status goes down.

Society has a vested interest in monogamy. Single mothers are even in the rich West at greater odds of poverty. Even worse is the three to four times greater odds of bad life outcomes for their kids. From drug addiction to joining a gang to not finishing school to committing suicide to being a single teen mother, the odds are 3–4 times greater if raised by a single mother.

If society wants to reduce criminal behavior, reliance on welfare (if it exists) and dependent adults, it has to encourage monogamy. The group cannot afford to encourage the breakdown of the family. You don’t get happy hippie communes; you get violent inner cities with stubborn inter-generational poverty in communities that used to have declining poverty rates.

Yes, humanity is biologically transitioning from “harem/free sex” to “monogamous”, so we have conflicting impulses. But we’ve been moving toward monogamy for literally millions of years. We know that because women are only 20% smaller than men versus half the size of a male as occurs in gorillas. It is driven by our higher intelligence and the longer dependent period of human infants.

Monogamy is in our best interest as individuals, as parents and as a society. And that’s why we encourage it.

Year after year

Have you ever been mugged and had it end badly for the mugger?

I had eye surgery in winter 2019, and had to wear dark glasses (the ones in my pic) for a bit.

My eyesight is terrible anyway, but for a couple of months l could barely see.

One evening, as usual, I was taking a long walk in London – couldn’t run, I’d have been running in to street furniture- for exercise. Earbuds in, listening to music.

A beggar stepped in front if me & said something about money. I put my hand in my pocket, handed him a quid.

He said something about wanting more, l couldn’t really hear him too well over Black Grape, but this pissed me off.

“Fuck off”, I said, “you can have a quid and like it”

“Gimme more. I want all your money”

“You cheeky cunt. Fuck off or I’ll take the quid back and kick your arse” l said.

He made angry gestures and stormed off.

A bloke came up beside me…. “…mate, are you ok?” he said.

“Yeah… why?”

“He had a knife”.

Oh. Not beggar; mugger. I hadn’t seen the knife.

The mugger must have thought I was like Chuck Norris, fronting him out like that.

New Upgrade: China J-35 Fighter JET To Fly From Aircraft Carrier

How much power does a general in the U.S. military have?

Not a General (or Admiral in this case, since I served in the Navy), but a Captain (equivalent of a full bird Colonel in the other services).

I joined on the delayed entry program when I was still a senior in high school. Toward the end of my senior year, I was awarded a scholarship to state university. There was a banquet to honor all the scholarship recipients.

Even though I knew I couldn’t accept the scholarship because I was already set to go into the Navy, I thought it would be fun and interesting to attend a banquet that was being held partly in my honor.

At the banquet, I met and made small talk with a Navy Captain. I told him about how I wouldn’t be able to use the scholarship because I had already enlisted via the delayed entry program. I never got his name and never heard from, nor spoke with, him ever again after that night.

So technically, I don’t know with any certainty that he was the one who did anything for me. But 30+ years later, it’s still the only explanation that makes any sense.

A week or two after the banquet, I got a phone call from the recruiting office. They wanted me to come in and sign some paperwork. When I arrived, they had two “identical” enlistment packets sitting on a table. The recruiter explained to me that they were going to let me out of my enlistment contract and go into the reserves instead so that I could go to college.

Even at 17 years old, I knew that the government never just lets anyone cancel a legal and binding contract. This was a really huge deal. Somebody pulled some serious strings.

Is it possible for two doctors to get married and barely get to see each other?

Not only possible, but probable.

I have told this story before, but I got married young at 24. We were in med school. We did not have a honeymoon, and it was a major fight to get the weekend off and permission to take an exam a day early. Then in residency we both worked 100 + hours per week for years. YEARS. We were not guaranteed to get vacation on the same week. We were not guaranteed a single day off in the month, including weekends. One of my fellow residents gave birth to premature twins. The babies were in an ICU in another STATE so her parents could be in the hospital because there was no family leave. I was repeatedly told not to get pregnant, which would be hard to do if you never sleep, let alone sleep in the same room on the same night as your partner.

Fast forward to maybe age 30. I saw a TV commercial about “the best part of waking up” and it showed a couple on their porch watching the sun rise and drinking some brand of coffee. I started to cry because I had never sat with my husband on my porch or had coffee in the morning together. That was kind of the moment I realized exactly what I had signed up for.

I think things are getting much better for young doctors but for us it was not great. People have NO IDEA what some of us have gone through to be “rich doctors.” Especially if you started out poor and had no outside help or support from family.

Human Remains Found In America Dated 128,000 BC

What’s the most savage way you’ve seen someone get fired?

I worked for a ‘charity’ in Wakefield, England. A miserable place with many dubious business practices, run by a egotistical idiot. One day most of my team – conspicuously all those of a particular ethnicity – was pulled into his office and told we would probably be losing our jobs and would have to reapply for them. Given the decisive nature of who had been picked, it was obvious we wouldn’t get them when we ‘reapplied’: the company is notorious for their nepotism and they no doubt had replacements – friends and family – already lined up. Needless to say, the mood turned sour in the room. Then the kicker – the absolute collosal utter bellend of a boss legitimately couldn’t tell why we were angry. His exact words: “Come on guys, why are you so down? Let’s have a good day. Big smiles guys, big smiles.”

Had a stressful month looking for work afterward, but now in a great job and glad to see the back of that dump. And of course the people he lined up to fill our posts made a right mess of it (though sadly the company survived).

Is China expected to surpass the US as a superpower or will they remain on par with each other?

Can US citizens do 4 times better than Chinese citizens?

Think about this from 1980 to 2020 alone, China grew 30 times in 40 years in real income! What will happen between 2020 to 2060? Say it just grow 10 times that of 2020! It will leave the US trailing miles away!

Chinese people are innovating more, Chinese produce more STEM engineers a year more that the entire U.S. STEM sector! Chinese works twice as hard as American’s, they are highly intelligent and very productive and discipline. Every years China’s savings alone is as big as the entire UK economy! It already has the best infrastructure amongst major economies.

For China to stay still is never going to happen. Period. To me China will grow to 5–6 times the U.S. in real economy!

Expert REVEALS Evidence of Super ADVANCED LOST Ancient Technology!

What is the worst thing to say on a date?

True Story.

About 7 years ago, I met one of my oldest friend in Dallas’s daughter, and sparks flew from both sides. (His daughter is very close to my age)

You can read the story of how we got to this point here: Chris O’Leary’s answer to What were your feelings when you first met/saw your spouse?

It didn’t happen right away, but a year or so later, I met her again, and after some standard comical clumsiness, I asked her out.

Knowing based on what she did for a living that she was science nerdy like me, I planned a date to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science

. (Note to guys, this is a BRILLIANT idea. It’s not just that you’re showing respect for her intellect, it also gives you several hours to walk around, have a TON of stimulating things to talk about, and get to know each other.)

Day of the date arrives, her Dad’s in the hospital, so we agree to meet there, so I can visit him too. Hilarious side story, as we’re about to leave, she says, Ok, Dad, see you later, do you want me to turn off your light? “No,” Dad says, “Chris can turn it off when he leaves.” Uh, Bob?” I replied “….(Extended awkward pause….) I’m going with her….”

So we decide to leave her car in the Hospital parking lot and take my car to the museum. Get in the car, turn it on, doors lock, car goes into drive and starts rolling and I say:

“So you know I’m still married, right?”

Have you ever heard that metaphorical record scratch in real life?

Well. I QUICKLY explained to her that we had been separated for about 8 years, that the upcoming law called “The Affordable Care Act” would make it so that she could get insurance despite her pre-existing neuro-vascular disease, and that the only reason we were still married was so that she could stay on my corporate health insurance until that was the case. (In other words, I QUICKLY demonstrated that “I’m a VERY nice guy.”)

It calmed the fire down to the point where we were able to have a VERY nice date…didnt’ QUITE get together just then… a few breaks…not the right time…I was seeing someone else…then she was…and then…

The Stars Aligned.

Yup. I married the Girl who listened to me drop the WORST line you could possibly drop on a first date.

C’est l’amour, no?

Sanctioning China? US is as stupid as the Qing Dynasty Emperor

What are some hacks that everyone should know?

When you sign up for anything online, put the website’s name as your middle name. That way when you receive spam/advert email, you will know who sold your information.
If you’re on a first date and aren’t connecting with the other person or feel they’re dull, ask them what job they’d choose if money wasn’t an issue. It initiates a talk about one’s passions, which are rarely dull and are simple to connect.
If you want to be an effective communicators, let others talking about themselves and their interests – it’s as rewarding as sex. Check out 10+ psychological tricks that are mind blowing.

Do not try to be the man your father would want you to be. Be the man you would like your son to be be. It more clearly defines your own convictions, desires, goals, and motivates you to be your best.
Pay Attention to the smell of your home when you come back from a trip – that’s what it smells like to guests all the time, you just get used to it.
When a friend is upset, ask them one simple question before saying anything else: ‘Do you want to talk about it or do you want to be distracted from it?’
No matter how much your workplace pushes “team building” and “family culture” – remember, they’re not your friends and it’s still a workplace.
If you’re stuck on an annoying call, put your phone on airplane mode instead of just hanging up. The other person will see “call failed” instead of “call ended”.
If you want to learn a new language, figure out the 100 most frequently used words and start with them. Those words make up about 50% of everyday speech, and should be a very solid basis.

The Circleville Letters Mystery | Why can’t we solve this?

Pork Sausage Loaf (Hungary)

Ingredients

1 cup diced mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter
1 egg, beaten
1 pound fresh bulk pork sausage
2 cups dry bread crumbs
1 teaspoon paprika

Instructions

Melt butter in a skillet and add mushrooms. Sauté.
Combine sausage, mushrooms, egg and crumbs and shape into a loaf. Sprinkle with paprika. Place in a small roaster; cover.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 1/2 hour.
Uncover, return to oven, and bake 30 more minutes.

Serves 4

10+ Mind-Blowing Psychological Tricks & Facts That Everyone Should Know

Here are 17 psychological tricks to be more likable and 16 psychology facts you should know:

Posture matters: If you stand up straight and make an eye contact while talking to the people you are attracted to, will make you more confident and attractive.
Have a strong sense of humor: It is thought to be a sign of intelligence. this is why, when assessing a potential partnepsyr, we tend to be more attracted to those who are funny.
Start the conversation first: Women are automatically attracted to guys who start the conversation, take initiative, and make them laugh.
…and always be the one to pull away from the conversation: It shows that you value your time and have other stuff to do. If you cut short your conversation, the other person always wants more of it. It creates attraction.
Deeper voice: Men with deeper voices are more likely to make a lasting impression on women than men with higher voices.
Create sexual tension without touching: It is done subtly, and by flirting. It creates instant attraction if you do it correctly.

7. Never approach women from behind or from her sides. It looks sneaky. Approach her face-to-face. It displays more confidence.

8. Wear red: People subconsciously believe that women who wear red are more attractive and sexy, in 2010, Eliot confirmed that people will sit closer to women who wear red dresses.

9. Let others talk about themselves – it’s as rewarding as sex: If you want to make your conversation partner feel good, get them talking about themselves and their interests. Which will make people feel valued and they will be more impressed by you

10. If you’re a woman, a man will like you if you can make him feel masculine. No instructions, no advice and give him ample space.

11. If you’re a man, a woman will like you if you can make her feel beautiful, not just sexy. A high emotional quotient is also critical for a woman.

12. Do not speak badly about others as this creates distrust.

13. Do not spread false rumors and do not make accusations.

14. When with a group of people, including everyone in the conversation. Never leave anybody out.

15. Share the little you have with those who have nothing.

16. Become a happy person and wear a smile always.

17. Laugh with all. Don’t discriminate. Be gender sensitive.

US Heartbreak: Mexico Chooses China for Auto Future – Is It the End?

What is the strangest way you found out a friend was wealthy?

When I worked at the local university bar there was this guy called Mick. He was a down to earth guy who spoke in a working class accent. He always said that his dad was a miner. We socialised quite a bit over the three years that he studied for his degree. Then when it was his graduation I was invited and I met and sat with his parents. Obviously well off by the clothes that they wore. Anyhow, Mick’s mother was chatting to me and aske me who I was I told her that I was her son’s barman for the past three years. She asked “did he tell you that his father owns six mines in Yorkshire?”

I replied “no”. She said, “He’s such an inverted snob, How did you find him?”

I replied that I found him sociable, down to earth and a decent guy. I got a hug for that and an invitation to their home in the summer break.

It was like a bloody castle with footmen and butlers.

But, yes they were such a lovely, nice, down to earth family.

Do you trust your parents?

I’m standing by my Dad as I am casually playing on my phone.

Suddenly, he reaches over and snatches my phone out of my hands, eyeing the screen.

“Dad what are you doing?” I ask, surprised.

“Just checking” he replies, handing it back over to me.

“I’m so sick of dealing with Amy.

I wish I could just dump her at the doctors so they can take care of her.”

I’m frozen in place as I overhear my Mum talking to my Dad. I run back to my room and I find myself having a panic attack.

I’m laying in bed, “asleep”, when I hear my Dad walk up beside my bed. I peek out of my eye slightly, and see the light of my phone screen illuminate the room.

My Dad is standing there, looking at my notifications.

I start to wake up, and he quickly covers himself, saying he was just “seeing if it needed charging for tomorrow”.

These happened a long time ago, and to this day they continue to prove to me that they can’t be trusted and that they lie to me all the time.

They tell me I can trust them. They tell me that they will always support me. They tell me that they’ll always have my side. They have even told me that they will give me privacy.

But actions speak louder than words.

The Cat Knew That They Had Come to Put Him to Sleep! So Be It, For the Mistress Was Gone!

Confetti Art

When I was in 8th grade, a classmate along with my sister tore up a painting that I had spent three months working on.

Her name was Rita.

High School / Middle School head games.

But it was cruel. I spent a long time to make that artwork so that it would be displayed in a art fair. And then with pride, the day before the event, I proudly saw it hung on the wall in the fair… located in the High School gym.

But that night, they came in from Cheerleader practice. Got in the gym. Took my picture off the wall. And then carried to school the next day.

My picture wasn’t entered in the fair. It was missing.

When I went into my “home room” the next day, Rita and my sister came up to me, and the class and right before me tore my precious artwork into a million pieces and threw them in my face. Like confetti.

I was in shock.

The class laughed.

The teacher did nothing.

And (later on when I was at home) my mother told me that I “shouldn’t get angry over it”. Just move on she argued. While my father told me “you are the oldest … you have to take the hits”.

…

Who in the fuck convinced me to accept this God Damn life? What the Hell?

Today…

What can other countries do to stop the US sanctions and embargos bullying around the world?

The other countries are sanction and embargo proof their economies. From keeping it’s reserves in non western banks to digitising their currencies, to trading via currency swap arrangement, or paying by other currencies than the dollar and U.S. cronies currencies. Sanctions will be totally a thing of the past within a decade at most.

The world is already broken into 2 groups now. One are US, it’s slave vassal nations, the U.S. fellow native slaughterers, the U.S. fellow despicable colonial masters, the few tiny nations around Europe that has be coerce to do shit for the west. This group is less than 2 dozen nation or you can say the minority group. It’s GDP as a group is also coming to 40% and falling fast of the world and in population less than 13%.

The majority group is call the Global South. It include most of Asia, Latin America and Oceania, and all of Middle East, Central Asia and the Caribbean. These nations add up to. At least 175 out of the world’s 195 nations. Or 87% of the world, 60% of the world’s GDP and growing fast and probably 90% or real purchasing power PPP on planet earth.

The first group either has no choice or succumbed to threat by the U.S to support and defend the western so call rules base international order. And sink and swim in it. The second group through the BRICS and SCO will successfully withdraw from the rules based international order but by bit.

Try to imagine a balloon. If you prick it with a pin the balloon will burst and if flies off and the air inside the balloon is gone for good. Now try imagining that the air is the wealth and reserves trapped in side the balloon. This 2nd group is sucking up its air but by bit, little by little till what is left belongs to the 1st group. By that time in a decade or so what will be left is a balloon that is at least half its size.

So within a decade U.S. dollars, SWIFT, Western Institutions, Western Systems, western rating agencies, western exchanges, world bank, IMF and many others that together represent the world order will still be there but only serve the west. The U.S. wants decoupling, the U.S. is getting it. The world is decoupling from the west.

Welcome to the new world.

Mind Virus

Women want Leaders. But the current 20-something group of women do not want to take the follower role. Thus they can never fit with the men that they desire.

As a doctor, who (without naming names) is a patient you will never forget, and why?

I remember a lovely patient who had a very swollen abdomen due to ascites, a complication of cirrhosis of the liver.

Every day in the hospital, I would hang a bag of albumin and chat as I drained fluid from the swollen belly. This was in the day when liver transplants were rare and not for people who had developed cirrhosis from alcohol use.

When it was time for the patient to leave, I was given a very expensive bottle of red wine. I think it came from the patient’s extensive collection of wines. The family was wealthy. We both knew that the cirrhosis was not cureable. I wondered if all the wine was given away before the patient passed. The patient had a wistful smile and explained a bit about the wine that could never again be tasted. I was young and did not know anything about fine wines.

My husband and I shared the wine on our anniversary when we were interns.

Sometimes it is the things we love the most that cause us the greatest pain.

What is a slap-in-the-face job offer?

I am a welder with a specific set of specialized skills as an ironworker. I earned about $35 an hour on the lower end with my last job in the union. Im the guy walking on ibeams on skyscrappers hanging off the side welding moment welds. One company wanted to pay me less than McDonald’s to weld.

Recently, however, I have quit this line of work to make time for college. In doing so I was searching for lower paying but more reasonable hours and location. Going to work at the same place for 40 hours a week was my plan. I was having trouble doing this since most companies are wanting me to work lots of overtime.

One day I had scheduled an interview for a job which said I wouldn’t be asked to work over 40 hours a week and it was relatively close to my home. Inquiring about the pay they just said it depended on my skills but it would be very good. I didn’t press further for detsils. On interview weld test day I accidentally left much too early. Realizing I would be 45 minutes early I decided to stop for lunch at a McDonald’s. When I was there I noticed they were offering $22/hour for a maintenance position. I spoke with the manager about it but told them I could probably make more money welding in a shop.

I went to my interview and was asked to take a weld test that took about 2 hours. At the end of the weld test one of the managers took me to a table in the office and saw I was asking for $28 an hour, really I was hoping for closer to $30. He told me the most he would be able to pay was 19 or maybe 20.

“I don’t appreciate all of my time you’ve wasted here, sir. The McDonald’s down the road pays better than this.”

I was quite pissed that I had just wasted well over 2 hours of my time with the drive there, back, and other things I did to prepare for that interview.

The shop welding jobs are paying an average of $25 an hour around here, so I’ll be working at McDonald’s until these cheap asses pay what it’s worth to weld. Why should I do a skilled job when McDonald’s pays nearly the same? I wish more welders would refuse to work for peanuts and maybe we could get some decent wages.

Did China have slavery like US during its history?

Of course, China have slavery like the US in … errr … emmm … yep … about 3,000 years ago, after Zhou Dynasty established in 1046 BC, Chinese slavery was ended.

Slaves made a great contributions in the war of Zhou rebels to overthrow the Shang Dynasty. In return, the first monarch of the Zhou Dynasty ordered the permanent abolition of slavery, and this order was maintain by all following Chinese dynasties, because that monarch is seen as saint and model of a virtuous ruler for all Chinese rulers, including barbarian born Chinese rulers. Even Mongolian emperors in Yuan dynasty would go to his tomb to worship him in every years, no need to mention others.

In the following 3000 years, although there were several barbarian born monarchs reintroducing slavery into China, but none of their regimes could survive over more than 50 years.

And strictly speaking, the Qing Dynasty had slavery, but their slavery was somewhat distorted because it only existed among the Manchus. The Manchu Eight Banners Army was actually a slave army, with soldiers and officers were actually slaves belongs to the banner lord. They fought in banner lords’ commanding for generations.

But the Manchus seem to regard this slave status as an honor, so you can see that when Manchus write letters to the emperor or their banner lord, they would call themselves something like “a humble slave greeting to my dear lord” in the beginning.

And when some Han favored officials of certain emperors also write like this, the emperor will directly reply to him, saying, “Please call yourself a vassal, you are my Han vassal, not my slaves in banner”.

So, for the Qing Dynasty, slaves in the Manchu system were more like hereditary family of attendants, who established a generational contract. Becoming slaves to the banner lord was not shameful for the Manchus, but rather an honor accepted and protected by banner lords, and all banner lords are royal members.

It was a letter from governer of Hu province and Guang province (This is a very big official position, ruling lands almost over two modern France), a Han official Yang ZongRen, to the YongZheng Emperor of Qing Dynasty, those black writting was Yang’s original writting, red one were the reply of the Emperor.

In this letter, Yang called himself “the slave”, and Yongzheng Emperor strike out that word, and changed it to “vassal”, and noted that “claiming to be a vassal” is more appropriate.

Of course, this is actually just a Han governor in flattering the emperor. The emperor himself was very happy on that, but still remembered to correct it for him, because it’s not appropriate.

oh … btw, about this letter, except the stroke and note in the right, the left red paragh is:

朕安尔虽到任未久所奏所行数事深合朕意甚属可嘉如此可谓名实相符无愧封疆大吏也尔今兼统文武特赐孔雀翎以彰尔之优能

Translation:

I am fine (reply the greeting of Yang), although you just arrived in this official position for no long, what you reported and what you did, has already pleased my wish, you are worthy of being a high-ranking governer, so today I leading civil service officials and military officials decided to award you xxxxxx (I don’t know how to translate this, you can think it’s some kind of medal), to recognize your excellent work.

What should you do when someone has taken your assigned seat and refuses to move on an airplane?

Just let the person know politely. If they refuse to move or try to get you to do a seat swap, and if you don’t want, simply say no, I.dont want to trade seats, please get up. If the person won’t move, push the call button for the flight attendant. Do not move, or let anyone behind you get to their seat. The flight attendant will take care of it more quickly, if the boarding process, is at a stand still.

Happened to me once. I was treating myself to First Class. The First Class section had to rows on the left, but only onecrow on the right. Meaning, those seats were a window/aisle/and had no seat mate. I also, had, the last seat in the row so, nobody behind me. This group of six traveling together, got on first, and all wanted to sit together, took my seat.

The person in my seat redirected me to, a seat on the otherside of the plane, someone had the window seat already. I said, no, I’d like my seat please. They group looked at eachother, the guy in my seat, acted like he wasn’t budging. I didn’t let the people behind me go around me. The flight attendant immediately asked if everything was ok. I said, just waiting for him to get out of my seat, I asked nicely once already. She told him to move, and that he was holding up the boarding process.

What are the most difficult and useful things people have to learn in their 20s?

You don’t have close friends just friends. Most of the people you are around, are only there because of circumstances not really related to you in anyway.
The sooner you start focusing and planning on your life goals the easier it will be achieving them.
One of the most important thing you can teach yourself during your 20’s is self discipline. This is the first thing we should learn and crave to achieve.
Life moves very fast, do things you enjoy at the moment cause our situations tend to also change as fast then we later feel like we missed out on somethings.
The more you expose yourself to the world around you, the more you expand your thinking horizons. Travel, socialize and live life don’t lock yourself out of these important things.
Learn to cook a variety of menu’s of proper home meals. Cooking is a very important skills much more as an adult.
You start using drugs as curiosity soon it becomes for fun later it becomes a dependency. The transition is so fast you barely realize it.
Learn about proper workout routines you can do to energize your body. You don’t have to do hard excercise even if its just yoga. Its more about something you can commit to that benefits you.
Reading and getting creative are ways to keep your brain sharp and generate new ideas. Make sure you read novels and try out the different forms of art around you.
Don’t be selfish in your 20’s, most of the things we hold on to are barely important in our 30’s. Stuff like money, food, material possessions. Learn to share cause these memories are the ones that we keep. Be real with every real person around you.

Have you ever caught your employees engaging in time theft? What happened?

This takes me back a few years. The Philadelphia DA felt he caught “Streets” workers at extreme wage theft.

The city had gone through a series of bad snow storms requiring both city employees and contractors running snowplow on the streets for over a week.

A few months later the DA holds a press conference that a particular employee is being charged with felonies related to false time sheets (getting paid for time not worked). It might have been the soft kick-off to their campaign for mayor or governor — showing how they could fix problems like this.

In next day or two the employee is arraigned in court with lawyers from the union. The DA (usually an assistant associate low level attorney handles these hearings) give a speech about how it was not humanly possible for the employee to have worked the hours claimed (from memory: between 120 and 160 hours in a week) so they had to be sleeping on the job — “stealing from the taxpayers of our fine city, this just shows how the union abuses the city.”

Union attorney gets to say their piece. A few flowery words about clueless wealthy elected officials overreaching. Then the attorney drops the appropriate section of the contract (again: from old memory so not exact quote) “so long as any contractor truck is on the road performing snow removal and an employee is *available* for work, they shall be paid.”

This was exactly the situation covered by the contract. It was written that way so the city could bring in help for emergency-level snows but not outsource the employees.

A bit of evidence how the employee *worked* a lot of hours and then slept “on-site” (where they would normally pick up their truck) so they were clearly “available”.

The criminal case was thrown out. There may have been a $ settlement to the employee for false arrest and the DA’s political career petered out.

Beef and Mushroom Stew
with Caraway Dumplings

Browning meat in the oven reduces the amount of fat needed for cooking. Serve with julienne parsnips and carrots.

Ingredients

Stew

1 1/2 pounds round or blade steak
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
Bouquet Garni*
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (if necessary)
1/2 pound small mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cups beef stock
1/2 cup dry red wine
2 tablespoons tomato paste

* Tie together with kitchen twine 1 celery stalk with leaves, 3 or 4 sprigs parsley, 1 bay leaf and small sprig of thyme

Dumplings

1 cup soft fresh bread crumbs
1/4 cup melted margarine or butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 egg white

Instructions

Stew: Cut steak into 1 1/2 inch cubes. In a bag, combine flour, pepper and salt. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and shake to coat with flour mixture. Shake off excess and place meat on wire rack in flameproof casserole. Bake in 350 degree F oven for about 25 minutes or until browned. Meanwhile, prepare Bouquet Garni.
Set meat aside on platter.
Place casserole over medium heat. Only if necessary add all or part of the oil. Add mushrooms, cap side down, and cook until golden, transferring to platter as they brown.
Add onion and garlic; cook until onion is transparent. Add stock, wine and tomato paste; bring to a simmer, stirring and scraping bottom of casserole with wooden spoon to scrape up any brown bits.
Return meat to pan; add Bouquet Garni. Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 hour or until meat is tender. Meanwhile prepare dumplings.
Dumplings: In a bowl, toss bread crumbs and melted margarine together with a fork. Combine flour, baking powder, caraway seeds and salt. Mix lightly into crumb mixture. Beat together egg and egg white; add to crumb mixture and mix lightly (mixture will be soft) shape into 8 balls of even size.
Remove Bouquet Garni and discard. While stew is simmering, add dumplings, cover and cook, without removing lid, for 18 minutes.

Yield: 8 servings

Calories per serving 311, Cholesterol 127 mg

What was the shortest interview you’ve had that led to a job offer?

I had a scheduled interview for an OFFICE job! Up to that point I had been doing piecework sewing, processing chickens, and guarding slabs of foam rubber… This was a HUGE step up!

During the night before the interview, it snowed 4 inches in Baltimore. Now this is not that big a deal… except in Baltimore, it IS. Public transport did not run. Traffic was pretty sparse first thing in the work day… I decided to walk the 3 miles to the interview. I got there in plenty of time, changed my hiking boots for heels in the ladies’ room, and went to the office where the interview was to be held.

Nobody home.

A guy showed up and asked what I was doing standing in the hall. I explained I was there to interview as an accountant’s assistant. He asked how I got there. When I said I walked, he looked dubiously at my heels. He said, “In THOSE shoes?” I admitted my boots were in the ladies’ room. He asked to see the boots, so I went and got them. As soon as he saw that I really did have boots I was hired. I had not yet even entered the offices.

What would you do?

What habit did you pick up in the military that you still keep and civilians don’t understand?

A few things:

I use military time.
I write dates in military format.
I always field strip my cigarettes and stick butts in my pocket. Yes, it smells disgusting.
I have a P38 on my keychain. This is a tiny can opener used to open cans of C-rations. It even gets used once in a while.

5. Take my hat off when going indoors. Because of this, I rarely wear a hat.

6. When a passenger in a vehicle, I act as “assistant driver.” I let driver know if it is clear or not on my side.

7. I act as a ground guide for people backing up. I will often ask people to ground guide me when I am backing up, often to their puzzlement. Of course, they do not know the correct hand signs to use and those I am helping often don’t understand the signs I give them.

8. I scan the side of roads more than necessary in the US. Not too many IEDs on our roads.

9. I say, “I got your back” or “Do you have my six?” too much.

10. I use the military phonetic alphabet. D is for Delta, not Dog.

11. I use the word “task” a lot.

12. I tend to try to help people with what the military calls hip pocket training. Many people find this annoying and would prefer to screw something up than get some quick pointers.

13. Finally, I learned to never put more than eight words on a power point slide because the Army puts hundreds of words on one slide. Along with this, I also learned to NEVER ask someone to read a power point slide with hundreds of words on it.

They’re not playin’

If China really wanted to, could it successfully invade, occupy, and annex Taiwan?

Tomorrow

China would be burning a lot of bridges if they do and China is hesitant to do that

The West knows it’s dying and is thus ready to inflict every horror on it’s population

They are prepared to subject their population to everything from inflation to starvation knowing that they have tamed their population sufficiently through propaganda

They can cause China to lose quite a bit of money if they invade Taiwan and that could make a lot of Chinese unhappy and cause some strife within the country

Plus more importantly, China believe Taiwanese are their brothers and killing them is a no no because at least 30% Mainlanders have family in Taiwan

So that’s what’s stopping China

Otherwise if China decide that they don’t care, China can pulverize and decimate Taiwan into a graveyard overnight and nobody can do a thing to stop them without risking WWIII

How, during the Vietnam War, did soldiers riding in open Hueys with all their weapons and equipment manage to hang on? And did any soldier ever fall off by accident?

Yep, my brother fell out of a Huey. He was in Nam and the radio went wild, with troops needing to be evacuated from a hot zone. He jumped in as the M-60 machine gunner. It was the first time he flew into a hot zone. His adrenaline was high. Because of that, he forgot to strap in. The Huey headed out over the paddies and couldn’t land because there was a nest of Charlies that needed to be taken out first. The pilot banked to the left super hard so my brother could shoot the 60 down at Charlie’s nest. The pilot banked too hard and my brother fell out right on top of two Charlies. The wind was knocked out of all three of them. My brother was the first to come to his senses, and realized he didn’t have a weapon. He looked around and found one of the Charlie’s AK and as they started to get up he blasted them both. Killed them dead, he did. The chopper picked the GIs up and then came back and rescued my brother. When he got back to the base, the pilot said, “That is the bravest thing I have ever seen, jumping unarmed out of a Huey, kill two gooks, and saved a squad. Boy I am going to put you in for a Silver Star.” My brother told him, “I fell out and was just trying to save my ass.” He still got the Star. Analyse and improvise. A motto to live by!

Interview with a traditional woman

What are some interesting social skills that can be picked up quickly?

Most people find unnecessary touching uncomfortable, remember that.
Never ask uncomfortable details from people in public.
If you are not comfortable looking in eyes, look at the face at least.
Cough, but cover your mouth with forearm, not palm.
A smile at strangers is not bad; it’s humility.
Silence is the loudest display of anger; rest is immaturity.
Interruption is impatience.
Great people respect disagreement.
When you speak in a group, try and look at everyone at least once.
If you don’t know what to speak, listen to people and understand what they want to listen.
Don’t be rigid on your opinions.
However your interaction was, leave with positivity. A smile, and a positive statement of appreciation works well.
Interact more with nervous people to make them comfortable and to leave a positive impact on them.
If your palms sweat, keep two handkerchiefs in your pocket, always wipe before shaking hands.
If someone is sitting on your side, don’t fold your leg in a way that your shoe faces that person.
Be a pleasant person, don’t spit out negativity in front of people, however bad you feel inside.
Be sure before quoting facts; wrong facts put your image down.

Have you ever accidentally found out that you were about to be fired?

Twice as a matter of fact.

The first time a European owned company announced a round of layoffs in a month. I was the new guy in the group and figured I was disposable. The day of the announced layoffs I went into work wearing my “Gone With The Wind” tie.

When I was summoned to the boss’ office, my desk had been cleared of all personal effects. My pulled out a paper and made to read it. I stopped him and said, “I know I’m being laid off. What are the details?” Boss was rather startled and we started talking about it.

I told him that he had a good old boys club where engineers from headquarters would rotate in then return for a raise & promotion. U.S. employees were treated as second rate. Thanks for the layoff. I was pretty disappointed in the company.

When he asked how I knew that I would be laid off, I told him that the company had announced the layoffs a month earlier. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that I was one of the newest people in the group and not part of the “club”. Of course I was the easiest to lay off.

I also told him that it was pretty stupid to announce the layoffs a month previous. Everyone quits working and it encourages mischief. Oh they hadn’t thought of that.

The bosses were gone within 3 months.

The other was a company where I was the entire engineering department. My boss & I were always at odds. He wanted to get rid of the product line. I’m sure the fact that his brother worked for a competitor had nothing to do with his decision.

The company staged an ambush layoff on January 2nd. Oh well, at least they didn’t screw up the holidays.

Although they offered $10k, I refused to sign their termination agreement and collected unemployment all through the covid lunacy. Made out like a bandit.

Why sex is important.

Men know this instinctively. Modern 20-something, 30-something women, are having trouble with this.

What would you do if you were told, “pack up your things and leave immediately” from your place of employment?

In a sense, this happened to me.

I was at home, having broken my foot in a stupid accident, when the head of HR was “in the area” and wanted to see me. After the pleasantries, she told me that I was being made redundant and my job no longer existed.

In the UK, firing someone is not easy or cheap. A company can find itself in court and it can all get a bit grubby. So a more usual tactic is to say that the employees job is no longer needed. Employers like this, because it saves it all getting public, legal and unpleasant, and employees like it because the employer has to pay to make it all go away.

So we negotiated a redundancy fee and the next day a car came with my personal things from my office. I trousered the (generous) cheque and picked up the phone.

The irony was that I had just had an exceptional year. I had won a load of creative awards (I was a creative director at Saatchi and Saatchi) including a Cannes Gold. I have no idea why they wanted me out. To this day I don’t know.

Two weeks later I signed a contract with a rival company for a bigger salary.

What is the most obnoxious thing you have seen someone do at the grocery store?

The local supermarket includes a hot table where they sell hot cooked chickens for $10.99 It’s a good deal – I’ll get one occasionally. It looks like this; if this is unfamiliar in your area:

The pack includes a cardboard handle for easy carrying.

One day, I noticed that whoever had labeled the latest batch of chickens had made a mistake. Instead of $10.99, they were labeled as $0.99. Cool! Cheap chicken! lol. Not really – I like the folks there and quickly let the lady in the meat line know. The chickens had only just come out; no loss to anyone.

Except – I was not the only one that had found it. A woman of – how do I say this – limited intelligence saw it and began screeching at the top of her lungs “Chicken for a buck! CHICKEN FOR A BUUUUUCK!!!” and began loading her cart.

The manager arrived right at that moment, apologized and began to correct the matter.

The woman went ballistic; screaming, shouting bloody blue murder, accusing him of stealing, of trying to starve her to death, etc. etc. etc. The price was 99 cents dammit, she deserved chicken for 99 cents!

The manager, in an effort to ease the situation, agreed. He told her that alright; she had ‘found’ the error; she could have a chicken for 99 cents.

There was a long pause as the woman looked dumbfounded. Then she launched herself at the table, screeching, trying to grab every chicken she could possibly get her hands on. Chickens were falling everywhere; spilling onto the floor. The manager tried to intervene but no help – she was grabbing, stuffing, howling; it was a disgusting display of a complete lack of dignity.

She was taken out of the store in handcuffs; without her 99 cent chicken. The entire batch of roast chicken was destroyed.

All I could do was shake my head – zero class.

Emotional attachment is fatal to a man

China and Vietnam, as opposed to both the capitalist USA and ultra-Communist North Korea, are Socialist market Economies which is the best of both worlds. Do you agree with me or not that they have the best economic outlook in the world and why?

Of course I agree with you absolutely, and any person could see it unless you are in denial or made brain dead by the western media.

They offer consistency and continuity in their policies to investors and business yet the protect their citizens against the ills of raw capitalism. In other words Socialism with Chinese characteristics takes the best of both worlds and rejects the flaws of both systems.

Hence the growth of both economies of China and Vietnam both grow phenomenally and consistently. For decades and now generations through ups and downs of the economic cycle. Westerners scream democratic and freedom but ignores the fallacy of this costly, inefficient and mostly corrupt system that put their people at the mercy raw capitalism.

If you look at the U.S. for example, 1% have more money than they ever need, 10% are wasteful and selfish but can afford to live comfortably , while 70% are poorer than most advance economies and in fact are like the majority of Chinese except that the Americans has to bear the burden of it’s weaker purchasing power in their country. The majority of Chinese has high disposable income. And while Chinese cut out the destitute poor in the past 10 years, the U.S. raw capitalism allowed the 19% in Americans to have to worry where their next meal is coming from and they barely have 500 dollars to their name!

A government role in a society is surely to bring prosperity, peace and harmony and healthy living for everyone. From that count the Chinese population enjoys that. Western liberal democracy allows the rich to get richer and the poor to be destitute. But because they wrongly thinks they need to overlord the entire world, they barely have enough money left to pay for infrastructure, college education or healthcare. So they fail the poor and pamper the rich!

Are you surprised that according to western surveys, 91% of Chinese favour their government and 36% of Americans favour their government! I am not! Are you?

What is the best case of “You just picked a fight with the wrong person” that you’ve witnessed?

It wasn’t a person, it was an insurance company.

My son was given a car for his birthday. We bought it. It was nice little car that had been wrecked and was repaired and had a salvage title. That meant that a previous insurance carrier had totalled it following the wreck, and it had been repaired and state certified to be safe.

Anyway, he had been driving it for several months to school and to work after school. This one day he was in his way to work and came to a stop sign. Stopped, insured the traffic was clear and went to make a left turn. Older lady than him (he was 17, she was 36) had stopped at the opposite stop sign and gunned it, hitting my son’s car in the back quarter panel and rear door on the passenger side. He called me and I went to the scene. The accident was on state highway, inside city limits. I had the option to have the highway patrol called to work the accident, however I decided to just let the local police work it. I spoke with the lady and she was all apologetic and saying she’d take off it…yeah, right…

She took care it alright. She whines and said that it wasn’t her fault, that kid just stomped on the gas and caused the accident. They took her word for it. Even though you could about tell from my son’s damage that she caused the accident.

So the next day, my son is home in bed sick. I’ve medicated him and he’s sleeping. The phone rings, it’s the insurance adjuster from her insurance. Absolutely demands to speak with my son. I tell him no, that my son is sick, had been medicated and it’s sleeping, and that I won’t wake him. Adjuster didn’t like that and was insistent. Well he woke Mama Bear…I told him that my son was 17, still a minor, and that he (the adjuster) would wait until I said that my son could talk with him, then I hung up.

Could days go by. Another phone call from someone else in that company. Says that my son was assigned 50% blame (no fault state here) because he turned into a four lane road and didn’t stay in the closest lane. I laughed and asked what town did your adjuster go to? My town has zero four lane roads, only part of the highway with a center turn lane, that ended 2 blocks before the intersection where the accident happened. They wouldn’t budge, so I said fine whatever, just cut me a check. BTW, they wouldn’t pay for a rental since my son wasn’t 21, and wouldn’t get one for me so I could let my son have my car, since I wasn’t in the accident… we only had liability insurance on my son’s car as it was so expensive, so they couldn’t do anything.

So I took pictures and sent them to the insurance adjuster and asked him to show me where the four lanes were. He tried to say the wide shoulder was a lane, yeah.. No.

Get another call, they do they’ll cut a check for less than half what we paid for the car, since it had a previous salvage title. Even with the salvage title, this care was with 4 times what they offered and twice what I paid. I only wanted them to pay what I had bought the car for. They refused, so I told them I’d let my attorney handle it from there on out. That gal said, “go ahead, we hear that all the time”. I said that fine, but do you hear this “I’m the biggest bitch in the state and I mean what I say”. She started spluttering and I just hung up.

We engage our attorney. The vehicle was towed to an indoor storage facility (the window was busted and the interior would have been exposed to weather). In the meantime, my son graduates high school and joined the army. After several months our attorney calls and says that the insurance company wants me to release the car to them as it’s racking up a huge bill. I asked if they were giving me what I wanted, he said no, they’d only come up to about 3/4 of my demands. I laughed and said no.

Another few months go by. Now my son has graduated basic and is almost finished with his advanced training and is days away from getting married. Insurance is whining about the storage fees again. Again they don’t want to pay. Of course once I hired our attorney, the suit included the insurance paying my attorney as well as the storage fees and the original cost of the car. So again I say no. I got a call from the storage facility. The was a tow truck there for the car. I drove there and told the driver nope, you can’t have it. He tried to say that he had orders to impound it… I laughed at I called my attorney.

So now it’s been over 2 years since the accident. My son and his wife are in Germany. I get a call from my attorney. He’s laughing his ass off. Said he had a check for me, $500 more than I asked for and all storage fees and his fees as well. Said the person he had been dealing with was whining about how hard I was to deal with and that I should have compromised sooner. Attorney told him that had I been given what I asked for at the get go, it would have been a hell of a lot cheaper. Was told that since hardly anyone actually engages an attorney, it’s the risk they take, and since their attorneys were on staff, they didn’t cost anything extra.

So because they wouldn’t pay out a measly $5400…it finally cost them almost $30,000.

I kept the extra $500 and sent the $5400 to my son.

So it might not have hurt the insurance company to shell out that $30k, but to me it was the principal. They thought because he was 17 that they could take advantage of him. They didn’t count on me.

The dying kitten turned into something unexpected

What is SpaceX doing differently that makes the company so successful?

I see a couple of answers that are good but don’t answer the whole question. Manufacturing is important but it is more than just that, but they are good at manufacturing.

1 – SpaceX has a strong bias toward action. Elon wants it done tomorrow and he expects you to work all night if you have to in order to make it. They definitely push action now. (Blue Origin started before them and still hasn’t made it to orbit. SpaceX did in 2008).

2 – SpaceX has a willingness to learn. They test early and often to learn about basic design flaws early. An example is the Starhopper. It was the simplest version you could ever build of a Starship. It was a tin can (actually fuel tanks) with an engine and a flight computer. They tested the engine and the control algorithm using that.

3 – SpaceX has a bias toward simplicity. One of Elon’s favorite sayings is “The best part if no part”. In other words they always look for ways to eliminate whole systems. Starship and the “catch” is an example of that. They eliminated landing gear and a few thousand pounds of structure to support it.

4 – SpaceX is willing to dream big and innovate. In 2010 when Elon said they would land boosters on the Falcon 9 and reuse them people laughed at him. That is impossible! They lost a couple figuring it out but they have now landed 239 of them as of 12/19/2023 according to their website. I assume that is updated for last night’s launch. (They launch a couple of times a week). For Starship they will catch the rocket during a controlled descent!

5 – SpaceX understands where the real cost of space travel comes from and avoid it. They try not to drop millions of dollars of flight hardware in the ocean. They also launch often to avoid accumulating costs (salaries) without income (launches) and are moving to improve both with Starship.

6 – They avoid silly costs like buying multi-million dollar NASA certified flight components. Instead they usually build their own from off-the-shelf commercial components and save millions.

The end result is they are doing things no one else can or will ever do. Next stop Mars!

When did you realize you’re an asshole?

My wife and I were visiting friends, and we’d all been joking around for a couple of hours. Some of the jokes were “mean” in the “I’m just busting your balls” sense, but I didn’t think there was any genuine meanness going on.

On the way home, my wife got really quiet. I asked her what was wrong, and she said, “You really don’t know, do you?” She then told me I’d seriously hurt her feelings.

My heart sank. That’s the one thing I never, ever want to do. She’s my best friend, and causing her pain is unforgivable. But, no, I didn’t know what I did. I had no idea what she was referring to.

She found this hard to believe, because, from her point of view, I embarrassed her in front of our friends by, out of the blue, accusing her of being “bad” in a very specific way (which I won’t go into here, because I’d hate to humiliate her, again).

Immediately, I remembered saying it, but … but … it had been a joke! We’d all been joking around, in a cutting sort of way, and I’d just joined in.

My wife said, “It didn’t sound like a joke!”

“But why would I purposefully want to hurt you?”

“I don’t know. I was flabbergasted when you said it. I guess you must resent me.”

I apologized. I hate it when people make excuses for themselves while apologizing (“I really, really meant it as a joke!”), so I didn’t. I said “I’m very sorry. I should never hurt you. That’s terrible. I love you.”

She gradually got over it—or pretended to—but I didn’t. I realized this has happened to me before, and, a few days later, I discussed this with my wife, being careful not to make anything sound like an excuse.

“I think sometimes, when I’m joking, I don’t signal the fact with an ‘I’m just kidding’ voice. Would you say that’s true?”

“Yes,” she said. “You have a very dry sense of humor. It’s often hard to tell if you’re joking or not. Sometimes I have to explain to people that you’re joking.”

I’m autistic, and though (after decades of work), my social skills are mostly indistinguishable from a non-autistic person, that’s one way I screw up. When joking, I have a totally flat affect. I don’t realize it at the time. I don’t feel like I have a dry sense of humor. In my head, I’m goofy, not dry, but the goofiness doesn’t always translate.

Once, at work, when, at the end of a meeting, my boss asked “What will you be working on tomorrow?”

I said, “I don’t plan on coming to work tomorrow. I think I’ve worked enough for one lifetime. I’m going to stay home from now on. That sounds like more fun.”

There was a long pause. Everyone stared at me. Finally, in a really quiet voice, someone asked “Are you joking?”

To me, it was obvious I was joking. But I was in a minority of one. And this wasn’t in a stodgy, conservative office. This was a partying crowd. (Part of the problem is that I tend to joke when I feel like it. I don’t wait until there’s a general “we’re joking now” vibe. This mistake isn’t terribly conscious on my part, but I’m vaguely aware that I do it.)

In addition to being autistic, I come from a part of the midwest where people naturally have a flat affect. I grew up around folks who sounded a little bit robotic, and I inherited their tendency to talk without much vocal music. (If you’ve heard Martin Starr’s voice on “Silicon Valley,” you know what I’m talking about.)

I thought more about that night, with my wife and our friends, and realized I’d been trying to impress them. Once the jokes got started, I wanted to out-joke everyone else, and I stopped caring about who I trampled on. While I hadn’t purposefully hurt my wife’s feelings, I had used her to get a cheap laugh.

And then I thought some more about it. The thing I’d “jokingly” accused her of was something about her that irritated me at times. Had I acted out, in a passive-aggressive way, instead of talking to her, directly? I can’t discount that possibility. If that’s what I did, I was an asshole.

A manly point of view

What smell will you never forget?

I went camping with my dog. We arrived at night and ended up in a remote area. I managed to get the tent up, get a fire going, plopped myself down with my dog at my side on a leash.

Suddenly she jumped and barked at something, I then smelled this weird smell, it was a grassy metallic smell that stung my nostrils. In that second i didn’t realize it was fresh skunk odor. My dog startled and lunged at the skunk and sprayed my girl right in the face, her eyes were slammed shut.

I had to take her to the water pump and wash her eyes out and wash her face and head as best as I could late at night.

Then I had another problem, where would my dog sleep ? I couldn’t leave her tied up outside due to the skunk and/or bears. If I left her in my car I would never get the smell out. So she slept in the tent and stunk the tent up.

I stuck it out, gave her several baths of dish soap,.hydrogen peroxide and baking soda. Still took,.weeks for the smell to go away.

She has a thick coat and for months I brushed or.petted her the skunk smell would drift out of her coat.

I never forgot that grassy metallic smell of fresh skunk odor and I hate skunk smell.

Walter is a man

What is the one in a million coincidence you have ever had?

I’m originally from Edinburgh, Scotland but now live in Perth, Australia. I had decided one day to visit AQUA which is Perth’s aquarium and was using a bus instead of driving. When we arrived at the stop for AQUA a young male and female were getting off too and asked the driver how to get to the aquarium ( it’s at the far end of a complex with shops, cafes, beachside etc) so I said I was going there too and would show them the way.

On walking we chatted and I realised the girl was Scottish and asked whether she was here on holiday. They both were and we discussed where she was from ..it was St Andrews. Further conversation re courses at Uni etc and she said she was studying Physics and Space Science at Edinburgh University. That was a coincidence as my niece had done a very similar course at Leicester Uni as Edinburgh didn’t have that course when my niece was at Uni. I told her my niece had done the course at Leicester and she said a friend of hers had also gone to Leicester. I mentioned my niece by Christian name and was asked what her surname was. The friend was my niece. Then I remembered my sister and her OH had friends who lived in St Andrews. This girl was the friend’s daughter and was only in Perth for a few days as she and her b/f were having a tour round Australia.

This girl’s father had been my sister and her OH’s best man at their wedding. If I hadn’t been on that bus on that particular day or if I hadn’t overheard them ask exactly where the aquarium was we would never have known the connection. Quite the coincidence.

Impossible to resist

Do you agree with James Stavridis that China is not ready to take on the US in a war for another 10 years?

If war means China going to the U.S. to fight America, then you are right. But it is a not factor. China does not want to do that unless the U.S. hit China. China won’t be the first to lay its hands by

If war means China fighting off U.S. in China which include Taiwan, China then let me make it super clear. China is super duper ready now to give the U.S. such a hiding it will collapse the U.S. financially, economically, politically and militarily that the U.S. will never be the same again. Don’t even think about it. Your media, your politician and say what you like but if we have to sink all you dozen aircraft carriers we will in the defence of the motherland.

I think the U.S. knows that, that is why it won’t dare. But god help the U.S. if move beyond talking shit.

When the crab walk comes out… its game over

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/WewqqBCs0mA/frame0.jpg

Before leaving after being fired, what’s the most that one can sabotage the office without getting caught?

The research company I worked for was downsizing. My previous boss had already been let go and my new boss kept sending his employees to learn everything in my department. Well one fave employee thought she was better at my job and kept trying to change our protocols. She never actually did any work, just made our lives miserable.

Then the day came where new boss walked in and started handing out moving boxes. He didn’t even say a word, just passed out the boxes. We all packed up and left. Now my lab was a resource lab that did a ton of work for the other labs. Suddenly me and all my staff were let go and the new boss handed it over to his people.

Guess what? They had never done these procedures, used the high tech equipment or even understood the complicated algorithms to process the data. First week I get 9 phone calls asking for help. That was met with a big NOPE. Then I get a call that the favorite employee had mishandled one of the very expensive robot units and it was out of order. They wanted ME to come in and reprogram it and get them back up and running. Oh heck no! I never went back and never helped.

Lesson of my story is don’t play favorites and make sure you have the staff to accomplish the job.

Weight lifting emergency

What is the most outrageous thing you’ve witnessed in a plane?

It was in the 90’s on an international flight. There was a middle aged lady with a Gameboy playing a game at full volume after the lights went out and most of the passengers were sleeping.

People were asking her, then telling her, to shut off the sound. It appeared as though she did not speak English. So one guy rang the flight attendant, who came quickly, but could not communicate with the lady. She got another flight attendant who spoke the woman’s language, who seemingly asked her very politely to turn off the sound. Sorry, I don’t know what language it was. And if I did I wouldn’t say.

As soon as the flight attendant walked away, she started another game. Beep, beep, boing.

Angry passengers were yelling at her. Her husband got up to defend her. Someone rang the flight attendant again. You could tell by the exasperated sigh of the flight attendant that she knew what was going on.

She scolded the woman (assuming from her tone), who pretended to be hurt. It just kept getting stranger and stranger.

The woman shut off the Gameboy and put it away. But as soon as the flight attended walked away, she pulled it out and started another game. Beep, beep, boing. Here we go again.

Finally, a big burly man walked over, put his big hand on the husband’s shoulder and warned him, “I have no problem with you, but you better sit down if you know what’s good for you.” The husband might not have spoken English, but he sat down.

The big man pulled the Gameboy out of the woman’s hands, pulled off the back, took the batteries out, and gave it back to her. She was now screaming in a language I did not understand.

“You’ll get the batteries back when we land. If you had just turned down the sound this wouldn’t have happened.” He was raising his voice, partially because he was angry, but partially because he thought she didn’t speak English.

Finally, as he went back to his seat, she stood up and yelled in perfect English,
“F**K YOU!!! IT’S NOT AS FUN WITHOUT THE SOUND!!!”

What is the largest amount of money you have ever given to a stranger?

I once offered $5,000 toward state-of-the-art proton beam radiotherapy to a very good friend of mine. After speaking with his mother, he told me no, because she had advised him that, when he was unable to pay me back, I would sue him.

I, in fact, never made this $5,000 loan. — That he turned it down made him, in a way, a stranger to me; it’s almost impossible to go from a state of literally talking about everything little thing of the day with your buddy to … in all likelihood, slowly, he is dying of cancer; he probably won’t be here in five years.

I hope he’ll be here in 20. — For a cancer that is only responsive to surgery yet located in a place that barely tolerates any surgery, much less surgical resection, — for a cancer that has no effective chemotherapy treatments, curative or palliative; that, even for proton beam therapy, it’s probably not going to work.

And, you only get one shot (pretty much). — Getting the proton beam therapy twice carries about the same risk of catching another fatal cancer, so the utility-maximizing function aspect of this changes.

The part of my brain that is finance-oriented — that manifold — expects a forecast of a certain result, and deviation from that result, whether up or down, is necessarily bad.

If you forecast profits of $0, and in reality, you received $100,000, then great, but it’s still a problem from a risk perspective.

People do small things now. They will choose not to homestead their homes. I don’t know why; always reason. Perhaps… not planning on staying here all that long. Yes, but the money you’d save in taxes would… pay for the radiotherapy.

Do you see where this is going?

The whole new-money/old-money part of the film, Titanic, is interesting in how correct it is, and how misleading it is.

Rose is everything great about old money with none. Jack, of course, is fictional.

—

Jack woulda lost the best. Jack woulda died under the bridge.

Jack would’ve been of a mindset that you could not trust him with a blue diamond necklace but for if he were even accused of stealing it, he would never see the light of day again. — William Blake writes of circumstances like this (see: end of Auguries of Innocence).

This person and his mother are not crazy. There is no reason to think they would not be able to understand that you cannot sue someone for return of a gift.

But, it would take someone, for lack of a better term — like me —, to explain this to him/them, and they don’t want to believe it. I don’t know.

Maybe $5,000 was never enough. — Or, maybe we should not second-guess people. I know what they said.

Hungarian Stew with Noodles

Ingredients

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 large garlic clove
5 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 medium onions, sliced
3 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
2 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 bay leaf
1 (16 ounce) package bow tie macaroni
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon minced parsley
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon caraway seed

Instructions

In an 8-quart Dutch oven over medium heat in hot oil, cook garlic 1 minute (discard), add stew meat and onions. Cook until meat is lightly browned.
Stir in tomato paste, water, paprika, salt, pepper and bay leaf. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 2 hours or until fork-tender, stirring often.
Cook noodles, drain and toss with butter and parsley.
To serve, sprinkle stew with lemon peel and caraway seed.

Servings: 12

CNN predicts in its December 27, 2023 article that China is stuck in the “middle income trap” and it will experience an economic decline throughout the next decade. Do you agree?

You need to be able to read through English and dissect what CNN says

In most of the Media propaganda, they generally don’t lie about the content, they mislead people through the Headline and the Conclusion

For instance, they say Chinas Economic Growth will decline

It will

China grew at 7.41% from 2013–2023 and now will grow at around a worst case of 3.93% from 2023–2033

That is a decline in growth by 47%

Any non economist who reads this will say the same thing

However let’s look at 2003–2013

Chinas average growth was 11.21% from 2003–2013

Thus Chinas growth rate ALSO declined from 2003–2013 to 2013–2023 by 34%

Now let’s see another thing

How much population growth contributed to GDP growth in each decade

2003–2013 – it was 4.9%

2013–2023 – it is 0.8%

2023–2033 – it is going to be 0%

How much Government spending contributed to GDP each decade?

2003–2013 – It was 13.90%

2013–2023 – It is 6.30%

2023–2033 – It’s going to be 3%

How much will Real Estate contribute to GDP growth each decade?

2003–2013 – It was 15.75%

2013–2023 – It is 10.77%

2023–2033 – It will be 0%

What do you see here?

You see that the GDP Growth for China from 2023–2033 will be entirely from solid areas instead of paper growth

High Technology Manufacture & Domestic Consumption which accounted for 1% in 2003–2013, 3.1% in 2013–2023 will account for 14% of Chinas GDP Growth in 2023–2033

So Chinas 3.93% will almost entirely build it’s foundation economy and not it perceptionary economy

By 2033, China will have an immensely strong economy and resilient one

Not a flimsy paper economy

What screams “I’m pretending to be upper class”?

I had a classmate who must have married a rich guy. I didn’t even try to keep in touch with her after high school. But we ended up friends on Facebook. That was the time I just accepted every friend request from everybody I’d ever met in life.

After a while, she started to get on my nerves. She constantly complained about her upper class problems.

I don’t think I have time to get the cabin ready for summer. All the linens I ordered haven’t come in yet. I want to kids to sleep on new sheets, not last year’s garbage.
Paris was great, but now we don’t have enough time to get the boat ready for the lake.
I just hope the new furniture arrives at the cabin on time.
The painters came on the wrong day. They were supposed to come before the new carpet, and before the furniture arrived. So we had to put our new living room furniture in the theater room. It’s so inconvenient.
Can somebody teach me how to use the navigation system in my new Mercedes S Class? I miss my BMW 740i. I just can’t learn a new navigation system every year like this.
Just got back from Hawaii for Christmas. Now I have to supervise these caterers for the New Year party.

I later found out that they had a second mortgage on the house, credit card debt, and they were a month away from foreclosure. That didn’t make me happy, but it explained why she was always complaining about her problems. She was trying to make people that she hadn’t seen in a decade think that she was doing fine.

What is a slap-in-the-face job offer?

“What is a slap-in-the-face job offer”?

I was given a notice that I was going to be let go and a slap-in-the-face job offer from the same employer in the same week! let me explain….

I had been working for the same employer for years (on and off) and my group was getting a little light on work, although there was a lot more work on the horizon. One day, I was pulled into the Manager’s office and was notified that I would be laid off in 2 weeks. I wasn’t really shocked, as I could see the writing on the wall due to light workload. I was offered 2 months severance at my current salary and would be paid out my remaining vacation time. Considering that I was being fired, the severance package offered was pretty good. I signed on the dotted line!

With my impending unemployment looming in the distance, I began working my network for a new gig. After about a week, I had a few interesting local prospects. It was then that a supervisor in another part of the company that I was being let go from contacted me. He said that they would like to retain me and rip up my forced resignation letter, but only if I would agree to a 20% pay cut and a relocation. I had 5 days to decide, which was pretty stressful, considering that I had a family to support and potentially uproot.

I was slightly insulted and my soon to be former co-workers thought it was a big slap-in-the-face, considering that I had been slated for a lot of future work at my current salary. Come to find out, the company had realized that I was needed, but wanted to make some extra coin off me by paying me less and billing me at my previous higher rate to clients. After all my years of service, commendations, and happy clients, the company I had worked weekends for, neglected my friends and family for, and sacrificed my time with my kids for, was trying to take advantage of me by trying to put me in a bind and forcing me to decide quickly on a bad offer.

Anyhow, a direct competitor was interested in my services and immediately offered me a slightly better salary than I was currently making with better benefits. They wanted to scoop me up before I accepted the bad deal. I turned down the 20% pay cut offer, accepted my resignation and 2 months severance package and took a wonderful 1 month vacation. After a month, I began working for my new employer, which happened to be across the street from my former employer. Within a year, my former employer was bought by a huge international company and a lot of people quit or were fired. I am very happy with my new employer.

What is the most dangerous situation you have ever found yourself in, and how did you deal with it?

I worked in admin with only men in my departement in a company that worked at airplane propellor⁹ services, a very strickt environment. I needed a better chair and some cabinets. The head of the supply departement, a gorilla type man, accompanied me to a shack on the premesis. We went inside and he locked the door with a padlock. I acted like I hadn’t noticed. I babbled along about what I thought was suitable, testing some chairs, opening cabinets, heart pounding! Meanwhile he laid out some flat cartboard boxes on the floor. I knew if he’d assault me I could never win. Again I pretended not to notice and asked about his kids who were back in school after the summer holidays. That made him snap out of it. I asked him to load up a few items and he did. He opened the padlock and we went back into the main building. I went straight to HR. I told the shocked woman over there I wanted him to be warned because he had a family but never let him be alone with a woman again! He was mad at me for making him look bad ‘because nothing had happened’. My direct supervisor let everybody know what happened and all the men took my side. He was not fired (my request, everybody needs a second chance) but they added a black page in his file.

Who was the most interesting person you’ve ever been seated next to on an airplane?

Maggie.

My husband and I were coming home from Puerto Rico, flying into Pittsburgh that night. A small, stereotypical family sat in front of us: attractive father, beautiful young mother, and two adorable kids, one still an infant and the other a toddler. We’re minding our own business when, out of the corner of my eye, I see the toddler looking at me from the openings between the seats.

“Hi!”

I smiled and said hello, and she took that as an opportunity to tell me literally everything about her life. Her mom kept giving me this patronizing look (like, “God, I’m so sorry she’s talking to you; if I could get her to shut up I totally would”) and saying “Maggie, let’s leave them alone and sit in our seats, OK?”

She told me her name was Maggie and she likes pink, blue, and black. She’s 3 years old, and how old are we? “You’re 22? And he (my husband, Joe) is 24? So you’re both 22. OK!” Maggie lives in Ithaca, New York, and loves flowers like the ones I have on my arms (tattoos) but “you shouldn’t draw on yourself with markers so much Miss Katie!” While she was in PR she “did some bad but also cool things,” and she’s going home to see Uncle Mark, who’s sick right now, so she isn’t going to hug him. “Who’s that guy with you? Joe? So Mr. Joe is your son, right? Miss Katie, can you tell your son to wake up? I’d like to talk to him.”

This carried on for the entirety of the two and a half hour flight we were on. I loved her, but my husband wasn’t so fond: she really liked him for some reason or another, and he wanted to sleep. Maggie’s mom kept telling her to turn around because, as Maggie had already put it, “the sun was going into the water so it’s almost bedtime for my brother. Do you want to see my brother? He’s a baby still.” At which point she proceeded to pull her infant brother’s foot over to the side of the plane by the window and show him to me through the cracks of the seats. I cackled.

Joe kept trying to sleep. He had headphones on, and she told him that she liked his earmuffs, but hers were nicer because they’re pink and black but she only wears them in the winter. As my husband drifted off to sleep, she yelled, “Wake up Joe!” I cackled some more, and she kept playing with him, poking him and saying that she “got him,” and asking Mr. Joe questions about his games and what movies he likes.

Meanwhile, her parents were asking the entire time for her to leave us alone, stop bothering them, “Maggie, do you want to color? Maybe if you’re quiet and color you can show them a picture when you’re done!” and all sorts of other mom things. Once, Maggie left for a few minutes and distracted herself with a game, but came back after a bit and said over the top of the seat, “I know I left, but I came back because I like you guys. You’re very fun!”

I loved Maggie. She kinda grew on my husband towards the end there, and I think he actually liked the attention. After the flight, her parents turned to us and introduced themselves, and apologized for her bothering us the whole flight. I said it was fine, not to worry about it, and that she certainly wasn’t bothering us. They thanked me for being so nice to her, and her mom said, “Yeah, but I want you to know that now, you both will be members of our household for the next two months. She’s going to go to bed every night and say, ‘Momma, do you remember Mr. Joe and Miss Katie? Can you tell me a bedtime story about them?’”

I think about Maggie often and hope that one day her mom tells her about Mr. Joe and Miss Katie from the flight back from Puerto Rico. I miss her sometimes, especially since she was better at waking my husband up than I am.

Ambush | Full Movie (action Movie with Nicolas Cage)

https://youtu.be/ykXL0YXVZBs

CB Memories

Back in the 1970’s there was this fad. It was the CB Radio fad, and everyone seemed to end up with a Citizens’ Band radio in the car. Ah. We all had slang that we would use, and there were many a useless discussion over the air that we all endured.

I had one. My brother had one. My parents had one. My friends all had one.

It was so “hip” at the time, don’t you know.

Now, we have cell phones, social media and all the rest. But every now and then, I get an itching to reach for the CB to find out what is going on regarding an accident that I just passed on the road.

Fads come and go.

And everything that we consider normal today, will eventually be viewed as a strange fad by others. Enjoy them while you have them.

Today…

Have you ever regretted saving a patient?

Yes. The paramedics brought her in from a nursing home and they had been doing CPR for a while. The patient had been in and out of perfusing rhythms the entire time. She looked very old and frail and chronically ill. I asked the medics if she had a DNR order and they just rolled their eyes. The lead medic told me that they asked the same thing but the nursing home staff couldn’t locate the paperwork and because they couldn’t be sure they initiated resuscitation.

We didn’t have anything on record either but I wasn’t really committed to CPR and shocking and all the drugs necessary to keep this poor woman alive when her quality of life was likely so bad. I decided to give one round of drugs and then stop if there was no response. We did just that and much to my surprise she responded. Her heart started out slowly and gained momentum. Within a couple minutes she had a stable blood pressure. After a while she even began to attempt breathing on her own.

It wasn’t long before the family arrived and told us that the patient’s wishes were to NOT be resuscitated. They told us that she would never want to be kept alive this way and demanded that we stop the ventilator and medicines. So, I did. Despite stopping all support she continued to live. Ultimately, we admitted her to the hospital and she continued on in a sort of half-life state. This went on for days. Days!

I went to see her and the family a few times when they were there in the hospital and just felt terrible for them all. They were unhappy with me but they also understood why we did what we did. Ultimately, they sort of took it out on the nursing home staff and not the medics or me.

In the end, she died with her family all around her. Several members were able to travel in to say goodbye before she passed because of the hospital course. I suppose it all worked out the way it was supposed to. I still regretted it though.

It’s fun until it isn’t

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/BFwQhDrX0hE?feature=share

English Beef Steak Pie

Ingredients

1 pound boneless round steak, trimmed
6 to 8 russet potatoes, pealed and cubed
1 large onion, sliced and separated
1/2 cup flour
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup water
1 pie crust (to cover top of pie)

Instructions

In a deep glass baking dish (either round or square, Corning or glass), layer meat, potato and onion, sprinkling flour over each layer.
Salt and pepper each layer.
Pour water slowly over layers and top with rolled out crust.
Roll edges of crust under around the edge and flute to seal edges to pan. Vent with knife several times.
Bake at 350 degrees F for about one hour until water bubbles and gravy have formed. Pierce with a cake tester through vents for doneness of potatoes.
Serve with a green salad.

Compromise

As a trial attorney, what is the most ridiculous outburst you have seen first-hand in court?

Maybe it wasn’t rediculous as you mean but it was the biggest and it was Mine. I was representing a 15 year old pregnant girl. CPS wanted her sent to a reformatory. I wanted her sent to a girls school. The CPS worker testified that the girl should go to jail because when she was 5 yes five she seduced her father ( an executive with a big company). The girl had been raped by her father for years.

The girl said to me “ you told me that wasn’t my fault.” In the courtroom before God Judge and country I grabbed that CPS worker and tried to pound her into the floor.

It wasn’t looking good for me but the judge made an immediate order. He ordered the CPS worker to personally pay for the girl to go to the private girls school. (about 3times her annual salary) . I waited all day to be arrested. Finally a call came that I was wanted back in court.

It was announced that no charges would be brought against me and the order against the CPS worker was dropped and the order to pay made against the agency. The CP S worker was also to resign.

I’m not a violent person but only so much can be let go I guess at time I lost sight of my life and career and could only see my client.

I have gotten some nice comments. I need to add that before I went for this person the judge asked her if she had done everything she could for the girl. Her response was “I have been wonderful”. I am not proud of getting violent. It is very rare in my life. I was happy with the outcome but I risked getting my license and going to jail. I need to make a clarification here. I was in law school then. i was representing her as her probation officer. It was in the early 70s. A child’s right to an attorney was based on the parents ability to afford one. I was the closest thing to a lawyer she had.

PS. if you read about incest cases, or any sexual abuse cases of very young children, the children are usually taught by their abusers how to “please” them. they are basically taught to mimic seductive behavior. They are not seductive. They are merely mimicking what they have been taught to do, but not everybody sees it that way. many overtly seductive Teenagers have been molested in this manner as a child, but they are just labeled as seductresses. I guess it is easier for some people to blame a child than it is for them to take the time to learn about the effects of abuse on children. I was often called in by other probation officers when they had an uncomfortable feeling about a case because I could see these types of behaviors even minor ones. i’ll never know how many cases I didn’t catch, but I was never wrong when I called it.

Killer Thinks He Got Away With Murder – Doesn’t Know 5 YO Survived | The Morrissey Family Case

What types of problems do Asian Americans face in Asia?

Not quite fitting in, this applies to ALL overseas types, near ones (Malaysia, Singapore) and far ones. USA, Europe.

An example is this

vs this

Superficially we look similar but we’re quite different.

You stand me next to some China born Chinese and you’ll feel there’s something off.

The foreign diet in our formative years changes us. I was a LOT fatter (though thing for westerners) and had a rounder chunkier face.

The life experiences also make us stand differently. I’ve written previously that in the UK if you’re weak (doesn’t matter if you’re black, white, Indian or Chinese) people will pick on you. So there’s an outward portray of aggression already… probably why cops stop me so much.

That’s just the visual things.

Then we’ve got psychology, culture and language.

All of which means you fit in even less. You can as again fit in on a superficial level but go any deeper and you’re spotted.

Being different leads to disimilar treatment sometimes, sometimes this is good, sometimes this is bad.

Mentally Ill USA

New York 1966

She Thinks An AVERAGE “D” Size Is SMALL?

The USA is so messed up.

What is the perfect thing to say when someone is being rude to you?

My wife and I brought her car in for service at the dealership and we’re looking around while waiting. A young salesman asked if he could show us around. I said we are just there for service.

After talking a while about their new cars, he went to get “the closer” a big fellow who obviously had been there for a while. He began to say things like what would I need to do to get you into this vehicle and make me an offer. I told him we weren’t in the market for a car; I research such matters before making such a purchase; and, for me to buy a car today, he would probably have to nearly give it to me. I told him if I made him an offer, I was sure he would find it insulting.

I did let him pull my credit. This would have made it very clear that I was highly successful in financial services sales. Which is what makes his subsequent rudeness particularly inconceivable.

He continues to insist that I make an offer. I finally offer him probably half of what the car is worth (because I would have bought it on the spot at that price). He is insulted.

He then leans over me (with my wife still sitting next to me) and says:

“At some point in your life, you’re going to have to become man enough to be able to make a decision.”

I instantly replied:

“It’s not my manhood in question here; I’m not the one who can’t close this deal.”

I only saw the stunned look on his face for a moment before he turned to walk away.

Harsh truth

Do police officers care about you?

June 2nd, Midnight; a 15 yo boy Zohaib posted a suicide note over social media; stating he’s going to end his life today.

I browsed through a lot of tweets posted from other users on the topic, and learned that the boy lives in my city on XYZ road. That’s it.

The problem is that, on the said ‘miles long’ road there are dozens of towns and neighborhoods interconnected, I mean, that is very incomplete piece of information to effectively and timely counter such an issue of extraordinary sensitive nature.

I responded to him immediately, and also requested public to send me any information or clue they might have about this boy.

And that interaction of mine resulted in one of the most burdensome barrage of tweets and DMs I’ve ever received as social media handler of city police, the number was literally in thousands. That kid’s name was trending nationwide on twitter during this fiasco. But sadly, nothing useful came out of this interaction tsunami, all I had was first name of the boy and that he lives somewhere in my city.

I calmly reviewed the situation for a minute; I mean our field officers are ‘head to toe’ engaged with crime fighting day in & day out, responding to the calls, handling cases one over the other, and now comparatively… I have this first of its kind situation where a boy wants to commit suicide about whom we know nothing… could even be a prank for goodness sake.

Nope. I told myself.

We should find and rescue him, no matter what it takes…we gotta!

I got Police Chief in the loop, by his orders Police command & Control was now at my disposal. Which I believe is the most sophisticated and comprehensive system of surveillance, communication and patrolling all across the country. We were about to to execute a time sensitive search and rescue task. Our officers responded to the given locations and secured the entry exit points; while being on the look out.

And that minute, I learned over social media that the boy has fled home, he’s on the loose!

Holy cow!

We didn’t panic with the thought of him doing something foolish while on the run, though it was a legitimate concern. We kept striving, I dispatched teams here and there upon receiving bits of information from concerned twitter users, and then the magic happened…. we got his address. Somebody finally recognized him I guess even though there was no display picture or anything else but the that helped us greatly. Now that is something, I can work with.

He wasn’t home but now we knew who he is. So technical resources along with human intelligence played the good part, he was tracked and in minutes… secured!

And all of this happened under an hour.

He was anxious and nervous… but otherwise fine and safe. His parents thanked the Police, the situation came back to normal.

Next day while I was at work, various news teams arrived at my office and I was genuinely surprised to learn that this episode has made to the news, even to BBC. I was directed to speak a few words on camera, which I did even though I hate to.

Those of you who know me for a long time, I really do not appreciate the idea of being on the limelight for many reasons. I have politely excused out of numerous feature stories and interviews all these years.

I’m not a celebrity, never was. Super hero, Yes. But not a show off… for that is not what cops are meant to be. That is why you see the big-ass mask on me even though I was requested twice that it is perfectly alright to slide it down a little during the talk. Nope!

Do police officers care about you? YES. Dogmatically!

I’ll do whatever it takes to protect and serve you, I will put my life on the line to save yours! And here “I” stands for Police officers you see daily around you no matter wherever you are.

Start your journey

Not wealth, but really in the things that matter to you.

Figgy Pudding

Figgy Pudding is a type of Christmas pudding which was originally made with figs. It may be baked, steamed in the oven, boiled or fried. Figgy Pudding dates back to 16th century England.

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

300ml (1/2 pint) milk (10 fluid ounces)
225g (8 ounces) flour (2 cups)
175g (6 ounces) dried figs
150ml (1/4 pint) Brandy (5 fluid ounces)
110g (4 ounces) suet
110g (4 ounces) prunes
85g (3 ounces) raisins or sultanas
50g (2 ounces) dried apricots
50g (2 ounces) dates
25g (1 ounce) dried apples
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

On the day before making the pudding, place the dried apricots, prunes and apples to soak in water and place the raisins or sultanas to soak in the brandy.
Remove the stones from of the dates and prunes.
Butter a large pudding basin or double boiler bowl.
Sift flour into a bowl.
Stir in suet and mix to a fairly soft dough with cold water.
Turn out on to a floured surface. Lightly knead until smooth.
Roll out two-thirds of pastry into a round and use to line a well-greased 2-pint pudding basin (or double boiler bowl).
Melt the honey and stir in the ginger and cinnamon. Add to the soaked fruits and brandy mixture. Mix well and place into the pastry lined bowl. Moisten edges of pastry with water. Cover with lid, rolled from remainder of the pastry. Press edges well together to seal. Cover securely with greased greaseproof paper or aluminum foil.
Steam steadily for 2 hours. Ensure that the water does not evaporate, topping it up from time to time with boiling water.
Turn out onto a plate and serve.

Something good about this man

What is your biggest mistake or regret?

Starting a “STARTUP” with best friends.

Three years back, in 2013, one evening, I was having casual discussions with my friend, lets call him “Mr.S”. We were discussing on different topics like current trends, jobs, future life, family and friends, money. At that time, I was working in a software company with little experience of 1.5 years and some cash in my account. S was studying hard to clear his remaining subject which forced him to take a year gap. And same was the case with “Mr.P” too, he is the third character in my story.

Let me tell you, we all are intelligent students. But because of some mistakes and their habit of taking things lightly cost them a year gap. In fact, Mr.P was smarter than me in every department. Mr.S was not good at academics but he was too good at marketing and some other “special” skills.

We three were together from last 7.5 years. We sat on one bench. We studied together. We stayed together. We tripped together. We partied together. We lived together. We participated and won lots of competitions together. And most important – we dreamed together. Everyone from our batch including teachers used to tell us — you 3 idiots are awesome.

Everything in life was going in a right direction. But let me remind you one of the laws of Mr.Murphy, “In nature, nothing is ever right. Therefore, if everything is going right, something is wrong.” [src: http://www.murphys-laws.com/murphy/murphy-laws.html]. And exactly, same thing happened with us.

Lately, I was thinking a lot about starting a business. Starting a start-up. Starting an IT Company. Starting an IT Training institute. Starting something related to IT. I discussed these thoughts with Mr.S. And guess what, he completely agreed with my ideas and within a few minutes we were business partners! I started giving more time to the thoughts on business. Within some days, we decided to include Mr.P in our team, as he was our best friend and also a sound person with technical knowledge. We shared all these thoughts with Mr.P and he also agreed to join us on the long adventure. But assured us that he’ll join the company after a few months.

So basically everything needed to start a startup was ready. We had a team. Me as a sole investor, lead technical person and of course, the CEO. Along with that I also had a role of Software Engineer in the company where I was working concurrently. It was a big task for me to handle both the tasks – a job and a start up.

My job was the main source of finance for my family and for the startup also. Mr.S was assigned the role of getting assignments and marketing department, while Mr. P was going to look after the training and in-house development. We also had few projects to start with. We also hired 2 people to work with us.

After few months, I made an investment of ₹2 lac (~$3000) and bought 4 advanced PCs, also rented out a small place to start our work in. And, within a span of 4 months, our small startup was on its way onto a long journey. We held a small inaugural function and celebrated. Yeah, that was quite an achievement for us. We started our working together.

But there was a small problem, Mr.P was yet to join the company. He earlier promised us to join the company, yet after 3 months, he was not interested in joining the company. After thinking a lot, I decided to talk to him about his decision and why he was not joining office. His answers gave me the biggest shock of my life. He refused to join the company. His reasons were like, “I am not seeing future in your company. Another friend of us started another startup and he is taking me in his team. I need money right now.” Guys, let me tell you, I also offered him mighty amount of salary. But still, he refused my invitation politely and sent a long message reasoning why he won’t join the company. Most of the reasons were BS. And story of Mr.P was finished. Completely.

Lesson#1 learned [in a hard way]: Do not trust the promises of everyone. Everybody is not loyal to his/her own words.

I was shell shocked, shattered, and quiet depressed after hearing his decision and answer. I was scattered from inside. I decided to keep the work running with Mr.S along with the two hired people. Things were getting more and more difficult.

Fast forward 4-5 months.

Mr.S was looking after the marketing and product sales things, he was the main guy our customers were dealing with. Whereas I was busy in development and resource management.

One day, while managing balance sheets, I figured out there was a record missing for a sum of ₹20000 (~$300). Out of curiosity, when I asked Mr.S about the missing ₹20000, his answers were not logical. They were irrelevant. They were lies. I got to know that he was playing some tricks and using the company’s money for his own personal use. His most funny reply was, “Dude, chalta hai… busy log hain hum, chhoti chhoti details par dhyan nahi rakhte“. [Dude, We are too busy people, we should not focus on such small details]. For him ₹20K was a small amount, but it wasn’t for me.

We had a bitter argument on this and it resulted into disagreement. And we decided to separate. Decided to drive on our separate ways. But he put one condition. He will retain the “business name“. As he was looking after the marketing and other things, he decided to go after the name and customers. And in such way, my first startup was dead.

Lesson#2 learned [in a harder way]: Be careful who you bring to the top with you, not everyone is loyal.

Image Source : Google

P.S. I allowed him to use the business name, because of two reasons:

I was ready to work with anyone, but not with a treacherous friend.
I trust myself, I was alone at the start and will fight the battle alone, will re-build everything from scratch. One can delay me, but can never stop me from achieving my dreams.

Edit 1: From last 2 years, we 3 have never met, talked or discussed about each other.

Being nice

New York 1966

What scandals should NOT have been forgotten?

In June, 1954, US Senator Lester C. Hunt (D-WY) shot himself to death with a rifle at his desk in his US Senate office in Washington, DC. Senator Hunt had been despondent over threats he had received – from Sen. Joe McCarthy and two Republican colleagues, Senator Herman Welker (R-ID) and Senator Styles Bridges (R-NH) – that lurid reports of the arrest of Hunt’s son the previous year would be made public, both in Washington and in his home state of Wyoming, embarrassing Hunt and putting his upcoming reelection bid in peril. The younger Hunt had been arrested and charged with soliciting sex from a male police officer, who was working a sting operation in a Washington park. The charges were later dismissed, but McCarthy and his cronies discovered the fact, and pressured the police department into refiling the charges. Hunt was under great pressure from McCarthy, demanding that he resign, which would have effectively given the Republicans control of the Senate. At the time, Democrats controlled the US Senate by just one vote, and a Hunt resignation would have put the Senate into a tie, enabling the Republicans to gain control, since then-Vice President Richard Nixon would serve as tiebreaker. After Hunt’s death, the Republican governor of Wyoming appointed a Republican to fill Hunt’s unexpired term, who in turn declined to run for the seat in that fall’s election, a race that was won by a Democrat. Unfortunately, the Republicans flipped other Senate seats in 1954, and took control on their own. This scandal was downplayed for many years, but it also occurred in the shadow of the Army-McCarthy hearings, which were going on at the time of Hunt’s death. Even today, there is little awareness of the scandal in Wyoming, and few Americans know that it took place at all. Interestingly, though, Hunt is known as the driving force behind Wyoming’s famous “bucking bronco” license plate emblem, having commissioned the artist to create the design during his years as Governor of Wyoming.

The USA is totally fucked up

Why didn’t you leave a tip at a restaurant?

I went to a famous pancake restaurant that was promoting its new burgers. I saw an ad offering them for $5.99 with unlimited fries and a free drink. I pointed to the jalapeno kick burger and asked the waitress to verify that this burger was, in fact, part of the $5.99 special. When she said, “yes,” I then ordered this burger. I had a $10 gift card, and my intention was to tip the waitress the remaining amount after taxes, which would have made it a 50% tip.

However, when I got the bill, I saw was charged $9.29 for the burger. When I called the waitress over to tell her about the mistake, she said that the burger I chose was not included in the special and that I needed to pay regular price. Naturally, I told her that I deliberately asked her if this burger was included before I ordered it and that she confirmed me it was. Her response was that she didn’t understand what burger I wanted.

I explained the situation to the manager, saying I would not have ordered it if the waitress did not tell me it was part of the special, that they cannot charge me for the server’s mistake. The manager called the server over and she had the nerve to deny that I even asked her about the burger being a part of the promotion. Unbelievably, the manager said she must take the server’s word for it.

In front of the waitress, I presented my $10 gift card, telling the manager, I was going to give the waitress what would have remained from my $5.99 burger, which would have been a nice tip. However, since she won’t own up to her mistake, she will now receive what is left from my $9.29 burger (which after taxes was about a nickel).

New York 1966

Woke challenge

What’s the most ridiculous adult tantrum you’ve witnessed that you couldn’t believe?

Waiting in line at an auto parts store and the guy in front of me sets down an alternator and asked the clerk for a water pump. The clerk naturally is confused and asks about the alternator. The guy tells him it’s a water pump and that’s why he asked for a water pump.

The clerk tries nicely to correct him, even shows the guy a picture of an alternator vs. a water pump for his specific car. To no avail the guy “knows more” than this poor clerk. Who I might add is 100% correct that the alternator is NOT a water pump. The power connections kind of gives it away specially when there are no hose attachments for it to pump coolant a.k.a. water.

Anyway, the guy just goes nuts. Throws the alternator at the poor clerk luckily missing his intended target. Makes huge threats about calling corporate; of course he has tons of friends on social media so he threatens to close the store down. On and on this guy goes about how much smarter he is than anyone behind the counter, how they always give him the wrong part. I swear it lasted 20 minutes. Anyway, the manager was in the back counting out the money or stocking something, not really sure, but she was in the back. She comes out, picks up the alternator, sets it on the counter, and asks the guy why he is throwing such a temper tantrum over an alternator.

Oh here we go again! How dare a woman correct him. She doesn’t know shit about cars. What’s a woman doing working at an auto parts store. The vile shit just kept going. Well, during ALL of this mess someone in the oil section decided to call the cops. At some point the cops sneak in and are right behind me and this entire mess. I’m gently pushed aside and they yell, “Sir!” real loudly. He turns and goes ghostly white. The cops start asking about the situation. One has taken the rest of us aside, found the caller, and we are telling them what we witnessed. The other officer is talking with mister alternator/water pump.

Next thing you know he is under arrest and as they are escorting him out we hear one officer tell the other officer that arguing about alternators was the dumbest thing they have witnessed all month. To which the guy yells, “It’s a fucking water pump!”

What did someone say in court that made you burst out laughing?

When my son was in elementary school he was beaten up by two older students to the point he required hospital care. Since the two boys were going into high school next year and it was the last day of school both the principal and superintendent said there was nothing they could do. I called the police and had them charged. One officer went to the hospital and saw my son and two more took the boys away in handcuffs at the school. When the case went to court I told my son to be honest and don’t guess. The boys had been in trouble before so the parents hired a good criminal lawyer.

My son was on the stand for over an hour being grilled by the lawyer and the judge was getting fed up. The lawyer asked my son how he knew who was kicking him. Basically he said “ I was being kicked by a Doc Martin shoe which was on a foot which was on a leg which was on a body and his head was on it” I could see the judge shaking in silent laughter and the stenographer laughing in her Dictaphone. The courtroom was silent with muffled laughter. The lawyer also stood away from my son and holding his ear said he had bad hearing and to speak up. My son was very nervous and scared showing it by speaking very quietly. Finally my son turned to the judge and said could he ask a question. The judge said sure. My son said “in which ear is he hard of hearing because he is going back and forth between both ears”. Same muffled laughter. The judge glared at my son and said “if his hearing is that bad he will be ending his questioning” with a wink to my son he told me later.

Apparently this went on with all the other witnesses and the case was dismissed from all the conflicting statements. This lawyer must have cost the parents a bundle. The police officer in charge of the case visited us about a month later to see how my son was doing. He also said that he was impressed with my son in court and gave him his card. All our children make us proud.

Moral of the story

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/RtIIpfpMKhc?feature=share

New York 1966

Why didn’t you leave a tip at a restaurant?

Because it is an utterly stupid idea.

During my college, I took a course called entrepreneurial marketing.

The professor gave one interesting perspective regarding billing and customer experience:

When booking a flight ticket, if the price is $220 instead of $210, the customer wouldn’t feel anything. The $10 on the top of $210 he is paying seems insignificant.

But if you charge him $210 at the beginning and later ask him to pay $5 if wants a water bottle onboard, he might find the experience disappointing. One, he thinks $5 is too expensive for a water bottle. Two, he has to check if he has the cash. Three, he has to worry about conversion charges if it is the card. Overall, there are so many things that make the experience complicated.

So just add $10 more on the flight ticket and give him two water bottles if you are keen on giving a comfortable experience.

Same thing with star hotels. Just charge $20 more on the $150 per night and give complimentary water, canned drinks, and coffee rather than billing for every item inside the mini-fridge.

The same logic applies to tipping.

When you go to a restaurant for a pleasant dining experience, you are made to do all sorts of calculations for taxes and add them to the amount in the menu. On top of this, you have to do calculations for tips and then add to the final amount to see if the item is really worth that price or not.

It ruins the whole experience.

Secondly, this tipping is completely optional. It is in the customer’s hands whether to pay it or not. And if he wants to, whether it is 5% or 15% is also his choice. There is no guarantee that the one who did the best service will get the maximum tip.

Thirdly, does anyone who what is best service universally? For me, not bothering me by enquiring every five minutes ‘Do you need anything else?’ or standing beside my table is a better service. For someone, being approachable by waiting near his table is better service. It varies from person to person and it is near impossible for the waiter to figure this out.

Fourthly, the tip for bringing $50 for 100ml single malt is more than $5 1L water bottle, when the former requires less energy. Is there any logic here?

And lastly, the owner thinks that waiters get high tips and pay them low salaries. The customer thinks that the waiters are anyway paid and hence don’t give them tips. So the waiters are at a complete loss here.

The best way to solve this is to treat waiters like any other worker- chef, security guard, delivery guy or equipment operator. Pay them market salary rather than putting their livelihood at the mercy of the customers. Why do you need to tip waiters, when you don’t tip nurses, delivery guys, security guard, police, or janitors when they are also doing service?

English Muffins

Ingredients

1 cake or package yeast
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 1/2 cups milk, scalded
1/4 cup melted shortening
1 teaspoon salt
6 cups flour

Instructions

After kneading, place in greased bowl and let rise until double.
Roll out to 3/4-inch thick. Cut with 3-inch cutter. Cover circles and let rise until very light.
Bake on greased electric skillet or at 375 degrees F in the oven.

Good advice

What are some unwritten social rules everyone should know?

Don’t comb your hair on the table at the restaurant. I don’t want your hair-strands in my food. I prefer that you use the restroom even if you want to touch up your lipstick.
If you know that you have smelly feet and that you have not washed your socks in several weeks, don’t take off your shoes in crowded places. Not even in the aircraft. You should have thought about this before you boarded the plane.
Let people who are sitting in the front of the aircraft deplane first! If you have a connecting flight, you can politely ask them to let you deplane first.
Let people exit the elevator/train/bus before rushing in.
Follow the queue. Yes, even in the washroom. Just don’t stand in front of the bathroom stall when 572 people are waiting in the queue.
Buy earphones, or headphones. Whatever you prefer. Because I don’t want to listen to rock music during my morning commute.
Give your seat to the pregnant lady. Or the lady carrying a small child. Or the old lady/gentleman. If you are a young lady in perfect health condition, this applies to you as well. Not just the boys.
Wear washed clothes, because the smell of the sweat sticks. Use deodorant. Specially applies when you are traveling by public transport.
Also, don’t keep your clothes next to the kitchen area, as the smell from spices sticks.
Don’t leave the texts as “seen” or with the “blue ticks”. Either respond, or never respond. Don’t respond to a text which was sent 4 days ago. Just be honest and tell them “that you are busy” or that “you don’t feel like talking to them”.
Show up with a gift. Don’t come empty-handed, after all the host took the time to invite you and do the preparation, didn’t they?
Don’t dump your negativity onto others. Not many people are accepting of it.

It’s all I have.

How did one small decision change your life?

I had stopped dating someone who had just been divorced and wasn’t ready to settle (and wasn’t right for me). I had been invited to a party but didn’t want to go. I’m not going, I decided. Finally, two hours after the party had started, I went, alone. The loft owner’s friend opened the door — and we started talking. He was sweet, funny, had just graduated from college, was 7 years younger than me, was planning to move cross country in 2 days. We hung out at the party and then he asked if he could walk me home. We’d walked 2 blocks, making all sorts of witty comments about street signs,etc., and I thought, “This guy is so different than the ones I usually like…he’s not all dark and dramatic (which usually hooked me)…he’s like being with a best friend.” And then I asked myself, “Why shouldn’t I be in a relationship with a guy who treats me as well as my best female friend does??” I remember my small decision precisely: deciding that I’d be open to this…even had a mental metaphor of it being like a Japanese paper lamp I’d hold gently…not try to force anything…but just be open to connecting with someone who made life fun, who was kind, who wanted to know about me and share himself.

He’s been an extraordinary husband and father and after more than 30 years, is still the most fun person to hang out with. We’ve traveled all over the world, gotten grad degrees after the kids were born, created books and apps and games, gone through family stresses and losses, relationship issues, gone through everyday boring ol’ life.

It was a small decision I made, but a profound one: to love myself. To allow myself to be loved by someone who treated me (and others) well. To let myself be with someone whose company I flat-out enjoyed. It wasn’t sudden roses and symphonies…it was playful and sweet. But I see the depth and beauty now. I so wish everyone this.

Dad’s do your job

As a trial attorney, what is the most ridiculous outburst you have seen first-hand in court?

The girl said to me “ you told me that wasn’t my fault.” In the courtroom before God Judge and country I grabbed that CPS worker and tried to pound her into the floor.

It was announced that no charges would be brought against me and the order against the CPS worker was dropped and the order to pay made against the agency. The CP S worker was also to resign.

I’m not a violent person but only so much can be let go I guess at time I lost sight of my life and career and could only see my client.

Sadly

Why do people go into the military without doing any research about what they’re getting themselves into?

Few people walk into a recruiting station and tell them they want to leave that afternoon. You do have to chat with a recruiter for a while. Granted, they’ll tell you the Army line. Rarely will they lie but they will leave stuff out.

For a lot of people, the Army sounds way better than the situation they’re in. In my first meeting with the recruiter, he told me the Army would train me in life skills (HAHA, at least, not from my MOS), they’d cloth you and give you everything you needed, I’d get a bed, desk, and wall locker, they’d feed me as much as I wanted to eat, I got to choose me MOS (This is where you need to do your research), they’d let me blow stuff up and play with some of the biggest toys the Army has, they’d give me $15K for college, and they’d pay me on top of it.

To a seventeen-year-old kid who’d worked a dirt farm in N. Colorado his entire life, that sounded pretty good. The Army helped get me my Eagle Scout and gave me some perks for that. The recruiter worked with the school to make sure I’d graduate. I was failing a class, and I told my recruiter I wouldn’t graduate. He went to the school and talked to the admin and they made sure I’d pass.

Researching your MOS and the Army is a good idea, but nothing prepares you for stepping off the bus. I have a Ranger buddy whose son just went through basic. He had his son meet with all the vets he could find and we gave our experiences. That wasn’t enough to keep him from calling home and wanting to come home.

No matter how prepared you are, once you get boots on the ground and jump down the rabbit hole, you’re in for a ride. I think people with less prep do better as they have no idea what to expect and they just roll with it instead of standing around thinking this is nothing like what everyone said.

I can relate to this

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2lG5LXgzzzw?feature=share

Brian Berletic: China Has a SHOCKING Secret and the US is Going to War Over It

Lemons and grapefruit

Lemons and grapefruit.

Ugh.

That was when my first wife and I were traveling the country and hovering around the poverty level, often dipping below it.

Often enough, we would be between work and thus pretty much starving. Going weeks between eating. Those were hard days. Those were difficult weeks. Those were really hard times.

But every now and then we would come near an orange grove, or see a house that had a lemon tree in it’s yard. Thus, by asking permission, we were able to get FOOOOOD!

And so we were kept alive.

Eating lemons all day for a month, or grapefruit all the time for a month or longer.

Man, oh man.

It felt like our teeth were getting loose, and going to fall out. And aside from that, we were still weak. Ugh. It’s something that I just don’t recommend for others to do.

Please, heed my advice.

A diet of citrus should be a last resort. Nothing less.

A painful past. I paid my dues. Have you?

Today…

How does the leadership and governance of China’s Communist Party compare to that of the US Democratic Party?

How about a million times better? How about CPC is about the most well organized and most successful organization on earth! Think about results. Surely results matter. And results are every thing right?

In 1949 CPC started governing China. At that time it’s life expectancy is 39 years old. Today in 2023 it is 78 years old. Chinese out live the U.S. citizens on average by 2 full years!

CPC reduce its hardcore poor by 1 billion people by 2022! The U.S. not only not reduced it’s poor to day 1 million Americans living live in tents homeless throughout the U.S. China has ZERO HOMELESS!

China has built high speed rail that cross China for trains travelling 3 times the speed of U.S. trains! US has less than 100 km of high speed railway lines compared to 45 thousand km throughout China!

China provides universal healthcare and charge what you can afford for 100% of its citizens and free college education for those who qualify while in the U.S. kids get into unplayable debts before starting life paying astronomical tuition fees and a third of American’s cannot afford to buy health care insurance.

China’s healthcare and pharmaceutical companies charge its citizens 0.95 trillion dollars for its 1.4 billion citizens. And the U.S. charged its citizens 5.9 trillion for its 330 million citizens! So on average Americans are forced to pay an average of 17.9 thousand dollars per annum while China charge its citizens 678 dollars a person a year. So the U.S. charge its citizens 27 times more to live 2 years less!

Chinese can walk freely at 3.00 am on any street anywhere in China and a week of U.S. random mass shooting is equivalent to China’s decade! China has 11% of US prisoners population per million people! In the U.S. there are many no go areas and people get necked to death all due to their skin colour!

CPC knew that STEM engineers and specialist number is the key technological prowess and being a technological leader. A year of Chinese STEM graduates equate to the entire U.S. STEM specialist and to day China has 100:1 advantage over the U.S.! Hence according to ASPI China today leads in 37 out of the 44 fields of key strategic technologies and the U.S. leads in only 7/44!

So you still want to compare? So U.S. is the David and China is the Goliath. China through merit gets the very best to lead. US gets the most popular! No comparison who gets the result.

What is the weirdest object you’ve ever found?

My 98 year old grandmother just passed this past Christmas. As I was cleaning out her apartment and sorting the junk from the priceless junk (amazing how much a 98 y/o woman can stuff into a 400 s.f. apartment), I came across a folded stack of notebook paper- it actually looked more like the paper torn out of a “Big Chief” tablet. On the outside was written, “Mrs. Ronzel Bailey, Orma WV” in my grandfather’s handwriting.

So, what’s so weird about that, you ask?

The paper was old and yellowed. As I opened it, I read the date- 1942. My grandparents had been married in 1938. My grandfather was a Lt. Commander in the Navy and on a ship in the Mediterranean in 1942. As I read the letter, the writing was in a very strange, detached voice. It told her how lost she must feel and how she must take care of herself primarily and then take care of my father (born in 1939). It then went on to tell her that she should buy a house on the outskirts of a small town and watch out for those who would take advantage of her.

I then got to a part where he instructed her to use her own judgement as to whether or not she taught my father about him. At this point I was thinking he was divorcing her! I got mad (even though I knew they were never divorced- they were married until he died in 1993- 55 years!). But, mad I was!

As I read further, it finally dawned on me that this letter was his final instructions to her in the event he was killed in action during WWII. It was difficult to hold back the tears as I read that she should not waste resources in trying to bring his body home.

This letter that I had just finished reading was what he wanted to tell her – make sure that she could move on and give her hope and comfort.

How she ended up with this letter, I will never know since he wasn’t killed in WWII and came home for another 50 years of marriage.

One piece of “priceless junk” saved!

What are some psycological facts?

People change for two reasons either they learned a lot or they have been hurt too many times.
If your mind wanders often, there is a 85% chance that you’re subconsciously unhappy with your life.
The saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies, it comes from those whom you trust the most.
When we are constantly wishing for something, we overlook everything we already have.
The way we dress determines the way we react. Especially our shoes.
Tripping in your dream and waking up with a twitch happens when your brains thinks you’re dying.
Our mind can sense someone staring at us even when we’re sleeping.
Being nice to someone you dislike doesn’t mean you’re being fake but it means you’re mature enough to tolerate that individual.
The true mark of maturity is when somebody hurts you and you try to understand their situation instead of trying to hurt them back.
The first to apologize is always the bravest. The first to forgive isthe strongest. The first to forget is the happiest.
Atleast once in life, you will meet a person you will never get over no matter how long it has been.
Life becomes more meaningful when you realize the simple fact that you will never get the same moment twice.

What was the most unexpected knock you got on your door?

Two police officers with sober faces stared at me and I knew the news couldn’t be good.

They described a car that had just been in an accident, and the license plate. My wife’s mini-van had collided, burst into flames and everyone inside it died.

I’m doing a mental inventory about now. My wife, three children, and two nieces.

My legs turned wobbly. You can’t imagine what was going through my head. Because of the fire, they couldn’t find any useful identification but explained they could identify everyone both by DNA and by dental records. They wanted a DNA sample from me.

I guess they could verify my kids were mine, and that the adult was their mother. A nice, neat little bow.

Can you imagine? They’ve just told you that your whole family is dead, and —- I told them I would come down and give them a sample.

Getting ready to leave, my cell phone is buzzing. It’s my wife. What? Hard tingles are on my spine, like she’s calling from the grave.

“Our van was stolen from the parking lot….”

Were the sweetest words I could’ve ever heard. Yeah it was my wife’s car, but they won’t need any DNA sample from me today.

EDIT – to address some of the mysteries in the comments

I learned later that three people were in the van when it collided. A man, woman, and younger person, which they presumed was a child of the drivers. The police said everyone died, but they had a different human inventory than my own. I also learned they were part of a ring of car thieves, and the accident was not their fault. Another car ran a light and hit them broadside. No fatalities and only minor injuries in the other car.

My wife had organized a birthday outing for our oldest. All the necessary shops, restaurant, and theater were inside the mall. It would be several hours before it was time to leave again. The thieves had plenty of time to get away if they hadn’t been hit.

Chinese Sweet and Sour Meatloaf

Ingredients

Sauce

2/3 cup ketchup
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vinegar
2 tablespoons FINELY minced ginger
4 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon mustard

Meat Loaf

1 pound ground beef
3/4 pound ground pork (approximation)
1/3 cup finely chopped green onion(white and green parts)
3/4 cup bread crumbs
2 eggs
2 tablespoons rice wine or any dry white wine
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Mix all sauce ingredients thoroughly. Set aside to allow flavors to marry.
Next, combine all meat loaf ingredients except cornstarch. Take 1 cup of sauce AND mix it into meat. Follow this step with evenly sprinkling cornstarch over meat and thoroughly mixing it in.
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place meat in loaf pan and pack it down. Bake covered with foil for about 30 minutes. During last 10 minutes of initial 30-minute baking cycle, remove meat loaf from oven, drain fat and slice into several serving-size slices. Pour about 1/2 cup of sauce over meat, making sure some of sauce runs down into cracks. Bake uncovered for about 15 more minutes.
Meanwhile, if you want, you can heat and thicken leftover sauce with about 1 teaspoon cornstarch and an equal amount of water. As sauce starts to thicken, you can add about 2 teaspoons hot oil to sauce.

This recipe makes a lot of sauce, so leftover heated sauce can be spooned over individual meatloaf servings if desired.

If you want a browner meatloaf, bake covered for about 20 minutes and uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes. Then drain fat, slice meatloaf and pour sauce over it.

Is Germany a good country?

As a person who has lived in GERMANY for 10 years, I can tell you what Germany offers and you can decide good and bad depending on your priorities. Germany offers the following:

Its a Democracy.
We have only 1 planet, so Environment is a priority.
1. There is no conflict among political parties over scientifically proven facts like climate change and global warming. Everybody accepts these proven facts.
2. Around 30% of all Energy is produced from renewable sources like wind & solar and is still on the rise . Eight of the seventeen operating nuclear reactors in Germany were permanently shut down following Fukushima in 2011. In 2011, Angela Merkel’s government announced that it would close all of its nuclear power plants by 2022.
3. Plastic bottles are to be returned once used and all trash has to be separated in categories before putting in dumpsters for respective categories of trash.
Germany has the highest Current account surplus in the world i.e. its earnings from exports exceed its expenses from imports.
People don’t carry guns around. Probability of that happening is 1 in 3 million.
People are learning slowly about foreign cultures, but are very friendly when you get to know them better. Contrary to International belief, I never came across a racist person during my long stay.
Citizens vote for higher taxes, this enables country to give top healthcare to its citizens and also maintain good infrastructure. So, healthcare system is very efficient, you can visit doctor without worrying about huge bills as you already pay the insurance cost as percentage of your salary.
Refugees are given refuge, if in genuine distress and are willing to integrate.
Education is free ranging from School to University level. So, average German person is very well educated. Therefore, Students are debt free at the end of their university studies with degree in hand.
Full-Time working hours are 35–40 Hours per week.
All Full-Time employees get 20–30 paid Holidays a year. Sick leave days might not have a limit if you have a prescription.
Inflation is kept under check, so pay raises are low but stuff you wanna buy is still affordable.
Maternity leave (12 months) and 2 months paternity leave are officially granted. There are 14 months of paid parental leave if the father takes at least 2 of them (12 if not). However the 14 months can be divided as seen fit e.g. 7 + 7 months for each parent.
There is no speed limit on Freeways as the roads are good and drivers are trained with long theory lessons and practical training until driving skill reaches adequate level. Hence there is no road rage.
Super rich are taxed higher than low and middle income people.
Unemployed citizens get unemployment allowance (including heating allowance and house rent) till they get a job.
Govt offers Retirement allowance for retired people and veterans.
Teaching good values to children is important, so people with Children never J-walk. That also goes for people who are standing next to people with children before traffic lights.
Food Factor:
1. Beer is the Best in the world without question and its low priced.
2. Though Italian and French wines are popular, German Gengenbacher wine from Blackforest is my all time favorite.
3. Bakeries are the best as well.
4. Everyday food in canteen/mensa is normally Italian and French stuff plus some salads. You always have to do a little bit of research before you find a place that serves authentic German cuisine.
German Football team is best from my personal perspective as they are A REAL TEAM and not a cult formed around a star player.

Limitations in Germany:

Though the new generation speaks English, language of communication in most work places is majorly German.
1. This is not a limitation for local professional working locally. However, it might limit the ability of a German professional to market his/her skills at global level. Skills of German professionals can help the entire world but lesser knowledge of English limit the possibilities of International cooperation.
2. High Skilled professionals who are looking to migrate to Germany must consider learning German or migrate to some other country which has more familiar language as the basis. As except for the startups or jobs in software & IT industries, German is first language at workplace. This might slow down their career growth if they fail to learn the language.
3. For closer integration in German society you get better and faster response if you speak German. Unless people know the language life can be comparatively difficult. Since, I knew the language it was fairly easier for me to get everything organized & get cooperation as compared to other people with same nationality and economic standing.
4. As Germany is slowly opening to attract foreign High-Skilled professionals as it is required due to economic reasons, the language situation is slowly changing but it requires time. Government offices in the city of Düsseldorf have adopted English as an additional language for official purposes and the new generation is adopting English as the second language in schools but the overall transformation will require more time.
Rules are governed by institutions & organizations and therefore are very rigid. Rules might ignore genuine trouble of some people from time to time and may seem illogical.
Local Trains and public transport as well as the ticketing system are managed differently by each city in a different way, there is no standard best practice.

What happened to the radiation that was supposed to last thousands of years in Hiroshima (1945)?

Like a lot of misinformation about radioactivity and radiation, that too was simply wrong.

The actual radiation from the Hiroshima blast was not nearly what some people thought it would be because they were looking at the results of the Trinity explosion in New Mexico. But the trinity explosion was on a tower a hundred feet high and not 2,000 feet in the air. As a result, the Trinity blast generated a lot of residual radioactivity from the dirt that was within the fireball. Even that didn’t last as long as some thought it might.

The Hiroshima bomb, Little Boy, exploded 2,000 feet in the air and the fireball didn’t touch the ground. As a result, although there was a lot of radiation, the only radioactive materials generated came from the components of the bomb itself. Due to the intense heat, much of the radioactive material was carried into the stratosphere and carried away by the wind. The material that descended onto Hiroshima, although highly radioactive, was short lived. You have to understand that if a radioactive material has a short half life, it will be highly radioactive, but only for a short period of time before it has decayed.

The result was that the intense burst of radiation from the bomb was one source of lethal ionizing radiation, but the “black rain” that fell carried some of the short lived, but rapidly decaying material down upon the people.

Today, the background radiation at both Hiroshima and Nagasaki is normal. There is no danger from radiation in either city.

Being an engaged parent

Did the Crusades help stop the spread of Islam in Europe?

No.

Muslims controlled parts of Spain, Portugal and Italy in the 11th century, before the Crusades. They had been in these countries for 300 years and 200 years respectively.

However, by the time the First Crusade was called in 1095:

Sicily had already fallen to the Normans, ending Muslim power in Italy
Muslim Al-Andalus (Spain, Portugal) had already collapsed and splintered into competing states. It was already losing ground to the Christian kingdoms of Castille and Aragon. Toledo fell in 1085 to the Christians.

The premise of this question is false because Islam wasn’t spreading in Europe at the time. On the contrary, it was in serious decline.

But what about the Turks?

The only area where Islam was spreading was in Asia, not Europe. The expansion of the Seljuk Turks from Central Asia into the territory of the Christian Eastern Roman Empire prompted emperor Alexios I Komnenos to ask Pope Urban II for help. This was what triggered the First Crusade.

The Seljuk Turks never reached Europe. Even without the Crusades, it’s highly unlikely that they could have. Horse nomads are not known for their skill at crossing the sea, nor are they famous for taking heavily fortified cities like Constantinople.

Okay, but what about the Ottoman Empire?

The Ottoman Empire conquered large parts of Europe in the 14th to 17th centuries, after the Crusades

So this question couldn’t be more wrong.

Islam was declining, not expanding, in Europe before the Crusades

After the Crusades, Islam expanded into Europe

Conclusion

The Crusades may have encouraged the spread of Islam in Europe, rather than stopping it.

This is because the Fourth Crusade of 1204 famously destroyed the Christian Eastern Roman Empire, doing far more harm to the cause of Christianity in the Near East than any previous event. And it was the weakness of Byzantium that in turn allowed the Ottomans to expand into Europe.

Without the Crusades, the Ottomans would never have existed. Let alone crossed into Europe.

Tldr: the Crusades caused the expansion of Islam into Europe, rather than ‘stopping’ it…

Italian artist Fabbio Fabbi (1861 – 1946) painted many delightful Orientalist scenes, such as this one. One has to be aware that these may not be strictly accurate, (and the concept of the harem is actually dark if one considers the details), but they are pretty to look at…

Is it legal to set deadly traps inside your house to defend against burglars?

WARNING: GRAPHIC STORY INVOLVING SERIOUS INJURIES. IF THAT BOTHERS YOU DO NOT PROCEED READING THIS ACCOUNT!

I know of two times when boobytraps were used with sickening efficiency. In Canada the law is explicit: any type of booby trap is illegal plain and simple.

An individual I knew had been broken into three times through the same basement window and all attempts to reenforce it was met by the burglars taking the challenge and doing increasingly more damage. By the third time there wasn’t anything of value so they did damage and perpetrated some absolutely foul actions involving feces, etc. As I said in Canada booby traps are illegal plain and simple but an item that was designed for something else that caused damage to a uninvited guest was that person’s problem.

This man took a 3′x3′ piece of particle board and drilled about 100 drywall screws into it, after that at the the bottom of the board he assigned values 10, 20 etc. creating a Pachinko game, then “absent-mindedly” left it under the window. About a week later he arrived home to a frightening scene of blood EVERYWHERE. He called the police who attended and investigated.They surmised that the uninvited guest had broken the window and climbed in, dropping to the floor and landing on the Pachinko game. He must have yelled for help and a second uninvited genius came to his aid and in doing so put himself in the same predicament.They freed themselves then left via the front door.

The officers attended the nearest hospital where they found a couple of meth heads with injuries similar to what the B&E guys would have. When questioned, they said it was a construction injury and the officers didn’t push it. They didn’t stay in the hospital as they were tweaking pretty hard. The homeowner faced no legal repercussions but was told that a second Pachinko accident may not be viewed as an accident a second time.The tweakers moved on.

Problem solved. I have a nastier story that if so desired I can relay but I want to see how this story goes over.

The talking cure

Who was the one kid at school who you never believed could make it as far as they did?

There was a dumb immature football player in high school who liked a lot of girls. I was one that he liked. He ended up getting a college scholarship to play football. I never thought he would make it past his junior year. There was another football player that I knew who he was but, didn’t know him that also got a football scholarship. I never thought he would make it past his junior year either. A few years later I was in the break room at my miserable job. The NFL draft was on. I wasn’t really paying attention. Then I saw both of them announced as first round draft picks. Each had a $7,000,000 contract. I was in shock! Several years later I became friends with the one who liked me on Facebook. He quickly started messaging me asking if I was single and wanted my phone number. He started calling me several times a day. He was basically inviting himself to come visit me. We lived 2 hours away from each other. When I let him know that I wasn’t interested he got mad. He told me that I should have gotten with him in high school. He then said that he bets if I would have known how he was going to turn out that I would have gotten with him. I said YEAH!I think he was trying to go back in time and hook up with all the different girls he liked and couldn’t get in high school. He told me he acted the way he did in high school because he wasn’t getting any. I told him the reason he wasn’t getting any is because of the way he acted.

Do you think the Communist Party of China is the world’s best party?

There is no such thing as the world’s best? Each country ought to have what they each see as the best for their nation and their people under different circumstances unique for them, over a development level that is different from country to country.

You can say every nation thinks they have the world’s best for themselves. They ought to be. Otherwise why would they choose it? Surely they all want to do the best for themselves right?

These words or symbols or slurs such as Communism or Democracy or Socialism are tags for various purpose. Some times to simplify some times to discriminate one against another or worst to slur and demonised. These labels meant nothing more, as each nation is shade of grey and not black or white.

The U.S. for example calls itself Liberal democracy. But in reality it is neither democratic nor liberal at all. Is 0.8% of the rich or and powerful decides that the 60 odd % of their people who bother to vote have only two choice Biden a senile or Trump a perpetual liar to choose from, surely that is not democracy!

The U.S. with a mere 4% of world’s population has 25% of the world’s prisoner’s population, surely it cannot liberal nor free? But U.S. can called itself whatever it wants!

China calls itself socialism with Chinese characteristics but the U.S. insists on the label. “Communism” for worst connotations to cast fear and hate on them! If you repeat it like this questioner do, it simply help your media cast hates on China.

To me if the west can call the U.S. a Liberal Democracy why can’t they tern China as Socialism with Chinese characteristics? It is no different from Western media calling Palestinians as “terrorist” and Isreal as freedom “fighter” These slurs and suggesting good is clearly a set. narrative!

Reality

Do lawyers ever have clients who don’t pay them on time or at all? If so, what do they think about them?

Back in my previous incarnation, I worked in collections for the law firm I worked for – drafting legal documents, preparing for hearings, and then taking enforcement steps once we obtained judgment. Yes, we sometimes collected money, but it was usually frustrating and fruitless.

Once, a client offered to pay $2,000 on a $5,000 bill. The lawyer (now a judge) asked my advice. I told her my usual recovery on a judgement was zero. We took the $2,000 and called it a day.

The real problem is that lawyers often start doing work without regard for the client’s ability to pay, they don’t bill regularly and they keep working on files even though there are unpaid bills. I was never involved in one of my firm’s biggest cases – a lengthy patent suit where the client was billed monthly and paid pretty much when it received the bill.

At first, most of the work was centered around clients whose assets we had grossly overestimated. This was very true in family law litigation. However, we often had cases where we simply did too much work for very little return for the client. I remember meeting one client who had met with “other Steve” (who did the collections calls) who complained that the entire amount of the judgement went to pay taxes she owned on the settlement. I told other Steve to write off the bill.

There was the odd client who had the wherewithal to pay, but just didn’t. In a lot of cases they were asset rich and cash poor. They often lived excessive lifestyles even though their income had dropped severely (not our fault by the way). We had a client who owed us about $70,000 and was getting about $100,000 a year from a rich person’s estate. However, that money couldn’t be “attached” by a judgement so we went unpaid.

Have you ever tried to fire someone and it backfired?

Backfire happened when my uncle was fired.

My uncle retired from the Dept. of Agriculture after a long career. He was headhunted by a couple of guys with land who wanted to set up a seed testing company. (If you want to claim something about seeds that you sell, someone independent has to test that.) He set up the program, and had contacts in the industry so that the two guys ended up with all their land in use. A year later the guys looked at their books and realized he was the highest paid person, and that all that he was doing, was signing off that the teenagers taking the readings, etc. and were doing the job right. They could do that.

They called my uncle in and offered him a severance package. He smiled, took the offer, and went home. Next month, they were frantic when they called him. After they had sent out the documentation with their signatures, every company that they were doing business with had called them and sent certified letters. They hadn’t understood that someone qualified as an expert witness needed to be signing those documents. The list of people qualified in that field is short. They had no choice but to hire him back, at an increased salary.

What is the nicest thing you have done that no one knows about?

I was a 16 year old American girl. Our family was living in Brazil due to my father’s employment. My family had gone to the beach for the day and had hauled along a 19 year old acquaintance from church. While at the beach, a woman had swum out too far and she was drowning. The 19 year old and myself swam out to help her. The tide was turning, the waves were really rough, and she was trying to climb up on us in order to not drown. She was so desperate. The situation with the waves, the changing tide, and her extreme emotional state was so dire that the 19 year old looked at me and said, “It is better for her to die than for all three of us to die while trying to save her”. He swam back to shore.

I realized that I would rather die trying to save her than live the rest of my life knowing that I abandoned someone in need. I could not leave her. I just could not do it.

I had taken a Junior Life Saving Course as a 10 or 11 year old. I remembered just enough to know not to let her grab me. I got my elbow around her neck and made her float on her back. I worked on calming her down. I tried to work with the waves instead of against them. It took a while, but we both got back to shore. She was vomiting up water, but she was alive. We both were. My family packed up and we drove home. There were no accolades.

I am 55 years old now, and that event at the age of 16 was a turning point in my life. The experience let me know that I could put my life on the line and do hard things.

Over the years, I have volunteered and donated and done some nice things, but that was the nicest thing I ever did.

Can Taiwan with the QUAD backing it, defeat China

No.

Not even close.

…

Consider this mix…

USA, Taiwan, QUAD, The Philippines, all of NATO vs China. Who would win?

China would win.

…

How? Why? What is the reasoning?

Well…

Let me engage you in some creative illustrations. Because anyone even contemplating such a ludicrous question is completely ignorant of China; China’s history, and China’s massive military capabilities.

A tale of mountains

Imagine, China as a huge; just massive mountain. And on that mountain are thousands, maybe even millions of ant hills. Every meter or yard or so, you see another ant hill. And amongst all those ant hills a dangerous and lethal fire ants. Their bite is painful, and nasty.

The fire ants are organized, communicate by scent, and are completely willing to die on the spot to preserve their colony.

The individual bite of a single ant is painful, but will not really kill any large animal. But if ten ants bite an animal, then you can expect some serious harm to come to that animal. Including death.

…

Now imagine a pack of dogs. Each dog has his own hill to live upon. One dog, the biggest of them all; an old and mangy mutt lives on a mountain, roughly the same size as the Chinese mountain. The other dogs, of various types and sizes and breeds live on an array of different hills and much smaller mountains. One is a husky, another is a German Shepard. One is a poodle, while another one is a lean greyhound.

This pack of dogs like to travel around in a great big pack. They are pretty good at it, running about, digging holes,, barking at everyone.

…

One day, the biggest dog tells the poodle and the beagle to go to the Chinese mountain and start digging and raising a fuss…

And they go up there and run about. Barking. Trampling all over the anthills. They dig into the ground and ants go a flying about. They are so happy that other dogs of the pack join in, and before you know it, all the dogs are running about all over the mountain and tossing the tiny ants everywhere.

Then…

(And anyone who has encountered fire ants knows)

… all at once, simultaneously swarms of fire ants bite in unison every single dog. They flood in from all over. They come from everywhere. And the dogs start running away, but the ants are still clinging to their fur and riding the yelling dogs back to their home mountains.

Some of the smaller dogs die in place. They never leave the China mountain.

The medium sized dogs make it home, where they lay in absolute agony and howl in pain and agony. The large dog collapses and winces and twitches as the fire ants relentlessly bite him over and over.

…

The ants that rode the dogs to their home now are establishing ant colonies there, and they grow and expand even as the dogs dies and their carcasses rot to bleached bones.

The ants in the China mountain rebuild and in no time at all, have bigger and more elaborate ant colonies. And the reign of the dog pack ends.

Replaced with a world run by a peaceful, but lethal fire ant horde.

…

This is the reality of a war with China. Are you ready to watch it happen?

What’s the most appalling behavior you’ve seen by a young child’s parent?

The woman living next door sent sweet bread for me yesterday.

She’s maybe 20 years old, mother of a toddler. It’s been a year they moved in as tenants and aren’t exactly the “hey, how are ya neighbor” type of folks and firmly practice minding their own business.

Last night, as I was back from work and having dinner. My wife brought a plate of sweet bread and said that Faiza (name changed) brought some sweet bread today and sat for a chat; it was delicious and kids loved it. We ate it while she was still here And after noticing the empty plate, she went back and brought some more, saying…

I’m glad you liked it. Here… I have brought some more for brother Neman. He should have some of it too.

And I thought… wow!

I tasted it and yeah it was nice. Sweet and crispy.

Later, I went to the other room and fired up my laptop.

I sat there and thought of her. Faiza.

A short brick wall separates our yards. I hear them all the time. She yells a lot at her husband and vice versa. She says “F” words to him which is quite uncommon. She sobs and nags. A poverty-stricken and miserable woman, indeed.

Worst of all… she curses her own son sometimes. I hear her saying “Drop dead” or “Why don’t you just die” to her own son. Downright awful.

Strangely… I didn’t hate her.

I would have hated anyone else in this situation. But not her. In fact, I felt for her. I remember seeing her as a toddler years back, running in the streets barefoot and playing with clay pots. She grew in this neighborhood.

It is complicated to explain to you, Quorans that in our lower-middle class culture… we just cannot go and tell people to behave on their personal matters. It can be considered rude and might actually trigger an irreversible chain of events that lead to “why did I do it in the first place” .

Believe it or not… I spoke to her one day. I initiated that neighborly talk and told her that I remember her as a toddler, playing in front of my house.

She smiled.

That’s what I was hoping for. A smile.

“I hear you cursing your son, Faiza. Trust me… he’ll remember it when he grows older. You love your child, I know. Do you want him to hate and abandon you as soon he can? It’s not his fault for whatever troubles you’re in”.

And that was it.

A few days later, I was home alone, opened my door upon hearing a knock and found her holding a piece of paper. It was the first time… she actually came to our door. She requested me to have her husband’s character certificate stamped by the local police as he’s applying for a security guard’s job.

I got it done.

It’s been weeks. Yelling between them is there but not so much, I would say. And certainly no more cursing towards her own son. I think… the kid has started going to play group. I saw him in his cute uniform.

And now this… a plate full of sweet bread.

Life’s good, people.

Who’s the funniest patient you’ve ever had as a doctor or nurse?

I was on a general medicine ward earlier this year where I met a patient who we will call Mrs X.

She had agreed to be a teaching patient. This was because she has peripheral vascular disease (the arteries in her legs weren’t working so well) so she had some good signs and symptoms.

While taking the history and exam I got to know this beautiful character very well. She was bright, energetic, witty and very funny!

She made jokes at her own expense, wasn’t afraid to rip into me (I did a little bit back to her too), and despite her rather poor medical state she had a great outlook on life.

Several months go by and I cycle through different specialities.

It was my first day on the geriatric ward and I got assigned my long case. This is a patient I’ll follow for the entirety of my placement. Writing about their medical history and progress.

Guess who I get assigned? It’s Mrs X!

She had undergone a double above knee amputation due to her peripheral vascular disease.

As soon as she saw me she smiled and said;

Mrs X: “Well I’ll be dammed! Who let this packet of trouble in here, how are you Carter?”.

I smiled, her cheeky wit was all to familiar and lovely to see.

Me: “I know right! Can’t get rid of me that easily. Hopefully you will be able to keep up with my banter still Mrs X”.

Mrs X: “Oh I will. No going easy just because I’ve no longer got a leg to stand on”.

From her cheeky grin erupted a heavy belly laugh. Only she could joke about a double amputation.

Me: “I would never, and I’m not giving you one of mine to stand on either!”.

We then proceeded to give each other a hug and catch up on the last few months.

Sometimes humour really is the best form of medicine.

What is it like to see the one you love with someone else?

The first time I saw my ex’s new partner, she stepped out of my old marital home with her child and stared at me blankly on the doorstep when I was picking up my son. It was odd, to say the least, to be standing outside my own house (effectively)and being introduced to his new flame. I hugged and kissed her hello and said ‘’Nice to meet you.’ Then walked away feeling surreal and asking myself ‘’What the hell is happening here?’

I was married for 18 years. We had a fairytale relationship. There were only three certainties in life: taxes, death and the fact that we would be together for the rest of our lives. But, things ended.

A reasonable adult will accept that the relationship ended for good reasons and that things just weren’t working anymore. But when your ex finds a new partner, that’s a whole different story. When he introduces his new partner to mutual friends as ‘’the love of his life,’ you find yourself having the petty, angry feelings a teenager would have. Then you chastise yourself for becoming THAT person.

And the day your 8 year old tells you that his suit for the wedding is too tight and you look at him bemused because you have no idea what he’s on about, and he looks back at you like a deer in headlights because he assumed you knew, you feel like you have been punched in the stomach. And weeks later, when you receive a text from an aquaintance asking ‘You okay?’ and it turns out she’s referring to the wedding photo just posted on social media, you feel you never existed. That’s when you realise those 18 years of love, support, fidelity, encouragement and accomplishment meant absolutely nothing to your ex. Or his family.

So you spend the next couple of years in a haze of various emotions (hatred, resentment, anger, jealousy, insecurity, despair) until one day you realise you’ve not thought about it much lately. And although the hurt will never disappear entirely, eventually it makes more sense to just accept it.

Why people divorce

Pretty good explanation.

In the USA…

Ohio, USA auctioned off 393,000 pieces of protective clothing for only $2451, and eventually threw away 7.2 million pieces of protective clothing as well as expired masks, gloves, and other materials. These soon to expire supplies cost approximately $29 million in federal funds.

Vermont sold 105,000 boot covers for $82.50 and thousands of safety goggles for 29 cents.

A survey by the Associated Press found that at least 15 states from Alaska to Vermont have abandoned some of their personal protective equipment due to expiration, surplus, and lack of willing buyers.

More than 18 million masks, 22 million protective suits, 500,000 gloves, and more have all been thrown into the trash can. This does not include states that have not provided accurate numbers to the Associated Press or responded through case studies or other measurement methods. Rhode Island states that it has crushed and recycled 829 tons of personal protective equipment. Maryland processed over $93 million in supplies.

The entire article is too long and there is a lot of material waste. I have only cited a small part of it. And that’s just what the US has calculated by itself.

In the past three years, countless people around the world have lost their parents, children, and partners. These life-saving supplies are just rotting here. Tell me, who is the one who does not respect human rights?

At the same time as these things happen, Washington was doing this. No party has done better.

The economic structure of this world is a joke, your society is a joke, and I watch it with tears in my eyes.

It needs to be changed. It can be changed. It must be changed.

Zones v3 – The most useful relationship map in history

What was the worst date you’ve ever been on?

“It’s really more of an in-person kind of explanation,” he demured, then suggested a dinner date.

I hesitated. Normally I don’t meet my online dates until significantly more text and phone contact. Partly for safety reasons, partly because I don’t want to waste my time on guys I know will not work out. But mostly because I have been on A LOT of bad dates.

He said he was living in his friend’s spare room because he’d hit a few “speed bumps,” in life. I totally got that. I’m the queen of speed bumps myself. I let myself dare to hope maybe— just maybe— I had found a kindred spirit. I agreed to the date. And just like that, there I was, listening to him tell his story from across the candlelit table.

”About a year ago, I went out with some friends after work,” he began, and I smiled and nodded to let him know he had my attention. “I met a girl at a bar and we really hit it off. We ended up going home together. Next day, there’s a cop on my doorstep. And yada, yada, yada… long story short, she didn’t LOOK sixteen.”

I stiffened. Did she look 30? Because you’re 44, dude.

“So,” he continued, “I have a felony on my record. I was put on probation, and my job fired me. And then, just to kick me when I’m down” —and this is my favorite part— “my wife left me.”

?!??!!

“Bummer,” I said, because what else is there to say?

“So I was out of work, and my mom and I couldn’t live off her social security check alone, so she started driving for Uber…

… That’s how she caught COVID and died.”

And this is why I’m still single.

Is it normal that my parents still let my 23-year-old sister live with them even though she does absolutely nothing in life? She has autism but other people with autism manage to get a job too so that shouldn’t be an excuse.

So you have an adult sister with autism, and you resent her living with your parents and, from your perspective, “doing nothing”.

You obviously don’t live with your parents and sister.

Autism is a spectrum disorder, meaning that there is a very wide range of capability and deficits. If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person. What one person with autism does has no bearing on what another person with autism can or will do.

Do you know anything about what your sister is capable of? Perhaps she had difficulty with language, making any interaction with the public impossible. Perhaps she has extreme sensory issues, making leaving her home environment an exercise in pain and anxiety. Autistic people can be intellectually disabled, or intellectually gifted. And both extremes tend to struggle with the social rules of conversation and interaction.

I would suggest that you find out more about your sister, without judgement. Ask questions with an open mind. Attend doctor’s appointments with your parents. Get to know your sister, on a personal level, without expectation of what she “should” be doing.

It’s perfectly normal, and even typical, for adults with autism to live with parents. They may lack the necessary mental skills to manage schedules, financial decisions, even cooking a meal or basic hygiene. While being able to discuss the intricacies of rainforest habitats.

However, your parents will not be able to care for her forever. And she is your sister. Eventually she may need you to help. So lose the attitude and get informed. That way you can be a loving, caring sibling, rather than a jealous, resentful one.

What is SpaceX doing differently that makes the company so successful?

That’s three spaceX raptor engines, on a regular ass flatbed trailer, being towed around by a ford.

ULA and all of the other legacy launch providers would have built some bespoke vehicle at the cost of millions of dollars to do this job.

I can think of few other images that capture in one shot the difference in philosophy at play here. SpaceX acts like it’s stuff is commodity, yet tough hardware, and that it can be treated as such.

It’s a rocket engine. If it can’t survive being towed around by a ford, it’s probably not going to survive flying to mars, landing, and taking off again with minimal human interaction.

The entire south Texas facility looks like a construction site that might be dedicated to the oil and gas sector (which is no surprise, given as that’s the sector that largely built it), not some hyper-clean room high tech facility that looks like it’s primarily built to host congressional delegations. The equipment used is overwhelmingly the sort of stuff that one sees at any industrial facility where you have to worry about cost, rather than the taxpayer subsidized specials that legacy companies seem to be addicted too.

Loyalty is really important to men

Have your neighbors ever called the cops on you for something ridiculous?

When I was still dating Ebba, she warned me for her father on several occasions. That he was a difficult man, that he was incapable of listening to other people, and that he constantly complained about my trees being too high. And that he would never stop.

Her words turned out to be augural signs for what was to come.

Have your neighbors ever called the cops on you for something ridiculous ?

Yes, all the time.

It started with nagging. Nagging about my hedge which was too high, nagging about my backyard birches whose leaves fell into his garden (and those tiny, tiny twigs), then about an old elder tree that (slightly) leaned over on his side of the fence, then about a Christmas tree that would grow too big in the future, then about all the shadow which is cast on his property.

Nagging, nagging, nagging.

So he contacted the community officer to complain, and that kind man patiently tried to explain that on the countryside, trees and hedges are a normal thing, and so are leaves and the like. He did not listen.

Some time later, we came back from abroad near the end of Eastern holidays, and our beautiful Christmas tree — the one that “would grow too big in the future” — had been cut. The bully admitted without any shame that he had done it.

The community officer tried to explain to my neighbor that this was not done, but again the bully did not listen.

And so it began, and proceeded.

Then envelopes came. With pictures of all the leaves and twigs that fell into their garden, and of all the fictional damage that they had done.
Then he sued us in a Justice of Peace court because of our trees, and the judge himself came by to check on his complaints. And he did not agree, on all accounts. He explained the bully that leaves and twigs are a part of country life, and that he would have to live with that. (He did not listen.)
The bully then nearly physically attacked me, and threw his entire repertoire of vile words in my face (and some of it also in my ear). He was heavily reprimanded by the judge. (He did not listen.)
Since then, he called the community officer again, and was again reprimanded and asked to stop. (He did not listen.)

Ebba was right indeed — her father will never stop.

So we planted a seedling of a giant sequoia in our frontyard.

It is a direct descendant of a 500-year-old Californian giant, and it grows ferociously. Last year, it doubled in volume and added more than two feet to its height, and it will keep on doing that until it towers above all the neighborhood trees in no time.

The gauntlet has been thrown.

And a shadow will be cast.

What is the strangest reaction of someone who has just been fired?

I left the office laughing.

On my second day in my new job, I was summoned to a meeting with the director. He told me that the person I had been hired to replace, as the top finance person in the company, had accepted an offer to stay, and that I would therefore not be made permanent.

Aside from some curiosity about this development, which he declined to gratify, my reaction was being absolutely fine. Just another curveball in the strangest year of my life.

As I got up to leave, my chair knocked over the fan behind me.

“Just because you’re being let go, doesn’t mean you can start trashing the place!” he said, and we both laughed.

Added:

Ten days later, I had lunch with the man who had replaced me at my previous job, as we had become friends during the handover. He asked me to come back and work with him. I accepted. A few weeks after that I fell in love with him. Last month we celebrated a year together. Funny what life throws at you.

What is the most ridiculous reason for which you have been fired?

I was fired, but I probably deserved it.

When I was 18, I had a job as a receptionist in a small doctor’s office in a rural area. There were three doctors who were based in another community. Their hours at this clinic were sporadic. This was when our healthcare system was in transition and many of the rural people didn’t understand the complicated new changes.

I noticed that the head doctor, who owned the business, was doing some dodgy things. He was billing the government for treatment, and then charged the rural people cash for the same visit. For example, a girl who had saved up money came in to have her ears pierced, was charged cash. The doctor then billed the province for an “ear infection.”

This same doctor opened an x-ray clinic in his own community, and apparently almost everyone who came through the door “needed” x-rays.

There’s more. In those days, the family doctor went all the way with his pregnant patients, from a positive pregnancy test, to delivery. Except this doctor was a no show, every time. Sometimes he went golfing after getting these calls! Sometimes he walked his dogs instead of attending the birth, birth after birth. Most times he got the message and simply ignored it.

This was awful! These poor rural people were being cheated, and the pregnant moms, too.

So, I took photocopies of government billing and the receipts for cash. I had lots.

I began telling these pregnant clients the truth, and they started going elsewhere for treatment.

I was at a loss as to what to do next, so I took all my photocopies to the mayor of the closest large community. He thought they were interesting. I was so pleased. However, the mayor didn’t tell me what would happen next…

I went to work the next day and the day after that. THEN, I got a call from the wife of the doctor, firing me. She didn’t say why, it was a short call. I’d never been fired before, and I had such hurt feelings that I actually cried. I felt so terribly unwanted.

Then I got a call from an employee at the other clinic. She said there were two mean guys from the government there who showed up with some kind of paper that said they could search through all the files. Later I learned that the doctor lost all his hospital privileges in the provinces. A couple of years later, he closed his business and left the country.

Still satisfying. All these years later.

Why do I keep seeing people on Quora saying the ancient Chinese were very strong and advanced, yet they got wrecked by the British (not targeting China, just curious)?

Rationally speaking, China or the Qing Dynasty was ruined by its own problems, and the British were only the fuse that ignited them.

In fact, with the wealth and potential that China has, it is difficult for any other country to really challenge it as long as it is on a normal track, having long occupied a quarter of the world’s population and wealth, reaching half at its peak. Such a country could only be destroyed from within. Several vulnerable periods in China have been marked by various unresolvable structural contradictions:

First of all the Song dynasty was conquered by the Mongols, since the Song dynasty was a local power, it had no control over the north and was caught in a long war with Jin and Liao, even so, the Song was the last large country to be conquered by the Mongols, after the Mongols had conquered most of Eurasia, they concentrated their forces of half of the continent to attack the Song dynasty, even so, the war lasted almost 50 years, it was not easy for the Mongols and As Mongol Khan died in Sichuan, it forced Mongolia to stop its conquest of Europe and led to the division of the Mongol Empire.
Then came the Manchu invasion. The problem of the Ming Dynasty was the successive famines during the Little Ice Age and the failed fiscal policies that led to a high concentration of wealth to the bureaucratic class, with officials getting rich and the country not collecting taxes. The corrupt bureaucrats had no regard for the survival of the country before their personal interests, and the Ming Dynasty collapsed after a massive peasant uprising broke out, at which point the warlords in the north also colluded with the Manchus for their own benefit and gave China away.

The structural contradiction of the late Qing dynasty was that it was a minority regime, which meant that the rulers saw the state as their property and the people as their slaves, and they were more afraid of having their rights taken away by the people as opposed to being afraid of foreign invaders; after all, foreigners wanted only property (territory) and the people wanted their lives. Therefore, the Manchu rulers did not dare to mobilize the power of the people and let them master advanced productivity and technology. As a result, Japan in the same period could modernize rapidly on a much worse basis, while the Manchu aristocracy could only make do.

There are many uncanny but thought-provoking phenomena in the Opium Wars that illustrate these issues.

The British did not initially sell opium to China; since they had already succeeded in the Industrial Revolution, they believed their greatest advantage was industrial consumer goods, which could be industrially mass produced at low cost, and through which they believed they could succeed in China.

And then they failed.

Haha, yes, because China was in a small peasant economy, with little economic circulation and no modernization, the peasants did not need these consumer goods at all, nor could they afford them. For food, they grew their own, for clothing, the price of Chinese cloth was even lower, and the most demand was for spices, a few agricultural tools, and only the high officials and the rich consumed those “magical gadgets”.

Well, the British adjusted their strategy and they started selling Indian spices to the Chinese, but that’s when a new problem arose, and that was the balance of trade. Due to the extensive trade, Chinese porcelain, silk and tea flooded into Europe, fostering European consumption habits, especially tea, which was literally gold growing out of the ground. Europeans have always suffered from the local water quality problems, due to industrial pollution, and no modern tap water system, Europeans have long endured the bitterness of drinking water, tea is simply a savior. At that time, people did not know that the soil had the problem of acidity and alkalinity, and they thought that only China could produce good tea. Therefore tea became the core of the world’s trade at that time, for the profiteering of tea, the British shipped almost all the world’s silver to China, which led to the silver crisis in Europe, that is, severe deflation.

To balance trade, British merchants packaged opium to sell to China as medicine, which opened the door to a new world, yes, the door to nightmares.

Opium was a perfect trade good, a product that could be manufactured in large quantities and that consumers could not get rid of after forming a habit, but none of this is the core of the problem, the most crucial point is that opium was banned in China. You must think I’ve said something wrong, but no, the logic goes like these:

Since opium was banned, Chinese farmers could not grow it, so this meant that China’s greatest advantage, the cost advantage, was gone, something that had not been the case with previous agricultural products.
Because opium was banned, it could not be imported through normal channels, was not taxable, and because the trade between China and abroad was monopolized by a few individuals who were thus sufficiently profitable, there was sufficient incentive for Chinese and foreign trading merchants to collude and buy officials to smuggle large quantities of opium. When the supervising officials essentially became accomplices of the smugglers, and there was no channel to respond to the ruling class about the actual situation, the opium trade became a mutually agreeable existence.
Since there was no supervision, everyone became complicit, forming a wide class of interests, so much so that it was even more impossible to contain, and the profitable officials made money to share the profits with their superiors, so that the senior officials were also deeply involved, so much so that the emperor was aware of the situation at a later stage but still could not stop it, because even the emperor himself could not resist the temptation brought by profits.

When the opium trade grew exponentially, problems arose, the people took a lot of opium, a large number of refugees emerged who were bankrupted by opium, the army took a lot of opium opium and lost its fighting strength, and the most crucial problem was the same as the situation in Europe before, the outflow of silver. At this point, the emperor finally realized the problem, yes, the emperor never worried about the miserable situation his people were in, he only cared about himself and his property, that is, silver.

At this point, the “smart” officials came up with a solution, the same as the current North American policy on marijuana, if you can not prohibit, simply liberalize.

Well, the nightmare really came. Due to the huge profits of opium, farmers stopped growing grain and they grew opium, domestic opium quickly took over the market, opium prices plummeted, more people started smoking opium, the market became bigger, so much so that smugglers could still make a lot of money even if they paid taxes legally and provided the officials with kickbacks as much as they should, and instead of balancing the trade, the open door policy made opium even more unstoppable.

When the Qing government once again made up its mind to ban opium, it was too late. The harsh policy not only failed to solve the problem, but also angered British businessmen, who spent a lot of money to convince the British Parliament to vote to declare war on the Qing Empire, a vote in favor of which was narrowly won by only nine votes. This meant that even at the time, when Britain was at its strongest, they did not have enough confidence to defeat China halfway across the world, tens of thousands of kilometers away. The parliamentary lords took the money and sent a small expeditionary force to try, at least they knew that the Qing did not have enough naval forces to retaliate against them.

At this point, the ignorance and lack of understanding of the other side on both sides of the battlefield is mind-boggling to people today.

The Qing emperor had always arrogantly believed that he was the ruler of the world and that the British were just some barbarians. He regarded the British attack as a historical harassment of China by barbarians from the north, as if the British army would immediately surrender and kneel down and beg for mercy as soon as he gave the order for the Chinese army to attack, which was not the funniest thing, the funniest thing was that the initial reaction of the British army seemed to confirm his judgment.

Surprisingly, the British fleet did not dare to attack and only cruised in the outer sea. The Qing generals holding on to the shore batteries even became bored, thinking that the British were bluffing and how they dared to fight against the armies of Heaven.

Do you know what the British think? The British think they are “blockading the port”. I have to say, I really laughed, “blockade of ports”? They didn’t even know that the Chinese had no concept of trade or sea power at that time, and all trade was packaged by officials as “tribute” from the surrounding barbarians to the central state, which had everything and didn’t need to trade at all, but only to show appreciation and give gifts to the “tribute”.

In fact, it was when the British fleet prepared to blockade the Yangtze northward and began to move deeper inland that the real battle took place, a process that shocked both sides.

British naval guns were surprisingly farther-ranged and more powerful than the Chinese shore guns
The Qing shore guns were surprisingly all fixed guns, unable to adjust their angles or aim, and could only probabilistically kill.
The Qing army’s jingalls were surprisingly unable to inflict fatal wounds on the British.

The British tactic of suppressing fire with naval guns and attacking with small units around the flank and rear was surprisingly easy to make the Qing defenses collapse. And this simple tactic seemed to work forever; the Qing army seemed to have absolutely no reconnaissance capability.
The Chinese population around the battlefield simply watched both sides perform, and even applauded the British victory, as they were apparently more oppressed by the Qing officials.

In the end, this turned into an almost one-sided massacre.

At the same time, the message to the palace is a lot of good news. The officials could not explain such an incredible defeat, and they could only cajole the emperor that although the Qing army had been winning, the harassment of the British brought a huge financial burden. How about giving the “barbarians” a sum of money to meet their trade requests and induce the British to retreat? They even falsely claimed that the defeated British army knelt outside the city gates and prayed for the mercy of heaven, which was moving.

Coincidentally, this was the time when, due to a massive outbreak of plague among the British army, more people died of disease than died in battle, and the British army was unable to fight, so a consensus was reached. The officials and the emperor saved face and the British got the benefit. The first unequal treaty in modern Chinese history, the Treaty of Nanking, was signed in such a confused manner, which started the prelude to China’s “hundred years of humiliation”. And this war even too small to be worth mentioning in the history of the British.

What, if anything, can be learned from this history? I would end this article with a quote from the Chinese author Liu Cixin in The Three-Body Problem.

Weakness and ignorance are never an obstacle to survival, but arrogance is.

This statement is not only addressed to the Chinese, but also to the many Westerners who currently know nothing about China but are happy to teach the Chinese how to behave. Hopefully, as mature civilizations, we should all refrain from repeating the mistakes of the past.

What is the most ludicrous thing someone got fired for at your job?

I had an employee in her late 30s that kept missing work. She called in with lots of excuses. Vandalized car, stolen keys. I put her on a performance plan (first step to termination). So, she reported to HR that she was an alcoholic. I, according to HR, could no longer terminate her. So, I (the company) continued to pay her while she spent 3 days in jail. I paid for her to be off work for a month, while she attended out-patient rehab. During her time off for rehab, she got pregnant. I paid for her to have a baby and 8 weeks off work. She continued to miss work…probation appointment, broken car-start-breathalyzer. Her work was terrible, she antagonized the other employees and spent a good part of her workday outside smoking cigarettes. She eventually quit. I never was allowed to fire her.

However, I had another employee that I did fire…for smoking marijuana during her time off work. She was selected for random drug testing. She failed for marijuana. Even though she was not using at work, and she was a good employee, I was required to fire her. She was in her 60s. She apologized to me as I was terminating her. I went back to my office and cried after she left. I felt so terrible for what I had done to her.

So, smoking tobacco leaves and drinking alcohol to the point of complete failure to perform….ok! Smoking marijuana leaves during your time off, while doing a good job at work…b-bye.

Completely upside down.

You suddenly wake up 50 years in the past with nothing but your clothes, smartphone and memories of modern life in the year 2019. How do you use what you have to best advance humanity?

I get to New York City, by hitchhiking if need be.
I go to the New York library and find the name of a good patent attorney.
I visit his office and show him the phone.
His jaw drops to the floor. He knows he’s looking at nothing that can be built in 1969.
Then I tell him there’s nothing in that phone I know how to patent, but I know a lot about the broad evolution of technology over the next 50 years across semiconductors, computers, programming, biology, material science, etc.
He takes another look at what is obviously the most powerful supercomputer on the planet…
Then I say: “I need a place to stay and a little spending money while we figure out how to build a company that’s going to own the most important intellectual property portfolio the world has ever seen. We’ll need scientists, engineers, investors, and lawyers working together. You in?”

You want a patent attorney, they see the possibilities.

Have you ever accidentally found out that you were about to be fired?

Oh yes! Back in the day (early 2000’s) when I lived in Los Angeles I worked in the accounting department for a catering company. After a few months I was doing ok but I was aware that my immediate supervisor (we will call him Javier) was not very fond of me. (Well, actually he had been WAY too fond of me at first but once I turned him down it was downhill for me in that office. But that’s a separate story and I don’t mean to digress.)

One day the phone at my desk rings and I answer it. The young lady on the other line tells me she is answering the add she read in the paper (yup, newspaper ads! I am that old!) about the job opening and she is interested to set up an interview. Yes you read correctly: Those idiots had placed an ad in the newspapers for MY job and had given the phone number at MY desk as the contact by mistake. I was very pleasant to the young lady on the phone as well as the other dozen or so that called until Javier made it in later that day. I went into his office with a big smile and handed him his messages and said something along the lines of ‘oh and these messages are from people answering the want ad. You know, the ones that want to interview for my job.’ He looked at me in complete shock and embarrassment since I had just called him a complete idiot and he was left speechless which is essentially what had happened. I mean, what could he say? That was on a Friday and the owner of the company (who was completely unaware) was in Hawaii and would not return to the office until Monday. The owner came back on Monday livid that this had happened, was embarrassed and apologised for causing me any discomfort. Javier didn’t apologise as much as he said that California was an ‘at-will’ state which meant that one could be fired for no reason at all, blah, blah and that he really wasn’t a bad guy (only an idiot!). I didn’t have another job lined up so I let it go.

Fast forward about about 2 months later. Again a Friday and in the morning my phone rings. The young lady on the other end wanted to confirm her interview appointment for 3 PM that day. Again, for MY job! I responded ‘sure, no problem! See you then!’ After lunch my co-worker (who I though was my friend but turns out he wanted to safeguard his own position so he sided with Javier) says something like ‘hey Christian, there isn’t much left to do today. Why don’t you go home?’. I responded with a ‘naw, I have so much to do with blah blah…’ Half hour later Javier comes to me with the same question. I said ‘oh no, I want to get ahead with blah blah…’ 3 PM comes around, bell rings and in comes in the young lady. I sat her ass down in my seat, got her some coffee and told her I would let Javier know. I go to his office and announce ‘Mary is here for her interview for my job. I got her some coffee. I’m going home like you suggested. Have a great weekend!’ They once again found themselves speechless at their own idiocy. She turned them down.

A few weeks later I landed my dream job during the catering company’s busiest time period. My new job told me they needed me to start immediately. I told them that even though Javier had treated me like homemade dog piss, I was still going to give them a 2-week notice because that was the correct thing to do. The following day I walked into Javier’s office and gave my notice. He begged me to please stay for at least a couple of more months until the busy period subsided and they did not have someone to do my job. I said I could not and that the 2 weeks was all that I could give them. I left with my head held high and worked at the other company for 10 years until I moved to Europe. Moral of the story: When someone treats you like dog crap do not sink to their level and don’t forget your self respect by teaching them a lesson on what human decency is all about because sooner or later karma will still find those Mother Fuckers.

As an American, would you sacrifice the ability to choose your own doctor and receive expedient service in exchange for cheaper, universal healthcare?

When I signed up with my US health insurer, Humana, the first thing they did was assign me to a different doctor than the one I had been seeing for fifteen years. I called them and told them to put me back with my regular doctor. In April of 2023, I recived a new insurance card with a different doctor’s name and a letter informing me of a change in my primary care physician. Again, I called them and told them to put me back with my previous doctor. In June of 2023, I recived a new insurance card with a different doctor’s name and a letter informing me of a change in my primary care physician. Once again, I called them and told them to put me back with my previous doctor. In September of 2023, I recived a new insurance card with a different doctor’s name and a letter informing me of a change in my primary care physician. I no longer have Humana as my insurer.

So don’t tell me that as an American I have the ability to choose my own doctor when my insurance company keeps trying to deny me that choice.

American health insurance is shit.

EDIT: I should point out that my original primary doctor was and is in Humana’s “network” to begin with. Their insistence on assigning me to another doctor was either some kind of bureaucratic nonsense or they were just fucking with me. Either way, there was no reason for them to keep reassigning me when I clearly stated my preference time and again.

What is the most bulletproof advice your dad ever gave you?

One day dad and I went into a deep conversation about various aspects of life. Topics like meaning of life, life after death, role of luck in success etc.

Conversation went deep and we kept discussing and I was all ears to grasp whatever wisdom he had to offer.

Then I asked him “Dad if you have to give one solid advice to me that I should always follow, what should be it. Just one?”

He thought for a while and then asked me, “What is your utmost priority in life”?

I gave a grin smile and said, “My Career”…..I was 28 then.

To which he replied, “Suppose you earn $ 10,000 + in a month some years from now, for that obviously you have to trade time for money and you ignore everything to earn money. By the time you turn 40/45 you have all the money in the world and are financially secure. You have a house of your own, a car and all luxuries. But since you have traded time with money, you didn’t focus on your health and now you are obese and have a weight of 90 Kgs and is catching with some diseases such as diabetes, obesity, joints pain etc.

Why did you earn so much money? To buy luxuries and to enjoy them. Now even if you have all the luxuries in the world, you can’t enjoy them as you ignored your health, and now your body is ignoring you. Even if you want to enjoy the travel, food etc that money has to offer but you can’t utilize luxuries to the fullest.

One line he said that I will never forget – “You can work hard and with your skillset you can earn money anytime but once health is lost, it becomes quite difficult to regain back your health.”

So my son, never ignore your health for anything. Health is wealth. If you have health, you can enjoy life till your last breath.

Even if he is 65 now, he never misses taking care of his health for 2 hours a day at least and plays table tennis better than people in their 30s at his place. I have not seen missing him his workout for more than 3/4 days at a stretch for the last 35 odd years. Even after retirement he was of the view that I must not pass time rather being a good cook, he started his own youtube channel – “RAVI SISODIYA”

and is doing well. Enjoys his passion and interaction with subscribers.

I was not regular at that time and then decided to keep my health a number one priority.

Whatever your profession be, never ignore your health for more days in a row. Respect your body and mind and you will get the same in return.

Why are Russia and China conducting military exercises off the Alaska Coast?

First, it makes the absurdity of the “island chain containment” plain and obvious.

It is no longer this map keeping the Pentagon awake at night:

but these:

That is a whole lot more real estate, with few american base assets in sight.

The combined Chinese and Russian fleet this year is sizable, at 11. More tellingly, the US sent 4 Arleigh Burke destroyers and a P-8 in response, rather than rely on the Coast Guard like last year.

The diversion of 4 destroyers from regular operations opens up a 16% operational hole for a navy that is already stretched thin trying to match the operational tempo of the PLAN in the Western Pacific.

This is an important development on the chessboard, because the psychology has shifted.

The US can no longer plan around concentrating assets along the Western Pacific, because the Pacific and Arctic are huge playgrounds.

What will make it even more interesting is the presence of Chinese naval aviation when the emals carriers enter service. America will have to send a CBG or two in response, but there is the type 055’s formidable VLS battery to contend with, and so on. Fascinating calculus, if you are a wargaming nuthead.

That will upend the already stretched resources of the USN.

In other words, nightmare-inducing calculus for Americans, who will not be able to accept the Chinese conducting Sigint flights off its own coast, like it has been doing for decades on the other side of the ocean.

The Pacific is not America’s backyard. Neither is Pearl Harbor the keystone.

Time to tear up old maps and make new ones, at least where deployment of forces and chinks in the armor are concerned.

The Pacific is where Chinese power projection will develop, not Oceania, the Indian Ocean and elsewhere.

Note: Currently, more than 70 percent of the USN’s deployed assets are allocated to the 7th fleet and Indopacom, and they are concentrated in the waters around the island chains. In other words, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Fleets share ~30 deployable ships.

What are your thoughts on Chinese state-controlled media? Do you believe it is more reliable than Western mainstream newspapers like The Guardian or The New York Times?

Chinese official media is actually very boring.

But they have a great advantage, almost not lying.

I mean that they also have political prejudice, and they will also have strong ideological comments, and there will also be a degradation of competitors. But they always state exact facts. If some things are included in the unhappy scope, or things are not really determined, their choices are not reported, but they will not choose to lie.

Let me give an example:

Some people found several corpses in a car, looking like Asians, but without any identity proof, the police had been involved in the investigation.

Report by BBC CNN NYT:

1. Insiders revealed that several drug dealers from China died of attacking each other because they were unevenly split.

2. Several Asians were found to die in the car, and they may be a smuggler from Vietnam.

3. Our reporter was at the scene, and some residents told us that several Koreans died here. They come from a mysterious underground church, perhaps in a certain ceremony.

Are you familiar with it?

CNTV report:

Police found several men dying in the car, and their identities have not been found. Please pay attention to the safety of the surrounding residents. If you have a clue, please notify the police.

Is it boring?

we know. The mainstream Western media often lie, and they will report some things to catch the wind, even the news and hearing news. When one thing is proved to be false, they only need to apologize or revoke the article. After all: freedom of speech.

However, China’s official media are different. Chinese public opinion has strict bottom line requirements for official media: not lying.

In the Internet era, it is almost impossible to completely deceive everyone. In China’s official media, when a news report or video finally proves that the fabricated lies, the person in charge of the official media will immediately fall into a scandal. Waiting for them is generally withdrawal and reputation sweeping the floor. Apology does not have any effect.

However, there are also many unofficial media in China, and their content is much confusing. In addition to being limited in political content, they often lie in a row to catch the wind and catch the wind to attract attention.

Because they are conservative and boring, they only tell you that they are very limited before without exact facts. Therefore, Chinese official media often difficult to attract people’s attention, and their click rate and dissemination on the Internet are also very low.

Volkswagen media is more popular because it has more curiosity and entertainment.

But in China, when people want to know the truth of major events, they often believe in the official media and complain why the official media is so slow that there is no more detailed news.

When did you realize your parent was a total badass?

I grew up on a farm. There was a small forest, which we called “the woods,” on one end of the farm. Every year, my father would post “No Hunting” signs around the woods. But every year hunters would still come there, as the woods were filled with rabbit, pheasant, deer, and other game. When he saw them, my father would go out to the woods and explain to the hunter that these were his woods, he did not allow hunting, and they would have to leave.

One time, when I was four, my father was with my brother, who was six, when they saw a hunter at the edge of the woods, looking into the woods for something to shoot. My father took my brother’s hand, walked over to the hunter, and said “These are my woods. I don’t allow hunting. You’ll have to leave.” The hunter turned around, pointed his shotgun at my six year old brother’s chest, and said “I’ll hunt wherever I damn well please.” My father slowly backed away with my brother and went back to the house.

A few minutes later, he came out again. But instead of crossing the field that led from the house to the woods, he went to the side, where a chicken coop extended to the edge of the woods. He walked quietly behind the chicken coop, until he came to the edge of the woods, about twenty feet from the hunter, who was still intently looking into the woods for something to shoot. My father said to the hunter “Drop the gun and leave immediately.” Except this time, when the hunter turned around, instead of my father holding the hand of a six year old boy, he was holding a .38 revolver…which was pointed at the hunter’s head. As soon as he started to turn around, my father said simply “Drop it or die.”

My father died four years ago. It had been almost sixty years since this happened. When I went to clean out his house, the hunter’s shotgun was still in his closet.

What is your best parking spot revenge?

In the 90s I was the parts secretary at a Ford dealership. We had a few parking spaces for office staff close to our entrance. We often hauled in office supplies, food and boxes of promotional materials for sales, and we often left after dark.

A young, cocky new salesman was hired and started parking (his Ford pickup) in our spots. I politely explained to him why it was it was important to keep those spaces open for us. He shrugged and continued to park there.

I confronted him again with a firmer tone. “You gotta stop parking there man!” With two little words he sealed his fate. “Or, what?” Sweetie. Snookums. I got a truckload of what.

In those days a Ford dealership could get any information they wanted on a Ford. With his VIN number I made a duplicate key. When he parked in our spots I moved his truck to the back corner of the lot where new deliveries would bury it and he’d have to move several cars to get his. I didn’t stop there though.

Anytime I saw his truck anywhere I’d move it. Shopping Center? Moved. Street parking for a restaurant? Moved. That kid was looking for his car several times a week!

Eventually he came in to our office grovelling and pleading with me to stop. He promised to never park in our spots again.

EDIT: Wow! Now I see why there are always edits on these! Some of you are apoplectic that I “got away” with a heinous crime. It’s occurred to me that you are extremely fortunate to have never been the victim of domestic violence, stalking, rape, burglary or actual car theft. If you had you’d know that police aren’t much help in any of the above situations and perpetrators are rarely arrested.

Could I have, with righteous indignation, insisted he be formally reprimanded? Yeah. But who wants to be that bitch? Not me. He learned a lesson in a fun way. He took it in stride. He likely doesn’t remember my name (I don’t remember his) but he likely remembers me and this story as fondly as I do. And maybe, just maybe, he has a little more respect for how clever women can be instead of seeing us as spiteful hags. Lighten up!

Went to Motor Vehicles Today to Have LIENHOLDER Removed from Car Titles – Wait til you hear THIS . . . .

Nation Hal Turner 20 December 2023

Today I went to New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) on Summit Avenue in Jersey City, NJ to have the LIENHOLDER info removed from two vehicle Titles since I’ve paid the car loans off. You’re not gonna BELIEVE what happened . . .

Firstly, after the COVID scam, New Jersey Motor Vehicle has NOT done away with the requirement to make an appointment to go to one of their offices to have paperwork done. So I had to schedule today’s appointment last weekend, and I did.

I get there, walk in, and there’s two security guards who ask “Do you have an appointment? I reply “yes” and they ask to see the appointment confirmation from online! I brought it with me just in case, and gave it to them. They tell me, go in and see the Receptionist on the left. I go in.

I get to the Receptionist who asks me, “What are you here to do today?” I reply “Have the LIENHOLDERS removed from the Title on two vehicles I’ve paid off.” He hands me two application forms to go fill out.

I go fill them out, return the Receptionist’s pen that he graciously lent to me and he then says, now go onto the “ID CHECK” line to the left. ID Check??????? I go ahead and do that. Two people ahead of me.

When it’s my turn, I go up too the guy in the little booth– I think he was Hindu or whatever the folks are, who have the Dot on their forehead — and hand him the filled-out applications to have the Titles re-issued and he says “You know, this is going to cost you $60 each to have the LIENHOLDER Removed.” I replied “Yes, I know.” He then says, “I can get this done for free.”

Uhhhhhhh, I was not expecting this . . . . my Spidey Sense started tingling. So I ask him “How?”

GET THIS: He replies “I can have my Boss delete the LIENHOLDER in our computer system, then you walk out with the same Title, instead of a new one.”

I think to myself: “Then I won’t have any way to PROVE the LIEN has been released” So I respond to him “No thanks, I want the re-issued Titles without the LIENHOLDER on them.” He says, “Well, I’m just trying to save you money.”

He takes a staple remover and separates the Titles from the Lender Loan-Satisfaction, notarized letters, hands everything back to me with a card containing a number on it: “K117” and tells me, take a seat over there and you’ll hear your number called, telling you which counter to go to.

I go sit down.

About five minutes later, the computer voice over the PA Speaker calls “K117, Counter Ten”

So I get up and walk over to counter 10 and the nice Spanish lady behind the counter takes my paperwork.

To my utter shock, SHE then says to me, “It will cost you $60 each to have these LIENHOLDERS Cleared from the Title, . . . . but I can get it done for you for free.”

I’m now kind of stunned because this is now two separate Employees of the Motor Vehicle Commission saying the same thing. So I play along and ask her “How?”

She says, I will have the Supervisor come over, delete the LIENHOLDER from our Computer, but you leave here with the exact same Title.“

I thought to myself “Holy shit, they’re all “in-on-it” for the “Great Taking.”” I went on to think to myself “These people are working for the Bankers, so the Bankers can grab everybody’s stuff; just as I learned from the video “The Great Taking”

So I told the woman, “But then I would have no proof that the Bank no longer has a LIEN.” She responded, right, but you’ll save $120 on the Two Titles!

So I responded “No, I want the LIENHOLDER removed and I want the new, re-issued Titles without the Bank name on them”

She reiterated “But that will cost you $60 each, a total of $120” and I responded “I don’t care. I want the re-issued Titles.”

She put on a smug face as if to say “Oh this guy must have money, he doesn’t care about the $120.”

She processes the deletion of the LIENHOLDER info and then asks “Will you be paying by Credit Card, Check, or Legal Tender?”

“LEGAL TENDER????????????” Nobody says that outside of you know . . . . us . . . . .

I reply, “Legal Tender; Federal Reserve Notes.”

I hand the cash to her and she finishes the transaction, which prints the receipt.

But it’s all the same computer . . . . so If I agreed to “let them do it for free” they could NOT have removed the LIENHOLDER because the system requires the money be paid before it will complete the action ! ! ! ! ! If I had not paid, the computer could not have deleted the LIENHOLDER info! ! !

You know what I think? I personally think the whole offer to “get it done free” was a SCAM . . . . designed to deliberately mislead people into THINKING the LIEN had been removed, when, in fact, it has NOT been removed. And it COULD NOT HAVE BEEN REMOVED unless and until payment was tendered because the computer won’t process the removal unless payment has been made.

That leaves those poor suckers who THOUGHT they were getting it done “free” — open to the Banks coming and taking everything from THEM because all the official paperwork still shows the LIENS ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

How many thousands of people have believed this scam over the years?

I’m telling you, folks, I am totally shocked by this happening at two separate employees in a State Motor Vehicle Commission facility.

I now think the “States” are “in-on-it” too and all of them are working in lockstep with the Bankers to achieve their goal: You will own nothing . . . . and be happy.”

Not me! I have the Re-issued Titles without the LIENHOLDER info on them. These vehicles are, in fact, MINE, and I can prove it with the Titles.

I was born at night . . . . but not last night. They aren’t getting-over on me!

Humor: What are some of the greatest examples of presence of mind?

A businessman went to a shoe store to purchase a new pair of shoes. He was a prominent person in that town. After selecting a pair of shoes with size 8 he asked the salesperson to pack it. The salesperson had just started his career and joined the shoe store a few days back.

The businessman soon discovered that he had left his wallet at home. He told the salesperson that he would take the shoes with him and make the payment the next day. The salesperson being new to business excused himself in order to discuss this matter with the store manager. The manager knew that the customer is an eminent businessman; however, was reluctant to deliver the shoes without payment. At the same time, he was not ready to lose a sale too. He advised the salesperson to handle the situation in the best manner possible and left the place.

The salesperson stood there frozen for a few minutes unable to decide. He then returned to the customer, started packing the shoes and handed the package to the customer.

The next day the customer arrived at the store with the shoes he had purchased, made the payment for his purchase and told the salesperson that “After opening the package I found one shoe with size 8 and the other with size 7. Maybe you packed them by mistake. Can I have the shoes with size 8 please?” The salesperson apologized for the inconvenience caused and replaced the wrong size shoe with the correct one. The customer collected his shoes and left the store with satisfaction.

The manager happened to overhear their conversation and realized that the salesperson had used his presence of mind and handled the situation very well. They didn’t lose their business as well as the customer.

Moral

It is by the presence of mind in untried emergencies that the native metal of a man is tested. If an individual has a calm state of mind, his attitude and views will be calm and tranquil even in the presence of great agitation.

Stephen Hawking said, “The thing about smart people is that they seem like crazy people to dumb people.” Do smart people out there agree?

I was fortunate enough to attend a lecture given by the late Prof. Hawking on the campus of the University of Berkeley; I say “given”; Hawking rolled onto the stage, and the lecture he so painstakingly prepared was delivered by the machine he used to speak with. I never heard him repeat this quote, so I will have to take it on faith that this is something he actually said.

I’ll be PC here, and substitute “average” for dumb; average people are not necessarily “dumb”, but the difference between them and very intelligent people is that they are far less intellectually curious, and tend not to question their own beliefs, or look beneath the surface of phenomena they encounter every day. For the average, smart people are not necessarily “crazy”, but they do come across as weird. If I were to tell an average person that they like doughnuts because simple carbohydrates and fat were rare and valuable nutrients on the African savannah 70,000 years ago, they would look at me like I was mad. They would say something like “I enjoy doughnuts because they taste good”; it wouldn’t occur to them to ask the fundamental question of why they taste good to us.

A graph showing the “bell curve” distribution of IQ.

As shown in the graph above, 68.2% of people are in the average range of IQ between 85–115 (using IQ as a proxy for general intelligence. The number of people with an IQ higher than 115 becomes increasingly rare with the increasing level of IQ, so those with 140+ are very rare indeed, so it should not surprising that those who are in this high range will often come across as “odd” to the average majority. There is a qualitative difference in the cognition of the highly gifted, compared to the cognitive style of the average; the more intelligent one is, the less “obvious” things seem to be.

In evolutionary terms, our “purpose” as humans is to survive and reproduce, functions for which the average level of intelligence is sufficient; humans evolved to be as intelligent as they needed to be in order to successfully carry out these biological functions, so it is not surprising that most of us are not smarter than we are. As social animals, we tend not to be too fond of “weirdos” who question the existing social order, and the way things have always been done, hence the existence of terms like “nerd” and “geek” for those whose manner of thought and speech is contrary to the norm. At the same time, it had to have been the prehistoric nerds and geeks who came up with technologies like the bow and arrow, and poison darts, which were beneficial for the survival of humans as a whole, by allowing us to hunt otherwise inaccessible game animals. One can just imagine the jeers of the normies when the first geek smeared some tree sap on a dart, and walked off with his blowpipe, saying “I’m going hunting by myself.”

As someone who has been accused of being smart, I’ve had to learn to self-censor in order to “fit in”, and not be ostracized as a “weirdo” by the general population. “Be yourself” is incredibly stupid advice if one happens to be an intellectual outlier, since “yourself” is likely to be regarded as strange, and even threatening by the majority. Hawking was right, and I reserve my unfiltered self for a select few IRL, plus, of course, anyone who chooses to read my apophenic ravings on Quora.

What is your biggest mistake in life? Did you overcome it?

He was my first love. We dated for 3 years and got married because I was pregnant. Worst mistake of my life.

By the time I had the baby, I could almost feel it. The loneliness. The emptiness. He became a totally different person. He complained that I was fat and unattractive. I was depressed and lonely. He knew that I enjoyed to have sex, so he withheld it from me to hurt me.

I had a startup business and was struggling to balance work and family. To make matters worse, I got pregnant somehow with the second child. He didn’t want to have the child so he asked me to have an abortion. I refused. He totally disconnected at this point. My business also went into the abyss as I was struggling to provide for myself, my daughter and unborn son. I hid and cried in the bathroom every night.

A couple of months after my son was born, a woman called and told me she’s sharing him with me and they have kids together. I confronted him and he didn’t deny it. A part of me literally died that day. Everyone around me seemed to know and I didn’t. What hurt me the most is that I stupidly still loved this man. He told me he didn’t want me anymore. He asked me to leave and leave his kids behind. I left with my kids and moved in with my sister. I had no job and 2 kids to look after.

To cut the long story short, we went through a really bad divorce, but it was freedom for me. I emigrated to another country, got a better life and job, got into great shape, and basically got my shit together. Am very thankful that I got this far. I never smoked, drank or did anything harmful to myself when I was at my lowest. My mistake gave me a chance to realize that you can pick yourself up after hitting rock bottom. KARMA IS REAL. I found out last year that the woman my ex chose over me left him for another man. Oh how did I forget? She also told my ex that the kids are not his. Thank you

What is the most ridiculous request your employer ever asked of you? Did you get out of it or end up giving in?

Having just informed me that 167 hours of work she had made me do would not be paid, my boss told me to prepare exams not just for my class, but for all the students. Unsurprisingly, I said no.

This boss had stopped me from teaching one of my usual classes on a Monday afternoon (without consulting me) and arranged for me to teach the same number of hours on some Saturday mornings and weekday evenings instead. She pretended that she was doing this to make my life easier, since Mondays were a heavy teaching day. She then insisted that I use the time I had off on Monday afternoons to do some of her administration for her, without telling me that this work would all be unpaid. She gradually added more and more of her work to my workload.

For the entire term I thought I was being paid to do the administration work. She only told me I wasn’t at the end of the semester, by which time I had chalked up 167 hours of her administration work plus 10 hours of extra teaching) that she wouldn’t pay me for.

Then, immediately after telling me all this work was unpaid, she told me to prepare some exams, something the other teachers didn’t have to do. I said no, obviously. She stormed off to Human Resources to complain about me. When she came back she told me how upset she was that they didn’t support her. She was actually crying a little, I’m not sure whether because of rage or if she was really hurt. I was called up to HR and asked how many hours I had done unpaid. My boss had a track record of not paying me, so I had noted every task and all the hours done in my diary. I was paid for everything I did and my boss was told that all our work had to be paid for.

I just wish I had learned to say no sooner – and I really appreciated the honesty of our HR manager.

Slayyyyy

Why did England change its capital to London?

It’s a fun story! To me at least. I’m cool that way.

Technically “London” didn’t become the capital until after the 16th Century. What we now call “the City of London”, the ancient square mile that Rome founded, was an entity of its own. And in many ways still is. It was a centre of power and money, even before the Norman Conquest.

Up through the Middle Ages there was no fixed “capital” per se. The kings didn’t stay put, they moved around, so the capital was essentially where they were, not necessarily where the government was. The government being those ministers of the king who administered (get it?) the day to day workings.

During the reign of the Wessex kings, Winchester was the closest thing to an English capital.

So, back to London. The kings had no real power over London. Edward the Confessor, who was technically of the Wessex blood line but spent his formative years across the Channel and didn’t really have a sentimental attachment to Winchester, built an abbey in Westminster, which was west of London. He also built a palace for the seat of government. With these he hoped to draw power and wealth from that citadel to the east protected by a massive wall.

Edward died in January 1066. In October, Duke William of Normandy arrived to take what he felt was his by right. After the Battle of Hastings he headed toward London, that centre of power. Not to London, mind you. Toward it. He circled round, burning his way around it. But he knew he couldn’t breach the wall. He made a deal with the London peeps that in exchange for recognising him as their king, they would retain their special privileges. This arrangement has been in place ever since.

Now, thanks to Edward the Confessor, there was a ready-made power base just to the west of London. William was duly crowned king in Westminster Abbey. Over time, the Treasury was moved from Winchester, which became that historic city with one train station (London now has over 600 train and underground stations). Meanwhile, houses were built between the cities of Westminster and London and a Greater London was formed, eventually swallowing up towns and villages in a 600 square mile area.

Note, though, that the City of London has no national government facilities in it, save the Bank of England, which is separate. Government (Parliament, Whitehall, Downing Street, etc…), the Palace, the national entities are in Westminster, but as that is in what became the megapolis of “London”, London is the capital.

What was a Christmas bonus you got from your company that made you speechless?

Wouldnt call it a bonus.

But we was excited last year, we had put in a lot of work to reach the goal that would make a bonus possible.

We where all called to a end of year quarterly meeting where the ceo would go over the figures and give us a chance to ask questions and share ideas.

Instead the owner of the main company was standing there and the ceo a bit to the side. First case of worry, but it could be a good thing right?

It starts and the owner takes the word. And it just goes downhill from there.

The board and investors are not happy, they are firing the ceo and the owner steps out of the board to take direct control of the company, they will reorganize the whole flow and all that modern jazz for making your work day a living hell the next half year.

Adding there wont be a bonus and we will stop having a bonus at all in the future.

A year later and everyone have turned sour many have left and those that remains are becoming more and more unmotivated.

We are close at needing a new firing round too. and nothing have really become better since the change, only more cumbersome and annoying with no gain. 2 years and no raise makes for grumpy workers, when then removing the carrot all together the last drive disappears..

Even overtime must be agreed upon before you get pay for it.

So the bonus was a year in hell that seems to continue unless I am lucky and can find another job that pay the same or better.

Worst part is, the owner got a social and public image as a good and sensible businessman that are very round handed with spending. But when it comes to the company he is a scrounge mcduck, as he dont wanna spend a single dime, even though it cost to make changes, and he want those changes.

So nobody believe us when we tell how he is at work, as everyone got another opinion of him from the local news…

How is Chick-fil-A still thriving when some people accuse them of having a “horrible track record” on social issues?

True story: I had never eaten at a Chick-fil-A before last weekend (Saturday, March 9, 2019). In the past, if I’d wanted a chicken sandwich, which I don’t often do, I’ve gone to McDonald’s. But this time I was in a different shopping center, one without a McDonald’s but with a Chick-fil-A next door.

Side note: I’d had their sandwiches before, but at wrestling tournaments. The sandwiches would be brought in in these temperature-controlled bags, and then sold by members of the Booster’s Club. I wasn’t really impressed. The sandwiches cost more than McDonald’s and they were soggy.

But here I was in a shopping center with a Chick-fil-A next door. Oh, well, I figured. I could see the place was crowded, too. Lots of cars, and a long double-line of cars going through the carry-out.

I went inside and the place smelled good. Not like McDonald’s. The menu items were all clearly posted. At McDonald’s, there are these electronic screens that’ll show a handful of items for maybe 10 seconds, then rotate to another set of items. I liked the clear posting.

After looking over the posted menu, I decided to get a spicy chicken sandwich. Not the whole meal, just the sandwich. There wasn’t a line; people were being served as they stepped up to order. At McDonald’s, I could have waited 5 minutes behind just one or two people. (Maybe they’d ordered fries or coffee, and were waiting on the next batch of fries or the next pot of coffee to finish brewing.) I ordered the sandwich and the person behind the counter asked what sauce I’d like with that. I asked what sauces they had.

At McDonald’s, that would have been greeted with a rapid-fire blur of sauces. Or the person would point to that electronic board where the sauces had to cycle through to be displayed. By now, the McDonald’s employee would have forgotten whether I’d ordered the sandwich or the meal. The McDonald’s employee also would have forgotten whether I was eating in or carrying out.

At Chick-fil-A, they had all the sauces out on display. The counter person pointed to them and suggested that since I seemed to like spicy foods, I might enjoy the Buffalo sauce. Sounded good to me.

She handed me a tall plastic colored cone with sauce packets inside. She told me to find a seat anywhere and they’d bring the sandwich over. Wow! At McDonald’s, I’d have to stand near the ear-splitting ice-grinding machine, waiting for my number to be called. She didn’t have to ask again whether I was eating in or carrying out.

I found a seat and, quite promptly, someone came over with the sandwich, wrapped, and asked: “Don? Spicy chicken?” Yup, that was me. The chicken was crispy, steaming, and hot. Tasty. A bit of a surprise, since my only prior experience had been at the wrestling tournaments where they were soggy. If it had been McDonald’s, the sandwich would have been soggy, too. Are they ever crisp there?

A family was seated at the next table. At some point, the dad asked one of the Chick-fil-A employees for a refill on a beverage. The employee said sure, and in about 30 seconds was back with a refill. Nothing like that at McDonald’s.

When I was finished, I started picking up the debris (the sandwich wrapping, the packet of hot sauce, the napkin. Before I’d even gotten it all together, a Chick-fil-A employee came over and said, “Oh, are you leaving? If so, I can take all that.” And he did. Wow! At McDonald’s, I would have gathered all that stuff, taken it over to a trash can, tried to slide it all into the trash can (those paper liners always stick to the tray!), and put the tray on the tray holder.

And that is why Chick-fil-A is thriving.

What made you forbid someone from ever entering your home again?

I have written on this before. When I was married to my ex, his daughter lived with us . Her and her husband came over to visit with their children. We also had a friend of ours over . She was very disrespectful to her dad and our friend told her that. About two months later she asked to take my youngest for a few days and I said no. She then said that our family friend had touched my son , while she was in the room. I gathered my kids and asked them and all three said nothing ever happened. She called back and was upset and said she knew I wouldn’t do anything and would be turning me into social services and she did!!! A case worker came out and took my kids and asked a lot of questions. Then we talked and this man was amazing!!! I explained that my kids were never left alone with anyone and always knew they could tell me anything and his daughter was upset with me , for telling her no. He told me she wanted to get even with me for being with her dad and this was vengeance towards me. I encouraged her Dad to continue a relationship with her but she would no longer be able to come in our home. This was so scary for me , and I could have lost my children. My relationship with her was over , and our friend was also worried. I’m so very grateful I got a wonderful case worker. He understood .

What was the one thing that made you finally drop your affection for someone?

Going anonymous because my ex is on Quora.

I was in a relationship with my boyfriend (Let’s call him A) for 2 years. It was the perfect relationship everyone dreams about. But that changed soon.

One day, I was at my friend’s house (Let’s call her B) to take some notes because exams were coming up. I didn’t tell him about it. After half an hour, B receives a call so she goes outside to answer it as she didn’t want to bother me. But after a minute, she comes back in, puts the phone’s speaker on and the convo went something like this.

B- Sorry, I didn’t catch that. What did you say?

The voice on the other end said: “I love you”.

I recognised the voice. It was him. I looked at B as if everything was over. But she continued talking to him.

B- But what about your girlfriend? This would break her.

A- We don’t need to tell her anything. It’ll be our secret.

I felt like my heart would give out. I wanted to scream or do anything just to relieve me from the pain I was experiencing. To think that the two years we spent together was a lie was too much to handle. I called him after I calmed down a bit. He said he did that because B’s boyfriend wanted to test her loyalty. I didn’t buy that and we broke up that day.

High Value Men requirements

What is your best parking spot revenge?

A friend and I were driving uhaul box trucks when we decided to stop at a gas station to get snacks and drinks. When pulling in, I saw a car parked parallel across 3 parking spaces. Without even taking about it, I parked directly in front of the offending car while my friend parked directly behind it. We got out, smiled at each other over our telepathic decision to mess with the offender, and went inside.

The car’s owner was apparently going out as we were going in, saw how we were parked, and followed us back in and started yelling at us, demanding we move.

Me: No

Bad Parker: I will call the cops is you don’t!

Friend: Ok.

BP: Don’t try me! Move your damned trucks!

Me: Naw, go ahead and call the cops.

Friend: Yeah, we’ll wait. We’re going to eat in, anyway. (The gas station has an Arby’s attached. We weren’t originally, btw, but you know how it goes.)

Me: It’ll be fun watching you have your embolism when they ticket you for parking like that.

We went and got our food, to our time eating and left. During that time, BP apparently tried getting to station manager to make us move and kept yelling and screaming until we were finally done. As we were leaving, BP yelled at us some incoherent crap that I don’t really remember. My friend returned a parting comment about BP’s horrible parking, and we left.

All in all, we were at the gas station about a 45 minutes longer than we’d initially planned. We don’t know what, if any, trouble BP got into it if he ever did it again. We stopped at the same station on the return trip, in the off chances that BP was a local and would return, but he didn’t while we were there.

What has an employee said that immediately caused you to fire them?

We had an employee who didn’t just say something that got him fired, he immediately followed it up with an action that also would have gotten him fired on its own.

I work for a vets office. We had a new tech that seemed afraid to do anything. He claimed most animals were aggressive and just wouldn’t touch them. Well we don’t allow techs to do injections until they are comfortable doing simply things like taking temperatures and checking heart rates which he still couldn’t do.

One day, we get a cat in for a tech appointment. Notes said “allergy shot.” For most cats, this mean a depo injection but you always ask the doctor what you should give. He did not. Instead he took the appointment himself, big no no at this stage and strike one. He brought the cat back and told another tech the cat needed a cytopoint injection. Strike two, he doesn’t get to make medication/ injection calls. The other tech asked if he was sure as that sounded wrong and he said “yes, that’s what the doctor told me.”

Ya see, cytopoint can be deadly to cats and is for dogs only. So the tech asked again, “are you sure that’s what the doctor said?” He got annoyed, told her that what the doc said and he got the cytopoint himself and injected it himself. Strike three. You’re out.

He was fired. The cat did almost die and we ended up having to give them free care for about six months for all their pets to make up for it. The cat survived but now has health issues.

This was an unforgivable, fireable offensive.

What was the nail in the coffin for an employee or a co-worker?

One of my colleagues was almost impossible to layoff. She was pregnant during a round of layoffs, and took maternity leave a week earlier than expected, and was gone for a full year, she came back expecting the layoffs would be over, but after a couple of months, they announced that there were new layoffs the next week. She called in sick Monday through Thursday, and on Thursday, they called her and said unless her doctor faxed in a note on Friday, she had to come in. By then everybody had been laid off, except her. She checked in and made sure everyone saw her, and then disappeared.

Her boss looked high and low for her, and eventually found a locked stall in the washroom. She looked under, and saw her shoes. She had to fire her through the bathroom door.

My colleagues only response was, I knew I should have lifted my feet.

She became a legend in the company. The nail in the coffin was not lifting her feet.

Which became a phrase everyone used when they got caught doing something wrong.

What’s the most expensive thing you’ve lost and found?

Went to Vegas . Won around $17000 . The wife and I split it between ourselves before the cdn border. Declared it and got home. Reminded her to put her cash in the safe. Few days later, I went in to grab all of it to deposit in our US acct and just found my part in it. Asked her about it. She couldn’t find it. Looked sll over. Than she thought she might had left it in the taxi on the way home. FUCK!! $9000 USD gone. So, a couple years later. We’re getting rid of her old car and im just going thru it, and lo and behold, it’s in between the seats in the car. She had put it there for safekeeping cause she went grocery shopping and didn’t wanna take all that in her purse. Why she didn’t remember that 2 yrs prior, I’ll never know. 😔 But I’ve learned to live with my wife’s poor memory. She was born without a thyroid and takes meds for that but it causes a horrible memory sometimes..

What is something you cannot forgive your parents for no matter how you try?

I’ve written about this before, but I think it bears repeating.

I learned how to cook very early on. My mother was working one Thanksgiving when I was 12. I volunteered to cook the dinner. She’d be home around 5 or so. Dinnertime had not been specified. Turkey went in the oven that morning. Since it was a day off school and I was a kid, I grabbed my bike and went riding all around town. I remember a fun, free-wheeling day until I got home.

I got back around 4:30 and realized I had to hurry. My brothers and father laid around and watched me as I hurried to prepare the meal. There wasn’t much to do if they had pitched in: boil potatoes, heat up rolls, boil the frozen corn, etc. But they didn’t. My mom walked in while I was peeling potatoes. She stopped dead in her tracks. “Dinner’s not ready?” I said “It will be ready in a few minutes.” I wasn’t lying. It would have been 20 minutes max. She threw up her hands like I told her I was a pregnant 12-year-old crackhead. She started screaming at me. Dad came running in to see what the fuss was. He took off his belt and whipped me violently right there in the kitchen, potato peeler still in my hand, for not having everything ready “on time” (again, we didn’t know exactly when she would be home, and no dinnertime had been set). My brothers just watched. I was sent to my room in the basement for the night. I don’t know who finished cooking, probably my mother in her martyrdom.

Here’s how it could (should) have gone down:

Scenario One: I come home at 4:30. Dad: “You’re cutting it close. Boys, go help your sister.”

Scenario Two: Mom comes home at 5:00. I’m peeling potatoes. “Dinner’s not ready?” “It will be ready in a few minutes.” “Okay, good, I’m starving. I’m going to take a shower/change/lie down for a few minutes. Call me when it’s ready.”

Scenario Three: Mom come home at 5:00. She starts yelling. Dad comes in. “Calm down, it’ll only be a few minutes. Here, let me take your stuff. Come in and lie down for a few minutes.” (to my brothers) “Get in here and help your sister.”

It took me many years to realize this day was an example of so, so many things. Dysfunction, piss-poor communication, child abuse, sexism, Old-World parenting (as in 1800s bullshit), knee-jerk reactions, and so much more. My family was fucked up, to say the least.

And I don’t care if that was the way they were raised. I am not a believer in the cycle-of-abuse crap. They were adults, they had brains to think with, they could make rational adult decisions. They knew better.

Edit: I think I need to address that there was a dried-up old bitch of a troll who left a comment that it was my fault, I was deservedly punished, I should have stayed home all day and had dinner ready, my poor poor mother, I was martyring myself, shame on me. Yes, that comment really happened (I deleted it and told her to fuck off). I wasn’t only abused at home, and this wasn’t the first or last time. I was bullied mercilessly at school. To have a day away from bullies at school was a real treat, so yes, I was going to take my bike and go have some fun while the turkey cooked. I was a kid. I wasn’t 20. And yes, I screwed up and mismanaged my time. Again—I was a kid. And my parents wildly overreacted—with violence against a child— instead of keeping calm and reacting reasonably. If someone told me they were cooking me dinner, but when I came home it was going to be 20 minutes late, I’d say “Okay, cool” and either jump in the shower or flop down and watch TV. I wouldn’t start screaming and whipping them with a belt. So again, troll: Fuck off. If you have kids, I sincerely feel sorry for them and I hope CPS is keeping an eye on you, old twat. You’re the reason child protection agencies exist.

Why is Urumqi, Xinjiang cleaner, safer, civilized, and developed than New Delhi?

Almost every Chinese City beats Indian Cities hollow in terms of Cleanliness, Safety and Development

There are Primarily three reasons for this :-

A. One Party Meritocracy & Funds

In China, fund allocation for Cities and their overall Urban development is based on the Urban Development Index (UDI) plus between 15% upto 46% of the revenue generated by a City is used by the Local Government of that Province and the Administration of that City to develop the place

There is no political rivalries or party based discrimination between Fund Allocation and Revenue sharing

It’s all about How much the City develops and how well maintained the City is

In India, funding is a nightmare because the State themselves have no claim over the money they generate as revenue. Everything is handed over to the Centre which then decides how much each State should get and then the State decides how much each City should get

China has 20 times the provincial autonomy than an Indian State

B. Continuous Development to prevent overcrowding

India keeps on dumping on the same city again and again for year after year. Thus every such city attracts migrants like flies and that leads to overcrowding of the worst order

China keeps developing and expanding new Cities regularly

Chengdu, Chongqing etc were small towns a decade or so ago that are now bustling cities, brimming with Prosperity

Urumqi was once a town , now it’s classified as a Tier 3 City

Thus if you notice Shanghai and Beijing both lost 4% and 5.6% of the population due to migration between 2013–2023 whereas Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad netted between 7.6% and 12% SURPLUS population by migration between 2008–2023

C. Chinas Housing Policy

Everyone living with a proper Job in a City in China MUST have housing

This is a law from the time of Chairman Mao and when it’s a Chairman Mao law, it’s enforcement is very strict

Public Housing is thus available for every single resident of the city including the poorest of them

Only Shanghai and Beijing has slums today , which existed before the 1998 law and thus can’t be torn down

If you have a legitimate job in CQ City, you get a Public Apartment of 39–52 Square Meters with indoor plumbing, heating, air conditioning and gas and electricity and drinking water for a mere 78 RMB / month

Of course many Chinese become prosperous enough to rent much nicer places and sub lease their public homes for which they pay rent of 78 RMB/ month for 400–500 RMB / month

During Covid 19, many such people were discovered and fined very heavily (30, 000 RMB plus 60 months rent or 100 Days in Prison)

A Fourth reason is the fact that Migration into Cities is heavily controlled

You just can’t come to a City that easily without housing or a job unless you are a tourist there

In India it’s the opposite

You can flood into cities and sleep on the roads and everywhere else and even defecate

It’s like a Zoo

So it’s the Chinese System

They may have their flaws but by God they have excellent City maintenance and keep themselves very clean

Their Air Quality improvement in a mere decade is something every nation takes notes on

Primarily another reason is the Chinese are proud of their country and love their country

Not the bogus love that Indians show which translates into defending India for all it’s weaknesses, glorifying mediocrities as superheroes, forcing people to stand up for the National Anthem etcetera

The genuine love that ensures they actively take pride in their development and their cities

China’s population is crashing. What changes would they have to make to attract expats to emigrate to China?

Declining population is not just a Chinese problem; but rather it is a worldwide problem. Most developed or developing countries have seen significant decreases in birth rates that coincide with an ever aging demographic.

Importing people from other countries is certainly an option. Especially considering how men vastly outnumber women in China. But I think it will require more than bringing in more people. China needs to tackle this problem on two fronts.

Firstly, building society with the mindset that the elderly need to be taken care of, whether that be through family or through a skilled nursing facility. China should look into building these all over the country. They don’t have to be as bleak as some in the U.S., but there needs to be a safety net for a vulnerable aging population in the event their children can’t or won’t care for their needs.

The second front is low birth rate. China’s work culture isn’t conducive to motherhood right now. 996 doesn’t make women want to get pregnant. Women also need paid maternity leave for at least a year.

The government can subsidize kindergartens and ensure that the education they’re receiving is at an appropriate standard. Families can be provided with subsidies for each child for a certain number of years.

China has a planned economy so if they begin implementing such plans in upcoming five year plenary sessions then perhaps they can be one of the first countries to find a solution to this worldwide problem.

Why did people on TV in the ’50s get all dressed to clean house, like wearing pearls? Is this how they really dressed then?

My mom was an RN, and wore a white uniform with starched cap every night when she went to work. When she got home in the morning she’d go straight to bed, and then get up around 3 p.m., dressed in capri pants (also called “pedal pushers”) or shorts in the summer, along with a blouse, often sleeveless, and canvas sneakers. Never any jewelry around the house or on quick trips to the store; that, and dresses and low-heeled pumps, were reserved for special occasions. For a really special occasion, like a trip to NYC to see a Broadway show, she added a hat to her outfit, and she and I wore short white cotton gloves. For school, I and all the other little girls wore shirtwaist dresses with petticoats, and the boys wore long pants and button-up shirts, with clip-on ties for school picture day. Up until a certain age, I wore my brother’s hand-me-down shorts and tee shirts for after-school play clothes.

None of us had as many clothes as we do today; our small closets were plenty big enough for our wardrobes (some of which were sewn or knitted by our mothers). But the quality of what we wore was higher, and we tended to wear everything until it wore out or we outgrew them.

Looking crisp and put together was important for our parents, since most of them had grown up during the Great Depression, when having raggedy clothing was a sign of poverty. Since synthetic blends didn’t become readily available until the very end of the 1950s, everything had to be ironed and/or starched. It was a chore my mother absolutely hated, so she was an early devotee of polyester blends when they came out.

Had she lived to this decade, she would have been baffled by people paying high prices for strategically ripped jeans, as well as the upper-class preference for “natural” fabrics like cotton and linen, which must be ironed!

Do Chinese state and general public consider marijuana a soft drug? What if a Westerner gets caught with a kilogram of this soft drug in China?

It’s very very complicated

The laws are highly varying

There is a law that says if any person is caught with possession of Marijuana (Cannabis) while entering China (Airports or Borders) then he faces Life Imprisonment if he carries more than 50 GRAMS

Yet ONCE IN CHINA if a person gets caught with the same cannabis or Marijuana, as long as the Marijuana on his possession is within 300 grams, he gets 15 Days Imprisonment, 45 Days Mandatory State Rehabilitation plus a fine

So technically if you smuggle 100 grams into China, you face life in jail yet if you succeed and get past the customs and manage to cross 300–400 feet and then get caught, you face 15 Days Jail and a fine

Plus no law about what happens when you possess less than 50 grams of cannabis

So as on date if someone smuggles less than 50 grams of cannabis into China and is caught – He is merely deported and the smuggled cannabis is destroyed

Next thing is Cultivation of Marijuana is not illegal in China

So if you are caught with 1 Kilogram of Cannabis and you can prove it is grown in China and explain that you are in possession of 1 Kilogram of Cannabis / Marijuana for medical purposes – YOU CAN ACTUALLY GET OFF WITHOUT ANY PUNISHMENT

The authorities have to prove you possess the Marijuana for intent to distribute as a Narcotic substance to charge you

For a Westerner who possesses 1 Kilogram Marijuana though, he cannot prove its grown in China or that he is in possession for Industrial or Medical purposes

So with Westerners the law assumes he is distributing as a narcotic substance and if so HE FACES THE DEATH PENALTY

Summary

To the best of my study of drug laws:-

< 50 grams smuggled – Deportation & Destruction of the Drug

>= 50 grams smuggled –Life Imprisonment

<= 300 grams possession inside China – 15 Days Imprisonment , 45 Days Rehabilitation (Optional), Fine

>300 grams possession inside China proven as grown in China by Mainland Citizen – No Punishment likely beyond censure and monitoring without proof of distribution or intent

>300 grams possession inside China by a foreigner – Death Penalty unless he can prove the same drug originated from local cultivation for industrial or medical purposes

Plus China has another law

Any Person in whose PREMISES consumption of Marijuana takes place regardless of quantity or fore knowledge will face 3 Years Mandatory Jail plus 50,000 RMB fine

This is called SHELTER LAW

Thus if you are a landlord and a tenant smokes Marijuana in your apartment that you have leased out – YOU WON’T BE CHARGED BY THE SHELTER LAW

However if your friend smokes Marijuana in your flat that you lease or own – You face 3 years Jail

What were the things your parents did right in raising you?

At the age of 11 my mother forced me to accompany my sister (17) whenever she went outside.

I was obviously reluctant at first but finally agreed. I used to sit behind the activa while she rode to the grocery store, shopping mall etc.

It was all good until the following incident took place.

It was around 7 pm and we were coming back from the supermarket.

Two boys with covered faces stopped their bike in front of us, passed an inappropriate comment and disappeared before we could think of anything.

I was perplexed. I was shocked. I felt helpless. I felt weak. I knew the meaning of that comment.

I didn’t eat properly that night. I was sleepless for a few days. Mom noticed a change in my behaviour.

Mom: Is something bothering you? You don’t seem fine.

Me: I was waiting to share it with someone. The stress was enormous and I told her exactly what I felt.

Mom: Did you talk to your sister after the incident?

Me: No maa!! If I felt helpless and weak, I can’t even imagine what she would have felt.

Mom: This is why I told you to accompany her. See, you are going to be a teenager soon and perhaps you’ll think that it’s cool to follow a girl or pass some comments. Even some of your friends might force you. They’ll tell you that it’s ok.

But now you know that it is not. I’m sure you wouldn’t want any girl to feel like the way your sister did.

And she was right. The people close to me know that I’ve severed friendships, raised my voice but I never compromised on this fact.

I would never ever want any girl to feel the way my sister did.

Has Chick-fil-A ever explained why specifically it does not serve beef?

If you’ve ever been to a Chick Fil A, you’ve probably noticed their menu is pretty chicken-centric. That isn’t accidental, and it isn’t just a branding gimmick; there’s actually a history behind it.

Their commitment to chicken goes all the way back to the founder, S. Truett Cathy. He opened his first diner in the 1940s and spent years perfecting the pressure fryer to cook his chicken sandwich faster than anyone could cook a hamburger. This was the birth of what ultimately became Chick Fil A’s signature menu item: the original chicken sandwich.

At the root of it, Chick Fil A doesn’t serve beef because they don’t have to. Their identity is so closely tied to chicken that serving beef would be like McDonald’s suddenly deciding to specialize in vegan food. It would throw people for a loop.

Chick Fil A’s boneless breast of chicken sandwich made its debut in 1964 with great success, paving the way for the first Chick Fil A restaurant that opened in 1967. Cathy even made a play on words with “Chick” to emphasize chicken and play down beef. This is a differentiation strategy. Just like you wouldn’t go to Burger King for a taco or to Taco Bell for a fish and chips plate, you wouldn’t go to Chick Fil A for a beef burger.

There’s also the branding component, right? You’ve seen the billboards with the cows painting “Eat Mor Chikin,” pushing the chicken agenda while steering people away from their own kind. It’s a brilliant marketing strategy that reinforces the no-beef policy.

While there’s no formal manifesto on why they don’t serve beef, the logic is clear: specialization. In a world where you can get a burger at every highway exit, being the go-to chicken spot sets you apart.

Staying in their lane has allowed Chick Fil A to perfect their products, focus on their poultry niche, and maintain the consistency and quality that has customers loyally returning to their restaurants. For many businesses, it’s a scary thing to put all your eggs (or chickens) in one basket, but for Chick Fil A, doing just that has been the secret sauce to their success.

So, in Portland, OR, where I’m based, if I’m craving chicken, it’s pretty neat knowing I can swing by Chick Fil A and get that same sandwich that put them on the map all those years ago, while also being assured that there won’t be a burger in sight. They’ve stayed true to the original plan for over half a century, and it’s working wonders for them.

China is getting tough

It took a long time, but it is finally happening. China’s gloves are coming off, and it is getting tough on Taiwan and the west.

For Taiwan, the Commerce Ministry has decided that Taiwan’s government has unfairly blocked the sale of many PRC products in Taiwan. For a long time, the PRC had allowed Taiwan imports to the PRC in the hope that Taiwan would eventually open up to PRC products on a reciprocal basis, but that has not happened, even when Taiwan has had food shortages. The Commerce Ministry will shortly announce which Taiwan products will be blocked from being sold in the PRC, which is the single largest market for many local Taiwan products.
For the west, China is now blocking the sale of rare-earth processing technologies to the west. This is a field essential for semiconductor manufacturing and defense technologies, and will hit Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and the US especially hard as they try to develop their own independent supply chains free from Chinese components and raw materials.

For 2024, I am expecting an avalanche of new patents from Huawei for new technologies which leapfrog current western technologies. Western governments and companies will be faced with a difficult choice: Will they pay licensing fees to Huawei and other Chinese companies for these technologies, or will they insist on developing their own technologies and components using their own capabilities?

This is a very tough choice because investing in their own non-Chinese research and development will take at least five years, and will likely take more than ten years. Then, when that issue is resolved, where will they do the manufacturing? China has the best and most modern infrastructure and supply chains, so there will be a huge cost penalty for doing it on their own. When it comes to lower costs, the Chinese are masters of the game.

An even more important question: Where is the largest market for these products? Most likely, it will be China. So these products won’t be sold in China to Chinese? So where will it be sold?

What is the most difficult decision you have made as a doctor?

One hundred and six units.

An adult’s blood volume nine times over.

The entire hospital’s blood bank supply. We had to send to nearby centers for more. We had to put our own trauma center on ambulance diversion until more arrived.

After forty units, the chance of survival drops precipitously. The chance over a hundred— who knows? Past diminishingly small. Unreported, possibly. The physiologic derangement is simply too great. Banked blood is not like our own. It is cool, watery, weak and deficient. And this toxic cocktail had washed out every native red cell in her body, splashed out itself, and been poured back in again.

Every raw surface had begun to ooze.

We had already coded her twice.

With the blood welling up in spite of my every effort, I threw packs of thick cotton gauze in her chest, trying to stem the torrent. Trying to buy a moment to think. She had the same injury that killed Princess Diana. My partner looked across the table at me, a slight shake to her head. The probe at the head of the bed beeping out a constant register of oxygen saturation suddenly dipped in tone. I glanced, alarmed, over the drape and saw, unmistakably, her eyes opened, her teeth gripping the tube, her lips forming words to the anesthesiologist who hurried to medicate her. A tear sliding down her cheek towards her ear.

She’s neuro intact.

“She’s neuro intact,” I said, this time aloud, as my eyes reconnected with my partner’s. “She’s neuro intact,” I repeated, as a kind of mantra.

My partner nodded. “Okay, let’s keep going then,” and pulled the packs out.

She was forty-five.

Previously healthy.

And all there.

When I reviewed the case later before a panel of my peers, I argued this made her somehow salvageable. They scoffed. I reconsidered. So why, then, had I “wasted” so many resources on one woman with such devastating injuries, who ultimately died, as I knew she would?

Because I couldn’t look her in the eye and tell her no more.

Beef with Celery (China)

Ingredients

1 (1 pound) round steak
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 egg white
4 to 6 stalks celery
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon finely chopped, pared fresh ginger root
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 1/2 tablespoons dry sherry
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons oyster sauce

Instructions

Cut meat across the grain into thin strips 1 1/2 inches long.
Combine 1/2 tablespoon of the soy sauce, vinegar and egg white in medium bowl; beat lightly with fork until foamy. Mix in meat. Cover and let stand 2 hours.
Cut celery into 1/2-inch diagonal slices.
Combine celery, 1 cup of the water and the salt in saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until boiling. Boil 3 minutes.
Drain celery.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in wok over high heat.
Drain meat and add to wok. Stir fry until meat is brown, about 5 minutes. Remove meat from wok. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to wok. Add celery, onions, ginger and garlic. Stir fry 1 minute. Return meat to wok; mix well.
Combine remaining 1/2 cup water, 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce, the sherry, cornstarch and oyster sauce. Pour over meat-vegetable mixture. Cook and stir until liquid boils and thickens.

Makes 4 servings.

What did someone say to you that instantly made you realize their life was in danger?

When driving a Private Hire Taxi to help pay my way through University one night I had to swerve to miss a guy staggering into the road. I thought he was a drunk but pulled up just to check he was OK. He staggered up to the passenger side window and slumped against it. He murmured for help, at that same moment I saw blood smeared all down the window. I saw another figure approaching the car, I was horrified to see he appeared to be carrying a huge knife. I opened the rear door and pulled the injured guy in. There was a lot of blood and I wasn’t sure he would make it. I drove off as the pursuer closed up. I radioed base and told them I had a seriously injured stabbing victim in the car. They called the hospital and the police. I sped to the emergency dept. on the way being picked out by a police car as I (very carefully) jumped a red light. They knew the situation and gave me an escort to the hospital. They were ready and waiting for him when we arrived.

The guy survived. The car was a total mess, but putting everything in perspective, a small price to pay.

He survived with 2 or 3 life-threatening wounds, making a full recovery, the police and the medics told me I’d saved his life.

I was later thanked by both him and, believe it or not the perpetrator, who received a jail sentence far shorter than he would have got for murder. Apparently they were friends and a disagreement over rent had got out of all proportion leading to the incident. Had I not had the feeling this was not just another drunk staggering around in the dark, a lot of lives would have changed that night.

As a manager how far have you had to go to fire someone?

As a newly hired IT Director in a City, I discovered one programmer who had been there for a number of years had no real assignments. He came in each morning, read the paper, then put his feet up and took a nap.

I promptly gave him an assignment and watched as he did nothing. I met with him numerous times and he finally mentioned that I couldn’t do anything because he had been there so long, he couldn’t be fired – certainly not by a new manager like me!

Challenge!

I documented my meetings and his comment and went to HR. They told me he was likely correct as he was a union steward, as well. I escalated to a HR Supervisor who suggested I build a file then apply progressive discipline.

And so it began. I gave him an assignment in writing. I had him agree, in writing, that he understood the project and how long it should take to complete. I set weekly goals for him to accomplish and when he didn’t, I applied progressive discipline. The first time, I issued a written reprimands warning that he could be terminated if this continued. Next, a written disciplinary memo. After that, I sent him home for a day with no pay. He immediately appealed.

At the appeal hearing, he brought a union lawyer, who claimed the project was too difficult and he needed additional training. That was BS, IMO, for a Senior Programmer with 8 years experience. However, the mediator suggested providing the training.

He began two weeks of training the following Monday. I found out he skipped several days and the instructor told me he knew the material going in and we were wasting taxpayer money to send him.

He continued to miss assignments, and I wrote several more written reprimands before suspending him with a 3 day unpaid suspension. He filed another appeal.

In this hearing, the union Attorney suggested that he occasionally fell asleep because he had kids who occasionally kept him up late at home. The mediator supported the suspension. When he returned, we sent him to the City Doctor for a “fit to work” physical exam. The Doctor determined he had sleep apnea and said he should spend a month at home using a CPAP machine for a month before returning for another physical (with full pay, of course). While he was gone, I gave his assignment to another programmer who knocked it out in 3 days.

When he finally came back to , I gave him another assignment with specific written instructions. Within a week, he violated the instructions and made an unauthorized and undocumented change to the system that opened the City up to several million dollars of legal liability.

I issued a written suspension for two weeks without pay and began the termination paperwork. At the end of the two weeks, he came in and gave me his written resignation.

Game over in 10 months.

During this period, he constantly complained to other staff, hurting morale. I even got a phone call from his wife telling me how cruel I was because he liked his job and asking why I hated her husband.

Why did the Chinese army retreat from India during the 1962 Sino-Indian War?

1. There is no border between China and India.

Because there was no India before 1947, it was just a colonial area composed of hundreds of small kingdoms forcibly annexed by the British. Maybe you would say that there were many countries in South Asia with large territories before Britain, but no former Indian country had a territory as large as India now. In particular, even though North India was often unified into one Greater India, South India and Northeast India were almost never ruled by North India. Therefore, there is no definite border line between China and India.

2 China was once very friendly and hoped to peacefully demarcate the Sino-Indian border.

India became independent in 1947. New China was founded in 1949. China and India are both third world countries. China wants to maintain good relations with India, so it wants to delimit the Sino-Indian border through peaceful negotiations with India. China says that we do not accept the boundary lines privately drawn by the colonists and that we can resolve them through negotiation. Our border areas are all no-man’s land, and the disputed areas on our borders total 120,000 square kilometers. According to the current actual control areas of both parties, China can recognize that 90,000 square kilometers of southern Tibet (now called Arunachal) belongs to India. India recognized that 30,000 kilometers of Aksai Chin belongs to China, and we signed a boundary agreement on this basis. From then on, both sides have an undisputed boundary line, and there will be no disputes or wars. From then on, friendly relations between China and India became the first Brotherly countries in the three worlds.

However, India firmly rejected any plan from China. It took the map drawn by the British and told China that this is the new India. You must fully accept that southern Tibet and Aksai Chin are mine. Because the Indians continued the arrogance of the colonizers. It has not learned to get along well with its neighbors, so this is the most important reason why India has poor relations with all its neighbors.

3. The reasons and purposes of the 1962 Sino-Indian War.

The reason is that India’s forward policy has invaded Chinese territory and challenged China’s bottom line.

The purpose is to make India understand that it must stop when China says to stop.

In 1962, India hoped to invade China step by step through the Forward Policy. The so-called forward policy is to advance the Indian barracks one kilometer towards Chinese territory every day, and then claim that this is India’s territorial scope. China has repeatedly warned India not to challenge China. But India ignored China’s anger and continued to invade China, even crossing the northern part of the McMahon Line claimed by India and entering undisputed Chinese territory. Therefore, China must use a language that Indians can understand to let India understand that the bottom line of the Chinese cannot be breached. This term is military power.

Indian prisoners in 1962

4 Why did China withdraw from the battle after winning the battle?

A Because China’s war goals were achieved, this is the most important reason.

From the beginning, China just wanted to teach the Indians a lesson, to let them recognize the reality, not to be too greedy, and not to ignore China’s warnings. When China says that LAC is the bottom line, don’t challenge China’s bottom line and don’t cross the LAC. When you really cross the LAC, China has enough strength to beat you back. So after China taught the Indians a lesson, China felt that was enough, so it returned to the state before the war and returned to the original line of actual control.

Maximizing revenue B

Simply put, it means achieving the highest benefit with the lowest cost.

If the Indians crossed one kilometer of LAC and China counterattacked 20 kilometers and stayed to occupy the land, it would definitely cause India to expand the war regardless of the cost, and the war would not stop lightly.

It would be unwise to plunge two countries with hundreds of millions of people into endless war.

It would be unwise to plunge two countries with hundreds of millions of people into an ongoing war over mostly uninhabited mountainous and desert areas.

War costs huge amounts of money. OThe value of a cannonball fired in one hour is enough to feed the residents of a small town for a year. In 1962, both China and India were quite poor countries, especially China. 1962 was the hungriest year in the history of New China. It would be very unfavorable for China to fall into a long-term war at this time.

China has pushed its battle line to the Indian plains. If China insists on fighting here, it will be at a huge disadvantage, because to transport an artillery shell from a Chinese factory here, it requires the use of donkeys to climb dozens of mountains over 3,000 meters. , spanning thousands of kilometers, requires a huge amount of transportation energy. Even if a 10-dollar artillery shell costs $1,000 here, Indian artillery shells can be transported directly by truck, and a 10-dollar artillery shell is worth at most $100. In other words, the cost in China is at least 10 times more expensive than in India. This is an asymmetric war. If China continues to fight here, the original victory will turn into a defeat, or a tragic victory. As a master of war, the Chinese will not make such mistakes. Therefore, China decisively returned to the LAC before the war.

In the 1962 war, from the perspective of territorial acquisition, China did not gain more territory than before the war. But the benefits are still huge.

The biggest benefit is that in the decades after 1962, Indians no longer dared to cross the LAC lightly and no longer dared to advance policies. In other words, Indians have heartily accepted that LAC is the default boundary line between China and India. This won decades of peace along China’s southwestern border.

The border conflict in 1967 was only a few days of minor fighting over the dispute between China and India over the LAC demarcation line at Nathu La Pass. At that time (32 Chinese soldiers died and 101 Indian soldiers died)

Indian prisoners in 1967

Maybe 1962 has passed too long, maybe Indians feel that India in 2020 is no longer the India in 1962, so the Indians crossed the LAC again in 2020, so China was forced to take action again to teach the Indians a lesson. I hope Indians understand that although India is not the India of 1962, China is not the China of 1962. China was in its poorest period in 1962, when China’s GDP was even lower than India’s. China GDP in 2020 is five times larger than India. Don’t provoke China, China is more powerful than you think.

Indian Captives of 2020

Nikki Haley says she will stop China from killing Americans with fentanyl. Is the PRC doing this? If so, how?

She’s lying. She has no idea what to do. What she’s trying to selli is the idea that she does.

Here’s the problem. Americans want fentanyl. Enough Americans want fentanyl as to make it worth the enormous risk of smuggling either it, or the raw materials to make it, into the United States. Capitalism 101. And there is no way to stop that. None. Every attempt we’ve ever made to stop drug use by prohibition has been not only an utter failure, but has caused us more trouble than the actual problem we were trying to fix.

There’s a deeper problem. Fentanyl is a symptom, not a cause. And that cause is the utter hopelessness and the lack of resources for the poor in the US. We’ve literally criminalized poverty. We have the weakest social safety net in the industrial world, and we’ve decided that a tax structure that makes it possible for a handful of men to amass fortunes that can buy them freedom from the law, is a good thing even if it leaves 20% of the country living below the poverty line in an information and resource vacuum that leaves most trapped.

Preying on the poor is hugely profitable, and the capitalists have risen to the task. We choose to look away and complain.

What work secret did you accidentally find out that changed everything?

I once worked for a dental lab as part of a “back-to-work” rehab program after a work injury. I was working late one Friday and took a delivery into the mail room for shipment the next day. The mail room was adjacent to the owner’s office and I overheard him and his wife (his accountant) and the office manager planning on replacing some 60% of the staff with high-school kids in work-study programs. The boss, Rick, heard me taping up the box and came in, asking what I was doing and if I heard them, to which I said no. He told me I wasn’t supposed to work late and leave the package for the next day.

On Monday I was called into a meeting with Rick, his wife and my rehab consultant about missing many hours of work. He slid three altered times cards across the table as proof, not realizing I had copies of all my time cards as required by the work comp insurer. I pulled them from my bag and told him he was lying and falsified the cards because I overheard him planning on firing staff. He fired me anyway so as I left, I walked into the large work area and announced loudly, “Rick is going to replace most of you with high-school kids and he just fired me because I overheard him planning it.”

Two weeks later he let nine people go, replacing them with high-school kids. By the end of the month another six employees left for the competition and without experienced employees, he went out of business by the end of the year. I actually ran into him at the grocery store the following year and asked him how his business was going. He said, “Go f*ck yourself!” Best. Vindication. Ever. 🙂

What was the greediest thing you’ve seen a family member do?

This goes back fifty years, but I will never forget it.

My mother’s aunt and uncle (Annie and Homer) were married for over fifty years. They never had any biological children, but did adopt a daughter (Mary Catherine) and raised her as their own.

MC grew up, got married, and moved out of state with her husband. (The parents lived in Memphis, and the daughter lived in southeastern Missouri, about a five-hour drive apart.)

Being much younger, I only met the daughter a couple of times while I was growing up. She didn’t visit Memphis often.

Aunt Annie fell and broke her hip in an accident in her early-80’s. She survived the fall, but lapsed into dementia and died about two years later. Mary Catherine didn’t attend the funeral. (When I asked why, none of the adults in my family would talk about it.)

Uncle Homer lived another few years. His mind was sharp, but his physical health started failing. During the last year of his life, he was bedridden at home and required regular nursing visits during the day.

One afternoon, Uncle Homer called our house all frantic, asking my mother to come to his house. She and I drove over, a trip that took about fifteen minutes.

When we arrived, he was yelling and crying. His nurse had also arrived, but wasn’t able to calm him down.

When he saw my mom, Uncle Homer told us the story: Mary Catherine and her husband had shown up, and cleaned out the house of everything they wanted.

He had yelled and screamed, and had fallen out of bed trying to stop them, but they both just laughed at his efforts and took everything of value. He had gotten his gun out from the beside table, but his nurse had removed the bullets from it long beforehand.

The daughter and husband left before Uncle Homer called us, so we never saw them.

My grandfather had the daughter’s number in Missouri and called her that evening. She was not at all repentant and argued that the stuff she took was her just reward for putting up with her parents for decades. Apparently, she was upset because they had “lived too long.” She also let him know that she expected to get Uncle Homer’s house when he was gone.

Uncle Homer didn’t call the police on his daughter, but he was clearly heartbroken after this incident. His life spark and sense of humor were gone. He lasted about three more months, and passed away at age 92.

After he died, Mary Catherine didn’t attend the funeral, but did come back to deal with her inheritance. It turned out that Uncle Homer had altered his will and gave his house to his nurse, a widow who had been living in a rented place nearby.

The value of the house was a lot greater than the stuff that the daughter had stolen.

What was the cruelest rumor you’ve heard about another kid when you were in school?

There was that girl that had been lonely all her life. People, especially in school, disliked her because she was “strange”, “a nerd”, “too quiet” and just “different”.

One day she decided to talk to her teachers during the breaks instead of trying to fit in where she didn’t. She always acted older than her age and her teachers liked her, so they usually didn’t send her away, but had a friendly chat with her ever so often instead.

By tenth grade, she had almost developed some kind of friendship to a few of her teachers. When she got the “strictest teacher of the school” as her major course teacher in grade eleven, it took her mere weeks to find out that he actually wasn’t so strict at all.

They talked for at least half an hour after the lessons. About science, about our society, the people in school and whatever came to mind. Those two thought quite alike, despite an age difference of 34 years, and the girl now almost a woman could for the first time in years really live her passion for learning. Her teacher was highly intelligent and very knowledgeable, having not only written a dissertation in the past and worked in research for years but also being interested in a broad spectrum of topics.

Well, doesn’t sound so bad, now does it? So what happened?

Well, because teenagers are teenagers, it took about half a year for people to start whispering about the girl and her teacher. It started off lightly, she was still strange and why would she even talk to him?

But a few months after that, some people thought it to be funny to make up a non-existent romantic relationship between teacher and student. Despite that girl having been very close to other teachers before, but now that it was a male teacher, it suddenly was completely different. Because people of opposite gender can’t just see each other as friends, right? They just have to be in love to even think about talking to each other.

A less than funny “joke” became something way bigger. After two weeks, all of the 1600 students knew about this. And most didn’t know that it was a joke. People were laughing and pointing at her, throwing insults at the girl for something that never happened.

Finally, after about three months of dealing with it alone, she had the heart to tell her teacher. They decided to never talk to each other outside of class again, to prevent the teacher from getting problems with the school. While it was just a rumour, that didn’t mean that it wouldn’t lead to problems.

Both of them lost a friend on the day they made this decision. And the student lost a person she saw as a second father – her father barely ever was at home and her teacher had been one of three people (the other ones being her best friend and a female teacher she knew since fifth grade) she ever fully trusted. It might not have been cruel at the first glance, but it hurt her in more ways than the others students could’ve ever imagined.

That girl was me.

Some good ways to get revenge on someone?

Meet Kyle Tomlinson.

As a 12 year old, he came to the auditions of Britain’s Got Talent.

You should go and get a singing teacher.

He was told by David Walliams

and that hurt the 12 year old kid. So much so that when he came for auditions 2 years later, he mentioned this on the stage again. David obviously did not remember the incident.

Kyle had taken it to his heart that ‘he was not good enough’ and had worked hard on his singing for the past 2 years.

Kyle sang that day with his heart out and the entire auditorium rose up to appreciate his talent. Everyone was moved and David Walliams somewhere realized how big a mistake he had done for hurting Kyle.

David pressed the golden buzzer, which meant Kyle went to the live shows directly. (Every judge has only one golden buzzer to use in one season.)

David came up to the stage and hugged Kyle.

Kyle transformed his embarrassment and made himself more than able in a period of 2 years.

He forced the man who had underestimated him to accept his mistake.

For me, that is the best form of revenge.

Turn your haters into your fans.

Film-Noir | Impact (1949) | Brian Donlevy, Helen Walker, Ella Raines | Movie, subtitles

One of my regrets

Oh, I have a lot of regrets. Though, I try to minimize the mountain of built-up and pent-up regrets and memories. Often enough, though distraction and labor. In one way or the other.

Some of the regrets are silly.

Here’s a silly regret.

When I lived in Boston, I used to go into the thrift stores, and antique stores and browse around. Over time, I would often find this kind of heavy (smash on the table) white coffee cup. And it would be cheap. 25 cents more often than not. These things were great, and were really popular in the United States say up until the late 1960’s.

Many had logos, and designs. Often symbols. All nicely done. Like for Naval Ships. Or for government agencies. Or for awards and events. Like a bridge opening in 1954.

So I had amassed quite a collection of them. I loved them. I had, maybe, about 35 of these things.

Later on, when I was living in Arkansas, and going though a nasty divorce with the witch that was poisoning me and who eventually got me sent to prison, I left the state with just a few items of clothing and my books.

When the time came to pack up the mugs, however, on a whim, I decided to leave them behind.

I guess that I was too upset, and too lethargic over everything to take them with me.

I shouldn’t have done that.

And now I have regrets.

…

Do not allow emotion…

…tiredness…

…frustration…

…stress…

…to allow you to make hasty and ill-advised decisions.

…

You will egret them in the future.

(A word to the wise.)

Today…

BULLETIN: Russian Forces Hit NATO Operations Center Inside Ukraine!

World Hal Turner 16 December 2023

BULLETIN: 2:49 PM EDT 16 December 2023 — Starokonstantinov, Ukraine — Russian Aerospace Forces have struck a NATO Operations center with a Kinzhal Hypersonic Missile.

Russian Forces report and confirm the destruction of a NATO operation center in Starokonstantinov, Ukraine, by a Kinzhal hypersonic missile strike!!

Initial reports say Ukrainian suffered 28 casualties and NATO lost at least 12 officers!!

The Ukrainian forces have given no statement and have disabled communication in the region to prevent information from getting out!! They’re too late.

The US and NATO are now directly involved in Ukrainian combat operations against Russia in Ukraine!!

Standpoint Theory

What is it like to ride a camel?

Riding a camel is quite an experience. It’s not like hopping onto a horse or sitting on a bike.

First off, before you even get to the exciting part, you’re going to face the camel’s getting-up process. Camels are tall creatures and they rise in stages—back legs first—which can leave you feeling like you’re about to be catapulted over their head. Holding on during that initial lurch is key.

Once you’re in motion, the rhythm is unlike any other. Camels have a swaying gait, and it can take a moment to find your balance with the camel’s oscillating movement (they often walk in a ‘pace’, moving both legs on one side of their body simultaneously). Think of it like a boat slowly rocking side to side—you need to relax and go with the flow.

The height can be disconcerting too—you’re way up there. A camel’s back is a lofty perch compared to the average horse. This means you get quite a vantage point; it’s like sitting on a slow-moving balcony. For me, here in Portland, OR, the tallest I usually get is standing up on Mount Tabor, which is nothing compared to being atop a camel, I’d bet.

But it’s not an amusement park ride. Expect some discomfort, especially if you’re not used to riding animals. The saddle, often just a blanket or a simple framework, isn’t the epitome of comfort, and it’s going to test your core strength and your backside.

Now, let’s talk about the personality of your ride. Camels can be temperamental. They’re known for being a bit…

Well, let’s say they have their own minds. They might decide to stop and refuse to move. Or they might express their displeasure in a more vocal way. Yep, they can spit if they’re really pushed. But mostly, they’re majestic creatures—stoic and adapted perfectly to their environment.

Here’s a pro tip: wear long trousers and maybe even some padding. You’ll thank me later when you’ve avoided chafing and can still walk normally the next day.

Lastly, enjoy the quirks. It’s an ancient mode of transportation, a connection to a different way of life. Riding a camel can be an opportunity to take in the landscape at a slower pace, from the deserts of the Middle East to the wilds of Australia, or even special tours elsewhere.

All told, it’s about embracing a unique adventure, one sway at a time.

The USA needs this man

What tiny detail have most people noticed but never bothered to stop and think about?

Have you ever pulled a “push” door?

Have you noticed that most public doors open outwards?

Picture this:

You’re at the cinema with your family or friends, enjoying a spectacular movie by some of your favourite actors.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a fire breaks out and the fire alarm rings.

At first people are confused, but very quickly they catch on. In chaotic unison, everyone suddenly starts to panic.

And like a herd of buffalo that have just spotted a lion, everyone darts towards the door. You’re in the lead.

You reach the door first and quickly try to push it open. But it doesn’t budge. It’s a “pull” door.

Realizing your mistake, you quickly try to pull it open. But it’s too late. Everyone’s already at the door trying desperately to push through.

You can’t pull the door back, because everyone is pushing you against it and cramming at the entrance.

At the same time, people are yelling at you.

“OPEN THE DOOR!!!”

“JUST PUSH IT YOU F*CKING IDIOT!”

“PLEASE, I HAVE A BABY!”

But you can’t.

You can’t even move. Your body is being crushed against the door by the panicking crowd. Combine that with the smoke and you can’t breathe.

You’re suffocating.

This was someone’s reality in the Iroquois Theatre Fire of 1903.

The deadliest theatre fire and deadliest single-building fire in United States history. Resulting in over 602 deaths.

Luckily, by chance a passing railroad agent saw the crowd pressing against the door and unfastened the hinges from the outside using tools that he normally carried with him, allowing the actors and stagehands to escape.

Because of this incident, most public doors now open outwards or are bidirectional.

And this is why a fire exit in particular will most likely open outwards.

Have you ever seen a mass exodus after a respected employee quit or got fired?

Not so much a mass exodus but a full team exodus – five of us. I was team leader but my elder mum (we lived together) was extremely ill, and it was clear to me that very soon the diagnosis would be one of terminal cancer, so I asked my Manager for a change in working hours so I could go home every lunch time to make sure she ate and was okay. I lived a 25 minute drive away so my intention was I would be absent 12 – 2 and make up the missing hour (1 of the hours being my lunch hour) by doing work at home that evening. Now bear in mind that for the entire 7 years I had worked for that company, and been team leader for 4 years, I had often gone in of a weekend UNPAID for at least a couple of hours to ensure that all was up to date, or took work home to do during the evening UNPAID. My team had a reputation for being fast, efficient, and friendly. We exceeded our targets every single year and received handsome bonuses.

My boss said NO. His only reason being that if he did it for me he would have to do it for others. The fact that this was exceptional circumstances and, as far as I could see, it would not be longer than a year or so (in fact, my mum died in the March of the following year, I had made my request in the July). I had already been headhunted by another local firm much nearer to my home (10 mins walk maximum) so I went back to them and they offered me a job. My boss was gobsmacked but still would not offer a change to my working hours, so I took the other job offer.

Well as soon as they knew I was leaving, my entire team started looking elsewhere and within a matter of months the entire team was gone! In fact, one member of the team actually came with me to my new employer :-D.

Repair

What is the one in a million coincidence you have ever had?

We sold a used car to a man who claimed that it was for his 16 year old daughter’s birthday that was the next day. He didn’t have all of the money, but said he would bring us the rest after he got his next paycheck. My heart went out to him, so I gave him the car with just a partial deposit. No surprises…he took the car and never came back. This was in Los Angeles.

Flash forward a few months, we were in downtown Las Vegas when who do I see but the thief who still owed us the money. My husband insisted it wasn’t him. I knew it was. I marched right up to him and demanded our money. The man was clearly caught off guard and then said that he didn’t have it on him. I said, “That’s okay, we’ll walk with you to the nearest ATM.” And that’s how we got the money that was owed to us.

Funny side note… the FBI called me a few months after that to see if I recognized anyone in a line up. There he was again! Turned out that he was part of an organized auto theft / chop shop ring. So much for my gut instincts!

Why does the military allow fresh, young, inexperienced college graduates to immediately enter OCS and gain the rank of a 2nd lieutenant, which places them above the rank of a master sergeant who probably has more than double the experience?

This is one of those “Yes but / However comma” answers.

Civilians with no military experience get hung up on this idea a lot, because they don’t understand two concepts that are pretty fundamental to how the US military (and most Western-style militaries, for that matter) operate: rank is not the same thing as authority, and officers and NCOs have fundamentally different jobs and responsibilities.

Caveat that I’m coming at this question from the perspective of the Navy. An officer or NCO from another service might things somewhat differently, but I’m trying to give as ecumenical an answer as possible.

A junior officer in the O-1 pay grade* is first and foremost an apprentice officer. Everyone understands this – the JO, his NCOs, his superior officers, etc. If a new 2nd Lt or Ensign doesn’t understand this, then his instructors at his commissioning source failed to do some pretty basic education. The new butterbar is there to learn how to be a leader; the philosophy of the US military is the best way to learn is by doing. So he or she is placed in a position of leadership and, at least by the pay grade table, outranks even the saltiest E-9.

*It’s different with officers commissioned from the ranks – the Navy calls them “mustangs” – and that’s a whole different discussion outside the scope of the OP’s question

This is where the however comma bit comes in. By matter of long service and experience, the NCOs in a unit have greater informal authority. The O-1 is there to learn from them. It’s supposed to be a good working partnership that combines mentorship, OJT, and maintaining unit discipline and morale. The officer should demonstrate willingness to listen and learn and respect for the NCOs’ experience and authority over the more junior enlisted; the NCO should demonstrate patience and good mentorship while respecting the officer’s rank and extending them the courtesy due that rank. An officer who confuses his pay grade with authority undermines the NCO in front of the junior E’s. An NCO who demeans or disregards the officer undermines the officer and fails in his duty to form the young officer into the kind of leader he’d want to work for.

Of course, people are people, in uniform and not, and it doesn’t always work the way it’s supposed to. Sometimes a new officer doesn’t know what to do with their by-rank authority but tries to hide it (which is silly, nobody expects a brand new officer to know how to do everything) by blindly issuing orders without listening to his NCOs, or trying to be chummy with the junior E’s (who are probably closer to his age), or masking their insecurity about their inexperience with arrogance, etc. Not all NCOs are created equal. Some don’t have the patience to mentor an officer, or the desire. Those are the “go away and let me do my job…sir” NCOs. And some NCOs are just plain incompetent, or might have been great technical specialists but with no talent for leadership. The military promotion system is, to say the least, by no means perfect.

When it works as designed though, it works well for everyone involved.

It’s the BRO code

What’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve heard a parent say when fighting for custody in court?

This wasn’t when we were fighting for custody, but when I was trying to have our custody case transferred to a different courts jurisdiction.

The judge asked me why I wanted the change. I told him that the kids and I had moved to the jurisdiction of the other court and I planned on asking for a change to our custody case. I had no car and with the way the public transportation ran, I had to come up with the kids the night before court and stay the night at a friends house to be able to make it to court on time and then the kids would all miss a full day of school. The judge then asked their dad why he didn’t want the change to happen. He told the judge that it would inconvenience him (even though he had a car). I had never seen a judge yell at anyone before that day. He was screaming at my ex “How does your inconvenience trump your kids missing school, spending the night away from home, spending hours on a bus?!”

I got the change of jurisdiction.

Have you ever started playing mind games with the interviewer during a job interview?

If it’s a “mind game” to shut down a “mind game,” yes. I got quite blunt:

Interviewer: “You’ve proven to me you are an excellent designer; but you haven’t proven your writing skills. Here is a writing assignment. Work on it tonight and bring it to me tomorrow at 2 and I will give you your portfolio back then.” THANK YOU, NO.
Interviewer: “Do you have any idea who would buy our product? I’m thinking salesmen. But I’m not sure. Do you have any ideas? Maybe we could write some down.” THANK YOU, NO.
Interviewer: “It’s only a one-day assignment, but we have a zero-tolerance policy, you we will need a urine test from you before we will consider hiring you.” THANK YOU, NO.
Interviewer: “I need to test you. Here’s a written exam (!). You have :30 to finish it.” (I realize the “exam” is an article the hiring company needs for a trade-industry magazine.) THANK YOU, NO.
The worst mind game played on me was by a nice, professional man who I liked instantly. I arranged to meet him after the staff went home, because I was still working a full-time job. This position was for a temporary marketing person that would cover a specific 3-month project. There was the possibility it could become permanent. We had a lovely chat, and he seemed ready to hire me. He said “let me show you around.” After we toured the work area (and he showed me “my” desk), he said “Can you come back on Tuesday? I just want to introduce you to a few co-workers.” (I’m thinking he’s hired me; I lied to my current boss so I had all Tuesday morning.) On Tuesday morning, I arrived all relaxed and confident. I asked to see Mr. Manager (who was oh so nice, did I mention?). The receptionist said “Mr. Manager isn’t in today.” Me: “I’m sorry, he was interviewing me for the marketing position. I must have confused the day.” “No; said the receptionist. Follow me.” She led me into a huge conference room with six large banquet tables arranged so it was one big table. People started filing in… 7, 11, 12… I lost count. They were “the executive board” and they started peppering me with questions. I did my best to answer, but my anger at Mr. Nice Manager was boiling over. So he deliberately lied to me to presumably see how I acted “under pressure” and didn’t have the decency to even be there. Sorry, I won’t work for someone who would do that to a person. This was years ago, but I still see the company’s vans and I cringe; what did they do to the guys that drive the vans, hold them out a window by the ankles? I fell flat on my face in that interview. Maybe that’s my fault, but that is the definition of a mind game, and I didn’t want any part of someone who would do that to a prospective employee.

In short, most of my mind game interviewers are trying to get work done for free or betray a weird corporate culture (OK, you have a zero drug policy for a one-day temp job and you can’t find anyone pre-screened and in-house?). A few interviewers have left me waiting for :45 to over an hour; if they were “tricking me” or just disrespectful of me and my time, I didn’t really care because I left.

TL/DR: Pay attention to how you’re treated in an interview because whatever game they’re playing is going to get exponentially worse if they hire you. An interview goes both ways. Plus, if they’re obviously playing you, you have every right to “play” back.

Rufus in action

What thing are people starting to make not fun?

I still enjoy going to theaters with my girlfriend—sometimes. It gives us an excuse to get out of the house and focus on a movie with no distractions.

It’s gotten remarkably expensive. The last time we went, tickets were nearly $25 each.

But the biggest problem is the people. There is constant talking and playing on phones.

We had teenage girls sitting in the front row during a showing of Dune. Their screens were flashing in the front row. They were sprinting in and out of the theater like hyper children.

My girlfriend left halfway through the movie to use the bathroom.

She bumped into the teenagers and called them out for ruining the movie for everyone and they didn’t come back.

She got back from her bathroom break and said, “Don’t worry about those girls. I took care of it.”

For a brief second, I was worried she’d killed them.

Sadly, in the past three out of four movie dates we’ve been on, there has been some sort of incident. It’s making movie theaters damn near impossible to enjoy.

I’m hoping it’s just bad luck on our part. It wasn’t always like this.

Is it possible to have a giant nuclear powered aircraft that stays in the air all the time?

Yes, indeed. Behold the HTRE-3 nuclear aircraft engine.

Yes, this is real. Yes, the military was crazy enough to think this was a good idea.

In principle, it’s straightforward. A jet engine is just a heat engine. You suck cold air in the front, you heat it up, you spew the hot air out the back. What we normally think of as a “jet engine” heats the air up by burning jet fuel. But the heat can come from anywhere. A nuclear reactor? No sweat. They get plenty hot.

Thing is, it’s easy to make a lightweight nuclear reactor that gets as hot as you want it to. The heavy part of a reactor isn’t the core, it’s the radiation shielding around the core.

So. What do you notice is missing in this picture?

Core’s looking a bit exposed, innit?

The US military built and flew these engines [edit: an experimental reactor similar to the one designed to drive these engines, not the engines themselves: see comments!] in a test aircraft.

They produce a lot of radiation, and you can’t easily shield them if you want them light enough to fly a plane. Which creates quite a problem for handling and servicing these things.

They considered a modular design where you could just undock the crew bits from the nasty radioactive bits…

…and then just reprocess it or, I don’t know, throw it away or something.

Then some engineer somewhere said “you guys do realize this idea is both crazy and stupid, right?” and the idea went away.

America today

What’s the most pretentious thing you’ve ever seen on a résumé?

Originally Answered: What’s the most pretentious thing you’ve ever seen on a resume?

I received a resume from someone who had recently graduated from high school. They had one job on the resume and their job title was Director in Charge of Company Morale at a prestigious local law firm.

The resume lacked all the things I was looking for, but the job title listed intrigued me. I set the interview and was waiting to hear a litany of lies.

On the day of the interview this cleancut sharp dressed young man showed up. After brief small talk I asked about the prior job and what it entailed.

Turns out his Director in Charge of Company Morale Position entailed him going out each morning and getting coffee for all the partners. He said without their morning coffee, morale was very low.

Best belly laugh in an interview ever. I hired him. And he worked out well because he found a way to place a positive attitude on everything he did, however menial the task.

Edit: I am honored that so many people like my answer. Thank you all.

Update: I’ve had several people suggest editing the gender from “they” to “he”. At the time I read the resume and set the appointment, I had no idea if the applicant was male or female. Gender was not a decision point in our hiring process. This is why I have left the answer unedited. Thank you all again for the overwhelming response.

Filipino Egg Pie

Ingredients

6 large eggs yolks
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup warm evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites
1 (9 inch) pie crust

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, beat 6 large egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, warm evaporated milk, nutmeg, vanilla extract and salt until mixed well.
Whip egg whites in a separate bowl until they form stiff peaks.
Add the whipped egg white to the milk mixture slowly until well incorporated. Pour into pie shell and bake for 45 to 50 minutes until the center is set.
Let pie cool completely before serving.

Attribution

Recipe and photo used with permission from: American Egg Board
Recipe created in partnership with @thetastebud

What is the weirdest thing you’ve walked in on?

I had a very rocky second marriage, but I loved him so kept going back for more of the same bad treatment. (I have learned better behavior now!) Our marriage consisted of lots of comings and goings, and we split up with each other quite frequently because we were really incompatible. Being around each other all the time was a trial.

He was a big time gambler and many other things besides, and I couldn’t cope with all of his bad habits. I dare say I had some bad habits, but I didn’t have any addictions, thankfully.

One time, the last time, I left home and went to stay with a friend, my husband and I talked very frequently on the phone and missed each other’s company. It was a very strange affair.

Anyway, I decided to move back in for good and went back to the house one day with all my luggage. I got to our home and went in, and what do you know, I heard a familiar sound coming from our bedroom that was on the third floor. When I climbed the stairs, I realized what was happening. Despite the fact that my husband knew I was coming home, he was up in our bedroom making love to another woman.

Needless to say, that was grounds for divorce. He caught Covid in prison and died two years ago.

Traditional vs. Progressive

What did your pastor say or do that made you quit his church?

My pastor and his wife tried to convince me to stay with my abusive husband and just live separately until our children were both adults and then start living like a married couple again. Why would we have to live separately you ask? Well, that would be because a few days before this conversation I had Child Protective Services (or CPS for short), the San Berdarnio County Sherifs Office, Fort Irwin (I and my ex-husband were both in the Army at the time) Military Police, and Fort Irwin Criminal Investigation Department (or CID) at my door at 10 at night trying to take my kids away from me because he FINALLY got caught beating my son. (Before this point I could not prove it as there were never bruises or marks) But this time he threw a phone at my sons face because he did not get up at 5 in the morning when his 4 year old sister had to get up to go to daycare (My son was 12 at the time) and it “wasn’t fair that she had to get up that early and he didn’t so I make them both get up”. My son did not have to be to school until 830. My daughter had to go to daycare before we both started work in the morning but got to go back to sleep at daycare so can’t figure out where fairness comes in to play.

Anyway, the pastor and his wife call and say that divorce is against the Bible and we should stay married and live apart until the kids are adults and can move out and then we continue, at that point to live together. I told them flatly no because he was also abusive to me and oh, by the way that woman he has been bringing to church as a “friend?”, yeah he has been having an affair with her for over 2 years. So, tell me again about what the Bible says? I also may have threw in there about how the Bible says there are a few reasons why divorce is accepted and a couple of those just happen to be abuse and adultery. I may have also mentioned that they have no room to talk when their own daughter was getting divorced from her husband because he came out and told her he was gay and that is NOT an acceptable reason (for that religion) to get a divorce.

What is the most misunderstood profession?

Being a CEO.

I often ghostwrite for executives. My job is to help tell their story, either in book or article form. The more I learn, the more I feel bad for them.

Not one of the CEOs I’ve written for looks back fondly on the actual day-to-day CEO experience.

They loved being CEO. But they hated the job. Their phone was ringing at all hours. Every problem rolled up to them.

They had to decide the fate of many people’s careers and lives. There was immense pressure on them from stakeholders and owners. The hours they put in were beyond intense.

Most are now very wealthy — but they were undoubtedly aged by the job. It changed them.

When I was in finance, I worked alongside a senior VP and sat in on many of the executive meetings, taking notes for my boss. This was not a room full of happy people.

When you start making $200K, $300K, and up, you can expect to pay a steep price and often get a target on your back.

It is constant worry and emails and people problems.

The idea of the CEO who kicks back, smokes cigars, and yells “mush” couldn’t be further from the actual job.

If China has so much money to invest in other countries, why don’t they develop the poor parts of China?

If China has so much money to invest in other countries, why don’t they develop the poor parts of China?

Which poor part of China do you refer to? Can you give just one specific example that China has failed or ignored to develop?

If you are not convinced, let us just look at the situations from the poorest part of China. Here are the last four provinces with the least GDP per capita (nominal) in China: List of Chinese administrative divisions by GDP per capita – Wikipedia

Gansu province ($4735, 26 million people)
Yunnan province ($5612, 48 million people)
Guizhou province ($6233, 36 million people)
Guangxi province ($6270, 49 million people)

Just for reference: India ($2036), Vietnam ($2551), Mongolia ($4026), Albania ($5289), South Africa ($6377). Note that all the listed are poorer than Tibet ($6550, 3m people) and Xinjiang ($7476, 24m) in term of GDP per capita.

We will look at these provinces and see what China has done specifically to develop these poor provinces.

This will be an extremely long post. Please read at your discretion. But if you read on, I’m sure you will learn a lot of new things about China:

1. Gansu province

Gansu is poor for a reason. On one side, you have the massive freezing Tibetan Plateau. On the other side, you have the deadly Gobi Desert.

God doesn’t want you to live here. But you insisted.

Image credit: 地球知识局

What kind of environment are we talking about? Have a look at the following picture. This is what a typical village in Gansu looks like.

Red stones, golden sands and deep valleys. Gansu is the Nevada State of China. There are a lot of sites just like the death valley and red canyon in the USA.

The Taolai River Gorge at Jiayuguan Pass in Gansu

Imagine you are living here. You grow your food in the valleys but you have virtually no rainfall at all. Even if you managed to grow a few tons of wheat magically, where you do sell? To the nearest city? That’s fine. Please drive 5 hours out of this god damn dry mountains.

Even if you manage to find a customer to buy your wheat. He will buy your wheat for $150 per ton. But your transport and fuel cost to move the wheat out of these mountains has exceeded $100 per ton. Considering other costs, okay … , so do you grow wheat just for losing money?

A mountain road in Jingtai County, Gansu

So you have no choice but to leave the village and become a Foxconn worker in Zhengzhou and spent your days making iPhones. That’s what most Gansu people would choose to do. As most people are leaving the rugged land to the cities, your village becomes deserted just like this:

An abandoned village in Dingxi County, Gansu

What has the Chinese government done to address this problem?

For the 13th Five Year Plan (2016–2020), the central government has poured a huge amount of money in building expressways and railways across these God damn hills. And what’s more, they are not building “Level 5” bridges just enough for people to move. Instead, they are building “Level 50” shiny and massive bridges.

What are the differences between a “Level 5” bridge and “Level 50” bridge?

Here is an example of a “Level 5” bridge in France. Short in length and height. You have to rush down, cross the bridge and climb up the mountains.

Here is an example of a “Level 50” bridge in Gansu. All you need to do is to pass through at the speed of 120km/h.

Tian Ning Gou Bridge in Gansu, Tianyong expressway

These “level 50” bridges are indeed very expensive to build. But, on the other hand, they are very cost effective if you consider the amount of fuel saved for trucks, trains, and cars! You don’t have to go down and up again and again.

Even if there is already a “level 5” road along the valleys, the government is still not satisfied. They want to build another high-speed “level 50” expressway along with it. In order to run at 120km/h across the mountains and valleys, the expressway has to be filled with tunnels and bridges so that it is more stretched. This makes trucks and cars to drive faster with less distance. So the fuel cost and transport costs can be reduced significantly.

Provincial expressways S2 in construction in Gansu (35°21’14.3″N 102°49’02.0″E)

In 2019, the total “Level 50” expressway length in Gansu has exceeded 4242km [1] (speed limit 120km/h), which is even longer than Mexico. And it is almost three times longer than India’s total length. Not only expressways but Gansu also has 4 lines of high-speed railways running at 250km/h to 350km/h (宝兰，成兰，兰新，兰渝).

In the next 14th Five Year Plan (2021–2025), the government will promise to connect every prefecture city of Gansu with high-speed railways and expressways.

Lanzhou-Xinjiang high-speed railways

Why are “Level 50” bridges, roads and railways are so useful?

Imagine you are the farmer mentioned above, thanks to the village road built around you, you can transport your crops to your nearest city faster and also at a lower cost. The distributor in your nearest city can also find customers in a province that is even further away. People who are at 2000km away can buy your wheat at a higher price, thanks to the giant expressway network. Overall, you can finally make profits in growing wheat in Gansu!

Still think what I said is made-up or propaganda?

Well, here is another real-life example. Imagine you live in a distant village in Gansu and you want to buy a mobile phone from Taobao (Chinese Amazon), what does it cost to ship a package of 1kg from Shenzhen to Dunhuang in Gansu in 2019? Note that the total distance is around 3500km.

You can use this Chinese website for shipping cost calculation: 快递价格和网点查询 – 快递小帮手

According to the website, the total cost for shipping over the 3500km is 15RMB ($2.2) and it promises to arrive in 3 days.

For comparison, the total cost for shipping one 1kg package from Boston to Reno in Nevada (a similar 4000km) in the USA is $26.13 according to the UPS shipping price calculator under the UPS 3-day service.

Therefore in the USA, it requires 10x more money to do the same thing! And note that they are both counted in the GDP calculation in both countries. Is it fair? Of course not. This applies to other services too.

That means Gansu is not that “poor” as we originally thought.

Instead, Gansu is also blessed with the richness in “green” natural resources. On one side, you have the freezing Tibetan plateau. On the other side, you have the hot Gobi desert. Boom! The temperature difference causes constant wind blowing. God doesn’t want you to live here but he really gives you another gift: the wind power.

Therefore, Gansu is the leader in its renewable energy sector. It has the world’s largest on-shore wind farm:

Gansu Jiuquan Windfarm 40°40’31.2″N 95°24’44.5″E

There are so many on-shore solar farms in Gansu as well. I am not sure if it is the world’s largest. But you can spot them everywhere on Google Earth.

If you can’t grow crops on the land, then just grow solar panels.

Gansu Wuwei Solarfarm 38°06’05.1″N 102°18’00.2″E

God also said, “Let Gansu be light”. Thanks to the Chinese, do you see the holy light?

Gansu Dunhuang Tower Solarfarm 40°03’49.3″N 94°25’29.9″E

However, despite China’s “great leap forward” in solar farm construction, they are faced with severe problems in Gansu. They are generating too much electricity and it is much more than the Gansu people can consume. The private sector is also investing heavily in Gansu, making the government unable to control the overall supply of the solar power in Gansu.

As a result, it is estimated 40% of the wind and solar electricity is wasted in Gansu [2]. We could not store the energy because currently, we don’t have giant batteries. Storing a huge amount of energy remains a problem to be solved by future technology.

The remaining choice is to transmit this huge amount of electricity through the ultra-high voltage power grid to the power-hungry Eastern China. However, building a 3000km power grid is not an easy task and people along the grid would complain about the danger and radiation above their houses. I will write about this on-going Chinese mega project and its achievements and problems in another answer.

In summary, these conclude the development in the poorest province of China —Gansu. The GDP growth for Gansu province in 2018 is 10.54% [3]. And it is still far from enough compared to other provinces because we still have a lot of distant villages in Gansu that are yet covered by decent roads and bridges. We will wait and see how China continues to eliminate poverty here.

2. Yunnan & Guizhou province

The next three poorest provinces: Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi are next to each other in the Southwest of China. There are around 140 million people living here.

Image Credit: 地球知识局

Yunnan & Guizhou are poor for the same reason. So let’s look at them together and later we discuss Guangxi specifically.

If you have already been there, you might have already enjoyed those amazing tourist attractions in these areas. But they do not represent the majority of the people nor the whole poverty situation.

What is the real situation?

As the Indian subcontinent continues to squeeze, terrains around here are becoming more and more similar to “wrinkles”, as mountains are squeezed higher and the rivers continue to carve valleys deeper.

Yes, it is like the wrinkles of the skin.

Imagine you are living in the middle of the “wrinkle”. You would be surrounded by tall mountains and deep valleys.

It is nearly impossible to move around without flying. Building roads is also nearly impossible. You would be isolated for your whole life. To get a taste of what it is like, you can just go to Google Earth and experience it. (26°12’28.4″N 99°07’57.1″E)

Even if you can climb across the mountains to the other side, you have to climb up and down another three similar mountains in order to reach a nearby city.

As a farmer, can you get rich if you live here? That’s nearly impossible. If you are ill, you have to call a helicopter to fly to the nearest hospital. But you have to be rich to afford a mobile phone. No signals? Oh, why not just wait and die?

Are you desperate? Most likely.

But the Chinese said: “Hold my beer, I got this”.

Beipanjiang bridge, Liupanshui, Guizhou (World’s highest bridge)

Pu-Li-Te Bridge, Xuanwei, Yunnan (World’s third highest bridge)

Jin-An Bridge, Lijiang, Yunnan (World’s fourth highest bridge, to be completed in 2020)

Ya-Chi-He Bridge, Qingzhen, Guizhou (World’s fifth highest bridge)

Liu-Guang-He Bridge, Liutong, Guizhou (World’s sixth highest bridge)

Ping-tang Bridge, Liutong, Guizhou (World’s largest viaduct bridge, to be completed later in 2019)

A similar and smaller viaduct bridge can be found in Hunan as well. Here is the video for the beer:

The Chinese said: “Hold up. There are ten more to come in the next five years”.

A high-speed railway arch bridge in Guizhou. Bullet trains pass through this bridge at the speed of 250km/h.

For comparison, a similar railway bridge is also being built in India. It is the Chenab Railway Bridge in J&K. Chenab Bridge – Wikipedia

However, this bridge started in 2003 and it was originally intended to be completed in December 2009. But ten years passed the Indian people have still not finished it.

If the Indian engineers wanted to delay for another 2 years, the bridge would no longer be the world’s tallest railway arch bridge. The new King will be crown to the Sichuan-Tibet railway bridge.

That’s enough for bridges. For the rest of the bridges please refer to List of highest bridges – Wikipedia

. Basically nearly the world’s top 100 highest bridges are all from Yunan and Guizhou (I’m not talking about China. Just the two provinces).

And we are not comparing the length of the bridge, because expressways in Yunnan and Guizhou are pretty much always in bridges or tunnels. So it is pointless to compare their length.

The takeaway for this section is that please don’t take for granted if you see the expressway network like this in Yunnan and Guizhou.

Think about their terrain and imagine how difficult it is to build expressways here.

Now back to Yunnan and Guizhou. What kind of other developments that are worth mentioning?

4G Network Coverage

Even in the most distant village with no good roads, you can always find 4G base stations installed. In terms of 4G, no other countries in the world can be compared with China. Not a single developed country like the USA, UK nor Japan can be comparable in such a scale.

According to the Ministry of Industry and IT in China [7], there are 1.204 billion users connected to 4G stations in China. There are 3.72 million 4G base stations installed in China, exceeding 20% more than the rest of the world combined. Guizhou has achieved 100% 4G coverage in all its 10k villages and Yunnan reaches 65% in its progress.

In 2019, the package price for unlimited 4G internet is 98rmb ($14.5) for one person and 134 rmb ($20) for a family of three. Compared to the USA, you have to spend $40 in T-Mobile just to have a 10GB of internet. Compared to India, although India has much cheaper Internet than China, their 4G coverage is relatively low compared to China.

Why does the 4G access useful? Well, this is another answer I will write. But just to draw your curiosity, do you notice that there are more and more Youtubers from Yunnan and Guizhou broadcasting their daily farming life?

Making Toufu online?

Picking tea leaves online?

Hydroelectricity

Of course, 4G signals are inseparable from the electricity. Yunnan and Guizhou are also blessed with the hydropower. Most of the worlds’ largest dams and power stations listed here are from Yunnan and Guizhou. List of largest hydroelectric power stations – Wikipedia

. They contribute to 30% of the hydroelectricity generated in China.

Yunnan hydropower generation: 280.4 terawatt hours [4]
Guizhou hydropower generation: 65.8 terawatt hours [5]
Three Gorges Dam (only) generation: 88.2 terawatt hours [6]

Just follow along the four major rivers in Yunnan from Google Earth. You can find many stages of Dam on the same river. For example, the Jinsha River (Yangtze) has nine stages of dams.

A dam along the Jin Sha River 26°48’23.9″N 100°26’46.4″E

Compared to the power transmission and storage problem in Gansu, hydroelectricity generated in Yunan and Guizhou are directly transmitted to power up the Guangdong province and Hong Kong, because China has already built the ultra-high voltage power transmission line.

That means a fraction of your made-in-China products are actually manufactured using the hydro-power from Yunnan.

Data centres

Thanks to the abundance of electricity and water resources for cooling, the Chinese government has chosen Guizhou as its most important base for data centres.

Deep in the caves of Guizhou, lies the Tencent T-Block data centre (腾讯七星数据中心). This is the place where the data of all Chinese Wechat/Tencent Video (Chinese Netflix) users are stored.

In 2018, Apple has also decided to place its iCloud (China) data centre in Guizhou. This is where all Chinese apple users information are stored in China.

Now pretty much every important IT company has set their data centres in Guizhou, such as Alibaba, Huawei, China Mobile, etc.

Why do most companies choose Guizhou, such a poor place, to be the destination for data centres? Why not other places?

Because Xi Jinping wants it. He recommends IT companies to place their data centres in Guizhou to enjoy cuts in taxes and electricity bills. As Guizhou have more data centres, it finally has something to focus for its own to develop.

Why does Xi Jinping think Guizhou is so special?

Because Xi found that the leader of Guizhou, Chen Min’er, was exceptionally capable. It was Chen who led Guizhou to attract so many investments and called for IT companies to setup big data centre installations in Guizhou. Thanks to Chen’s excellent governing skill in Guizhou, he is now promoted to the Mayor of Chongqing.

I think he will be the next president of China after Xi Jinping (if he continues to demonstrate his governance skills).

On the other hand, China can finally build its Great Data Bank of China in Guizhou so that the Chinese government can regulate API usage based on Chinese laws and validation using Chinese government licensed blockchain E-authentication.

Yes, this is really the authoritarian style of development in the Internet area. New forms of democracy are created: the government can instantly sample on what do the citizen feel from their mobile phones (like instant vote).

3. Guangxi province

Guangxi and Northen Vietnam are actually very similar in terms of geographic positions and terrains. They both have plenty of flooded plains, hilly mountains and coastal areas. Their cultures are actually very similar. Both are the descendants of the Nanyue Kingdom.

In theory, their GDP per capita should be similar but Vietnam suffers many wars compared to Guangxi. Now Guangxi GDP per capita is $6270 and Vietnam is $2557.

Compared to Northern Vietnam, the main problem for Guangxi is that all of its tributary rivers are flowing east instead of heading the south to the sea. These tributary rivers are then forming into one giant Pearl River at Wuzhou and then reaches the South China Sea in Canton.

Even for today in China, there are still a lot of heavyweight goods shipped through the rivers because of its cheap costs. This becomes really a problem for Guangxi. Since all its rivers flow directly to the east, all river-based shipment from Guangxi has to go through Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

From the above picture, the biggest embarrassment for its Capital Nanning is that ships have to travel 1000km to the east to reach the sea, even though Nanning is only 100km away from the coast in the south. Just imagine the extra cost added for the Guangxi people for international shipment!

A similar terrain can be found in Brazil. A huge mountain can be seen blocking the coast. This is really a curse from God. That’s why the Brazilian economy is not so good and could not develop manufacturing.

Guangxi is slightly better but shipping costs in Guangxi are more expensive compared to other coastal provinces in China. Due to the high costs, investments and talents would not come and it suffers the severe brain drain from the nearby Canton. This is the ultimate reason why Guangxi is poor.

On the contrary, if you look at Northern Vietnam, they are blessed with a wide natural river — the Red River. 5000-ton ships can easily reach Hanoi from Hai Phong. Low-cost transportation gives Vietnam the destiny to be the next center of low-end manufacturing. With the current US-China trade war, Vietnam would receive more foreign investments and its economy would be sky-rocketing.

Hopefully, if the Vietnamese government could follow the same approach as the Chinese government and massively expand its infrastructure and energy sectors, Hanoi-Hai Phong (the red river delta) would become the next mega metropolis around this region and they may experience over 10% growth over the next three decades.

Therefore Guangxi people have to be aware that Vietnam people are catching up quickly. What they need to do is to try everything best to improve its infrastructure and attract shipment from Chongqing and Kunming.

For the above map, you can see that it is actually closer for Kunming to go through Vietnam to reach the sea. If the Vietnam government is really clever, they should reduce the shipping costs (by improving road quality) and attract goods from Kunming and Tibet and use Hanoi port. This would make Hanoi to become the next logistic center for international shipping.

That’s why it is vital for the Guangxi government to counterbalance Vietnam and promote its connections to Yunan and Chongqing.

However, in the past two decades, the Guangxi CCP government have gone in the wrong direction. They’ve built three giant international ports along the coast. But not many people and ships wanted to use them. The combined port shipment volume is only 200million tons, which ranked at 18th among all ports in China.

Originally for Kunming and Chongqing, it is always cheaper and easier to go through Guangzhou instead of coming here. And what’s worse. You made all your three ports (Fang-cheng-gang, Qinzhou, Beihai) compete with each other, instead of focusing on building a combined giant port.

Image: A massive expansion in Fangchenggang port. Now it is pretty much a “ghost port”. 21°33’59.4″N 108°22’37.0″E

And what’s worse. The top CCP leader in Guangxi focused on building expressway and railway connections to Guangdong and ignored the roads to Kunming and Chongqing. As a result, more Guangxi people are drawn by the gravity from Guangdong and they are not coming back. This causes a severe brain drain in Guangxi.

People are leaving and ships are not coming. That’s why the Guangxi CCP leader did not get promoted. However, Guangxi is not a province, but it is an autonomous region in China. So it has its own laws and regulations. One of its regulation is that the Guangxi leader must be a Zhuang entity Zhuang people – Wikipedia

. This race-based selection obviously breaks the meritocracy system of CCP. And I think this is probably the reason why Guangxi is not developed so well. That’s why I suggest to remove the “autonomous” status and make Guangxi a province.

Lucky the current CCP leader in Guangxi has realized the problem and focus on promoting connections between Yunnan and Guizhou. And also they proposed to

Build Canals!

For the 13th Five Year Plan in Guangxi, the CCP is planning to “evaluate” the possibility of the Ping-Lu Canal (平陆运河) that connects the Pingtang river to the Qinjiang river in the south.

The canal is 20km long and it is very expensive to build. For reference, it is half the length of the Kra Canal in Thailand. It requires a lot of in-depth studies before the CCP finally decides to spend billions of RMB to build the canal. Whether it is worthwhile, it remains to be seen.

If it were built, it would be truly a significant boost to the Guangxi economy. With connected water, ships can then carry extra-heavy machinery and goods across most of the river network in Guangxi. It would finally solve the Guangxi problem!

For the road and railway network, Guangxi still has a lot of rooms to improve in terms of density and accessibility. I’m not listing their detailed projects because they are similar to Yunan and Guizhou.

Conclusion

After this extremely long post, I hope you can know something about the on-going developments in the four poorest provinces of China. The take away is that China invests much more domestically than abroad. These are all in the news but people just don’t pay attention to them.

And also note that most of the above projects are led by Chinese state enterprises. They lose money for doing this. But they bring huge social benefits to the general people. This is called “socialism with Chinese characteristics” and it is working. That’s why the West such as the USA and Europe could not achieve nor even consider doing it.

Finally, let’s finish up with a view of the expressway in Guangxi province. Thank you for taking the time to read this extremely long posts.

Please enjoy the real China 🙂

College-Age Carousel Rider Tries Lecturing Men That A “High Body Count Should NEVER Matter”

What is the best example of human kindness you have witnessed recently?

I was at a mall today, paying bills, having lunch and planning on a visit to the gym (pat on the back: I did all three!).

As I walked to the bank, I noticed an older man sitting by a water feature, dipping his fingers in the pool. This was unusual as people here in Thailand rarely do this in a mall.

When I passed him again 10 minutes later, he was standing in the middle of the walkway, searching to his left, then to his right, over and over, looking distressed.

I was about to approach him when a group of (uniformed and backpacked) high school students got to him first. They spoke to him respectfully and quickly realized that he didn’t know where he was or who should be with him.

One young man sprinted off to Information while the others tried to distract the old man to calm him.

A few moments later, a female security guard approached the group, having been notified by Information. She told the kids they could leave, but they refused, feeling they should stay and keep ‘grandfather’ happy.

An announcement was made, and within a few minutes, a very worried, middle-aged couple rushed over to the old man, and although they fussed at him for disappearing, they were clearly relieved.

The high school students were thanked, and then they respectfully took their leave.

The old man watched them go, turned to the couple and asked, “Where are the grandkids going?”

The couple smiled at him and gently said, “It’s ok, Father. They are going to school.”

The old man replied, “They are such good kids. You raised them well.”

Why do some civilians choose to stay in war zones?

Yesterday, I met a journalist friend who had just arrived from Avdiivka and we were talking about this issue.

Although this city in the Donetsk region is at the risk of encirclement by the Russian army and there’s no electricity and no internet, there are still some civilians living there.

My friend visited some of them in a bomb shelter and while he was doing his interviews, a woman in the shelter died.

Not from old age (she was fifty) or a sickness but because she had drunk hand sanitizer. Some people there are so poor that they cannot afford to buy alcohol so they drink disinfectants.

Avdiivka, Ukraine. (Picture: Forbes)

There are obviously two kinds of hand sanitizers, the clear one and the colored one, and one of them is extremely poisonous. The woman drank the wrong one, started sh*tting blood and died a few hours later.

Of course, not every civilian who stays behind in a war zone is a complete alcoholic but a lot of them are old, sick, or suffer from mental disorders.

Many of the civilians in Donetsk are also of Russian origin and wouldn’t feel much at home if they were to evacuate to Western or Central Ukraine.

Their lives were already screwed up long before the war and now, they simply don’t care anymore.

What’s the cleverest cheating you’ve ever seen as a teacher or student?

We take our exams in the classroom, where there is a projector that looks like this. It’s hanging from the ceiling and underneath it, there was a shiny piece of plastic that the school had never bothered to remove.

One of my friends, who sat directly below the projector, looked up to see the bottom of the projector in the middle of a Chinese exam. He was that friend who struggled a lot with Chinese, and guess what he saw at that moment?

The answers of the guy who sat next to him, reflecting off that shiny plastic.

The projector itself was black, so he could see the white exam paper easily. He copied down the answers, which was easier to do because that exam was multiple choice.

A few days later, we got our papers back and he was copying the answers off the wrong page, but in the next exam he used the same trick and made sure that he was on the same page as the person next to him (who was smart).

We don’t use that classroom now because we moved to a different building, but this “cheating hack” was passed down to the next generation and I’ve heard that they now fight for the seat underneath the projector. The teachers never found out.

Why do the men that admire Tyler Durden also admire Patrick Bateman when the two are about as opposite from the other as anything could ever be?

Love this question.

The Yuppies of American Psycho (and similar characters in the Ellisverse) are the Masters of American Consumerist Culture. They are the, in a sense, heroes of the Consumerist Myth. Rich, powerful, beautiful, and crushingly successful at everything they put their mind to.

So successful at consumption are they that they have moved beyond merely consuming things; they consume people and souls.

Fight Club could easily be put in the same universe. But instead of looking at the Masters of said Universe, Fight Club looks at its losers. The men who weren’t born to wealth and didn’t make it up the ladder.

The movie, through Tyler Durden, constantly points out the failures of these men to reach the levels of the Patrick Batemans of the world. Here is one particularly blunt, powerful scene:

Of course, Durden is also a consumer — in that he is actually consuming Jack and plans on erasing him entirely. He also “consumes” Marla, and eventually holds most of the Fight Club men in an iron grip. He even begins to morph into a “Master of the Universe” like-figure.

Notice the comments on the male model. In the Ellisverse, models are of the Elite.

Notice here that not only does Durden look like a male fashion model, he states that it’s exactly what Jack wishes he could look like and how he could live. And he’s not wrong, obviously. “All the ways you wish you could be? That’s me.”

As I see it, while Durden and Bateman would absolutely be opposed to each other’s “political” goals, such as they are, a Durden victory would be a “meet the new boss, same as the old boss” kind of thing at core.

Basically: Patrick Bateman and Tyler Durden really aren’t that different. If Durden were born in Bateman’s world he would be another Bateman; if Bateman were born in Durden’s world he would be another Durden (might sound implausible but remember, Bateman is crushingly charismatic, intelligent, and quite driven when he wants to be).

While Bateman is more openly aristocratic, Durden fairly quickly sets himself up as the undisputed King of Fight Club and clearly sets himself apart from the other men. I can’t find the video but there is a scene in the movie where the men dig ditches while Durden yells at them through a megaphone. He’s not in the ditch with them.

Durden presents himself as a hero of the common man… but he isn’t a common man himself. And the fact that he isn’t, makes him far more appealing. Because who wants to be the common man?

So.

They are the Elites of their Universes. All the women want them and the men want to be them. So of course many male viewers would admire them both and ignore their drawbacks. The political stuff is immaterial — at core they represent the same desires that many men have.

What’s the most ridiculous thing someone has claimed to be allergic to?

This is a prison story.

An inmate at a certain prison in the western US claimed that he was allergic to sodium. Now, this is ridiculous because, as my freshman chemistry teacher once pointed out, sodium is in everything.

Inmates with special diets (medical, dental, allergies, etc.) would go at the end of the line after everyone else had gotten their meal trays. Sodium guy would go last of all and put on a performance that was annoying and stupid but oddly comforting because of its predictability.

Prison staff mostly want things to go smoothly. Nobody was yanking this guy’s chain or trying to piss him off. At each meal they genuinely tried to come up with something he could eat. And at each meal, when his tray slid out the window, he would look at it and say (or scream), “I can’t eat this! It’s got sodium in it!” And he would slide it back into the window. This happened every time. Eventually he would eat something.

Once I saw him drinking a half-pint of milk. Showing him the ingredient list, I pointed out that it had sodium in it.

“That’s OK,” he said. “The sugar counteracts the sodium.”

Right. Whatever.

Who was the most ignorant American you have ever met?

A previous boss.

I was required to issue a monthly report of sales by geographic region, listing each project.

One was a project in China sold to New Sun (China) Energy. I dutifully indicated the sale was in Asia.

My boss protested. “No!” said he. “You need to report that in Europe.”

I blinked and said, “But it’s in China.”

“Yes,” said he. “China’s in Europe.”

“Um…no.. China’s in Asia.”

He slammed his hand on his desk and said, “China’s a state of Germany, now report it in Europe.”

Me: “Ok” while silently muttering dumbass.

We had another dispute over Egypt. Apparently Egypt is also in Europe.

I had a grand time explaining to our lead sales person (a Chinese lady citizen of China) and our production manager (a German citizen) that Germany had expanded its population by a billion with this master stroke of geopolitical theater. They both rolled their eyes.

Yeah, boss was that dumb.

What made fighter jet dogfights obsolete after World War II? Was it because of radar or missiles or something else entirely?

They weren’t obsolete after WW2. They still occurred over Korea, Vietnam, the Falklands, and Israel.

In Korea – There were no good air-to-air missiles yet, so jet aircraft had to close in to within gunnery range to shoot each other down. There were some pretty epic dogfights in Mig Alley, over the Yalu River.

In Vietnam – Missiles were now available, and the “clever fellows up on high” declared the dogfight was dead because jets could now fly at Mach 2, too fast for dogfights. That meant the F-4 Phantom was fielded with 8 missiles…and no gun. Well, turns out the dogfight wasn’t actually dead yet, and while the missiles of the time were “adequate” for downing bombers flying straight and level, they were pretty lousy against maneuvering fighters. And the ROE (Rules Of Engagement) for Phantoms required a visual ID, eliminating the BVR capability of their Sparrow missiles. So, dogfights were in fact…not obsolete.

In the Falklands 1982 – Dogfights still weren’t dead, and there were some pretty intense battles between British Sea Harriers and Argentinian Mirages/Daggers. But, we could see the beginning of the obsolescence of dogfighting because of the AIM-9L Sidewinder.

While still an Infrared Homing (Heatseeker) missile, the “Lima” Sidewinder no longer required getting on a opponent’s 6 o’clock so the heatseeker would home on a hot tailpipe. The Lima Sidewinder was all-aspect, meaning it could get a lock from any angle…even head-on, completely changing the nature of dogfighting.

Even, now with missiles such as the AIM-9X, Meteor, R-77–1, and the AMRAAM, which do not require being within dogfighting range (WVR—Within Visual Range) to score kills, I am reticent to claim the dogfight is dead. I’ll say it no longer will be the bread and butter of aerial combat, but won’t go so far to say the dogfight is obsolete.

It still may happen. Let’s see what happens when Ukraine finally gets their F-16s, and make a decision then. I expect most kills will still occur at BVR, but we may still see genuine dogfights once more. And when both sides are operating stealth aircraft, who knows what we’ll see?

What is the most disrespectful thing someone did to you while you were on an airplane?

Disrespectful?? Weird absolutely. About 8 months ago flying from Portland Or to Amsterdam Ne.

Woman behind my seat has a infant 6–10 months old. Infant cries and cries and cries. I put in ear plugs. I doze off. About an hour later she taps me on the shoulder and hands me said infant. “I need to talk to my husband in first class, you watch her”. She hands me the baby and is gone about 3 hours. Eventually the cabin staff goes and finds her. She is angry because she is hauled back to her seat. I hand her her child and she is upset.

To this day I wonder why she would hand off a perfectly good infant to a total stranger and wander off.

Candy Cane Fudge

Yield: 24 pieces

Ingredients

2 cups white chocolate chips or semisweet chocolate chips
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup crushed candy canes

Instructions

Line an 8 inch square dish with parchment paper, making a sling to lift the fuge out when ready to cut.
In a medium glass bowl, combine the chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk.
Microwave on 50% heat in 30 second intervals until fully melted and combined. Be sure to stir well in between each interval.
Transfer melted mixture into the prepared pan.
Sprinkle on crushed candy canes and slightly press into the top.
Refrigerate for at least 4 to 6 hours to set or freeze for 2 to 4 hours (allow to thaw for 30 minutes before cutting).

Attribution

Photo credit: ohsarahrose on Visualhunt

Deadline U S A 1952 (720p) Humphrey Bogart, Ethel Barrymore, Kim Hunter

Howling Chinese

I had a Chinese-English dictionary when I was in the ADC. And I studied it constantly. I would practice drawing the characters and memorizing the tones. I don’t really think that it ever helped me, but it did keep me focused on my goals and dreams on what I would do once I got out, and free from the USA.

For a short while, my father would xerox off pages from a learn-Chinese book, and later on, after he died, my sister bought me two introduction books of Chinese that I studied.

Every day, I had a routine.

I would sit on my rack from around 9am up to lunch and study Chinese. Then I would do my job, and come back and study again from 4pm to chow. Overall, I studied on average about 8 hours a day.

Of course, everyone made fun of me. But it was my way of coping and dealing. All of us did it. It’s just that my way was studying in Chinese. For others it was drugs, boxing or gambling for cigarettes.

Let the rest of the world howl. Perhaps it did or didn’t help me, but one thing for certain, it keep me focused on my dream. Perhaps you too have a dream.

Stay focused.

Today… some confirmation of my previous vision of Gonzalo…

Journalists Gonzalo Lira Has Died While Imprisoned In Ukraine

Gonzalo Lira was tortured, extorted, and reportedly has died in a Ukraine prison for just reporting the news. The US State Department refused to help Lira, a US citizen, because Lira’s journalism didn’t serve Kiev or the Biden administration. Here’s a quote from WSAU:

WASHINGTON DC (WSAU) – 55-year-old American journalist Gonzalo Lira has reportedly died in a Ukrainian prison after nearly eight months of imprisonment.

According to the Post Millennial, Lira was arrested by Ukrainian security in May 2023 after he was reportedly critical of President Vladimir Zelensky’s handling of the war being fought against Russian forces in Eastern Ukraine.

Lira’s comments included claims that Ukraine’s efforts to win the captured territory back have gone nowhere and their people are dying for a war that is already lost.

[1]

Footnotes

[1]

Report: American Journalist Gonzalo Lira Has Died While Imprisoned In Ukraine

He smells like pinecones and lust

Why is China the country of the future?

Chinese politicians have a grand dream: a global community with a shared future for mankind.

People all over the world are prosperous and living a happy life together. What a wonderful world it is. With the development of modern technology and the completion of automation and intelligence, humans can produce material conditions that provide everyone with a happy life. There is currently a lack of a system that unites humanity around the world.

China needs to first become a beautiful country and then influence the surrounding countries. Ancient China used this strategy. Ancient China first built its own country into a prosperous and strong country, and then neighboring countries envied China and learned about its culture and system. For example, Japan has sent more than ten batches of international students to study in China.

The foundation of a country is its people. If the people live a happy life, then the country is strong; if the people are poor and destitute, then the country is weak. Many rulers of countries do not understand this truth.

Food is paramount to the people. This is an ancient Chinese saying and the foundation of governing a country. When there are signs of chaos in the world, China will purchase a large amount of food. In terms of food safety, economically developed provinces in the east have begun to implement full monitoring of food production processes.

In terms of housing, the central government is implementing housing reform, which is a slow process.

In terms of transportation, China has built a national transportation network and has been continuously improving it.

In terms of cultural and entertainment, China actively promotes the promotion of justice, promotes healthy cultural information, and actively reports positive information. The network firewall successfully blocked junk culture.

I believe that China should first become a future country, and then drive countries around the world to become future countries. The the Belt and Road policy is the link between China and global human development, and also an opportunity for the development of countries around the world.

The PLAAF’s PL-17 AAM was caught on camera again, this time in a full loadout:

The PL-17 is special for two reasons:

It’s the longest range AAM in the world at 400 km (estimated by British intelligence)
It’s actually a ballistic missile. It doesn’t fly straight towards the target. Instead, it flies into the stratosphere where there’s much less air friction and cruises there to the target. Then it trades its potential energy (altitude) into kinetic energy in its terminal attack phase.

Like most high-end BVR AAMs, the PL-17 has both active radar and optical guidance. The optical guidance makes it much harder to jam when it has entered its terminal phase and can actually see the target.

—

This latest photo showing four J-16s is special because it demonstrates just how much the J-16 can carry: at least two PL-17s in addition to a bunch of other PL-10, 12s and 15s. If it only carries the PL-17 and no other missile type, the J-16 may be able to carry 3 or even 4 missiles. This proves the J-16’s value as a “missile truck”, similar to the USAF’s F-15EX.

The difference is that the USAF has no equivalent to the PL-17. The longest range American AAM is the AIM-120D, with an estimated range of 160 km. The only other American missile to challenge the PL-17’s range is the AIM-260 JATM, which is still in development.

In a head to head engagement, the PL-17 gives the PLAAF a significant first strike advantage against the enemy’s key aerial assets, like AWACS, EW, etc. Loss of these aerial force multipliers would be crippling, and force the USAF to retreat or be destroyed before their radars can even spot their Chinese counterparts. The Americans would effectively be blind.

—

The only other nation to field a AAM of comparable capability is the Russians with their Vympel R-37, a hypersonic (Mach 5) missile with a range of close to 400 km. Unlike the PL-17, it is not a ballistic weapon, and flies straight for the target instead. It’s also much thicc-er than the PL-17. Combat usage of the R-37 in Ukraine has demonstrated its ability to keep Ukrainian fighters from closing the distance against their Russian counterparts for fear of getting hit by this monster.

MiG-31 armed with four R-37s. Keep in mind that the MiG-31 is more a bomber than it is a fighter.

What it is really about

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/33RYOGqQRqg?feature=share

The War In Ukraine Is Done

The Washington Post has produced a long, two part piece, about the failed ‘counter-offensive’ in Ukraine. It dispenses equal blame on the U.S. and British planning of the whole mess and the Ukrainian execution of it.

The bullet points from the first part:

Miscalculations, divisions marked offensive planning by U.S., Ukraine (archived)

Key elements that shaped the counteroffensive and the initial outcome include:

Ukrainian, U.S. and British military officers held eight major tabletop war games to build a campaign plan. But Washington miscalculated the extent to which Ukraine’s forces could be transformed into a Western-style fighting force in a short period — especially without giving Kyiv air power integral to modern militaries.

U.S. and Ukrainian officials sharply disagreed at times over strategy, tactics and timing. The Pentagon wanted the assault to begin in mid-April to prevent Russia from continuing to strengthen its lines. The Ukrainians hesitated, insisting they weren’t ready without additional weapons and training.

U.S. military officials were confident that a mechanized frontal attack on Russian lines was feasible with the troops and weapons that Ukraine had. The simulations concluded that Kyiv’s forces, in the best case, could reach the Sea of Azov and cut off Russian troops in the south in 60 to 90 days.

The United States advocated a focused assault along that southern axis, but Ukraine’s leadership believed its forces had to attack at three distinct points along the 600-mile front, southward toward both Melitopol and Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov and east toward the embattled city of Bakhmut.

The U.S. intelligence community had a more downbeat view than the U.S. military, assessing that the offensive had only a 50-50 chance of success given the stout, multilayered defenses Russia had built up over the winter and spring.

Many in Ukraine and the West underestimated Russia’s ability to rebound from battlefield disasters and exploit its perennial strengths: manpower, mines and a willingness to sacrifice lives on a scale that few other countries can countenance.

As the expected launch of the offensive approached, Ukrainian military officials feared they would suffer catastrophic losses — while American officials believed the toll would ultimately be higher without a decisive assault.

And from the second part:

In Ukraine, a war of incremental gains as counteroffensive stalls (archived)

Key findings from reporting on the campaign include:

Seventy percent of troops in one of the brigades leading the counteroffensive, and equipped with the newest Western weapons, entered battle with no combat experience.

Ukraine’s setbacks on the battlefield led to rifts with the United States over how best to cut through deep Russian defenses.

The commander of U.S. forces in Europe couldn’t get in touch with Ukraine’s top commander for weeks in the early part of the campaign amid tension over the American’s second-guessing of battlefield decisions.

Each side blamed the other for mistakes or miscalculations. U.S. military officials concluded that Ukraine had fallen short in basic military tactics, including the use of ground reconnaissance to understand the density of minefields. Ukrainian officials said the Americans didn’t seem to comprehend how attack drones and other technology had transformed the battlefield.

In all, Ukraine has retaken only about 200 square miles of territory, at a cost of thousands of dead and wounded and billions in Western military aid in 2023 alone.

All those points played a role.

My personal ones:

Both, the Ukraine and its supporters, systematically underestimated Russian capabilities. (And still do.)
Satellite reconnaissance showed Russian defense preparations on the level of the Battle of Kursk. There the German Wehrmacht, after way too long preparations, failed to break the Russian lines. The unlearned lesson from 1943: When you see defense lines like these, try something else.
Battle simulations and table top war games have a ‘moral factor’ input for each side. Setting your sides’ factor to 10 and the enemy’s factor to 0, as the U.S. and UK obviously did, will let you win every time – but has no relation to reality.
Air support would not have helped. Russian air defenses are too strong to counter it.
The decision to use barely trained, ‘green’ brigades without any fighting experience was a serious error.
Not to use smoke grenades and, in general, means of deception, was not reasonable at all.
To have half of the new troops, the more experienced part, fight Zelenski’s already lost battle for Bakhmut, was a major political mistake.

All together made sure that the so called ‘counter-offensive’ never had a chance to take off. The bickering now is just an attempt to put the blame for the failure onto the other side of the table.

The Ukrainian General Zaluzny has learned from the battle. He now puts up somewhat realistic numbers to let the U.S. understand how small its chances to win really are:

Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhnyi asked Pentagon chief for 17 million rounds of ammunition

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was informed during a visit to Kyiv that Ukraine needed 17 million rounds of ammunition and that US$ 350-400 billion worth of assets and personnel would be required to liberate the country.
…
Quote from a senior Defence Forces official: “Austin was told 17 million rounds of ammunition were needed. He was stunned, to put it mildly, because you wouldn’t be able to collect that many rounds in the whole world.”

The Ukrainian army does not have the ten thousands of barrels required to fire 17 million rounds. Nor has it the men to feed those imaginary guns.

Zaluzny obviously thinks that the war is lost and done with. And that it is time for politics that pursue peace:

In addition, according to a source, Austin also said Zaluzhnyi had complained privately to American generals about interference from the President’s Office [..]: “Austin told us privately that Zaluzhnyi was always complaining to his generals about the President’s Office and how it obstructed him. Well, obviously the president learned about those conversations too. And that isn’t conducive to trust.”

However, the President’s Office is inclined to believe that Zaluzhnyi’s dismissal would facilitate his political career.

It is high time for the Biden administration to wrap this whole thing up. Do the usual thing: declare victory, leave and forget-about-it.

Gilbert Doctorow muse about ways to do that:

Seymour Hersh, Anatol Lieven and the desperate DC gambit to end hostilities in Ukraine while claiming ‘victory’

Whatever happens thereafter will be left for the footnotes.

Posted by b on December 5, 2023 at 7:09 UTC | Permalink

Jingling, tingling

Group: nmixx

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/t_iy_VZkwjo?feature=share

When World War 3 Breaks-Out and Arrives HERE in the USA, Liberals, Progressives, Socialists, Marxists, Should be BULL-WHIPPED TO DEATH By Their conquerors

World Hal Turner 05 December 2023

On my radio show tonight, I was asked by a caller what is likely to happen to New England when WW3 Breaks out and all the military-age illegals who are embraced by liberals, take-up arms and attack us? I told him the Liberals should be BULL-WHIPPED TO DEATH because their efforts at Gun-Control have left them unable to defend themselves, and the illegals they embrace, will be their conquerors.

I went on to point out that Liberals, Progressives, Socialists, Marxists and their ilk are too stupid to be considered Americans anyway, so losing them won’t amount to much. The trouble with these dimwits is that they spread their idiocy to others, which will endanger the rest of the country.

Your thoughts about my remarks? Subscribers can offer their thoughts below in the Subscriber comment area.

5.6%

What are some “never underestimate” facts of life?

Be wary of people who try to sell their pity as kindness. They may pretend they feel compassion toward you by supporting you during difficult times, but in reality, all they can offer you is some pity you never asked for.
Hard work will always beat talent. If you are talented at something, you already have a head start in life, but if you never combine it with hard work, you might as well never had it in the first place.
The power of little gestures. Even a little gesture of kindness can make someone’s day more than you can imagine.
The destructive nature of negative words. Whether you want it or not, you end up taking some words to heart automatically, so it’s important not to use words as weapons that can inflict damage on someone.
Sometimes it may seem like life only gets harder. But even then, it’s important not to lose hope for a better future because if you lose hope, you lose everything.
You can’t expect a person to change for you because in most cases, they rather cling to their old ways than find new ones. And maybe you’d not want to change them anyway unless they are a toxic person doing all the wrong things.
It’s better to have no one to depend on rather than being surrounded by fake people who pretend they care for you when in reality they secretly celebrate all your downs in life.
Don’t stay friends with someone who doesn’t know how to be happy for you. They are not your real friend.
You have to leave your comfort zone in the present to secure a comfortable future.
Betraying your intuition means betraying your best interests. When your intuition gives you an awful feeling about something, retreat. It’s like a danger alert that is ingrained in human biology from birth, so it’s important to make use of it by not missing any of those danger alerts.

An ifn’ I don’t…

Magnolia Bar and Grill Crawfish Etouffee

Ingredients

1 pound cleaned crawfish tails
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
2 thin slices lemon
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon green onion
1 tablespoon parsley

Instructions

Use a saucepan with a tight fitting lid to “Etouffee”.
Season crawfish tails with salt and pepper; set aside.
Melt butter, add chopped onion, and cook over medium heat until onions are tender.
Stir in flour, blend well, and add 3/4 cup water, lemon and tomato paste, and cook slowly for about 20 minutes, and add a little more water occasionally.
When sauce is done, add crawfish tails; cover with lid. Cook for 8 minutes.
Season again, to taste.
Add green onion and parsley; cook 2 minutes longer.
Serve over steamed rice.

What is the most touching act of kindness you have ever witnessed or experienced?

This is the story of a deaf and blind man who decides to fly – alone – across the country to visit his sister.

When he arrives on board, the stewardesses have difficulty communicating with him because although he manages to say a few words here and there, he cannot hear them. To help himself, he touches their face and hand in hopes of understanding their intention, but the task seems difficult.

His neighbor gave up his seat (on the aisle), prepared drinks for him, sugar in coffee, spoon, etc. and led him to the toilet, but it was impossible to communicate with this man.

Then the flight crew had an idea: why not call to see if any of the passengers on board knew sign language?

Here comes this 15 year old girl, she is dyslexic and it was her learning difficulty that made her decide to learn sign language rather than any other:

Very patiently, the girl began to “sign” each letter against the passenger’s hand, which allowed them to start a conversation.

This teenager did not skimp on making this man’s journey much more pleasant and comfortable than if he had been locked in his solitude.

The passenger who took the photo and witnessed the scene described the moment as very moving and it’s easy to understand why.

What is the strangest reason someone else has seen you naked?

TLDR: I was seen totally nude, mid-coitis, by 4 male police officers with guns drawn, shouting “Krystal are you safe? This is the POLICE! Krystal are you ok?” And I am not Krystal. Lol.

I dated (for the brief period of 5 weeks) a very unstable male. I knew at 4 weeks there was no way we would last, he had already become physically violent and had about ten older women believing he was their knight in shining armor, via the internet. He explained that they sent him money, that was why he even talked to them. Gag me with a keyboard, right? He decided to stalk me after I ended things. Fast forward a few months. I was getting to know a different male, and we decided to get physical, but in a non-violent manner, if you catch my drift. Right in the heat of the moment I hear the back door of the house being violently kicked open. Followed by shouts of “Krystal are you safe? POLICE!! Krystal, are you ok?” Then the bedroom door opened and 4 male police officers with guns drawn burst through the doorway. My name is not Krystal, my roommate (who was out of town) is Krystal.. I hastily climbed off of my guest and threw on a large hoodie then ushered the officers out of the house. Turns out my stalker ex had called the police pretending to be the next door neighbor, claiming it sounded as if a violent altercation was taking place and they were worried their dear neighbor Krystal was being murdered. He actually (convincingly) made his voice sound like a little old lady. Just in case it wasn’t known, the cops are able to see what number a call is made from even when the person tries to hide it with an app like TextNow. They told me the # that had made the call and I was able to show them it was in fact my ex’s phone number. One of the officers saw the blip of a text message while I was showing them that it was his number and asked to see the conversation. All of this while wearing a hooded sweatshirt that came down to my mid-thigh. Needless to say they went and arrested him for calling in a fake emergency, stalking, threatening to cause bodily harm (the messages said that he was going to dismember me after strangling me) and a few other charges like harassment.

What was the time you realized your life is messed up?

When i took 8 Valium on top of the 6 i took earlier in the day, then realized a half a bottle of whiskey might not be enough. When i woke up the next morning(??) on the kitchen floor soaking wet and covered with mud, i asked my wife what had happened. She told me that i passed out outside, then it started to rain. She couldn’t lift me, so she “coached me” for half an hour getting me inside and up 5 stairs. That night- i did it again until eventually i made it to a detox/rehab where i was placed on a 17 day Valium taper. I was later informed it was their longest ever. I called my wife after a week(??) or so and told her to throw out the weed i was saving that knew i was gonna need after getting out of rehab. I had terrible tinnitus and shook horribly for months afterwards. It’s probably not the worst. Other people’s stories may be far worse but, well, you asked. P.S. I’ve beeb clean and sober ever since-almost 7 years now. Thanks God, for being there for me, whether i wanted you or not.

Time

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sWo-hN0-e8Y?feature=share

What are some of the best ways to find inner peace?

Be willing to let some parts of you die. Not all of you is perfect and you know it better than anyone else. So don’t be afraid to let some of it go. After all, that’s what personal growth is all about.
Don’t run away from yourself. This means facing your trauma(s), mistakes, and bad life decisions, no matter how unbearable it feels.
Don’t suppress your negative thoughts and emotions. You don’t have to act on them but you need to acknowledge them lest they turn into an unruly beast ready to devour you any second.
Come to terms with the fact that life is meant to be difficult. It’s a default setting you can’t change. The only thing you can do is to cope with it to the best of your abilities.
Keep in mind that suffering is cruel, yet a necessary teacher of life that can make you stronger and wiser.
Try not to stress about the things you can’t change. It will disrupt both your physical health and peace of mind.
Know when to share your burdens with others. It’s admirable to take care of things on your own, but it’s just as important to open up to those you trust when life gets too much.
Treat yourself with the same compassion you treat others. If you are nice and understanding toward your loved ones, you have no reason to treat yourself any differently.
Avoid whining. It’s alright to complain every once in a while but doing so constantly will fill your mind with negativity you can’t shake and make you feel miserable.
Remember that there’s more to life than being constantly happy. And you’d not want to be constantly happy anyway because you’d start taking happiness for granted. Your life would also become dull and uneventful, living like a character in one of those imaginary, utopian lands where everything is perfect all the time.

What do you think about people using food stamps to buy fresh seafood?

I worked as a courier for about 9 years. During that time, I never made more than $20,000 a year. More like I averaged around $18K.

A lot of my courier brothers were supporting families on that sort of income and they qualified for SNAP and some other food stamp like benefits.

Occasionally, they would save their nickels and then buy steaks and all the fixings for their family. Not often, but maybe every other Blue Moon they would do something nice for dinner.

These guys busted their asses 10–12 hours a day with no benefits, no Healthcare, no retirement and no paid holidays. They worked in the rain, in the cold and snow, they worked in ice storms and 115degF heat.

So what do I think about them using their hoarded nickels to buy a Lobster or some good Crab for the family once in a while? I think it’s none of your fucking business.

What is something that someone told you that made you immediately realize that the crazy story they were telling you was actually true?

A guy I worked with back in the mid 80’s, had a reputation as a bit of a fantasist. He was a large, very over weight, half Chinese guy, figure like a sumo wrestler. Said he was a karate instructor, played drums in a band amongst a lot of other ourlandish claims. Said his dad was a friend of the Kays, and was the last man sentenced to hang in England. He was late to work a lot and always had the oddest excuses. One week he was late every day because, he said, the papers kept sending reporters around to interview him, because they were making a documentry about his dad. Every one chuckled about that one. Then a few weeks later, I was watching TV, and it was about this guy who had murdered someone. I had missed the beginning. This bit showed the mans wife visiting him in prison. She was Chinese, and had her little chubby boy with her. I looked the program up the the TV guide and yes, it was about his dad. A few weeks later I was at a school fete and he was there, with his karate pupils doing a demonstration, and later on his band played

Oct 7 ‘Disinfo’ Org Founded By Top Jewish Lobbyists – Full Scale Propaganda Effort

World Hal Turner 05 December 2023

The largest Jewish Groups are forming what they call the Oct 7 ‘Disinfo’ Organization, to spin the events of that day, and shape the narrative. Even casual observers are calling this a full scale propaganda effort.

The most powerful Jewish interest groups in the US have gotten together to form the 10/7 Project – an effort to combat “Jewish hate in America and the world” and to dispel “myths” about the day’s events.

The organization will fund a centralized communications operation to feed mainstream newsrooms with ‘fact-based information’ about the war, and will also release a daily newsletter to inform news outlets what is being ‘underreported.’

It will be the biggest unified effort from the Jewish lobby in recent memory, with the American Jewish Committee (AJC), The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish organizations working together.

Why are there no stupid people in Chinese politics?

Of course there are. But these people are weeded out by merciless competition.

The ones that rise are tested every step of the way, and only the best survive the climb.

That’s what competition looks like in a 1.4b society.

Chinese politicians who attend the Two Sessions are not chosen because they’re tall, good-looking or give nice speeches. They are chosen for exceptional performance over the sum total of their careers. Each person wields considerable influence or power in their professional or personal capacity. That’s why they are selected as the people’s representatives. Selection is largely immune from the influence of money.

Who Is Really Behind The Mass Slaughter In Gaza?

Who is really behind the Israeli mass slaughter of the people of Gaza?

Here is the answer to that question:

Israel’s dependence on the United States was stated bluntly by retired IDF Maj. General Yitzhak Brick in an interview earlier this week.

“All of our missiles, the ammunition, the precision-guided bombs, all the airplanes and bombs, it’s all from the U.S. The minute they turn off the tap, you can’t keep fighting. You have no capability. … Everyone understands that we can’t fight this war without the United States. Period.”

Period.

Posted by b at 8:00 UTC | Comments (225)

What professions do you know from the past that have almost disappeared today?

The list of jobs is endless, I am not sure that all of them were professions. 40 years ago, I read an article about buying stocks, and it said buy quality, but understand the changes in the market. They talked about something that had happened 40 before I was born. Evidently a well known banker and investor said, that it wouldn’t hurt to buy a little stock in these new fangled automobiles, but keep the majority of your money, in something solid, like a good buggy whip manufacturing company. Fads will come and go, but you will always need a good buggy whip. He said that because buggy whips had been made for two thousand years, and it wasn’t going to change.

In my life time I saw the job of tinker disappear, he was someone, who could fix anything, if your glasses broke, if your electric frying pan broke, he could fix it. If you wore a hole in a pot, he would braze it, often they came door to door. We had door to door Fuller brush salesmen, sold brushes door to door. Milkmen delivered dairy products door to door. The bread man delivered baked goods door to door. Their used to be commercials for the Maytag repairman, and now its thrown out when broken.

Our little town still had a livery service when I was a kid, they looked after your horses when you came to town, but by my time, they mostly stored cars.

Movie theater usher, who would bring you in and show you your seat. Elevator operators, I always thought it was such a cool job. You closed an accordion door, then closed the outer door, then shifted the lever to up or down, and stopped it when it reached the floor you wanted. Sometimes requiring some fine tuning.

I had a girlfriend who was telephone operator. There used to be girls that would wander around night clubs, selling cigarettes and matches. Hat check girls.

Brake men in the caboose of a train.

Dragline operator.

Signal men, telegram and telegraph operators at train stations.

Telex operators.

Gestetner repair men.

I can see just as many jobs disappearing in the next 20 years as disappeared in the last 60 years, as self driving cars and trucks become main stream, as digital finishes wiping out paper, as online services and stores replace brick and mortar. Etc.

What is an insane coincidence that you’ve experienced?

This happened about 15 years ago. My then partner came home from work very upset. Somewhere that day he had lost one of a pair of distinctive silver cuff links that I had gifted him for his birthday.

Probably a month later I was out in my car, driving an unfamiliar route in the countryside, when I noticed my fuel gauge flashing. I resolved to stop at the next fuel station which turned out to be in a small village. I pulled up at one of the three pumps and got out of my car to fill it. As I walked around to the side of my car with the fuel cap something caught my eye on the ground. Embedded in the top tarmac surface was something silver and shiny. I bent down to inspect it further and couldn’t believe it when I identified the item as a cuff link. Not just any old cuff link but THE lost silver cuff link. I used my car key to gently ease it out of the tarmac. Amazingly, it was undamaged.

That evening I asked my partner if he knew of the little village. He did recall he’d driven that route to a business meeting some weeks before. ‘And you filled your car at the petrol station?’ I asked. ‘’How did you know?’ he asked. I laughed as I handed him his missing cuff link.

I still can’t believe this incredible coincidence. I must’ve ‘guided’ to its location by an unknown force. It still weirds me out.

What is the best comeback you used on someone?

Until I retired I was a Plumber for fifty years. On this particular occasion I was working with a builder repairing the lead flashing around a chimney at the local church hall. To do the job safely we had set up a scaffolding that blocked the entry to the car park, but this should not have been a problem because the Church Commissioners had told us the church was waiting for the new vicar and no functions had been booked at the church hall.

We were working about 20 feet above the ground when a voice from below shouted “ Hey you!” I looked down to see a man in a grey suit and white dog collar. “Yes you!” he continued, “I have a Bible study class in twenty minutes and no one can get into the car park!”

I was surprised by his rather rude and aggressive tone but politely replied “I’m sorry, but we were told the church has no vicar and that there was nothing in the diary.”

“Well, there obviously is and you are blocking access to it. If you do not remove this scaffolding immediately I shall report you to your employers!” he shouted back.

It was then that I had a stoke of genius and replied. “ Very Christian of you sir.”

That immediately took the wind out of his sails and after a moment or two he replied, “Ahem, perhaps I was a trifle too hasty, carry on gentlemen.”

What is the rudest thing a guest has done in your house while paying you a visit? Are you still friends?

A guest came to stay for Thanksgiving, I had warned we had cats and dogs. They came anyway. They went to unpack in our guest bedroom. Half a hour later the husband came to me and said there was an issue. They had stripped the sheets off the beds and scrapped the mattress. Horror of horror there was cat fur. I immediately said” oh my, you can’t stay here, perhaps you should go to a hotel.” They did. As they are relatives we are civil but they are not invited to stay anymore.

The thing is, I knew the wife wanted to make trouble, I refused to fight and stayed calm. She didn’t win, I did.

Atheists: your five-year-old daughter is on her deathbed and asks, “Will I go to Heaven when I die?” How do you reply?

Let me take this out of your hypothetical nonsense, and make it real. During the 1990’s I was a professional clown. I did birthday parties, wedding receptions, school shows, store promotions, holiday parties, company picnics – you name it, Violet P. Lavender was there. I even had several client families, where I would come celebrate the same child’s birthday three or four years in a row.

In one of those client families, there was an adorable little girl (I’ll call her Emily for this story). I met her at a cousin’s birthday party, and then was at her 4th birthday. I was happy to be at her 5th birthday as well. Because she lived in an area where Violet was very popular, Emily saw Violet four or five times during the year, in addition to her own birthday. That particular cluster of families really kept me on my toes, because I had to constantly rework my show, since all the kids saw me so often!

One day, I got a call asking me to come visit Emily, it was months too early for her 6th birthday – and to please come to the Children’s Hospital. I had a habit of visiting the hospital whenever I had free time between shows. This was the first time I was asked to come for a specific child.

When Violet arrived, Emily had been put into a private room. I was met in the hall, and warned that she was very weak and was quite fragile. They told me she did not know she was dying.

So, into that antiseptic, mostly white room filled with machines sailed Violet P Lavender. A totally Purple Person, with balloons and magic and fun! Emily smiled and clapped and used her precious energy to laugh. Only two visitors were allowed in the room at a time, so it was just me, Emily and one of her parents, with everyone else watching through the glass wall.

I stayed for only about 20 minutes. While I was saying goodbye, she took my hand and asked the hardest question… “Violet, will I ever see you again?”

I did what anyone in that position would do – I lied. I smiled at her and said “Of course you will! I’m going to be at your 6th Birthday Party!” That beautiful child shook her head sadly and gently told me, “Violet, I’m sorry. I’m not going to have any more birthday parties. I meant, will I see you again, in heaven?”

So much for her not knowing! Her mother bolted from the room, leaving me ‘alone’ to face that horrible truth with her.

So what does the atheist in a clown suit say to a child who wants to talk about heaven, as she lay dying?

I asked her “What do you think heaven is like?” She didn’t know, but she was scared that she would be all alone “up there” in a big house, with no one to talk to ever again.

Now, why would she think that? It seems some well meaning idiot had told her that God had prepared a Mansion just for her, in Heaven, and that she would be going there soon. And a Mansion was described to her as “a big house” … just for her! She was scared by the idea, and she did not want to go, but she couldn’t ask her mommy or daddy about it because (and she whispered this) “they don’t know I’m dying.”

So I laughed and told Emily that of COURSE she was not going to be alone! Her house was going to be on a street with lots of other kids, and right next to her street is the street where all the CLOWNS LIVE! And right past that is a big park where all the puppies and kittens play! (That made her smile.)

“Will you be there too, Violet?” Stubborn child! She wasn’t going to let it go! I told her I wouldn’t be there for a long time, but I had friends there, and she could tell them she knows me. Also, in her house there is a magic TV that she can use to watch over her friends and family who are still alive, while she is waiting for us to all join her. So she could watch me and her Mom and Dad and anybody else she wanted, any time she felt like!

She was relieved. She said she wasn’t scared anymore. Then reminded me not to say anything to her parents, because they are already so worried about her being sick, she didn’t want them to get sad about her dying.

I made it out of the room and into a nurse’s station before I started crying.

Violet did attend her next ‘party’ … I made sure her parents were ok with it, and Violet came to the funeral with a huge bunch of bright balloons, to say goodbye.

So the answer to your silly hypothetical question is – in REAL LIFE, you tell that child whatever you can so that they are not afraid and give them comfort.

ANY OTHER ANSWER regardless of your personal belief in an invisible guy building fancy houses in the sky is wrong.

The emotional well being of a dying child is more important than any religious or philosophical argument you could make.

Express yourself

What are some psychological tricks to make someone like me?

1. Instead of responding immediately after someone says something to you. Wait a couple of second. This makes them feel like you’re really thinking about what you’re going to reply. And it makes you seem like a better listener. ( Don’t over do it ).

2. In a conversation, when someone is talking, nod your head in affirmation.

This will do so many things to their brain. First of all, it will give them that feeling of validation. It will make them feel like you’re truly listening to them and it is that feeling of validation that we search for unconsciously, that we got from our mom, and we’re searching in our partner, we’re searching in other people. So it becomes really addictive when you do this, and you make people feel validated.

3. When you’re talking to someone, always show the palms of your hands. This communicates to their subconscious mind that you have nothing to hide, that you are open, that they can trust you and you are their friend.

4. When you talk to someone try to match your body language and talk at the same volume and speed as they are.

This will tell subconscious mind that you are like them and they will trust you more

5. Ask people for their advice. Making them feel like their opinion matters. According to reasearch done by Katie Liljenquist makes them form a commitment to you and makes them like you more.

Example:

“What do you think I should order?”

“I think you should get the vegan burger, it’s really good”

“Ok, I’ll get that! thank you!”

“Aw I feel like I like you already”

What should you never say to an elderly person?

A younger friend of my grandmother once said something that made her as angry as I have ever seen her. The 35-year-old was trying to stress the fact that her challenges and worries were different from those of a 75-year-old. She had in mind that some of life’s problems are over by the time you are 75, which may be true. But she said it in a terrible way.

You’ve lived your life.

Don’t make this mistake. Life can be just as sweet no matter how many birthdays you’ve had. And there is no age at which life’s failure to be sweet on any given day is not painful.

The 80- or 90-year-old has not “lived their life.” They are in the process of living it, just as you are.

OMG!

Ukraine Presidential Advisor: “The West Came to this war with no pants on”

World Hal Turner 05 December 2023

The Emperor is naked . . . or so we now hear from the former Aide to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenski. Alexy Arestovich tells media outlets now that “The West came to war with its pants down” when it dealt with the Russian Army entry into Ukraine.

Commenting to media outlets, Arestovich pointed out “The Americans cannot produce a million shells a year, and North Korea can. What kind of war and victory are we talking about, what boundaries of 1991?”

Of course, when he speaks of the “Boundaries of 1991” he is referring to the then-break-up of the former Soviet Union and the “Boundaries” for NATO that were agreed-to by then US President George HW Bush. It was then Secretary of States James Baker who agreed, at a meeting, in the Kremlin in Moscow, with then Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev and then Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevrednadze, that NATO “will not move one inch eastward of the Elbe (River) in Germany.”

Of course, history shows that when Bush Sr. left office, and Bill Clinton came in as US President, that NATO boundary promise went right out the window. The map below shows NATO Expansion from 1949, and points out who was in and who was not in 1990 when Bush promised Gorbachev “not one inch eastward:

Yet, as shown by the countries imaged in purple, that promise to the Soviets went right out the window in the late 1990’s under then-President Bill Clinton.

Here’s how it went:

U.S. Secretary of State James Baker’s famous “not one inch eastward” assurance about NATO expansion in his meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on February 9, 1990, was part of a cascade of assurances about Soviet security given by Western leaders to Gorbachev and other Soviet officials throughout the process of German unification in 1990 and on into 1991, according to declassified U.S., Soviet, German, British and French documents posted today by the National Security Archive at George Washington University (http://nsarchive.gwu.edu).

The documents show that multiple national leaders were considering and rejecting Central and Eastern European membership in NATO as of early 1990 and through 1991, that discussions of NATO in the context of German unification negotiations in 1990 were not at all narrowly limited to the status of East German territory, and that subsequent Soviet and Russian complaints about being misled about NATO expansion were founded in written contemporaneous memcons and telcons at the highest levels.

The documents reinforce former CIA Director Robert Gates’s criticism of “pressing ahead with expansion of NATO eastward [in the 1990s], when Gorbachev and others were led to believe that wouldn’t happen.”[1] The key phrase, buttressed by the documents, is “led to believe.”

President George H.W. Bush had assured Gorbachev during the Malta summit in December 1989 that the U.S. would not take advantage (“I have not jumped up and down on the Berlin Wall”) of the revolutions in Eastern Europe to harm Soviet interests; but neither Bush nor Gorbachev at that point (or for that matter, West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl) expected so soon the collapse of East Germany or the speed of German unification.[2]

The first concrete assurances by Western leaders on NATO began on January 31, 1990, when West German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher opened the bidding with a major public speech at Tutzing, in Bavaria, on German unification. The U.S. Embassy in Bonn (see Document 1) informed Washington that Genscher made clear “that the changes in Eastern Europe and the German unification process must not lead to an ‘impairment of Soviet security interests.’ Therefore, NATO should rule out an ‘expansion of its territory towards the east, i.e. moving it closer to the Soviet borders.’” The Bonn cable also noted Genscher’s proposal to leave the East German territory out of NATO military structures even in a unified Germany in NATO.[3]

This latter idea of special status for the GDR territory was codified in the final German unification treaty signed on September 12, 1990, by the Two-Plus-Four foreign ministers (see Document 25). The former idea about “closer to the Soviet borders” is written down not in treaties but in multiple memoranda of conversation between the Soviets and the highest-level Western interlocutors (Genscher, Kohl, Baker, Gates, Bush, Mitterrand, Thatcher, Major, Woerner, and others) offering assurances throughout 1990 and into 1991 about protecting Soviet security interests and including the USSR in new European security structures. The two issues were related but not the same. Subsequent analysis sometimes conflated the two and argued that the discussion did not involve all of Europe. The documents published below show clearly that it did.

The “Tutzing formula” immediately became the center of a flurry of important diplomatic discussions over the next 10 days in 1990, leading to the crucial February 10, 1990, meeting in Moscow between Kohl and Gorbachev when the West German leader achieved Soviet assent in principle to German unification in NATO, as long as NATO did not expand to the east. The Soviets would need much more time to work with their domestic opinion (and financial aid from the West Germans) before formally signing the deal in September 1990.

The conversations before Kohl’s assurance involved explicit discussion of NATO expansion, the Central and East European countries, and how to convince the Soviets to accept unification. For example, on February 6, 1990, when Genscher met with British Foreign Minister Douglas Hurd, the British record showed Genscher saying, “The Russians must have some assurance that if, for example, the Polish Government left the Warsaw Pact one day, they would not join NATO the next.” (See Document 2)

Having met with Genscher on his way into discussions with the Soviets, Baker repeated exactly the Genscher formulation in his meeting with Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze on February 9, 1990, (see Document 4); and even more importantly, face to face with Gorbachev.

Not once, but three times, Baker tried out the “not one inch eastward” formula with Gorbachev in the February 9, 1990, meeting. He agreed with Gorbachev’s statement in response to the assurances that “NATO expansion is unacceptable.” Baker assured Gorbachev that “neither the President nor I intend to extract any unilateral advantages from the processes that are taking place,” and that the Americans understood that “not only for the Soviet Union but for other European countries as well it is important to have guarantees that if the United States keeps its presence in Germany within the framework of NATO, not an inch of NATO’s present military jurisdiction will spread in an eastern direction.” (See Document 6)

Afterwards, Baker wrote to Helmut Kohl who would meet with the Soviet leader on the next day, with much of the very same language. Baker reported: “And then I put the following question to him [Gorbachev]. Would you prefer to see a united Germany outside of NATO, independent and with no U.S. forces or would you prefer a unified Germany to be tied to NATO, with assurances that NATO’s jurisdiction would not shift one inch eastward from its present position? He answered that the Soviet leadership was giving real thought to all such options [….] He then added, ‘Certainly any extension of the zone of NATO would be unacceptable.’” Baker added in parentheses, for Kohl’s benefit, “By implication, NATO in its current zone might be acceptable.” (See Document 8)

Well-briefed by the American secretary of state, the West German chancellor understood a key Soviet bottom line, and assured Gorbachev on February 10, 1990: “We believe that NATO should not expand the sphere of its activity.” (See Document 9) After this meeting, Kohl could hardly contain his excitement at Gorbachev’s agreement in principle for German unification and, as part of the Helsinki formula that states choose their own alliances, so Germany could choose NATO. Kohl described in his memoirs walking all night around Moscow – but still understanding there was a price still to pay.

All the Western foreign ministers were on board with Genscher, Kohl, and Baker. Next came the British foreign minister, Douglas Hurd, on April 11, 1990. At this point, the East Germans had voted overwhelmingly for the deutschmark and for rapid unification, in the March 18 elections in which Kohl had surprised almost all observers with a real victory. Kohl’s analyses (first explained to Bush on December 3, 1989) that the GDR’s collapse would open all possibilities, that he had to run to get to the head of the train, that he needed U.S. backing, that unification could happen faster than anyone thought possible – all turned out to be correct. Monetary union would proceed as early as July and the assurances about security kept coming. Hurd reinforced the Baker-Genscher-Kohl message in his meeting with Gorbachev in Moscow, April 11, 1990, saying that Britain clearly “recognized the importance of doing nothing to prejudice Soviet interests and dignity.” (See Document 15)

The Baker conversation with Shevardnadze on May 4, 1990, as Baker described it in his own report to President Bush, most eloquently described what Western leaders were telling Gorbachev exactly at the moment: “I used your speech and our recognition of the need to adapt NATO, politically and militarily, and to develop CSCE to reassure Shevardnadze that the process would not yield winners and losers. Instead, it would produce a new legitimate European structure – one that would be inclusive, not exclusive.” (See Document 17)

Baker said it again, directly to Gorbachev on May 18, 1990 in Moscow, giving Gorbachev his “nine points,” which included the transformation of NATO, strengthening European structures, keeping Germany non-nuclear, and taking Soviet security interests into account. Baker started off his remarks, “Before saying a few words about the German issue, I wanted to emphasize that our policies are not aimed at separating Eastern Europe from the Soviet Union. We had that policy before. But today we are interested in building a stable Europe, and doing it together with you.” (See Document 18)

The French leader Francois Mitterrand was not in a mind-meld with the Americans, quite the contrary, as evidenced by his telling Gorbachev in Moscow on May 25, 1990, that he was “personally in favor of gradually dismantling the military blocs”; but Mitterrand continued the cascade of assurances by saying the West must “create security conditions for you, as well as European security as a whole.” (See Document 19) Mitterrand immediately wrote Bush in a “cher George” letter about his conversation with the Soviet leader, that “we would certainly not refuse to detail the guarantees that he would have a right to expect for his country’s security.” (See Document 20)

At the Washington summit on May 31, 1990, Bush went out of his way to assure Gorbachev that Germany in NATO would never be directed at the USSR: “Believe me, we are not pushing Germany towards unification, and it is not us who determines the pace of this process. And of course, we have no intention, even in our thoughts, to harm the Soviet Union in any fashion. That is why we are speaking in favor of German unification in NATO without ignoring the wider context of the CSCE, taking the traditional economic ties between the two German states into consideration. Such a model, in our view, corresponds to the Soviet interests as well.” (See Document 21)

The “Iron Lady” also pitched in, after the Washington summit, in her meeting with Gorbachev in London on June 8, 1990. Thatcher anticipated the moves the Americans (with her support) would take in the early July NATO conference to support Gorbachev with descriptions of the transformation of NATO towards a more political, less militarily threatening, alliance. She said to Gorbachev: “We must find ways to give the Soviet Union confidence that its security would be assured…. CSCE could be an umbrella for all this, as well as being the forum which brought the Soviet Union fully into discussion about the future of Europe.” (See Document 22)

The NATO London Declaration on July 5, 1990 had quite a positive effect on deliberations in Moscow, according to most accounts, giving Gorbachev significant ammunition to counter his hardliners at the Party Congress which was taking place at that moment. Some versions of this history assert that an advance copy was provided to Shevardnadze’s aides, while others describe just an alert that allowed those aides to take the wire service copy and produce a Soviet positive assessment before the military or hardliners could call it propaganda.

As Kohl said to Gorbachev in Moscow on July 15, 1990, as they worked out the final deal on German unification: “We know what awaits NATO in the future, and I think you are now in the know as well,” referring to the NATO London Declaration. (See Document 23)

In his phone call to Gorbachev on July 17, Bush meant to reinforce the success of the Kohl-Gorbachev talks and the message of the London Declaration. Bush explained: “So what we tried to do was to take account of your concerns expressed to me and others, and we did it in the following ways: by our joint declaration on non-aggression; in our invitation to you to come to NATO; in our agreement to open NATO to regular diplomatic contact with your government and those of the Eastern European countries; and our offer on assurances on the future size of the armed forces of a united Germany – an issue I know you discussed with Helmut Kohl. We also fundamentally changed our military approach on conventional and nuclear forces. We conveyed the idea of an expanded, stronger CSCE with new institutions in which the USSR can share and be part of the new Europe.” (See Document 24)

The documents show that Gorbachev agreed to German unification in NATO as the result of this cascade of assurances, and on the basis of his own analysis that the future of the Soviet Union depended on its integration into Europe, for which Germany would be the decisive actor. He and most of his allies believed that some version of the common European home was still possible and would develop alongside the transformation of NATO to lead to a more inclusive and integrated European space, that the post-Cold War settlement would take account of the Soviet security interests. The alliance with Germany would not only overcome the Cold War but also turn on its head the legacy of the Great Patriotic War.

But inside the U.S. government, a different discussion continued, a debate about relations between NATO and Eastern Europe. Opinions differed, but the suggestion from the Defense Department as of October 25, 1990 was to leave “the door ajar” for East European membership in NATO. (See Document 27) The view of the State Department was that NATO expansion was not on the agenda, because it was not in the interest of the U.S. to organize “an anti-Soviet coalition” that extended to the Soviet borders, not least because it might reverse the positive trends in the Soviet Union. (See Document 26) The Bush administration took the latter view. And that’s what the Soviets heard.

As late as March 1991, according to the diary of the British ambassador to Moscow, British Prime Minister John Major personally assured Gorbachev, “We are not talking about the strengthening of NATO.” Subsequently, when Soviet defense minister Marshal Dmitri Yazov asked Major about East European leaders’ interest in NATO membership, the British leader responded, “Nothing of the sort will happen.” (See Document 28)

When Russian Supreme Soviet deputies came to Brussels to see NATO and meet with NATO secretary-general Manfred Woerner in July 1991, Woerner told the Russians that “We should not allow […] the isolation of the USSR from the European community.” According to the Russian memorandum of conversation, “Woerner stressed that the NATO Council and he are against the expansion of NATO (13 of 16 NATO members support this point of view).” (See Document 30)

Thus, Gorbachev went to the end of the Soviet Union assured that the West was not threatening his security and was not expanding NATO. Instead, the dissolution of the USSR was brought about by Russians (Boris Yeltsin and his leading advisory Gennady Burbulis) in concert with the former party bosses of the Soviet republics, especially Ukraine, in December 1991. The Cold War was long over by then. The Americans had tried to keep the Soviet Union together (see the Bush “Chicken Kiev” speech on August 1, 1991). NATO’s expansion was years in the future, when these disputes would erupt again, and more assurances would come to Russian leader Boris Yeltsin.

When the US and EU/NATO tried to expand once again by admitting Ukraine, Russia’s financial and military condition was far improved, and the Russian’s had enough of our perceived lies about NATO Expansion.

Russia told the West that Ukraine could NOT enter NATO, because Russia knew they were planning on placing US Missile defenses on Ukraine soil. Those missiles would have about a five minute flight time to Moscow, which no country on earth could defend against.

Russia pointed out that the conventional warheads on US missile defenses were of a type that could be “switched-out” with a NUCLEAR warhead. This change could be done in about 90 minutes, and no one would even know about it.

That would put Moscow within 5 minutes of nuclear annihilation, and Russia would not tolerate it. Russia made it explicitly clear they viewed Ukraine’s entry into NATO as an “existential threat” and they would use military power to stop it if they had to. No one in the West took them seriously.

The West apparently doesn’t teach actual history to its military and political class anymore, because folks in the US under Joe Biden continued to press for Ukraine’s entry into NATO. No one in the Biden regime realized that Russia meant business on this issue, and ALL of them were . . . . SHOCKED . . . . when Russian troops crossed into Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

(HT REMARKS: Older guys like me, who have a memory that actually works, knew full well the Russian’s were going to do this; they HAD TO. It literally is a matter of survival for Russia, given the vast expansion of NATO during the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. I knew it was coming. I said so on my radio show in the weeks leading-up to the entry. I told my audience we were breaking our word and we had to stop. I told my audience this could result in World War 3 and the Russians were serious about this. No one – at least in government — listened.)

Fast-Forward to December of 2023, and former Aid TO President Zelensky now says “The West came to the war with his pants down, he turned out to be a naked king, he will not be able to win this war.

I see fewer and fewer chances for the West to win in a clash with the global South and East.”

He’s right.

But the people running the US government and military, are so ignorant of history, so arrogant in their erroneous beliefs about the Russian Army, none of them saw this coming. None of them ever expected to lose a war with Russia, and THAT is exactly, precisely, what is actually happening right now in Ukraine. Ukraine is losing and will lose. Period. Full stop.

All because the US EU and NATO install people into powerful positions who are either ignorant of history, or whose word means nothing. I suspect– it’s both.

Thanks to those people, half a million Ukrainians are now dead. A smaller number of Russians are also dead. And for what? NONE of this, had to be.

Had we honored our word, none of this would have happened.

Funny surprise

If your girlfriend hit you, would you hit her back? if so, why and if not why and what would you do?

I had a girlfriend that hit me all the time. I thought she was just being playful, until she snapped and said, why can’t I hurt you. Up until then, I thought we were just playing. I am 6′1″ 200 lbs, she was 5′1″ 100 lbs.

If you can’t tell that it was supposed to be painful, then you know how lopsided punching her back would be.

After we broke up, there were rumours that her new boyfriend was beating her. He was 5′6″ 140 lbs.

She asked me if I remembered her hitting me, I said I did, she replied, well he hits back.

So, if you can escape without being hurt, then you shouldn’t punch anyone, but if you need to punch someone in self defense, then you do what you have to do.

Simpsons Predictions For 2024 Are Insane

LOL.

Magnolia’s Spicy Shrimp, Sausage and
Tasso Gravy over Creamy White Grits

Ingredients

Creamy White Grits

12 cups chicken broth
4 1/2 cups coarse stone-ground white grits
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and white pepper to taste

Tasso Gravy

4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sliced Tasso, cut in 1-inch strips
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
Salt and white pepper to taste

Shrimp and Sausage

1/2 pound spicy Italian sausage (3/4 pound of raw)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 pounds medium or large peeled and deveined shrimp*
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 recipe Tasso Gravy
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

Instructions

Creamy White Grits

Bring the chicken broth to a boil in a heavy-bottomed stockpot or large saucepan. Slowly pour in the grits, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat to low and continue to stir so that the grits do not settle to the bottom and scorch. In about 5 minutes, the grits will plump up and become a thick mass.
Continue to cook the grits for about 20 to 25 minutes, stirring frequently. The grits should have absorbed all of the chicken stock and become soft. Stir in heavy cream and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring frequently. The grits should have a thick consistency and be creamy like oatmeal. Season to taste with salt and white pepper. Keep warm over low heat until ready to serve. If the grits become too thick, add warm chicken broth or water to thin them down.

Tasso Gravy

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat. Add the Tasso. Sauté for 1 minute, browning slightly. Make a roux by adding the flour and stirring until well combined. Continue to cook over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently until the roux develops a nutty aroma.
Turn the heat up to medium and gradually add 2 cups of the chicken broth, stirring vigorously. Keep stirring constantly until the broth thickens into gravy. Reduce the heat and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes to cook out the starchy flavor. Add the parsley. Simmer for another 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Shrimp and Sausage

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
To cook Italian sausage: Place the Italian sausage on a baking sheet with raised sides. Place on the top rack of the 400 degrees F oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the sausage is firm and its juices run clear. Cool and cut into small bite-size pieces.
Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottom frying pan over medium heat. Add the precooked sausage and sauté for 2 minutes to brown slightly. Add the shrimp and sauté until they begin to turn pink-no longer than 1 minute. Add 1 cup of the chicken broth to deglaze the pan. Add the Tasso Gravy and one tablespoon of the parsley. Bring up to a boil and let simmer for 1 minute. The last 1/2 cup of chicken stock is to be used to thin the gravy if needed.
Divide the hot grits between 8 warm bowls. Spoon the shrimp, sausage mixture over the grits. Sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon of parsley and serve immediately.

Notes

* If using large shrimp, allow 6 per person; for medium sized shrimp, 8 to 10 shrimp.

Attribution

Source: magnolias-blossom.com – Magnolia’s, Charleston, South Carolina

I enjoyed this

What office rule made you say “You gotta be kidding me”?

A family friend who worked as an FBI agent was about to get married in the early 1970s. Shortly before the wedding, he got a memo from the Director’s office, signed by J. Edgar Hoover himself, pointing out a policy to the effect that agents needed permission to tie the knot, and that he hadn’t received it.

His intended was Black (he’s white), and the Director wasn’t cool with interracial marriage.

He married her anyway, and they stayed together until death did they part half a century later.

They framed the Director’s letter and hung it on a wall in their residence.

As a car mechanic, what is the craziest discovery you have found on an automobile?

While working at a dealership in Arizona, I was doing a LOF on a late model Nissan, and got to checking the air filter as part of my routine workup on the vehicle. I popped the top of the air box, and casually lifted the filter out, and promptly slammed the air filter back in and closed the lid. I took a breath, walked over to my service manager, and told him that we needed to call pest control.

When the pest control tech arrived, he put on heavy gloves, and carefully removed a mama Western diamondback rattler and six of her babies, all alive and well in the air box. The customer mentioned that her car had recently sat for a few weeks while she was away on business. She politely apologized to me for the snake incident, gave me a nice tip (to cover my new boxers, presumably!), Paid for the pest control visit, and left.

To top this off, the next time she came in, she requested me. When I popped the hood, I was greeted by !!! Another snake! Thankfully, this time, it was rubber. Inside the air box (I was VERY cautious lifting the air filter out this time!), taped under the lid was a $20 bill with “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself!” written on it. Probably one of my favorite customers ever! She gave me a hug after I came in with a sheepish smile after I finished the oil change. I hope she’s still messing with people 🙂

My son punched a bully in his face at school today and his teacher made writing an apology letter his homework assignment. If I tell the teacher he’s not doing it, am I wrong?

Yes you are wrong.

Make your son write this letter

“Dear teacher, I apologize to the bully for his attacking me and forcing me to have to defend myself. I promise that if he attacks me again I will defend myself to the best of my ability..I realize that the school supports his behavior and wishes us to submit to being bullied, punched hit,kicked and ridiculed. I apologize to you and the school staff, for not being a submissive punching bag as you seem to want me to be.

sincerely,

(name).

EDIT

seems a popular post. I am guessing the problem is widespread.

How can you overcome your envy of people who are your age but are far more successful?

Keep in mind that you are looking at someone who’s already at the top of the mountain. That is to say, you don’t know the effort and time they had to put into to get where they are right now. And how many mistakes and slips they had to endure to reach that peak.
Remind yourself that the only person you should race against is yourself. It sounds easier said than done, but keep practicing and you’ll soon realize it’s not as difficult as you initially thought it was.
Throw out all the comparisons out of the window. It tends to aggravate your envy even more. Instead, focus on what you can do to get your fair share of success as well.
Don’t become resentful toward life or people who seem to have it all. Because if you do, that resentment will start living inside your mind rent-free, for your entire life.
Be grateful that nothing is over yet. As long as you are still breathing, you have a chance to change something for the better. Everyone takes things at their own pace, so don’t put yourself down just because you fell behind in the race. We can’t all be Usain Bolts, after all. So stick to the pace you are comfortable with and take occasional breaks if you have to. And once you feel rested, keep moving because, in the end, it’ll be worth it.

What is the most condescending advice you received from someone who assumed you were poorer or less educated than them?

I was sitting on a bench outside a hotel in DC near the valet desk. I admit I wasn’t exactly dressed for style.

Lady imperiously demands I get her car and I tell her I don’t work there. She sniffs at me and scolds me for being a useless bum, a blight on humanity and if she had her way we’d be rounded up and put on press gangs to clean the streets.

About then the valet pulls up with my car, a late model BMW convertible. She started to say “that’s not my car” when I tipped the valet and drove off.

What’s the weirdest situation you’ve woken up to after a night out?

A coworker went to a local bar after work where a group from the office was going to meet up. It was a Friday so no work the next day.

He woke up in a strange bed at an apartment complex. He couldn’t find his clothes, car keys, wallet. He called another coworker to come get him. He had to look out the window and get the street intersection off street signs to tell his coworker friend where to pick him up.

When his coworker friend showed up he ran out with a sheet wrapped around himself. His coworker friend took him back to his apartment where a roommate let him in. He had a spare key for his car and he and his roomate went looking for his car. They found it in the parking lot of the local bar down from the office.

He spent the weekend trying to remember what happened to no avail.

On Monday while he was at work sitting at his desk when one of the office girls came into his office with his freshly washed clothes, wallet and keys.

She had taken him back to her apartment for an evening of love making, during the night of this he had gotten sick from too much alcohol, vomiting on his clothes beside the bed, then passed out.

She had gotten up that morning, cleaned up the mess, taken his clothes down to the laundry to wash them before ordering breakfast from a deli across the street. She returned to find him and one of her sheets missing.

She waited until Monday to bring him his belongings. They never went out again and had a strained office relationship for several years until he transferred to another office.

What was the worst decision you made in your life?

If I had a chance for a do over I’d take it. My life today would be totally different. I’ve never told or discussed it with anyone. I was 20 in college and I was engaged when I got pregnant. He didn’t want to start out marriage that way. He was all of 21 and also still in college. I didn’t have a job or any money. I thought my Catholic parents would disown me. I made the horrible decision to terminate the pregnancy. It took decades before I could forgive myself. He was right it was no way to start a marriage. It was a horrible way to start a marriage when he didn’t want to offer any emotional support for our shared tragedy. Nearly 10 years later we were finally blessed with a child followed by 3 more. We were married over 40 years. The roots of the failure began with I don’t want to start out marriage that way.

Are there any examples of geniuses who had children who were also geniuses?

A few. But it’s a very hard job to be the son or daughter of a genius. I’ve had the good fortune of getting to know several Nobel Prize winners and their families. And to talk with some of the kids about their point of view. For the most part, they suffered. Many Nobel Prize winners made no secret of this. George Wald was once asked whether he might donate his sperm to a sperm bank to make superior children. He answered in two parts, but only the first was charming.

He said they should have asked his father for sperm so as to make another George Wald. Then he went on to say that his kids were not geniuses but had become bums. Which was not only unkind, but also very unfair to them as they were both teenagers at the time, sensitive and awkward, but also sweet and certainly very bright. But I remember one dinner at his house where Elijah, the son, sort of bragged about having done something clever. Most parents would smile and congratulate him. But George said something along the lines of, “Why, at your age I had already discovered….” Why was there any comparison or competition?

Other genius parents had more sympathy for their kids and took the pressure off. But still, comparisons with the father’s legendary (and oft exaggerated) accomplishments made it tough for the kid. Richard Feynman was very kind and supportive of his kids,but his daughter, Michelle, was initially too intimidated to try anything academic. Nonetheless, Richard was proud of her and of his son Carl.

Linus Pauling (two Nobels) had several children and his son Peter did brilliant work on the structure of biological molecules using crystallography. The son contributed to the work that led to the Nobel Prize that went to Watson and Crick.

But my favorite example of genius father and genius son would have to be the Nobel Laureate in physics, Luis Alvarez, who contributed much to the building of the atomic bomb in the Manhattan Project, and his son, Walter. Working together they generated the hypothesis and found a testable way to confirm that the dinosaurs were wiped out by a giant asteroid hitting the Yucatan Peninsula 63 million years ago. And there are many other good examples (like Marie and Irene Curie, etc.). So, despite the psychological and social obstacles, sometimes the apple does not fall far from the tree.

What are some lessons every men should know?

Boys turn into men when they understand that nobody cares about them if they can’t provide any value.
If you find somebody smarter than you. Work with them. Don’t compete with them.
Just because someone is “family” doesn’t mean you have to tolerate lies, chaos, drama, manipulation, and disrespect.
Act like you can’t afford the bread until they find out you own the bakery. Stay humble.
Becoming the best version of yourself comes with a lot of goodbyes.
The quickest way to succeed is to start now and figure it out as you go. You can’t learn to drive in a parked car.
Call me crazy but I believe I can have everything in this life that I want.
Mention someone that is very hard working and you wish them nothing but success.

Steroids and past decisions

When I was a Senior in High School I was “big” into weight-lifting. I was “pumped” and I was quite an “amazing specimen.”

In fact, during the class physical check-up for us boys, the female doctor and the female nurse asked me to go to the back room (in my underwear) and pose for them. They just smiled and looked on.

I, being young and a dumb shit, didn’t know what was going on.

Anyways, some friends offered some steroids to me to help me get and build up mass. I thought about it, but you know, I was concerned about this. So I made a doctor’s appointment, though my mother, and went to the doctor.

When the doctor asked me what was wrong I had a trouble answering. I did a lot of hemming and humming.

Finally I asked about steroids, and the doctor (a woman) told me that it was a serious, SERIOUS issue and that I should not do it.

She saw me off, and then her son (who was in my class) brought me an envelope filled with papers about the dangers of steroids. She also continued to check in on me. She did this over the next five months. And she checked up on me though my mother.

Well, I really didn’t need a follow up.

I just didn’t do any steroids.

It was one of the BEST things that I ever did. And honestly, I am so happy that I lived in a small town and community. Access for these kinds of medicines was difficult and I did not pursue them. Thank JESUS!

Our decisions ALWAYS possess late-game impact.

You are the sum total of your previous behaviors. And that is why it takes a while for the affirmation campaigns to work. You have to untangle decades of previous verbalizations.

Smile. All of you are doing great right now. I believe in you all.

Today…

What is the best food to eat in France ever?

The best food in France, ever?

The best food in France ever is the Jambon Beurre.

But that’s just a ham sandwich, and you’re correct, it’s a ham sandwich, but not just a ham sandwich. The jambon beurre is a gastronomic lesson. It exemplifies how to make great food: take the best possible ingredients and prepare them with great technique, and no unnecessary fluff. The jambon beurre is simply a freshly baked baguette, delicious jambon de Paris and creamy 85% fat butter. Sometimes you’ll see sweet and sour cornichons or a few slices of cheese, but nothing else. No lettuce, tomatoes, onions, jalapeños or overpowering Subway styles sauces or dressings. This sandwich is just an assembly of three fine ingredients and it is divine.

Quality ingredients and good technique are the keys to great food. French cuisine taught us that lesson and the jambon beurre shows us it is true.

Wendelstein Church on Wendelstein Mountain, Bavarian Alps.

What was your “I am surrounded by idiots” moment?

I was in the office photocopier room with a fellow engineer.

I noticed there was a stack of paper in the recycling bin.

And the big stack of discarded pages, looked a lot like the smaller stack of pages that were spewing out of the machine.

I had time to notice this, because I had to wait while he loaded more paper into the copier’s empty paper trays.

I asked, “Do you have a lot of people coming to an engineering meeting? Usually there are only a few people at those meetings.”

“Oh”, he said. “I’m following the new directive to save paper by making only double-sided copies for meetings.”

I asked, “What’s wrong with all these copies in the recycling bin?”

”I forgot and I made those copies single-sided.”

I was shocked for a moment, then asked, “Why not actually save paper, by using the single-sided copies you already printed?”

“Because if I walked into the meeting with a bunch of single-sided pages, everyone would say I’m wasting paper.”

“But now you are wasting even more paper by re-printing everything again.”

“Yes, but I won’t get in trouble, because nobody knows.”

I thought about ’turning him in’ for deliberately wasting paper.

But having worked in the corporate world, I knew he was right.

The rules are intended to save paper, but the way those rules are enforced, can lead to more waste, not less.

It might seem like the engineer was the idiot.

But he was right.

We both knew that our management would punish us if we admitted even a small oversight.

The real idiots were those managers.

Siebers Tower, Rothenberg.

Body Count

United Arab Emirates officially stops using U.S. Dollar for oil trades

World Hal Turner

The global financial landscape is witnessing a seismic shift as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) boldly moves away from the US dollar in its oil trade dealings.

This strategic pivot aligns with the broader ambitions of the BRICS economic alliance, of which the UAE is a recent addition.

The changeover, involving the transition to local currencies for oil transactions, marks a significant departure from the long-established dollar dominance in the global oil market.

The BRICS bloc, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, recently expanded its membership to include the UAE, along with Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and Argentina.

This expansion signifies a growing inclination towards de-dollarization among these nations, a move that challenges the traditional hegemony of the US dollar in international trade.

The UAE’s decision to prioritize local currency over the US dollar in new oil deals is a clear reflection of this sentiment. This move isn’t just a mere policy shift; it’s a strategic maneuver in the complex chess game of global economics.

By aligning with the BRICS nations, the UAE is not only diversifying its economic partnerships but also reinforcing its position as a global oil powerhouse.

This change could potentially reshuffle the cards in the international oil trade, impacting the dollar’s stronghold and introducing a new era of currency dynamics in oil transactions.

ONGOING CATASTROPHE FOR USA

The shift away from the U.S. dollar is not some distant, arcane, thing which doesn’t affect YOU. It is affecting YOU already and it is going to get worse. Much worse. In fact, it’s going to be a catastrophe.

You see, since the 1970’s, ALL sales of oil, worldwide, have been transacted in “Dollars.” Everyone who sells it, sells in dollars. Everyone who buys it, buys in dollars.

In order to do that, every country on earth needs to hold “dollars” in its central bank.

Now that countries are starting to sell oil in currencies OTHER THAN Dollars, the central banks around the world won’t need to hold all those dollars. They will start to send those dollars BACK to the United States and say convert these back to OUR currency.

As dollars come back to the U.S. and other countries currencies are exchanged, THEIR currency will rise in value compared to ours. Our currency will FALL in value compared to others.

Now, we don’t manufacture much of anything here in America anymore; we import a lot of what we need/want.

So as we need to import, the value of OUR money is going to be worth less, and less compared to foreign countries, meaning what we need will cost VERY VERY MUCH MORE.

Inflation will hit the US in almost every sector because the things we need to import cost more and more dollars that are worth less and less.

So if you think things have gotten expensive this year, hold on to your hat; it’s going to get a LOT worse.

Moreover, at some point, countries may decide that the U.S., being so far in debt, makes our currency worthless. They may decide to STOP selling anything to us in US Dollars.

Despite being universally accepted nowadays, the fear of our currency becoming worthless is real because there is literally nothing backing our currency. Government keeps going farther and farther into debt until at some point, people around the world will simply NOT take our money anymore.

When THAT happens, the shortages and “supply chain disruption” seen during COVID-19, will look like kid games.

GOVERNMENT TO BLAME

The sole entity responsible for all this trouble is the US federal government; specifically, YOUR member of the US House of Representatives and YOUR US Senators.

It has been these people who have literally spent the country into oblivion. THEY voted for each and every dollar spent which had to be borrowed.

So as they come back from Washington to back-slap, glad-hand, and kiss babies, know that it is THESE PEOPLE who are personally responsible for wrecking this nation, and ruining everything you and your family has worked all your lives for.

More importantly, it is THESE PEOPLE who have mis-used their positions to impose “economic sanctions” on country after country around the world; telling those countries, “If you don’t do what we want, then you cannot use OUR money in YOUR trade.”

All those countries are tired of US meddling in THEIR internal affairs.

So they’re moving away from using US dollars, so that the US cannot sanction them anymore.

The result will be hyper-inflation for us, and wrecking of our country. All because THEY will not stop meddling in other people’s business.

1939 Delahaye Type 165

1939 Delahaye Type 165 is viewed by many as the most beautiful French car of the 1930s, only 5 of them were ever made with this one having been fatefully chosen by the French government to represent France at the 1939 New York World’s Fair.

Have you ever judged someone and realized you were wrong?

I was once the daytime caregiver for a little boy with a massive brain injury. The damage was so extensive that a large part of his right brain had been surgically removed. He was paralyzed on his left side. He also probably suffered from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, but the doctors were unsure. He hoarded food, because he had gone hungry many times in his earlier life. Altogether a really lousy start.

I was pushing little X in his stroller. He was about three years old at this point. We were walking toward the high school, and there was a group of girls on the sidewalk. Black clothes, black hair, smoking, swearing girls.

X was a bit unusual looking, due to his injuries. I was thinking that these girls were going to laugh at him, or tease him, or something. I was getting tense and defensive.

As X and I get close, he hollers out, “HI”, which was his only word at the time. I was not expecting the response he got from those girls.

They were totally sweet. They were all saying hi back and asking his name and saying how cute he was. One asked me about his injuries, and I gave her the short version. She started to cry, and then I did, too. It was hard for me to talk about his history. We ended up hugging each other.

I have always remembered that group of girls, and how completely wrong I was about them.

They remind me often not to judge people by their appearance.

Copeland’s of New Orleans the Guitreau

Ingredients

4 ounces butter
4 ounces chopped onions
5 single mushrooms
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
8 ounces fish fillet (red or black drum recommended)
4 ounces crawfish tails
4 ounces 90-100 size shrimp

Instructions

Cook fish on grill approximately three minutes on each side.
While fish is cooking, sauté shrimp and crawfish tails for about one minute. At this point, everything else may be added. Cook until vegetables are translucent. If mixture is too thick, add a splash of dry white wine. If too thin, turn the heat up and cook down until the right consistency.

South Korea, Japan BETRAY and ABANDON U.S, Rush to CHINA!

Breakup of antiwar coalition on Taiwan Island brings war clouds closer to East Asia

Taiwan is not Ukraine. The Taiwanese army is compulsory conscription for one year, extended by Tsai Ing-wen from the previous four months, making her extremely unpopular. No one in Taiwan has the delusion that Westerners have that the Taiwanese army can withstand the PLA for more than a day.

Most of them will tell you the PLA takeover will last only a few hours.

The reason is none of these young men want to die fighting the PLA, not even the deepest Green. Many street interviews of youngsters in the deep Green country of south Taiwan have shown as much: don’t know history, don’t understand why Taiwan is the Republic of China and its airline is China Airlines, don’t like China, don’t want war with China, won’t fight the PLA to defend Taiwan.

In truth, most of them will simply surrender, because those who do not will be tried for treason or, as a minimum, carry a black mark for themselves and their family so that none of them or their offspring will enjoy the privilege of say working in government jobs or state corporations.

Don’t forget that Taiwan is an island. The shortest distance from China to Taiwan is about 220 km. Hawaii is 8500 km away and the American west coast is 11,000 km. People on the island can’t run off to Poland. No one is going to save them when the PLA lands. Taiwanese people understand this but try explaining it to people like Mearsheimer.

Another thing about America arming Taiwan. It’s a scam. Taiwan is going to get antiquated equipment at exorbitant prices. Taiwanese people also know about this because it is not new. It happened before. The US is worried there may be many Yifu Lin types in Taiwan, taking the latest US war technologies to join China. The last time they armed the Nationalists during the Chinese Civil War, the PLA got their hands on a large amount of the latest American weapons.

America is really good at lying. The country is built on lies. Ask any native American how many times the white man has lied to them and they will tell you as numerous as the stars in the sky. It’s too late for the natives, but we can learn something. Don’t trust any words or narratives that come from the direction of the hegemon.

-PM

Quiet

What will always be cool?

You met a girl. You smiled. She liked. You gave her compliments. She liked you more. You used every textbook trick to impress and voila! She indeed was impressed.

Time flew. Your mask fell off.

Now, she hates you.

Persuasion techniques are, at times, indeed useful. But if you want relationships that last, always be real. These techniques may capture someone’s head, but being who you are will capture their hearts.

That genuineness and sincerity, my friend, will always be cool! 🙂

What scary gut feeling did you have that turned out to be true?

A friend and I had plans to hang out. For whatever reason, she couldn’t make it and canceled. I didn’t want to hang around the house and went out anyway. As I approached the car, I got an uneasy feeling. I opted to take the other car; I still got an uneasy feeling, but it wasn’t as intense. I got in the car and left the house. Thirty minutes later the car was totalled; I didn’t even see it coming. When I came to, the car was upside down. I was still in the car, but laying on the roof. Had I take the initial car, I probably would have been dead or severely injured at best. I literally got up and walked away from the car on my own (I did pass out a couple times while the ambulance was en route). I broke my ankle and sternum and needed a couple stitches.

Chimney Sweep, outside 97th General Hospital, Frankfurt.

Five Pleasures for every pain

What’s something your husband did to you that you will never forget?

When my husband had been a consultant for about a year, and had been traveling 80% of the time for a job that he absolutely loved.

He came home one weekend and said, “Yesterday I was sitting at a table with five other consultants, and one of them told the group that I was on my first wife.

They all laughed and said, ‘That won’t last long!’ Two of them are on their third wife! That’s when I knew for sure that I have to change jobs.”

And that’s when I knew for sure that he would always put me first.

That we would always put each other first.

We’ve been married more than 40 years, and we’re still putting each other first. (He has since had several jobs that he enjoyed as much as that one, I’m glad to say. I wouldn’t want him to be unhappy at work because of me! I’ve always supported him in whatever his work choices have been, and he has been supportive of my career too.)

Ikigai

Have you ever met someone for the first time and got the strongest feeling that the person was bad?

I didn’t technically “meet” the guy. But when I was about 10yo & my mom asked me to run to the donut shop before going to school (it was less than a block from our apartment), I was so stoked, I ran the entire way!

As I went to pull the door open at the donut shop, this big grisly bear of a man sorta stumbled towards me from me pulling the door open so fast.

I looked him right in the eyes & got The biggest shot of freezing cold fear through me, turned right around & ran straight back home.

When my mom asked why I didn’t get any donuts, it took me a minute to answer. I asked if she remembered the creepy old big guy from the show we were watching last night & my mom replied “you mean Americas Most Wanted?”!

I said yes, she said “yeah, and?” I told her I’d ran straight into the featured criminal that was a father who raped & molested his daughters & their friends for years & was on the run with his wife (she said she didn’t believe her daughters or their friends, eww)!

My mom asked if I was sure & I was absolutely sure it was him. My mom called the tip line immediately & they said I wasn’t the first to report seeing him at that donut shop. That couple got so spooked by my reaction that they apparently immediately went back on the run. I believe they gave chase for a bit but somehow evaded police, but were later found dead from self inflicted injuries. I was told my report was the final “straw” for cops to believe it was a legit sighting.

No joke that when I say I felt straight evil from him, the burning ice cold feeling his eyes gave me, I will unfortunately never forget it.

Always, ALWAYS trust your “gut”! That intuition is inside us all for a very good reason.

Chinese journalist Liu Xin: DON’T MESS WITH CHINA!

What is the best etiquette for guests who offer to pay for things after staying at someone’s home?

Some years back, a close friend of mine, let’s call her Jane, underwent a significant surgery. She lived alone, and the recovery period was expected to be long and challenging. Jane’s sister, who lived in a different city, offered to take her in during the recovery. The sister had a spacious home and a supportive family, making it an ideal environment for Jane’s recuperation.

Jane, always mindful of not imposing, devised thoughtful ways to contribute to the household. Since she couldn’t engage in physical activities initially, she used her skills as a seasoned graphic designer to help her niece with a school project, creating an impressive presentation. This gesture was immensely appreciated and brought her closer to her niece.

As she regained strength, Jane took up the responsibility of managing the family’s online affairs. She organized digital photo albums, set up an efficient bill payment system, and even taught her sister and brother-in-law how to use various apps to streamline their daily tasks. These small yet significant contributions made her feel useful and less like a burden.

Additionally, Jane used her savings to occasionally treat the family to meals from their favorite restaurants, understanding that her presence had increased the household expenses. She also made it a point to maintain her space meticulously, ensuring that her temporary stay caused minimal disruption in their routine.

When Jane finally returned to her home, her relationship with her sister’s family had deepened. They had not only supported her through a challenging time but had also received her gratitude and contributions in a way that enriched their lives. This experience, my friend often reflects, taught her the importance of giving back, even in times of personal difficulty.

What was the best relationship advice you ever got?

The best relationship advice I ever got was from my grandma years ago, while we were sitting on our back porch swing. There was a thunderstorm going on, and we were enjoying the rain and swinging and talking and nothing was off limits.

At one point, Grandma said, “When we stop expecting someone to be perfect, we can begin to appreciate them for who they really are. No one can ever be perfect. That’s just the way things are.

Crying is okay, too. Sometimes, love is just too big for words …”

What are some useful facts that went unnoticed?

The way you treat yourself is the standard you set for others.
A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend . A successful woman is one who can find such a man .
Sometimes following your heart means losing your mind.
The most beautiful woman is someone who’s happy and is always smiling.
The sexiest thing about a woman is not in the clothes she wears , the figure that she carries or the way she combs her hair but Confidence in a humble way, not in an arrogant way. Sense of humour is definitely important.
The biggest asset in the world is your mindset.
Good looking people are trusted quicker by the subconscious mind. No clue why ? But there’re many good looking manipulators. Trust by character not appearance.
Someone you’ve only known for ten days could have better intentions for you than someone you’ve known for ten years. Time means nothing; character does.
Don’t let the world define your identity for you . They don’t know you and likely they don’t care about you.

What was the moment you realized your significant other didn’t care about you at all anymore?

After twenty years of marriage I got crippled up by arthritis and my wife came to me and asked for a divorce so she could go out and live her life.

I pointed to the door.

Signed the divorce papers for her so she saved some costs. I got no child support even though both our kids stayed with me. Actually they gave her half the house I had built and the entire time I was building it she didn’t want me too because I was “wasting” money on it.

A few months after the divorce was final she actually told me I was going to have to marry her back. Right.

I said no.

Today I’ve been married to a wonderful woman who’s supportive and I enjoy every day.

I did recover from being crippled with a lot of rehab and I made sure to tell my wife to be that I could never guarantee that being crippled wouldn’t recur.

Then a couple years after we married she had to have open heart surgery to repair a bad heart valve and I was there taking care of her with no complaints while she recovered. She’s always doing things to make my life easier. It’s what marriage is all about. Teamwork.

What was your strangest experience visiting a friend or relative in the hospital?

I wasn’t the visitor. I just happened to be a physician, working at the hospital, that day.

I was walking down the hall talking with one of our most senior nurses. As we walked by a patient room, I happened to glance over.

“Did I just see that?”, I remarked, stopping and placing a restraining hand on Pat’s arm.

“What?” asked Pat.

“Back up.”

We took a couple of steps back and looked into the room.

“What the actual f**k!”

A visitor had climbed onto the bed with the patient. He was choking her and hissing,

“You ruined my life, B**ch!”.

“Whoa!”

I yelled for Security, at the top of my lungs.

Pat charged around me with the wrath that only an overweight, middle aged woman, who is sick of everybody’s sh*t, can.

“Off!” She yelled, smacking the man, on the head, with her clipboard.

“OFF, OFF, OFF!” ( whack, whack, whack)

The man let go of the patient and turned toward us.

Uh-oh.

Pat was undeterred. She smacked him a couple of more times. (whack, whack)

With a voice, honed with the authority of 30 years of nursing, she chased him down the hall.

“OUT, OUT, OUT!” (whack, whack, whack)

Just then Security showed up and rescued the perpetrator from the furious nurse.

I stayed to ensure that the patient was not seriously injured.

Pat returned, ruffled but none the worse for wear.

“Remind me not to EVER piss you off.”

We went back to our original conversation.

Just another day in the glamorous life of a physician.

Peace.

Have you ever broken the law for good reason and did you ever get caught?

Yes, I did.

Many years ago, I was approached by a woman I knew through our homeowners’ association, and she asked to talk to me. She said that she was getting ready to leave her husband, who was a brutal and abusive alcoholic. She had a tiny puppy — a little fluffy mix that was mostly Yorkie and Pomeranian — that he was kicking and mistreating, and she wanted to get it to safety as soon as possible before he either damaged her or killed her.

She knew I was a dog lover, so she proposed that she leave her back gate unlocked, and after she was sure her husband had passed out, she would put the puppy on the back porch behind the unlocked gate. I could take the puppy, and disappear into the night.

I lived a distance from the woman’s home, so there was no danger the puppy would ever be seen by her husband. So, I agreed. We decided to do it that night.

The arranged dognapping went off without a hitch, and Rita made her home with us for many years. The woman also escaped her husband, as planned.

Traveling around Bavaria, in a 1951 Chevrolet.

What do Hospice workers know about the last hours of life that most doctors don’t?

I buried my wife a week ago today. Alzheimer’s disease is a terrible way to die. She was diagnosed in 2013. She died October 10, 2023. I delayed her services until one of her siblings returned from a cruise. Since she chose cremation long ago, there was no urgency to bury her in my family’s grave plots.

She was an RNC – BSN in Labor and Delivery. Dedicated her life managing a 40 bed LDRP unit with NICU.

The Hospice nurse thought she was stable earlier in the day, but she later observed a change that I probably would not have recognized. The Hospice nurse told me I should come. She had been non verbal for about a year. Had to be fed, and was in a special Hospice provided wheel chair when out of her bed.

I knew as a lifelong nurse she did not want to live like that, but a DNR covers no cardiac crash cart intervention and no tube feeding. It is way above my pay grade to opine that her quality of life was near zero. A Hospice nurse knows when there is more brain activity than many of us might think.

She had been in a nursing home exactly three years. When she first arrived, she never stopped nursing, looking after those residents who were no longer ambulatory. In fact, she thought she was in charge of the nursing home because she was a Director of Women’s Health before she retired. At the peak of her career, she had 150 employees and a seven figure annual budget. A few years later, she could not balance her check book.

The Hospice nurse told me the last thing to go with an Alzheimer’s victim is their hearing, so even though she looked comatose, the nurse convinced me she could hear me.

I believe her. No finger squeezing, no eye movement, nothing but labored breathing. I told her I loved her, and that I would have been nothing without her.

Thinking she was stable for maybe another day, I went home to get something to eat. Hospice called and said she was gone before I got back to the nursing home. We would have been married 51 years December 30. Planned our wedding around an OU Sugar Bowl game in 1972.

I hated myself for leaving the nursing home for what seemed like only a short time, but maybe she knew I had been there, and she was tired of the pain. Maybe she held on just long enough to see me or hear me one last time.

I’ll forever regret not spending more time with her. I honestly did not think she knew I was there during visits the last year, but now I know she knew I was there near the end, so she probably knew I was there during those times when I thought there was little brain function remaining.

I regret not spending more time with her excellent Hospice caregivers, to better understand that though my wife seemed near comatose for over a year, she would know I was there if I had spent more time with her.

Always pay attention to the Hospice nurses. Milk them for more knowledge about how it will probably end.

I am forever indebted to the Hospice nurses who cared for my wife. Hospice was there when I could not be there. No one should die alone.

What are your thoughts on the recent incident where a Chinese navy destroyer used active sonar to harass a disabled Australian frigate conducting underwater repairs in international waters?

Not long ago, Western media were promoting “the Chinese Air Force intercepted a Canadian aircraft.” But they don’t tell you that this interception took place in the northern part of the Taiwan Strait, only dozens of kilometers away from the coast of China.

Now, the Western media is once again propagating that “the Chinese Navy is unprofessional towards Australian warships.” Okay, let’s look at the truth of the matter again.

The “exclusive economic zones” of China and Japan overlap on a large scale, and the overlapping area is closer to China’s territorial waters.

First, Australia claimed that “the warship is located within Japan’s exclusive economic zone.” It seems to tell us that they are near Japanese territorial waters. But is this true?

Let’s take a look at how big Japan’s “exclusive economic zone” is. As we all know, Japan’s “exclusive economic zone” was set unilaterally by Japan. It has a large number of overlapping areas with mainland China, Taiwan, South Korea, and North Korea, and is not recognized at all in East Asia.

Therefore, the fact that the Australian warship is “located within Japan’s exclusive economic zone” does not mean that it is “close to Japan”. On the contrary, it is likely to be close to China’s territorial waters, has entered China’s exclusive economic zone or even approached China’s territorial waters. This is also the reason for this type of incident. normal. The Chinese almost never go far from their shores on such missions.

Secondly, the news that the Chinese Navy’s use of “sonar” caused “slight injuries” to divers is not credible at all. According to news reports, the warship that intercepted the Australian Navy was the Chinese Navy No. 139 Ningbo Ship. This is a modern-class destroyer with a full load displacement of 8,500 tons and an old Soviet warship. According to public information, the sonar equipped on this destroyer is the MGK-335 hull-acoustic hull sonar. This is an active high-power sonar designed for deep-sea nuclear submarines, with a peak operating power of hundreds of kilowatts.

The shock waves it emits can hit the submarine’s hull several kilometers away and detect the echoes. There is no point in turning on sonar for surface ship monitoring.

Because this type of sonar is powerful enough to cause injury to large marine life such as dolphins and whales, it is generally not turned on. When the warships of both sides are approaching, if the Chinese Navy really turns on this sonar, then the diver will not suffer just a “slight injury”, it will shatter people’s internal organs.

Therefore, the real situation may be that the diver suffered minor injuries due to other reasons in the process of rushing to shore. After all, the Australian Toowoomba is just a 3,600-ton frigate. When facing an 8,500-ton Chinese warship, a hasty retreat is a normal reaction.

There are a few more noteworthy keywords

2. Sanctions tasks of the United Nations

This statement is the same as that of the Canadian military aircraft, which also claimed to be carrying out “UN sanctions supervision against North Korea.” But they flew to the northern part of the Taiwan Strait.

China has publicly stated many times that the United Nations has never authorized such a mission. As one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, China’s statement is credible, and other countries have not raised any objections.

Therefore, the Australian warship’s so-called “implementation of United Nations sanctions and supervision of North Korea” is just a farce written and directed by several countries led by the United States.

3. The fishing net entangled the propeller

It shows that the Australian warship has entered the fishing area instead of the normal route. This will cause disruption to both Chinese and Japanese fishermen. Whether it is Japan’s exclusive economic zone or China’s exclusive economic zone, it is undeniable that it is more than 1,000 kilometers away from Australia. That is China’s doorstep, not Australia’s.

The incident took place so far away from Australia. What was the Australian Navy thinking when it sent a small warship to the coast of a nuclear-armed superpower to show off? If the opponent was the United States or Russia, they would have been sunk long ago.

4. Unprofessional

The Chinese Navy’s approach to foreign warships approaching China’s territorial waters has always been to “identify, warn and drive away”. This is their “professionalism”. There was no warning of weapons and no active collision, indicating that the Chinese navy was restrained. It makes no sense for the Australians to use the excuse “sonar harms divers” to divert attention.

What is the biggest snub you received from a family member?

There have been several over my long life but the one that still hurts the most was when my family decided to do a family photo.

For context:

my parents (mom and dad), 4 others siblings with their spouse and child(ren)

18 people total including myself and husband.

I’ve always been a coordinator of events and the like so I offered to find and buy all the children’s outfits so they match/color coordinate.

All the adults wore coordinating colors. We planned on having an outdoor spring photo shoot and I purchased all items to stage the pictures (included a setee, velvet arm chairs, Persian rug….you get the idea not just outside but staged. We hired a professional photographer with each of us paying $200

to cover the bill.

A week before the photos were supposed to be done, my older sister comes over and says my parents want our children but not myself and husband in the pictures. I say nothing, think about it an day and then call my dad. I ask him did he and my mother say we were not to be in pics? He never gives me a direct answer. Says they really just pics of the grandkids, I ask him then why is everyone else included besides my husband and myself? -he gives Half answers until I say I have to go-I sent all of them an email laying out how hurt we were and Don’t understand what we could have down to be excluded like this. Not one response.

Picture day:

My older sister had the audacity to call me and ask if my kids were ready and she was on the way to pick them up. I told her Nope and hung up.

That is the last one I ever spoke to or heard from any of them. Family should never hurt like that

What are the most common regrets that people have once they grow old?

My generation, the boomers, was encouraged to take risks and accomplish great things. We were told that we could do anything and should. We had people like JFK pushing us to go to the moon.

I grew up in a violent, terrifying and poor household where I felt great responsibility for the younger children. I felt no love from my parents. I was just scared all the time. I subsequently had little energy left for doing well in school. I had only one friend. I was always afraid of authority and had no self-confidence. I was not equipped for adulthood and most of it was a struggle to do well at whatever job I held.

When I retired, due to my great fear of poverty, i had plenty of money saved and my own home. I also realized something important. I didn’t have to have regrets even though I had not taken risks or accomplished great things.

I had survived. I had accomplished something important. I was safe. I had made it through all the troubles and fear. I had gritted my teeth and pushed through all the pain and loneliness and self-loathing that comes with being treated badly.

I am old but I have many years to go and I’ll spend them being proud of myself for making it through to safety. This might not seem like much of a goal to most people but it was what I dreamed of for myself and unwittingly worked hard for. I have no regrets.

Cat revenge story

What’s a rule your employer implemented that backfired terribly?

Not me, my wife.

She ran a very successful Dentist as Practice Manager…she has been a Dental Nurse since the early 90s and worked her way up.

Probably about 80% of the role was managing the staff…whereas 80% should have been running the regulatory side of the business….unfortunately, that meant that the regulatory side had to be done after hours.

She would put in 12 hour days, come home, have dinner, then start again and not stop until near midnight, nightly!

Now the business owner and principle knew HE could not manage the staff, but he then started demanding that she was ‘front of house’ due to her professionalism…even though others were just as capable…so of course, that meant other things started to suffer…initially her health, but she persevered…she ‘loved her job’!

But then, the inevitable happened…he ‘decided’, without any consultation, that her role was now ‘salaried’ and he would no longer pay overtime.

Now, there’s a rock and a hard place…the regulatory side could not be undertaken during the day, would not be compensated, and was a legal requirement for the Practice to operate; so she took the only option available; she resigned (her health was deteriorating anyway…and that was due to the stress of the job!)

6 months later, she is in a far better place physically. The business she left is on its knees. All the staff had left, and it is now – just about – scraping by as a single dentist practice (there had been 10 dentists and 26 support staff!).

I reckon that it has 3–4 months left before it goes completely under….all because he started interfering in the staff roles and didn’t want to pay a little overtime.

What should be done to make the Indian police more efficient and less corrupt?

Lets do what China or Singapore is doing and ensuring that their police remain tough but relatively free from any corruption and actually follow the law

Pay

India pay their policemen a pittance. I am talking about the rank and file cops. If you look at Comparative Median Income- a Middle ranking Indian policeman (Non IPS) gets only 1.06 times the Median income compared to 1.41 times for a Chinese Cop and 1.83 times for a Singaporean Cop and 1.82 times for a US Cop from NYPD or CPD. A 41% Pay raise for Middle Ranking Cops and allowance raise and upto 77% Pay raise for the Rank and file would work wonders.

Housing and Allowances

China, Hong Kong have police departments which purchase their own lands and commercially build apartments and sell them at zero interest to Cops and retired cops. 2,3,4 BHK Apartments with all the luxuries like a Swimming Pool, Gymnasium etc provided.

Hamara Bharat – How a Police Quarters looks like in Bharat with Inspectors living in this dilapidated building. The Toilets are particularly a bonanza. Departments have to beg and beg for the most basic of maintenance and painting.

Death Insurance

In India a Cop shot and killed while on Duty will get a flat sum of Rs. 18 Lakhs to Rs. 85 Lakhs depending on City and State with Mumbai and Delhi paying the highest.

85 Lakhs sounds good right?

Sorry. First the money is taxable, Second the average time to get this money is 17 – 24 months if you are lucky and third – an Insurance company pays this sum and it will dodge and demand a lot of documentation like death report etc etc etc.

A woman called Gurbachan Kaur who was supposed to get Rs. 78 Lakhs for her husbands death (He was Senior Inspector of Police) is yet to get any money after 1 1/2 years and after taxes and deductions – she is expected to net Rs. 58 Lakhs. Its around 5.25 times his median annual income. Even this sum is in doubt as the Insurance company is now saying the man died of a heart attack which means natural death (Far low payout).

Lets take China or HK – the sum for death of a Similar rank is around 8.25 times the Median Income and NO TAX. And you get the money within 60 days. Its a law. If you dont get the money in China within 60 days – the Department will be questioned and the LEPPA laws will be applied and No insurance company – money belongs to the Department directly

And many others – Good Healthcare plans, Good Education Plans, Education Trusts for Kids of Cops, Free Education etc.

The Cops are taken care of decently and so they do their job well.

Then there is the question of Punishment. Cops who break the law are brutally punished. In China except the Political Police – all other cops can be punished brutally for Bribery or for Public Abuse or false cases etc. The LEPPA which applies only to cops and can put a cop for 15–25 years for a custodial death within 3 months through special courts.

Its the Double Edged Sword – Good Incentives but Brutal Punishments

Its what India should do

PS This only applies to officers. Chinese Constables are very less paid (Same as Indian PCS) but they get commissions (Hyeung Ya or Golden Fragrance) of 55% – 150% of their monthly salaries. Legal commissions on which they have to pay tax.

Our Poor Havildars have no such incentives and can get a CBI Case for a mere Rs. 500/- bribe.

Weißer Turm (The White Tower), Galgengasse, Rothenburg.

Simple

Why are the Chinese not interested in Western democracy?

Western Democracy is:

School shootings.
An expensive education system that does not give people the most basic knowledge.
The world’s largest prison system.
An expensive healthcare system that is against disease prevention. And which gives decreasing life expectancy.
A colossal big expensive army which is not able to overcome the Taliban. And the army’s expenses are poorly documented.
The judiciary is large and expensive.
The financial sector is filled with at least 90% air, which will give rise to a new financial bubble, which will empty people’s pensions.
The two identical parties present only the interests of the rich. And yet they are extremely hostile to each other.
Real wages for the middle class have not increased since the 1970s.
Many of the politicians stand with one foot in the grave, so it will never be them themselves who will pay back the country’s debt. Their goal is to survive only four more years.

I could make several points. But why do you think it is difficult to sell this system, Western Democracy to the Chinese?!

Wasn’t it a better idea to sell Chinese socialism to the Americans?! Who wants a government that will multiply your hourly wage?!

What do we know for certain about China’s military, or what sources are most reliable?

The bloody history has told every Chinese: China’s peace today is not because the invaders abandoned evil and turned to good, but because of the powerful PLA.

Men need emotional closeness

How do you make productivity less of a miserable experience?

Mike Tyson is the father of my favorite sports quote. Reporters were questioning him about his new opponent. They were building up the rivalry, talking about how dangerous this fighter was, how he planned to keep Tyson at a distance with his jab, how he planned to wear him down.

Getting annoyed with the questions, Mike looked up from tying his shoes and said, “Everyone has a plan — until they get hit.” It’s so perfectly translatable to life. Everyone is on a diet, until they get hungry. Everyone wants good grades, until it’s time to study. Aspirations and reality are often star-crossed lovers: desperate to be together but doomed to be apart.

We don’t like what most goals entail. There’s a way to make things easier. It starts with understanding the process of productivity.

Slow down your mind to produce more

In a 2013 experiment, scientists showed flashing images to young mice for six hours a day for ten days straight. The changing images emulated cell phones and TVs. Those mice later displayed significant difficulties getting through mazes and finishing cognitive tasks versus non-stimulated mice. Science has long known overstimulation leads to deficits in cognition and attention span.

More plainly, when you are bored with a task, you are often overstimulated. It’s worse than most people realize. Our minds are lost in thought for roughly 47% of our day.

Concentrative meditation, a focus on one specific thing, is proven to boost your focus over time, even if you only do it for five minutes a day. Letting too many voices in your head drowns out those that need to be heard. It’s counterintuitive to think that slowing down your mind increases its potency. The brain is like a lightbulb: too much energy makes it shine less.

If you are feeling ambitious, a Harvard study found that 27-minutes of meditation per day led to increased gray-matter density in the hippocampus, resulting in improved learning, empathy, and memory.

Start easier by creating mental opposition

My girlfriend works in academia and occasionally writes huge, thickly worded papers. On the scale of writing projects, it’s one of the most nightmarish. She was working herself up over a paper last month. She talked about it all week, dreading it, venting about it. She was eventually in full-blown tears, despite not having written a single word.

I’m a fairly patient guy but I do have limits. I finally said, “I need you to do a favor for both of us and get this done. Do it for me, please.” Her dread was bleeding into our relationship. Seeing my point, and to her credit, she powered through it and was a new person afterward.

Procrastination is the hellspawn of anticipation. We expend so much energy thinking about doing something, building up the tension, contemplating the boredom and pain involved. Our energy is sapped before we even begin.

Defeat it by inverting your thoughts

The next time you are putting something off, pay attention to your thoughts. Notice when you have a ‘dread’ thought, “This is going to be so hard.” Notice how you feel heavier. I can literally feel my body getting more immobile when I catch those thoughts.

The trick is to invert that process. I write for a living. When my keyboard is roaring at me like a 101-toothed monster, I’ll itemize reasons I should write. For example:

If I write now, I’ll have free time later.

It will be fun to discover which words show up on the page.
The show I’m watching is useless and boring.
I’ll make more money if I spend more time writing.
It’s going to ruin my mood if I keep procrastinating.

Make it a game to verbally list as many reasons as possible. This will magnetize your motivations. Actions are an extension of our thoughts. Starting is often the hardest part of productivity.

How to stay in the pocket after you start

When I was a swimmer, I didn’t have aquatic headphones to get me through a workout. Swimming is an exhausting exercise in sensory deprivation. You can only see the bottom of the pool and hear the water in your ears. Workouts were miserable and every stroke invites you to slack off.

The key was to stay focused at the moment. I did this in two ways. First, I focused on my technique, giving 100% of my focus to my coach’s instructions. When that technique crumbled, I fell back into reminding myself of my goals. I singularly focused on them, much like you would with concentrative meditation.

Remind yourself that you want to get promoted and get a raise. Reflect on sub-goals. Reflect on what happens if you quit now and flake out. Thoughts can be weaponized against laziness. Productivity is a battle in your mind. If you let weakening thoughts run about unchallenged, you are doomed. Focus on perfection and your attention to detail.

The takeaway and tying it all together

Remember, productivity has three key elements:

Convince yourself to start.
Stay focused despite distractions.
Continue working when you don’t feel like it.

Convince yourself to start by being cognizant of detractor thoughts. Dismiss them quickly and list out reasons to start.

To avoid distractions, practice slowing down your mind with meditation. Additionally, make a mental note of every time you lose focus. When I start getting sloppy, I’ll keep a piece of paper and make a line every time I catch my mind drifting.

Lastly, to get through arduous, monotonous tasks, focus on being present in the moment. Focus on the details. Think about your goals. But never dread the painful aspects of your tasks. Motivation is war. Know how to rally your troops.

Roman Empire and Chill

Dinardo’s Italian Restaurant Creole Carbonara

Ingredients

1/2 cup chicken thigh meat
2 1/2 tablespoons Creole seasoning
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 ounces andouille sausage, chopped
8 ounces medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 cup green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Dash of Tabasco
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 pound fettuccine, cooked

Instructions

Coat the chicken with one teaspoon of the Creole seasoning.
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and sauté chicken for approximately one minute.
Add andouille and continue cooking one additional minute.
Season shrimp with remaining Creole seasoning, add to chicken/andouille mixture and cook until shrimp are pink and curled.
Add green onions, garlic and whipping cream. Bring mixture to a boil then reduce heat to medium.
Add Worcestershire, Tabasco, salt and half of the Parmesan cheese.
Coat fettuccine with sauce and top with remaining cheese.

West Germany.

Appreciation

* REAL ** Trouble: No One Buying US Treasuries

World Hal Turner

Nobody wants U.S. Treasury bonds. Bond Sales are in the worst stretch since the Civil War. The federal government has run up so much debt that few if any around the world, want to lend them money anymore. This cannot end well.

Once a symbol of America’s economic might and accepted as a global coin of the realm, US Treasuries have fallen badly out of favor, with serious consequences for taxpayers, investors, and financial markets.

Elementary economic forces — too much supply and not enough demand — have collided to create the worst stretch for U.S. government bonds since the Civil War. The government keeps borrowing to cover its budget deficits, while once-reliable buyers of that debt, both at home and abroad, have pulled back.

The result: Investors are demanding the steepest yields since 2007. Auctions of fresh bonds that were once routine are now going terribly. And bond portfolios are getting absolutely hammered. The longest-dated Treasury bonds are in a bear market worse than the dot-com bust and almost as bad as 2008.

Already 2.5% of the U.S.’s economic output is going to service its existing debts, a number that some analysts expect to hit 4% by 2030. Already running huge deficits, the only way for Treasury to pay the interest — along with ambitious spending programs like the CHIPS Act and student-loan forgiveness — is to keep borrowing.

They are now TRAPPED in a vicious spiral that can ONLY lead to financial death for the country. There is no other possible outcome because the government will not stop spending.

Skiing in Bavaria.

Smart kitty

What’s a rule your employer implemented that backfired terribly?

Didn’t happen to me, but a friend of mine.

He worked in a private local company. At the end of 2017 the owner of the company changed which means the head of the board of directors changed (let’s call the new guy Jim). Obviously, Jim wanted to make some changes himself, mostly to establish dominance and show he’s the new sheriff in town. Rumors say he promised to double company’s profit in a single year (remember this). There’s a thin line between ambitious and cocky.

The first move he made didn’t have anything to do with the increasing work efficiency or meeting heads of departments or actually know the work that is done in that company. Jim had installed one of those time clock machines where employees check in when they get to work and check out when they’re done. Something like this:

[source: google time clock, image from Icon Proximity card keyfob Reusable RFID Key Fob for Icon]

only they didn’t have tokens, but cards. Installation and writing guidelines took about a week after which he announced to heads of departments that every employee must check in and check out themself even when they’re going out just for a break. Also, heads of departments should’ve forward these news to employees. The thing officially started second or third week in January of 2018.

At first, employees didn’t take it so seriously and some of them didn’t check in/out every day or didn’t (sometimes even forgot to) note down their breaks. At the end of the week, Jim would go through every employee’s record to see does any of them have less than 40 hours. (Notice he wasn’t interested in those who had more than 40 hours.) Friend told me that most of employees were in the range 38–45 working hours and a very few around 37 but none under 37. Jim called for a meeting with heads of departments every Friday to inform them about the records and to warn those who work less. Also, there was no compensation for those who work more (stay late or work on weekends).

Employees protested about that kind of behavior and wanted time clock out. That only made Jim to push that thing even more and convinced the board of directors and the owner that the time clock is necessary. So it passed.

The thing is that the work climate has changed. Everyone was more concentrated on if they checked in and if they worked enough than the actual work and the pressure started to build up. The thing went on for two whole months until the most of the employees (friend said 80% but maybe he exaggerated a bit) decided to come to work, check in, work their 8 hours at a moderate pace, check out and head home. No overtime, no working weekends, if the clock hit 16:00 people would leave midwork or in the middle of the meeting not giving a shred of an F. Their excuse was that they did their 8 hours and if they want them to stay, they want a written notice (which is a proof of working overtime and must be paid).

This way every single employee had 40 working hours a week and not a minute more or less. But you know what? Jim wasn’t satisfied. Why? Because work suffered. He made the employees numbers and working slaves that have only one purpose – to work. This killed all the passion people had towards the job they were doing. It demoralized people. They had a feeling that someone is standing above their head every second of the day. And the time clock might not be a bad thing to check employees every once in a while, but to terrorize them like Jim did made them do anything just in spite of that work regime.

After 3 and a half months, the moment of truth came. The first quartal report came. It was a bit better than the last year so Jim stayed at his position. Employees continued with their strike. The second quartal report came and the profit was ~8% less than the same period of previous year (maybe 9% I don’t remember). Jim ascribed it to a bad economy in the country and stayed at his position. Employees were informed about the drop in profit which made them to continue their strike. The third quartal report came. The company’s profit was down by amazing 34% compared to the same period of the previous year. Jim was fired on the spot (even though his mandate supposed to last 5 years) and time clock was left just to control employees every now and then.

Conclusion: Treat your employees as humans which they are and maybe consult someone about your radical actions.

A serious MIXED message

What is the best case of “You just picked a fight with the wrong person” that you’ve witnessed?

Many decades ago my Dad was a high school teacher in the inner city of Boston.

One of the students in his class was a nationally ranked Judo practitioner who competed at the national level. This young man might miss weeks of school to attend an event around the world. IIRC he may have been part of the US Judo team at the time.

This young man was very quiet and kept to himself generally head down looking at a book at his desk. However he would sometimes be taunted by other students and generally would ignore the idiots.

One day Dad is writing something on the blackboard and behind him he hears one of the jerks taunting. He hears things like “You gonna show me some of that kung fu shit” and then he hears “Let’s see you block this punch”.

Dad hears a small amount of noise and turns around. This is a matter of seconds. The Asian Judo practitioner is sitting in his chair, head down reading a book. And the jerk kid is unconscious on the floor peeing his pants.

The jerk on the floor starts coming around. Dad tells his friends to get him back in his seat. And everyone starts laughing at the jerk because of the giant pee stain on his crotch.

That seemingly ended the attempted bullying. Everyone realized that this kid could kick everyone’s ass if needed.

I love a happy ending!

On Mount Wendelstein.

Wife Cheats On Work Trip And Now Is Losing Her Mind That Her Marriage Is IMPLODING

Her: I ripped the soul out of my husband through betrayal.

Also her: I made him coffee and did some chores. We should be all good, right?

It’s about stinky dead bodies

When I was a teenager, there was a flood along the river where we lived. A large number of mobile homes that were located on the shores of the river were taken out, and destroyed. And six people were missing.

One day after the grand storm, I was walking alongside the tracks beside the river. I was in a remote section of the track. Perhaps two miles away from the town, and in the woods.

Eventually I came across a section that smelled really, REALLY bad. It was so foul that I got off the tracks and went to the edge of the river, where the smell was so damn intense.

I couldn’t see anything, and left. But that afternoon, I later discovered that a body was found at the exact location where I was standing looking for the body.

This is my story for today.

Boring? But, you know… true life experience.

Today…

What did you find while snooping that you wish you had never found?

When I was around 11 I was snooping around in my parents room and saw their bank passbook sitting on their dresser. I opened it up expecting to see a healthy sum of money. Instead there was less than $30 in it. I saw the weekly deposits from my dad’s work and regular withdrawals for cash.

even at that young age I realized that we were poor and what little we had got spent on us kids. I felt terrible when I thought of all the times I’d pushed my folks to spend what they had on treats for me and my sister and brother.

I stopped asking for expensive things after that.

What are the reasons more and more Chinese students abroad decide to return to China?

A year ago, filled with a longing for Western freedom and democracy, I applied to the University of Auckland, thinking that it would be great if I could stay and work or live in New Zealand after graduation.

Now, I am firmly convinced that I should return to China after my graduation because:

1.The salary here is not as high as what I can earn in China,

2.The best city here is only equivalent to a third-tier city in China. Shopping and daily life are not as convenient as in China, and the cost of living is four times higher.

3.The knowledge taught in universities here, I can learn for free on Chinese websites, and it’s richer and more advanced.

4. I participated in two research projects at the University of Auckland and found that the level of research and development here is behind that of equivalent universities in China. I realized that by studying here, I probably won’t be able to bring back advanced knowledge. Therefore, I am considering returning to a Chinese university to further my education.

5. Moreover, I can feel that the majority of people in Western countries still believe they are more developed than China. This is the general perception, and I don’t need to explain it. I’ll just return to China and quietly contribute my strength there.

6. Western culture, there seems to be a preference for those who are boastful and talkative rather than those who are low-key and pragmatic. Coincidentally, as a Chinese person, I am not good at boasting, and I prefer to fulfill my responsibilities and then rest. The Chinese workplace is more accommodating to someone with my traits.

In fact, I spent hundreds of thousands of RMB to come to New Zealand, to see the real Western world, improve my English, and then met a group of Chinese students and a few friendly foreign students, and ate food that I wasn’t quite used to for a year.

What, as a parent, could you not believe you had to explain to another parent?

I’m not a parent, but as a teacher I had to explain to a mother about bedtimes and sleep for a seven year old.

Her son was always tired and had difficulty staying awake during class. He was not working to his potential.

His mom came to discuss his poor grades. Come to find out, she was under the impression that he slept too much. So, she kept him up to midnight and had him get up at 6:00 a.m. No wonder the poor lad was always tired. I would be, too.

So, I explained to her that growing children needed at least 10 hours of sleep nightly as their bodies were growing and sleeping gave their bodies time to rest, heal, and grow.

She started having him go to bed at 8:00, especially on school nights. Within a week, he was brighter, more chipper, and the quality of his work improved immensely.

The interesting part? About a month later, he gave me a big hug and thanked me for telling his mom he needed to go to bed earlier.

What was the craziest thing a mechanic said about your car?

I took my nice little VW Beetle Diesel to a mechanic for an oil change. After they got the car on the rack, the service advisor came out “Your car has a really bad oil leak.”

Before you go farther, bear in mind: This was a diesel. This comes in important later.

I go back to the bay and take a look at the purported oil leak. The bottom half of the back of the engine was covered in fresh, amber colored oil. “Oh, you’ve got a huge oil leak. You need to pay us $200 to diagnose the problem.” I called for the shop manager.

“Your employee claims that this car has an oil leak.”

He looks under there. “Yup. Sure does.”

“You know this is a diesel.”

“Why does that matter?”

“Have you ever seen the oil drained from a diesel?”

“Yeah.”

“Then you know that if I put fresh oil in this engine and drive the car three blocks, that oil will be as black as the Ace of Spades. This supposed oil leak, which is in a place oil can’t leak out of, is fresh oil.”

“Umm…”

“Listen. Clean all the oil he sprayed on my engine off it right now so I can go somewhere honest.”

The unbreakable rule

What is something you absolutely despise about your country?

Finn here.

The climate. Finland is located between 60th and 70th North, which makes the climate absolutely miserable.

The location means the winters are long, dark and miserable – sun rising at Christmas only at 09:00 in Helsinki and setting at 15:00. The situation isn’t exactly improved by the fact that Finland is located at the occlusion zone of Ferrel cell, which means the whole Atlantic comes down from the sky each Spring and Autumn. (Oh, Autumn is really Fall – I mean, rainfall. Finnish rain is not the warm shower as the Mediterranean rains, it is hard, cold and scourging.)

Finland has the worst of both littoral and continental climate: cool summers and freezing winters. Oh, and did I mention rasputitsa? Yup, we have it too.

The cold and miserable weather and the long and dark winter has left its permanent mark on our national soul. Finns tend to be emotionally cold, dour and close-minded. Not rude nor impolite, but cold. Sorry, no jolly reggae tunes here. Hero metal, power metal, black metal and prog metal. If your playing sucks, turn on more overdrive.

Which leads to another problem. Alcohol use is commonplace. Simply to carry over the worst. Getting hammered is a method to cope with the cold, dark and miserable winter.

Which leads to another problem. Suicides tend to be common, but not as common as they used to be. Many people simply cannot stand it all and quit their living.

Atheism is in Scandinavia a far older phenomenon than science. When the soil is poor, weather hostile and everything in the climate tries to kill you, you relate to supernatural as enemies and any deities as intolerable cosmic oppressors. The divine is not seen as a provider, but oppressor – as something which attempts to make living even more miserable than it already is. This is one reason why the Scandinavians are so hostile to religion and spirituality they tend to be. Already the Hrafnkell’s saga from 10th century tells of a Viking chieftain who ditches the Viking gods and becomes godhlauss, Atheist.

I wish I had wings so I could fly to Spain for winter like the migratory birds.

I’d choose the sandwich

What is the nicest thing you have done that no one knows about?

A bit of background: My parents recently got divorced and my dad got most of the money, furniture and he got the house. My brother (10) and I (13) only see our mom every second weekend and sometimes my dad just keeps us for the weekend. I always stop by my moms After school everyday to let her dog out and clean up any messes she made (She’s 17 and black lab). I usually wait there for bit until I have to pick up my brother.

Anyways, one day, my math teacher asked me to stay behind for a few minute so to talk about an opportunity to compete in a math contest. It was country wide and was for grade ten and eleven math. I’m grade seven but he said that’s he talked to the people who were running it. They said I could try but might have some trouble with it. I really like math so I said yes.

Fast forward two weeks and I’m sitting in the cafeteria with a bunch of really tall people. They hand out the papers and say go. I finish in about half an hour and turn mine in.

About a month ago i got the results and i placed third in the country. Apparently, there was a prize and i won three hundred dollars.

Now, my mom has been struggling financially although she didn’t tell us, I figured it out. Every time I stop by her house, I put some of the money in her jar and she hasn’t but noticed. I know it’s probably not a lot but I like to think I’m helping a at least a little bit. I can’t legally work yet…

Man, the USA is fucked up.

What is the best lie you have ever told your child?

When my due date was getting very close, I told my 3 and a half year old daughter that her little brother is afraid to come out of my belly. He thinks to himself: Oh, its a big scary world out there. Who knows what is awaiting for me outside. I’m just a little baby boy. I don’t want to go out and live with big grown up people all by myself.. Who will understand me and help me when I’m outside? Oh how I wish there was a little girl out there who would be my sister, so we can grow up together…

She was deeply moved when she heard this. She put her little hand gently on my belly, and whispered to her brother with a voice filled with tenderness. Come out little brother. I am your sister M. and I will always take care of you. You don’t have to be afraid. Few days after this, her brother came, and the love and connection that the two of them have is something I, as an only child, never imagined could exist. The way they cherish one another, help, encourage and comfort along the way is truly amazing.

Are school uniforms the most effective way to eliminate social and economic differences between students?

It’s not going to eliminate the difference at all. However, it could help the less rich kids to maintain their dignity.

This is the most common school uniform in China. It’s ugly, oversized, and appeard since my school ages, but totally affordable. It wouldn’t change the fact that some kids have a poor family background, but it could reduce the possibility of students getting isolated in schools for either being too poor or rich. Trust me that kids do that all the time, and it could be quite hurtful sometimes.

Besides, with an ugly uniform, how one looks like purely relys on face. Dad’s mercedes or even GTR wouldn’t save it.

This is very serious what is going on

Not really Communism, though…

Can you describe a time that your company only discovered that you were irreplaceable after they fired you? How did you feel? What did they do?

I am a welder and applied to a job through a temp agency. Their ad said hiring welders from $23 to $26 an hour depending on experience. They gave me a weld test and decided to hire me at $23. I told them I want $26 because that’s what their add said. I was told that was dependent on experience. Well I have 24 years of experience and I want 26. In the end I agreed to work for 25.

On my first night it was time to clock out so I went to the time clock and clocked out. I noticed all the other welders were still there cleaning up their work areas. I shouted at them so they could hear me, “hey it’s time to go. What are you all still doing here?”

I didn’t get an answer and left. Coming in the next day I asked them about this and they said they cleaned up the shop after hours on their time. With all the workers around and the boss I told everyone, “I don’t work for free. This mess wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t been here working. I won’t be cleaning the shop for free. I am loud quitting boss” as I made eye contact with the foreman, “when my shift is over I am clocking out and going home. I will have my area cleaned up before then.”

That night was the first night they did weld testing because new clients demanded all their welders were certified welders.

The next morning the temp agency called me and asked me not to go back to the job because I had been terminated for not listening.

The morning after I was called back again. I was the only person on 2nd shift who passed the weld test and many on first shift also failed.

Company representative: “Would you come back to work for us, please?”

Me: “OK but I want $28 an hour and switched to 1st shift.”

Company representative: “we can’t do that”

Me: “Good bye”

50 Bucks and a pack of cigarettes

What was the most obvious hint that someone hitting on you ever gave but you totally missed it?

In Vietnam, when we meet someone for the first time in the new (lunar) year, we usually give each other a red envelope with some lucky money – as a good wish for a bright and happy new year.

I was in 11th grade in high school. We were just back from the Lunar New Year holiday (”Tết” holiday in Vietnamese), happily exchanging red envelopes and good wishes. Coincidentally, it was also Valentine’s Day that year. But, 20 years ago, I had no idea about that, so when this boy handed me the red envelope with a chocolate bar, “Happy Valentine!”, I happily took it, “Thank you! You’re so sweet!”, and I gave him a big hug.

Before he could say anything else, I opened the chocolate bar, broke it into pieces, and… shared it with the whole class, everyone got a piece. I couldn’t explain the emotion in his eyes when he watched that happened.

Years later, every time we meet up for our class reunion, he always brings this story up and we laugh. Still can’t believe I missed that hint.

CIA

Back in the late 70’s I found myself between jobs. I had 10 years as the GM of aof a chain of convenience stores which had been sold and that ended my job! My parents lived in the Washington DC area and one of their neighbors, who I had known for many years, worked for the CIA. At a neighborhood gathering while I was visiting I mentioned to him that I was job hunting and asked if he had any connections in the CIA. After we had returned home I got a call asking if I would like to interview so I flew back up and stayed with my parents for a week.

I was instructed to report to a building in Rosslyn VA which is across the Potomac River from DC. I remember having a hard time finding the address I was given because there was no name or numbers on the building. Maybe that was my first test! In any case, the interview lasted all week. One thing that I remember was is how low key the whole process was. Mostly a series of different people asking me a lot of questions about myself. What my hobbies were, favorite foods. etc. It reminded me of shooting the breeze with a bunch of strangers at a college mixer. Not much in writing, no physicals, drug tests, etc. Not many probing questions, very relaxed. Definitely the strangest interview I’ve ever had, and this went on for 5 days.

There was one woman who was my primary contact. From the beginning to the end, she was the one who was always there at the end of an interview and introduced me to the next person. Never their last name or title, just a first name, always in the same room, never in their office. On the 5th and final day, she brought me into her office and said that they would like me to work for them as an operative. I had never heard that term before, but knew that it meant that the CIA wanted me to be a spy. Immediate visions of James Bond came to mind. Fast cars, nice clothes, A GUN…all the things that we associate with being a spy. Obviously I was very interested.

I had a bunch of questions but the two that I remember were: 1. Where would I be stationed? and 2. What did they want me to do? I was married with two young children, and I was thinking maybe they wanted me in Europe where I had spent many years as a boy. WRONG! They wanted me to operate a small grocery store in PAGO PAGO! I had never even heard of Pago Pago, let alone knew that there was a large US Navy Base there. Out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, thousands of miles from everything and everyone we know, it was out of the question.

That was the end of my spy recruitment.

LOL. All, I do mean ALL of the stores in Pago Pago are owned by Chinese nationals. No fucking shit. -MM

Chinese Rufus

Has an unknown stranger ever paid a massive bill for you? What happened?

I was a semi-freshly divorced single mom working in a chain of gas stations. It was my job to cover if someone called off and to run the money every day.

I had a reliable car only because my parents both took the time to teach me about cars including how to find a good used one and repair it when it broke.

I was enrolled in college. One class at a time is all I could squeeze in my schedule and budget.

My child was suffering under a rural southern school district. She is gifted and they had refused to set an IEP, refused to challenge her, and in fact persecuted her and myself due to our religion. We were told more than once we were going to Hell by school officials.

It was an uphill battle with them that required an attorney who volunteered his services. I couldn’t have afforded him otherwise.

Despite these difficulties, life was OK. We were surviving. We had food, shelter, and running water. My child never went to bed hungry or cold.

Then I started getting tired. Abnormally tired. I didn’t have the energy to function. My mother forced me to go to her doctor. She paid for the visit because I didn’t have insurance.

The doctor called me at work two days later and asked me to come in. I made arrangements for my child after school and I went.

He told me I was sick. Very sick. The tiredness was a symptom of this. It wasn’t just lack of proper nutrition or being over worked. This wasn’t something that could be fixed with a pill.

I started treatment the next week. I still went to work. I still took care of my child. I had to drop my class and adjust my schedule. I had to fight — and fight I did.

Then the medical bills started coming in. Uninsured and dead broke, I almost gave up. The state said I did not qualify for assistance of any kind because I made too much money.

If I had another child, I’d be at the income threshold. If I had another child, I could collect benefits like food stamps, Medicaid, and housing assistance.

If the state would have straightened out the child support instead of counting it against my income, I might have been able to pay a little bit of the medical bills.

I made arrangements for my child’s care after I passed. I had a small life insurance policy that would cover my final expenses. I managed to keep fighting.

The medical bills kept coming as did the phone calls from debt collectors. The threatening letters. The calls to my work. To say it was stressful is an understatement.

Until one day they stopped. The medical bills still came but showed a zero balance. The bills that had gone into collections were paid in full.

My rabbi approached me one night after services. He told me that a member of our shul had paid everything on the caveats I finish school and don’t stop.

I begged him to tell me who but he would NOT budge. He just said, “Finish your education and don’t stop.”

Finish school and don’t stop.

I still do not know who. I’ve had my suspicions, but I keep them to myself.

I have graduated but haven’t finished my education. (That is something that is never going to be finished.)

I haven’t stopped.

Smart Cat

Downtown Grill Catfish LaFitte

This is one of my favorite ways to prepare catfish. Even those who dislike catfish love it fixed this way.

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons ground red pepper, divided (may need 2 1/2 teaspoons)
4 farm-raised catfish fillets, about 1 1/2 pounds
Vegetable oil
12 large fresh shrimp, unpeeled
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/4 cup sweet vermouth
2 cups whipping cream
1/4 cup chopped green onions, divided
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 very thin cooked ham slices, cut into strips
Garnish: lemon wedges

Instructions

Combine eggs and milk, stirring until well blended.
Combine flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon red pepper in a shallow dish. Dredge fish in flour mixture; dip in milk mixture. Dredge again in flour mixture.
Pour oil to a depth of 3 inches into a Dutch oven; heat to 360 degrees F. Fry fish for 5 to 6 minutes or until golden; drain on paper towels. Keep warm.
Peel shrimp; devein, if desired. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add shrimp and garlic, and cook until shrimp turn pink, stirring often. Remove shrimp, reserving drippings.
Stir vermouth into reserved drippings; bring to a boil, and cook 1 minute. Add whipping cream, 2 tablespoons green onions, lemon juice, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1 to 2 teaspoons red pepper; cook 12 to 15 minutes or until sauce is thickened, stirring often.
Place catfish on a serving plate, and drizzle with sauce. Top with shrimp and ham; sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons green onions. Garnish, if desired.

Notes

I make the sauce first and keep it warm. I then fry the fish and finish the dish.

The Big Lie that Women Keep Believing in Modern Dating

Don’t people in China wish to live in a democratic country?

As a 31-year-old Chinese person who lived in China for 30 years and has been living in New Zealand for a year, I find that this question seems to be of particular concern to people in the Western world, while we ourselves are not so concerned about it. I have also thought about this for a long time, and I would like to give a rather serious answer.

When I was living in China, politics really didn’t have much to do with our lives. In the daily routine of a normal person, we were essentially free and democratic. Moreover, from childhood, we learned about both Chinese culture and Western culture. We were quite familiar with the Western world from our media, and we knew roughly what the world was like. After going abroad, it was also easy for us to embrace Western culture.

However, after coming to New Zealand, I found that the Western media is full of prejudice against China and North Korea, while reporting differently on East Asian countries like Japan and South Korea. In fact, I particularly want to tell many Western friends who have never been to China that it is easy for us to accept Western civilization, but your points of concern about China seem to differ from what we care about ourselves.

Historically, China has never actively pursued religion, so how could it be actively enamored with politics? As long as the party does not disturb the people, we won’t pay too much attention to it, and a political party is the least intrusive solution. China is a country that has been agriculturally based for thousands of years. Our ancestors loved the land that could grow crops, and this love has flowed into our blood. The charming land that produces enchanting crops makes us ordinary people happy. China is large enough that whether at the top or among ordinary people, everyone can find their own focus in life, everyone takes responsibility for their own duties, rather than thinking about taking advantage of others or stealing from others. This is more efficient and safe.

If the leadership does not perform well, the people will resist together, and our history has always been this way. An ordinary person can grow to be a top figure in the country, or a top figure over a piece of land. With 5,000 years of detailed recorded history, many historically high-ranking people came from common families. So, when you ask if Chinese people want to live in a democratic country, I want to say that we have always been democratic. Every Chinese person knows: “The noble and the humble have no determined lineage,” but as a culturally united nation, if we are in a high position and do not make the contributions we should, we will be shamefully recorded in history, which is as important as life itself to every Chinese person. Thus, even though we have equal opportunities to become influential figures, not everyone wants to be the most powerful because that also means taking on more responsibilities, which can be more tiring (the positions of emperor, prime minister, and general in Chinese history were high-stress jobs). So usually for us, enjoying the life of an ordinary person also seems more relaxing.

However, it seems that Western politicians do not have the same immense pressures as Chinese leaders, nor do they have the same sense of responsibility. Your leaders seem very relaxed, speaking eloquently with expressive gestures, whereas our leaders are sparing with words, and mostly very serious. How should I put it? They are also under great work pressure, as they are not only supervised by hundreds of millions of common people but also by their competitors. But from my heart, I like this Chinese style where everyone has their role and does not interfere with others.

Compared to many Western countries, China is very open. I grew up in a very ordinary family in China, reading masterpieces from all over the world from a young age, experiencing different cultures, which is why I chose to go abroad after getting married and having children. I have also read modern and ancient Chinese books, which enables me to answer this question today.

For foreign friends curious about China, if you want to understand China, you are sincerely welcome to visit, especially if your daily exposure is only to English media. Because they seem to be the most heavily brainwashed region at the moment.

How true is the statement that if China adopt electoral democracy, their politicians will be corrupt?

There is already corruption in China. I mean not USA style corruption. The USA is almost as corrupt as Ukraine.

But here’s the thing.

Corruption is actually punished in China. With the PENALTY of DEATH.

This man here? He was in the TOP ten most powerful men in China.

He took bribes. He is rotting in prison now, he was sentenced to DEATH in 2020 😀

Most westerners now are hahaha death is a soft punishment! They think that resignation is the ULTIMATE PUNISHMENT.

You remember when Jon Corzine walked off with 2 billion dollars? He went on television and said it simply evaporated.

At the same time this man

Citizens found he had better stuff than his pay grade. They reported it. He lost EVERYTHING.

BUT BUT westerners cry! We can vote them out and make them suffer.

How can you tell someone is faking intelligence?

Somewhere in my graduate school years I noticed a trend.

An undergraduate philosophy major will sound absolutely brilliant. They often speak in a jargon-dense diction, delivered at high velocity, one idea bouncing off another to produce a spiderweb of spiraling associations. The effect, rhetorically and aesthetically, is often overwhelming. Logic doesn’t really play a role because one hardly knows what they are saying. The unwitting listener feels himself outmatched, drowned and blinded by the naked light of unbridled genius.

The graduate student is a much dimmer light. He is still full of abstract phrases and obscure references, but he is someone who is starting to sound, again, like a human being — explaining things, pausing, asking questions to insure the listener is following. This is not nearly as impressive as the undergraduate, but it does have the virtue of allowing the ordinary among us to understand what is being said.

The professor sounds like your basic “dad,” albeit one with a lot to say. He can at times seem unsure of himself. He pauses to define his terms and to add qualifications to his statements. He speaks carefully. He might even speak slowly. He explains as he goes, almost apologizing for whatever obscurities he falls into. His manner of speech is, well… designed to communicate! A quite boring and not evidently bright fellow, you almost feel embarrassed for him.

In light of these observations, I was forced to conclude that there is either something terribly wrong with our educational system — since the higher people go the dumber they get — or intelligence is not quite what we sometimes think it is.

Show me your boobies

If a nuclear bomb is about to explode 2 miles away from you in 30 minutes, what is the first place you would go to?

In my van. We would drive away with the pedal to the metal. In 30 minutes, I could expect to get at least 50 kilometres away, and that ought to be far enough to be safe. Moreover, the van has a Diesel engine, so it does not need electricity to function – it will run as long as there is fuel and air.

If it was summer, I would drive to our yacht, put SCUBA gear on, and dive in the sea in the marina. There is enough oxygen to survive the blast underwater. Most radiation is absorbed in the sea, and the shock wave would not get to the water.

What was your “Aha!” moment during a toxic relationship that made you realize people never change?

I dated a girl for a few years and we lived together for the last half of the relationship. Things hadn’t been great for several months before I decided to break it off, but it was a single statement she made that convinced me it was time.

The yard was in serious need of some attention. The grass was a bit high and we hadn’t done weeding in a few weeks. So I decided to spend my day off working in the yard.

I mowed the grass and edged the walks, I weeded all the flower beds, watered and fertilized our plants, got some new plants to fill in the beds. After I was done with all that, I decided to do some cleaning. I power washed the driveway and the house. The concrete looked brand new.

I finished shortly before she got home from work. When she got in, I was in the backyard admiring my handiwork. I was proud of how the yard looked. It hadn’t looked that nice in quite a while.

When she came into the backyard, I motioned towards all my hard work with my hands as if to says “look what I did!”.

The only thing she had to say about it was “You forgot to sweep behind the chiminea.” and pointed to a small pile of leaves off in the corner of our yard. Then went inside to take a shower.

Something snapped in my brain. All the times she had criticized stupid things just to have something to criticize came flooding back. I suddenly realized the obvious pattern that had been there all along. She didn’t just do it to me either. It was just who she was to everyone. She just enjoyed criticizing people.

I knew I couldn’t live life like that. I knew that if I stuck around, she would keep doing that for the rest of our lives and it would make me miserable.

I had just spent my entire day doing yard work in the middle of June and she couldn’t find one positive thing to say about it. I left that evening and stayed with a friend. The next day, I came home and broke it off with her.

Every man on Earth

What was the most unexpected knock you got on your door?

I was about 10 years old, and in bed – about 11pm. I was supposed to be asleep, but as usual, I was reading by the light of my nightlight. I heard my dad slam the front door, and my mom yell. This wasn’t normal behavior, so I went into the living room.

The police were called, and my dad told me the story. Mom and Dad were in the living room, and heard a knock at the front door. We lived out in the country, and the neighbors all knew Dad was a doctor, so Dad thought it might be a neighbor needing help. When Dad opened the door, he saw a man with a mask standing there with one hand behind his back. Our super friendly, loved everybody German Shorthair, Ringo, followed Dad to the door. As soon as she saw the man, she gave a huge bark, and lunged for the guy. Dad said that 3 things happened nearly simultaneously – 1) he grabbed Ringo’s collar, 2) the guy pointed a gun at Dad (it was in the hand behind his back), 3) the man shot the gun. Dad slammed and locked the door. Dad was unhurt.

When the police arrived, they spent a long time looking opposite the door to try to find a bullet hole. At one point, one of the officers said that maybe it was a blank. But eventually, one of the policemen noticed that the row of art books we had on the bookshelf facing the door wasn’t completely even; one of them was pushed back about an inch. He peered closely at it, and noticed something odd about the O (it might have been Michelangelo) in the title – it had a hole in the middle of the O. He opened up the book, and sure enough, the bullet was nestled in the pages.

Needless to say, there was a rule in our house after that – don’t open the door at night without asking “Who’s there” first!

Have you ever met a dangerous person and not known it at the time?

He was in early one night around 7pm. My staff is all away on lunch, partner wouldn’t be back til 10pm. I’m all alone. Usually not a big deal. This night, a couple of college jocks got way out of hand and started tearing the place up – breaking cue sticks and tossing around empty kegs. It’s just John, me and the college boys. I’m trying to de-escalate and get them to leave. Then, one of the big guys starts pushing me and throwing punches. I’m screwed. That is, until John steps in and beats the shit out of two guys much bigger than himself. I was completely shocked! We toss the guys out and he tells me not to call the police. He leaves shortly afterwards.

Next time I see John, I want to pick up his tab and chat. He asks me not to tell anyone or talk about it. I figure he’s ex-military and a private guy. He becomes pretty scarce. We’re looking for him, but he doesn’t come around anymore.

About a year later, we see his pic in the paper. He’s on trial for a pair of mob related murders. Turns out he might be responsible for more than a couple of these. I’m very glad he liked me.

US Ambassador threaten to shut Ghana’s economy down if Anti-Gay bill pass

Yup. The United States foreign policy at work.

What’s the fastest you’ve wiped a smirk off of someone’s face?

I lived in northern Manitoba and southern Ontario, both in Canada, for about 25 years before I moved to southern Maryland. Snowmageddon struck in January-February of 2010. Everything was shut down for 10 days or so. Finally, I ventured out onto the roads.

My apartment complex fronted a 4 lane divided roadway, which was a designated Snow Emergency Route. The left lane was bare, the right lane was still covered with ice and slush. Both lanes were blocked where an SUV had gotten stuck then started to slide into the ditch to the right of the road. Pickup trucks, cars, other SUVs, vans, all were parked higgly jiggly and tall, brawny men were attempting to get the vehicle out.

I parked well back, walked to the crowd in my Canadian snow boots, and offered to help. They all had a good laugh, then turned away. I tapped on a man’s arm, “I grew up in Wisconsin and lived in Canada for 25 years. I know snow.”

“Hey, let the little lady here give it a try!”

I cleared them away from the car, crunched around it, repositioned the men, instructed the driver to straighten her wheels and put it into LOW gear, no gas! Told the men to push again, rocking, and told the driver to release the brakes.

The SUV popped right out of the icy ruts and kept going. Silently, the men returned to their cars and left. Too cold for crickets, I guess…

What did you notice during an interview that made you not want the job?

I was interviewing for a Canadian regional sales manager’s job for a company that sold patent medicines, made in Saudi Arabia. (Yes, I wrote the correct country name.)

After having introduced ourselves the interviewer handed me a package of papers, about ten pages thick.

“I’ll be quiet for a few minutes until you have read and signed this.”

It was the most horrible secrecy agreement you could imagine. If I break this, my grandson’s firstborn would be burned on the stake, or something along those lines.

I put it down, and politely bade my adieus.

The interviewer followed me all the way to the elevator door, trying to explain that not all was cast in stone. Some details could be negotiated.

I entered the elevator and left.

My next job was selling industrial valves, no secrecy agreement required. (I stayed there 9.5 years.)

Dead Bedrooms

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cuWLECYMWxo?feature=share

What did you see going on in the back of the school bus that shocked you?

The school arranged for a bus load of junior high students to go to a live play in the city.

This was the second bus trip in a month. The first one had gotten a little steamy on the ride back to the school in the dark. But not so bad it stopped the second one from happening.

The second trip, stopped all future bus trips, and caused a general assembly to be called. The principal and vice principal were dismissed at the end of the school year.

I didn’t have a girlfriend, and my best friends sister wanted to make out with me, but I knew that would end my friendship with my best friend. She wasn’t attractive enough to risk that.

In the back row, you could only see two guys sitting up, one in each seat. There had been girls sitting beside them when we left for the school.

What brought it to a head, was that the majority of students had hickies that were visible to their parents when they got home from the school trip.

There were a lot of phone calls leading up to the general assembly. It was amazing how many students had purple splotches, vainly trying to be covered with turtle necks, and long sleeves, and they had to sit in the front row of the general assembly, as we were told the consequences of our actions.

Do you continue to greet neighbors who never say hello first?

My mother was a nurse.

One day, she came home with a bruise on her cheek – just a small one, but it was a bruise. I asked what happened to her? She told me that a patient’s son hit her in the face because he thought she was ignoring his father – who was in pain while actually she was busy with another patient who was more critical. I asked her what happened next? She told me: “Oh, I came to that patient as soon as I finished with the one I was working on. Talked to him, comforted him and gave him some meds. Then I explained the situation to the son, and he apologized”. 7 year old me that day got angry and asked: “Why? You’re the best nurse, why didn’t you let someone else deal with that patient? His son hit you. He didn’t deserve your care!”

And my mom’s answer that day became one of the most important lessons I carry with myself through life: “Sweetie, you should never let someone’s bad action to be the reason for your own. Fixing something wrong by doing something wrong will never work. That man hit me may have been wrong, but if I hadn’t taken care of his father, I wouldn’t have been right. Moreover, it was the son who made the mistake, why should the father has to face the consequences? Your mom is the best nurse, so I do the best, right?”

So, if my neighbor never says hello to me first? That doesn’t stop me from saying hello and wishing them a good day.

I still believe that in this world full of sad/angry people, it’s much better if we’re sweet to each other, even just a littleeeeeee bit.

They know her language

Do you think the recent incident where a Chinese navy destroyer used active sonar to harass a disabled Australian frigate will threaten the pro-China government in Australia?

I strongly condemn Chinese military using sonar of mass destruction near Chinese coast which caused damage to Australian soldiers close Australian coast.

Wait… the Australians were near Chinese coast.

Oh… so you were their collecting seabed information, right?

In case of WWIII, it would be useful to intercept Chinese submarines.

International water or not, it’s definitely a hostile activity against China.

I can already make the draft about the same thing but reversed, i.e. PLAN soldiers got hurt by Australian sonar near Australian coast.

There is no “pro-China government in Australia”.

We know that already.

Stop lying.

Miao Ethnic Group

This is one of the 65 recognized ethnic groups in China.

What is the most absurd thing you’ve been charged for on a bill?

The flags for the cars at my mother-in-laws funeral.

Well, they tried.

When they were doing their consult, they went over about a million things with my wife, and her brother. Both of whom were pretty deep in grief as they had just lost their mother. This woman was more of a mother to me than my own, so I wasn’t exactly NOT grieving.

Before my wife signed on the dotted line, she asked me to look the paperwork over. I saw a HUGE line item, it was around $2000, and just listed as “flags”. I asked the wife about it, and I asked the brother-in-law. Both had no idea what it was. I asked the representative from the funeral home, and they said it was for the funeral flags for the cars. The little magnetic “flags” that say “FUNERAL” on them. They are plastic, and have a magnetic base on them and you put them on your front fenders. If you have seen a few funeral processions, I’m sure you have seen them.

So I asked why we were paying $2000 for these.

I was told we had estimated 100 people, and they charge $10 per flag, and 2 per car. so 100x2x$10=$2000.

I asked if these were required, or if they thought that literally every single person was going to be driving their own car, or, the pretty obvious question, would this get re-rated based on how many people ACTUALLY showed up and needed a flag.

I was told that no, they were not ‘required’ but that they were recommended to make it more visible, and that wouldn’t my MIL want that item? They would re-estimate based on how many cars I expected (yeah, they KNEW that the estimate of how many guests was NOT the same as how many cars there would be), but that once the order was put in, it was non-refundable, and that if we didn’t use them all, then that was just how it was. They were basically being paid to make them available.

I went back to the wife and BIL, and explained, they agreed, nope, not necessary. I told them we didn’t need this, and to remove it immediately. They acted like that was some manner of travesty, and basically implied that people would think poorly of us for it. I knew my MIL, and KNEW she would have spit her teeth out if we had wasted $2k on this. There was a lot of shade from the funeral people for this.

Strangely enough, day of, not a single person asked about the flags. We turned out headlights on, and drove in procession with absolutely no problems whatsoever. Ironically, the only vehicle with the flags was the hearse, it had them permanently attached to it. We weren’t charged for that.

The funeral industry literally preys on people at their most vulnerable. They prey on your emotions, and your fears and insecurities. They have no trouble manipulating you into paying more than is necessary, and they will pad that bill out to match any insurance you might have. Do NOT just give them the insurance information, magically, if you have $35000 in insurance, they will eat every penny of it up. We had, $0 and paid every penny out of pocket… They still tried to pad the bill at every turn.

“What is the most absurd thing you’ve been charged for on a bill?”

edit

yes, these ARE reusable, and yes, they are returned after the procession, and yes, that does make it so much worse.

Good men won’t stick around if they are unwanted

Canadian “Mercenary” Killed By Russian Army in Ukraine

World Hal Turner

The Russian Armed Forces announced today:

“Canadian Mercenary, Joshua Mayers from Alberta, Canada has been successfully liquidатеd by the Russian army in the Bakhmut direction.

Joshua abandoned his family to go fight for Ukraine in September 2023, and was liquidатеd on November 10th 2023.

Hope it was worth it all.”

Eight?

Dad finds out his daughters “body count”. His expression…

What is the most unforgettable sentence that someone said to you?

When I decided to move halfway across the Earth, from Vietnam to the U.S. to marry my (then) boyfriend, the only ‘condition’ I made my boyfriend agree to was I wanted him to move closer to his parents. My reason was that I would be in a new country, I wanted to stay close to our family. He agreed.

So, when The Teenager & I moved over, we settled down in a place within one hour drive from our parents.

Then came the first meet-up, we invited a few other family friends over. My mom & I were in the kitchen preparing food when a lady came in. She saw me, smiled, and asked my mom, “So, here is your daughter-in-law hah?” My mom smiled back at her, “No. She is my daughter in love.”

That sentence struck a harmonious chord within me and made my heart sing.

What is the one in a million coincidence you have ever had?

My wife and I were living in our first house in Oklahoma City. One day while we were both at work, the city sewer department tore down all the fences in the rear of the houses on our block to replace the sewer main. When we got home from work we were heartbroken because we had had our young dog in the backyard and now he was nowhere to be found. We searched the area for days and put up notices but to no avail.

We were starting to believe that we would never see our dog again. My wife was so upset she decided to call the city to “give them a piece of her mind” about the lack of notification on the sewer work causing us to lose our dog.

So she gets a person on the phone from the city’s Ombudsman Department. My wife explains the situation and tells the person that we loved that dog and had paid good money for him because he was a registered Irish setter. The person asks where we live and my wife gives our address. The person says “Well that’s amazing. I live about a half mile from you and there’s been an Irish setter hanging around lately.” My wife tells me the address and when I got to the person’s house, there’s our dog.

Oklahoma City is a big metropolitan area. Of all the people in the metro area my wife might have got on the phone, our dog happened to be at that person’s house.

Why can’t fast food establishments give the unsold food to the homeless people at the end of the night?

I managed a cookie shop once. It was in a college town, and was open til 11:30 pm. At the end of the night, a homeless person showed up asking for cookies. I gave him some.

the next night, he brought 3 friends. There were just enough cookies for them. The next night, I was swamped. Literally dozens showed up. I didn’t have enough cookies for all of them. The crowd became enraged. They started yelling at me, then they started throwing things at me.

i told them not to come around again, there would be no more free cookies. I had to take a cab home that night, it was unsafe for me to walk.

The next night, a few of them started following me as I walked home. They were loudly talking about how they were going to rape and kill me. I ducked into an open business and called a cab home again. I was very young, and made just over minimum wage. I couldn’t afford to take a cab every night, but I had to for weeks.

I did make arrangements with a night nurse, who worked at a local hospital. She dropped by at closing every night on her way to work, and picked up the last cookies to take to the break room.

Having had that experience, I would never give food from a restaurant to homeless people again. Many years later, I owned a bakery, but still remembered my lesson.

The UFO Incident That Shocked Ariel School: Telepathic Extraterrestrials (Re-Edit)

“It’s like story time for grown-ups. I really appreciate this channel. Hecklefish is my spirit animal.”

What are you banned from? Why?

I was banned from my local Walmart because I miss scanned an item. I went to self checkout one day because I had 4 items and wanted to teach my sons how to scan items. To make the story easier to understand, I had a tshirt, set of bras, shorts and some socks. While scanning, we had accidently double scanned the bras rather than scan the shorts, honest mistake. We finish up and as we are heading out, loss protection stops me and says “My name is XXX I’m with loss prevention please come with us” I was genuinely confused, my son got scared because of how aggressive they were but we complied. While in the security room they proceeded to rummage thru my bags and asked to search my purse. Again, I complied, but they never explained why I was pulled in. They searched cameras for probabaly 20 minutes. At one point, I hear one of the workers call across the radio “We need security detail for an escort.” I started getting REALLY scared and demanded an answer. Finally, they explain I miss scanned an item, because of this I am being escorted out of the building and will not be allowed back on property, should I step foot on property I will be arrested. I was baffled! They didn’t even give me a chance to fix my honest mistake! Needless to say, again I complied, but I put in a call the corporate after leaving, they reached out to me and lifted the banned immediately, apologized, and fired the entire loss prevention team. It wasn’t the first time they had abused power!

What vulnerabilities does the U.S. face by being dependent on China for Rare Earth Elements?

Every shit that the US does on China, the Chinese can do even more, faster cheaper and more painful to the U.S.

China prefers not to but it is always ready. Chinese people has a saying. If you do it on the 1st Luna calendar. We will reciprocate on the 15th. You mentioned rare earth but this is just one out of a thousand measure. It could checkmate the US. Don’t even think about it. Every hurt on China will be returned by several fold hurt on the U.S.

What is something everyone should consider doing?

My father called me yesterday.

Dad: Hello son, how are you?

Me: I’m perfectly fine, Dad.

Dad: Did you eat?

Me: Yep.

As usual, the conversation ended in five minutes.

After I had disconnected the call, I thought – What if it was a call from my best friend, would my response have been the same?

The answer was a big no and I was unable to figure out why. This restlessness drove me to call him again.

Dad: What happened? Are you ok, son?

Me: Yes, I’m fine, Dad. Just, missing you a lot.

He was surprised at first and thought I needed money.

Soon after, I began cracking few jokes (lame ones) to which he laughed his heart out. We talked for straight 40-45 minutes, engaging in topics we had never discussed before.

Strangely enough, I felt like talking to a different person. The person whom I had spent my life with, yet knew so little about.

The blissful conversation ended with a ‛Khush Raho’ (Stay Blessed!) from his side and a wide smile from mine.

And so, I realised, not taking your dear ones for granted and making a deliberate effort to know them is something worth consider doing.

I found a really good friend in this process.

Who knows, you may find one too!

What does that word mean

In Imperial China, was there any possible situation where a commoner could meet the Emperor?

In ancient China, common people had the following ways to meet the emperor.

1. The imperial examination. The final stage of the imperial examination is the palace examination, which is personally supervised by the emperor.

2. Assassination. The emperor went out to patrol and ambushed him by the roadside. Even if the assassination fails, before being executed, the emperor will personally question you, who is behind the scenes?

3. Emperor Banquets Centenarians. This is a large-scale honoring and respecting activity for the elderly where the emperor invites centenarians to participate in the royal banquet. But the prerequisite is that you must be able to live healthily to a very old age despite the lack of medical treatment and medicine in ancient times.

4. Become a eunuch. This is not recommended because ancient castration surgery was very risky.

5. Becoming a famous prostitute. Although the emperor had many wives, he would never refuse beautiful women.

Why don’t hotels in Western countries have Chinese breakfasts for their Chinese guests when they used to have Japanese breakfasts for their Japanese guests?

When I was in Malaysia, during breakfast they served dim sum in addition to other traditional breakfast foods and it was very nice. However, Malaysia is a country with a 20% Chinese population. Back here in the West we don’t have a high percentage of Chinese people. There are some Westerners like myself who would enjoy Chinese food, but the majority of people who would eat it would be Chinese people themselves. The lack of demand means there is little incentive to supply it.

What are some of the best pranks you have pulled?

1999. I had a four-year-old Internet advertising agency with 15 employees. A global corporation was buying it.

Weeks before the sale was finalized I had an early morning doctor’s appointment and saw these cups in her bathroom marked URINE SPECIMEN.

I took a bunch of cups, got into the office before any of my employees arrived, left a cup on each person’s desk with a memo that said the buyer required a urine test from everyone in the company before the sale could be approved. A nurse would arrive at noon to test the samples.

One by one they trickled in and proceeded to go batshit. Violation of my rights. They can’t do this. My personal life is my personal life.

I commiserated, but reminded them that if I didn’t sell the company, we’d probably go belly up, and we’d all be out of a job.

Not a lick of work got done all morning. Finally, at noon we all gathered in the reception area, each of us holding a full urine specimen cup.

I spoke to the group. “Guys, I hate this as much as you do.” I looked at my cup. “And I really hate my sample. The color of this piss is terrible. I think I’ll run it through one more time.”

And then I drank it.

I didn’t have to tell them it was Peach Snapple. They knew they’d been had.

15 people. 45 man-hours (and woman-hours) wasted. Pissed away, so to speak. And I loved every second of it. Best. Prank. Ever.

Simply disgusting

What is the most disturbing message ever left on your voicemail?

“Hey guys, it’s Heather. I’m running a bit late, but I should be there in a…..”

There was absolute silence in the room.

“Message received: September 3rd at 11:55 am.”

Not a word was spoken among the three of us listening to the message and none of us could muster anything useful to say afterwards other than a very weak, “save that message”.

It was September 5th. In less than 24 hours, we would be going to Heather’s funeral. Her car had been t-boned by a large truck and she had been killed instantly.

The police report showed that the accident had happened on the 3rd. Slightly before noon.

What could be the implications of China’s major state-owned banks exchanging yuan for U.S. dollars and selling those dollars in spot currency markets?

Try to fully understand China. Unless you do you will always have imaginary Chinese action. Let me help you. To China currency is meant to help transaction and to store wealth not trade currency for currency sake.

To China and to BRICS the SWIFT and its manipulative money trading scheme is just another western conspiracy to destroy countries by a stroke of a pen. China will not and will never play a meaningless game it is stacked against. China. So

it will not internationalise RMB or the Yuan. It will not try to helped prop it currencies artificially and it wanted a real currency value that. Is sustainable trusted. Playing Russian roulette’s with its 1.4 billion people’s wealth is not what China will do.The U.S. dollar used to be able to buy 100 items to day a mere 78 years later it can buy 3 of the same item. That is not good for Americans.

In fact between 1980–2020 Real Chinese income grew 30 times and the U.S. during the same time frame not only not grow. It went back to the 1960 level. So try imagine this. American today is doing worst than their grandpa! China wants its currency to buy roughly the same 78 years later. And an average Chinese have 50 times more Yuan.

What’s the funniest reason you’ve been called in to school to collect your child?

What’s the funniest reason you’ve been called in to school to collect your child?

We were called to get our 16 yo boy. He had drunk a bottle of some alcohol during the lunch break. Then during the relaxation class, he fell asleep. When we got there around 90 minutes later, the high school was closed. We couldn’t get there any earlier as both of us worked around 70kms away.

We discovered from the cleaner he had been taken to the police station as they couldn’t depend on when we would get there.

Unfortunately, the police [ it was a small unit] had been called out to a large bushfire. So they put him in the outside exercise yard. The problem was it didn’t have a roof. When our boy saw us coming he climbed the chain wall and high-tailed it.

He slept at a mate’s place that night. The next day the high school said they were going to have him placed under care. His mum also a school principal said, “ over my dead body”.

We came and collected him. He was terrified his mum was going to hit the roof. Which she did.

We got called by the police to discuss his behaviour as they wanted to know how he had purchased the bottle. We counted with how could you lose our son when he is in your care. In the end nothing became of it and our son grew up and gained some brains.

What happens when you get no action

What are the lessons people most often learn too late in life?

As my first son learned to crawl and then walk, my wife and I played mantras to him, meditated by his side, and lit sacred sandalwood incense around him.

We co-slept and in the day he was always strapped to one of us, skin to skin.

He was breastfed exclusively for nearly a year and then given only organic, vegetarian food.

We didn’t buy him any guns or other toy weapons, only simple wooden and cloth playthings.

He was so peaceful that he radiated a tangible serenity.

Which made her happy—and me—because we wanted him to be calm, loving, and spiritual.

He’s seven years old now.

His favorite dish is a medium rare burger, he knows an embarrassing number of juicy curse words, and he’s obsessed with Nerf guns.

He likes to listen to rap music with phat bass lines, he finds talk of spirituality to be boring, and is not in the least bit interested in receiving affection.

But everyone is impressed by how determined, free-spirited, and bright he is.

And between you and me, I’m kind of happy he chose to do his own thing, to be his own being.

We love him more intensely than the blazing of the sun.

It took me a long time to realize that you can spend years and years of your life aiming for a particular outcome, just to have things turn out wildly different than you anticipated.

It took me a long time to realize that life is like a wild animal, like my son—fierce and free and beautiful, but ultimately, unpredictable, untamable, and unruly.

And I have the feeling it might take me the rest of my life to fully realize that this built-in uncertainty gives life a unique flavor that, after being acquired, tastes exquisitely delicious.

Why is it mostly old people that go to seafood-based fast food restaurants?

It could be because a lot of older people have tooth problems. An older relative, has dentures, I suggested that we go for steak, and she countered with a fish place, so she could be sure, that she wouldn’t embarrass herself having problems eating a tough steak.

The next time she was over, I had bought tenderloin steaks, and I cooked hers medium, which wasn’t as well done as she would have liked it, but was still pretty tender. Ours were medium rare.

She was upset with me, saying that she wouldn’t be able to eat the steak.

I showed her I could cut mine with my fork. She took one bite and was in love. She hadn’t had a steak she could eat in 10 years. She finished the whole steak, which she had said was too much, when she was looking at it. But once she started eating she couldn’t stop.

Every time we eat at restaurant, we have to make sure there is something on the menu that is soft for her.

So this is one possible reason.

Swarms of drones – kamikazes – attacked USS Thomas Hudner

World Hal Turner

The USS Hudner (DDG-116), an Arleigh Burke-Class Destroyer of the United States Navy, was attacked by a swarm of drones this morning, while patrolling the Red Sea. The ship sustained no damage or injuries to its crew.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) reported the incident after Houthis in the country of Yemen, took credit for launching the attack.

Houthis are now attacking United States Naval vessels over US Support for Israel, as the Israeli government engages in conflict with the Municipal Government HAMAS of the Gaza Strip.

The Houthis launched swarms of Iranian-made “kamikaze” drones in an unprecedented act of war.

Yemeni rebels who have become a force to be reckoned with in the Middle East, attempted to sink the U.S. vessel.

What happens when you don’t get paid in China

How many Humans existed on the entire earth 60,000 years ago?

Not much more than a few thousand, which is surprisingly small. This is based on our DNA.

Unlike our chimpanzee cousins, all humans today have virtually identical DNA. In fact, one group of chimps can have more genetic diversity than all 8 billion humans.

Our minuscule genetic diversity indicates that at some stage, around 70,000 years ago, the human population dwindled to a very low level — maybe 2,000. In fact, it looks like we came close to extinction.

It was also around this time that our ancestors began migrating out of Africa.

This suggests there were dramatic changes to our traditional environment, possibly caused by the Toba supervolcano eruption 74,000 years ago, the biggest eruption in 2 million years, which left entire regions devastated by ash and climate change.

What is going on with the Republican Party? Why do they seem so unhinged?

It’s 1964. Republicans are sane and intelligent. But they just got handed one of the largest losses in modern history, with LBJ winning the largest popular vote majority since James Monroe in 1820. Desperate for votes, they start pandering to racists who are upset about the Civil Rights Act and desegregation.

It’s 1974. Republicans just had their President outed as a criminal. They need an edge to get back in power. They start pandering to evangelicals, hoping their ability to believe in things they can’t see will make them easy targets for brainwashing.

It’s 1984. Republicans are scoring big points thanks to looking like the tough guys in the Cold War. They double down on the idea of growing the defense budget.

It’s 1994. Republican economic policies are dividing conservatives and just cost them the White House. They launch a 24-hour fake news channel to keep their base uninformed.

It’s 2004. Democrats have nominated a war hero for President and he should easily defeat the Republican incumbent. It’s time to start lying about his war record. Disinformation becomes the new norm.

It’s 2014. The economy is good. The nation is safe. But the President is black. Republicans dig up the 1964 playbook and capitalize on racism in their base.

It’s 2024. Sixty years of tactics have produced Republican voters who are racist, uninformed, misinformed, brainwashed, and violent. Now these people aren’t just voters anymore. They’re in Congress.

The president of the United States

China’s New Subs and Sonars Challenge Supremacy of US Silent Hunter Fleets

18:33 GMT 21.11.2023 (Updated: 18:37 GMT 21.11.2023)

The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) surpassed the US Navy in total number of warships in late 2021. Technologically too, China has made major strides, including in the area of submarine construction and detection. These advances have sparked concerns from observers that America’s powerful fleets could be left dead in the water in a crisis.

The PLAN’s military and technological prowess against the US Navy in the field of submarine construction and anti-submarine warfare is progressing apace, and the “era of total US submarine dominance” over the People’s Republic of China is reaching its end.

That’s the conclusion reached by one of America’s top cited business newspapers in a piece focused on the Asian nation’s scientific and industrial advances for naval warfare. China, the paper pointed out, is gradually “narrowing” the gap between itself and the United States in the highly complex fields of submarine technology and undersea detection.

These developments not only threaten the Pentagon’s regional strategy of hemming China into its home ports, but could challenge US naval supremacy globally over the long term.

Earlier this year, for instance, research by the US Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute pointed to Chinese advances in efficient nuclear reactors, quiet-running pump-jet propulsion systems and internal quieting devices, the latter based on “imitative innovation” of Russian technology, predicting that the PLAN’s latest nuclear-powered subs will be much harder to track than before.

Additionally, analyses of satellite photos of the Huludao Shipyard in Liaoning, northeastern China taken last year showed the construction of sections of submarine hulls larger than anything US analysts have ever seen in a Chinese sub, along with what seemed to be plans to increase production capacity.

US media citing leaked US Navy intelligence already sounded the alarm about China’s impressive shipbuilding capacity this past fall, which at 23.2 million tons per year, compared with 100,000 tons per year in the US, gives the People’s Republic the ability to build warships at a rate some 200 times greater than the US in a pinch.

On top of that, the PLAN’s rapid construction of a vast network of underwater sensors in the South China Sea and other areas along the Chinese coast known as the “Underwater Great Wall”, to look out for sub, surface warship and aerial activity, means that the Pentagon will find it more difficult to place its warships, subs and aircraft in areas around the Asian nation. The Underwater Great Wall’s construction is reportedly nearing its completion, and includes a vast network of passive and active sonar sensors, plus remote controlled underwater and surface drones which can look out for enemy activity.

China is reportedly also “getting better” at finding silent-running US attack and cruise missile subs sneaking around near its home waters, combining buoy and drone-based monitoring with the use of patrol aircraft and helicopters, for example.

In addition are the PLAN’s growing number of exercises with Russia, which, it can be assumed not only increases the Chinese Navy’s ability to coordinate with its northern neighbor in the event of an emergency, but allows it to learn from the Russian Navy’s half century-plus year experience as a major global naval power rivaled only to the US.

“The implications for the US and our Pacific allies will be profound,” former US Navy officer Christopher Carlson said, pointing to the headaches the US Navy will face, and the additional resources it will need, to locate and keep track of China’s new generation of quiet-running nuclear subs.

Strategically, the outlet noted, maneuvers that the US once took for granted, like the ability to approach close China’s home shores, will now no longer be a given, with the PLAN’s nuclear-powered attack subs able to pick off approaching American warships before they could reach Taiwan in a crisis, for example.

On top of that is the Chinese sub-based ballistic missile threat to the US homeland –a threat Washington has long been used to meting out, but not experiencing itself, in relation to the Asian giant.

“Finding a boat this quiet is going to be really hard,” Carlson said of the Chinese sub threat, predicting the new Chinese boats will probably be about as quiet as the Project 971 Shchuka-B (NATO reporting name Akula, or “Shark”) class fourth generation nuclear-powered attack subs which the Soviet Union and then Russia started fielding in the 1980s and 1990s.

China’s fleet of 79 submarines includes at least 16 nuclear-powered attack and ballistic missile subs, including six Type 093 (NATO reporting name Shang class) attack subs and six Type 094 (NATO reporting name Jin) ballistic missile boats operating “near-continuous” patrols between Hainan Island and the South China Sea. But Carlson warned that the Asian nation could build up to triple the current US rate averaging 1.2 subs per year.

Costly as Aircraft Carriers, Difficult to Build

“Submarine-building is the pinnacle of technological excellence in economics and industry, and only a few countries have mastered the technologies which China has now broken into – France, Britain, the Soviet Union/Russia, and the United States,” Vasily Dandykin, a veteran Russian military analyst and retired Russian Navy Captain 1stRank, told Sputnik.

Several factors account for the US’ slowing pace when it comes to the construction of new submarines, according to the observer, starting with Washington’s decision to rest on its laurels after the end of the Cold War, to the drop in the number of high-class specialists in the field.

“The downtime” in the US’ submarine-related programs resulted from “complacency after the collapse of the Soviet Union,” when “not just America, but also Europe rested on their laurels,” according to Dandykin. “The Americans have the world’s largest military budget, which exceeds those of all other countries in the world. That means that somewhere they got carried away with such gigantic and expensive projects which did not justify their cost,” the analyst said, pointing to out of control spending on novelties like the $8 billion-per ship Zumwalt class of destroyers.

“There were a lot of such projects that sucked up a lot of money. And now it turns out that all of these experiments boil down to the fact that they’re 10 years behind Russia in the creation of a new fourth-generation strategic nuclear submarine,” made possible, according to the analyst, thanks to the backlog of revolutionary Soviet sub designs that Russian builders have been able to develop and build on.

“The ‘downtime’ that occurred had an impact in this area, not just with submarines, but the construction of the surface fleet, the entire American fleet. Here, without a doubt, China’s pace has been impressive, first and foremost in terms of the construction of large ships for the surface fleet. But I think they will push themselves and try to build up their nuclear submarine fleet as quickly as possible,” Dandykin predicted.

As far as China’s subs themselves go, Dandykin pointed out that for the moment, the majority of the PLAN’s fleet still consists of diesel-electric subs, and for them to reach the same technological level as the US, as they have already done when it comes to ships like universal landing ships and destroyers, will take time. The PLAN’s current nuclear-powered ballistic missile-launching subs belong to the second generation at best, in the retired naval officer’s estimation, and the newest efforts are aimed at the creation of third-generation vessels.

Accordingly, Dandykin believes US efforts to hype up the “Chinese threat” are “a little disingenuous,” and designed mainly to lobby for the allocation of even more resources for US sub-building efforts – a titanic effort equivalent, more or less, to the construction of an aircraft carrier in both technological and financial terms.

What does it feel like to be abroad but feel more at home than when you are back home?

Surreal. Uncanny. Deja vu. That’s how I felt as I looked down on Southeast Asia from my seat aboard an airplane. The feelings intensified the longer I was there. While my friends made me feel so very welcome, even in my time alone the feeling never left me.

I began the first leg of my long journey back home by crying into my teacup in a cafe in Changi Airport. My heart felt heavy. I was glad to go home to my daughter but if she’d been with me on the trip I’m not sure I’d have returned to the U.S. willingly.

I have said that when I die I want my ashes to be scattered in China, because America is the place of my birth but China holds my heart. There’s something about the Asian region that draws me deeply. I have no Asian background or ancestry so I can’t rationalize it. It’s just how I felt.

I was just jokin’

Have you ever seen a mass exodus after a respected employee quit or got fired?

I was fired after 11 years in a PR firm. I never clicked with the owner, and the feeling was mutual. I loved my colleagues, got along well with everyone, and consider them friends to this day.

I had just come off of a very trying time related to a proposal I was writing, had slept little, was burned out and mentioned to a colleague that I wasn’t sure I belonged there anymore.

Soon afterward, the boss took me into his office and said nobody wanted to work with me and that we had just lost a client that reduced our budget. His second in command sat through this with his head in his hands the whole time. He helped me clean out my office the next day.

There were other things going on at the firm. The owner was advancing in age and had promised a succession plan. He never delivered. One by one, after my firing, everyone quit. His firm, started in the mid-80s and one of the most prominent in the city, was done.

Two people told me that my firing was the trigger that made people start thinking about whether they wanted to be there anymore. I can’t take the credit or the blame for what happened, but the exodus was fast and devastating.

Correct attitude to have

What seemingly good celebrity is actually a jerk?

The public image of a celebrity can often be quite different from their true character. Take Ellen Degeneres, for example. On her show and in interviews, she appears to be a lovable, down-to-earth aunt-like figure. However, there have been numerous accounts from staff and crew members claiming that she is actually a nightmare to work with and a terrible person. So, which version is the truth?

Then there’s Sean Penn, who was once in a relationship with Madonna. It has been alleged that he kidnapped and raped her during the 80s. Additionally, Penn has been involved in some truly awful activities throughout his life. On the flip side, he is also the CEO of a large charity and engages in humanitarian work.

Another celebrity, Mark Wahlberg, is often seen as an extraordinary role model and a decent guy. However, it is important to note that he blinded a Vietnamese man during a fight and is a high school dropout. Please note that the mention of being a high school dropout does not imply that it automatically makes someone a terrible person, but it is worth considering when evaluating their status as a role model.

Tim Allen, known for his lovable and funny dad roles, has a dark side. Despite making people laugh out loud with his jokes, he has been described as a severe asshole who disrespects those around him. Furthermore, he was caught smuggling a kilo of cocaine in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and served time for it.

On the other hand, we have Danny Trejo, who was once involved in drug running for a cartel and had a long history of violence and addiction. However, he has transformed himself into a humble and honest man who actively tries to steer kids away from his former lifestyle. In person, he is charming and genuine.

How might rising interest rates in the US affect China’s growth potential and FDI flows?

Nothing.

Zero effect.

Slave nations like Germany and Japan wrap themselves around US and western economic orbit. And the U.S. increase interest it destroy their banks and industry. Not China. China is in its own stable orbit. Today the U.S. interest is between 3–5% and China stays under 1% or so. It do its own thing.

US banks are dropping like flies. China’s bank is loaded with Cash. Chinese citizen on average save 35% of their income in Chinese banks. The U.S. citizens meanwhile saved in average less than 4%. So every year the Chinese add another 6–7 trillion dollars into their wealth and funds.

On FDI if the west reduce other nations made up for it and China’s own investment is so humongous. FDI from west means nothing.

This cheating event did not work out well

What are the influences of food on our culture?

I grew up in the USA. In high school, the lunch period was 25 minutes. On a normal day I washed down three peanut butter sandwiches and half a dozen cookies with a quart of milk and headed to the break room.

At least my parents enforced a family sit-down dinner, though it didn’t last long either.

My eating behaviour in college and working part time jobs was not any better, though the food choices were smarter and more varied.

When I started working in sales after college, I graduated to fast food eaten in the car.

At restaurants, servers were all over me, trying to turn the table in 45 minutes or less.

For me, eating was like putting gas in my car. Get it over and move on to the rest of life.

Then I moved to Germany. It was a shock. The canteen served excellent full hot meals and everyone took their time eating, chatting (but not about work), and taking turns buying coffee for the table.

It was impossible to get out of a sit-down restaurant in under 90 minutes without pushing the staff.

Dinner at friends was a four-hour affair.

I learned to love food and the community of sharing it with others. It wasn’t uncommon for less formal outdoor restaurants to seat me with other diners. I met dozens of fascinating people in that manner.

Ten years later I moved to France and learned that the French take mealtime even more seriously than the Germans. Employers even subsidise the canteen or pay part of the meal vouchers for each worker.

I think this question might be better phrased if it asked “What are the influences of culture on food?”

While the food does vary from country to country, I have little trouble in Europe to eat exactly what I ate in the USA. That’s why I don’t think it’s the food that matters.

Instead I think it’s the value people place on taking the time to savour their meals and those they share them with.

Zelenogradsk: What does a Russian city of CATS look like?

Nov 09 2023

Anna Sorokina

They are literally everywhere: occupying benches at observation decks, sitting next to tourists at restaurant terraces, strolling along pedestrian streets and (alright, fine) allowing you to take photos of them. Let’s pay them a little visit?

You can definitely call the small city of Zelenogradsk (pop. 16,000) in Kaliningrad Region the “cat capital” of Russia. Everything there is dedicated to these furry animals, from souvenirs to… traffic lights!

The many cats of this city will gladly show a tourist the best photo spots (and the best lunch spots!). But, how did it come to this?

Zelenogradsk (Cranz until 1946) is an old resort city at the shore of the Baltic Sea. Cats usually like to settle in such seaside towns, closer to fishermen, fish and vacationers. But, in Zelenogradsk, they have become a real attraction of the city.

According to legend, centuries ago, cats saved the city from rodents that were destroying their food supply and spreading disease. Caring for stray cats is the locals’ way of expressing gratitude.

Cats have always been living in Zelenogradsk. But, it was only recently that the city itself became the “cat capital”. It all started with the Murarium Museum in an old 1905 water tower. Local inhabitant Irina Klochkova decided to set up an exhibition hall for her cat statuette collection in the unused tower in 2012.

Real cats also live in the museum, with ginger-furred ‘Semyon Semyonovich’ chief among them. He became the prototype for the first museum souvenirs. ‘Murarium’ gained a lot of popularity among tourists; soon after, a lot of everything “cat-themed” began to appear in the city.

As soon as you visit, you’ll immediately notice an incredible amount of cat graffiti on buildings. Souvenir stores, on every corner it seems, sell anything from keychains and magnets to shopping bags and mugs with cats on them.

The city’s central street, Kurortny Prospekt, even has mini-benches for cats, little traffic lights with flashing cats, as well as vending machines where you can buy cat food. The city administration even has the position of cat chief, a cat caretaker. Their responsibilities include feeding and taking care of cats.

And for those tourists who decide to have lunch on an open terrace of any cafe, just know you won’t be able to so in peace and quiet! The local cats will always investigate and will not be against the idea of sharing a meal with you.

By the way, there are plenty of dogs in the city, as well, but they seemingly maintain a neutrality with the cats. There are literally no fights or altercations to speak of these days.

Why are the Chinese not interested in Western democracy?

There are two approaches to an answer, one superficial.

I’ll begin with the superficial.

Democracy, or one man one vote, is practiced by the Chinese. They have found the process is good at selecting leaders from small groups that work or live closely together. In fact, this is how the President is selected among the Politburo, and so on.

Unfortunately, one man one vote can and has been hijacked, particularly if money and power enters the equation. There are innumerable tales of village/town leadership seizing power through the “democratic process” and terrorizing “voters” for years on end.

When groups grow too large, voting among strangers can lead to undesirable outcomes.

That’s the modern Chinese experience.

Unfortunately, “Western democracy” isn’t just voting systems. It is a system of values and beliefs built on the foundation of western prosperity. For the past 5–600 years, it has been the absolute dominance in technology that has kept the West on top. That is how the top 12% of humanity today maintain radically different standards of living from the rest of the 88.

Until the emergence of China, only willing acolytes of the “Western model” made the leap into the first world, leaving has-beens by the wayside. All of them, to a fault, adopted Western-style constitutions, governments, legislation and thoroughly reformed society, in order to qualify for membership into the “globalized world”. In return, their economies boomed, powered by export-led demand from the first world.

Along came China, which is distinctly different, especially in the post-Soviet age of “the end of history”. Unfortunately, Communist China has succeeded wildly, way beyond the imagination of the “last man”.

Herein lies the rub. Chinese leaders had enough self confidence decades ago that the Western highway to prosperity wasn’t exclusive. Today, Chinese society is increasingly convinced their leaders were right, because they are living the best times in the sum history of Chinese civilization, a realized boast that reverberates through 4 millennia and >100 generations.

Western prosperity in the 21st century is no longer the shining city on the hill, cities of the future one can only dream of being teleported back home. A Chinese tourist visiting NYC, London, Paris and Berlin will be nonplussed by the sights, and perhaps repulsed by the smell and experience. Chinese cities have the same modern hardware, and services is rapidly catching up. And Chinese cities are evolving rapid improvement in quality of life metrics, while the west is stagnating, or worse, regressing.

The Chinese will go, that’s “Western democracy”, “in God We Trust”, and “all men created equal”?

Thanks, but no thanks.

Communism has our vote, because we live and breathe its outcomes.

Ukr Hard Day: Avdeyevka Cauldron, Kherson Bridgehead Cut Off, Wilders Wins; Biden BRICS Gaza Plan

As a doctor, what’s the saddest experience you’ve had with a patient?

I once talked to an acid attack victim.

She came to the surgery OPD by mistake on a day when our Plastic Surgery OPD was closed.

She had her face covered with a dupatta. I was immediately aware that she had some disfigurement that she was trying to conceal but it was only when I saw her treatment card that I realised what the reason behind it was.

I read the entire card and slowly looked up at her. She was looking at me with one eye while she kept the rest of her face covered.

“I was asked to come after 4 weeks. Here I am.” She told me quietly.

“Yes, I see it written here, ma’m, but our plastic surgery OPDs are on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I am afraid, you’ll have to come back tomorrow.”

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Can’t you or the doctors here do anything about this?”

“We can but we are not plastic surgeons. We are not experts and we are not the best people to help you.”

“No one can help me, doctor. You know it.”

I had no answer to that.

“If there’s anything else I can do for you…” I said.

“What can you do? My life is ruined. All I do is travel between my home, the hospital and the court. The last few of weeks my life have been hell. The pain has been unbearable. I can’t even look into the mirror anymore. What do you think you CAN do? Can you get me to look like before?”, she said, her eye moist and a hint of desperation in her voice.

I was trying hard to act professional.

I wanted to say that I was sorry that this happened to her. I wanted to tell her that I felt a burning hatred for the person or persons who did this to her. I wanted to tell her that she shouldn’t give up because her life wasn’t over.

Yet, I didn’t say anything. Everything that came into my head began to sound empty as I was about to say it out loud. My words all seemed so woefully inadequate to offer any kind of assurance to her.

That’s why I was trying to be calm and professional. No pity, no sadness, no anger. I was just trying to do what I was there for: my job which was to try and help her.

“I’ll try to call the Plastic Surgery resident to see if he can come here and take a look at you. I can’t promise that he will but I will give him a call.”

“Thank you.” She said quietly.

Nodding, I took out my phone to call the resident.

“I shouldn’t have spoken like that to you.” She said, looking straight at me.

“It’s completely fine.” I said immediately. The last thing I wanted was for her to feel bad for me.

“No, it’s not. I know what it feels like to be spoken to like this, especially if you haven’t done anything to deserve it.”

“Really, ma’m, you do not need to apologise at all. It’s okay-”

“You know, what hurts the most? Before this I was recently-”

Married? Did the husband abandon her? That was the first thought that came to my head.

“-promoted. I was a receptionist in a famous hotel. I was good at my job. People speak to us rudely all the time but I was really good at handling them. There wasn’t a single complaint against me to my manager in the one and a half years that I had the job.”

She paused, looking down at her feet.

“It’s all gone now. They won’t let me work with this…face. It doesn’t matter how well I handle our customers if they can’t handle my face.”, she said, in a voice that was so matter-of-fact that my heart felt like it was being stabbed.

This was a woman who had been serious about her job. She had been excited about her future. She had been independent. The first thing she told me about her life was that she had lost the job she had worked so hard at.

I don’t know why but this case affected me so much more than other cases. Medically, there exist even more severe cases in which acid attacks have caused complete blindness, paralysis or in the inability to eat or swallow.

I know, of course, that you can’t quantify suffering and everyone has their own battles but this one…this one made me want to stop doing my work and go cry in a corner.

I forced myself to look away and called the resident. I managed to convince him to come and examine her.

“He’ll be here in fifteen minutes. Please wait outside.”, I said with difficulty because I felt a lump in my throat.

“Thank you.”, she said softly and left the room.

When you throw acid on someone’s face and they survive the attack, you take from them much of what we consider “life”. You take away choices, opportunities, self-respect and throw them into a world of such suffering that they have never known before.

Many victims say that death is preferable.

I don’t think I’ll be able to argue with them.

What is the best case of “You just picked a fight with the wrong person” that you’ve witnessed?

My grandfather was once a lightweight boxing champ. He was healthy most of his life, but like everyone, he grew old. At 90 years old, though, he still liked to go dancing. He took his girlfriend to their elder community’s weekly dance. We went to join them for dinner and just visit them a while.

While I was up getting them plates from the buffet, two scummy men came in. They had been drinking and were looking for some old people to bully – no joke. They were in their late 30s/early 40s. They stopped at my grandpa’s table and started talking about his girlfriend. My grandpa stood up and told them to leave. I looked over and saw this jerk spit on the floor and shove my 90 year old grandpa.

I saw my grandpa stumble backwards against the wall, and I dropped the food tray and started moving towards him. It felt like slow motion.

Before I could get there, I saw my grandpa push off the wall and punch the guy square in the jaw. The man landed on his butt and slid backwards nearly all the way across the room! No one could believe what we saw, especially not the two creeps. His friend went over and helped him up, and everyone watched them leave with their tails between their legs.

I finally went back and got the food for them, and we sat and talked about what happened while they ate. After a bit, the two idiots came back with the police. They pointed by grandpa out to the officers.

The police didn’t believe their story, and we all acted like we didn’t know what they were talking about.

I sure miss that wonderful, strong old man.

Is it true that an increasing number of Chinese people are preferring domestic tourism? If so, what are the reasons?

In last two decades hundreds of millions of Chinese have travelled overseas. Annually about 130 million Chinese travel outside of their country. So by now most of them may have realised that most of the rest of the world is very backward and not as advanced as they used to think.

And secondly they have their own continent sized country to travel and explore and will probably take a lifetime to explore fully. And every kind of tourist related attractions are within their own country be it tourist spots, beaches, deserts, cultural and historical sites, valleys, grasslands, snow and glaciers means in short every experience and to say the least their excellent infrastructure that makes travelling within China indeed a cakewalk.

May be that’s why.

Man’s worst fear

I tricked my Muslim coworker into eating pork (bacon) in a lasagna. How can I tell him so he sees how hilarious and innocent it is?

If a Muslim unknowingly eats pork it isn’t a terrible problem. That doesn’t mean they won’t be upset though.

Regardless of how they feel about the pork, they will probably be more upset with you. Letting them unknowingly eat pork as a joke is a dick move of the highest order. I would recommend that you never tell them, if you want to maintain the relationship you have with them. If you tell them and laugh about it, no one is going to blame them for hating you forever. Others might join their camp.

Like I said, it’s a dick move, so proceed at your own risk.

A purr-fect neighbor

If Earth got flung out of the solar system and became a rogue planet, what measures would we take to survive, whether or not those would actually succeed?

Hoo boy. This is going to be one rough ride for humanity.

If we act fast, there is a chance that our species might survive for the long term, but we’re going to have to do things quickly. As soon as the Earth starts to move away from the Sun, things are going to cool off. A lot depends on exactly the trajectory, but even with a conservative estimate, we’re facing a snowball Earth scenario within a matter of years, when the surface of the planet can no longer support liquid water. It won’t take long for everything living on the surface to die.

However, not all hope is lost. The oceans will freeze from the surface downward, and as they freeze over they will in fact insulate the deeper layers. It could take hundreds of thousands of years before the oceans freeze solid, meaning some life may still manage to hold on in the deeper parts of the oceans for millennia, particularly where there is active volcanism going on, keeping things (relatively) warm. In theory, given enough time, we might be able to construct underwater habitats in the deep oceans as a refuge for humanity.

Another option is to simply go underground. On average, the temperature increases by about 25C for every kilometer we go down into the ground. Even when the surface temperatures have plummeted to -200C (when we’ve wandered out past Pluto), we “only” have to dig down a handful of kilometers before we can bask in the relative heat from the heart of our planet.

That heat from the planet’s core is what might ultimately provide the salvation for the species. While the rest of the energy sources we have available to us are ultimately based on solar radiation and will be forfeit once we’ve drifted from the Sun, our planet’s core is powered by radioactive decay and will keep on cooking for billions of years to come. We can harness this either directly via fission reactors, or indirectly through geothermal energy sources.

So here’s the scenario we might enact to provide for the continuation of humanity.

First, we determine what capacity we have for tunneling down into the crust and excavating areas large enough to create underground settlements. Perhaps the Boring Company will be in high demand in this scenario! Governments across the world pool their resources and a number of candidate sites around the globe are selected. Access to existing geothermal energy sources might be a good starting point.

Then we start digging. Temporary “camps” are excavated at shallower depths while digging proceeds ahead for future movements. In the meantime, each of these future colonies is prepared with resources that they’ll need to survive. Deep underground, some of the challenges will be oxygen and clean water; however, with artificial sunlight and proper preparation it should be possible to grow crops even underground. We’ll probably have to say goodbye to eating meat as raising animals for food won’t be an efficient use of resources, though we might keep some animals around for the sake of having animals.

At some point there’s going to be some kind of selection process for who gets to go down and survive. This won’t be pretty. Most of us will be left on the surface to freeze to death. But once it’s done, the selected groups can descend into the bowels of the Earth and begin a new subterranean existence.

Would it succeed? It’s hard to say. They have to dig deep enough, and that presents dangers in and of itself. Colonies could be destroyed by seismic activity that collapses them. In those kinds of close quarters, a disease outbreak could prove fatal to the whole group. Issues with food supply or water supply could doom a group. There are many ways in which any underground colony could fail, and it is almost a given some of them would.

But with enough luck, persistence and hard work, some of them might make it, and over the generations adapt to this new lifestyle. Maybe they’d even thrive to the point they could send excursions back out to the surface, exploring the frozen wasteland, travelling across the ice to visit other underground colonies. Maybe even once again find ways to build ships to leave the planet and try to find someplace nicer to take the family, so to speak.

From the Bayou Crawfish Louisianne

Yield: 4 to 6 generous servings

Ingredients

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1/2 cup chopped andouille sausage
3/4 cup chopped bell pepper (can mix the colors)
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1/2 to 3/4 cup whipping cream
1 pound crawfish tails
1 quart peanut oil
4 to 6 catfish fillets (2 to 3 ounces each)
Egg wash (egg white, water, milk)
Seasoned flour
Seasoning to taste
Cajun seasoning, pepper, red pepper and garlic powder

Instructions

In a small saucepan, melt butter. Add andouille, peppers, onions and Italian seasoning and sauté until tender (about 5 minutes.) Add mushrooms just before completion.
Add whipping cream, and reduce the sauce over medium heat.
Add crawfish, and cook for 3 minutes. Adjust seasoning.
Heat oil in a large saucepan.
Dredge fish in egg wash and then season with flour.
Fry until golden brown on both sides.
Pour crawfish mixture over catfish.
Garnish with parsley and onion tops.

So very British

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/y8lMSMoqbps?feature=share

What are the ways to become a high quality man?

Make decisions for yourself and do not follow the opinions or actions of others.
Have a clear sense of who you are and what you stand for.
Spend time reflecting on your thoughts and emotions and deeply understand yourself.
Be capable of taking care of yourself and do not rely on others for support.
Enjoy spending time alone and find it more fulfilling than being with others.
Have a few close friends or family members and do not rely on the need for an extensive social network.
Enjoy exploring ideas and concepts and be comfortable contemplating complex topics.
Do not seek validation from others and be comfortable relying on yourself.
Have a unique perspective and approach to life and be confident going against the crowd.
Do not conform to societal norms or expectations and march to the beat of your drum.

The Chinese warship sonar incident

This mature and analytical write-up by John Menadue, November 23 is very constructive and logical.

John Menadue is the Founder and Editor in Chief of Pearls and Irritations. He was formerly Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet under Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser, Ambassador to Japan, Secretary of the Department of Immigration and CEO of Qantas.

…

“What a feast of anti-China stories we have had again from the Coalition and our media over the incident between HMAS Toowoomba and a Chinese PLA-N destroyer.

The whole issue really looks to be overblown – and seeded by some in the Sinophobia school who are worried about where Prime Minister Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong may be headed. The idea of “stabilisation” scares them, so they react by promoting some destabilisers.

The proposition that the Chinese warship was directed by Beijing – let alone President Xi – to initiate such “aggressive” action beggars belief. Like the ‘spy’ balloon exercise, where it seems clear enough that President Xi initially knew little about the whole thing.

Our ‘spooks’ depend on the CIA for about 90% of their overseas information and the Pentagon is building a network in our Department of Defence. I would very much doubt whether Albanese and Wong really know what ‘information’ the CIA and the Pentagon are feeding into our spooks.

The US expects that a pliant ally like Australia will do what it is told. It is concerned at recent events and prefers that we do not stabilise our relations with China. So this incident is a great opportunity for some destabilisation. And our poorly informed media tag along as always.

Given the unsurprising PLA comments the chances of misunderstanding the message or even miscommunication would have to rate high. If the PLA ship had been shadowing the RAN ship, which then decided to stop dead in the water to check for nets, would the Commander of the PLA ship not be a bit suspicious about what the RAN was up to and activate some of his intel alerts including special sonar to try to find out more? In any event presumably he would have had some of his sonar devices running while he was sailing anyway? Even if the PLA just happened on the RAN in the middle of the sea (electronically of course) would its initial reaction not be one of suspicion?

We probably will never get the real story of the actual communications between the two ships, but language problems cannot be excluded.

But Albanese and Marles (again and again) have been panicked into hasty responses for which we will pay. Marles should have tried to hose things down, but he invariably sings from the US song sheet. Albanese should stick to the line of not commenting in detail on his private conversations with world leaders. Blinken did this repeatedly over questions about the Xi-Biden talk. If necessary, the government can call in the Chinese Ambassador at Secretary level to make the point.

It is strange why Marles would want to play this up right now. The incident was not in the SCS but in Japan’s EEZ heading towards Japan. This could be in the contested area of the East China Sea, south of Okinawa.

It is also not clear what UN sanctions RAN was monitoring unless they were part of the regular monitoring of UN sanctions against North Korea. We have been doing that in the Sea of Japan further north.

These incidents should be sorted out by military to military communications and not as a stick for those who want to destabilise our improving relationship with China.

We would be more concerned if this incident occurred in waters adjacent to Australia and not in waters adjacent to China, which is already encircled by scores of US military bases. China would understandably be very sensitive about what happens in its proximity.

In any event, this incident is minor compared with the aggressive things we do that are hostile to China. RAAF P8 aircraft operating out of the Philippines drop Sonar buoys in the SCS to monitor Chinese submarines. This is not for the defence of Australia but to support the US in a possible conflict with China over Taiwan.

Our media have shown no interest in this issue. It does not fit the Western ‘China threat’ narrative that our White Man’s Media works so hard to construct and maintain, and so is ignored.”

I stuff guys with cars…

Have you ever witnessed an “I demand to see the manager” moment?

If you’ve worked retail long enough, even if you’re amazing, you have one of these.

I work retail pharmacy. I had a woman come up to the sales counter with her adult daughter, wanting to buy a large quantity of Sudafed, but within the legal limit. Both of them were planning to buy, and they happened to mention that they were buying it for the woman’s mother, both of them. This is illegal, as in my state you must purchase it for yourself or your minor child. You actually sign an electronic document stating so.

I apologize to the women and tell them I can’t complete the transaction, and explain why, that it is against state and federal law.

Immediate attitude, along the lines of “Who do you think you are, you low born classless person to tell me and my daughter, with our bleach blonde hair and snooty attitudes ‘no!’”

The mother demands to speak with the manager, who isn’t there, we just have a staff pharmacist who’s witnessed the whole thing. She tells the woman that I can complete the sale.

I stare at her for a second before asking the pharmacist if she intends to pay my legal fees to reinstate my pharmacy tech liscense, and tell the pharmacist that if she wants to process the transaction she can, but that I WILL NOT.

She demands my register login and codes, because she’s not a regular pharmacist at my store. I refuse to give them to her, as that is a fireable offense.

The customer is staring at us, red faced and ready to burst, and demands I listen to the pharmacist, then demands I page store management when I explain that the pharmacist cannot compel me to break the law.

I page store management, and my favorite assistant manager comes over and asks what’s going on. By this point, the woman is using abusive language, and exclaims “This f*ggot won’t sell me Sudafed that is for me!”

At that point the manager raises an eyebrow and tells the woman she’s going to have to move her car.

Woman asks why.

“Because our parking is for customers only. You need to leave now. Our customers know they can’t talk to people like that.”

The woman throws a shrieking fit, shoving over a display of medication… which her adult daughter stops to pick up, apologizing the whole time.

The pharmacist in question got written up by corporate for an Ethics violation, and when my Pharmacy Manager told me I should just turn my ears off and not listen to conversations at the register and do my job, he got an Ethics violation that has left him stuck as a pharmacy manager.

The woman emailed the corporate office, and I got to see the reply which was basically ‘We’re sorry you had that experience, but our stores are committed to following state and federal law’ and they attached the laws in question, highlighted.

It was nice to be vindicated and defended for once, instead of thrown under that well known bus.

Reality in the USA

US Congress unanimously approved the Patent Restriction Act. All of China’s patents are at risk of invalidation overnight. Huawei’s 20000+ patents could be deemed invalid. All countries at risk as the US can claim a national security threat. Fair?

With China’s manufacturing power and the engi eers’ abilities of learning and copying, good luck to the US.

All US patents will be nulled by China and Russia as, and the US will lose much more than Huawei would do.

This is not only on Qualcomm, TI, AMD, intel but also hit huge on the pharmaceutical companies.

China and its engineers are waiting for the bill passed and now all the knowledge would be shared without any loyalty across mankind. Nice job the US.

I just don’t beat the shit out of you…

What’s something you can’t believe you had to explain to an American tourist or as a tourist visiting America?

I was in a hospital, here at Rome, to visit a friend, and when I was going away I saw two American girls, one could hardly walk because she had fell and hurted badly her leg. I helped them to call someone to bring a wheel chair and they went to emergency. I went with them to help because they didn’t speak italian well. I asked why they didn’t call for an ambulance and they said they didn’t want t to spend too much money. They were worried about how much they would have to pay at the hospital too. I explained them, in Italy, the ambulance is free, and so the hospital. Even if she would have to stay there for days or weeks. No one in Italy could dare to ask a girl with a broken leg for money. Nobody could leave her without medical care even if the didn’t have money.

They couldn’t believe me . They continued asking if the hospital was going to send bills later. If they could pay later in installments.

The girls wanted to ask the administrative employee too, because they wanted to be sure. He gave them the same answer and they were very surprised.

Later the girls left the hospital, one had a cast on her leg but they had big, beautiful smiles!

Loyalty and Respect

What is the most absurd thing you’ve been charged for on a bill?

Not me, but my mother. She was visiting the US for a ski holiday in New England and had a bad fall that resulted in a broken bone. As a result, she had to spend a bit of time in a hospital. Her stay was fortunately paid for by Canadian health insurance; can’t imagine how US citizens who don’t have or can’t afford coverage manage to pay for their care.

Anyway, I was curious to see what it cost after she got home, so she showed me the detailed bill. The total was shockingly high, no surprise, but one thing caught my eye. She’d been invoiced for 3X “helically wound cellulose absorbent matrix units” at $48 each. Curious, I contacted the hospital to ask what these could be. Can you guess?

They turned out to be rolls of bog-standard toilet paper, the number she was tracked as having consumed during her stay.

Amazing.

Pretty good

What’s the fastest you’ve wiped a smirk off of someone’s face?

Not myself but a teacher at my school.

This was a Church of England (Christian) secondary school (ages 11-18) in the late ‘80s and the dress code was quite strict. Among the many rules was one that boys weren’t allowed to have long hair.

There was this old-fashioned teacher (Mr. Barabell) who’d been teaching there for ~30 years already by that point and was well-known for being strict but fair.

Anyway, there was this one boy (Luke) who decided that he wanted to grow long hair and he wasn’t going to let a stupid school rule stop him, and so he just let it grow. Initially he started getting comments from teachers about being “scruffy” etc. but eventually the situation came to a head in Mr. Barabell’s class:

A confrontation begins with the teacher telling Luke off— “There are school standards to maintain, “ and, “Does he think that he’s special, ” and so on. Well Luke—smart alec that he was—has a pre-prepared answer ready to go:

“But sir, Jesus had long hair didn’t he?“

As this point the class is completely silent waiting for a response, but instead of answering Mr. Barabell says, “Right, everyone come with me now,” and he turns and exits the class room. We all follow, including Luke, wondering what on Earth is going on.

Eventually we reach the school swimming pool and gather around. Then Mr. Barabell turns to Luke, points to the swimming pool and says, “Walk!”.

Luke is just standing there kind of shaking his head (knowing that he’s defeated) and the whole rest of the class is cracking up.

The teacher finishes with, “When you can walk on water, you can have long hair at school.”

Game. Set. Match.

Smart Kid

Why can’t Americans get access to the Chinese electric car market?

Americans foolishly screamed and shout that they are the leader of the free world without ever questioning if it is even remotely true or not! Please don’t be angry or upset if I help you guys since I understand you can pretend to be free or even dare says you are ordained by god to spread democracy and freedom but you Americans are one of the least free country on earth.

Let me help you good American. So first I like to explain how unfree you guys are.

35% of you cannot get health care when you fall sick! The most basic of freedom is the freedom to see a doctor and get cure when you fall sick. At least 100 million Americans don’t have this basic of basics of freedom.

Next 1 million Americans are homeless and don’t have another basic of basics of freedom. The freedom to have a roof over their head.! They have to live in makeshift tents on the streets.

20% of Americans don’t have 500 dollars to their name and don’t know where their next meal is coming from! Surely everyone must have the freedom to have a hot meal to stay alive!

USA with about 4% of world population has 25% of the worlds prisoners population! Think about this my American friends, prisoners are certainly. Not free. Many of them coloured people thrown into jail for the slightest reason. How on earth can you keep a straight face to say U.S. is the leader of the free world. No one know!

In many cities in the U.S. one cannot go to certain parts of the inner city like the Queens in New York. As crimes are rampant. So normal innocent and good Americans like you have to avoid that part of America! Surely freedom means you can go to anywhere or any part of America.

Kids and parents suffers the mental turmoils daily for just going to school. Many got shot to death in schools, public places, cinemas and even in Capitol Hill! Is that freedom? Even your kids are not free to go to school without a random mass shooter lurking with military grade weapons to murder them! Is this freedom?

If you are not fortunate to have a white skin you could be necked to death in the bright daylight of even driving a good car may be be shot to death just for suspected of stealing the car! Everyday you live in fear of a white policeman! Is that freedom to live? Freedom to avoid death at the racist inclination of the white racist? Surely not.

Freedom means you can choose who you really want to be your leader. Only 30% choose Biden. Or 35% choose Trump! Why are they your president? Your system allowed 0.8% of the richest and most influential people to choose your candidates! Surely this is not political freedom. This is far from democracy. How on earth can you call yourself the “beacon of democracy” who in a sane mind can claim that?

Oh today you country stop the Americans from having access to best 5G technology, Smartphone, best EV’s, drones and others for some geopolitical nonsense! Is this freedom? Freedom to be deprived? Let me help you understand. You are deprived from buying a 10 bucks EV. And need to be charged once a week but you are not allowed to! You cannot buy your Tesla like for half the price! Just to support your too big to fail auto industry paying 100 million bonus doing shit for good Americans!

But to me EVs and Drones are just the top of the iceberg of your draconian and suicide policies that takes away the freedom of Americans like you. Think about Jullien Assange, Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden! Freedom? American is anything but free.

Man these people are monsters

What conversations have you overheard in a language they assumed you don’t know?

It was 2016 in Bruges, Belgium. I was with my parents and we had just hailed a cab that somehow turned into a ride-share with this British family.

All was well in the van until about three minutes in, when I heard the lady say: “These people look a bit funny, don’t they?”. I looked up to notice that they were talking about my family. In plain English.

I stayed silent as much as I could, as they went on discussing among themselves and chuckling over how we were so bundled up (It was in the middle of a freezing winter and I live in the freaking equator!) even though it wasn’t that cold for them, or how they couldn’t figure out where we’re from because apparently we didn’t look Chinese enough nor Middle Eastern enough for them (Answer: Neither – we’re Indonesian) and all. During the whole ride, they were mocking us.

My mother must’ve seen me giving them a death stare and asked if anything was wrong, in Indonesian. Topping it all off, they were of course chuckling at how my mom was talking really funny. I couldn’t stand it any more, so I answered my mom in English, making sure the British family heard me well:

“Yes there is a problem here. Some people actually still think that English isn’t a universal language by now, and think that it’s good fun to mock and make fun of other people just because of how they look”.

I spent the rest of the cab ride watching the blood drain from their faces. At least I was no longer the one being uncomfortable in that cab.

Lord, Jesus help us

What are some deepest lessons you should know in your young age?

Feeling sad after making a decision doesn’t mean it was the wrong decision.
Life is not tiring. Wanting life to be a certain way but not having the confidence to make it that way, is tiring.
Self-awareness is realising that there is no opponent -you’re fighting against yourself.
Sometimes saying ‘goodbye’ doesn’t mean you don’t love something, it just means you love yourself too.
That lesson will repeat itself until you learn it.
If you keep one hand on your past and one hand on your future you’ll never have either. To embrace tomorrow, you must let go of yesterday.
The world starts and ends entirely inside your mind. No matter where you end up, no matter how rich, or successful you become, you won’t enjoy any of it if you get there at the expense of your mental health.

Chinese ethnic groups

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/SC7IyLLt6PA?feature=share

What is the fastest you have ever seen your co-worker getting fired?

As a teenager, I worked in a gas station for a couple of years. A younger kid got hired who had some odd work habits. When the station owner would leave, the kid would just go sit down in the office. Meanwhile, I’d be pumping gas, changing oil, or mounting tires. I had no authority over this kid.

A few days after he was hired, I told the owner what was going on. An hour or two later the owner mentioned he was going home for an hour or two. He departed, the kid sat down in the office, while I finished doing an oil change and waited on customers at the pumps.

Ten minutes later, the boss walked out the alley where he’d parked his truck out of sight, and stood quietly in the shadows, watching me work, and the kid sitting on his butt. A few minutes later, the kid was fired. Word got around our small town pretty quickly, I don’t think this kid could find another job that summer.

I wasn’t sad to see him leave…

What is the most absurd thing you’ve been charged for on a bill?

Years ago I strained a tendon in my thumb. I went to one of those jenky quick service medical clinics to have it looked at and a person, who I assumed had some training in doctoring or nursing, prescribed me ibuprofen and put my hand in a brace.

I paid them like 50 bucks and went on my way.

A few weeks later I got a bill for the brace from a medical billing company in Texas. They assigned a cost of $750 to the brace, and only the brace, claimed to have billed my insurance for $450 and expect the rest from me. Of course, I sent them nothing, and the bills kept coming. The brace was essentially the same as one you’d buy at the drug store for about $35. It was nothing special and there was no way I was sending them any money. I tried to call them, but no one ever answered their phone.

Once my tendon healed, I put the brace in a box, along with a copy of their bill and mailed it to them. I never received anther bill afterwards.

Good advice

Why did China keep collapsing throughout history?

This is an interesting question.

Why did ancient China keep collapsing?

Or , let’s change the question.

Why did ancient China keep rebuilding?

In fact, there is no eternal empire in human history. From Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, China, Ottoman, Russia. The lifespan of any empire established by a civilization is limited. In other words, crashes are bound to happen.

But the difference between China and other empires is that most ancient empires collapse only once. Because the collapsed empire can never be rebuilt again. But China has such a magical power that no matter how it collapses, it will always be reunified after a period of time, and then climb to the peak again.

This picture shows the whole history of China. The crown represents peace and unity, and the sword represents division and war.

So much so that the opening sentence of the famous ancient Chinese novel “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms” reads: “The general trend of the world is that if it is divided for a long time, it will be united, and if it is united for a long time, it will be divided.”

Why China has such magic power, historians have many opinions.

One of the more widely recognized statements is this:

4,000 years ago, the Chinese were born on a land suitable for farming. Since the earliest civilized countries were established, they have been a typical agricultural civilization.

From the earliest recorded history of China, they have faced the threat from the north. That is the nomadic civilization galloping on the grasslands. In the early historical documents of Chinese dynasties, the invasion of nomadic civilization was recorded many times, and even the most brilliant Western Zhou Dynasty perished because of the invasion of nomadic civilization.

The ancestors of the Chinese discovered that the agricultural civilization, which is good at farming and construction, cannot compete with the nomadic civilization, which is good at riding and archery, in war. (Infantry can hardly defeat cavalry).
But as long as they are united, they will become more powerful. If 1 person can’t defeat the enemy, then 3 people; if 3 people can’t, then 10 people. Since agricultural civilization can breed more wealth and population, once China is united, the nomads are no match at all.

In 221 BC, the Qin Empire unified China for the first time, defeated the Xiongnu in war, and built the Great Wall to keep them out of the cold north. The Han Empire went a step further and formed a professional army of hundreds of thousands of people, went on an expedition to the desert, and completely defeated the Xiongnu. A unified and strong state always protects its people from harm. And when the empire crumbles and divides, China becomes weak. For example, the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period were all like this. At this time, the enemy from the north invaded, the internal war was in chaos, and the society was dark. People cannot live a normal life, and starvation and death become the norm. Every round of imperial collapse and division in Chinese history will be accompanied by wars and a significant reduction in population. The lessons of history have engraved this truth deeply in the hearts of the Chinese people—unity is justice and light, and division is evil and darkness. The Chinese yearning for unity transcends history, time, religion, and nationality.

Therefore, the ultimate political goal of every careerist who wished to seize power in ancient China was the same: to unify the country and obtain the “sky destiny”. Only in this way can we gain the support of the people.

Imagine if in Europe, every German thought the German government was evil, the British thought the British government was dark, and the French thought the French government was corrupt. These governments should all be overthrown. As for the reason, there is only one: they don’t want to unify Europe, which is not the right direction.

What a terrible and incredible power this is, but the Chinese have such power.

A beautiful lesson

AH. I want to do this with my daughter.

What are some of the best examples of “American ignorance”?

I used to date an American. At the time I lived on an estate where to get out, you had to drive under a railway bridge arch. He got annoyed with having to wait for oncoming traffic to clear and demanded to know “why the hell didn’t they build this with two lanes?” I said it was built 150 years ago for stagecoaches, before cars were even invented. Americans forget how old England is.

What are some things that look easy but are difficult?

I asked a cycle rickshaw driver in India if I could have a turn. “This’ll be as easy as riding a bicycle,” I thought.

Technically, that’s exactly what it is. Only that you’re pulling someone else’s weight as well. Or even that of several people.

His face had all those deep grooves from the harsh sun beating down on him all day. His arms and legs were as thin as twigs. His ribcage bulged through a sweat-drenched tanktop.

I was less than half his age and enjoyed the kind of nutrition he could only dream of.

“You’re a tourist,” he protested.

But I insisted and he sat on the vinyl seat in the back.

I mounted the driver’s seat brimming with confidence and pressed down on the pedal.

It didn’t even budge.

I stood up and pushed down with all my might.

The rickshaw squeaked forward a couple inches.

By this point, the driver was laughing hysterically.

I conceded defeat, we changed positions, and he sailed down the street with an ease I could not even begin to fathom.

And while he was no industry-disrupting maverick, he was solving a real problem—helping people get from A to B.

My view of manual laborers was forever changed.

I learned that technique always trumps strength.

And that every honest line of work deserves our utmost respect.

Neil deGrasse Tyson: America is declining RAPIDLY

https://youtu.be/0gjzpZMFVsE

MM talks reptilian

There’s a lot of people chatting about “reptilians”. My (MM) opinion is that (as far as the Earth is concerned), our environment is not conducive and supportive of a human-sized intelligent reptilian extraterrestrial. The size betrays the need for large amounts of oxygen and that impacts the brains size and cavity.

Reptilians can exist, mind you, but not as intelligent beings. Not around our star, and within our present environment.

I had the opportunity to inquire to the Domain Commander about this issue on a chat that I had while riding the public bus. (Yup, welcome to MM land.)

There ARE extraterrestrials that have a reptilian form, and they are intelligent.
They however, are unable to operate within this solar system effectively.
Thus, any extraterrestrial beings that operate within our Earth environment take on other “forms”. Not reptilian.

That being said, one should not discount the reports that reptilians and shape-changing beings are common in the earth environment. They are not. What is instead being reported is a cloaked image that presents a reptilian image directly keyed to satiate the observer.

The primeval state is insectoid. Not reptilian, however, many human observers would find a projection of a large insect far too disturbing for purposes of contact, thus a reptilian image is preferred.

Better to see a human-sized lizard, than a giraffe sized preying mantis. Don’t you know.

Today…

Have you ever accepted a ride as a hitchhiker?

Back when I was in college (early ‘70s) everyone hitchhiked. I would hitchhike alone or with friends almost every other weekend in upstate New York (yes, I’m a guy). Our trips were always taken on part of the NYS Thruway, and there were unwritten rules that hitchhikers followed. There were usually three, four or more hitchhikers just before the toll booths, each person or group would be spread out 20 or so feet apart. We would all have signs for where we wanted to go, usually the city/town/exit we wanted to get dropped off. The person/group that was closest to the toll booths had priority for being picked up, if you were just getting to the thruway entrance, you took the spot farthest away. As people got picked up, your place in the queue got better.

My friend and I actually started a small business. We got large pieces of white oaktag (two feet wide) and created stencils that we would spray paint with dayglow orange paint. We would sell them to people who were going to hitchhike, they were always the best signs of anybody looking for a ride, they loved them. We also made copies of tips and rules (we would always be amazed at stupid ways people dressed to be standing outside, sometimes in the snow/rain for hours). I’d say we got a ride 95% of the time, we never had any problems.

Ai dod symposium notes and signs

https://odysee.com/@psinergy:f/trim.C62FD469-784D-4FAA-8DE8-9993576614F4:5

What did someone say/do that made you close down your account and go to another bank?

Bank of America: “We don’t have $1000 in cash.”

Followed by, it’s the weekend and so on and on.

The topper though was: “You will have to wait until Monday.”

Er, no I don’t.

I paraded in front of that branch with a sign stating the facts – this branch did not have $1000 on hand – causing quite the queue to form….of demanding account holders.

Presto. $1000 cash appeared, with no delivery that I observed, nothing.

“Get me a cashier’s check for the rest.”

What are some biggest behaviors of a confident person?

They dare to give toxic people the silent treatment.
They don’t judge people without knowing their side of the story.
They’re not like “He will like me”, but “I’ll be fine if they don’t”.
They listen to understand, not to reply.
They normalize saying no.
They don’t break eye contact too much.
They don’t frequently check their social media “Likes”.
They look to praise, not praised.
They are too positive to be doubtful,
too optimistic to be fearful,
too determined to be defeated.
They know everyone have flaws and nobody is perfect.
They are better at ignoring insecurities.
They know what their triggers are.
They don’t just have purpose, they live it.

What is the best case of “You just picked a fight with the wrong person” that you’ve witnessed?

Dude, age 37, sexist as hell, has a theory that only very few women are smart. Very few. He could maybe count them on one hand.

He, on the other hand, is the love child of Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein high on NZT.

We are at a party, all PhD students, the women’s section seriously looked down on by this Dude. He of course has to start an intellectual fight over something one of the girls is majoring in. He dies to prove that she has grey spots in her logic/theory. Girl is super chill, Dude makes very little sense actually. He is mostly arrogant. Finally he names a study written by a female author, says Girl should only talk with such confidence if she is as smart as that woman. Yeah, the author lady is one of the few super intelligent “females” he would be able to accept as a partner in all terms.

Girl laughs and pulls out her laptop to show Dude how the study is actually her own article. She wrote it. She is the super intelligent author lady.

Laugh rumbles for minutes, Dude leaves a contrail behind in his rush to get out, trying to act hurt.

What was your most embarrassing moment in front of your boss?

I once locked my boss in his own office.

I was 19 and doing my internship in a midsize Pune based CA firm. My boss and I were working until around 8:30 p.m. Other employees had already left.

My Boss: Vikas, we should leave now, it’s 8:30 p.m.

In an attempt to impress my boss, with how dedicated and hard working I am, I said “Sir, you leave. I will finish drafting that partnership deed and then go.”

My Boss: Are you sure? It can take 2 hours.

Me: No problem, Sir. I’ll finish it this evening and set the copy on your desk before leaving.

My Boss: OK. Lock the office carefully.

Here is the catch, I had already drafted that deed, and it was ready to be printed out. I went to my desk, waited few minutes, ensured boss had left his cabin, then took printouts, neatly placed it on my boss’s table. Switch off lights and locked the office. Went down the cafeteria downstairs and started having my food.

But I forgot, there’s a balcony adjacent to my boss’s cabin. He was actually in the balcony talking on a phone, while I locked him in his own office.

But that’s only half part of embarrassment story.

My boss realised I’ve locked him in, saw the partnership deed print outs on his desk, he understood the entire matter (he was a smart and jolly person in 30s, who has gone through that same phase of internship).

He called me : Vikas, where are you? what are you doing?

Me: Sir I am in office, typing that partnership deed.

Boss : There’s no need to type that deed. I’m in my cabin now, holding the printout of that same partnership deed.

Me:……………!

Boss : So please come to the office, unlock the door, let me go home!

If he had scolded me, then okay. But he never said a word about my oversmartness.

I can’t explain the level of embarrassment..

What is the best thing that has ever happened to you for being nice?

It was a second date, and we went to an Indian restaurant. The waiter made a mistake with our order, and instead of causing a scene I was apparently completely sympathetic and understanding.

I say “apparently” because I don’t actually remember this at all, since being nice to waiters is my default mode, but my date really noticed. It seems that almost everyone else she’d dated would put on some kind of show in order to show how assertive and macho they were, no matter that it involved humiliating someone for a mistake anyone could have made – and she said that that was the precise point when she thought that I might have long-term relationship potential.

Fifteenth wedding anniversary this month. Moral: be nice to waiters.

What is the best case of “You just picked a fight with the wrong person” that you’ve witnessed?

A major bank takes on the wrong guy…

My father was a very distinguished British judge and widely recognised as one of the finest legal minds of his generation.

Whenever he bought a car, he set up a savings account to pay for the eventual replacement. The account was with a major international banking group.

When the time came to replace his car, he discovered that this type of account had been mothballed, and no interest had been paid for years. He’d overlooked the notification small print amongst the endless stream of marketing bumf from the bank.

His initial complaint was rejected. So my father wrote directly to the Chair of the Board, pointing out that this policy discriminated against the bank’s most vulnerable customers, with an incisively argued opinion that the policy was illegal under EC consumer law.

Not long afterwards he received a personal letter from the Chair. After apologising profusely, he assured my father that the policy would be changed, and that many thousands of customers of discontinued accounts would have their interest paid in full plus additional compensation. This will have cost them many millions.

It’s not often that a single customer complaint changes the policy of a major corporation. Their lawyers must have checked my father’s reputation and realised that they were on a legal hiding to nothing.

They tangled with the wrong guy!

Copeland’s of New Orleans Bananas Foster

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) whole butter
4 whole bananas, peeled and cut into fourths
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup light cream or Half-and-Half
1 ounce banana liqueur
1 ounce rum

Instructions

Place half of the butter in a heavy gauge skillet over medium heat and melt. Add the sugar and cream. Cook for approximately 2 minutes until the sugar is dissolved.
Add cut bananas and the cinnamon to the skillet and stir to coat.
Remove the skillet from the flame. Add the rum and the banana liqueur.
Swirl to incorporate and place the skillet back on the flame. (**Be careful because the alcohol may ignite when you place it back on the flame.)
Add the remaining butter and swirl to incorporate.
Serve over your favorite ice cream, pound cake, or biscuits.

As a cop what was the most interesting arrest you ever made?

Not me, but my dad arrested a mafia hit man once.

They had a warrant for the guy related to money laundering and racketeering, but they knew he was a hit man too. They were going to hit his house early one morning. The bust crew staged around the corner, and my dad said he would cruise by the house to check for any unforeseen circumstances, and verify the street address. My dad pulled up in an unmarked suberban, and stopped briefly in front of the guys house. At that moment, hit man dude walks out in his bath robe to get the morning newspaper. My dad (in plain clothes) said “excuse me, can I ask you a quick question?” Dude said sure. He walked up to my dads window. My dad says aren’t you so-and-so? Guy says yes i am. Dad flashed his badge and says sir, i got a warrant for your arrest. Dude looks around, then said really? Dad says yes sir, put your hands on my hood please. And handcuffed him right there in his bathrobe. Then called the bust crew and told them “well, i got him. He is in custody “.

Dude was actually super cool. Said he was gonna need a few minutes to explain this to his wife because she had no idea about this part of his life. They gave him that courtesy

What makes Biden give up decoupling with China?

Has a cop ever said something to you which was completely unexpected?

When I was younger I had been babysitting for my nephew but they had recently moved to a new apartment in a part of the city I didn’t know. My parents had drawn a map to get me there, but I ended up not quite getting the same route back. It was gone 2am and I emerged onto a little roundabout from a different road than expected so I went around twice to get my bearings. And of course a cop car just happened to see it and pulled me over.

They asked me why, I told the truth and showed them the paper map. They asked me if I’d anything alcoholic to drink and again I truthfully said no. I don’t blame him for not believing me, given the time, a Saturday night and the situation so I took the breathalyser. I knew it would come back totally negative so I wasn’t worried. So of course it did, and they let me go. But before they left, the officer looked at me and very honestly and earnestly thanked me for my polite, respectful, courteous and cooperative attitude.

Apparently they don’t get pleasant, polite attitudes from the people they encounter very often and it was nice for them.

What is the most absurd thing you’ve been charged for on a bill?

Not too long ago, I was “de-marketized” by my former bank, Royal Bank of Canada, for accepting too many payments from companies I work for from PayPal.

from the Financial Times

This is one of Canada’s Big 5 banks, and I had been banking with them for well over 30 years. I had actually spoken to their security department about this as they wanted to confirm that all of my transactions were legal and not something out of fraud or whatever, which I didn’t mind being audited on as all of my work was legal, just not paid through the usual ways.

The bank’s security had cleared me, but they were then overruled by some other department in their head office, and suddenly I get a letter saying I was being “de-marketized” which involves having ALL of my accounts, investments, retirement funds and so on be shut down and be forced to move to another bank. There was no way to appeal, no way to complain and no act I could do to stop this. So having exhausted almost all of the avenues of redress (there’s still the Federal banking ombudsman), I had to scramble to get all of my accounts out to another bank.

Now normally I would say, “good riddance” as I’ve found that the service at my new bank far superior than what I’ve encountered with RBC. RBC put me through essentially bureaucratic hell for a month as I had to fill out this form and that form…. but now you’re probably wondering where I’m going with all this.

Well, when I had moved my investment accounts (my retirement funds) out to another bank, they had the gall to charge me $150 for the priviledge to MOVE THE MONEY OUT despite them FORCING ME OUT. And worse, if I hadn’t screamed absolute murder to the highest mountains, they tried to RETURN MY RETIREMENT SAVINGS STRAIGHT TO ME AS CASH. To do this would AUTOMATICALLY incur an instant 25–30% INCOME TAX CUT OFF THE FUNDS, which would have been in the THOUSANDS of dollars! If it wasn’t for my new bank instructing me EXACTLY what I needed to do to avoid incurring the loss and telling them I was absolutely ready to put this whole mess on LOCAL NEWS, they wouldn’t have “suddenly” discover that there was a way for me to transfer the money without the tax implications.

So in the end, I still only got hit by the $150 transfer fee, but this was absolutely absurb as I never would have been hit with this if they didn’t force me out in the FIRST PLACE.

High Alert! China Is Now Launching Their ‘Submarine Killer’ To Counter US Nuclear Submarine

China commands one of the best naval powers in the world. With modern naval vessels, advanced naval technology with no rival, a majestic naval infrastructure and the largest commanding navy in the world, the PLA Navy is by no means playing around. A recent development has come into light which reveals China’s plans of developing a next generation naval demolisher that will definitely be a force to be reckoned with.

Index to the video…

Chapters

00:00 – Intro
01:02 – The Submarine Killer
03:16 – A Practical Innovation
05:40 – A US vs China Comparison

In your time in the military, have you ever met a high ranking officer and were unaware of their rank?

My husband was the 82nd paratrooper with the tweaked shoulder, I was the new wife hip deep in a Ford Pinto doing an oil change and tune-up at the Hobby Shop on post. He was an E-5 Sergeant, we didn’t have money for someone else to work on our cars, so “we” were working on the Pinto of Many Colors (think primer on all four fenders in four different colors — not me, I swear!) This particular Pinto we’d paid $186 for because the little old lady who sold it to us took $14 off because we’d have to register it — 94,000 miles later, I figured we got our money’s worth. But it did require maintenance.

Hubby was handing me tools one-handed. I asked for an extension for a stubborn spark plug and he went to “check it out” which you could do at the post Hobby Shop.

Someone from the next bay handed me the tool and said, “Try this one.”

I took it and said, “Thank-you, kindly.”

There was some inconsequential chit-chat, and I said, “You sound like home.”

He was from home, less than an hour from home anyway, La Follette, TN.

That was it, a short conversation with a soldier, a good ole Southern boy in a white T-shirt tucked into belted jeans. He was a little older than everyone else in the bay, but oil needed changing, right?

Hubby gave me big eyes and said, “Thank-you, SIR.”

It was the GENERAL Carl Stiner, his many boss’ boss, head of the 82nd at the time.

The Pinto started right up and ran like a top. Hubby’s shoulder healed. And the general went on to great things with Special Operations Group and to co-write a book with Tom Clancy. But I think of him changing his own oil in a tucked-in T-shirt at the Hobby Shop.

Strangest things on camera

WHAT ELSE COULD GO WRONG?

A man was skydiving one bright sunny day. He pulled the string to open his main parachute – but nothing happened – the parachute did not open! So he pulled the string to open his reserve chute – but that didn’t open either!!

‘Oh no’, the man thought to himself. ‘The way things are going, my car probably won’t start either when I try to drive home!!!’

What was your “I am surrounded by idiots” moment?

This is a favorite story of mine. If you watch my show the original creature features on YouTube, You will note that I wear an eye patch. I have been blind in one eye for almost 60 years And I have made a point of wearing an eye patch in all of my ID photos because it makes it easier for people to know it’s me. Having a damaged eye is a hard thing to fake. So I went down to the DMV to renew my license and they said I had to take an eye test remember I am wearing an eye patch. They first told me to cover my left eye and read the chart, the eye with an eye patch. I told them that it would not affect anything as I don’t have an eye and I am in fact wearing an eye patch but they said I could be faking it so I had to cover my left eye and read the chart. That was not the stupid part. They then told me I had to cover my right eye, The only eye that can see and read the chart. I again told them that I was blind in my left eye and was in fact wearing an eye patch over my left eye which i’d be willing to remove so that they could see the lack of a left eye. They pointed out that despite being qualified to be at the DMV or Possibly because of it, They were not qualified to look at my eye and tell that it was blind and that I still had to cover my eye and read the chart. Again they pointed out that I could be faking it, There could be a hole in the eye patch that I’m seeing through. I said let’s just write down that I saw nothing and they said they couldn’t believe me until I covered my eye and then told them I saw nothing. I asked them what would be the advantage to me to lie on my DMV eye Test that I was blind. They couldn’t tell me but required that I covered my only good eye and try to read the chart. I covered the eye said I couldn’t see anything and they proceeded to give me my new driver’s license. I desperately want to work at the DMV as I don’t believe I am stupid enough to possibly ever be fired.

What’s a rule that you live by that most people don’t?

You can’t be mad about what you didn’t say.

My roommate is fuming.

“We all printed off our copies of the speech and she had hers on her computer! I can’t even believe that. I was so pissed.”

“Did you tell her to print it?” I ask.

“Well, no,” she admits. “But I think it’s fairly obvious—”

“If it’s so obvious, you’d think she’d’ve done it,” I observe.

“She was probably just being lazy.”

“Or she didn’t have the same expectations as you. If you wanted her to do something, you should’ve told her. You can’t really be mad about something you never said.”

Many people think it’s valid to get upset about assumptions.

But if you want something done, say it. If you don’t like something, say it. If you need something, say it.

Don’t assume that others see what you see.

It never hurts to discuss things.

And it never hurts to say what you’re thinking.

Communication.

It rocks, yo.

NDE REVEALS: The REASON We CHOSE To Incarnate During This DIFFICULT Time!

Has a child ever done something that really surprised you?

My best friends 5 year old son stayed with me for a week (my friend and her husband went on holiday). I was pregnant at that time.

One evening after bringing him back home from the park, i was panting walking home. As soon as he got home, he disappeared into the bathroom.

I could hear running water, but didn’t think much of it. I thought he was washing his hands (and he takes long).

While he was doing his thing, I went to the kitchen to warm up dinner, I saw him pull a chair to the bathroom. Obviously this wasn’t normal. I followed him to the bathroom, but he asked me not to come in for two minutes.

When he finally opened the door, he’s filled the bathtub with hot water, added soap for bubbles, cologne for smell (he probably didn’t realize that soap had smell too). And he’d kept the chair just outside the bath tub so I could sit and soak my feet in hot water.

He said that’s what dad did when his mum was expecting his sibling. It takes away all the pain he said!

Obviously the sweetest thing a child has done

Wife Says She “Wasted Her 20s Raising Kids” So She Wants An Open Marriage…I Said I Want A Divorce

Isn’t “crumpet” just the British term for what Americans call an “English muffin”?

So you know how in the Lord of the Rings books, orcs are corrupted, debased creatures made by foul darkness in mockery of elves?

That’s kind of what English muffins are to crumpets.

If you’ve only had English muffins but never has your mouth known the blessing of a crumpet, you might think they are in some way kin, without realizing how the English muffin is a fel and evil mockery of a crumpet. To taste a crumpet after a lifetime of English muffins is to know true bliss, as if you’ve had your first hint of a brighter world, a breakfast delicacy buttered by the loins of Aphrodite herself.

How do you respond when your boss says, “I need this done by Monday”?

Not my boss, it was an important client. A client we couldn’t afford to lose.

A desperate call came in Friday morning. An American investor wanted an English translation of their just released 68-page German annual report for Monday.

I knew it was a huge problem, but I stayed calm as I ran the word count to see how bad it was.

Doing the rough math, I told him we needed to find at least 3 additional financial translators (plus yours truly) who might be willing to work a 32-hour weekend on short notice. I would call him back as soon as I had news.

Now this was back in 1998, long before Google Translate and DeepL.

I sent an email out to 11 translators and got on the phone to follow the mail.

After 8 calls I had my 3 translators, but there was a catch. The least expensive one was asking for 240 marks (120 EUR) per hour. The most expensive wanted 400 marks (200 EUR).

That was outrageous, but as they all pointed out to me, only outrageous people ask suppliers to change their weekend plans on Friday morning and tell their loved ones they are working a 16-hour Saturday and Sunday.

Normally this job would have been quoted just under 8,000 marks with a one week delivery time, but to complete over the weekend it would cost 45,000.

I called back the client and told him we could deliver for Monday at a price of 45,000… or we could deliver a week later for 8,000. I asked him to talk it over with his investor and get back to me asap.

The return call came pretty quickly. Monday in a week would be just fine.

The moral of the story is, be nice, but be firm. Set a price for losing your weekend. It can be extra money, extra days off or maybe even a promotion.

Then let the boss decide whether it’s worth it. Your weekend belongs to you, but you can always sell it if the price is right.

Whatever you do, don’t sell yourself short.

What’s something your husband did to you that you will never forget?

It was on our honeymoon and I knew then I made a mistake by marrying him. We argued a lot. He was angry with me because I couldn’t read a map. I COULD read a map just fine, it was the map that wasn’t clear as to which way to go. I gave him the map and he couldn’t figure it out either. 15 years go by, our two daughters were 10 and 13 and starting with the mouthy disrespect, but only towards me. The girls and I got into a verbal confrontation about respecting me, right in front of him. He gathered both girls to hug them and told them I was “tetched” or in other words crazy and they didn’t have to listen to me! So instead of backing me up he just made it worse. It was all downhill from there. Time goes by. Every single night, just like his parents, come home from work, eat, shower, watch TV and go to bed. Repeat until death. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Rarely go to a movie or anything else. NEVER go anywhere on vacation. I could not live like that so I decided to start my own business, which did pretty well. Went by myself on simple vacations since he didn’t want to go. So after 32 years wasted with this man, he decides to cheat with my businesses book keeper who was my best friend. I should have listened to my instict, left him to figure out his own map and walked out while on our honeymoon.

Psychologist Explains WHY Women Have To EARN Affection

“Women treat men like men treat their jobs. Men treat women like women treat money”.

And…

“people want what they want. Not, what wants them.”

What happened when selling a house that made you not sell to the prospective buyer?

I had an offer and counter offer then agreed to sell. I signed the papers and gave them to his realtor. The realtor said he would take them to the buyer tomorrow. It would have closed in a couple weeks. I was on a tight deadline to sell, it was 1994 and tax law gave me two years to sell and time was up soon. Later that same day another realtor brought me an offer that was VA preapproved and could close that week. Since the first buyer hadn’t signed yet I was able to recind my agreement to sell and accept the new one. His realtor cost him a house

What’s the most enjoyable thing you’ve ever said to a manager as you’ve quit your job?

“You haven’t passed the trial period”, I said to the manager.

I was having this interview for a job I really wanted. The interview went well, but the employers explained that since they couldn’t tell from an interview how I would do in practice, there would be a trial period of three months. I was happy with that; if I didn’t pass the trial period, at least I’d gain experience.

So I began my trial period, but already in the first week I didn’t like the atmosphere in that place. The manager who was so nice during my interview, turned out to be loud, on the verge of being a bully. He was walking in the place like a dictator and people would go quiet every time he was around them. I’m prone to anxieties and I knew it wasn’t going to work for me. Yes, I needed the money and I loved what I was doing, but it didn’t do good to my soul.

I was taking my time deciding though, but then one day he was shouting at one employee so badly (and in front of others), that I made up my mind. It was nearly the end of my trial period, and at the end of that day I went to his office and asked to talk. He said, “Please come in, I was actually planning to talk to you after the weekend, we’ll sign a contract next week.” I said, “Thank you but I won’t be staying, I can’t stand the atmosphere in your place.” He said, “What? why? don’t take it like that, we are busy, it’s nothing personal, and you have definitely passed the trial period.” I said, “Yes, but you haven’t passed the trial period!”

Has a cop ever said something to you which was completely unexpected?

I was 17. 2 cops pulled me over and checked me and my car out. They found a pair of pliers on the back floorboard. They were looking at me all suspicious like. I was shaking. One of them said “We’ve got you now”. I managed to say “For what?” They looked at each other and then one said “Cattle rustling” I said “But we’re in the middle of the city”. They started laughing. Turns out there’s an old Texas law dating back to the 1800s that forbids anyone from carrying wire cutters. We all got a laugh and they let me go.

What are some psychological facts that people don’t know?

Haters don’t really hate you , in fact they hate themselves because you are a reflection of what they wish to be.
Make sure to listen carefully to how a person speaks about other people to you. This is how they speak about you to other people.
We only need two close friends in which we can trust . Having too many friends linked to depression and stress.
Those who don’t socialize much ain’t actually anti — social , they just have no tolerance for drama and fake people.
Stop telling your problems to others, 20% don’t care & the other 80% are glad you have them.
Eating chocolate while studying helps the brain to retain new information and it is linked to higher test scores.
Being nice to someone you dislike doesn’t mean that you are fake , it generally means you are matured enough to tolerate that individual.
The reason why it’s hard to get someone out of your mind is because they are thinking about you as well.
People who understand sarcasm well are often good at reading people minds.
If your mind wanders often , there’s 85% chance , that you are subconsciously unhappy with your life.
The way parents talk to their children’s become their inner voice.
Writing your negative thoughts and tossing them in trash can improve your mood. ( I tried it and it really works:)
Meditation can change the brain structure in just 8 weeks . It also increases grey matter in parts of the brain associated with learning.

Men will not go where they are unwanted.

My Uncle Eugine told me this story about being the only man in the retirement home. All the “old gals” were bringing him food and doting over him…

What are some psychological facts that people don’t know?

Some of the psychological facts, which I am sure most of the people would not be knowing

Any friendship that exceeds the 7 year mark… Is more likely to last an entire lifetime.
When cleaning your room, start with making your bed. It will make everything around it look out of place and it will motivate you to clean!
92% people type things into ”Google” to see if they spelled them correctly.

If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself. ~Albert Einstein
Whenever you’re curious about something write it down. This way, whenever you’re bored you’ll have an entire list of things to learn about.
After 3 to 4 months of having a crush on someone, you either fall in love with that person or become interested in someone new.
85% of people have experienced a dream so real that they were not sure if it happened in real life or not.
Never judge someone without knowing the whole story. You may think you understand, but you don’t.
At a restaurant? Wash your hands after ordering. The menu is generally the dirtiest thing you can touch !
Coca-Cola only sold 25 gallons syrup the first year but kept going. Never give up !
‘Dysania’ is the state of finding it hard to get off the bed in the morning.

A study has found that friends-with-benefits relationships are just as sexually satisfying as marital relationships.
Kissing and cuddling can increase your lifespan.
Having sex only 3 times a week, has proven to make you look 5-7 years younger.
Shy people tend to have great observational skills, making it easier to recognize the core of a problem then solving it.
The “Pinky Promise” originally meant that the person who breaks the promise must cut off their pinky finger.

Last and quite weird – In 1895 there were only 2 cars in the entire state of Ohio yet they still ended up crashing into each other.

Being a Worker Drone as a lifestyle

What’s the “meanest” thing you’ve done for your child that you know he/she will thank you later for?

I came to USA married and our daughter arrived 5 years later.

I decided to teach her Portuguese since it is our mother tongue.

When my daughter was 7 years old, she did not want to speak Portuguese anymore. One day, coming from school, she began telling me some situation that happened at school in English. I told her: “Please, tell me in Portuguese.” My English is excellent, but the reason that I wanted her speaking in Portuguese was because of her future, it is a plus when you can acquire a language as a child.

She got upset and told me she did not want to tell me anything anymore. I told her to go to her room and come back when she was ready to speak. It took her a few minutes, but her reasoning was valid: “Mom, everything happened in English”. But she told me the story in Portuguese, with some American words.

A decade passed, she is in nursing school where she learned Spanish. Since both languages have Latin roots, it was not very difficult to learn it.

Today she is a nurse. Almost every week she comes home telling me how impressed her foreign patients are with her Portuguese. The hospital administration asked her to do some tests for her to become their official translator.

Here and there she thanks me for not giving up on teaching her Portuguese. It has opened many doors to her.

Sharing knowledge

What’s the fastest you’ve wiped a smirk off of someone’s face?

I was getting fired. I knew it for sure.

They took all the power tools off of my service truck.

Told me I had to go see Bob Laublaub (not his real name) at the shop.

Yup…They’re firing me.

So I go into Mike’s…Ermmm Bob’s office. He has a termination slip and a check he is filling out by hand, my payoff. He says, “We are letting you go, it’s a clean layoff”. True to his word it was a clean ROF (reduction of force). I sign it, he already has. As soon as I sign it I am no longer his employee, so I ask him, “Why”? He states “We had a complaint from a customer that you were spending too much time in your truck smoking cigarettes”.

“Ohh,” I replied and handed him his copy of the termination form.

“I quit smoking three years ago”.

What is the most unreasonable request/demand that you’ve seen on an invitation to a wedding or event?

Thank you for the A2A, Wesley!

When one of my best friends from high school got married, she asked me to be a bridesmaid. I was pretty honored, and said yes. Then she told me I had to order a dress in a size 16. I was a size 2 at the time.

Her reasoning: she was portly, as were her bridesmaids, and if I was up there in a gown that showed how slim I was, I wouldn’t “match” the bridal party.

The dress was very low cut, and the only straps a loop of fabric on each side, like this, in lieu of sleeves. The skirt was much fuller.

What was I supposed to do, walk down the aisle holding my arms over my head, dragging two pounds of fabric? How would I walk with all the fabric tangling between my legs?

I rescinded my acceptance.

Do you agree with Donald Trump’s comment that “we owe trillions of dollars to China”?

The amount of U.S. treasury notes held by foreign countries is well known.

China’s current holding of U.S. treasury instruments is, roughly, $859 Billion (U.S. of course). That’s less than one trillion.

And the U.S. treasury owes that much money to China because China loaned the United States that much money (although there’s probably some interest in there). The United States isn’t going to turn down perfectly good money just because the Chinese have it. For one thing, if the U.S. government refused to sell U.S. debt instruments to countries for U.S. dollars, those countries would probably trade them on the open market for Euros or something and drive down the value of the dollar. Then the Europeans who sold Euros would be investing the money in U.S. treasury notes anyway.

Porch Pirate

Why do Chinese authorities care about immoral content on the livestreaming industry?

They are intelligent and play the long game. They’ve watched the effects that immoral contents have had on other countries for the past few decades and they’ve decided they do not want a similar fate for the youth of China. I commend them.

Which historical figures died the best?

Meet the woman who killed the President of France with a blowjob:

Marguerite Steinheil was a woman who lived a very interesting life. She was a socialite whom became famous for her many affairs with very prominent French men at the turn of the century, she became embroiled in international political scandals and once attempted to frame her manservant for the brutal murders of her husband and mother, a crime for which she was heavily implicated but never convicted.

However, it is for her relationship with Félix Faure, 7th President of France, that she became infamous.

Steinheil was introduced to Faure at a social event and quickly became his mistress. She would often visit his office at the Élysée Palace and disappear with him into his private chambers. One day, having visited the Palace, Steinheil rung urgently for the servants, who entered to find Steinheil adjusting her clothing and Faure having a seizure on the sofa. Within a few hours he was dead.

The story that came out was that Steinheil had been performing oral sex on Faure when he suffered a fatal stroke.

It’s tragic, but undeniably a pretty awesome and quintessentially ‘French’ way to go. The Presidents legacy lived on through a ship named for him, which ironically went down a few years later.

America today

As a doctor, what is the most unusual way a patient has thanked you for taking care of them?

When I was an ENT resident, I had a patient named Alvin who had been treated multiple times for an oral cancer. What happened on a visit after a biopsy stays with me today. At that time I wrote an article about it. Kind of a long answer to your question,, but I think worthwhile:

Alvin lay on the gurney, oblivious to the huff of the respirator forcing oxygen into his lungs. Pulling the surgical mask from my face, I reached for his pulse and checked his pupillary reflexes, matching the physical input against the digital readouts on the recovery room monitor. Everything looked good except that Alvin was going to live.

Alvin, a master woodworker, had cancer. At least, he’d had it before. Four years ago a small sore on the floor of his mouth proved positive for squamous cell carcinoma. Chemotherapy, radiation and three mutilating surgeries over as many years battered the disease to a standstill.

Throughout his ordeal, Alvin was indomitable. His face disfigured by the loss of half of his lower jaw, skin burned leathery by radiation, he saw no reason to complain let alone despair. Although he couldn’t smile, he never failed to joke with the nurses and talk about the mountain cabin where he planned to retire.

When Alvin presented for his checkup, there was another lump. My heart sank. He’d had all the drug and x-ray treatments his body could tolerate. Another surgery was out of the question.

“I don’t know about this, Alvin,” I said. “I think we’d better biopsy it.”

With a voice made raspy by his treatments, he said, “Sure, Doc. No problem.”

A week after the biopsy, Alvin bounced into my office after a wave and a wink to the receptionist.

He plunked himself in front of my desk, eyes still bright but unaccompanied by the usual deep laugh lines. He unshouldered a Woodworker’s Supply tote bag and set it beside the chair. “So what’s up, Doc?” he said.

The damning pathology report lay on my desk like a sheet of lead. My voice broke on his name. I took a sip of water and pulled myself together.

“It’s not good, Alvin. The cancer’s back. I don’t think we can stop it this time.”

Alvin nodded and leaned back, staring at the ceiling for a few seconds. Leaning forward, he rummaged in his bag, extracting a package about the size of a cigar box brightly-wrapped in silver paper. He placed it on the desk and pushed it across to me.

“I know, Doc, and I knew you’d feel real bad about it. I thought this might cheer you up a little. Made it myself.”

Speechless, I carefully unwrapped a wooden box with an intricate inlay of a bird on the lid and scrolls of a yellow wood encircling the periphery.

“Not bad, eh?” he said. “Now the box is amboyna burl from Southeast Asia. One of the most exotic burls around. Chinese emperors used to hoard it like gold. Now they use it to make the dashboards on those high-end Mercedes. Just a delight to feel it in your hands, isn’t it? Like butter.”

He reached across to outline the yellow scrollwork inlaid on the sides. “Now that’s East Indian satinwood,” he said excitedly. “India and Sri Lanka. Tightest grain you ever saw. Hold it up to the light and it looks like it’s embedded with diamonds.”

I ran my hand over the polished surface, turning it to catch the light, catching some of Alvin’s enthusiasm for the natural beauty of the wood and marveling at the craftsmanship.

“The bird,” he said, “is my poor attempt at a phoenix. Lots of different woods in it for the colors: bloodwood for the fire, granadillo for most of the body, plum for the wings, some ebony for the talons. Whaddaya think?”

I stared slack-jawed at the man who’d just received a death sentence. “Alvin,” I managed, “it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Knew you’d like it,” he said, his voice smiling for him. “Thanks for being my doc. We gave it a good run didn’t we?”

Her Lover Will Not Cheat Again After His Revenge

OMG! LOL.

Sad, though. Fiction? I have no clue.

Probably. Fiction.

But a fun story never the less.

Who was the man with the most exceptional trading skills ever existed?

Kyle McDonald, a guy (26 years old at the time of the events) who in 2006 managed to trade his way from a single red paperclip to a house.

It happened in Kipling Saskatchewan, Canada. In July 2005, Kyle posted an ad on Craigslist: “My name is Kyle, I’m an unemployed 26-year-old Canadian, I want a house in exchange, starting the trade by offering the red paperclip on my desk.” The idea came from a popular Canadian children’s game called “Bigger and Better,” which involves trading an object for something bigger or better until you get what you want. It took 14 trades and one year, but he finally succeeded.

The first to respond, two days after the initial blog post, were Rhawnie and Corinna: via email, they offered a wooden fish-shaped pen. Kyle went to Vancouver and met them, completed the trade, then posted their photo on his blog. And so, he waited for another trade. In Seattle, the pen was traded for a ceramic doorknob made by a lady named Annie. The doorknob turned into a barbecue, then a gas-powered generator (September 24). Within weeks, the internet buzz about young McDonald’s idea reached the media, and CNN and BBC competed for his interviews. The electric generator was traded for a beer keg, a snowmobile, a trip for two to Yak, British Columbia (February 2006), until he got a van and a record contract with Metal Works (February 22, 2006).

Later, he could trade the contract for a year’s free stay in a house in Phoenix. Kyle accepted, updated his blog, and started again. But renting wasn’t enough for him; he wanted his own house. Then came the real turning point in Kyle’s already lucky story: metal rocker Alice Cooper offered an afternoon in his company in exchange for the year’s rent. Leslie, an employee of Alice Cooper’s restaurant in Phoenix, lived in the apartment rent-free for twelve months. After closing the deal, Kyle had many offers to choose from, and he made the only trade that seemed like a loss: the afternoon with Alice Cooper went to Mark Herrmann of Kentucky, for a KISS band glowing orb. His popularity helped in the search, and in February, director Corbin Bernsen offered a role in his next movie in exchange for the KISS orb. At this point, the town of Kipling stepped forward, offering McDonald a recently renovated house in exchange for his role in Bernsen’s film.

It was July 5, 2006, a year had passed.

Kyle had made it, and on the lawn of his little house with red windows, there’s a large red metal paperclip.

What was the most unexpected knock you got on your door?

I live in the wilderness. One night, just after dark, I get a knock at the door. Other than a few neighbors who would have phoned. I live miles into the woods, and nobody knocks on the door after dark.

I go to the door and there’s an older man and a woman, in pretty rough clothes, the man is holding a pretty beaten up rifle.

He claims that they went scouting elk in the morning, left their car, and went on foot, and got lost. The rifle was just for protection from Grizzlies. He was going to show his girlfriend a valley of elk, that would blow her away.

I hated to break it to him, that there had been no elk in that valley since the wolves moved in.

Elk season didn’t start for another week, he had planned on poaching. But here was a couple in their late sixties that had been walking for 8 hours, so guest rules were in place.

So I offered them a drink. He wanted a ride to his car.

I explained that it was a 40 mile drive, half of it on rough roads. Even though his car was only 10 miles as the crow flys away.

So we hopped in my truck, I took his gun, before we got in the truck. Though, with my hands on the steering wheel, he could have taken it while I was driving. But it was a good faith gesture.

It took close to an hour to get them to their car. I waited until they got it started, and they drove out ahead of me.

Of course, they were flat busted, and I wouldn’t even ask for gas money, because they didn’t look like they had a penny.

What is the biggest scam an auto mechanic ever tried on you?

Went to a local mechanic to get some tires replaced on my vehicle my current set was bald and I was traveling from North Carolina to Florida.

After the tires were changed everything seemed fine until I got above 60 miles an hour at which point there was a severe rattling/wobbling coming from the rear end.

After the Florida trip I took my car back to them they told me I needed a new rear axle. Never had that kind of problem before so I took it to the dealership I bought it from. They examined the car and asked me why I had roughly 6 extra ounces of weight on my passenger rear tire on the back side of the rim. I said I don’t know please remove it they did problem was solved. The dealership didn’t charge me anything.

Upon returning home I went to the scam artists and said I am going to do everything I can and tell everybody I can not to use their services and why. Even went so far as to keep the weight strip in my car to show people.

We live in a very small town and word travels fast they we’re shuttered never to open again 6 months later.

Commander’s Palace Sour Cream Pecan Coffee Cake

Ingredients

Cake

1 cup (2 sticks) softened unsalted butter
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch salt
1 1/2 cups sour cream

Pecan Filling

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter well a 10 inch Bundt pan and dust with flour, shaking out the excess.

Cake

In a bowl with an electric mixer beat the butter until smooth.
Add the sugar, a little at a time, and beat the mixture until it is light and fluffy.
Beat in the vanilla extract and the eggs, one at a time.
Into a bowl sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture, beating slowly until just combined.
Fold in the sour cream.

Pecan Filling

In a bowl combine filling ingredients. Spoon 2/3 of the batter into the prepared pan, sprinkle the top with the pecan filling, gently pressing filling into batter, going completely around the cake until all remaining nut mixture is used. Add remaining batter to pan and smooth top.
Bake for 1 hour, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. If necessary, loosely cover top of cake with piece of aluminum foil to prevent overbrowning.
Let cool on a rack in the pan for 5 minutes.
Invert onto the rack and let cool completely.

Why I fear leaving America going to Africa

What is the worst restaurant incident you have seen?

A corporate party in a 4 star restaurant a guest was talking full advantage of the open bar, and when told he would not be served he grabbed at the bartender.

The bartender was a former Michigan state police officer and he grabbed the man’s hand and was punched in the side of the face.

An all call went out for help as every bus boy, prep and chef poured into this party and restrained the drunken patron.

As they attempted to evict him he dropped to the ground. The two chefs, large, strong and burly, fell with him. They lay there on the steps holding his arms when the police came through the door yelling at us.

“LET HIM GO!” the officer commanded. And so they did.

This drunk idiot screamed, shook off the chefs, blew past me and attacked the cop!

I’ve never seen a baton wielded in such a dramatic fashion. From his side it smoothly went up and across that man’s head with a this and a “uhg” he dropped like a rock.

The dining room didn’t react at all. We all went back to work.

The romantic gender

Why are things made in China inexpensive? Is it because of the cheap labor or the cheap plastic?

Go figure!

Your U.S. CEO earns 100 times that of Chinese CEO! Your Employees earn 5 times Chinese worker but Chinese workers work twice as hard. Your employees expect 10 times more benefits yet product half the Chinese worker productivity.

Your ports and infrastructure is dilapidated China’s infrastructure is state of the art latest technology. You turn our bill shit artist and Chinese workers are well educated, willing to learn and highly driven.

Every shit you do China will do it better, do it faster and do it way cheaper than you. So go figure why everything China do is get done at a fraction of your cost! It is not nuclear science!

Judging by money output

Which is the most powerful country today?

CHINA, in every respect, I know every yank will say the USA but I don’t think so, not anymore, mainly because of their debt, and growing daily, yes, the US have a very powerful navy, but SO WHAT? Ships can be sunk, and sunk quickly, missiles are the thing these days, and China is way ahead with their hypersonic missiles, double the speed of US ones. According to all reports. Also, they run rings around the US in speed and cost of manufacturing. Which also puts China in front.

Have you ever stumbled across a valuable rare find at a garage/yard sale or a secondhand store and knew you were getting too good of a deal? If you bought it, did you feel guilty and tell the other party what you found was worth at some point?

An elderly neighbor died. He was a mechanic before he retired and had a large set of tools. His widow held a garage sale to get rid of his things, and she had a large rolling tool chest, filled with the tools of his trade, marked at $25. I took her aside and told her “Withdraw that from the sale. It is marked way low. I will sell it for you.” She demurred, but I talked her into it.

Three phone calls later I had it sold for $1500 to another mechanic I knew. I also managed to sell the rest of his tools at a good price over the next few weeks, including a few I bought myself at fair market price.

Sleeping at night is worth more to me than getting a good deal at a yard sale.

Why are there so many shelters for abused women in America, but almost no shelters for abused men?

Because (many) human beings think in terms of archetypes, not individuals, and the archetype of the abuse survivor is not a man.

I recently (last year) had a conversation about this with a therapist who works with abuse survivors. She was quite blunt and up-front about it. She said (paraphrasing) “A man can have video of a woman hitting him, and many people will still insist he can’t be an abuse victim.”

Liberals often make this about politics. A lot of liberals will point to toxic ideas about masculinity common in conservative circles (men are stronger than women, women can’t be a threat to men, women are kind and nurturing while men are aggressive and warlike) and say “therein lies the problem.”

While there is some truth to that—-some people do discount the idea men can be abuse survivors because they hold traditional gender-essentialist ideas about men and women—liberals have their own dirty closets when it comes to this issue as well.

A lot of liberals will say “believe survivors” when what they actually mean is “believe women,” and “believe women” when what they actually mean is “believe cis white women.” (Trans women? Women of color? They have a very different experience when they talk about being abused. I personally know a woman who says “believe women” who silenced a woman of color when she came forward about abuse.)

So, why does this happen?

Because people think in archetypes.

This isn’t actually about left or right, and it isn’t even about abuse. Step back for a moment. What’s the first thing, the very first thing, that pops into your head when you visualize a welfare recipient?

For a great many Americans, the prototypical welfare recipient is an inner-city black single mother.

Would it surprise you to know there are more white people than black people who receive welfare in the United States?[1]

This is an archetype: a quick mental image of the exemplar of a group. Many Americans think the exemplar of the group “welfare recipients” is “inner city black single mother.” Many Americans think the exemplar of the group “abuse victim” is “cis white woman.”

People make judgments based on archetypes, not individuals. People who make public policy decisions think in terms of archetypes, not individuals. When the archetype of “abuse victim” is “white women,” you build shelters around…white women.

And the thing is, even people who will tell you “oh, yeah, I know anyone can be a victim” don’t act like that’s true, not really. Liberals will point out hypocrisy in conservatives and conservatives will point out the same hypocrisy in liberals, but this is a “humans think in terms of groups” problem, not a left/right problem.

The very same conservative who will say “those social justice warriors always go on about how men are bad and women are perfect” also think that a real man, a strong alpha man, is not a weak pathetic pussy who would ever be hurt by a woman.

The very same liberals who will say “those knuckle-dragging conservative Neanderthals always sneer at beta males weak enough to let themselves get pushed around by a woman” also think that in any patriarchal society abuse is always a phenomenon perpetuated by men against women.

They both have the same archetype. They have it for different reasons, but ultimately they have the same archetype.

tl;dr: Because sexism.

Footnotes

[1]

Americans Are Mistaken About Who Gets Welfare

What’s an unpopular opinion you have about relationships?

My husband and I have a very “boring” relationship. We don’t fight, we don’t “just pick up our backpacks and go for a vacation”, and we don’t indulge in “let’s do something crazy” moments. For (up to now) over twelve years together (including get-to-know-each-other, relationship, and marriage), we haven’t done anything “just because”. Anything we do, we have a plan for it.

The love my husband has for me is not the kind of love that the teenage me once dreamed about (I always dreamed that someone would love me like Gatsby loved Daisy). His love is not a love that burns like lava, seething with passion. His love is like the essence of life, filtered through time and crystalizes into a steady, solid, giant rock that I can lean on. His love is so tangible that I feel I could see it and touch it.

And I believe it’s the best kind of love one could ever ask for.

We often dream about someone that willing to die for love, willing to die for us, and we are willing to die for them. Yet, I’ve come to understand that we don’t need an eventful relationship to feel fulfilled. It’s far more enriching to have someone that we are willing to live for, to build a life together.

G3 and P99 dreams

I know that I live in China, and that it is safe, safe… safe! But you know guys, I do miss my guns. Yup. I left them all behind back in the ‘States when I moved to China. I loved to take them out, and shoot them every now and then, and truthfully, I was lethal with my pistol.

I also miss my G3.

I have had numerous weapons through the years, but I left behind my precious P99. It’s not that it is better than the trade-offs that I get here in China. It isn’t, but every now and again, I do miss firing that pistol.

Truth, you all.

Deep down, I still hold on to some of my American characteristics.

Of course, all of this is meaningless to you all, unless you are an American. But there is always something very nice about being able to defend yourself from the crime-ridden United States .

Here’s a (my) Martin .444 lever action.

Man, oh man, those bullets were huge!

It could really cut through the brush… I’ll tell you what.

Back in the day, Australians used to own thee kinds of weapons, and then a crazy guys in Tasmania (I seem to recall) went on a shooting spree “out of the blue”, and the Australian government started to ban everything… you know… to make Australia safer.

I hear that there are parts of Australia that remains very, very dangerous. I mean that there are some places that you do not dare go out at night…

…ugh. That is NOT a place where anyone should live.

But I don’t know if it is the wildlife… or the “wild” life. But if live in one such place, I would suggest that you leave. Life is too short to live in fear.

A life lived in fear is a life not lived.

Are there employees who later employed their boss?

For my case, I was the boss who was later hired by the guy who used to work for me. Early in my career, I managed a construction crew of a dozen or so workers. One of my workers, I’ll call Scott, showed exceptional intelligence, drive and common sense. I promoted to foreman and then supervisor in less than two years. I left that company over a contract dispute and found another job.

Six years later, I’d grown bored with the new job and felt my future there was limited. Out of the blue, I received a call from Scott. A short time after I had left the old company, Scott ran into his old college sweetheart and a year later, married her. College? A menial laborer, promoted for foreman, and then supervisor, had a college degree? Yep. He told me that he was once a practicing attorney but disbarred for helping a client hide some assets. After disbarment, he slipped into depression and alcoholism. At his lowest point, he took the job of laborer.

His sweetheart and new wife was $$$ LOADED $$$. she had bought him his own successful construction company. He was a smart, ambitious guy but lack bossines (I mean business) sense and knowhow. He found himself over his head on a project and called me for help. It happened I had a couple of weeks vacation left, so for a nice fee, I agreed to spend that time helping him.

At the end of those two weeks, he offered the the job as Executive VP at salary over my current one and a share of the profits. He turned out to be the best boss I ever had and I worked for him until he retired (at forty-two.)

How do Chinese people feel about foreigners who live and work in China?

Ask the foreigner.? To them it is a million times safer than back home in the U.S. Chinese people like diversity and welcome good foreigners. But if he is a CIA or NED spy or trouble maker chances is he or she will be caught within 24 hours. If he likes the food, the place the people or the culture he or she is always welcome. If he is a hubris, xenophobic racist he should stay at home and join the KKK.

Let me warn you, China sniff you out in an hour and we will send you packing. But if you live China and wants to make China even better welcome. Let me tell you what you can do in China that you cannot do at home. You can open a 6 pack and you can drink as you walk on Chinese streets. You cannot do in the U.S. You can walk in the street at 3 am in the morning safely even if you are a women. In the U.S. you have many no go areas that even cops don’t want to go.

You cannot see homeless because there is none in China. Your chance of being shot by a random mass shooter is a billion to one in the U.S. if you fall sick everyone including foreigners get to be treated by the best doctors and given medical help. The life expectancy of China exceed that of the U.S. There is zero case of racial profiling in China but in the U.S. blacks can be necked to death in open daylight.

Come over and let’s prosper together.

Is Xi Jinping’s presidential car in San Francisco a Hongqi car? What model is it?

It is a customized armored Honqi H9 Model 701

There are Sixty Eight Customized cars made for the CPC top brass every 5 years and PLA Top brass

Xi Jingping has four such cars, all similar and heavily armored

The Communication system is connected to a Chinese Satellite constellation and is not dependent on any other system allowing the president to talk to anyone he wants without any interception

Presently only Biden & Putin have similar systems

The Contract Tender price of this car was 972000 RMB ($ 136K)

What did your boss do or say to you that made you quit your job?

“I don’t care if she’s dead. Money is money.”

I’ve been managing a brand for 9 years and have had stellar performance. I was promoted quickly and pretty soon assumed the role of second in charge for one of the key cities.

Part of my role includes bringing in big corporate sales. I was in the midst of closing a large annual contract with a major player.

And then my godmother had to undergo brain surgery.

I applied for some time off and spent a week with my godmother who lives in another country. I had accrued over 40 days in leave as I’ve been working myself to death to grow the company.

When I returned, my then boss wanted to know if I had finalised the sale. I was speechless. Everyone knew about my godmother’s surgery and it was an annual contract that the company could’ve afforded to wait a couple of weeks for. It wasn’t as if it was completely lost and I’ve been in communication with the client throughout.

But then came those words that I will always remember – “I don’t care if she’s dead. Money is money.”

I walked.

On a happier note, my godmother is fully recovered!

What is the most extreme example of human willpower and discipline?

Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima

Story: He was the leading runner in the 2004 Summer Olympics marathon.
At his pace, he was sure to win first place and secure the gold medal which would’ve brought pride and glory to his family and country.

Near the end of the marathon, he was attacked by a spectator. The spectator actually sidelined into him. Intentionally. In public.

That brief, 10 second-long distraction was enough to completely disrupt De Lima’s mental AND physical rhythm, both of which are critical to running long distance marathons.

He was quickly surpassed by two other runners and was evidently off his game for the remainder of the marathon. He finished in third place in surprisingly good spirits and received the bronze medal.

What people remember is that he crossed the finish line with a smile despite what had happened to him just moments before.

This was a man who was robbed of first place and an Olympic gold medal in a matter of seconds.

Imagine training for something your entire life and being so close to accomplishing something extraordinary. Something that brings you, your family, and your country great pride and happiness and puts you in the history books.

Only to be robbed in a matter of seconds in the most outrageous and nonsensical way possible. By something that should never have happened in the first place.

De Lima could’ve stopped running when that incident happened. He could’ve attacked the trespasser. He could’ve complained endlessly to the officials.

But he pushed past, he ran, and he finished.

Even after the fiasco, words like “furious” or “hatred” were evidently not in De Lima’s vocabulary. Holding a relentless vendetta against his perpetrator was clearly not important to him.

Even when a fellow Olympian earnestly offered his own gold medal to De Lima, De Lima responded “I am happy with mine – it is bronze but means gold.”

De Lima went on to win a variety of awards commemorating his self-discipline and spirit of sportsmanship.

He also went on to light the cauldron at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

It takes immense willpower and discipline to run and finish as a top contender for a marathon in the Olympics, but I think what makes De Lima so special is his willpower and discipline to look past something so ill-fated and still come out on top. He truly lives a life of no regrets.

And I don’t remember who won first or second place in that 2004 Summer Olympics Marathon.

But I remember Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima.

The man is a legend.

Men and Ice Cream

What is the most offensive thing someone has ever asked you?

When I was nine years old, my mum died.

Although I didn’t know how she died at the time, it later turned out that she had died by suicide. Nine year old me thought she’d just died of old age — she was 43 after all!

We were kept off school for a few days. My middle sister was in the year above me at the same school. Our classmates had been told that our mum had died (not how) and that they should be nice to us.

On my first day back at school, a boy from my sister’s class ran up to me and shouted in my face “Jordan, how’s your mum?” and ran off laughing.

I still remember his name 41 years later – Billy Smart; the same name as a popular travelling circus from that time. That’s all I remember about the boy now – his name and that he thought it would be funny to tease me about my dead mother. I hope he became a more sensitive and well rounded person as an adult, but I have doubts.

What’s a rule your employer implemented that backfired terribly?

Ahahaha, memories! I worked at a publisher for a few years and the management had no clue how much work folks did. They were so clueless, in fact, that they were convinced people were shirking their duties, sneaking out early, coming in late, etc.

So, they ostentatiously installed an electronic time card system. We had to log in and log out every time we entered or left the building, respectively.

They informed us we were going to be paid for the “actual” hours we worked, instead of what we submitted on our timecards (we were “salary,” and yet had a low-budget pay system, so “salary” simply meant “submit a 40-hour timecard every week regardless of the actual work you perform.”), with the implication that we better watch out ’cause “now they were watching.”

Hahahahaha! Watch this!

This company was so delusional that it spent cold hard cash in a passive-aggressive attempt to not pay people, and it totally backfired.

To no one’s surprise, the next payroll was a blowout because we always busted ass and worked long hours. Plus, we completely stopped taking work home to do. Our rationale was “If you’re going to be a jerk about insisting that we are only paid for being in the building, then we’ll only work while we’re in the building.”

The company found themselves shoveling out overtime pay like it was Skittles.

They deactivated that system after Week Two.

I think, to this day, they still think we somehow “hacked” the system, because they could not acknowledge that we worked long-ass hours.

Dingbats.

Make men cry

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yq3yG3BZt4U?feature=share

What is the best thing you have ever learned from a criminal?

I learnt how to break into my own house when I forgot my keys.

I was waiting for my wife to come home standing in my doorway when a neighbour asked me if I was okay. I said I was fine and I was waiting for my wife to get home from work so I could get in.

I knew that he had a criminal history. He asked me if he could use a small branch of one of my trees to open the door. I agreed, and he put one into the letterbox of my door and he used it to nudge the Yale lock to open it.

I learnt that I needed a better lock. In fact, I bought a whole new door with several locks.

I also learnt that criminals can. and do. reform. For many years, my neighbour could have entered my house and stolen anything he wished.

You just need to put more effort in…

What’s something your husband did to you that you will never forget?

He died!

Months before he died he wasn’t feeling the best. Where he used to NEVER take time off work he had started taking lots of time off. Or coming home early. His feet hurt him. He did a lot of walking at work.

I BEGGED him to go to the doctor. I told his mom to TELL him to go to the doctor. All it created was fights. So I quit begging him to go.

I went on a girls weekend and he died in our home. I have SO MUCH ANGER that he died so young, when it possibly could have been prevented. The main cause of death was a heart attack due to untreated diabetes. Clearing out his drawers I found many bottles of unused diabetic pills. They weren’t even his. Someone gave them to him to “help”, he still didn’t use them.

Now I tell people. PLEASE make sure the ones you love go to the doctor, use Dave as an example why. Also that you know how all the household expenses work. He paid all the main bills and spoiled me. I didn’t have to do any of that. Was a huge eye opener when I had to take over. Nearly lost my house to foreclosure, but am finally getting things under control, four years later.

So yeah, he died on me. I will never forget. We were high school sweethearts. Met when I was 15, he was 17. Got Married when I was 19 and he was 20. Married for 23 years. Together 27.

Make sure the ones you love take care of themselves and get medical help. Sucks being a 42 year old Widow.

Don’t be too humble…

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LmXXDmGgsWM?feature=share

What is the most absurd thing you’ve been charged for on a bill?

So I was in a car accident with my then girlfriend. A teenage girl, driving her mom’s car ran a red light and hit us. It was a pretty bad accident and my girlfriend was taken out of the car on a backboard. The girl who was driving was really shook up, and her passenger had a minor wound that was bleeding. I had banged up my knee and my face got hit pretty hard. An ambulance came, but there was no room for me in the back, so I sat upfront, shotgun. When we got to the ER it was really busy. I sat there waiting for about two hours. Finally a nurse brought me to the examining room, where I waited about another 45 minutes to an hour. The nurse who brought me in looked at my swollen face and said if you had iced that it wouldn’t be so swollen. Finally I just signed myself out.

About a week later I got a bill from the hospital for treatment and an ambulance ride. I called and told them I wasn’t paying because they never treated me and I rode on the empty front seat of the ambulance. They told me that I was charged because if I had really needed treatment it was there. So I asked if they charged people who walked past the hospital also were charged for the same reason. My bill was graciously forgiven. That’s when I knew I would go to law school.

Who cares what he thinks…

What’s something your husband did to you that you will never forget?

Not my husband but my bf. On Sunday passed I collapsed at the bar we were at having pizza and wine, and I suddenly dropped like a stone. I died for like 7 seconds, eyes wide open and no pulse. I was out for a few minutes then slowly came to. I had no idea what I was doing on the bar floor or who the girls were hovering over me. (Lucky the one girl was a chemist and resuscitated me) My bf tried to see if I could make it to the car but I was too weak, I could not walk at all. I could barely sit up. He called an ambulance for me. He sorted my ID with the drivers to help with my medical aid numbers (as the ambulance was going nowhere otherwise) Followed me to the hospital and sat by me while tests were being done. My blood sugar stabilised and I could go home. He drove us back at midnight, an hour journey…both of us exhausted. He’s not my husband so I didn’t expect him to do all that for me. I can’t believe he behaved exactly as a husband would. I’m a very lucky girl.

Jerry Springer world

What’s the best revenge you’ve gotten after being fired or let go from a job?

After the dotcom crash I got hired by a small software company. They didn’t really have a good product and it was obvious they were on the way down. One day the owner called in with instructions to fire all the sales people as they weren’t making any sales anyway. OK so at the end of the month he calls to ask how sales were going. I said about as good as can be expected with no sales people.

A week later the hammer comes down and we’re all let go and given our severance checks. I immediately go to the bank branch that check was drawn on to cash it and it bounced!

So since I still had the keys to the office, I went back and grabbed a bunch of high-end laptops and took them home. Another week goes by and he calls to ask about these laptops that have gone missing. I said they’re not missing, I’m holding on to them until you make good on the bounced check. I was told that was theft and they would be pressing charges. I said great, I’ll be contacting the Labour Relations Board about your shitty practices and also the Police about knowing passing a bad check for thousands of dollars.

Needless to say I was asked to stop by his office to exchange the laptops for another check. It was like the scene out of Scarface where Tony Montana goes to buy the coke.

Owner: Do you have the laptops?

Me: They’re close by. Do you have my check?

He gave me the check and I went and cashed it and then went back and gave him his laptops.

It is assumed that men can handle hardships on their own…

What is the best thing that has ever happened to you for being nice?

This is the best, most positive experience I had at the hotel where I worked in college.

As I was getting ready to close my shift out at the front desk of a large hotel on Capitol Hill, a woman came to my desk and said that she wanted to check in, but she lost her purse somewhere along the way between the train station and the hotel.

She was frantic. She was having a meltdown. I asked her about her reservation, if she was with a group? She said “Yes! I’m with X group!”

Awesome. I knew this was an incoming group, with a block of rooms, so I asked for her name. Her name corresponded with a name on my incoming list. I told her that I see her reservation and you have a room! So don’t worry about that, I said. Let’s get the rest sorted.

I then asked when was the last time she saw her purse, and she said that it was on the Amtrak that came into Union Station about 20 minutes before she got to the hotel.

I asked her if she’d had anything to eat. She said she hadn’t, in hours. I said well you better get over to the restaurant and let them give you something to eat while I make some calls! I sent her to the restaurant, and I made sure that everyone knew she was my guest, and why.

I got on the phone, called a few people I knew at Amtrak and asked them to find the cleaners on that train. They found her purse, and brought it to the hotel. Everything intact.

Kicker is? The woman I helped? She was in DC to lead a series of workshops on customer service. I turned out to be the star in her first session on “Getting service right.”

Turns out, I’m nice. Who knew?

This man deserves Heaven

What’s the hardest thing you’ve endured being poor?

As my marriage began to unravel, my (then) husband became worse and worse with money.

First, he wouldn’t come home for days, leaving the kids and me with no car. That meant if I needed groceries, I had to walk 8 blocks to one store or 11 to another and carry them home.

I couldn’t ask my father for a lot of help, as my mother had cancer. More often than not, I was helping her, and my father was filling in when I couldn’t.

One day, I found I had no bread or milk for my children. I went to the cabinet where I kepy emergency money, only to find the jar empty. The “proud papa” took it. I scooped up whatever spare change I could find and went to the grocery. At the counter, I found I was short. I was ready to cry. I tried to think of which should I put back, when the grocer told me someone behind me paid for my groceries. I cried as I took the bag and said thank you.

Walking home I thought it couldn’t get any worse, but I was wrong. The jerk stopped his paychecks from going to our joint account. He wouldn’t pay the mortgage or utilities.

I had a bank book that he forgot about, and with that I paid bills for as long as I could. I put my children on food stamps to put food on the table. I put a lien on my house since you couldn’t qualify for services if you owned a house. Passover was coming and I didn’t have a penny.

Agencies that claimed to help made you feel like you were robbing them if you asked for food. I got one parcel and was sick. Everything was dated a month or two before: the juice, other items, and the raw chicken – which smelled so bad I threw it out.

I begged my brother for $200 so we could have a nice holiday. He gave it to me – and never let me forget it. If he needed a favor, he reminded me that I owed him. I was so ashamed I never told my parents.

The house went to foreclosure about the same time the utilities were shut off. I borrowed money from my father to move and pay first month’s rent on an apartment. When I finally started working I put aside $10 a month to pay him back. It was hard, and I barely made ends meet. My kids hadn’t gotten new clothes at this point in nearly two years.

I was still chasing my separated husband to get him to court. Finally, I hired three court servers for $200 a piece to wait at each exit at his job. He was served his subpoena to appear in court. After some delays – didn’t come with a lawyer, fired his lawyer in court – the judge asked him why he didn’t take care of his family. He said I’m having problems with their mother. The judge said “Why didn’t you buy food? Pay for the house? Clothes? What did you do for your children?” He kept trying to say he was having a problem with me and the judge got angry.

“What did you do with your money?” the judge asked. We presented photos of his new sexy sports car – bought with the money that was supposed to take care of his children. The judge told him “I’m done talking to you.” Then she asked me what I had done for my children.

I showed her the paperwork for food stamps, proof I sold jewelry and used the bank book I had to pay utilities. I just got a job, so we were under a roof.

She told my then husband “you earn almost 3 times as much as your wife and you did nothing for your children?” She ordered child support at the maximum allowable by law, as well as back pay of money he should have paid since January (it was now October).

He screamed “where will I get that kind of money?” The judge said “sell your sexy car, that doesn’t have room for your three children.” My attorney stepped up and said “we would like to show more mercy than he showed to his children. He can pay off his wife in semi monthly checks.”

He took the deal, never realizing he would be paying me for three years. The extra money coming in meant my kids could get new clothes for the first time in two years, I paid my father back the money he lent me – and I gave my brother $300 when he lent me $200. I told him the extra $100 was for him to shove it anywhere he wanted – I didn’t want him to talk to me like I was dirt again. In spite of my brother’s protests that he didn’t mean to humiliate me, he did in fact keep the extra hundred.

Today, I’m a bit better off. But I still need to watch my money. Sometimes I get depressed and buy junk I don’t need. But I try hard to avoid that.

Smart man

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/JFReCu9Pv1g?feature=share

Why do some people think a nuclear war can be won against say Russia or China?

Read some of the western propaganda. You can see it on youtube videos about non western hardware.

There’s a very common narrative.

Everything Russian is junk! None of it works! Russians apparently don’t even have working rifles according to most westerners. If Russian rifles don’t work how would these [slurs] be able to maintain nuclear weapons! Only the SUPREME MASTER RACE can maintain nuclear weapons. You can see smug British people say haha ours work! Like our SA80 the BEST gun in the WORLD! The Challenger 2 the MOST INVINCIBLE TANK IN THE UNIVERSE. You remember posts on Quora about 6 months ago? British people saying it would take nuclear weapons to stop a challenger2.

Chinese?

Everything in China is made of tofu! Pretty much exactly the same as the above.

The MASTER RACE is so confident that they think they can perform nuclear strikes and bomb our cities and we can’t do anything back.

It is a big problem

Blue Bayou Chocolate Mousse

Yield: 8 cups

Ingredients

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate
4 ounces unsalted butter
5 ounces egg whites
2 ounces granulated sugar
3 1/2 cups heavy cream

Instructions

In a double boiler combine chocolate and butter, stirring until melted.
Whip cream and sugar until light and fluffy; set aside.
Beat egg whites at high speed until soft peaks form.
Using a wire whisk combine egg whites with the melted chocolate and then with the whipped cream.
Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Don’t rock the boat

Be the best option.

Say I steal 2 cents from every bank account in America. I am proven guilty, but everyone I stole from says they’re fine with it. What happens?

A case like this actually happened in the 1960s. A programmer working on Wall Street opened an account and wrote a program that funneled all the forgotten mills rounded off of each penny into his account. It seemed like he was stealing nothing. It turns out that a weakness in binary systems makes it difficult for them to convert 1 penny correctly so they round up or down. There are often thousandths of a cent that are then ignored and few people, if any, on Wall Street look at the penny column. It was absolutely invisible. But those thousandths of a cent, multiplied by millions of daily transactions add up. He was caught by the sheer size of the numbers that were being generated.

He was prosecuted not because anyone cared about those fractions of a cent (they didn’t) but because he was stealing and stealing is against the law.

When you steal something it doesn’t matter what the victim thinks. The state is obligated to prosecute. The statutes don’t often say, “He broke the law but it’s ok because his victims don’t care”. The statutes, while they may take the scale of the injury into account, must prosecute you for breaking the law because “Justice is blind”. It’s a one size fits all approach, for better or worse.

In reality we know what really happens and there are plenty of ways for justice to be derailed long before the judge bangs the gavel and pronounces a sentence, but the theory still applies. It doesn’t matter what the victims think. Actions have consequences and you broke the law.

Dogcoin millionaire

What is the best thing that has ever happened to you for being nice?

In 1994 my then-husband was arrested for soliciting a hit man to kill me. He was apprehended by federal agents through a sting operation. As more information was revealed about how he was caught, I learned that my husband had contacted a member of the Outlaw motorcycle gang looking for the killer. Turns out the gang member called the feds because he had been in my business a few weeks prior with his daughter and I had given the little girl change for the gum machine.

A quarter saved my life….and sent my now-ex husband to prison for 21 years.

Be nice, you never know 😉

Cat With a Broken Paw Went To The Clinic & Begged For Help, But The Vet Did Something Shocking!

Great story!

What would China be like today had Mao Zedong lost the civil war against Chiang Kai-shek’s nationalists? How would this have affected the balance of power worldwide today?

Mao won because he and the Red Army had won popular support among the Chinese people. In fact, during the three main battles fought during the civil war, Chinese civilian volunteers provided logistical support to the Red Army, and abandoned the Nationalist Revolutionary Army.

In China’s cities, runaway inflation and corruption among Nationalist officials destroyed support among private Chinese businesses, and they moved to support the Communists.

From your question, you seem to assume that the civil war simply involved two armies fighting each other for the control of China.

In fact, just as Sun Tzu has said, wars are fought and won in the hearts and minds of the people; it is not just about two militaries.

For this reason, your belief that the Nationalists could have won against the Communists is an impossibility.

The Chinese people decided that they needed a new China, and that is the environment the world is living in now.

Marriageable man or instragram

How have you changed?

“I’m worried about you,” my grandmother told me. “You’re too nice. People like you don’t do well in the world.”

That was the last time I saw her.

I forgot about that conversation.

I didn’t even understand what she meant.

Besides, it’s easy to dismiss the words of an elderly woman suffering from advanced Alzheimer’s.

I’ve always been concerned with what others think about me. I wanted to do well in the world. I had a deep need for outer acceptance because I wasn’t embracing myself on the inside.

I thought that if I just stayed out of trouble—if I just avoided controversy and did my best to please the people around me—I’d feel safe in the world.

Perhaps even wanted.

And so I became the nice guy.

I let other people come first. I put my own needs aside. I sacrificed my wellbeing.

And I was miserable.

But in the last years, something changed.

I put me higher up the priority list.

It’s not that I became an asshole or stopped caring. I realized that I’m still someone who feels and empathizes deeply with others.

But I decided to stop operating out of fear and guilt.

And I’ve realized that, as much as it sounds like a cliché, you have to cultivate happiness within instead of expecting the world to hand it to you as a trophy for your “good” behavior.

So I started taking my career seriously and insisted on being paid what I knew I was worth instead of letting employers walk over me.

I began practicing martial arts and became more confident.

I resolved to not put up with other people’s shit.

I gave up being nice.

And in doing so became more empowered. More genuine. More me.

I finally understood what my grandmother was trying to say.

She was right all along.

I just wish I could let her know.

Yes and no

25 Strange Things That Only Exist In Vietnam!

Vietnam, nestled in Southeast Asia, boasts a multifaceted tapestry of history, culture, and natural beauty. The nation’s turbulent past, marked by the Vietnam War, contrasts with its vibrant present, where bustling cities like Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi are hubs of innovation and growth. In today’s video, we will be talking about the things you can only find in this country of the east. We cover everything from their markets to their religious beliefs, but if you stay until the end of this video, you will also find out what exactly is the balance of five flavors, and why is it the most important part of their cuisine. Enjoy!

What was the biggest decision taken by you that changed your life?

Writing on this site—because of what it’s led to.

After my divorce, I knew I’d have a lot more free time on my hands. I needed a hobby that would be productive.

I am very intense and passionate about anything I do. I was a hardcore gamer for years and was a high-level league of legends player at one point. Not good enough to go pro, but maybe just below the level at which people make money. But it was a problematic hobby that ate up too much time.

As a child, my dad had often said, “Wow imagine if you put as much time into your studies as you did into those games.”

I decided no more hobbies that will consume me.

I figured writing on Quora would be a quasi-productive, quasi-fun hobby, that wouldn’t consume me too much.

Everything except that last part was true. It spun into this whole big thing that I never expected. I got obsessed with writing. I think in the first 3 years I wrote 4000+ answers.

This love of writing led to opportunities to make money. I was able to work at the craft.

Writing also made me realize how much I hated my corporate job. I would liken it to when you are in a terrible relationship and some great, attractive person who has their shit together asks you out on a date.

You start to wonder, “What if there is more to my life than this crap relationship?”

Quitting my job was a huge decision that changed my life for the better. I have freedom. The money is great so far. I have control of my life.

It’s amazing what can happen if you just listen to your parents.

How China Reinvented The Space Station!

Why was France industrially much weaker than both Britain and Germany before WW1?

Because it was mainly an agricultural country and France was a major food exporter.

Britain and Germany had massive industries meaning fewer people working in agriculture. This resulted in food shortages, the need to import food, and higher food prices.

The French economy was doing very well being based on agriculture.

Computer brain. Don’t get computer brain.

What is the funniest loophole you have ever seen?

When I was in eighth grade, our science teacher held a school wide competition to see who could build the strongest bridge out of tooth picks.

My best friend, “J”, was very smart, very clever, and always mischievous. The rules only states that the bridge had to be made out of toothpicks and had to be a certain length (I think 12”, this was over 20 years ago). The rules did not limit what glue you used to join the toothpicks. Additional toothpicks could be earned by doing extra credit worksheets.

“J” came up with an awesome plan. He did dozens of extra credit sheets. He had thousands of toothpicks. His father was a machinist for a local manufacturer of printing presses and was able to procure some industrial grade epoxy to use as glue.

“J” set to work making alternating crisscrossing layers of toothpicks and epoxy. He essentially made a solid brick of toothpicks and epoxy.

The day of the competition came. The competition went in alphabetical order and “J”’s last name was pretty far down the list. The teacher had everyone gathered in the gym to see the competition. The bridges were suspended over a gap with weights hung from them until they broke.

Kid after kid brought up their bridge, some of them very fancy suspension type looking bridges. Most of them broke at 6 kg or less.

“J”’s turn came. He walks up to the platform with his brick. Kids in the audience are laughing at it. The bridge is placed over the gap. 1 kg, 2 kg, 3, and on until they hang the biggest weight of 25 kg and it’s not even flexing. All the kids are stunned.

The teacher, who was quite large and probably weighed 150 kg, puts two stacks of books on the floor, puts the brick over the gap between them, and stands with one foot on it. Not even flexing yet.

He then has the entire middle school follow him to the parking lot. He uses the books to prop up the brick again and proceeds to drive one wheel of his car onto it. It flexed a little.

At this point he has run out of heavy things to try to break the brick and declares “J” the winner.

As a teacher, what was the trashiest thing you’ve seen a parent do?

I’m frequently shocked at the language some parents use when dealing with the priests and nuns at a Catholic school. I’ve been in meetings where parents shouted and swore at elderly clergy people because they (the clergy people) had the audacity to remind the parents that they were way behind in their tuition payments, or their children were in danger of being expelled due to too many discipline issues.

I was always taught to treat older people and members of the clergy with respect. I’ll never get used to hearing a middle-aged parent scream and swear at an elderly priest or nun.

I was also always taught that you’re supposed to be extra nice to pregnant women. Apparently, a lot of parents were not taught that. I’ve seen parents scream and swear at teachers who were just weeks away from giving birth.

I was also always taught that you’re not supposed to swear in front of children. Yet every year, there’s at least one incident where a parent picks up their child from school and, in the course of a three-minute conversation within earshot dozens of kids as young as three years old, manages to drop a dozen really loud f-bombs.

I’ve also been preparing for my class in the morning, only to have the windows of my classroom shake as someone with stupidly-loud bass in their car drove up to the school to let their kids out… all kids who were under eight years old. There’s a time and a place for loud music. Seven thirty in the morning in front of a Catholic elementary school while you drop off your kids is not the time or place for that.

I caught my neighbor using my electrical outlets outside, and I told him I was going to call the cops and tell them what he was doing. He laughed and said I can’t prove it. What should I do?

Get photos of the cord plugged in, photos of where it goes (unless you have to trespass), and make sure they are dated and time stamped (most digital cameras can do that and possibly some phones). Pull out your electric bills from the times you know he was using your power and try to see how much extra was used. If it is a lot over a short period, you have proof on the bill. Not sure about your power company but some keep track of just how much is used when to try to help you cut down and that information could also help you.

I always say, document, document, document so it isn’t your word against his.

What the Hell?

What work secret did you accidentally find out that changed everything?

I’m not sure this counts as ‘accidentally’ but: A long time ago I joined a startup company. We were doing some innovative stuff with fiber optics.

My roommate and I got into the habit of taking the accountant out to lunch or Happy Hour every few weeks; generally on a Friday. We’d get a few drinks into her and she’d open up about the financial condition of the company because she was worried.

We found out that the first unit we “shipped” was actually sent to a warehouse for storage because the CFO wanted to tell the investors we’d sold and shipped a unit by year end. There was a potential client but they hadn’t signed the purchase order.

When I found out that the CFO was lying to investors and employees I started looking for a new job. Sure enough four weeks later they announced a layoff. I was let go because “your software already works and we’re betting that it will keep working.” Meanwhile they kept a programmer that couldn’t get his program to compile let alone work.

When my manager called me in, I told him that he was cutting off his nose to spite his face. I also neglected to mention all of the semi-automated routines that I’d built in my spare time that no one had thought about or worried about ( things like builds, backups, space reclamation in the homegrown database, etc. ).

They offered us ‘outplacement services’ with the first meeting that AM at an offsite location. At the outplacement meeting they scheduled us for a follow up meeting the next morning. I told them I couldn’t attend because I had an interview already scheduled. Three other people also had interviews already scheduled because I wasn’t the only on that took the accountant out to lunch!

Have you ever met a failure who completely changed their life around that truly inspired you?

Yes. I have a school friend who was very bright and did well. He was in the rugby team and was a Prefect. He was very popular.

After school he went to a good uni but surprisingly dropped out. He got a good job in advertising but lost it. He got another, got married, but both failed disasterously. He was a raging alcoholic and was out of control. Finally he became very ill and ended up in a clinic. He was in his 20’s still and was given a year to live unless he stopped drinking.

He met a girl at the halfway house he was in. She was in the same position as him. Together they joined AA and got their lives going. They moved abroad, to a fairly undeveloped country that was growing quickly, and with some inheritance, started a small film production company. They did very well. He was responsible for starting many AA chapters there. He saved careers, marriages and lives.

We met for lunch recently. It’s forty years since his last drink and he’s happy and prosperous. Being dry is not a struggle, but he is still vigilant. He accepted a long time ago that he has a terrible weakness, possibly inherited, and this is his burden. Unwilling to hand on this weakness, he’s never had children. He’d have made a wonderful Dad.

How warm was it inside of homes in the 19th century during the winter time?

Cold, but usually above freezing, at least here in the UK where nearly all buildings are made of stone or brick.

I don’t have central heating. I do have 18″ thick stone walls, but in a very cold winter my kitchen has been known to get so cold that my fridge stopped working, and my hands went numb within a minute or two of entering the kitchen.

However: yes, my windows are double-glazed but they’re a lot bigger than they probably would have been in the Victorian era, and in the Victorian era they would have had wooden shutters. I don’t even have curtains in the kitchen, because the room is laid out in a bloody stupid way which means I can’t even get *near* the window without climbing on top of a kitchen counter and walking across it.

In the Victorian era I would have had a fireplace in the living room and possibly the bedroom, and my kitchen would have had an actual stove that burned fuel and so put out excess heat.

Have you ever sabotaged food because someone was stealing it?

Back in the day I worked as an assembly line “artist,” creating art that sold wholesale to decorators of office buildings and hotels. The company was owned by a foreign family that had fled prosecution in their own country and a few family members were employed as artists or support staff.

I was a poor lad but this job seemed really fun. It paid a bit more than minimum wage and it was cool to hang out with young artists like myself. I rarely went out to lunch, preferring to save money and bring my own, including yogurt cups for dessert. After a while I noticed my yogurt kept vanishing. I made a stink about it, even contacted HR (well, the supervisor that handled billing and HR) mostly suspecting another starving artist.

Then I had a diabolical idea – I read that consuming saline solution could cause diarrhea! I wore contacts so I had some, I just needed to find a way to inject my yogurt cups with it. After some failed attempts, I was still trying to figure it out when another yogurt cup went missing.

Struck by inspiration, I went to the HR supervisor’s office and “confessed,” with the door open and loud enough for nearby folks to overhear, that I had “spiked” the yogurt with saline. I regretted my rash decision and told her that whoever consumed the yogurt would likely have stomach problems for an hour or so but would otherwise be okay.

Sure enough, an employee suddenly went home sick, complaining of stomach problems! And it was one of the owners’ family members, a fairly well off individual compared to the rest of us. So did I get in trouble with the bosses for poisoning a beloved relative? Nope, because there was NO ACTUAL SALINE in the yogurt! The only thing the thief was suffering from was a guilty conscience.

Don’t steal food!

Ouch!

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ij8ZeTd7X7s?feature=share

If men and women are equal, how did the society become patriarchal in the first place, almost all around the world?

Men and women are NOT equal.

There is a thing called sexual dimorphism. This refers to physical, physiological and even mental differences between males and females of a species, beyond their sexual organs.

The vast majority of species in the animal kingdom have sexual dimorphism, and even some plants. I’m sure you’re familiar with lions.

Males and females are fundamentally different, and in humans and all apes the males are generally bigger and stronger than the females. This isn’t just a matter of exercise. Testosterone in men promotes the growth of larger and more powerful muscles, something women cannot achieve without outside help like anabolic steroids.

Testosterone doesn’t just influence men’s muscles; it also affects their brains. Men and women are mentally different because of the different levels of testosterone and estrogen in their brains.

And guess what? This doesn’t just apply to humans.

Male birds, for instance, are the only members of the species that initiate courtship rituals. (That’s why the peacock has that huge mane of feathers). Male birds sing and court females because of the levels of testosterone in their brains, making them aggressively seek and impress females.

Most animal species from rats to humans to birds exhibit these mental differences between males and females, even in species where no physical sexual dimorphism is present (such as with dolphins).

These differences even cause societal systems to form in animals. Patriarchies aren’t unique to humans. Lions have a totally patriarchial society where the males head the pride, and the women serve and hunt for him. Wolves, apes, and other animals have formed patriarchies.

Guess what? Some of the other species have matriarchies. Elephants for instance are a completely matriarchial society, with males being cast out of the herd to find other herds to impregnate, which is about the extent of his involvement in society. The herd itself is guided by the oldest matriarch.

The fact of the matter is, differences between males and females affect society. Not just in humans, but in many social animals. Pretending that men and women are equal is like an ostrich hiding its head in the ground trying to ignore what is obvious.

Human societies formed into patriarchies around the world regardless of creed, religion or ideology for one simple reason: the stronger physical dominance of men made them better warriors and workers, while the vulnerability of women during childbirth meant it was important to provide a safe and stable environment for them to rear children in. Further, only women can produce milk to feed newborns. This meant that the role was locked in from the start, something a man can never do.

Thus men took on the role of protector and provider, while women took on the role of homemaking and childbearing. While modern society can allow men to just buy infant formula and women to rise to exemplary careers and bring home the bacon, this is a modern development and not one that was possible through the early stages of human evolution and society.

In today’s world and moving into the future, it’s certainly possible for us to destroy the patriarchy and create a different kind of society. Time will tell where this social experiment will lead humanity.

Terrorists Blow-Up PAKISTAN Air Base! 40 Fighter Jets Burning

World Hal Turner

The Taliban-Linked Terrorist Group “Tehreek-e Jihad” (TTP) has just claimed Responsibility for a Significant Attack tonight on Mianwali Air Force Base in Northern Pakistan.

The Terrorist Group appears to have Snuck into the Base using Ladders and are claiming to have Destroyed several Aircraft as well as some kind of Armored Vehicle.

The Pakistani Army is currently conducting an Operation to Secure the Base and have already Killed multiple Terrorists.

Why is China not supportive in making India a permanent member in the UN security council?

I viewed some answers above, I felt many answers didn’t get the main point.

The truth is: nobody of the 5 wants to share their rights.

Everyone of the 5 says they agree to extend the council but actually they don’t. Because it will add the bargain cost.

USA government says they support Japan to get into the council because USA knows Russia and China will veto. USA says like this way to keep Japan in hand to deploy USA army.

China supports Germany to the council because China knows USA and France will veto. Guess for what interest.

USA and Russia says they support India because they know China will veto. For what interest? Weapon sales.

So now do you understand what game they are playing?

How far do alpha, beta, and gamma particles travel in the air?

Alpha particles don’t get far at all. They’re heavy, they’re slow, and they carry a charge, so they interact easily. They can travel an inch or so in air, but are blocked by a sheet of paper.

Beta particles are just elec…okay, um, so, correction. β- particles are just electrons. They’re light and zippy, so how far they get depends on how fast they go. Good rule of thumb, approximately 10ish feet or so for each MeV of energy.

β+ particles are positrons—antimatter electrons. In theory they could get as far as β- particles, in an antimatter world. In our world, they don’t get far at all in air before they hit something and annihilate in a flash of gamma photons.

Gamma rays? Oh, it is on. Hold my beer.

Gamma rays laugh at your puny “air.” Gamma rays laugh at your puny steel. Gamma rays might stop for lead, maybe, if you have enough of it to make things interesting. Six feet of concrete or one and a half feet of lead should do it.

This might as well be tissue paper to gamma rays
Gamma rays sneeze at this
This is not even close to what it takes to stop gamma rays
Starting to get there, if the gamma rays are going through lengthwise
Now we’re talking! (The whole stack, not one plate)

Gamma rays will go merrily through this planet’s entire atmosphere, plus the bodies of the researchers doing the experiment, plus the roof of their house, and then merrily on toward Alpha Centauri.

What happens if the United States stops China from developing advanced computer chips?

300,000 engineers and scientists in China will briefly look up from their work and say in a puzzled tone: “奇怪，那是什么声音？是不是美国放屁的声音？”. Then they return to their R&D projects in advanced chipmaking.

Bitter Pill

Have you ever been mugged and had it end badly for the mugger?

Not a mugging but I did have a break in at my apartment. I was assaulted, had both eye orbits fractured, broke ribs and fingers, and was choked almost to the point of loosing consciousness.

I however did manage to stab my attacker in his face and skull, scalping him from his left ear to the top of his head and causing brain dammage. He lost serious ammounts of blood passed out and was put in a medically induced coma for two days and had multiple blood transfusions before he was even conscious to be charged with aggrivated assault, breaking and entering and attempted murder (I dont actually know what he was officially charged with, just that he was sentenced to two years and ended up serving four)

I had my ass beat, and badly. But I was told by the police that if it wasnt for modern medical treatment my attacker would have died.

Now years later I was very drunk the night before my brothers wedding. Someone did try to mug me but I was apparently so drunk that I didnt know what was happening and I thought they wanted a cigarette and I kept explaining that I dont smoke. Their heart must not have been in it because they gave up and moved on to someone else without stabbing me. Some witness called police and I was supposedly too drunk to give a statement. They got me back to my hotel and I dont remember any of it

And thats my life story so far.

“Men Have No CLUE!” This Is Why Men Aren’t TAKING Western Women SERIOUSLY Anymore

Raw reality. I am so glad that I am no longer young.

U.S. and Europe Talking with Ukraine about PEACE NEGOTIATIONS with Russia!

World Hal Turner

U.S. and European officials have begun quietly talking to the Ukrainian government about what possible peace negotiations with Russia might entail to end the war, according to one current senior U.S. official and one former senior U.S. official.

The conversations have included very broad outlines of what Ukraine might need to give up to reach a deal, the officials said.

Some of the talks, which officials described as delicate, took place last month during a meeting of representatives from more than 50 nations supporting Ukraine, including NATO members, known as the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, the officials said.

The discussions are an acknowledgment of “the dynamics militarily on the ground in Ukraine” and politically in the U.S. and Europe, officials said.

In other words, despite all the media hype that Ukraine is winning, Ukraine is actually losing. Imagine that.

More at NBC News HERE

First it’s the unchecked flooding of Chinese Fentanyl into America. Next, mercenary bounties get placed on British residents. At what point should America issue an arrest warrant for China’s Xi Jinping à la Manuel Noriega?

Rodrigo, educate yourself.

“Unchecked flooding of Chinese fentanyl into America”?

Fentanyl is a LEGAL drug. Fentanyl addiction is a problem only in America. NOT in China or anywhere in the world. It is Americans ordering, procuring and peddling this drug and not the Chinese “flooding” the U.S. It’s OUR problem because WE caused OUR opioid addiction. Why the shit are you blaming China for us not being able to control the trafficing of fentanyl within the U.S.?

“Mercenary bounties placed on British residents”?

“Mercenary bounties” is the farthest from the truth.

Australia, UK, US condemn Hong Kong bounty for exiled activists

Bounties is defined as money paid for killing or capturing a person or animal.

However, Australia, the U.K. and U.S. have branded the rewards for information as “bounties” for 8 exiled pro-democracy HK activists for the 2019 riots in Hong Kong that these countries instigated through the CIA and NGOs. Hong Kong has every right to seek information on persons guilty of seditious acts against China.

This is Hong Kong issuing warrants for their citizens for serious criminal acts. And if they are stupid enough to return to Hong Kong, they will be arrested.

“Arrest warrant for Xi”?

Another stupid question. Who is to issue this? The U.S.? For what charge?

Are you dense enough to believe the U.S. has the authority to arbirtrarily order the arrest of the leader of another country? The U.S. has NO police authority beyond our border just like any other country.

And then what? Do you expect the U.S. or another country to invade the soveriegnty of China by going to China to arrest Xi?

China hate does not justify you to think, write or act stupidly.

This Just Ηappened In South Carolina, But Something Εven Stranger Ιs Ηappening Around The World!

Seems suspicious we never had this many huge disasters in our food manufacturing plants, trains, and other big plants.

https://youtu.be/MQV052LM9VY

U.S. Flying MQ-9 “Reapers” Over Gaza

World Hal Turner

The United States has been flying MQ-9 “Reaper” drones over the southern Gaza Strip of late. (HT REMARK: One wonders if they are giving intel to Israel so they can slaughter more women and children?)

They were first spotted on Saturday on Flightradar24.

Officials say the drones were being used to “aid in hostage recovery efforts” indicating that the U.S. is more involved than previously known.

Are Republicans losing?

Republicans are winning, they just don’t seem to know it nor can they give the rest of us some peace. What do I mean by this?

Traditional Republican values are what America still runs on and much of the rest of the world too. In fact, all of the countries where things work, they run on traditional conservative or Republican values. Like thrift, hard work, saving, putting your kids in school, reasonable but not high levels of tax, a hand up not a hand out. No corporate crony capitalism (this is in theory of course as there always is colllusion) , some type of religious base to your society and usually that is Christian though it could also be Jewish, or Hindu or Buddhist or Muslim.

So why are the Republicans winning and losing?

First the losing. Because they can’t stop themselves, they keep snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. It is called extremism and the entire right wing of the Republican party starting with the so called Freedom Caucus which has nothing to do with either, not espousing freedom rather telling everyone especially women what they can and can’t do and it is not even a caucus, just a raucous group of malcontents.

Republicans are winning of course in the electoral college where they own around 30 states which gives them a disproportionate control of just about everything with state, local and federal government. They control red states which means military bases and expenditures (11 out of 15 largest are in red states, yet they cannot pass a budget that is focused on the military or allow the military to make promotions which their extremists block). They control state houses in the same proportion, they gerrymander like crazy and win more and more as the Supreme Court now rules in their favor, slowly whittling away black and brown rights in particular.

They are winning on dismantling and even the legitimacy of the federal govt and their chief avatar, Trump has his man in as Speaker who we found out this week doesn’t even have a bank account. No, he is not a traditional Republican.

What to make of this? Democrats feel they are in the majority, but control less and less and are fragmented. Republicans could control everything but the right wing crazies including Trump keep giving them opportunities which if it were not for Joe Biden, they would have squandered once again.

Republicans? Their values, real conservative values rule the civilized non autocratic world. Unfortunately in America, these values are not the values of the current Republican party.

Therefore you see, in the end they are winning in spite of themselves and with their losing their way and becoming extremist, they are literally taking the country down along with democracy with them.

Prizes…

Bank Notice: “Some Deposits May Be Temporarily Delayed”

World Hal Turner

Several US banks are facing service disruptions today. Meanwhile, users on the ‘free speech’ social media platform X complain that the Automated Clearing House system is down.

Downdetector.com shows Truist, Bank of America, Chase, US Bank, and Wells Fargo are experiencing widespread outages and disruptions that began around 0800 ET.

A message on Bank of America’s webpage reads, “Some deposits may be temporarily delayed … Some deposits from 11/03 may be temporarily delaved due to an issue impacting multiple financial institutions. Your accounts remain secure, and your balance will be updated as soon as the deposit is received. You do not need to take any action.”

Hal Turner Remarks

I see about 5 US banks listed as being offline over on down detector website. (HERE)

Bank of America
Chase
Chime
US Bank
Wells Fargo
Huntington

My bank (Capital One) is **NOT** affected at all.

One wonders if the situation in the Middle East has Hackers going after the US banking system?

Apparently, it’s a particular clearinghouse that B of A, Chase and Huntington use. That went down last night. They just got it up and running and I was told that most will get their deposits within 2 hours. Tonight at latest”

BofA rep just told me that the Fed sent the banks a bulletin that there was an outage overnight but that the servers are back online now and the deposit backlogs should be worked through by end of day today.

My wife contacted her company’s bank this morning. They reported that the issue is with the banks that use what’s called the ‘Federal EPM Processing Clearinghouse,’ and that they had a widespread server outage overnight, but that they are back online and processing the backlog.

What is the weirdest complaint people made about their food in a restaurant?

We were eating at Benihana’s one evening and sat next to a young couple who appeared to be on a date. They looked over the menu and ordered a variety of sushi. I was impressed by how adventuresome they were.

When their meal arrived both of them stared at their plates closely examining every item. They were clearly getting very upset. Finally they called over the waiter and the gal said in a loud voice, “You call yourself a restaurant?! Did you even CHECK this stuff before it left the kitchen! Look at it! Everything is raw!”

No words.

I learned what true love is…

Will China survive if her country suffers an extreme economic embargo from international communities just like one from North Korea?

China has had the north Korea experience. It was embargoed (I.e. Total sanction) together with their war comrades for three decades, until the 70s.

China survived that, back in a time when they couldn’t even make fertilizers.

The soviets helped but only the first decade. China remained desperately poor into the 90s.

Today, a china embargo will not be cost free like in the past. Does the world even notice Cuba has been embargoed for almost 6 decades?

Not so China.

For one, Apple as a viable company becomes historical, because it will not have hardware to sell. Every single company in the semiconductor supply chain will be disrupted, because China is a key node, either as supplier, assembler or customer.

Moving on, the different festivals driving seasonal demand will have to be repriced, because it is hard to find a supply chain big and efficient enough to absorb demand spikes.

Study the pandemic. Why didn’t a black market develop for ppe, ventilators and other medical equipment despite exponential growth in demand? Prices increased but they stabilized and the quantity and quality of goods has been remarkable given months of spiraling demand.

It is the same story with work from home essentials, from bird feeders to children toys to video conferencing equipment.

Things are so out of whack containers are being shipped empty back to China while the cost of sending an FEU from Asia to Europe has crossed the 10k mark.

Embargo China if you must, but it will hurt big time, especially for the comfortable first world.

China has made itself relevant to the world. There will be no repeat of “let’s bomb Iraq back to the stone age using flour in the test tube as justification”.

If China is embargoed, you won’t only see it in the news.

You will feel it, deep into your pockets, and you will live the consequences.

REPORT: VIP Jets Now Airborne from DC to Cheyenne Mountain Bunkers – “Gov’t Going Underground”

World Hal Turner

I’m not sure what to make of this, but it was posted in a US Veteran’s Forum. The guy in the brief video seems VERY nervous as he reports EIGHT “VIP” Aircraft heading to Cheyenne Mountain (NORAD??) and says “They’re putting government into Bunkers.”

His voice is clearly trembling as he describes what he sees going on. Looks legit to me, at first glance.

I pass this along with the full Disclaimer that I have not (yet) verified these claims. But if he’s right, then time is of the essence and all of YOU should know.

FLASH U.S. House Approves Resolution on Iran: “All means necessary” to prevent Nuclear Armed Iran

Nation Hal Turner

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a Resolution late last night “. . . to use all means necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon; . . .” Now we know why our military is massed in Middle East.

It now seems clear to me that all the US military hardware sent to the easstern Mediterranean, has nothing at all to do with Israel, per se, and has everything to do with Iran.

That military hardware isn’t there “to protect Israel” as much as it is there to disarm Iran.

The Iranians have likely suspected this, now, they know.

Iran had better take a long, hard look at what is arrayed against them because once all that firepower starts shooting, the entire landmass of Iran will be like a hail storm of explosions.

What happened to Iraq in 1991, I think will look like nothing compared to what they plan on unleashing against Iran. But . . . . there’s a little problem. Russia.

Two weeks ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin casually reminded the world that his MiG-31 fighter jets, flying freely in international air space all the way up in the Black Sea, are equipped with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. He also causally reminded the world that those missiles have a “known” range of at least 1,000km. Without actually SAYING this, it quickly became clear to everyone paying attention that America’s two aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean Sea, are within range of those Kinzhal hypersonic missiles.

Moreover, it also became quickly evident that those missiles can carry either a conventional warhead, or tactical nuclear warheads of at least 5 kilotons.

The US cannot defend itself from hypersonic missiles. No one can.

So if the US goes after Iran, using carrier-based planes, Russia can order two of its MiG fighters to fire Kinzhal missiles armed with small, tactical, nuclear warheads, and utterly destroy both aircraft carrier battle groups.

Can you say “World War 3?”

A direct Link to the official US Government Website showing the text of the US House Resolution on Iran is HERE

Hal Turner Editorial Opinion

Interestingly, this now seems to be a method for declaring war without actually “declaring” it.

While the words “Congress shall make no law . . . .” does **not** mean what it actually says in the Constitution’s First Amendment, and while “. . . shall not be infringed.” does **not** mean what IT actually says in the Constitution’s Second Amendment, you can bet your ass that “. . .any means necessary . . .” means exactly what it says in this resolution!

So . . . . it now appears that the massive naval and military build-up we’ve been watching in the Middle East over the past two weeks was all part of a well-planned series of moves KNOWING FULL WELL they intended to take us to war with Iran. They just waited until ONE day before likely hostilities break out, to put through this new “policy.”

This is the level of sleazy, political, human, garbage we have in the Congress of the United States.

Oh, and by the way, have you noticed that this web site is the **ONLY** media outlet in the entire country pointing this out? That shows you you the level of sleazy, human garbage, infesting the mass-media these days. Keep it all quiet — on purpose. Keep the American people in the dark — on purpose.

Then, when actual war breaks out, the American people are blind-sided, afraid, and called to rally behind the troops. All one big plan.

As our military starts coming home in body bags, the very same politicians who literally caused the war, will cry crocodile tears for the men whose lives their vote snuffed out.

It’s disgusting to me on a level that’s hard to verbally describe.

Straight to the point

The Ukraine Peace Talk Trial Balloon

A trial ballon has gone up on the NBCnews website. It is testing the public reaction to the upcoming U.S. and NATO acknowledgment of their defeat in Ukraine:

U.S., European officials broach topic of peace negotiations with Ukraine, sources say – NBCnews – Nov 03 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. and European officials have begun quietly talking to the Ukrainian government about what possible peace negotiations with Russia might entail to end the war, according to one current senior U.S. official and one former senior U.S. official familiar with the discussions.

This comes the same week that saw a Time piece about Zelenski’s unwillingness to consider the real situation on Ukraine and to admit defeat. The same week the Economist interviewed General Zaluzny who optimistically spoke of a stalemate at the front even while his army is on the cusp of disintegration.

Taken together the three pieces might well be part of a U.S. administration campaign to concede its defeat in Ukraine while blaming its Ukrainian proxy forces for the results of its blunder.

Back to the NBC piece:

The conversations have included very broad outlines of what Ukraine might need to give up to reach a deal, the officials said. Some of the talks, which officials described as delicate, took place last month during a meeting of representatives from more than 50 nations supporting Ukraine, including NATO members, known as the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, the officials said.

The discussions are an acknowledgment of the dynamics militarily on the ground in Ukraine and politically in the U.S. and Europe, officials said.

They began amid concerns among U.S. and European officials that the war has reached a stalemate and about the ability to continue providing aid to Ukraine, officials said. Biden administration officials also are worried that Ukraine is running out of forces, while Russia has a seemingly endless supply, officials said. Ukraine is also struggling with recruiting and has recently seen public protests about some of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s open-ended conscription requirements.

The problem of the Ukrainian army is an obvious one. It is running out of men and has few it can still recruit. It is difficult to assess the real losses the Ukrainian military has had, but I would not be astonished to learn that they sum up to about 300,000 dead and some 500,000+ wounded, many of whom will now be disabled.

Finally these concerns about Ukraine’s manpower get acknowledged:

President Joe Biden has been intensely focused on Ukraine’s depleting military forces, according to two people familiar with the matter.

“Manpower is at the top of the administration’s concerns right now,” one said. The U.S. and its allies can provide Ukraine with weaponry, this person said, “but if they don’t have competent forces to use them it doesn’t do a lot of good”

The last sentence seems to be taken from the Time piece which had said:

In some branches of the military, the shortage of personnel has become even more dire than the deficit in arms and ammunition. One of Zelensky’s close aides tells me that even if the U.S. and its allies come through with all the weapons they have pledged, “we don’t have the men to use them.”

Ukraine itself is destroying its own brigades faster than it can generate new ones:

During the last days tanks from the 47th brigade (Leo 2) and 10th mountain brigade (T-64BM/BV) have been seen, and were destroyed, near Avdiivka. Both brigades had only recently been mauled during their hopeless attacks at the southern front. It does not make sense to throw what is left of them into another battle without reconstituting them. The whole experience and knowledge these brigades had gained will be lost with them.

The whole professional middle-block of the army, the sergeants and young officers, have mostly been killed or wounded. Without them it is impossible to constitute new forces.

The NBC piece has made news in Ukraine (in Russian) but I have yet to find Ukrainian reactions to it. While I was publishing this a first political reaction, total denial, appeared:

Zelenskyy: There is no stalemate, and there will be no talks or concessions – UA Pravda – Nov 4 2023

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy does not think the situation on the front in Ukraine is a stalemate and has said that Ukraine will not negotiate with Russia.
…
Quote from Zelenskyy: “This is not a stalemate. Russia controls the sky. We are protecting our troops. No one [in Ukraine] wants to just throw our people [into the battle] like Russia does […]

How can we overcome it? With the F-16s, we have to wait for our guys to get trained and for them to come back. When there’s air defence on the front, our soldiers advance, and they deploy the equipment they have.”

What will he say when the F-16s, the fifty year old wunderwaffen, fall out of the sky faster than they go up?

There are sure signs that the divide between the political and military leadership in Ukraine is growing. President Zelenski, on request of his new defense minister, just removed the commander of Ukraine’s special forces and installed a new one:

Major General Viktor Khorenko does not know the reasons for his dismissal from the post of Commander of the Special Operations Forces. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, did not submit a request for his dismissal.

It is very unusual to fire an officer without a request from his superior commander.

There are also shots fired against Zaluzny himself:

President’s Office advises Commander-in-Chief of Ukrainian Armed Forces not to publicise situation at front – UA Pravda – Nov 4 2023

Ihor Zhovkva, Deputy Head of the Office of the President, commenting on the article by Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, for The Economist, has said that the military should not bring to the public what is happening at the front.
…
Zhovkva also stated that “one of the heads of the leaders’ offices” called him after the mentioned article was published.

“And they simply ask me in a panic, ‘What should I report to my leader? Are we really at a stalemate?’. Are we trying to achieve this effect with this article?”, the President’s Office representative said.

The NBC piece even sets a time frame to Ukraine to admit that it is over:

Officials also have privately said Ukraine likely only has until the end of the year or shortly thereafter before more urgent discussions about peace negotiations should begin. U.S. officials have shared their views on such a timeline with European allies, officials said.

Russia will likely agree to peace talks. But it probably will demand more than Ukraine is willing to give. At a minimum that is the full control over the five oblast it has annexed, including Crimea, and no NATO relations with Ukraine. The current Ukrainian parliament will probably reject those requests which will then lead to further Russian demands.

Kiev has yet to acknowledge reality. The Ukrainian state has been bleeding out – financially as well as physically. Its masters have found that their aim at the start of the war – to weaken Russia – has led to the opposite. Russia now has a bigger and better armed military with more real war experience than any of its possible opponents.

Russia has won.

Posted by b on November 4, 2023 at 13:23 UTC | Permalink

Who is the smartest person on earth currently? How?

Danny-Bob Vanderwal is the smartest man alive. Danny-Bob was so smart back in school that the teacher couldn’t find anything in her text books that Danny-Bob didn’t already know. When he graduated from high school, he got offers to go study just about anywhere he wanted. But instead, he went to work at the family vineyard. Danny-Bob said he owed it to his great grandpa that brought these grapevines from Germany to the Ozarks over a century ago.

Back in 2013, the county had the worst drought anyone could remember. Grape vines died and family vineyards went out of business everywhere. But Danny-Bob had a plan. He’d studied old geology maps of Vanderwal mountain made back in the 1930’s. He found a fissure in the bedrock down about a hundred feet below the vineyard. Danny-Bob had walked the mountain since he was a little kid, and he had always wondered where the watershed drained to. He came to the conclusion that the stormwater on the surface was draining down to that fissure. And it was probably staying there.

The summer of 2013 was really hot. It was well over 100 degrees in the shade. Danny-Bob had bought an old 1950’s cable-tool well drilling machine and the whole family was out trying to punch a hole through the black granite bedrock beneath the vineyard. Danny-Bob had the old Hercules diesel power unit firing on 5 of the 6 cylinders, but she was turning the drill head. The whole family worked non-stop for 8 days and nights. And finally, on September 7, 2013, Danny-Bob hit water. They all hugged each other and danced in the cool wet mud that flowed up the borehole.

The Vanderwal vineyard was the only one to survive the drought of 2013. Danny-Bob’s great grandpa’s grape vines are still producing today. And everyone in the county knows without doubt, Danny-Bob Vanderwal is the smartest man alive.

What are some things nobody tells you about life?

This answer is purely based on my opinion:

No matter how strong the bond seems but it can be broken.
The people you think will not leave you forever can leave you in 0.1 sec
You can survive without things you think you can’t survive without.
At one point of time in life you will get hated by everyone or anyone
If you’re student you will be respected everywhere according to your marks
If you’ve finished studying you’ll be respected according to your job standards
Your looks matter alot
You’ll have to go through many phase alone
There aren’t 100% guarantee of your loved ones being with you
You will hear the most painful words from your close ones
Everybody likes to be with you untill you treat them well or else they’ll stop liking you
You’ll come through a phase when you’ll find it hard to smile.

What is the most offensive thing someone has ever asked you?

I lived in a small country town and my front garden was on the road children took to the little school, and as I was usually out there with my dog, many of them would stop and talk to me, and pet the dog, but being careful considering the paranoia about pedophiles, I never made any ‘advances’ that could be considered inappropriate

I had to collect my mail from the little post office, no deliveries were made, and standing in line one day, a miserable older woman in front of me turned and demanded to know ’Are you a Pervert?’

As you can imagine EVERY head snapped round, and all I could think to say was,

‘ I don’t really know..do you want to visit later and find out?’

Her face was a study..the post office erupted in laughter, and she stormed out in embarrassment, and being a small place, the story went around like wild fire…and several locals congratulated me later for ‘Talking the old biddy down a peg or two!

What was the shortest interview you’ve had that led to a job offer?

How about an interview that I did not even know was an interview? Time spent on interview: −2

weeks. Let me explain:

I went to a state university, and was not the ideal student. My undergraduate GPA was pathetic. I could make excuses, but the reality was that my parents made enough money that I could not qualify for any government student support, and they expected me to provide money to them. All of my high-school friends were far more cool than me, and they had jobs, and money. I could have worked a bit harder, maybe. But I worked my way through college, and usually took on too many obligations. My GPA was very bad, but one professor, Dr. Vimes, hired me on a grant to do some work creating custom maps for convention attendees, to get them to the booths that they were interested in. I got to travel to conventions and install the map systems.

When I finished my BS degree, I wanted to go on for a Master’s degree. The department chair, Dr. William M. Marcy, initially rejected my application. However, some of the faculty, and the department administrative assistant, convinced him to give me a chance. Dr. Vimes weighed in on that, and probably made a greater difference in my life than he ever realized.

As a Master’s student, I was paid a meager stipend to teach courses and conduct some research. I had the opportunity to travel and present my research at conferences. Meanwhile, Dr. Marcy had a start-up company that employed some graduate students. They had a fundamental problem that they could not solve. They had worked on the problem for over a month, and one of the graduate students told Dr. Marcy to hire me. He caught me in the hallway and outlined the problem, and asked me if I could solve it. I said “probably.” I showed up at the job site at 9:00 AM. By noon their problem was solved. It took me another 30 minutes to write some code to automate it. Dr. Marcy asked me for a bill, and I said, “Don’t worry about it. I had fun solving the problem. Buy me a good dinner someday.”

Under the tutelage of Dr. William Jennings Briant (Brian) Oldham, I finished the MS degree, with a much better GPA, and went to work in industry. In my two years, there, I earned an award for “Best internal supplier” and filed a patent application. When I told them that I wanted to go back to school and earn a PhD, they were willing to support me. They paid for four years of what turned out to be a six year degree. The patent was awarded, and they licensed the technology to other entities. The patent made them well over $10 million, so I think think that them paying me for four years of graduate school was a win-win. During my time as a PhD student, I traveled the world and presented papers to scientific conferences in several countries.

Now I’m going to answer the question.

As I approached my graduation with the PhD, I wanted an academic position. I wanted to be a professor, even though the pay is less. But there were about 50 academic positions nationwide, and over 600 applicants. There is a fairly standard part of interviewing for an academic position. The applicant must give a “research” lecture, and a “teaching” lecture. I needed to practice my lectures. So in October, I sent an email message to my MS Thesis advisor, Dr. William Jennings Brian Oldham, asking if I could do my lectures for their seminar. at my former university.

About a week later, he responded by asking what dates would work for me. The signature on the email message indicated that he was now the department chair. I congratulated him on his promotion, and gave the dates that I could be there.

Fast-forward. I drove down in early December to spend a few weeks with my family and incidentally give my lectures and get some feedback on them from my former professors. Dr. Oldham asked me to show up early, so that they could give me a tour of the campus and see how it had changed in the decade after I was a student.

I showed up at the appointed time, and a student took me all over campus, which was surprisingly interesting. Being near Christmas, someone was playing the carillon. One of the best carillons in North America. She even took me to the office of the president of the university, where I met with Dr. William M. Marcy. Yes, he had worked his way up from professor, to department chair, to university president. We only met for a few minutes, but he did mention that I had been a really shitty undergraduate, and that he was very happy that other people had pushed him to change his decision on admitting me to the MS program.

Shortly after that, I gave my teaching and research talks, and got some feedback from my former professors. The president of the university was present for both of my talks. He reminded me that he still owed me a dinner, and asked me if I was available that night. That night, we went to the best restaurant in that city.

A week later, I received an email message from my former advisor, Dr. Oldham, asking me to log into a web site and fill out the application. It turns out that they had put me through the standard job interview, and all I had to do was actually apply. I did that, and a week later, Dr. Marcy called me and asked, “What will it take to get you to come here?” I answered, “I want to be the highest-paid associate professor on your campus.” And that is how I ended up spending 14 years at a great university in a place where I really did not want to be.

And the shortest interview of my life. I did not even apply for the job until after the interview, so really, the time between application and landing the job is negative.

Blue Bayou Chicken Florentine

Yield:4 servings; 2 cups sauce

Ingredients

Chicken

4 (7 ounce) chicken breasts (with skin)
1 cup Florentine sauce (see below)
3 ounces chopped fresh or frozen spinach*
3 ounces grated Cheddar cheese
2 ounces cooked and chopped bacon
Seasoned salt to taste
2 tablespoons melted butter

Florentine Sauce

2 teaspoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons unsalted butter (room temp)
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onions
3 sliced medium mushrooms
2/3 cup white wine
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon diced pimentos
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

Chicken

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
In mixing, combine spinach, bacon and cheese; set aside.
Open chicken breast and sprinkle with seasoned salt. Stuff with spinach mixture. Fold and place seam side down in baking dish. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle outside with seasoned salt.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
Top with Florentine sauce and serve over rice.

Florentine Sauce

Blend together flour and 2 teaspoons of the butter; set aside.
Sauté onions and mushrooms in 1 teaspoon butter (do not allow onions to brown).
Add white wine and reduce completely.
Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a simmer and slowly add the flour/butter mixture a little at a time until desired thickness is achieved. Continue cooking at a simmer for 8 to 10 minutes.

Notes

* If fresh spinach is used, it must be blanched.

What was the shortest interview you’ve had that led to a job offer?

That was the last job I had in Vietnam before moving to the U.S.

I showed up. My (later would be) boss looked at me. Pointed me to the chair to sit down in front of his desk, then he said:

– I read your resume and recommendation. Do you have any questions?

I didn’t expect the interview went straight to that point, so I asked:

– What do you expect your new hire to be in one year?

I think I surprised him with that question as well. He thought for a few seconds, then listed out his bullet points of his expectations. After listening, I told him, firmly:

– I will be that person in 6 months.

He stood up, held his hand out. I shook his hand, he smiled:

– DEAL!

I got the job. Worked for him 5 years. He’s the best boss that I’ve had the chance to work with and learn a lot from.

What did your boss ever say in the office that caused you to resign?

Years ago I worked as an overnight stocker for Walmart when a night manager position came open.

I was the team lead in the grocery department and had, previously, been an assistant manager for a local grocery store so after almost 5 years with Walmart and 12 years in the grocery business, I felt that I was qualified for the job.

I went through several interviews and at the end it came down to me and a suckup who worked days.

The suckup ate lunch with management staff on a regular basis so I had a feeling that I was going to get screwed.

I didn’t receive a call on the day that they said they’d announce their decision but when I arrived at the store an assistant manager asked me to come back to the HR office. I knew I’d gotten screwed when he directed me to a chair in front of the desk while he leaned against the desk so I sat back to listen to what he had to say.

He said that choosing between me and the dayshift suckup was an incredibly difficult decision but they’d decided to promote the suckup.

He said that I was doing an outstanding job as team lead in grocery and it would not be in management’s best interest to remove me from that position.

He said that I was doing such a good job that they were bumping my pay up by 50 cents an hour, effective immediately.

He asked if I had any questions and I had just one:

“So, I didn’t get the promotion because I’m doing too good of a job?”

He immediately began backtracking and saying that I misunderstood him but I knew what I’d heard. I handed him my name badge and apron before leaving the store. I have not set foot in a Walmart since.

Can Taiwan and Quad win a war against China?

Not a chance

China can go into War Economy in a matter of weeks

None of the others can

You would be taking them on in their backyard where their supply and production and replacement will be twenty times faster than Quads with only South Korea being capable of production based supply

India

India , if they send one ship will face a Chinese pincer movement across the Eastern and Northern fronts and that’s a war that India with barely $ 20 Billion debt free dollars can’t afford

Russia and Venezuela and Middle East will refuse to supply Oil to India on the spot and Canada is not a friend now.

So India will simply sit this one out

Japan

Japan is a decent Navy but an offensive war?

They would simply be unable to get weapons and equipment beyond the sixth week

They would be begging the US for equipment pretty soon especially Shells

Japan has 140,000 active shells & around 600 Active Missiles

China has 1.7 Million shells and around 12,000 Active Missiles for offensive and defensive

South Korea

South Korea will sit this one out

Uncle Kim would be looking with Glee

No way will SK risk a conflict with China and open up a new salvo with NK

So it would ultimately be US vs China

Quad, the rest of it would simply opt out or play a small role in the deep background

US isn’t the great superpower anymore

They can’t defeat China on their turf

They don’t have the manpower if China decide to go reserve and get a whopping 5 Million men in 6 months

No American will agree to get conscripted to fight China miles away today

This ain’t 1965

So No

NATO, QUAD have no chance against China in the South China Sea

China doesn’t want a conflict because China is primarily a Trader than a Warrior

What items make you silently judge the people who buy them?

I don’t generally care what people buy but there is an exception.

I’ll occasionally see someone who is morbidly obese at the grocery store, who had a kid or two under 8 who are very, very overweight already and on track to be 2–3x their healthy weight.

Without fail, their grocery cart almost entirely filled with junk food.

I’m all for people living their own lives and whatnot. I also get that food and being judged is a sensitive issue for overweight people.

But I hate seeing kids being indoctrinated into a pattern of trashing their body.

It’s a really difficult thing to undo later in life if you’ve been conditioned to go straight for candy or chips everytime you are hungry. It borders are being a form of child abuse.

Admittedly, this is a touchy issue for me because I lost a family member solely to the fact that they’d chosen to trash their body. I probably have some pent up agitation because of that.

Outside of that, I don’t generally judge people’s purchases. When I worked retail many years ago, the only thing I judged people over was their attitude.

As long as they were nice and respectful, we were cool.

Some people look down on you for working such a low octaine position. So I try to pay it forward and be polite with everyone.

Is British airways really that bad, why do some allege it’s standadrs have dropped?

British Airways has been in decline for a LOOONG time.

What was it?

Multiple things : They were pretty much a monopoly in the past meaning they had the American problem. DELTA, AA have absolute monopolies on some routes… so it’s like it or lump it. This attitude continued well into de-regulation of airlines.

Later on, they got bought out and as usual corporates sweat the company for more profits. They did this by cutting back on cleaning and employee pay.

Employee pay was a funny one. In that they had unionised staff yet again a legacy of the monopoly age. They could give you crappy attitudes and be protected from losing their jobs. They also had new less well paid staff on different contracts. In essence nobody cared. The seniors were entrenched and were difficult to fire so they didnt care. The new staff were underpaid and on a vastly lower rate and less perks than the regular full time staff so they too didn’t care.

What is the craziest thing you’ve found in an old coat pocket?

I bought a coat on Marketplace. When I got home, I washed it, and I checked the pockets again before doing so, to make sure there was nothing more – like a tissue – that might make the wash gross. The pockets were really deep and came to a point, and I felt something in one of them and had to fish deep to get it. When I pulled it out, it appeared to be a diamond ring, with three sizable diamonds, white gold. I took a picture and messaged the seller I’d found it. She was surprised – said it had been an anniversary gift and wondered if her little girl had been playing with it and put it there. I didn’t want to make the drive again – it was 20 mins each way. So I offered to ship it, which she accepted. I hoped she would offer to pay shipping, since this was not my fault. She’d didn’t. I shipped it anyway.

Have you ever seen a mass exodus after a respected employee quit or got fired?

I worked several decades at a company that Forrest Gump invested in, he called it “some fruit company in California”. I just turned 60, and got a bit tired of expectation of 14 hour days, so I asked to use my skill set in a reduced capacity. I have a life to live, family, other interests. So I asked for a demotion. “We don’t do demotions”. I said that we would have to do something, as I am not keeping up this pace until I drop. So we agreed to part ways (laid off). This did not go over well with other engineers who respected my work, some of whom I have mentored. Basically, anytime you touch a keyboard on a Mac, and enter something in any language of the world, what you see on the screen is my junk (and the junk of a bunch of other really bright people with whom it was my privilege to work). Well, it seems that the other engineers realized that there is no loyalty, and it was just a matter of time before they would be treated similarly. Next thing I know, the other engineers have moved elsewhere inside the company, or have left. Then it seems the entire project got put in “maintenance” mode, as nobody wants to mess with my work, I believe (it is elegant, but a bit hairy… well, I think I invented something, but whatever). Conclusion: This fruit company is ok at recycling hardware, but does not want to hear about recycling its people. The CEO is reported to have said that this is a company for young people, although he isn’t. My years of experience and skill set are no longer valued, there is no loyalty (as I go through ups and downs of life), so I’m happily pursuing my other interests… and I don’t look 60 anymore !

West Confused As China Rolls Out Red Carpet For Russian President Putin On His Visit!

https://youtu.be/FWDONQ4BAtM

Sidewalk Kiss

I am out of the hospital, and I am feeling much better. I can’t wait to get back to business with the start of the new year. The world seemed to be passing me by. Just excited and ready, but my engine is purring. All is good.

…

STORY 1

When I was 16 years old, I went horseback riding with a girl-friend (not a girlfriend) and we were riding in the woods. Well, there were some low hanging vines, and sure as shit, one caught my neck and rubbed it raw. I mean, it was brutal. All my skin was removed.

To everyone at work… it looked like a big “hicky”; a huge sucker bite.

That wasn’t the case, of course, but the razzlin’ and all was really excessive, don’t you know. It took me months to get out from the hasslin’, but you know it was the early 1970’s and that kind of stuff was common in the work-place.

I was still “sweet 16” and never been kissed. That ended shortly afterwards when two of my “girl-friends” fought to become my girlfriend. Which resulted in a sidewalk kiss, that I will never forget.

STORY 2

We were leaving a “sweet 16” birthday party of a classmate. She, a girl named Robin, invited me to it, and I as clueless as ever didn’t know what to do. When we left, and we were on the sidewalk… walking home she stopped turned to me and and “Kiss me”. And so we did.

That was my first kiss.

Robin went off to college, got married, and last I heard was doing well. I’m happy for her.

People, as cherished as those memories are, there is no way that I want to relive similar events in another life. I am tired, and have no desire for another reincarnation. I’ll tell you what.

…

Today…

What has been achieved from the Chinese leader’s visit to San Francisco?

Politically, nothing much.

The star of the whole show, in my opinion, is the turnout of Big Business.

No, not what President Xi said, but the audience composition. Namedrop a household corporate name and the CEO was probably in attendence, Tim Cook and Elon Musk included.

The movers and shakers of Wall Street paid handsomely for the privilege of WELCOMING President Xi. In fact, the visiting Head of State may have gathered THE star-studded corporate audience in recent years, bigger than any Democrat or Republican convention. Even King Charles and the Pope will struggle to demonstrate the star appeal lighting up San Francisco this November WEEKEND.

It was a dinner worth trillions upon trillions in market cap. One need only imagine the private jets lining up to pay hangar premiums for parking rights.

America NEEDS China, economically.

That is why Janet, the top-ranking finance official in America, welcomed President Xi on the tarmac personally.

Note that both Janet and Gavin visited Beijing PERSONALLY to arrange the visit.

Both the tarmac welcome and dinner highlighted the conspicuous absence of the State Department. No more James Cook Hotel browbeating and public attempts at humiliating the Chinese contingent.

What’s the key here?

American corporations are suffering in the downturn and the captains of industry want guarantees from Joe that the situation with China will not deteriorate further. The chips they have on the table? 20–30 billion in election funding for 2024.

We can expect a freeze on escalation of the new cold war, but not a ceasefire. The militaries will resume direct communications, which is nothing more than “we’re continuing with the harassment, but we’ll inform you first, with your acknowledgement”. However, we can expect cabinet officials to either be gagged top-down or bottom-up, or instructed to be cordial and tone down on provocation. In other words, Gina et al. morphing back to friendly beaver mode rather than “feet to the fire” wolf warrior incarnation.

That’s the tone for 2024. I don’t believe Joe will repeat the “genocide determination” stunt next year, having committed to extravagant molly-coddling in San Francisco, amidst the sea of bipartisan support for playing the China card the corporate-sanctioned way.

Lobbying works, both ways.

This is why President Xi appeared relaxed throughout, almost as if he was on holiday, totally unlike the tense atmosphere in Anchorage, Alaska, back in 2021. People have short memories.

President Xi was being feted and courted, and he was only here after two years of intense US diplomatic efforts to re-establish ties torn down by the State Department, no less.

Crazy world, isn’t it?

Note: The welcome dinner also reassured the Chinese, and gave them the confidence to negotiate deals with the Fed. Corporate America’s turnout is the real deal, in a fiery red vs. blue battle to the death.

We start with a woke something…

Not sure if it’s a woman, or a man, or what…

What is the biggest life lesson you have ever learned?

I’ll probably never be as successful as my dad and I’m perfectly OK with that.

If anything I’m proud of him. At one point he was overseeing a $50 billion annual budget as Undersecretary of Defense. The dude earned his Wikipedia page.

My father is also an excellent case study. He is certainly very smart. But it wasn’t like he was always the smartest guy in the room. In fact, he was keenly aware when he wasn’t. Yet many of my dad’s peers, who were smarter on paper, fell way short of his success.

Why? It’s mainly because of his people skills and his diligence. He is an excellent listener. He knows how to dial in and pick up on what is important. He is also conscientious and very ethical. He treats people equally regardless of their position.

I’d say if anything, my dad’s superpower is the ability to size people up quickly and judge their character.

He has a special distaste for self-serving people, which is probably because of his career with SEAL teams, where teamwork is a religion.

This is where many highly intelligent people fail. They lack the soft skills, the ability to relate with many types of people.

Cliche as it sounds, many gifted people also have an underlying arrogance they mask. Business textbooks are filled with case studies of executives’ careers being destroyed by pride. My girlfriend is a college professor and complains constantly about the incessant egos at academic conferences.

And to be fair, I can’t totally blame them. When a person is told from birth that they are brilliant, and their test scores affirm that praise, and they live in a world that prizes intelligence — it is probably hard to stay 100% humble.

No matter how talented you are, remember you are dealing with human beings in your career. Success isn’t a MENSA test. Soft skills matter—bigtime.

Be nice to the secretary.

China is building a large harbor in Peru south America as part of its Belt and Road Project, why can’t the United States develop its own Belt and Road project between South America, Central America, Mexico, United States and Canada?

The U.S. should but it won’t and it can’t. The U.S. thinks like a racist, xenophobic superior white Caucasian nation that their neighbours should be kept as savage, poor, undeveloped nations that it can invade anytime it feels like doing. So they won’t help these nations. It is beyond them. People like Donald Trump can term them robbers and rapist so that he feels very good as the Aryan Superior. So the U.S. abused them instead of helping them.

Of course now that the Chinese decide to help them the U.S. will term it “Debt Trap” China will help to make these former Spanish and Portuguese stolen nations rich and successful.

Anyway they can’t help them. The spent all its money and resources in forever wars, war mongering, war financing, war orchestrating, chaos and coup tormenting. And barely have enough to help US homeless and poor. The U.S. own infrastructure were also 20 century relics and dilapidated beyond repair in the U.S. so they cannot help. Even if the wanted to they will set a thousand conditions including signing over their sovereignty to Uncle Sam.

She Can’t Answer This Simple Question About Marriage

Are there cats out there who do have a problem with you sleeping, for no other reason than you sleeping? One of my cats wakes me up from my naps at 12:30pm tops, just for her to want nothing in particular. Is that normal?

My cat goes on a rampage when he wants to wake me up, knocking every conceivable item off of every flat surface until I finally give up on sleep.

He did it to me the other night. I’d fallen asleep on the couch and woke up to the familiar sound of the TV remote control hitting the floor, then the Roku remote.

I could just make out the little guy’s form on the coffee table through blurry eyes without my glasses. My smartphone was the next thing to hit the hardwood (I have a military grade case precisely for this reason), then he violently smacked a bottle of pills so hard they ricocheted off an end table and went spinning across the room.

Next he hopped onto the end table, upending a bag of restaurant tortillas and swiping my keys off. A water bottle went flying. I heard my vapor pen skidding in the opposite direction.

The little f—er is relentless.

(“Does it look like I’m judging you, human? Because I am.”)

If that doesn’t work — and sometimes it doesn’t, because I know giving in just emboldens him — and he runs out of things to smack and wreck, he’ll pad over to his litter box and start punching the cover flap with his paw because he knows it squeaks and it pisses me off.

He’s a super vocal cat too, so all this is accompanied by high-pitched trills like “RRRRRRRUUUUPPPP!” and “BRRRRRUUUU!”

And you know what the most ridiculous part is?

He’s not asking for food because he always gets a bowl of dry food before bed. He wants to hang out and snuggle and be buddies. I can’t be mad at him.

So yes, it’s pretty common for cats to wake their people up for no other reason than they want us awake, acknowledging them, or giving them scritches and affection.

It’s not always tied to more concrete requests like food, although sometimes it is.

You’ll also notice that cats have no regard for your sleep, but they’ll give you the feline death stare if you rudely interrupt their naps. Such is the pecking order in feline-ruled households.

It is possible to train them out of waking you, especially if they’re young. If your cat is a kitten then she’ll adjust to your schedule. If she’s an adult, well, good luck with that. You can break the habit, but you’re going to make sure you never give in or you’re just hitting the reset button by proving to her that if she makes enough noise, you’re going to get up eventually.

In that case, grab a package of earplugs off Amazon for a few bucks. Your brain will thank you for wearing them.

(“I am a sweet little kitty cat and none of these vile lies are true.”)

Its all about control

Did you ever see karma hit someone who deserved it so befittingly that it was eerie?

We were at an airport in Mexico, going through customs and immigration. Once your bag is xrayed you pick it up, and walk to this green button and push it. If the light above flashes green, which it almost always does, you proceed on. If the light flashes red, and the buzzer, buzzes, you get pulled into a side room and they go through your luggage thoroughly.

There was a huge line up. We had waited an hour to get to the X-ray machine. We were up next. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone from a culture that doesn’t believe in queuing, walking alongside the line, right up to the front, I actually stepped in front of him, so he couldn’t get past me, and his wife took the luggage and threw it on the X-ray conveyor belt. At this point I admitted defeat, and let them go.

They get through the x-ray, and push the button, in my place. It flashed red, and they were led off to a little side room, It would have been me, if they hadn’t barged into the line.

I waved to them as they were being led into the little room.

Wonderbread women

Who is the lowest status person for whom you have the highest respect?

He is the manager of my neighborhood gym, a very rinky-dink gym.

He makes ~$35K per year. It isn’t terrible money. You can certainly live on that, but it isn’t great money in the US. His salary isn’t specifically why I have so much respect for him. It’s the context:

He was a big-time lawyer here in Tampa. He had a fancy degree and a job making huge money. He did it for 15 years. He had the respect of his peers, the fear of his opposition.

He was fully capable of continuing his relentless march as a litigator.

But he realized, “Nah – this isn’t the right life.”

He walked away – chose a low-stress job, managing this local gym.

When the end of the day rolls around, he goes home and work doesn’t chase him. He is free to indulge the rest of his life.

I see him 3-4 times a week while I sign into my gym. He is always in good spirits. Relaxed. Not troubled by some unseen threat that looms on his calendar.

We grow up. The people around us tell us they just want us to “be happy,” but at the same time, they are pushing this maximization mindset: maximize grades, maximize salary, maximize reputation, go, go, go.

You see plenty of people that maximize. You see plenty of people who don’t.

But how often do you see people who maximize and then walk away? Who goes from introducing himself as “Senior Counsel at XYZ” to answering calls, “Hello, ABC Fitness! How can I help you?”

It’s surprisingly rare. It’s hard to kiss the ring of ambition for so long and then drop it.

He’s a bit of a novelty in my life. On my bad days, I envision what it would be like to be him — that one guy who stepped through the paradox of happiness and ambition.

And although I suspect I don’t have the guts to do what he did, walk away, I have a surprising amount of respect for a guy who is capable of so much, yet aspires to so little.

He did it his way. And he’s happy. Does anything else really matter?

How you know…

What was the dish that made you reverse your opinion on a food you had until then disliked?

A girl I quite fancied took me to meet her parents for dinner – which turned out to be lasagne. The only prior experience I’d had with lasagne had been at school, many years before – about a millimeter thick, cooked in trays half a mile wide, with about 50p’s worth of ingredients and left to dry out under a heat lamp for a year. 🙁

But I had to be polite.

“I’m not very hungry,” I said. “just give me a little.”

Turns out that lasagne cooked by an Italian mother was rather different to the filth churned out at St. Mary’s. So I asked for seconds

“I thought you said you weren’t hungry?”

“That’s alright, I thought I didn’t like lasagne”

That’s lovely

Is it true that, in some American schools, students do essays on why the USA is the best country in the world?

Back when I was in high school in Florida, yes.

In the 1980s, state law in Florida required that all public high school students take a one-semester class called Americanism vs Communism, or AVC.

The State-approved AVC textbook can be summed up this way:

“Rah rah rah! We’re #1! America, fuck yeah! We won WWII and saved Europe and Russia! America is the best at everything! Woohoo! Look at how amazing we are! America, go us!”

Like, seriously, it was embarrassingly bad. We’re talking Soviet-Union-textbook bad. If George Orwell included a page from the AVC textbook in Nineteen Eighty-Four, critics would be all “nah, bro, too unrealistic.” You wouldn’t think it’s possible to fit so much cringe into one book.

I cannot fathom the degree of insecurity that went into passing the law that required teaching this class in schools.

Fortunately, I lucked out. My high school teacher, a WWII vet and survivor of the Bataan Death March, hated and loathed the class requirement and textbook with every fiber of his being, and made that very clear on the first day of class.

He refused to teach from the book at all. He told us point-blank “The state requirement for this class is complete propaganda bullshit. As far as I’m concerned, this is a class in Russian history, and that’s how I intend to teach it.”

He made his own teaching materials for the class and it rocked.

Short Men Energy

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/c_KJmSuiswQ?feature=share

What would happen if China stopped investing in US treasuries? Would Americans face a financial crisis?

China has already stopped investing in U.S. Treasuries.

Since the beginning of the Ukraine War, China has been selling its Treasury holdings. As of October 2023, it continues to hold about $820 billion of U.S. Treasuries. This is a reduction of about 18% in one year.

Russia previously sold all its U.S. Treasury holdings, after the United States began to sanction it in connection withe Ukraine War. In about 2017, Russia encouraged the world to do the same.

At the same time, the Federal Reserve is selling the U.S. Treasury Bonds that it purchased during covid.

The combined actions of Russia, China and the Federal Reserve are driving down the value of U.S. Treasury Bonds. In the past six months, the value of 30 year bonds has fallen by about 50%. This raises interest rates in the United States, because the U.S. government must pay more to borrow.

The higher interest rates have greatly limited America’s options, financially. Housing prices are poised to fall, due to higher interest rates. Even worse, interest payments on the U.S. national debt have doubled. Interest payments will soon exceed what the United States spends on national defense. Thus, as you can see, the tactics of Russia and China have limited America’s ability to fight wars. We are seeing just the beginning of the cycle.

Your question is — will the United States face a financial crisis?

The answer is yes. If the United States (a) continues printing dollars, and (b) continues supporting a violent response to conflicts in the world, two things will happen:

The planet will refuse to work with the United States during America’s foreseeable crisis; and
The U.S. dollar will collapse, due to continued printing and the planet’s rejection of the dollar.

The collapse of the dollar will be devastating in the United States, because American society is dependent upon cheap gasoline and cheap imports, which will no longer exist in the United States.

The United States imports 28% of its crude oil. This leaves the United States vulnerable to a falling dollar. Contrary to popular belief, the United States is not “energy independent,” and remains vulnerable. The United States imports 5 million barrels of crude oil per day more than it exports. That is a lot of oil that won’t be coming into the United States when the dollar falls. In addition, President Biden foolishly sold decades of oil stored up by the WWII generation in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. America is not ready for the foreseeable crisis coming to its shores.

Expect riots and shortages in the United States. If Biden continues to pursue violent solutions to global conflict, those wars will return to the United States when the dollar comes down. The American people will be fighting over limited resources. There won’t be any jobs in America, when the shopping malls close.

Be equal or not

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2O1jxwQ00iw?feature=share

My friend has been terminated from the company that she’s been working for. On her last day of her work, she deleted all of her work in her computer. Does she have the right to do that, since all the work was done by her?

Normally the work product belongs to the company, not the worker. In the early days of solid state circuitry, my BIL developed much of it. Although his name is on the patents, the company owned them.

I was an independent contractor managing HOAs. ( Also a lawyer). I started by managing my own while my kids were preschoolers. It ran very smoothly so no one ever wanted to be on the Board until crazy ass lady and her group of idiots came on. True nut cases. One insisted on judging the Holiday decorating contest, then picked her own house as winner. One shot my dog. Board meetings were like “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”.

The Board was 3/3, three humans, three horses asses. When one human was on vacation, the three asses called a special meeting and “ terminated “ me. Now they knew I would just sue them on my 2 year contract so they made paying me for another 18 months conditional on me delivering all the Assn documents and computer data on fees, violations etc on discs within five days. This belonged to them.

I was happy to get out of the nut house. The Assn owned the file cabinets. I just put them on a dolly and walked them to a Board member’s house and left them. I downloaded all the data in computer language and gave them the disks.

Problem was, I used a program I bought that was made by a company that had gone bankrupt. It was a great program. Totally unavailable for purchase anywhere. But I had no duty to give them my program. The computer disks were useless. The finances were also kept on a very old edition of an accounting program. I had no duty to provide them with my copy. The financial disks very useless to them without paying a few thousand for the program. It was a very specialized program used by CPAs

They spent a fortune going through old files and bank statements and quarterly financials to recreate payment records etc. And, I had fulfilled my duties. I got the next 18 months of my contract paid. They also received a cease and desist letter from me. The Assn ‘s original documents had a problem and no lender would loan on a house without a document called a Subordination agreement. Only a lawyer can write one. I always wrote them. No cost. It was my own HOA. But the first time they copied one on a new sale, I hit them with a cease and desist letter and reported them to the Bar for the unlicensed practice of law. So then they had to pay a lawyer for the next 150 or so documents. Lawyers are not free.

So, what the employer owns and what the employee owns is a mixed bag.

My guys…

What’s the fastest you’ve wiped a smirk off of someone’s face?

I was in an elevator on a cruise ship. Some wiseacre saw my polka-dot suspenders.

He smirked, “Nice suspenders. You from Wisconsin?”

I replied, “No. Ever since my cancer surgery, I can’t wear a belt.”

His smirk instantly evaporated. The elevator doors opened on my floor, and I got out.

Soft tissue sarcoma caused by Agent Orange in Vietnam, They took out 1–3/4 pounds of me from my groin to my beltline. It left a notch where a belt would sit, so I can’t wear a belt comfortably.

Order over chaos

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/utsOIvH_FOs?feature=share

What is the coolest thing you have ever done in your life?

Two years back, I was on a road trip on my bike to Meghalaya. While returning, as I was tired I was riding slowly. I was still some 70 miles away from home, and it was already dark. On the highway, I saw a car parked and some people arguing. I rode past them, however before passing them I caught the sight of two women crying and eagerly looking through the front window.

I took a turn and came back to the spot. I saw four boys, around my age, were arguing and pushing a man of around 50 years old. Turns out, the family was returning from some function and lived in another town which was about 90 miles from mine. They were stopped by these four boys on bikes and asked them for some money. They started misbehaving when the old guy refused to pay. He asked his wife and daughter to stay in the car and got down to reason with them.

I heard the story from the old guy, while the boys asked me mind my own business and get the f**k off. I simply turned and started walking towards my bike. The man begged at me to stay and help him, and looked at the women in the back seat and felt their eyes pleading me to stay. But, I kept walking!

Here comes the twist! Now, during my rides I always keep a hockey stick on my bike. Bad luck for the guys who never knew this. They laughed at me, calling me names. One even said, “Yeah, keep walking you p***say.”

I took the hockey stick and came back running. The boys didn’t get time to react and I started beating them. The blows landed everywhere and I think two or more of them bled as well. I didn’t show them any mercy. Someone threw some punches and kicks at me too, but I had a more formidable weapon than them. Seeing me in action, the man also jumped in; his wife and daughter also got down and helped in whatever way they could. All beaten up and even not being able to stand properly, two boys somehow managed to run off on their bikes while the other two ran after them.

I told the man to start the car and keep driving, while I rode in front of him in case the boys decided to get help and chase us. When we entered the man’s town, we went to the police station and lodged a report. The daughter was smart enough to note down the bikes’ number plates. As it was very late, the man requested me to spend the night at their place. Once reaching home, the family thanked me for helping them. He wouldn’t even allow me to leave early next day, saying that he can’t send me off without a proper meal. Family, friends and relatives came to thank me for my heroism. I stayed for lunch and returned home.

To this day the gentleman calls me occasionally. He even invited me to his daughter’s wedding.

Now, let me tell you something. I’m not the brave person they take me to be. I was equally scared that night. I was terrified. It took me a lot of courage to do what I did. After this whole thing was over, I was so proud of it!

Companies Are Ditching Hiring Fresh Female Graduates

Does welfare perpetuate generational poverty?

My grandparents were too poor to afford a private jet or a private helicopter, they had to rely on government programs like public roads to get by.

They couldn’t afford to hire private tutors for my parents, and so had to send them to public schools to learn to read and write.

As one might expect, this cycle of dependency continued: My parents also didn’t have a private jet or helicopter, and they also had to rely on government programs like public roads to get by.
They also sent their kids to learn to read and write in public schools.

And here I am: made lazy by all this generational welfare, I’m not pulling on my bootstraps nearly hard enough to afford my own private airport.
Like my parents before me, and my grandparents before them, I depend entirely on government programs like public roads (or worse, public transit!!) to get to work.

There is no means testing in place for using public roads, which leads to rampant abuse.
I’ve seen people use them to go for a stroll, even though they could have afforded a treadmill.
Not only that, but these type of government handouts kill any incentive for most people to get a private helicopter, they’d rather stay dependent upon the government provided public roads.

It’s truly a modern tragedy, with no end in sight.

You rascal

What happened in your office that became the stuff of legend?

The Door.

Years and years ago, when I quit smoking, I found my temper would often flare up during the first few weeks of abstinence.

I worked at a remote branch office with a staff of six. One morning when I came to work early, something went “wrong” and I was so angry that I impulsively gut-punched my office door.

The door was hollow core wood; I punched right through it.

I admitted my foolish outrage to my office mates when they entered an hour later.

And little was said about it; I believe they were sympathetic with my situation, and supportive of my effort to quit smoking.

There matters laid at rest; nothing more said.

Until the office Christmas party, when staff from all branches and the headquarters office (over 100 souls) gathered at some central location for a cocktail party and most sumptuous feast. Everything paid for by the company as a treat to us. This was followed by after-dinner drinks, and the “awards ceremony.”

The awards ceremony was a production of the employees and was in the nature of a good-humored “roast,” drawing upon such amusing things as had happened involving any of them over the past year. Some of the recognition was by actual funny trophies which were passed from one recipient to another; others were unlikely objects constructed of broom sticks, hub-caps, old radios, or heaven knows what.

Because I and my cohorts were from the remotest branch, none of us received, or ever expected to receive, recognition at this ceremony. We had our OWN Christmas party, for that.

Thus it was quite a surprise, to me, when I saw that my associate, Greg, was called upon by the master of ceremonies to announce the grand prize winner. He briefly described in very general terms the struggle of one individual to overcome a serious addiction. I was as curious as everyone else to know who, and to know the story. The room became very quiet, as the subject appeared to deviate from the laughable to the serious. The recipient was as yet unnamed.

Then a cloaked object was carried onto the dais, looking for all the world like a draped coffin.

With the words, “And the winner is, John Scott Geare,” the black drape was pulled away to reveal my actual office door, with a precise halo painted around its wound. Somehow, the damned thing had been spirited from our office, and carried the 60 miles to the party, unbeknownst to me.

And it became the stuff of legend.

You owe me half

Chick was only going out for a free meal. And he says…

Cajun Style Tip Roast

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

1 (4 pound) tip roast
1/4 cup finely chopped onions
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1/4 cup finely chopped green bell peppers
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Instructions

Heat oven to 300 degrees F.
Combine vegetables, spices and oil.
With a sharp knife make 8 to 12 deep V-shape slit pockets, stopping an inch from the bottom of roast. Fill the pockets with the vegetable mixture, reserving some to rub on top of roast.
Bake uncovered for 2 1/2 hours or until thermometer reads 140 degrees F for medium rare beef.
Serve with pan juices.

Nutrition

Per serving: Calories 391; fiber 1g; carbohydrates 2g, Protein 61g, Cholesterol 160mg; Sodium 509mg; Fat 14g (32% of calories from fat)

Inaccurate Self assessment

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/c0CzEzo7VwI?feature=share

What is the strangest reaction of someone who has just been fired?

A number of years ago I worked for a large US company. My role was in sales (industrial product). In my third year, I was selected for management. As such, I was trained in recruiting and helped district managers hire talent.

I visited one district and held a recruiting fair and ultimately recommended 10 applicants to the manager. The manager had his own candidate and asked me to interview him. In my opinion, his choice was terrible. He did not have any of the qualities successful people in our business had. I told him this.

Jump ahead six months. I become the manager for that district. My predecessor had hired the guy I did not recommend and did not even call any of the 10 I recommended.

Within three months i had hired five new sales reps. Four did very well and stayed for years. One failed within six months. The one that I did not recommend? I had to let him go due to poor performance and poor attitude. When I told him I had to let him go, he held onto my desk and told me he really did not want to be fired and would not leave the office. He would continue to come to work. It took several hours to convince him that he was not a good match for our industry. I continued to pay him for one month as he searched for another job.

Please don’t tell me I am mean and unfeeling. In my 30+ years of managing, I have supported many people in many different ways. The bottom line, if someone is not doing well in a job, it is usually because they are not trying or they are just in the wrong job. The latter is almost always the case. If you have a good, hard working person, try to find a different position in your company for him/her. That’s the mark of a good manager.

A biological male…

Why do some scientists on the Internet seem so arrogant toward people with differing opinions?

I first noticed this phenomenon with a guy named Dr.Layne Norton. Layne has a PhD in biochemistry. This man has forgotten more about the human body than I’ve ever learned, and I’ll have my Masters degree next month.

He’s an elite level powerlifter.

And a pro bodybuilder,

He also runs a youtube channel where he shares some advice on bodybuilding and powerlifting. I began to notice that the comment section was particularly toxic.

People were insulting this man’s intelligence, his personality, and his family.

I didn’t understand why. He seemed like a nice enough guy. Until I stumbled upon the answer.

One commenter said, “I’m sure you know what you’re talking about, you just seem arrogant though.” The comment had 100s of likes.

Scientists tend to speak in very absolute terms. Why? Because they’ve studied the shit out of whatever it is they’re discussing. And because they speak so unequivocally, people get turned off.

For example, I wrote an answer in which I said working out in the afternoon is best for muscle building and performance. The hormones and body temperature are in a better position to support a workout in the afternoon.

How do I know? I wrote a 20 page paper on this topic for school (supported by 30 peer reviewed studies).

Some guy told me that I was a liar. Why? According to him, testosterone is obviously highest in the morning… because men get morning wood…..

Like many have said, scientists have spent years studying a topic, and they’ve forgotten more about said topic than most will ever even hear. As far as I’m concerned, they’ve EARNED the right to be a little arrogant when it comes to their subject.

Since 1979…

What is the best comeback you used on someone?

I was adopted at birth. From the time I was able to understand anything, my parents called me their Chosen Child and gave me a poem with that name. I was raised to feel special. When I was in 3rd grade, one of the spoiled little rich girls tried to make fun of me, saying mean things, like, my mother hated me and got rid of me so that I had to be taken in by strangers out of pity – really wicked thing for an 8-year-old to say. When she finally took a breath, I responded by saying that I KNEW my parents wanted me, they CHOSE me. Then I said “I bet you were an ax-i-dent!” and walked away. When I got home from school, my mother said she had gotten a call from that girl’s mother, wanted to know what happened, and asked me how in the world I knew what an “accident” was, laughing all the time! I was only 8, had no clue, but I had heard her talking on the phone when she mentioned a girl getting pregnant by accident. Obviously, she didn’t know I heard her or that I understood the gist of the conversation. She was laughing when she told daddy – and that was when I began hearing her say to her friends that “little pitchers have big ears” as she changed the conversation. I don’t know what a little pitcher is, and that may not be what she said, but that’s all that I heard before they started a new conversation!

Your future children…

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Oo8ihDBf4qc?feature=share

What does a babysitter do if parents don’t respond to calls and they don’t show up until the next day?

If they said they would be home at a certain time and didn’t call to ASK if it was ok that they stayed out later, I would call the police. I give them 1/2 hour past designated time to call and if they didn’t answer 2 calls and 2 texts all done within 1/2 hour time frame, the police would be informed of how worried I am about their safety because it’s now an hour late with them not calling or answering multiple calls and texts. Let them deal with the cops questioning them about not contacting you or answering you. The cops will let them know you only concerned about their well being and they will also rip them a new one for informing you and also for leaving their child alone with a babysitter who is now upset that something had happened to them. Trust me, they will never do it again to any babysitter. I say any babysitter because after that, I would NEVER babysit for them again, even at 4x’s the amount of money.

I actually like you

One of my favorite shorts.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1kypV3rvNHg?feature=share What is an example of “It was nice while it lasted”?

Chaurice

This Creole pork sausage is an old local favorite dating back to the 19th Century, but Chaurice isn’t as easy to find as it once was. It would seem to have come to Louisiana with the Spanish, and was adapted to local custom and ingredients; the term is similar to the Spanish chorizo. It’s great with white or red beans, and good for breakfast too, with eggs.

Ingredients

4 pounds lean fresh pork, butt or shoulder
2 pounds fresh pork fat
2 cups onion, finely minced
1 1/2 tablespoons garlic, finely minced
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
8 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground red pepper
2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves, crushed
5 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
3 bay leaves, finely crushed
1/2 teaspoon allspice
3 yards small sausage casing (optional)

Instructions

Cut the pork at fatback into small pieces. Mix together and run once through the coarse disc of a meat grinder into a large bowl.
Add the seasonings and mix thoroughly until the stuffing is very smooth and well blended.
Make into patties, and use within three days or freeze.

Notes

You can also put chaurice into casings; make each sausage about six inches in length.

An interesting event happened in the South China sea on 24 December 2023

There was an interesting event happening on South China sea 24 December 2023.

This is a translated Chinese article pulled off the American platform Quora. Access to the article has since been "suppressed" and is not so easily found. Enjoy this article. -MM

Fact confirmed :

U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet announced Thursday night that the Electronic Attack Squadron 136 (VAQ-136) on the “Carl Vinson” aircraft carrier (CVN-70) currently operating in the South China Sea Commander Lieutenant Colonel William Coulter was relieved of his duties on the grounds that he “lost confidence in his command ability” Paul Ritter(Another military high rank in US navy), who was originally scheduled to serve as the squadron commander in April 2024, immediately Take over.

William Coulter is temporarily transferred to the Electronic Warfare Wing, Pacific. William Coulter has only served as the commander of VAQ-136 in January 2023, but was suddenly dismissed a few days after the “Carl Vinson” entered the South China Sea.

Speculation :

The F-18 “Three Brothers” on the US aircraft carrier. In the top is the single-seat F-18E, which is used for air control. The one in the middle is the F-18F multi-purpose type, which is mainly used for anti-ship/anti-ship and close range. the one in the bottom is an EF-18 “Growler” electronic warfare attack aircraft.

The fired electronic warfare commander (William Coultier) of the USS Carl Vinson managed this type of electronic squadron.

The strength of electronic warfare capabilities is extremely important for the US military’s aircraft carrier strike group (different from battle groups). Failure to obtain “electromagnetic control” means that enemy fighters, warships and even land-based anti-ship equipment will have a high chance of successful penetration, The warhead charge of modern heavy anti-ship weapons is no longer RDX, but CL-20 explosive (hexanitrogen), its power is three times that of TNT. The equivalent of about one ton of TNT explodes inside the aircraft carrier (more advanced weapons are equipped with armor-piercing nose cones, which can easily penetrate the aircraft carrier) with more than 6 times Mach impact energy, although the probability of sinking if hit by one is low, severe damage and loss of combat effectiveness are certain!

It is said last week, the US military’s EP-3E “Aries” electronic warfare aircraft encountered our military’s Y-8 electronic warfare aircraft over the southern Taiwan Strait. The two aircraft conducted a complex electronic offensive and defensive battle. The US aircraft did not gain any advantage, Evacuated the premise.

EP-3E is not under the management of the commander of the VAQ-136 Electronic Warfare Squadron aboard the USS Carl Vinson, which has nothing to do with his dismissal, but it is likely that he was defeated when he commanded the EF-18 to confront our J-16D, which resulted in the “Carl Vinson” being exposed to the firepower of our military.

Our army’s J-16D may be the most powerful operational/tactical electronic warfare aircraft in the world. It is derived from a heavy fighter, while the E/F-18 is a medium-sized aircraft. With comparable levels of electronic devices and integration technology, The former has a larger fuselage, higher engine power generation and greater power. It has a slight advantage over the “Growler” in interference and burn-through capabilities (anti-jamming), and our military has geographical advantages. “Growler” “It needs to take off from an aircraft carrier, and it is also at a disadvantage in terms of range and fleet size. However, our military can launch more J-16Ds at the same time to implement spectrum suppression (which can interfere with the Aegis radar on the Burke-class destroyer). This is all It was the reason that led to the downfall of the E/F-18.

The J-16D cooperates with other electronic warfare aircraft to compete for electromagnetic control rights, and then the H-6K carries long-range hypersonic missiles to strike. This is a tactic that US aircraft carriers cannot crack at this stage.

Needless to say, the struggle between our country and the United States is intensifying. In the past three or four years, when American aircraft carriers have entered the South China Sea from the Bashi Channel, our military will organize large fighter formations to conduct simulated offensive and defensive battles against them!

With the improvement of our military’s technology, the US aircraft carrier battle group can no longer show off its power like it did during the “96 crisis”. It has more symbolic significance than military significance. the US military’s four EA-6D “Prowler” electronic machines were able to interfere with telecommunications signals in most areas of Fujian and Zhejiang.

Conclusion of the speculation :

William Courtier putting the aircraft carrier at risk from our forces, and was dismissed.

Author Note :

US often send their war machine to china’s sea. do you really think US submarine hit mountain in South China Sea?

if you see the damage in that submarine, you can clearly see it was not caused by a breeding box, why because the upper part was not damaged. it was caused by a Chinese underwater drone, the best speculation due to damage is in the middle of the upper part of your so called sophisticated submarine.

Skunks in Milford

You know, I really liked Massachusetts. I used to live in Milford, Massachusetts. It was really great.

Beautiful, pleasant. A really nice place, and I often miss what it was like.

You know… there is one thing about Milford…

Skunks.

Lots and lots of skunks. LOL.

That and foxes. Who would thunk it?

…

Oh, they would really leave you alone. But, you know, you don’t want to get them upset.

Ha!

They would just meander about. Clueless, without a care in the world. Funny.

Skunks in Milford.

Meandering about. Not a care in the world.

Cute.

Puts a smile on my face.

Today…

Is it really worth it to live to over 80 years?

When he was 87 and slipping into dementia, I asked my father exactly this on one of his “good days.” He smiled and said that it had been worth it, even when he became the last of his siblings alive and started to lose his ability to remember names, first, and other things later.

He became a very gentle person to be around (he had been an angry and argumentative Democrat for most of his life) and enjoyed his children, grandchildren, and even their pets. We got along better than we ever had. I remember taking him to the Fourth of July parade and whispering the names of people who came up to greet him. Once he knew their names, he could have a great conversation. Then I brought him back to a school reunion and that was wonderful. He needed no introductions as everyone wore a name tag.

Having watched my father in those years, I hope that I may live long enough to navigate old age just the way he did despite his obvious infirmities.

What situation made you wish you never reported it?

I’ve worked with the company I’m presently employed with for not quite 12 years. Up until a year ago, we were a small personable, easy going, family owned company of about 250 drivers. If you were around for any length of time, everyone in the office and shop knew you, and vice versa. That was up until about a year ago when the owner of the company retired and threw us under the bus by selling us out to a larger company and everything changed.

It’s common practice for just about any trucking company to require any damage to their equipment be reported and documented. With my company, if the damage was minimal, the report would still go in the driver’s jacket, but no further. It would stay in-house instead of being reported to a national data base.

I’ve always been the type to man-up in situations such as this. I was raised that way, and it was the right thing to do. Even leaving small damage unreported could result in the next driver having to have it repaired and possibly being late for a delivery.

So, after pulling out of a customer’s driveway and cutting it too tighly, I felt something go bump in the night. Upon further inspection, it appears I clipped one of those large landscaping rocks placed to prevent idiot drivers like me from cutting corners too tightly, and running over their curbs. When I stopped for the day and was doing my mandatory post-trip inspection, I came upon this,

Thinking it was no biggie, and my company would normally think likewise, and wanting to do the right thing, I called it it. What happened next was nothing short of a shit storm. The new people acted like I ran over a carload of nuns. Initial phone call to my parent company, followed by a call to the new company’s safety department, followed by a call-back the next day from same, followed by submitting pictures and a full accident report, followed by a call-back from the new company to review of same, followed by a never-heard-of-before-review from Greg in our safety department.

When I related the story to the former head of our . safety department, her reaction was, “It was just a fuckin’ rim!”, as she shook her head.

Trust me, if it ever happens again, I won’t think twice about going palms up with a “Dunno nuthin’ ‘bout it. When I dropped it off, it was fine “, should anyone inquire.

Something to accept

What has been the most life changing health issue you’ve experienced? Did it change your life for the better or worse?

I was driving down the freeway and all of a sudden I couldn’t see the cars ahead of me. It was if someone had pulled a shade down in front of my line of vision. I could see all around the shade, but not right in front. Although it was only for a few moments, the terror I felt was devasting.

I was a 21-year old college student, a senior at academically prestigious school, getting good grades, working part time, and enjoying a fun social life.

So, what was the matter? Where did the intense headaches come from? Why did I frequently wake up in the middle of the night, jumping out of bed and running to the bathroom, to vomit repeatedly? Why did I feel that I was about to fall down whenever the sidewalk was a little uneven?

Then there were those crazy nightmares I was having.…. I dreamed one night that I was driving on the freeway. The car next to me pulled up right beside me. The driver pulled a gun out. He shot me in the head. My head exploded. Everything became dark. I woke up in a terrified sweat. What on earth was wrong with my head that I would have such a dream?

In spite of everything, I was doing okay and maintaining my studies. But finally it became too much for me to handle. Especially the shade covering my eyes on the freeway.

I saw several doctors. They said I was fine.

I went to a psychologist. I figured that since the doctors said I was fine, it must be all in my mind. The psychologist listened to my symptoms. He said that I didn’t need to see a psychologist. Instead, I needed to see a neurologist and he urged me to see one right away.

I took his advice and went to a neurologist. The neurologist admitted me to a hospital. Still no answers. Many tests were done, but it was during the days before C-T scans or MRI’s were used, so it was hard to figure this out. Finally a diagnosis was made: brain tumor.

Surgery was scheduled. They operated for 10 hours, and were able to remove half of the tumor. The surgeon told me the tumor was the size of a large orange and that if I hadn’t been diagnosed when I was, I would have had 6 months left to live. It was just taking over my whole brain and growing so fast.

I was in intensive care for 2 weeks. I can’t remember too much about that time. It seemed like a dream, for just a few hours.

Then, more surgery. And then some more.

I lost the ability to walk. I couldn’t see very well. I lost hearing. I was fed intravenously. Because I had stroke-like symptoms, one side of my body became weak and uncoordinated. I no longer could hold a pen and write.

I had physical therapy and occupational therapy to regain some of the skills that I had lost.

I finally left the hospital and went home to live with my parents. The tumor was not all gone, but I needed a break. I needed time to get stronger before the next onslaught of surgery.

While I was home, I had physical and occupational therapy at a nearby hospital. I still couldn’t walk or write, but I was beginning to feel better. In physical therapy I worked on learning to walk with a walker and then eventually on my own. In occupational therapy I worked on strengthening my very weak hand. I did many activities with my hands, including making some beautiful crafts. Occupational therapy was so much fun! I loved therapy.

I went back to the hospital and had the last surgery. Finally the tumor was gone. After some more time had passed I felt that maybe it was time to return to school.

Living on my own again was not easy. I still couldn’t walk or write well. But I persevered. Sometimes I fell down. I used a tape recorder during lectures since I couldn’t write fast enough to take notes, and my professors gave me extra time to write exams. With the support of my family and professors, I did well and succeeded.

As graduation approached, a brilliant idea occurred to me. I remembered the great time I had in occupational therapy, and how I had been helped so much. Maybe I too could become an occupational therapist. I thought of how wonderful it would be to spend my life helping others just like I had been helped. I decided that yes, I would try, and so I applied to a master’s degree program in occupational therapy.

There were many more applicants than spots available, but much to my delight I was accepted into the program!

The program was so difficult and very competitive. But I worked hard and after two years became an occupational therapist.

That was 40 years ago, and I am still going strong. I have worked with literally thousands of patients during my career, from little 1-pound premature babies all the way up to 103 year-old patients in nursing homes, and everything in-between. I have loved every minute of it.

Occupational therapy is a flexible career with an abundance of interesting and meaningful jobs available. During my career, I traveled the world, met and married my husband, gave birth to and raised two beautiful children, and enjoyed my life!

I turned what could have been a terrible, frightening experience into something really wonderful.

Swapping phones

How does a rescuer deal with a person who has been cut in half by a truck and obviously will not survive, but is still alive?

Not a truck. A railroad train.

The kid had attempted to jump on a boxcar from a bridge.

He dropped instead between the cars and rolled onto a rail.

A wheel cut him in half at the belly, but at the same time sealed the wound.

He was fully conscious, and asked a rescue worker if he would be “OK.”

The first responder said, “Sure, son, you’ll be fine.”

Then his two halves unsealed, and his guts poured forth. He died.

Where?

In Cumberland, Maryland. Here:

Right behind my house, years ago.

What’s something you can’t believe you had to explain to another adult?

My sister-in-law once called me to borrow my fax machine. This was in the days before most people had computers and internet. She had a very important document that had to be faxed to a company showing proof of payment.

I took my fax machine to her house that night, hooked it up, walked her through the simple instructions and left.

She called me at work the next day in a panic. She said she had tried to send her document several times and it would not go. This was important, and she needed it sent right away. I was getting off early that day so I agreed to go by her house and help her with it.

When I arrived I checked the machine and connections and everything seemed fine. I told her to send it again so I could see what was going on. She did everything correctly and at the tone hit Send. The fax machine pulled the paper through and indicated a successful receipt at the other end. My sister-in-law grabbed the paper as it came back out of the machine and said, “See. It doesn’t go, it just spits it back out.” My jaw hit the floor. It turns out she thought the actual paper was being sent over the phone lines.

After I explained the concept to her, I let her know that this story would be told at every family get together for the rest of my life. It is now firmly a part of the family lore and enjoyed by each successive generation.

My sister-in-law fortunately took it in stride. She declared it her worst blonde moment and laughs as hard as anyone when the story is retold.

P.S. My sister-in-law did call the company still to confirm receipt. They told her they had four copies and that was absolutely sufficient.

Have you ever accidentally found out that you were about to be fired?

Close? I accidentally found out I was going to be demoted which lead to me quitting.

In my 20s I worked at one of those places that made huge cookies, I was specifically hired by the manager to be the assistant manager, she’d worked with me as a key holder at another place so she knew I would be good at it. A few months after I was hired the owner sold the business.

One day I was hanging out with the Manager L when she got a call from one of the kids at cookie shop. “Hey L, the owner is in here with some chick he says is the new Manager, what’s going on?”

Too bad L had no answers for her, we had no damned idea what was happening. She and I jumped in the car and headed to the cookie shop to talk, in person, to the owner.

Sure enough, he was demoting L into Assistant and me into just a regular employee. Neither of us had done anything wrong, the new owner just planned to make this new lady a manager. He told us a bunch of BS saying she had experience bla bla… but we found out later she was actually just his girlfriend. We told him how messed up that was, and that both of us would quit if he planned to do this. He was unrepentant, even gaving us the whole “I’m sorry you feel you need an apology” line.

She and I looked at each other, got up and walked away.

Apparently he truly didn’t understand what had just happened because when he saw the kid who called us changing the schedule he was confused. When he was told by her we had just quit, he was completely stunned and didn’t understand why we would have done that. Dude, we literally told you to your face that’s what we’d do if you demoted us for no reason other than to put someone else in as manager, WTF did you think would happen?

Turns out the girlfriend was horrible as a manager, and the owner ended up folding in a few months. Funny how that happens when you take actions that force the people with a clue out, and put someone clueless in just because you are dating them. The two of us were the ones who knew how to run the store, knew how to run the fundraising side, which is where most of the money was made. He screwed himself by being an idiot.

Cajun Butt

Yield: about 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients

1 (6 pound) boneless pork butt
15 to 20 garlic slivers
3 tablespoons red pepper flakes (or less)
4 tablespoons yellow mustard
3 tablespoons Tony Chachere’s Original Seasoning
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Cut 15 to 20 slits 1 inch deep on external surface of pork butt. Press one garlic sliver into each slit with thumb, to bottom of slit. On top of each garlic sliver, insert 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes in the slit. Pinch slit closed.
In a bowl, mix mustard, Cajun seasoning, brown sugar and black pepper. Mix well and apply to pork butt. Lightly dust with a coating of red pepper flakes.
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Smoke-cook using apple and hickory chips on a covered barbecue pit off the heat for 1 hour per pound or until the internal temperature reaches 190 degrees F.

What is the strangest way you have seen someone repair a broken object?

I drove around a 1988 Toyota Corolla when I was 16 years old.

It looked like this, only a lot more beat up and ugly:

The car had a habit of making strange noises, but there was one noise in particular that I just couldn’t deal with anymore.

I drove it over to my dad’s house to see if he could tell what the problem was.

Dad: “Oh that’s just your heat shield.”

Me: “My what?”

Dad: “It’s basically just there to keep stuff from catching on fire when you park somewhere.”

Me: “That sounds kind of important. Is it something that can be fixed?”

Dad: “Hmmm… Probably.”

My dad grabbed a stick from the yard, shoved it somewhere on the heat shield, and the noise magically stopped.

I thought that stick would eventually catch on fire, but it never did and the noise never came back.

There are some benefits to having a redneck dad.

What is one of the most effective improvised weapons made by soldiers in the field?

Perhaps one of the most effective improvised weapons was the Rhino tank. An ordinary tank – usually a Sherman but with improvised steel teeth welded to the front.

In 1944 just after D-Day the Americans, Canadians and British troops were getting held up in the ‘bocage’ countryside of Normandy. Bocage consisted of high hedgerows built on thick banks of earth. This environment proved ideal for German ambushes, providing plenty of defensive cover. It also meant that the Germans could pick off tanks because they would be funnelled down the lanes, or forced through the narrow gaps in the bocage hedgerows. The Germans knew exactly where the tanks would come through and could lay anti tank mines, or train their guns on that exact spot. If the tanks tried to avoid the gaps and instead drive over the top of bocage embankment, it was so steep that it would expose the thin underside armour. Allied tanks were getting wiped out. Until this man, Sergeant Curtis G. Culin had an idea.

When one of his fellow soldiers joked and said they needed a big set of teeth to bite their way through, Culin didn’t laugh but took the idea seriously. He welded some of the steel that the Germans had used as tank traps to the front of his tank, like this.

The teeth allowed the Sherman to burst straight through the hedgerow, surprise and then destroy any Germans waiting in ambush on the other side.

When General Omar Bradley saw what Culin had done and saw how his tank was able to smash its way though the bocage hedgerows, the General ordered that as many tanks as possible be fitted with this improvised weapon. The Normandy beaches had been filled with landing spikes which were conveniently just the right shape and type of steel to make the ‘teeth’.

This simple but effective innovation enabled the Americans to swiftly move on and cut off the Cotentin Peninsula and then move south and meet up with the British and Canadians cutting off the Germans in the Falaise Pocket.

What problems did you encounter when buying a house in an “as-is” condition?

I bought the house we are in now exactly 10 years ago in “as is” condition. In fact this was the entire listing:

“Seller and agents make no representations and warranties. Sold as is.”

The house is in a fairly upscale suburb, and was about 15 years old at the time. There was plenty of cosmetic damage — water damage on the hardwood floors, a filthy kitchen, holes in some drywall, a half-full leaky pool clogged with algae. Plus the interior and exterior were just sad looking, with ugly brown paint and outdated stained oak stairs.

But the funny thing was that no matter how carefully I looked, I could not see any actual serious problems. In fact, it was a bank repossession, and I eventually figured out that since it looked so bad they just assumed there were real problems, and they listed it the way they did to avoid any liability. Over 100 people looked at the house, and we were the only ones who put in an offer, and we got it way (way!) under the asking price, which is rare in Toronto.

I was planning on doing a full renovation anyhow, so I didn’t care about the drywall and flooring. The entire kitchen went in the dumpster. And for $600 we repaired the pool, and it worked perfectly.

I’ve been here for 10 years now and we have not had a single serious problem with the house.

I am sitting outside Quoraing this morning and I took this picture 60 seconds ago:

From the Agreement of Purchase and Sale:

What are the most mind-blowing tricks used during any war?

When you can’t destroy a target by dropping bombs vertically, you can drop them horizontally. That’s what the 617 Royal Air Force Squadron did in May 1943.

The squadron carried out Operation Chastise, designed to destroy German dams and hydroelectric power stations. Reconnaissance and simulated bombing runs revealed that bombs dropped vertically on top of dams were not effective. So instead, the RAF used an experimental bouncing bomb, designed by Sir Barnes Wallis, that was dropped at low altitude onto the surface of the reservoir and skipped along the water horizontally until it hit the face of the dam.

The strategy proved effective. “The Möhne and Edersee Dams were breached…Two hydroelectric power stations were destroyed and several more were damaged. Factories and mines were also either damaged or destroyed.”

Lancaster bomber dropping bouncing bomb during the Operation Chastise raids on Germany’s Ruhr Valley.

The operation was later the subject of the movie Dambusters, released in 1955.

West will choke on Putin’s terms for Ukraine

Discussion on the Ukraine surrender terms.

Who was the most delusional person you’ve ever met? Why were they so delusional?

I remember seeing a girl, her parents were millionaires due to a massive inheritance.

She would try and talk about her “Working class background” how the struggle was real.

One day she was telling me how her parents only bought her a brand new mini when she passed her test and how that went to show how much her family had struggled. One of her school friends got a brand new Range Rover.

I listened to that thinking “My Mum couldn’t have afforded a driving lesson let alone a car”

Have you ever felt disgusted by the actions of a family member?

My sister’s daughter and her husband were about to lose their house in Texas because neither of them had jobs, they had one very young daughter and were expecting another baby. My 80 year old mother couldn’t stand to watch this happen. So, she took out an equity loan on her house and lent them $100,000. They were supposed to make the equity payments for my mom, and at first they did and were supposed to pay the whole loan back when they sold their house.

A few months later, they sold their house but told my mother they needed her money as a down payment on their new house in california. So, they kept the money, and continued making the monthly payments until they had a big fight and split up. Suddenly, no one wanted to make the payments on my mother’s equity loan so my mother had to. If she couldn’t keep up on them, she would have lost her house.

She is now 85 years old, completely disabled, living on a tiny pension, and trying to pay off this loan. Since my niece split with her husband, they did not make payments on their house either. So, it went into foreclosure, and Mom cannot even put a lien on it to get her money back.

Needless to say, I am truly disgusted by my niece’s behavior as well as her husband’s. I have now sent my mother money; my sister has sent her money, and another one of my nieces has sent money. The only people in the family who do not seem to feel terrible about this are the two people who should.

How did one small decision change your life?

When i decided not to break up with my boyfriend at that moment.

I had just joined post graduation course and found this guy who was extremely caring about me. Within a month, he proposed me. I was confused however i said yes.

We use to talk, study and laugh together. However even after six months, i was not sure about our relationship.

AND Here comes the blow. He was back to his hometown. He was ill since a week. Meanwhile, i had a introspection round with my roommates. I found i was still unsure about our relationship. So i decided, on the next call, i will tell him that this is not the right time to fall in love etc., we should be friends only.

He called me around 8 PM. I was full prepared to say him a No. As soon as i picked the phone, he was crying on the other side. He was suffering from a fatal disease, Meningitis. I could not gather courage to leave him at this crucial moment. I just said, “I am with you today and always. No matter what happens.”

He was not in position to join college. His parents was insisting him to leave the college and repeat next time. He refused and joined the college next month. He had not recovered fully. In fact, he lost his hearing power around 40%. When he came back, he told me – how my words motivated him to join the college again. I took care of him. I used to call him reminding his medicines, diets etc. Meanwhile, i actually fell for him and then never told about that breakup thought.

Today, i am happily married with him.

P.S. I do not want my husband to know about my breakup thought even today. He is on quora. So i am writing anonymously.

What did you notice during an interview that made you not want the job?

I visited a radio station for an interview, at the station manager’s request. At the time I was somewhat “known” as a pleasing radio “personality” and therefore many stations wanted to talk to me.

Part of the interview process includes a station tour where the owner or manager shows off their office, production facilities, etc.

But at this particular station, I noticed all the shelved albums (well over a thousand) were locked in place by a steel bar which prevented their removal from the shelf, unless the bar was unlocked.

But who the Hell would steal the records? During business hours, when the station was open, advertisers or promoters might come in, but they were always accompanied by station staff, so visitors couldn’t steal an album (or even a 45). So, when the doors were locked after 5 PM, who did that leave as a potential thief?

Answer: the DJ who was on air, and the news guy or gal. Sometimes, the sales manager might come in.

So, the owner of the station was paranoid about theft from his or her own people! I had worked at a number of stations, and had never seen a lockdown of the music library. It had to mean that employees and top management were not happy with each other, and I was NOT going to work in that kind of environment.

Thus, I stopped in my tracks and said, “Thanks for the tour, but I don’t think this will work for me.” And I was out the door before anyone could say, “Huh?”

What’s the pettiest thing you’ve done to get back at a nuisance neighbor?

Years ago, I lived in an apartment in a two-family building. Upstairs and downstairs.

The landlord had rented the downstairs to a woman and her three teenage kids. They were obnoxious, had fights constantly, played music so loud it literally shook the walls, and despite multiple complaints by other neighbors to the landlord and the police (because yes it was that bad), nothing was done.

While technically, landlords are supposed to do snow clearing after a snow fall, getting some landlords to do so in a timely manner is more effort than digging out the snow yourself. This was one such landlord.

That winter we had a bad snow storm, a few feet of snow.

The downstairs neighbor knocked on my door to ask when I, the older woman with no kids, would be shoveling out the apartments and driveway, all of it, by myself.

I told her I wouldn’t, but we could split the cost to have someone come over and do it since the landlord was extra full of excuses as to why it would take days to get to the property and do so.

She laughed and said she wasn’t paying. She then told me I was welcome to hire her 3 kids to dig out the entire property. Her kids were a big part of the problem as to why the cops were coming over constantly, and so no. I’d previously had problems with her children opening my mail and putting it back in my mail box or opening deliveries of mine. There was no way I’d pay them.

Oh hell no, first you expect someone older than you to do the work for free, then expect that I will pay your kids, who are apparently perfectly able to do so, to dig YOU out? Fuck that.

A friend’s husband was offering to dig people out for a reasonable rate. I contacted him and hired him. When he got there, I explained the neighbor issue and what I wanted and was willing to pay for. He was only to clear out MY half of the driveway/garage/sidewalk. Her sides were still untouched, because no one(Me) would pay her kids to do it.

He went the extra mile, splitting the snow between the yard, and her side, of everything. AKA her side ended up with more snow that needed to be cleared.

This level of petty

Picture from Google.

She complained to the landlord that:

1. I refused to shovel her side of the property for her and her family (I was not obligated to do ANY property maintenance at all)

2. I had refused to hire her kids to do it

3. I had hired someone and refused to pay him to clear her side.

Now this was a kinda shitty landlord, but still… I was amused that the landlord contacted me about it and agreed to reduce my rent the amount I paid to have MY side cleared, as well as tell me about the downstairs neighbor’s complaints about me.

Until I moved out, whenever there was snowfall, you would see a similar clearing pattern on the property. SO much so the other neighbors joked about it, and refused to hire her kids to clear their properties as well.

EDIT: Apparently there are a large number of people who feel the need to comment about how she could just use my side of the stairs as if I lack a functioning brain. Seriously, the level of condescending ‘splaining in the comments is a sad statement on so many here. Thanks all you Captain Obvious’.

Of course she could, as could the postal worker who had to use them to deliver mail(Something not one of those commenting about her using the stairs seemed to consider).

Her being able to use them or not wasn’t the point. So many of you making the same comment as if the more of you who say it, the more I will regret it, or as if I didn’t realize that years ago when I did it is mind-boggling.

For those clueless ones that feel the need to comment the obvious, you all missed the obvious point that it wasn’t about her use of the stairs, but the refusal to clear her side on her command.

What’s something your husband did to you that you will never forget?

My partner (not my husband). My mother had been really sick from cancer for 18 months, we were told that she was unlikely to make it past the weekend. With that being said I was completely distraught… my partner of 9 years said pack your stuff and leave first thing in the morning (400km drive). He woke me up at 430 am, had already packed the car and fueled it up for me. Had a travel mug of coffee ready and said call me when you get there. I left 5am Friday morning.

mum passed 8am Saturday morning (the next day). I called my partner and told him, he said I’ll move heaven and hell to get there as soon as I can. I said, don’t worry, there is nothing you can do, just be here in time for mums funeral (the upcoming Friday).

in the mean time, it was my birthday 4 days after mum had passed. My family tried to make it as special as it could be. But, it was quite a somber occasion. At 8pm, there were headlights at the top of the drive way (rural property). I know the sound of his car. I’m like it’s *partners name.

he had worked 12 hour shift (construction) then drove 400km to be with me in my darkest time to help me feel better on my birthday. In the days after mums passing I had not been able to sleep, or cry or anything but just barely function. I slept solidly that night.

I know most would say that or like to think their spouse would do the same. But, that level of love and support got me through my darkest days. Love this man so very much.

The USA is so filthy rich to fund $100+B to Ukraine and $14B to Israel to support their wars but they can’t agree in Congress to avert a government shutdown this Friday, lifeline extended since 30 Sep. Where is the America First mindset?

Unfortunately, this is the point. The U.S. is not filty rich but filty poor.

All those money for Ukraine and Israel we got by using the printing press. We’re now $33 trillion in debt.

We can’t pay for basic utilities to keep our house in order but we believe we’re still able to live the high life of showing off to the rest of the world how powerful we are.

Strange things caught on camera

How did Genghis Khan treat his soldiers?

Genghis Khan, the legendary Mongol conqueror, had a unique approach when it came to treating his soldiers. Known for his strategic brilliance and military prowess, Khan understood the importance of a strong and loyal army in his quest to build the largest empire in history. So how did he treat his soldiers?

First and foremost, Genghis Khan believed in meritocracy. He valued skill, loyalty, and bravery above all else. Regardless of their background or social status, anyone who demonstrated these qualities had the opportunity to rise through the ranks of his army. This approach fostered a sense of unity and purpose among his soldiers, as they knew that their achievements would be rewarded.

Khan was also an astute observer of human nature. He recognized that soldiers needed to be motivated and inspired to fight with unwavering dedication. To achieve this, he led by example. Genghis Khan was renowned for his courage on the battlefield, often placing himself at the forefront of his troops during crucial engagements. This not only boosted morale but also instilled a sense of camaraderie and trust among his soldiers.

In addition to leading from the front, Khan took great care of his troops’ physical well-being. He ensured that his soldiers were adequately fed, equipped, and cared for. The Mongol army was known for its skilled horsemen, and Khan prioritized the breeding and training of horses to provide his soldiers with superior mounts. This gave them a significant advantage in maneuverability and speed during battles.

Furthermore, Genghis Khan implemented a system of rewards and recognition for valorous acts. Soldiers who displayed exceptional bravery or achieved notable successes on the battlefield were given honors, titles, and even land. This not only motivated his soldiers to excel but also created a sense of pride and camaraderie within the ranks.

However, Khan was also a strict disciplinarian. He demanded discipline and obedience from his soldiers, as he believed that a well-disciplined army was crucial for maintaining order and achieving victory. Disobedience or betrayal was met with severe consequences, ensuring that his troops remained loyal and committed to the cause.

Woman EXPOSES The INEVITABLE Problem With Dating Modern Women | TRAINED/GROOMED To Be Masculine

What is the most ridiculous way you have seen someone make a lot of money?

I was in talks to design a business plan for one of those “Become a Millionaire” guys – aka a “Life Coach”.

As we moved along in talks I immediately got the heeby jeebies from the guy.

He was in his late 50’s and only seemed to brag about things he did in high school and his early 20’s. When I would ask about subsequent years, just to understand his career narrative, he would get thin on details and then squirm and change the subject.

So then I watched a few of his media interviews where his go-to story was about this incredible and vivid vision that came upon him when he was a child. A vision that he would someday become rich.

To his credit, it indeed came true. He was a wealthy man.

But it became true because he inherited his dad’s company when his dad passed away unexpectedly. He then immediately sold the company and spent the next 30 years doing a whole lot of nothing.

So now he is one of those people going around telling everyone he knows “that ONE special secret to getting rich”. He released his first book on becoming wealthy, which a bunch of unfortunate suckers bought.

And, no, I won’t tell you the title because he will sue the hell out of me.

But I’ll give you the cliff notes version, “Get rich by having a rich dad.”

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there that are like him.

Preying on people’s hopes and dreams in search of a dollar.

Can the United States build a new carrier group every five years for the next fifty years?

The American industrial system does not have such production capacity.

American shipyards do not have such production capacity: There is only a dry dock suitable for manufacturing aircraft carriers, and aircraft carriers waiting for repair are still queuing;
The steel mills in the United States do not have such production capacity: The last scandal involving the use of low-quality steel made in Kobe, Japan, by US nuclear submarines has not yet passed. This batch of nuclear submarines with quality issues cannot dive at all, and diving into deep water will explode due to increased pressure. American warships are even unable to withstand the impact of fishing vessels, which fully proves the quality issues of the steel used in their shipbuilding.
There are not enough skilled workers in the United States

20 And Back – The Super Soldiers Defending the Kuiper Belt

Another fun video.

Is it a crime to say in China, “Xi Jinping is destroying China. He must be kicked out! He is a dictator!”? In the West, saying such things about one’s president is perfectly normal.

Joe Biden is taking the World to the brink of World War III

What can the American people do about it?

SQUAT

…

Until 19/1/2025 at least, there is nothing any American citizen can do about it except watch the World plunge into war under the watch of a senile idiot who needs Diapers

So what is the use of saying

Biden is destroying USA and he must be kicked out

It’s just empty gas isn’t it. It’s just 10 words at the end of the day. Biden laughs and keeps doing whatever he likes for four years, unchecked

…

Same with every Democracy in the Planet

At the end of the day – WHAT IS THE END RESULT OF ABUSING OR CRITICISING THE LEADER?

Nothing

Either the Media suppresses it or people shrug and brazenly keep doing what they are doing

…

Take India

We have had Protests on every decision that has ruined the country

Demonetization, CAA, NCR etc

They matter Squat

Once in, Modi is in power for minimum 5 years and he can’t be shaken by the common man

…

France?

Same story

All those Protests and Screams and Shrieks about Pension reforms and Macron did exactly what he wanted

He is in charge till 2027

…

Same with South Korea , exports plunge to historic lows and people scream and protest but does it matter? Nopes

Taiwan?

Japan?

Germany?

So many protests begging to end the war and Germany openly and brazenly calls for Escalation

So what is the use of this damn free speech? You can say the words but they are worthless in every possible way

Now China

Yes

Maybe in China, saying these 10 words could be counter productive

However the people’s voice in China is heard much better than in any democracy

Lockdowns were ended post protests
Rural Banking Reforms were initiated after Protests
Crackdowns on Real Estate Financing was initiated after Protests
1.03 Crore Jobs have been added due to vigorous Weibo Netizen criticism
Tagging Schoolkids Or regulating online gaming has been deferred due to Weibo online protests

Plus the Biggest Biggest Thing…

Recently on the XI Jingping app, they asked if Chinas History for 6–9 Classes be modified and whether Chapters on the Boxer Rebellion and the Opium Wars had to be reduced

The Question was asked of Students who had already passed out their 9th Grade and above

79% Students said NO.

DON’T CHANGE HISTORY

They didn’t.

…

In India, US, and all those wonderful democracies – they don’t ask the kids do they????

So on one hand you have Western Democracies and their lapdogs where you can say what ever you want but can do zilch

Or China where your criticism must be tempered but as citizens you can achieve much greater control on Governance

The Chinese say WE LIKE OUR MODEL BETTER

I kinda agree with them

So you keep your Senile Alzheimer’s Ridden President and your ‘Freedom and Democracy’ and let the Chinese have their own version

Perceptions on making money

What would you consider a legitimate Italian cuisine that the US actually gets right?

I think you might want to edit the question to ask which item from Italian cuisine does the US actually get right.

Italian American cuisine is a cuisine in its own right. Millions of Italians immigrated to America and they adapted their traditional dishes to use American ingredients. Some of the ingredients they used at home were unavailable or too expensive in America, so changes were made. Successive generations didn’t know there was a difference between what they were eating and what was being cooked in the old country. They just accepted the food their families prepared as being Italian cuisine, which at heart, it is.

There’s a lot of water between America’s East Coast, the epicenter of Italian American cuisine, and the old boot herself. It’s that distance that led the creation of Italian American classics. If I had to point at one item the made the leap unmolested though, I’d name Sfogliatelle.

Sfogliatelle are a flaky pastry that originated in Campania. They’re made by rolling out dough, brushing it with lard or oil, rolling it up, cutting it into portions, shaping the pastry, filling it and baking. Sfogliatelle can be baked unfilled or filled with sweetened ricotta, almond paste or candied citrus zest. They’re simple to make and don’t call for any exotic ingredients. It’s the thin flakey layers that make sfogliatelle unique.

Ricotta filled:

If you’ve never tried these pastries, seek them out. They’re amazing and their recipe has not been molested by time or distance.

The 80/20 rule

Why is a partner at a Chinese semiconductor investment fund calling the U.S. ban on certain chip exports to China “great news”?

It’s simple

Today YMTC makes products that are maybe 75% as good as NVDIA

Other Chinese Entities make products that are around 60% of the quality of products of entities like Samsung & SK Hynix

Spending $ 100 on NVDIA chips means $ 88 goes to US or Taiwan or other such companies

Spending $ 100 on YMTC chips means $ 61 comes to Mainland China

That’s 5 times more money than otherwise

And these Companies, they won’t use this extra revenue and put in a Swiss Bank account somewhere

They will use this money to invest into more researchers, more hours and match the same quality of the superior western brands

Today there is a vast stockpile in China to handle maybe 30 months of inventory

That gives a transition gap of approximately 2 1/2 years or until 2027 January

This is a big boost to the Chinese local entities because you can’t rely on Government largesse for ever

What robbed you of your childhood, and how?

Life robbed me of my childhood. My parents had to quit school after grade 9 to help support their families. They vowed that my brother and I would not be barred from finishing school and going to University.

But we were poor, so they had no way to pay for it. So they propped me early. I knew by grade six that if I wanted to go to university, I would have to pay for it myself.

So in grade 8, I started mowing lawns and shoveling snow.

In grade 9 I got a part time job and worked 20 hours a week, in grade 10 ,30 hours, and grades 11 and 12 it was 40 hours. I graduated first in my class. I lived in a 10×14 ft room, with a roommate and the bathroom, was down the hall. I worked in the dorm cafeteria. When summer came I got a camp job, where I worked 360–380 hours a month, and they also paid room and board.

This was the way I graduated from university debt free.

So, as soon as I turned 13, I stopped having a childhood, and had an adulthood instead. So much for life being easy for baby boomers.

I’d do it all over again in a heart beat. Its what it took to break the cycle of poverty.

What is your most embarrassing restaurant experience?

I was bar tending during a lunch shift at a horseshoe shaped bar in the middle of a restaurant.

The bartender who closed the bar the previous night did not shut off the hose inside the bar.

Unbeknown to me, the nozzle had fallen off the hook and was resting right under the service bar, where I was making drinks.

About 30 minutes into the lunch rush I had a full bar and a miles worth of service bar drinks to make.

All I remember is hearing yelling and commotion coming from my right, yet continue slave away as I had a million and one things to do.

Finally, hearing a “WHAT THE F*#K IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” towards my direction I turned to see the hose dousing half the restaurant in water.

I had been stepping on the nozzle for at least 30-45 seconds.

The entire left side of the restaurant, it’s customers, the food, everything was drenched in water.

Everyone who had food, had it ruined, men in business suits… soaked.

Water was literally dripping off the ceiling.

Looking back it was kind of awesome to see around 100 people all giving you the rageface all at the same time.

What is something that people were better at 100 years ago?

Because I am 71, I knew people who were in their prime of life a hundred years ago (1918) and there were definitely things that they did easily and routinely that are rarely done today:

Baking bread and caramel rolls. My grandmother learned it from her mother but did not pass it on to her daughters, probably because sliced store bread had essentially taken over.
Writing cursive and writing letters. I have saved some of my grandfather’s letters. For a person with an eighth grade education, he wrote simply but beautifully.
Sewing and mending. My grandmother was not wealthy, but she was capable of producing wonderful pajamas for all of her grandchildren on her trusty Singer. My generation has lost the ability to create heirlooms.
Gardening and canning the things they grew. In an era when you were not going to see fresh fruit or vegetables in stores after growing season, people developed great preservation skills. Things like pickles, berries, tomatoes were canned as were peaches and plums when in season. I do not remember kale or zucchini, however, and that was also a blessing.
Memory work. I grew up with great uncles and aunts (all born about 1900) who had memorized massive amounts of poetry and famous speeches as well as scripture. Rote learning was fairly normal in their education, so they did group memorization. We loved to hear their recitations.

I miss those folks. They just slipped away one at a time between the seventies and today.

What was the bravest thing you ever did in a job interview?

This wasn’t me, this was my wife. She is a lawyer and was interviewing for a job managing the sale of properties. She was interviewing at a firm that specialised in really expensive and tricky sales and when she turned up to the interview she was told by the recruiter that the partners had told the last two people who were interviewed to leave midway through so they were quite abrupt!

She went to the interview, which went quite well, and they asked her to prepare an answer to a legal sale question. When she looked at it, she knew she had no hope: it was madly complicated and about a type of property sale that is known to be horrendous to do. She thought about trying to brazen it off and decided to be honest and say she had no idea.

It turned out the partners knew from looking at her CV she would have no idea about how to do it; it was something so complex the partner himself had had to do it himself. What they were trying to do was see how she reacted to something she didn’t know. The last two people interviewed had tried to make something up and so failed the test.

They offered her the job on the spot!

Have you, while repairing a computer, ever found anything that made your jaw drop?

I was nowhere qualified as a computer tech but one time a friend of mine brought over a a desktop machine and keyboard and asked me to see if I could get it running as it wouldn’t boot up. Every time you’d plug in the power cord to the wall socket a strange odor would start permiating from the cover. I figured something was wrong with the power supply, which if push came to shove I could’ve probably went to an electronics supply store and bought another one and installed it. I was adept at soldering and replacing some common components at the time, which is why my friend thought that I could fix it.

Anyhoo, I removed the screws holding the cover to the unit, lifted the cover off and got the most absolute shock of my life!! Hundreds of live cockroaches start running out all over everywhere not to mention many more that were obviously dead inside that cover!

I came unglued along with a major panic attack! I’d never, ever had to deal with roaches after I became an adult. I despised them because while growing up my family and I always had a major problem with roaches and they were always into everything and would drop from the ceiling when you went into a room after turning on lights, etc etc etc.

I spent 2 hours stomping on and smashing roaches trying to prevent them from getting into places in my apartment where I couldn’t reach and in the long run wasn’t successful. Ended up moving out to get away from them making sure in the process that I didn’t inadvertently take any with me.

I was not happy with my friend. It caused a major, almost homicidal argument with him and it would be several years before we spoke again. The creepiness and ick factor of watching those roaches pile out of that machine that day still haunts me to this day.

Huawei refused to disclose its foundry information, sending the Biden team into madness.

Mama! Huawei is not giving me his data!

What is the saddest truth about smart people?

Let’s talk about smart children. Particularly smart children in the United States. Particularly those in grades K-8 at a public school.

A lot of you reading this are, yourself, a product of the American public school system. Think back to your K-8 years. Do you remember people whose only job was to deal with the students with behavior problems? Were there “special education” teachers who had special classrooms with aides and all kinds of equipment for just a handful of students? Do you remember being bored a lot in school, because your teacher didn’t have the time to challenge you, because they were so busy re-teaching things to the students who didn’t get it the first time? Do you remember a handful of students who seemed to set the pace for the whole class, and that pace was much, much too slow for you? Do you remember a handful of students whose attitudes and behavior set the tone for the whole class? And was that a negative tone that left your teacher spending most of their time dealing with that small handful of students?

That was my experience, at least. In grades 4–8, I was one of about 20 students in a special gifted program in my school. But that gifted “program” was just two teachers who were given a spare classroom in five schools in the district, and they went to a different school every day of the week, and pulled out the gifted students from their classes for an hour, to play logic games with them.

One hour per week. That’s what we got.

Meanwhile, the students on the other end of the spectrum had resources thrown at them, including permanent classrooms with full-time teachers for students whose only “special need” was that they didn’t give a damn about learning.

I remember one incident in particular, when I realized just how much time my teachers wasted trying to get one particular student under control. His name was Anthony. One day, in seventh grade, we were learning about feudal Japan by playing a game where we were all on teams, given items to trade, and could use money we made to hire soldiers, and then there was a huge map of Japan on the wall, separated into regions, with the number of regions under each team’s control represented by different colored push pins.

My team started in Osaka. To this day, I know exactly where Osaka is because of this game back in 1992. I remember that we were the blue team, our main thing to trade was fish, and we began with five pushpin armies.

Also Judith was in my group, which made it even that much more enjoyable for me. She was forced to interact with me for a few minutes each day because of this.

It was a computer-less strategy game. I loved it. The game was supposed to last for a few weeks.

It lasted two days. On the third day, Anthony vandalized the giant game board, and some of his friends laughed. And that was it. The teacher was tired of putting in so much effort for something that students like Anthony just kept ruining. We did the rest of the unit, and every unit afterwards for the rest of the year, through textbook reading and worksheets.

But, as I thought about it, I realized that Anthony had been that way since he was first in my class in second grade. He was always out of control. He always set the pace and the tone for the class. In middle school, he got kicked out of class a lot, which just wasted a lot of time because he rarely went willingly and they had to call and wait for security. But he was always back in the class the next day. He just needed to “chill out.”

That was actually the name of the kick-out room for students like him: the “chill out room.”

I just Googled him and found a story that he was sentenced to six years in prison in 2004 for “domestic battery, drug possession, and forgery.”

Yep. All of that extra time, effort, and money the public school spent on him… how’d that work out?

That would be fine, if the public schools spent the same amount of time, effort, and money on the upper end of the spectrum.

My point is this: What’s the saddest truth about smart people? Public schools just aren’t equipped to deal with your special needs, because they’re too busy dealing with the special needs of students on the other end of the spectrum. The very people who have the most potential to give the most back to society are the same ones who school prioritizes the least.

Imagine a school system where every dollar spent on students on the lower end of the special needs spectrum had to be matched by a dollar for students on the higher end of the spectrum.

Imagine if, just like schools have resources in place for when the teachers need to kick out the Anthonys of the world, those same schools had resources for teachers to send out the students who were too smart for that day’s lesson.

“Timmy, you can read this and learn it on your own in five minutes, but I’m going to be teaching it to the rest of the class for the next hour. You can go to the gifted resource room and work with the teacher there on more advanced stuff.”

Imagine if, just as schools pay extra attention to students with special needs due to federal laws and fears of getting sued, schools did the same for students on the high end of the spectrum. Imagine if parents could threaten a lawsuit because the school wasn’t meeting the needs of their child… the legally-mandated requirement that the school challenge them on their academic level and not let their classmates hold them back.

Imagine how high your hot air balloon could be now, if not for the classroom sandbags that weighed you down when you were in school.

Instead of “No Child Left Behind,” it should be “No Child Forced To Wait.”

Gavin Newsom goes to China, one-ups Biden and meets Xi Jinping

“As a Californian, I can tell you that not only is Newsom not acceptable to the rest of America, California is not acceptable to the rest of America”.

How likely is China going to sell $810 billion worth of U.S. securities? What will happen in the global credit markets if China starts to dump U.S. dollars?

It is likely that China will sell virtually all of its remaining U.S. Treasuries.

It is useful to look at Russia’s experience in this regard. Russia sold virtually all of its Treasuries in 2018, fairly quickly. At that time, Russia encouraged the world to dump U.S. Treasury bonds. Thus, it is possible for a country to officially not hold Treasuries.

After 2018, Russia continued to hold some foreign currency reserves in U S. dollars. When the Ukraine War started in 2022, the United States and its allies froze hundreds of billions of dollars held by Russia.

As a result, the world has been forced to look elsewhere to store its savings. Both China and Russia are storing much of their wealth in physical gold. Other countries are doing the same. The planet is also increasingly doing business in currencies other than the dollar.

As a result of these trends, China will increasingly no longer need U.S. Treasuries to do business. In October 2023, China bought its first oil for Chinese Yuan. If this continues, China will get its oil for free, by printing Yuan. America will be forced to trade hard goods for oil in the future.

America’s leaders were very short-sighted to weaponize the dollar. A global reserve currency requires trust. The United States had a money-making machine, and voluntarily gave it up.

FLASH TRAFFIC ADDED – TURKISH NAVY DEPLOYING 100 SHIPS AGAINST ISRAEL –~FIFTY (50) U.S. Military Transport Planes in 24 Hours to Middle East

World Hal Turner

FLASH TRAFFIC ADDED – SEE 12:27 PM EDT UPDATE BELOW —— From Friday-into-Saturday, the United States sent no fewer than fifty (50) military transport planes loaded with troops to the Middle East. In addition, the list below shows “unprecedented” naval deployments. Today, Iran said they WILL NOT abide U.S. warnings to stay out of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

We begin with Naval Deployments into the Middle East showing 11 Countries in Support of Israel:

All of the above, along with Submarines and other support ships show an utterly massive naval deployment. I am told this present deployment is larger than the ones done prior to the US war(s) against Saddam Hussein in Iraq in 1991 and again later.

In addition to all the above vessels, another Aircraft Carrier, the HMS Queen Elizabeth II, transited the Strait of Gibraltar yesterday morning around 11:00 AM, enroute to the eastern Mediterranean:

In addition to THAT additional aircraft carrier, the Navy of Italy is also now deploying vessels:

AIR

In the 24 hours period from Friday into Saturday, the United States flew 49+ military transport aircraft from the US to the Middle East, carrying TROOPS!

https://halturnerradioshow.com/images/2023/10/28/US-Military-transport-Flights-Fri-into-Sat.jpg

On top of those troop transport flights, a Significant number of C-17A Globemaster lll and C-5M Super Galaxy Transport Aircraft from the U.S. Air Force’s Air Mobility Command have been arriving in the Middle East.

The flight info above DOES NOT even cover the regular commercial airline flights the US has chartered to exclusively move troops!

Yesterday, Saturday 28 October 2023, Germany put 1,000 soldiers on alert for deployment to the Middle East in case of emergency The German Army keeps 1,000 troops on alert for possible deployment to the Middle East in case of emergency, given the prevailing tension in the region as a result of the war between Hamas and Israel.

This flight from Fort Sill, OK has my attention at the moment. Fort Sill is home to a THAAD battery and this flight appears to be headed overseas. There are no helpful ACARS for this flight, but this is possibly a THAAD battery flight enroute to Saudi Arabia:

https://halturnerradioshow.com/images/2023/10/28/THAAD-flight-to-Saudi-Arabia.jpg

At about 1:47 AM eastern US Time Sunday, which was about 11:00 AM in Tehran, Iran, the President of Iran said Tehran will not follow US warnings against interfering in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. According to the Press service of the President of Iran: “Israel has crossed red lines, forcing everyone to take action.”

The President made it a point to also say “the presence of U.S warships in the region will make no difference to Tehran’s decision.”

Hal Turner Analysis

Based solely upon the movement of ships, troops, and planes, it is obvious to me the United States is going to war. A big war.

Trouble is the federal government under the Biden Regime has intentionally left the US southern border with Mexico, virtually open. Literally millions of illegal aliens have been entering the country via Mexico since Biden took office.

It is my opinion that many – but not all – of these illegal aliens are a “5th Column” sent here by adversaries to be “sleeper cells.” I believe that when war erupts in the Middle East, that WE HERE IN THE USA will also be attacked by these sleeper cells.

YOU must be ready with emergency food, water, medicine, a generator to make electric in case the grid is taken down. Have CASH MONEY in your possession incase cyber attacks take out the financial networks, making credit, debit, and SNAP/EBT useless. After all, almost no one takes checks anymore. So folks with cash will eat. Those without cash will go hungry.

The utterly massive movement of troops and weapons indicates to me that hostilities are imminent. Which could — and I emphasize “could” (not necessarily “will”) — trigger sleeper cell attacks here in America.

If you wait until trouble starts, then YOU and every other person who failed to plan, will all be rushing to stores at the same time trying to get food and supplies. In short order, store shelves will be empty and those of you who took no action, will find yourself standing in an empty store.

Don’t be like “the masses who are asses” that wait until the last minute to get supplies. Do it right now. Today.

And gas-up your cars, trucks, and spare gas cans for your generator.

Lastly, have COMMUNICATIONS GEAR – a CB or a HAM (Shortwave) radio — so if things go wild weasel, and communications like phone, fax, email, cellular/Internet all go down, at least YOU will be able to communicate locally (CB) and hear international news on shortwave (HAM).

Of course, some of you will say that this story and its advice is sort of like “Chicken Little, the sky is falling.” To those who would scoff I merely point out that, this morning, a U.S. E-6 Nuclear Command Post is now flying over the US East Coast:

The E-6B Mercury is a communications relay and strategic airborne command post aircraft. It provides survivable, reliable, and endurable airborne Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications (NC3) for the president, secretary of defense and U.S. Strategic Command.

So it isn’t just ME telling you to take steps to prepare, it’s the US Military, too. Take the hint!

(PERSONAL: Sorry my coverage today begins at this late hour of 11:00 AM EDT. I slept-in this morning. Didn’t wake up until 9:25 AM. I was literally exhausted.)

********** FLASH ***********

UPDATE 12:27 PM EDT —

The Turkish Navy is, right now, transiting ONE-HUNDRED Naval Warships through the Bosporus Strait from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea.

It is BELIEVED Turkey plans to engage Israel over its ongoing military action in Gaza. War may break out between Turkey and Israel within Hours! ! ! !

What was a big mistake in WW2?

This is the Lorenz cipher.

Unlike its better known relative, the Enigma machine which was infamously deciphered by code-breakers at Bletchley Park throughout the war, the Lorenz cipher posed a much greater challenge. Utilising 12 wheels to scramble up the message being sent as opposed to the 3 or 4 rotors found in the Enigma machine, the Lorenz cipher was incredibly secure. As a result, unlike the Enigma that was used by the German standard armed forces, the Lorenz cipher was used only by high command with messages coming from Hitler himself. As a result, to crack the Lorenz cipher (or Tunny as it was code named by the British) would have the potential to change the course of the war.

Not much headway had been made in breaking the Lorenz cipher through the war until a German operator made a catastrophic mistake on 30 August 1941. When a German receiving operator did not receive a message correctly, he asked the transmitter to resend the information and despite clear protocol against it, the two operators resent the message without changing their key settings (the settings that determine how the text is scrambled up). However since the message in question was 4000 characters long, the lazy German operator abbreviated several words, thus changing the length of the message. Since their key settings were both the same, the two messages had the same scrambling pattern of characters. Thus by comparing the locations where the message text changed, details of the way the rotors worked could be determined.

These two messages were intercepted by the British who soon realised the importance of what they had discovered. This task of cracking Tunny was given to W T (Bill) Tutte who began to find repetitions in the cipher which allowed him to reverse engineer the Lorenz machine’s logical structure in what would be later described as “one of the greatest intellectual feats of World War II”. In order to support the painstaking decryption of German messages, the British Colossus was built in 1943 by Tommy Flowers, the first ever modern computer.

The Colossus Machine

The impact of the decryption of Tunny was enormous. It gave the British intimate details of Hitler’s most secret communications which was most notably vital in D Day where the Allies were able to deceive the Germans that they were going to attack at Calais as opposed to Normandy and at the Battle of Kursk in 1943, Germany’s last ditch attempt to reverse their fortunes on the Eastern Front and one of the largest battles in history. Involving 3 million men, without foreknowledge of German planning provided by the British, the Soviets would have been badly prepared defensively and could have lost this crucial battle and as a result, the war would’ve been prolonged. In fact, historians estimate that the breaking of the Lorenz cipher shortened the war by two years and thus saved millions of lives all due to the careless mistake of two lazy German operators.

However this pivotal event is not well known due to the Official Secrets Act keeping the nature of the code breakers working to break the Lorenz cipher secret until 1974 and some former staff even today still refuse to break their vow of secrecy, preferring to take their knowledge to the grave.

W T (Bill) Tutte, the man responsible for cracking the Lorenz Cipher

Cajun Pot Roast

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

1 (3 pound) beef sirloin or chuck roast
2 large garlic cloves, cut into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces
3 cayenne chiles, or jalapeno chiles, cut into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces
Salt and pepper to taste
1 large onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 (4 ounce) can whole or sliced mushrooms
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Creole seasoning to taste

Instructions

Cut 1/2 to 3/4 inch slits into beef. Stuff one piece of garlic and one piece of chile into each slit. Season the roast with salt and pepper.
Heat a large nonstick pan over medium heat. Add beef and brown well on all sides.
Add onion, bell pepper and minced garlic land sauté until tender.
Add water to pan to cover the beef.
Stir in the mushrooms and Worcestershire sauce and season with Creole seasoning.
Simmer, covered, for 3 to 4 hours or until tender, adding more water if needed to keep liquid level halfway up the beef.

Notes

You may stir 1 tablespoon flour mixed with 1 cup cold water into liquid near end of cooking for a thicker gravy.

Who did you experience that is so cheap they are disgusting?

I broke off a 10 year off and on relationship over a single piece of gum.

He and I weren’t on great terms for a long while. It was mostly out of his cheapness. He wouldn’t take me out to eat-we ate at his place. That wouldn’t have been bad except that he bought cheap items and used foods that had expired. I told him I wasn’t eating his cooking anymore, thank you. We watched TV but only shows he liked-he didn’t want to waste his time on my shows. I could watch them at my place.

Things were coming to a head and I knew the next fight we had would be the last. It was November when he called me and asked me to come over and fix his computer. I wasn’t in the best of moods-I finally had a free afternoon with the kids out with their father and I had things to do. Ok, I decided I would go over and see if I could do something to help. I got there and he already told me I had just an hour to get things right. Perfect start-no thanks for coming over, great to see you, etc.

He offered me a piece of gum. I haven’t chewed gum in years because it sticks to my dental work, and he knew it. Why was he offering me gum-was my breath stinky? After I thought about it for a moment, I took a piece. I didn’t even get it open when he started to yell at me-why is everything in your life a big decision? Don’t waste my gum-either take it or don’t! I paid money for that!

I immediately put the gum back on the table. He flips out again-you touched it not you don’t want it! What’s the matter with you? With me? I don’t chew gum, not in years! You knew that! I thought you were hinting my breath stunk so I took a piece of gum. Now you don’t want me to take the gum! Why don’t you make up YOUR mind?

He immediately moved my tech bag away from his computer and began to work on his computer. Don’t you want me to do that? No. You asked me to cone down here to help you, now you don’t want me to help you? Silence. Are we really going to have a fight about a piece of gum after I wasted my time and gas to come here? Silence.

I sat on the couch for a few minutes. I could have just stormed out the door. I wanted to compose myself and make it clear what would happen. I told him that I have spent 10 years doing for him, taking care of him when he was sick, lent him things like my cell phone and my car, then paid the repairs when he broke them and he never paid me back. I have put up with all this, and if we didn’t resolve what was really going on, I was leaving and not coming back. All I got was silence. Are we really going to break up over a damned piece of gum? Silence.

I picked up my things and I left. I never went back. I blocked his number from my cell phone. I had a feeling I knew what happened because he did it to me before. He used to get moody around Thanksgiving time and lots of times we broke up so he could avoid my birthday in December and Christmas/Chanukah/Valentines Day. He used to call around March to renew our friendship but his birthday was in April and he really wanted a present. I just had enough of his childishness, his cheapness and his abusive control. It was just one fight too many and I was done.

He did email me the following April-after I sent nothing for his birthday. I emailed him back that I told him that after our last fight, I was done and I wanted nothing more to do with him. He replied that he forgot what we fought about, and I told him that it was over a piece of gum. Then I blocked his email.

He called from another phone the following September, demanding I stop being stupid and get back together. What a lovely invitation, no woman can resist that, I answered. Then he threatened me. I told him to come over and try to f*** me up. I had an old lead pipe my father had and it had his name on it. I told him I’ll invite my neighbors to watch me smear him all over the street. My temper broke and I told him about the horrible things he did to me over the years. He finally said “I guess you’re mad at me, huh?” I hung up and blocked his new number too.

He attempted to contact me a few times through his friends but I told them I would go to the police and file harassment charges. He finally moved out of New York City-he attempted to contact me from his mother’s home in Tennessee. I blocked that too. He’s been blocked in every social media site so I don’t have to deal with him.

He had 10 years to grow up and apologize. The words aren’t in his vocabulary. I know the piece of gum wasn’t the reason our relationship ended-it was years of my giving and him taking and never appreciating what he got. But that stupid piece of gum was the catalyst. To this day, when I see a pack of Wrigley’s gum, I still smirk with amused disgust.

What did you say at a job interview that automatically landed you the job?

“I don’t know”

I interviewed for a support engineering role, the interviewer asked me how a fluorescent light fitting worked. I explained what I knew about the ballast, starter and gas tube etc. He delved deeper and I drew a rudimentary circuit diagram. When he asked exactly how the starter worked I was stumped, so I said “I don’t know”.

He told me that he must’ve had 2 dozen other applicants attempt to convince him how it all worked, but being able to admit I didn’t know something landed me the job. I learnt how knowing one’s limitations is so important.

Resistance hits back against US bases in Syria, multiple casualties reported

Despite increased attacks on US occupation bases, Joe Biden has reportedly turned down more ‘aggressive bombing options’ in Syria out of fear that a wider conflict may erupt

NOV 13, 2023

(Photo credit: AFP via Getty Images)

Several missile and drone strikes targeted US occupation bases in Syria on 13 November in response to the latest round of US airstrikes on alleged Iranian targets in the country.

Fifteen missiles targeted the US base in the Conoco gas field, sources told Al-Mayadeen, adding that US helicopters began making flights ten minutes after the strike.

“The Conoco base was targeted with advanced Grad missiles, which led to the death of four US soldiers,” Al-Mayadeen’s correspondent reported.

Field sources told Al-Mayadeen that the attacks were carried out by the “Popular Resistance” in Syria.

In a second response to US airstrikes, three drones struck the Al-Shaddadi military base in Hasakah, northeastern Syria.

The US Green Village base at the Al-Omar oilfield northeastern Syria, was also hit with a drone. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq is a coalition of Iraqi resistance factions formed last month in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance in Gaza.

The coalition was formed to confront US forces in Iraq and Syria as part of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and in rejection of US support for Israel in the war, and has been targeting US bases on a regular basis.

Hours before Monday’s attacks, US warplanes carried out several airstrikes in eastern Syria.

Washington claimed the attacks targeted facilities used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

According to Al-Mayadeen’s correspondent, the US airstrikes “targeted a house in the town of Al-Mayadeen, which led to the death of a citizen and the injury of another.”

US jets have struck Syria several times over the past month in retaliation to the unprecedented surge in resistance attacks against US military bases in Iraq and Syria. Washington has labeled the attacks as “self-defense.”

According to the New York Times (NYT), US President Joe Biden “has rejected more aggressive bombing options proposed by the Pentagon out of fear of provoking a wider conflict with Iran.”

The newspaper also cites Republicans in Congress as saying that Washington’s strikes on Syria “only invite more frequent and more dangerous attacks against US troops in the region.”

There have been at least 48 resistance attacks against US forces in Iraq and Syria since 17 October, the Pentagon said on Saturday.

“At least 56 U.S. service members had been injured. Roughly half of those suffered traumatic brain injuries, and two had to be flown to Landstuhl military hospital in Germany for treatment,” the NYT adds.

Who is the rudest celebrity you have met, and who would be the nicest?

There doesn’t seem to be many who are rude. My story is about a beautiful and kind woman.

Many years ago I was in O’Hara airport getting ready to fly home from Navy boot camp. As I waited, I saw what looked like a Hollywood photo shoot going on. I walked over with my nearly bald head and baggy Navy uniform and talked to an absolutely beautiful woman, dressed like an Elf. She was friendly and asked where I was from and what my home was like. We talked for about 10 minutes. As I needed to catch my plane, I thanked her for taking the time to speak with me. I asked her what her name was. It was Ann-Margaret. Surprise! I’ve had a soft spot for her since our meeting.

What shortcuts in life are never worth taking?

Suicide.

There have been a lot of memes lately, discussing this subject:

It’s viewed as a sort of work-around to all of life’s problems:

These’s memes are funny and all (sometimes), but they also have some truth.

A good portion of depressed people definitely view suicide as a way out and they genuinely think it’s the only way.

But it’s not.

Sunday, Nov 18 is my late-uncle’s birthday.

No one ever talks about him in my family. And of the few times he’s brought up, is always in relation to his suicide or mental illness.

He lived a pretty amazing life, but the memory of his suicide looms over the conversations around him.

It’s not like we never talk about him, or that suicide is strictly the only thing that we remember about him. There’s just no solace to the memory of his passing, suicide is something that is preventable, it didn’t have to be this way.

And, unfortunately, it’s the same with my idol, Chester Bennington.

In every Linkin Park YouTube music video, all the comments are the same. They’re ALL about his depression or his death.

No one talks about his life, how he made it big after a period of being homeless. How Linkin Park immediately knew who their lead singer was after his audition; how Chester would always do screaming vocal warmups, which could be heard several changing rooms away, before each of his live performances.

No one talks about that anymore.

If I’d killed myself on year ago, all I’d be remembered as was “that quiet kid who killed himself.”

You have a lot to be remembered for.

Stan Lee, who passed away on Nov 12, 2018, is positively cherished by fans.

So much material was circulated recently about his life and work.

There was a meme about how he drew the Peter Parker meets MJ comic strip based on the time he first saw his future wife. There were memes of his cameos in Marvel movies, memes of Infinity war, Spider-man memes….

It was awesome.

And nobody was particularly sad, rather they celebrated everything he did in his 95 year life on Earth.

You have a lot to live for.

And a lot to be remembered by.

And even if things don’t get better quickly.

Don’t tarnish that with suicide.

It’s not worth it.

You are worth it.

You are worth a good life and the world deserves your proud legacy.

What’s your impression about your experience in China? How about the Chinese?

During my very first visit to China, there were a couple of things that took me by surprise:

Massive malls absolutely everywhere
I’ve heard that Chinese food is so much better in China than what you get in other countries, but that’s is a massive understatement. There is so much diversity in food options, all of it is amazingly delicious and very reasonably priced. I could not get enough of it, and I can’t wait for my next visit so I can stuff my face with all that deliciousness again!
I didn’t expect to have that much trouble finding restaurants or shops that accept foreign bank cards. Some locations only allow Alipay. Also, apps like Didi are not available to foreigners as you need a Chinese number to sign up, and hailing a taxi is not always easy.
I saw very few tags or graffiti on buildings in big Chinese cities. Those are a major issue in pretty much every European city, as even historical buildings get smeared in tags, so this was a welcome surprise.
Excellent public transportation – so cheap and easy to use!
All the people I’ve met were absolutely lovely and extremely helpful. Also, there are so many older people in the parks, exercising or dancing, which is refreshing to see.
There is never any paper in bathrooms, so you have to carry a roll with you
The only thing that slightly threw me off during my very first visit was that people in China often take pictures of foreigners without asking. I’m very visibly a foreigner, so I always get quite a bit of attention when I’m travelling in Asia. I’m used to that, and I never decline a picture with some curious locals, as I find it a sweet experience. However, in China, while many approached and asked for a photo, there were many more who just tried to ‘’sneakily’’ take it, which made me feel a little bit uncomfortable at times.
As a tiny woman travelling alone I felt quite safe, even at night in less populated areas.

Children who have had to clean out your parents’ house after they passed, did you find anything that completely changed how you viewed them?

My wife and kids lived upstairs in my parent’s house. My Dad passed before my Mom. When she passed, as the only child, I had to sort out her bills, insurance, etc. My Mom was a school teacher for many years and received SS and a pension. At her time of retiring, she did not make as much as teachers do today. A few days after her funeral, I was sitting at her desk going through her checkbook to see what was paid and so forth. When I looked at the deposits, I started to see bill after bill after bill being paid, leaving her with very little left over. I am still saddened to this day, many years later, that I never knew the depth of how bad things really were. We could have contributed more to the household, but she hid most of this from us, trying to spare us any hardship. This is the single biggest regret I have in her passing, knowing I could have eased her burden, as she was the most loving mother one could ask for. She worked her whole life to teach children and raise me, who deserved so much more in her retirement. I am shedding tears as I write this, and hope that others can take more of an active role in their parents lives (when allowed) while they are still with us.

When did you think, “this can only be a fake”?

While employed as a pizza delivery rider, after the lifting of the COVID lock-down, our company decided to pull a fast one.

A memo from the head office was circulated among all restaurant staff at all branches. It basically said that the company was so concerned about our welfare in these trying times that they were willing to keep a percentage of our weekly salary for us as a form of savings. The memo also mentioned that if we agreed to this ‘Pizza Savings’ (my term, not theirs) that we will be getting 0% interest.

My delivery co-worker and I had a field day with that memo. We read it several times in disbelief and laughed. The owners could not be serious.

It was obvious they wanted to get a loan/invest in something. It was as if they told themselves instead of taking a 16% interest loan from the bank why not simply take it from their uneducated restaurant workers, all they needed was our signatures.

I went around some of the co-workers joking about it. Most of us laughed it off but two of them couldn’t understand what was so funny.

‘But we’re getting 0% interest!’ an older woman working the grill said.

She seemed to have the idea that this was a good thing. Apparently she had had so many loans in the past that to her the word interest = bad.

I explained to her it was a savings and not a loan. That with savings you want the highest interest you could get and the exact opposite when it comes to a loan.

‘But isn’t it good to have a savings?’ one of the teenaged girls working the pizza table said.

I explained to her it is a good thing but it makes no sense to save your money with someone giving you 0%. I tried explaining how banks work, about buying shares etc and getting the best rates for your money. Both women looked at me in silence.

In the end they both decided to ‘try it out.’

I didn’t know what shocked me more. The fact that the restaurant attempted that stunt or the fact that it actually worked on two employees.

Before leaving after being fired, what’s the most that one can sabotage the office without getting caught?

Controller got fired for all the right reasons. On his way out, and before his access was deleted, he programmed a very, very offensive message on the Windows start menu for the entire company-something along the lines of “fxxx you, (name of the CFO)”. Now I’ll admit the guy had it coming, but will also say that the CFO was the biggest a-hole I’ve ever met. Anyway, it took the IT guys weeks before they were able to fix it (always wondered why it took sooooo loooong).

What is the worst medical misdiagnosis you have ever had or personally known someone to have had?

As a 45 year old, I started feeling very tired. I fell asleep in the bathroom at work one day. Went home and thought I was coming down with a cold. Never actually got cold symptoms, but could barely move my body. It felt like all of my extremities were filled with lead. Then I started getting dizzy. Then I started to vomit. I went to an urgent care center and told them all of the above symptoms and how now I’m vomiting and peeing every 5 minutes. I even told them I was vomiting black stuff which they informed me was blood. I was told I just had a stomach virus like people get on cruise ships. I said I have never been on a cruise ship in my life. I was sent home with antinausea meds. I had lost about 15 lbs in 3 days. That night and next day still vomiting and now breathing in short gasps. Now my body is shivering uncontrollably and I can barely move and still vomiting blood. My kids found me on the kitchen floor and took me to the ER. I was rushed back and found out I was in diabetic ketoacidosis. My body was shutting down. I was about a day away from death. My blood sugar was 854. I was diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic.

While hospitalized, I received a survey from the urgent care center asking how my experience was. I’ll told them that I almost died thanks to them, but other than that it was great.

What’s a hilarious story that has happened to you?

Years back when Subway still gave you tickets to collect for free subs, my kids’ mother and I were going to have dinner and movie night with my brother and his wife. Subway was the night’s choice. Well, it is Friday evening and the video store is packed. So we’re standing in line waiting to check out our movies, and she is going through these Subway tickets. She asks me,

“I don’t supposed you’ll eat a 6 inch?”

To which I responded, in a building with over 150 people in it, without even missing a beat,

“No, if I don’t get 12 inches, I’m just not satisfied.”

Children were laughing at me. Had it not been so hilarious, I would be mortified of that story getting out.

Very Unlikely

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/R3eXHD3c4EI?feature=share

A painful passing

When I got out of Prison, I suddenly came down with two maladies. The first was Ball’s Palsy (where my face was paralyzed, and I couldn’t close my eyes), and the second hit me about two weeks later. I had terrible kidney stones. And man oh man was it painful.

Because I had no money, and was transitioning from prison, I went to the hospital emergency room and they gave me a number to call to get some medicine for the pain.

And when I called that number, the receptionist answered the phone and accused me of wanting drugs and said that I could come in, but they weren’t going to give me anything for the pain.

I endured that pain for a week before I passed the stone, and it was a mighty bad situation. The pain was HORRIBLE.

Never the less, the thing that I remember was not the pain; the stone; or the egress from prison. I remember that holier than thou bitch at the reception desk that was giving me a hard time.

For all you Karens out there, I have a message for you all.

FUCK

YOU.

…

Good, now that I got that off my chest, let’s do todays post…

What are a few bitter truths of life?

Robert Sandifer’s life began in two overlapping hells.

The first hell smoldered outside of his home, the streets of the South Side of Chicago, infamously dangerous, and marred by a blistering gun violence that persists to this day.

These streets are so dangerous that Google actively censors the imagery that populates on Google Streetview.

Robert Sandifer’s second hell raged in his own home.

He was born to a prostitute mother who had dozens of arrests, and who was addicted to cocaine before, during, and indefinitely after his birth.

Sandifer’s father was wholly absent, serving a long prison sentence for felonies related to brutal gun violence.

He received severe physical beatings that started long before he could speak, that left him with terrible bruises and bloody lesions.

At age 3, Child Protective Services opened an investigation after finding cigarette burns on his body, caused by his mother’s boyfriends.

CPS tried to save him. They moved him to his grandmother’s house, but that home was a 3rd hell, already overflowing with as many as 20 kids at a time, many of them from similar circumstances.

Sandifer quickly became a product of his environment, adopting a violent lifestyle, beating children mercilessly on the playground, stealing their money, and their food. He began burglarizing homes, breaking into cars.

He dropped out of school at age 8 and roamed unsupervised in the gun-born, blood-soaked streets of The South Side.

Sandifer was assimilated into a notorious gang, The Black Disciples, who embraced and celebrated his violence.

At age 10, he was arrested after being caught driving a hijacked car, not the first he’d stolen – nor the last.

After Sandifer’s arrest, his family requested that he be kept in juvenile detention for his own safety and for that of the public – but they were denied – Sandifer was too young for juvenile detention.

And thus – he was released to his Grandmother’s custody.

And into the arms of The Black Disciples.

On a fateful 28th day of August, his gang ordered him to take out a hit on a rival gang member.

Sandifer arrived at his target’s house, he positioned himself behind a parked car on the opposite side of the street.

And opened fire.

His bullets plunged into the crowd, hitting several bystanders, and ultimately killing the wrong person – a 14-year-old girl Shavon Dean.

3 days later, Robert Sandifer was taken under a bridge, told to get on his knees, and shot, execution-style in the back of the head by members of his own gang to silence him.

At the time of his death, he had committed 23 felonies and 5 misdemeanors.

At his funeral – the only picture his family owned of him was his mugshot.

He was 11-years-old.

The bitter truth of life: some kids never stand a chance. People really do not understand just how bad it gets.

Have you ever sabotaged food because someone was stealing it?

Yes I have. I was a single mom struggling to keep my head above water so I would take leftovers for my lunch. This one co-worker would help himself to my lunch, then tell me how delicious it was. I tried explaining my situation to him, but he still continued to eat my lunches. I even bought an insulated lunch box so I didn’t have to put my lunch in the employee refrigerator. He would steal my lunch while I was away from my desk. And still brag about it. Now this coworker was from a different department than I was and made almost twice as much as I did. One day I had enough. That night as I was preparing my lunch for the next day, I included a healthy dose of mineral oil. Mineral oil is edible, it has no taste or smell, but it is a very good laxative. It took the guy about a week to figure it out. He went to HR and tried to get me fired or at least pay his lost wages ( he had to leave work 2–3 hours early all week.) HR talked to me and when I told them my story and how long it had going on, they made him reimburse me for all my lunches he ate. They verified my story first, of course. Later an email went out to all employees that theft of any food would be grounds for termination.

Is a California poppy extract-related product legal to sell in China?

Illegal, in China, selling drugs is illegal, exceeding 1 kg will be sentenced to death.If you know Chinese, you should know that.

In June 2021, 215.37 kg of drugs were hidden in 67,000 tons of soybeans exported by the America to Qingdao port, China, and were intercepted by Qingdao Customs. Relevant personnel have been punished.

I hope you can understand Chinese hatred of drugs. Qingdao is an eastern port city, and it is obligatory to prevent drugs.

In 2017, Mianyang city Sichuan Province, southwest of China, a thief broke into a house to steal.When he find drugs on the ground,he gave up the plan and report to the police, confessed his crimes and discoveries, and helped the police officers catch a large drug-making-trafficking gang.

Yes, even thieves also despise drug dealers,they also join Antidrug.

Lone Star Bacon and Cheddar Fries

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

1 pound (3/8 inch) regular cut fries with skin on
2 ounce shredded Cheddar cheese
2 strips cooked diced bacon
3 ounces sour cream
Finely chopped green onions, for garnish
Jalapeno peppers, for garnish

Instructions

Deep-fry regular cut fries (350 to 360 degrees F) for 3 to 3 1/2 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.
In fry serving basket, arrange hot fries.
Top with cheese and bacon.
Garnish with sour cream and green onions.
If desired, garnish with jalapenos.
Serve immediately.

What are some small things that matter a lot?

It was a hot summer afternoon in the month of May.

I was riding on my bike to home. A man who may be in his early 50s asked me for a lift. He was sweating profusely and needed to reach home. As his house was on the way I was going in, I gave him a lift.

He explained to me that, his sugar levels are dropping and need to reach home fast. I dropped him off at his home and he thanked me whole heartedly. I got back home and forgot about it.

After a month, a small hotel was opened nearby. I went there to try it out. I was checking out the menu and someone tapped on my shoulder from behind. He was the same man whom I gave lift earlier.

He asked me if I had recognized him. I said no. He explained that I gave him lift a month ago. Then, I recollected him. He asked me, what would I like to eat. I was surprised.

He giggled and said that, he is the owner of that hotel and as a token of gratitude I can have anything for free. I politely refused it but he was stubborn in his offer. So, I gave in.He asked the chef to make the best of the dish I ordered and was given for free.

That day, I realized, the good you do however small, goes far.

Any small help you do to people will for ever be engraved in their minds forever and it comes back to you in the ways you can never imagine.

So, don’t stop doing good and spreading smiles!

Why don’t more people move to Wyoming?

This map of Wyoming offers one of the reasons:

The areas shaded in green are owned by the federal government. Although Wyoming is large, the federal government owns about 47% of the land. So, some of the most beautiful parts of Wyoming are not places to which people are moving because there is very little private land for them to buy and live on.

But the problem is even deeper than that. These federal lands contain timber, pasture, and minerals which are leased or sold to those industries, but those leases and timber sales are prone to fluctuate with political fads for or against use of federal timber, minerals, and grazing. Even aside from that, the bureaucracies in authority over these lands do not take responsibility for maintaining the jobs in these industries. Since they have often not worked in the private sector, they either do not understand or do not care how delays and unpredictability in their decisions kill private-sector jobs.

Another reason for the low population in Wyoming is the 75,000-person tipping point in urban population. There is a pattern in the United States: cities tend to grow faster once they have reached a population between about 50,000 and 100,000. At this population, there is enough demand for specialized services in medicine, law, finance, engineering, management, entertainment, air transport, and other professions to support higher-paying jobs in these industries. There is also enough population to entice specialized types of businesses to locate there. Some of these are businesses that hum along below the surface of your local economy, but are important in helping other businesses thrive: machining, transportation, calibration, training and testing. Some of these businesses are retailers and national food chains that make a place more inviting to new residents. No Wyoming city has broken through this tipping point, although Cheyenne may be doing so now.

A third factor: By geographical accident, Wyoming’s neighboring states tended to have urban clusters near their borders with Wyoming which hindered any Wyoming city from reaching this population tipping point. Specialized, high-paying jobs and businesses are less likely in an area within 150 or so miles of existing firms. Denver and Salt Lake City are large cities with trade areas which include much of Wyoming. But the smaller cities of Rapid City, SD, Billings, MT, and Idaho Falls, ID also have large parts of their trade areas within Wyoming. Have a look at the map of United States trade areas and influential cities. All of Wyoming is depicted as being within an out-of-state city’s trade area. The map has flaws. Certainly Casper, Wyoming should qualify as having a trade area if Butte, Bozeman, and Helena, Montana and Alliance and Valentine Nebraska do, but the map nevertheless makes a valid point about Wyoming’s lack of urban areas with trade areas.

In the long run, Wyoming will be one of the nation’s faster-growing states and will develop larger urban areas. It contains major freight rail lines and major interstate highways. It has cheap electricity, low taxes, and lots of money in the bank from all the mineral wealth. It has major electricity transit lines and energy pipelines. Culturally, it has a good work ethic and an openness to newcomers. It has enough water resources to accommodate lots of population growth.

Which incident did you consider to be an absurd hoax but later found out to be crazily true?

Many, many years ago I received a letter in the post. It was a recorded delivery and I had to sign for it to confirm delivery. I was intrigued and opened it immediately. It was a summons to appear in our local small claims court. I was being sued for £6,000. There were no details about the charges or any explanation of what the case was about other than the name and address of the complainant. I was mystified as I didn’t recognise the name. Lets call him Mr Smith.

In the three weeks before the stated date I convinced myself that one of my sons was playing an involved joke on me. I quizzed them all mercilessly but nobody would admit to knowing anything about it. As the date drew closer I determined to go to court just to find out which of my boys was the perpetrator of this rather involved joke.

Court day arrived and I went into the court building and presented my summons to an attendant, still expecting to be told it was a forgery. I was wrong. I was politely directed to a small waiting room and told my case would be called in 10 minutes. I was stunned.

When I was escorted into the courtroom the Sheriff (a lay judge in Scotland) asked me if I had a legal representative. I explained how I thought that the summons was a joke and I had no lawyer. He said that I could ask for a deferment to get legal advice if I choose but he didn’t think that was necessary. I sat down still stunned and confused but by now rather scared.

The Sheriff now asked the other side to outline their case. I listened in stunned amazement as the story unfolded.

Apparently some 6 months previously I had sold Mr Smith a tenpin bowling ball and drilled the ball to suit his hand. I had explained to him the need to keep the ball clean of lane oil on a regular basis. Mr Smith had taken me at my word and had left his bowling ball soaking in a bathtub of hot soapy water overnight. Feeling that the finger and thumb holes were wet when he fished the ball out of the bath in the morning he had decided to dry out the ball. Fifteen or twenty minutes in the microwave should dry it out nicely.

Some time later the ball had exploded. The force of the explosion was enough to destroy the microwave and send the door of the microwave flying upward with enough energy to punch through the ceiling and the floor of the room above his kitchen. Unfortunately the room above his kitchen was his neighbours bathroom. The microwave door not only punched through the floor but punched through the actual bath. Really unfortunately the poor woman was taking a bath at the time.

She was suing Mr Smith for the damage to her bathroom from the flying microwave door as well as the water damage to her carpets from the bath full of water. She wasn’t suing for the shock of a microwave door suddenly puncturing her bath although it must have been a terrific shock.

Mr Smith was suing me for the same amount on the basis that I had sold him a bowling ball without specifically telling him not to put it in the microwave.

By this stage several people in the gallery were laughing and the sheriff was definitely smiling. I was still worried but feeling considerably less scared. We all sat politely until Mr Smith’s lawyer had finished. The Sheriff then drew himself very straight and without a trace of a smile said that he was here to apply the law of the land and not to educate idiots. Case dismissed.

WARNING something BIG is happening in Ukraine, Putin stays quiet

Something big is about to happen in Ukraine. Is Putin about to launch a pre-winter offensive now that Ukraine has exhausted all of its resources? Logistical signs are showing newly built railway tracks and large troop movements on the Russian side. Also multiple reports over the past 48 hours show an increased number of young Ukrainian men racing to get the hell out of Ukraine.

How has living in China changed you?

it’s aged me!

I was in my mid-20’s when I came, and after 30+ years here I’m already 57. If I stay here a few more years I’ll be 60. No one cares!

I don’t know which changes are due to maturing and which are due to living in China, but I can say how I’m generally different than Americans who haven’t lived in China.

I’m less emotionally invested in news reports, especially about politics. If you’ve lived in a place or have a job that’s occasionally the focus of the international media (as China manufacturing has been) then the discrepancy between what’s reported and what you know is obvious. It makes you skeptical at first, then cynical. Apathy soon follows.
I don’t take it for granted that multi-party democracy is superior to one-party rule. I tend to look at the results not the process.
I accept rapid, sweeping, head-spinning change as the norm. instantly accepted and accommodated.
- Yesterday we used paper currency to purchase things. Today we use cash cards. Tomorrow we’ll buy everything with our phones…. oh wait… we’re using the phones now, today, not tomorrow. OK, ok. I got it. Yesterday we used cash cards, today we use phones, tomorrow well use something else.
  
  I don’t remember when I stopped carrying cash and then stopped using my cash card. But that’s where I am now. That’s where everyone is—even beggars on the street accept mobile payments.
- Got a meeting in the next city… ? Better schedule 1/2 a day to get there. Then, all of the sudden, you realize you’re always arriving early to meetings. Everything started moving faster like this. Now that half a day gets you from Shanghai to Beijing by train. And if you start in the morning in Shenzhen, you can have an authentic Hunan lunch in Hunan, and be back in Shenzhen for an authentic Cantonese dinner.
I’m more appreciative of people in general, Chinese or expat. I don’t love everyone, but I value my relationships and feel grateful for the respect and assistance I’ve been given. I often feel like the big bang has distributed the universe’s molecules with my wellbeing in mind.

Koreans React To ‘Mr. Rogers’ For The First Time

Why are many Indian Ph.D. graduates from top institutes now choosing China for their postdocs? How is the life of an Indian post-doc in China? Do the Indian postdocs settle in China?

Money!!!

Chinese programs in Universities today get more funding than even USA, as US focuses on Private Funding

In 2022, US Universities spend $ 208 Billion in University Research against $ 346 Billion by China

You write a good paper for your PHD in Biotechnology, you could get offered an Research Associate position for 25000 RMB a month that’s around ₹ 34 LPA plus housing against a mere ₹7.6 LPA in India

That’s equivalent to $ 83,666 a year in US that’s higher than the US median of $ 64,712 for a Research Associate in PPP terms

China pays highest in PPP terms for most research today barring Norway and Switzerland and Taiwan

Life of an Indian Post Doc in China

My son is one

He is doing research for a Private Company on a 5 year grant (2023–2028)

Here are his observations:-

Knowing Rudimentary Mandarin is very important. The Lab assistants, the research students do their best in mandarin. The english is pretty accented. Luckily most Universities offer you Mandarin elementary classes for free if you are doing research there.
Softwares and Settings are programmed to Mandarin. You have to set it to English. Then print in English and Mandarin.
Money is pretty good. Housing is pretty good.
You will have two security reviews by the Government.
If you do research funded by the Government Or research classfied as National Research , you get a ID that gives you some powers. You get clout with cops. Now technically these IDs are only for National projects but like India, my sons director has managed to wrangle these IDs for these guys as well.
Very easy to get a Chinese girlfriend if you are unmarried. Unlike Singapore where girls are steady since secondary school. My son has 3 Assistant Researchers from Vietnam, Indonesia and Kerala. All have Girlfriends in less than a year.
Research is very well funded. You want to buy a $ 300,000 machine, you get approval in a matter of 2–3 days

It’s damn good

Settling down in China ?

Not encouraged

Finish your grant, extend your grant, live for 15–20 years in China and then go home or to Singapore

Meanwhile train as many Chinese as possible

Most people who settle down in China are married to Chinese Mainlanders and have kids and full families

They become Chinese themselves, speak like mainlanders, act like mainlanders

They are eligible for Citizenship of China

Are Indian Postdocs selecting China?

Yes

China beat Japan to the fourth position in 2023

It’s US, Germany, UK and China at fourth position beating Japan which was at fourth place until 2023, France is sixth, Middle East & Africa is seventh (no idea how), Singapore is Eighth and Canada is ninth

However in absolute numbers only 8.63% Postdocs go to China with almost 39.44% going to US and 71% going to US, UK and Germany

However this is a huge increase because in 2006 only 0.51% Postdocs sought careers in China meaning a Eighteen fold increase in a mere 17 years

Men DESTROYED Modern Women’s Beauty Standard

Rating women’s attractiveness is dramatically affected by make-up. I’ve seen them transform from as much as 2’s to 9-10’s. Truly amazing results.

https://youtu.be/pf3qHed8TtA

How has living in China changed you?

A few years back I had to change my careers. At that time I took a big change and moved halfway across the world to China.

I lived there for 3 1/2 years. I was there for 3 years in NE China in a small rural area. Then about 4 years later I move back but to the big city of Shanghai(but only for about 1/2 a year).

That’s the background story now to your question.

My first 3 years in China was very humbling. I was in a rural area still governed by old rules and ideas. I met a friend who lived in South China in a big city and she told me that I experience things that she never experienced while there. Each person’s experiences are so different. In the rural areas you live like the Chinese, but in a big city, you live like a foreigner in China.

When I say humbling it’s because I learned to live on very little. I spent $200 a month for food, shopping and traveling. When I went back to China in a big city you definitely can’t live on that. I learned to appreciate what I had and how to make do with what I had.

I discovered that my own culture lack respect for elders. That we are far behind when it comes to public transport. (China is far ahead of us). I gained a love for food, Chinese eat all the time (but are skinny). They eat tons of vegetables and meat as well…but it’s fresh produce…which my own country lacks…we eat way too much processed food. Of course, I learned how to use a squatty potty.

Now, when I went back to China 4 years later…so much has changed. They are so advanced when it comes to technology. While China was a humbling place for me for my first 3 years. It was not so the second time around…why? The simple answer is that times have changed. Don’t get me wrong I loved Shanghai and appreciated it, but I learned that sometimes you can’t go back…memories are better left in your mind.

China will always be a part of me. It has changed me so much more than I can ever put into words. But for me, “humble” is what learned from all my experiences in China.

No Handyman Jobs! People are BROKE!

I guess I was spoiled with the abundance of jobs these past few years. Well, I guess that has come to an end…

https://youtu.be/eJTOxnL_nBw

If a drone is flying on my property and I have already notified that I do not want it to be flying on it, can I destroy it without legal repercussion?

Ok, so here’s my experience.

A few years ago, a kid in our neighborhood got a drone for Christmas. He started flying it around people’s houses. The first time. I was sitting on my deck and it flew to the edge of the deck. I waved and it flew away. The next day, the same thing. After a few days, the kid got bolder. He started to fly it right over the deck. There was also one time that I was doing dishes in the kitchen it was hovering right outside the kitchen window, watching me.

This went on for about a month. I would see it right outside my windows or around my yard. I knew it was just a kid but it was getting kind of creepy. I wasn’t sure if I could be heard on it but I tried telling the drone that the fun was over and please don’t come back. Guess what? It came back the next day again. I didn’t know who the drone belonged to so I called the PD and they really didn’t know what to tell me. At this point, drones were just becoming popular and there wasn’t really any protocol. I asked around the neighborhood and no one seemed to know where it was coming from. I tried to follow it but it was faster than me and was piloted over houses and through other yards that I couldn’t go through.

Another month passes and now this kid is just taunting me. I tried throwing things at it, putting up a sign asking them not to fly it near my house anymore, my then-husband actually had it in his hand at one point but those things are pretty strong and he wasn’t able to keep a hold of it. We would flip it off when we saw it or curse at it, anything we could think of. I even fired a few warning shots with a BB gun. Nothing worked.

Finally, we were just done. The last day I ever saw it, I was again sitting on my deck and I hear the familiar drone sound. I tried to ignore it, hoping it would go away. I could hear it getting closer to me but I just kept my head down, pretending to read my book. The living room window was open so without looking up I yelled “It’s back again!!”. My then-husband walked out onto the deck and the drone moved towards him. He pulled out his pistol and pointed at the drone. No shots fired, it wasn’t even loaded and the drone high-tailed it out of there. Within 15 minutes, a very angry father and 2 police cruisers were in my driveway. The father wanted us arrested for threatening his kid. We explained what had been going on and the cops had several reports over the last few months from me as well (including pictures of the drone in various places around my house, date and time-stamped). Basically, nothing happened. The gun was registered to a licensed gun owner, no property was damaged, and the documentation from the police department showed that this kid was a nuisance. The cops went and had a talk with the kid. I found out later that other neighbors had the same issue with the drone so the cops had not only our complaints but many others. I don’t know what happened to the kid but I do know I never saw that drone again.

***EDIT***

A lot of people are commenting about the police not doing their job and yes it does seem that way. However, we have to remember that this was the first year that drones became really popular and it was the IT thing to have. People were having a lot of fun with their drones but there weren’t any clear laws that the police could follow. Also, you couldn’t trace them so you had a basic idea of the surrounding area where the drone was coming from but unless you actually saw where it went “home” to, there was nothing you could do so I believe that the police did the best they knew how at the time.

I don’t even blame the parents that much because the kid was like 13 or 14 years old. When I figured out who the drone belonged to, I knew exactly who this kid was, and quite honestly, he was an entitled little sh**. His parents were actually pretty nice people who tried their best but had very little control over their kids. The father showed up with the police because the kid made the father believe that a gun was pulled on him while cutting through our yard. That was not the case and when given all the facts, the father was still upset but it didn’t have a whole lot to say anymore.

And before you come for me, yes, most times kids are a product of their environment but sometimes the parents are doing everything right and the kid will still be a jerk. My kids are 21 and 17 and I have been involved in many of their activities over the years and have seen it all.

The Real China Shocked This British Man

Whenever I hear the China collapse theory, I always ask the person if s/he wants to take a bet, just provide a time frame when you think China will collapse and I bet you two whiskey that it won’t. I had been winning so many whiskey in the last 15 years, but none of those losers pay up.

Do the majority of people in China wish to remain communists, or if they had a choice, would they want democracy?

Seriously, do you really think the people in China really care whether China is a Communist or a Democracy if all there is to it is just some meaningless labeling.

Is like categorizing races by color, when you call it white I saw pink, when you call it yellow I saw light beige, when you call it black I say are you color blind, do you know what black looks like?

Chinese people in general are very much pragmatic, results orientated and doesn’t give much crap to whose camp they are in as long as they prosper and live a better live then the past. Also, Chinese history and philosophy never taught them life is simply black and white we know it has at least if not fifty shades of grey in between.

Furthermore, if one look at the Tai Chi symbols we see the black and white are not shown as antagonistic to each other, whilst they may be opposite to each other in direction but they intertwined in a circle with the opposite instead of a straight line in between a square. It also house a fraction of the opposite too, all for the purpose of equilibrium and in layman term it is call Win-Win or Harmony.

Life cannot always be a equal sum game, it has many elements and each play an important role, if one element does not survive well or is missing rest assure others will also get affected adversely by it. In science term, it is what we call a Eco System.

Balance reduce conflict, hegemony are always short lived and unintelligent, longer it stretches it more violent is the snaps when it breaks.

So is it really true that there are no democracy in a Communist system and when a country is not run by Communist does that mean they have no tyrant, no dictator, no ruthless regime, no poverty, no corruption and their people live a much better happy life?

Whats’s the big fucking deal about democracy if the leader doesn’t really practices it. “For the People, To the People, By the People” my arse when I see what’s going on in their land of Oligarchs Plutocracy.

What are some things you genuinely like about living in China that back home still needs to catch up to?

That is a great question indeed.

Safety – yesterday, today and tomorrow.
At first, right after moving to China I was truly amazed that there are so many chairs for valets randomly placed on the sidewalks. In Russia these chairs will end up at someone’s country house.
Small businesses
In Russia shops, restaurants, coffee-shops etc. belong to the large chains, you cannot find a small bar with homemade food for example. And places like that are my favorite in Beijing.
Infrastructure – in Russia you hardly can:
– get anywhere by subway and pay under 10 kuai for it,
– get anything delivered to your house,
– pay for the stuff via wechat,
– get foot massage in the middle of the night,
– pay for electricity and water using your own terminal, etc. etc.
Variety of entertainment choices
The only places that are really good for eventful life would be Moscow and Saint-Petersburg, other cities cannot be ever compared to Beijing: lots of events, activities and parties. Russia does need to get on this level.
Taobao
This is the most genius thing ever – I am a big Taobao fan and would love if a platform like that will be developed in Russia someday.

China moves into position to support Syria

So happy to see China & Syria are working together! Stronger united against the Empire!

School Bus Driver Rant

As a school bus driver, I would like to explain something.

My job is to transport your child from point A to point B safely, on time and ready to learn.

That is all.

What do I mean when I say safely? Let me explain. Safely means I pre-trip my bus daily to ensure it is running properly and that it hasn’t been tampered with. Safely means my eyes are constantly scanning all 7 mirrors, blind spots, and the road in front of me.

I’m NOT a babysitter.

I’m NOT a mediator.

I’m a BUS DRIVER.

I would absolutely love to be able to watch and hear each and every little thing that goes on in the 40 feet of school bus behind me, but while I’m watching Johnny jump across the seat, I just missed a car pull out in front of me. And oops, while I’m yelling at Susie to keep her hands to herself, the light changed and now I’m slamming the brakes to stop in time at the intersection. And what’s that? Now Joey has a nose bleed? And now someone dumped all of Katie’s stuff out of her bookbag, and “bus driver, Bobby is flicking me”, and “bus driver, Lily said she doesn’t like me anymore”, and what’s that? While I’m looking in the mirror behind me reprimanding your perfect children, a car just ran my reds and Sally almost got run over!

It’s Never Ending to us…

And that doesn’t even include the way the children speak to us. I’m pretty certain they don’t speak to other school faculty like that. And certainly don’t speak to their parents the way they speak to us.

So please, parents, tell me … where do you want me to look? Behind me? In front of me?

Would you prefer I pull over each and everytime someone yells “bus driver”? Because then YOU will complain that the bus is never on time, and trust me if I did pull over everytime, we wouldn’t even make it out of the school parking lot before I’d have to stop. Incase you didn’t know, your children are not perfect…no one is.

Would you rather I continue down the road watching what’s going on BEHIND me more than what’s going on with other vehicles on the road around me? Because I can assure you, if I’m not scanning every angle around the bus, there WILL be an accident, and then I will again be to blame, because I should’ve been paying attention to the road.

Now, on top of that, we see your children for less than 30 minutes a day, in most cases. Please teach your child to respect the bus driver, and to behave themselves when riding the bus…because we want to return them to you, SAFELY.

~ Unknown

Russian & American In China Are SHOCKED What They Experienced

What is the craziest request you have gotten when you were buying something (car, boat, bike, furniture, etc.) from someone who was so deeply attached to the item it felt like they were losing a part of their family?

Not crazy at all, just unusual and — under the circumstances — quite touching.

A 1969 Ford F250 was advertised for sale located in a town about 400 miles away. I called and spoke with the elderly original owner. He was not an enthusiastic seller and seemed to be throwing up obstacles to buying it. For one thing, he asked the questions, not me. The conversation went like this:

Me: Hello, I’m calling about the F250 for sale. Is it still available?

Him: Yes. What do you want with it?

Me: Uhhh, well, sir, I was thinking about buying it.

Him: Why?

Me (looks at phone with a WITW? expression): Because I need a truck.

Him: What do you need a truck for?

Me: To haul tools and material.

Him: That’s good. How old are you?

Me: (Young in spirit but wise beyond my years. More or less.)

Him: That’s good. How’s your driving record? Any accidents or tickets recently?

Me: No wrecks, no tickets.

Him: Will you put different wheels and paint and interior and engine in it?

Me: Gosh, no. I want it all original. Like it is now.

Him: Okay, you can come look at it. My address is…

I went all that way, looked, endured another vetting from him and was finally judged worthy of his treasured pickup that he could no longer drive because it had manual steering and he could no longer turn the steering wheel. As I drove away in the truck he’d named Whitey back in 1969, I glimpsed him in the rear view mirror crying unashamedly.

But wait, there’s more.

I drove directly to the other side of town and viewed a second 1969 Ford F250 for sale by its elderly original owner who also subjected me to a lengthy qualifying interrogation. Satisfied, he sold me the truck he’d named Rita in 1969 and helped me disconnect the driveshaft then attach a tow bar so I could pull her home with Whitey. After I had remote lights rigged up on his Rita, I got into Whitey and pulled away. In the rear view mirror I glimpsed Rita’s original owner crying unashamedly.

Nearly 10 years later Whitey and Rita are still exactly as they were the day I brought them to their new home. It was a good day, as have been all all the rest with them. As their original owners requested I have kept them exactly as they were: working trucks, now 50 years young, in original condition and carefully maintained. I even built them a canopy to protect them from the sun and inclement weather.

When you speak this way, your reality evolves…

Fair video. Fits in with my affirmation campaigns.

If the one child policy was such a disastrous idea, then why didn’t the Chinese experts object to it?

Was it a disastrous idea though? Who said?

Sure it wasn’t a comfortable idea for the people. I haven’t had children yet. But I do want to have two. One is scary in many way. What if something happens to him or her? What if he/she wants to join the military… and not come back?

But if I insist on having a second child, I would end up paying a fine. Then I would be liable to pay for the child education. The first child will get free ride from K-12 and university.

In fact, I can have as many children as I would like. I just have to afford raising them all with minimal government support.

Why the one child policy?

Look at China in the 60s – 80s

It was a simple life. Classism may have been at the lowest in Chinese history. To be a well respected person, you can be a teacher, a village chief, a policeman, a small government official, a factory manager, etc…

This simple peaceful life was made possible by the One child policy.

Do you know that unemployment was low? Job selection wasn’t great, but as long as you were willing to work, someone could find you a job.

Despite the scare of Western invasion and atomic bombs, it was a relatively safe society. Petty crimes were plentiful, from pickpocketing, theft, to scam artists. But it was unlikely your house would be broken in at gun point.

All these wouldn’t be possible if the population was left to balloon unchecked. Far more crime, homeless, desperate people out for blood, and money.

If I went back in time to 1970s…

Knowing the future is a hell of an advantage. I would start trading goods, then collaborated with the government’s economic expansion programs.

Humble start, this was how many Chinese entrepreneurs in the 70s and 80s had their start.

Moving up, buying a truck. One man transportation company in the 90s.

Eventually able to have enough money to open a factory. TV production company in the 80s.

Not really a photo of China, but of 1980 computer stores in the US. My computer store would look like this.

I would get into computers as early as 1975. This was around the time Bill Gates and Steve Jobs founded their companies.

I would even go to India in 1974 to meet the penniless backpacker Steve Jobs and offered him his first initial investment before he even knew he was to found Apple. He would be indebted to me for life.

Two prospects regarding to One Child policy:

One Child Policy: Boosted economy. I could be rich, easily affording 4–5 children if I wanted to.
Booming population: China would still be a shithole like any of the third world country China’s BRI is helping now. Raising one child and keeping my family fed would be very hard.

I actually knew people in China who had more than one children after 1980. They were not jailed or anything. Their neighbors and friends were supportive of their decisions.

Putin at Valdai, civilizational world order is here to stay

“I thought Putin was exceptionally clear, rational, even handed, well spoken, honest, and painfully accurate about everything he said. He has my vote for US president.”

Have you ever judged someone and realized you were wrong?

Oh my, yes!

Steve seemed such a surley man. Unsuprisingly older than me by a couple decades since this was my first professional job as a newly minted college graduate, he seemed to growl at me whenever I saw him.

With the confidence only available with youth, I judged him.

I judged him mean, old, and a bit scary.

Imagine my horror when after about a year on this entry level job when I was reassigned to work for Steve. Of course, the reality was that I knew nothing about him.

What happened over the course of the next year was one of those special times of life that changes who you are forever. I learned that while I knew nothing about him, he knew quite a bit about me. Turns out that this wasn’t some corporately bland reassignment, but, rather, he asked to take me on as a project.

As I got to know Steve, it turned out that the gravelly voice, which I can still hear in my imagination as I write, was just his voice. And the surley demeanor I had judged so harshly was a product of a direct and unassuming style this loquatious post-adolescent did not yet grok.

One teaching moment in particular is one I’ll never forget. I carry this lesson with me every day.

You see, I’d made a mistake. Not a huge one, but a clear screw-up. I had a plan for spin control. I was confident in the plan. The lies were off-white lies at best.

But Steve believed in me enough to ask questions gently. And after he had twisted me into a logical knot, he said, and I’ll never forget his words, “Tony, you can do better than this.” He proceeded to teach me the value of not spinning and just dealing with my own limitations as a human. He showed me the real value of honesty: building trust.

And, Steve was right. I came clean and it was all ok. And, a few months later when I made a yet bigger mistake, that was ok too.

I got to know Steve better over the next couple of years. I learned that we shared some basic interests and religious faith, but he was not the type to over-share or brag. Sadly, when I had this incredible access to him, I never fully understood Steve.

But, I understood far better when he died.

Just a couple years after this priceless mentoring, Steve was stricken with brain cancer. He was far younger than I am right now, so even in death he taught me to value every day.

But this wasn’t the last lesson he had to teach. Not hardly.

I was invited by his widow to his funeral. I had known of his faith, but not quite the extent to which he walked the walk. I’ve omitted a great deal of detail, but Steve had not had an easy life. In my mind, he was doing all he could to just survive and raise his own family. I assumed his faith was like my own: sincere, yet mostly a coping mechanism.

In the shadow of his recent death, some mutual acquaintances filled in some details. There was far more to the man than even I suspected. My admiration was already deep. My tears were quite real.

Steve had been an elder at a prominent church for many years. The details of his service to others would make this long answer far too long. The debts others expressed dwarfed my own sense of gratitude.

But, the funeral blew me away.

You see, it was a large church. Very large. That day, it was filled to the rafters. I have never been to anything like it since. The love expressed for Steve that day over powers me even as I write this.

And there, in that pew, I knew i wanted to be like Steve.

Not for glory or acclaim—not at all. Just to have left this place a better place than I had found it. And, as I traverse my new career in coaching, I am still chasing his example.

Thank you, Steve, for teaching me how to be real. I’ll never forget you. I’ll never achieve what you did, but I am so much happier for trying.

And, I even learned from misjudging you.

How did Huawei replace over 13,000 components in its range of products with local substitutes in response to US trade sanctions?

In a short sentence, the completeness of the supply chain.

In brief exposition, this is the bitter fruit of embargo.

No, I’m not referring to Donald the Orange’s tariffs and dismantling of Huawei.

I’m talking about the 30-year EMBARGO that the US enforced on China after the breakout of the Korean War, along with the withdrawal of Soviet tech support as relations cooled heading into the 60s.

In fact, the Cultural Revolution’s deurbanization was a direct policy response to having the economic rug pulled under by foreign forces.

China learned a very important lesson: Any weakness in a supply chain can and will be exploited.

The Chinese prioritized the control of key enabling heavy industries, beginning with steel manufacture, before using policy tools to encourage the organic growth of eco-systems downstream.

The Chinese were not happy with assembling a shoe from components. Rather they focused on being able to make every component, down to the dye and synthetic materials suitable for footwear.

This process was repeated up the tech ladder, and by the 2010s, the Chinese had the most complete supply chain in the world, encompassing all categories of the UN industrial sector classification. China remains the only country to maintain this milestone.

China’s strength is hardware, and the world’s greatest concentration of hardware engineering talent—whether it is chips, IC, antennas, speakers, motors—are found on the mainland, and overwhelmingly Chinese.

These are world class talent who’ve delivered on big projects, and thoroughly up-to-date with their field of expertise. I daresay set them loose on any problem and they will find solutions, because the intensity and breath which they attack problems is unrivaled. The Chinese have the scale to apply multiprong strategies in parallel*, while the competition iterate sequentially. This is the famed China speed, and China has made up plenty of ground in recent decades expertly harnessing economies of scale.

America uses its heft to force compliance, through the threat of market access withdrawal. But the Chinese market is already bigger than the US, especially hardware components, just because China is the world’s factory. Huawei is able to find enough domestic partners who don’t mind losing the US market, because there are enough customers within China. Besides, this is a matter of survival for entire industries, and it is imperative to break the tech embargo.

Huawei’s telecoms gear isn’t like cellphones, because they are tethered to the mains. Power efficiency isn’t a make or break consideration, and there is no need for the latest and greatest off the cutting edge node, chip-wise.

This makes domestic substitution a breeze compared to say, the Kirin SOC, because hacks are always available, especially under the umbrella of Huawei’s immense patent portfolio.

In the final analysis, I’d say it boils down to the quality and quantity of talent, and it shows in the remarkable speed of the turnaround.

欺负华为没人？

门儿都没有。

Heinz Guderian noted in his diary that he had observed snow for the first time in the campaign in the Soviet Union.

The original plan for Operation Barbarossa was extremely sketchy for such a massive operation. One of the odder aspects of planning was that the endpoints for the invasion were never set forth, and became vaguer and more nebulous the further along planning got.

The first battle plans, prepared for the OKW by General Erich Marcks in mid-1940, actually did set forth a terminal line of the invasion. Marcks proposed the “A-A line” as the operational objective. This was to run from the northern city of Arkhangelsk on the Arctic Sea through Gorky and Rostov to the port city of Astrakhan at the mouth of the Volga on the Caspian Sea. This assumed that the European portion of Russia and its satellites was the only part of the country of any interest and importance. There, the German Army could stop and set up a defensive line beyond which whatever was left of the Soviet Union could be allowed to wither away, as it would pose no threat.

After the Marcks Plan (as it came to be called), though, the idea of any kind of ultimate objective for the Wehrmacht disappeared. The debate instead degenerated into one of whether or not it was even important to get to Moscow, let alone reach any points further east. The prevailing theory – primarily Hitler’s – was that the entire Soviet Union would capitulate after a few decisive border battles destroyed the Red Army, failing that Hitler issued a directive to pursue the Soviets.

As of 6th October 1941, there has been no “pursuit” in the Soviet Union or at least none that has lasted very long. Every step has been contested, every river has been defended, every city has been fought over and sometimes even been boobytrapped after the Red Army has left. The defense has been uncoordinated and lacking in effectiveness on many occasions, but the Red Army has been fighting all the way. Now, the best campaigning months of 1941 are already gone and it is only going to get worse before it gets better again. Given all that, the astounding underestimation of the effectiveness of Red Army opposition during the planning stage of Operation Barbarossa has not really hampered German operations yet, it just has required adjustments to compensate for a slower rate of advance than anticipated. The tanks still run, the trucks still carry supplies, the horses are still fed from grain in the fields.

However, everything is about to change forever, and the men on the front line see why after dark as the snow begins to fall around them. The lack of effective antifreeze for trucks or tanks, the lack of chains for wheeled vehicles, the absence of winter clothing which was considered superfluous in June – all of a sudden these omissions loom large.

Late Night Flight

While drinking, a Pilot bet he could land outside the bar, 2 hours later he touched down in central New York in a stolen aircraft. Years later he repeated the stunt because someone wouldn’t believe him.

In September 1956 after drinking heavily at a bar in New York City, Thomas Fitzpatrick made an intoxicated barroom bet that he could travel from New Jersey to New York City in 15 minutes.

At 3 a.m. he stole a single-engine plane from the Teterboro and flew without any lights or radio before landing on St. Nicholas Avenue near 191st Street in front of the bar where the bet was made.

The New York Times called it a “fine landing” and a “feat of aeronautics”. For his illegal flight, he was fined $100 after the plane’s owner refused to press charges.

In October 1958 just before 1 a.m., Fitzpatrick again stole another plane from the same airfield and landed on Amsterdam and 187th after another bar patron disbelieved his first feat.

For his second stolen flight, judge John A. Mullen sentenced him to six months in prison. When asked why did had undertaken the 2nd flight Fitzpatrick told the police “he had pulled off the second flight after a bar patron refused to believe he had done the first one”

Fitzpatrick was a Marine during the Korean War and received a Purple Heart. He has three sons and was married to his wife, Helen, for 51 years working as a steamfitter. He died in 2009 at the age of 79.

Fitzpatrick has a mixed drink named after him for his feat called the “Late Night Flight”

Oh SH*T, The Collapse Has REALLY Begun

The threat of a US recession is escalating fast as corporate bankruptcies and debt defaults pile up. As the Federal Reserve continues to hike interest rates, small businesses are starting to collapse and close down. There’s going to be a tipping point where job losses will accelerate and consumer spending will crash.

What is the best case of, “You just tried to scam the wrong person,” that you’ve witnessed?

I got the “You owe money to the IRS and are going to jail” phone call. I knew it was a scam because not only does the IRS not call you, but I could hear multiple voices in the background…classic boiler room. Duh! So I decided to play along. I let the guy go into his spiel and about halfway through I started crying. When I say crying, I mean REALLY wailing, gasping for breath, totally panicked! The guy has to stop talking in order to calm me down as I’m really losing it. As soon as he calms me down, off he goes again, telling me if I don’t pay, I’ll go to jail. Well, I just lose it again…crying, wailing, the whole nine yards.

Again, he tries to calm me down. Finally, with hitching sobs, I calm down enough to ask him how much I owe the IRS. When he tells me it’s $24,000, well, you know, I just lost it again. Crying. Wailing. Sobbing. What am I going to do?? OMG, I’m going to lose my house! I won’t be able to feed my kids! I’ll have to give away my dogs! Oh, noooooo! Noooooo! He calms me down (again) with the suggestion that he might be able to reduce what I owe to just $12,000. Which, of course, just sets me off again. Where, oh where am I going to get that kind of money?? I’m going to lose everything! Death! Doom! Destruction!

Finally, for the last time, he manages to calm me down enough to where I can ask him one final question…before I gave him my credit card number, would it be okay if I ask my husband first? After all, he IS a tax attorney. Dead silence for the space of about five seconds, then he let loose a torrent of profanity such as I’ve never heard before (and I’ve heard a lot) while I’m laughing my ass off. He then warns me that, “I’ll be sorry” to which I reply, “Not as sorry as you, you thieving, scum-sucking piece of humanity!” He hung up on me then, and surprisingly enough, I’ve never gotten another IRS phone call again.

It was the highlight of my week!

What are the biggest culture shocks people face when coming to Germany?

I’ve been in Berlin for about two months now.

Here’s my longish list:

I started learning German before coming here. People said I was wasting my time, that everybody here speaks English. That’s not true. Many Germans don’t speak English. Also, a number of people (usually officials or clerks) were upset that I don’t speak their language yet, as if my not having learned the language yet in the span of two months is some grave offense.
Maybe it’s only this year but the summer isn’t really summer. There are hot and cold days. Sunny and overcast days. Clear and rainy days. A day can start sunny and end in rain. You can walk out in your shorts and have to wear pants and a light jacket by the end of the day. Also, the days are unbelievably long. The sun rises before 5 AM and sets at around 10 PM.
WWII and the Holocaust. I am of Jewish descent. Many of my ancestors were taken to Auschwitz and other camps to be exterminated. I remember the first time I saw a stolperstein or “stumbling stone” in Berlin (these are brass plates inscribed with the names of Jews and information about the dates of their deportation and extermination, inlaid in the pavement outside their last place of residence) I froze. My heart sank, and a deep sadness welled from within me.
Ethnic Diversity here is wonderful. There seem to be people from all over the world, all co-existing. Yes, there have been some glitches, but seeing this melting pot of diversity brings hope to the heart. Plus, you can have authentic food from almost anywhere—from Mexican to Vietnamese to Turkish to Lebanese to Korean, etc., etc.
Many, many people are tattooed, so much so that un-tattooed individuals seem rarer than tattooed ones. And so much so that I sometimes wonder if even the businessmen and women, under those fine tailored suits, are hiding some large and colorful dragon or tiger adorning their skins.
I assumed Berlin would be cleaner. Before I came I had a vision of Germany as a glinting-clean place. And although it’s not filthy, there’s some waste strewn about in parks and on the streets—empty beer bottles and food leftovers and dirty plastic packaging, etc.
And speaking of beer bottles, people drink alcohol. A lot of it. I see many people walking around with some kind of drink in their hands, or people sitting outside bars or even in parks with an unbelievable amount of empty bottles by their side. Or in supermarkets, walking out with cartfuls of booze.
Maybe I notice it more because I’ve never lived in a place with so many churches, but there are so many of them here. Imposing ones with rising spires and crimson bricks and huge bells resonating blocks and blocks away. Having grown up in Israel, I find it hard to imagine how the visions of a carpenter in the Middle-East, over centuries and millennia, transmogrified into these massive, gothic places of worship in a completely different culture and milieu.
The other day we went to a pleasant park and there were a bunch of kids playing in the nude, splashing each other with water and running around in the sand giggling. My son took off his clothes and joined them, and I thought, how wonderful that no one is embarrassed seeing naked kids playing around, that they are granted this easy, unconscious freedom that in many other parts of the would would have been considered inappropriate.
Sex seems to be less of a big deal here. I’ve seen a number of adverts in the street depicting some form of sex in illustrations. In the US, there would have been a lecherous quality to it, some kind of cleavage or exposed thighs, something to suggest and tease and taunt. But here there is something unassuming about its depiction—a couple or even a threesome lying in bed covered in blankets, a cartoon of a man with his loins covered by a popping champagne bottle and a smiling woman by his side. Unassertive—as if this, too, is a natural part of life and there’s no need to make a fuss about it.
Organic food is available in most supermarkets and is not necessarily exorbitantly priced. In fact, almost every little place that serves food will have some kind of organic lemonade or soft drink.
Although I am not vegetarian, when I came here I imagined würste (sausages) everywhere, and a dearth of other, non-pork based offering. But, in fact, it is very easy to get vegetarian food here. From vegetarian gemüse kebap (Turkish food—vegetables in bread) to vegetarian asian dishes, to tofu, grain- or legume-based meat substitutes in supermarkets, it is not only possible to be vegetarian here, but even easy.
The streets and the curb are wide and spacious, oftentimes cobbled and shaded by evenly-distanced stately trees. Having grown up in Israel and lived in India, this was novel for me—this European expansiveness.
Some people can be incredibly proper and strict here. I’ve been scolded for standing out in the street when the bus came, and then for standing in the wrong place inside the bus as I was paying. In some places and settings people are expected to behave in a certain ways, and are frowned upon if they are not.
The bicycle is a serious mode of transportation with its own lanes and a substantial number of riders.
Drivers are not as courteous as in other places—in less trafficked streets with no stoplight, and unlike the US, cars will mostly not stop when they see a pedestrian, and one has to wait for an opportunity to cross.
Things are well made. The walls of the apartment I’m staying in are almost as thick as my outstretched arm. The woodwork is precise and sturdy. Some of the buildings around look like they’ve been in existence for centuries, and that they will last for many centuries more. There is an assuring sturdiness in the material existence here—like things are dependable and robust. Also, it is not difficult to find objects that are Made in Germany or Europe—be it knives or rucksacks or wallets, etc.—that look like they will last for a lifetime. I like that.
Almost all shops are closed on Sundays.
Parcels are left with neighbors. If you’re not in and you have a package, it will be left with one of your neighbors, who will then, perhaps later in the day, come knocking on your door and claim the package with a slip.
People have been incredibly helpful. When I arrived, a neighbor helped carry our luggage from the street. Another neighbor helps me whenever I need something in German translated. I’ve had people in the street, after asking for directions, pull out their phones, search for the place, and give me clear instructions. Of course, as with everywhere else, there are also unfriendly people, but the friendly and helpful ones have left a greater impression on me.

Boeing is Panicking! Brunei and China Order 30 Aircraft | Boeing Completely Loses The Chinese Market

In May 2017, China successfully conducted the historic first test flight of the C919 aircraft, which marked the complete break of Boeing and Airbus’ half-century monopoly on large commercial aircraft. Soon after, China’s C919 aircraft attracted cooperation intentions from many countries.

Up to now, China’s orders for C919 aircraft have exceeded an astonishing 1,061 aircraft, but I think this is just the beginning of the emergence of China’s C919 aircraft. At this year’s 20th China-ASEAN Expo, China’s C919 aircraft once again became the focus of attention.

Among them, Brunei spent US$2 billion to purchase 30 large passenger aircraft from China, including the much-anticipated C919 aircraft. As more and more countries purchase China’s C919 aircraft, Boeing in the United States begins to panic and even begs to regain the Chinese market.

https://youtu.be/7kIH65mOefQ

What’s the most useless map ever made?

One day at the end of the School year, my teacher was throwing out some old junk. One of which was this old globe that was so inaccurate, I’m surprised it wasn’t thrown away as soon it came off the assembly line.

Some Countries don’t exist at the same time.

As far as I know, Tibet did not exist at the same time with a unified Independent India, Southeast Asia with a unified Vietnam, and what’s that little country north of Mongolia?

Oh that’s right, It’s Tannu Tuva! You know the country that was annexed into the USSR during the middle of WW2. Because the Partition of India took place after the World War ended (1947). The inconsistency with time are the least of this Globe’s problems.

Making major countries the same shade of blue as the OCEAN!

As you saw above, China is the same color of the Ocean, but that’s not the only one.

The color they chose for Turkey just makes it look like the Black Sea is part of the Mediterranean if you’re not looking close enough.

Same goes with the Great Lakes area.

Since the State of Michigan is sandwiched between massive lakes, it should be a different color to make it stand out more. Well the designer didn’t think so, because instead of the Great Lakes, it’s just ONE Great Lake.

Plus New York makes lake Ontario and Erie look like an extension of the Atlantic. So does Quebec.

But this doesn’t go with what makes the map the most useless.

They got the freaking hemispheres on wrong!!!!

I’m pretty sure Australia is not directly south of Ethiopia!

South America is just floating in the middle of the Ocean.

Though Southern Africa actually fits well with the Northern Hemisphere part of South America.

This Globe has to be the most Useless reference of the World ever!

Have you ever let your dog loose on someone who was on your property and refused to leave? Is it legal to do so?

I got Montana at a church fundraising garage sale for $1.15. She was a Rottweiler/GSD mix and the owners were selling the puppies for $3. After three hours of wheedling my mother, and scrounging as much change as I could from the car, I paid for her quite proudly. She’d been the runt of the litter, and all her litter mates had long been snatched up. I brought her home, and made a bed for her in the bottom drawer of my dresser. Took her to the vet the next day to get her all of her shots. Did basic obedience training with her and all the requisite fun things a teenage girl could do with a dog.

Flash forward three years and I’m off at school across the state, and she’s at home with my mother, grandmother and younger brother. Due to her general quirkiness, she never barked or growled unless she felt that her family was in danger. She was quite content to roam the backyard, playing chase along the fence lines with the dogs that neighbored on either side. About three am my mom hears the neighbor’s golden retriever barking up a storm, then hears the fence rattle. Thinking it was a raccoon or opossum, she laid back down. Then Montana is growling right under her window. That’s when she hears a lot of cussing, more growling and then a whimper and the fence on the other side rattle. Now there’s even more cussing and growling as the other set of neighbor’s black malamute is in on whatever is happening now. Mom grabs a flashlight and the cordless phone, calls 911 and rushes out to find out what’s happening. That’s when she sees a man vaulting the far side of the fence in the neighbors yard, only to be confronted by a massive Great Dane. Montana comes slinking to her, whimpering with cuts running down both her flanks. Grabbing her leash, she takes my dog out to greet the police, explaining what happened. Apparently they caught up with the guy a few blocks away, having been bitten by about four different dogs. Mom took my brave girl to the vet immediately. The cuts were superficial and shallow, needing nothing more than some cleaning. She had a chemical burn on her backside because he’d sprayed her with either mace or pepper spray. Montana was handsomely rewarded with a steak for doing her job protecting the family, and no one ever set foot in our backyard without permission again.

Do the majority of people in China wish to remain communists, or if they had a choice, would they want democracy?

Not the slightest chance of that

There is anger against the CPC by some people, especially in the big cities however none of these people want democracy or voting

They simply want more capitalist reforms by the CPC

The Majority are very satisfied and happy with the CPC

Especially the younger generation

They regard US democracy as a JOKE

They are so proud of their country and it’s growth and the CPC that they only want reforms, reforms and more reforms

Here are the main suggestions

The Average Age of a Party Member is 49 and they want it to reduce to 40
The Average Age of a Politburo member is 56. They want it to reduce it to 50.
70 Investments were banned by the CPC between 2017–2023. They want these investments regulated.
They want flexible and productive work hours to enhance maximum output instead of the rigid slogging workstyle of the older generation

They have contempt for the USA

Especially the 17–30 year olds born post 1993

Chinas future

They are brilliant, they have the midset to be the BEST in the world

The Older generation in their forties and fifties, born between 1973–1983 are more of the WHY IS THE US SO UNFAIR rather than any contempt for the US

They have a lot of relatives in US and the West who migrated from 1965–1990

They have contempt for the Russians and Russian Technology

They are also a bit colonial and sub consciously believe they are not in the same league as the West deep down

They MAY have no problem if China becomes a democracy but they wouldn’t want it as a choice

The even older generation in their 60s and 70s, born between 1945–1965 are steeped in Patriotic Ideology. They remember the old days and the way the CPC took China to the top

It’s for their sake that China still has the name Communist when it’s anything but communist

They would abhor any democracy

Xi has created a very nationalistic patriotic generation of Youngsters brimming with confidence

The CPC needs to make some changes though in the next 10 years to ensure the Youngsters connect to the party and that wave of nationalism is retained at it’s same fervour

But Democracy? Especially Western Style?

Good God No!!!!!

Could China force all countries to use their yuan instead of American dollars for trading internationally if they took over from America economically and militarily?

No to both questions,

Economically,

Countries opt for local currencies in bilateral trade due to several reasons that align with their own interests:

The high interest in the US dollar has driven up the cost of purchasing US dollars.
Foreign exchange transaction fees associated with using US banks are expensive (3%), and the SWIFT system not only takes several days to settle transactions but is also subject to US monitoring for unilateral sanctions, even when the transactions involve purely business matters.
A surplus of expensive US dollars is circulating in the global economy, with many countries selling them back to the Federal Reserve Bank where billions are used to fund the record national debt and crowding out private investment by keeping the interest high.
There is a concern that the US dollar could face a collapse if the Federal Reserve Bank ceases its policy of increasing interest rates, as this could exacerbate inflationary pressures and erode the currency’s value.

Military,

In contrast to historical colonial powers and the dominant influence of the United States, China lacks the ambition of global control through culture/racial superiority, military endeavors, and covert activities. Instead, China offers an alternative vision to the world by fostering connections among people through infrastructure development and trade.

The Real Reasons I Left United States (and won’t go back)

I really enjoyed this video.

Real Talk about why I don’t like living in the United States anymore and why I can’t see myself ever returning. I had invested a lot of time and money to research and travel the world to find where I best fit in, which culture I feel more comfortable in. After almost 6 years of continues life abroad, I really can’t see myself ever going back.

What are some strange things that only happen in China?

The sheer logistics of trying to feed a nation of 1.4 billion people are insane. Take this building right here — it’s a pig farm. A 26-story pig farm named Ezhou farm. It’s one of the biggest ‘only in China’ moments for me.

Basically, China has been having some pretty major geopolitical tensions with many of its neighbors lately, and there have been a lot of issues with the ongoing trade war with America. So China wants to be less dependent on imports of vital things such as food.

[1] As a result, it has started building absolutely MASSIVE pig farms on an industrial scale unseen anywhere in human history. It’s pretty crazy. Also, I gotta say, pretty impressive.

So yeah, 26-story pig farms are a strange phenomenon I’ve not seen anywhere else. Anyone who’s ever enjoyed Chinese cuisine knows it cannot survive without pork. So if ever war breaks out and trade routes are blocked, China is ensuring it’ll never run out of pork chops.

Who are the most professional and skilled foreign soldiers you have served with?

Let’s start with the worst:

Unfortunately, some stereotypes might be true. When I served in the German army we trained for a week with Italy’s famous “Folgore” parachute unit. Although they were considered elite in Italy, they really sucked.

When we went with them to the shooting range my job was to count the targets they were hitting, which weren’t many. With one guy it took me a while to figure out that he was missing his target by at least 5 meters- at a 150 meters shooting distance.

These guys failed at everything they did, except for one thing: The last night of their stay we went to a bar with them and after a few German beers they started singing Italian songs. Very well and beautiful and not like our “barbaric” German singing.

I also trained a lot with French units. Most of them were really decent fellows, but their officers were completely useless. They were unable to motivate their soldiers and always seemed to be screaming at them. As a result the French troops we trained with didn’t perform as well as they could have.

Although I trained with British troops on several occasions, they didn’t leave an impression with me. Neither good nor bad. Later on my German army unit got their a** kicked by a British Special Air Service unit during an exercise in Denmark. I didn’t participate in this exercise and therefore these SAS guys are not in my ranking.

In Bosnia I fought for the Croats. They were all decent soldiers and what is very important, they were eager to learn. The Croatian army during the war lacked material and sometimes professionalism, but they more than compensated these flaws with outstanding bravery and high motivation. Especially their leadership was exemplary.

Later I fought in Kosovo with the Kosovo Liberation Army. I trained the unit that I fought with, so of course, they did ok. What I often saw in battle was that with the right guidance one could really make a difference. Sometimes we had soldiers from other units under our command and although we first thought that they were completely useless, watching our guys fight it out, these soldiers started to give their best.

I trained twice with US Army units and both times it was a pleasure. First time with a battalion of the 82nd Airborne in Italy and later I had the privilege to attend the German commando course with a US Army Special Forces unit. While the Airborne soldiers, although very good soldiers, were not really a match to our German “Fallschirmjäger” platoon, the US Army Special Forces (SF) were amazing.

They somehow weren’t that good at achieving many tasks during our training inside the barracks and were also not the fastest team on the obstacle course, but as soon as they were in the forest they showed admirable infantry skills, very good adaptation to the terrain, speed and stealth.

These SF would make the first place on my ranking if it wasn’t for a couple of Dutch LRRP’s (Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol) soldiers who also attended the same German commando course. They were good at everything and in the end had the highest score from all attendees.

They were also very modest, quiet and polite, almost shy, and these are qualities one doesn’t find very often with elite soldiers. Therefore I rank them first.

If a drone is flying on my property and I have already notified that I do not want it to be flying on it, can I destroy it without legal repercussion?

I will answer with my experience in this. There was a drone that would come over my house three times a day and roughly the same time each day. I put out a sign said please stop recording my house and yard for a couple of days but it kept coming. Thay is when I noticed a police car parked in the lot behind my house while the drone was there. So each time I’d check and see on my camera if the cop car was there and every time the drone came around sure enough. So new sign unless you have a warrent stop filming my house and yard. At this time I checked with courts for any investigation warrents for me and my property and none. So I then went out and threw rocks towards the drone each time it would take off. But still coming back. So I set the trap. I sat out front and waited for this thing to come flying over my back yard with a rather large rock. I nailed it the first try. It broke and landed in the back yard. It took three days for the cops to get a court order to come and retrieve it. Seems in the attempt to get me into trouble they had to show the footage of the drone and the warning to stop recording was enough to exonerated me for damage to the drone. They have not been back since.

Man Didn’t Want This Cat. Now They’re Inseparable Swimming Buddies

At first this man didn’t want a cat, but his swimming buddy Frosty changed everything. It took time for them to develop the bond, but when they did, a cat dad was born. Soon, Stefan discovered Frosty’s affinity for swimming, He was super curious about water and started jumping to the shower, and then the bath and finally the swimming pool.

https://youtu.be/-wSl9unZ7wE

What’s something commonly eaten in America that British people find strange or disgusting? I’m looking for foods that are viewed as normal in America that British people can’t understand.

So what the bloody hell is this?!

Biscuits and gravy is a popular breakfast dish in the United States, especially in the South.

No.

No.

NO!

I don’t care that you have your own version of English – that is an abomination.

That quite clearly consists of a scone:

With some kind of weird elephant ejaculate on top.

So not only is the name utterly wrong to British ears (if you ask someone here if they wanted “biscuits and gravy” here you will either a) end up in a mental institute, or b) be hounded out of town like a demon), but:

The actual thing doesn’t look much better.

I mean seriously guys – that stuff looks pretty damn unappetising, and that’s a “glamour shot” taken from some recipe website!

So America – let’s recap:

You’ve taken a food item traditionally eaten in the UK with cream and jam – and decided it would be better with some weirdass sausage-jizz-sauce.
You gave it a name which makes it sound bloody awful to British people

In case you haven’t gathered – this is not a popular food item in the U.K.

And we would rather it stayed that way – it looks ghastly.

EDIT:

From some of the very angry comments, it seems like some of you Americans just can’t seem to take a light-hearted ribbing, or a smidge of sarcasm. The whole point of the question is that us Brits don’t understand why you like it.

And for crying out loud:

yes, I know you call biscuits “cookies”. That’s part of the bloody joke.
Yes I have tried it. Calling me ignorant isn’t going to help.
Yes some British stuff is weird too. But we’re not talking about us – the question is about America.

Some people are treating this answer like I did a big squishy turd on your beloved flag.

It must be that sarcasm is hidden away in the ‘u’ in humour….

Which countries have the most brutal and horrific history?

This answer isn’t really about saying what one single country has done the worst, but I do want to share below on the cruelty of humankind that many people don’t know about.

Graphic content below but I want to make this known because so many people around the world have heard of Hitler, Nazis, concentration camps but they have not heard of the Asian holocaust that took place around the same period. In western schools, history classes do not teach people about this part of the world.

This is regarding what the Japanese did during their occupation of China and Korea and the war crimes they committed to the surrounding Asian countries, including some Pacific Islands they invaded: Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar, East Timor, New Guinea, Indonesia, Guam, Nauru, Wake Island, Attu and Kiska Islands, and Kiribati.

They even had some prisoners of war from the west such as America, any forces against them at the time etc.

Hundreds of thousands of women from my country in Korea were forcefully abducted (called comfort women) during the Japanese occupation in WWII. They endured torture beyond imagination if they did not sexually submit to these vile men and were forced to have sex with 60–100 men every single day. Their innards rotted because of the STD’s and they were destroyed, unable to have children even after they were rescued. They have still not been compensated for the war crimes that they endured and majority have died.

Pregnant mothers were cut open and rape victims were sodomized with bamboo sticks and bayonets until they died in agony.

On top of this they literally tore the unborn from women’s wombs and speared them alive with bayonets in front of them. They’d crush the infant’s skull against concrete floors. They would actually do this for fun.

They tied sons and daughters up and tore them apart, spearing them and forced their own parents to watch.

They raped and pillaged women of all ages, even toddlers to old women in the most vile, disgusting way imaginable. They would often disembowel them while in the process, leaving them to die in agony.

They conducted unspeakable evil torture and experiments on LIVE prisoners from these countries even children and infants in UNIT 731. Torture methods such as vivisecting pregnant women without any anesthesia, centrifuging and killing people in pressurized chambers, and slowly burning and freezing people alive. They artificially created what is similar to the ‘bubonic plague’ to see the effects on the prisoners. They were forced into X-rays until they perished and hung people by their thumbs or tongues etc. These torture tactics were deliberately planned to see death happen SLOWLY, not fast as the scientists wanted to observe the resilience of the human body.

Unbelievably Inhumane Japanese Torture Methods Used During World War II

(image deleted – too unsettling)

Bodies of slayed, raped, mutilated women in China.

(image deleted – too unsettling)

Carcasses of babies and children piled up

Despite this, Japan still presently denies what has happened and even believes that it is a rumour. The young people as shown in this video are absolutely clueless on the whole tragedy, or are so far removed in cognitive dissonance and lack of care it is astounding. There is even a middle aged woman in the video who even says “Well I’m not sure if it’s a rumour or not…” which is an absolute lunacy and an embarrassment of the failure of the country in not properly educating their citizens of what truly happened. One young girl even says “Well, I wonder when they will ever get over it…” How are people supposed to get over it when there are still thousands of victims still alive who didn’t receive any form of compensation for what they have been through??!

Their government still warps their history books and deliberately tries to hide the evidence of what truly happened. There are active groups within Japan who refuse to accept what happened and truly believe that it is just a ‘rumour’ to make Japan look bad.

Below is a real life account by a South Korean comfort woman on the horrors she went through. It is heartbreaking to watch but quite educational. She sadly passed away early January of this year, fighting until her last breath but still never receiving any compensation or apology from the Japanese. They don’t even recognize that she went through this or who she is.

(Video no longer available on YT)

What Japan did wasn’t just an invasion or occupation, it was a literal carnage, hell on earth genocide. They didn’t have to go this far as majority of the Koreans and the people they invaded were helpless farmers, uneducated servants, and innocent people who were not trained in war at all. They did this because they did not see these people as human, and their goal wasn’t simply to occupy, but to desecrate the spirit from within. They knew when you destroy someone’s spirit from inside out, the enemy will bend the knee and yield to the point where they do not have the soul to fight back. On top of this, it was just pure, raw sadistic savagery because all of these helpless people surrendered and begged for mercy yet they were still tortured for absolutely no reason.

(Video no longer available on YT)

Presently Japan is one of the most wealthiest and prosperous Asian countries in the world yet they cannot even fully take responsibility for their own committed atrocities. It shows the savage barbarism that still resides in some of these people and makes one question just how this is even acceptable. Instead they choose to warp their own history books, flat out deny it existed and have refused to offer sincere, acceptable compensation/apology for the people who are still alive. They are waiting until every last victim is dead so they no longer have to worry about it. They are not truly ashamed of this past, they just see it as an eyesore they want to bury. Keep in mind Japan has very strong political parties that strives to ensure this shameful past does not reach the masses to retain their false honour. Still to this day, they praise their war criminals in shrines.

From the invasion of China in 1937 to the end of World War II, the Japanese military regime murdered near 3,000,000 to over 10,000,000 people, most probably almost 6,000,000 Chinese, Indonesians, Koreans, Filipinos, and Indochinese, among others, including Western prisoners of war. This is more than the estimated Jewish victims of the Holocaust.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe controversially claimed that “there was no evidence to prove” that the women had been coerced into sex.

“The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is engaged in an all-out effort to portray the historical record as a tissue of liesdesigned to discredit the nation,” wrote Mindy Kotler, director of Asia Policy Point, in 2014.

“Mr. Abe’s administration DENIES that imperial Japan ran a system of human trafficking and coerced prostitution, implying that comfort women were simply camp-following prostitutes,” Kotler continued. “The official narrative in Japan is fast becoming detached from reality, as it seeks to cast the Japanese people — rather than the comfort women of the Asia-Pacific theater — as the victims of this story.”

Japan’s Textbooks Reflect Revised History

Japanese Broadcast Official: We Didn’t Commit War Crimes, the U.S. Just Made That Up

Why is it so hard for Japan to say sorry?

China criticises Japan after Shinzo Abe honours war criminals as martyrs

Letter threatening to hunt Koreans sent to South Korean embassy in Japan: media

The Harrowing Story Of Filipina Women Enslaved In Japan’s Wartime Rape Camps

Edit: Since I’m getting quite a lot of people who clearly don’t seem to understand and may not have read or researched in depth in this matter. They are saying that ‘Japan does not need to offer apology or compensation for what people of their past did etc’

It’s more complicated than that.

Please read the links again. Even if they can’t take full responsibility for their past, they SHOULD take responsibility for the future by not warping textbooks and giving power to political parties who enforces the dangerous fallacy of denying any of this ever happened or triviliazing everything that has happened. They should make sure to teach the correct history not just for educational purposes but to ensure their citizens fully know and accept their own history and in hopes that it never happens again. This is also to help not silence the voices of the people who did suffer in the past and to not spit into their graves and ruin their legacy by spreading false lies.

Also the comfort women and people who were forcefully taken into labour camps as prisoners, many are still alive who didn’t actually get any compensation or even sheer RECOGNITION. They suffered their entire lives without anyone hearing what they have to say with nothing from Japan. This isn’t just about wanting Japan to go up to a stadium and saying ‘I am sorry’ and stepping down. Words are meaningless and worthless when not backed up by actions.

They are hypocrites by warping textbooks and also praising their own war criminals. Imagine what the world would say if Germany praises Nazis and gave strong political power that has the power to make Germans never even hearing of the Nazis or even contemplate if it was just a rumour or not. Think about how insane that would be.

So why do they need to apologise? Because unlike Germany what they are doing is absolutely deplorable and morally bankrupt by continuing to CONTRIBUTE to the legacy of the abomination Japan was in the past. You don’t see Germany do the same about the Nazis and for good reason. It means Japan hasn’t learned and is not truly remorseful. By Japan I am talking of the FACES of Japan which are the politicians who represent that country. The rest of the Japanese experience their trickle down effect so while it’s not saying it’s their fault, they end up indirectly contributing to supporting these vile politicians. So yes the people who represent JAPAN who hold the power of influence does need to sincerely apologise and stop contributing to what they are presently doing.

As I am getting tired of having to repeat the same information again and again, any comments that say things along the lines of ‘Japan does not need to apologise’ or those questioning or defending the existence of any of these crimes, their war criminals will be either ignored, deleted or blocked. It is extremely disrespectful to the victims and deplorable. The links are already here clear as day for reading and one can also do the research themselves. Also for anyone who brings up another atrocity and pitting them against each other, STOP. This post isn’t about pitting one atrocity against another, it is disgusting to even keep doing that and seriously lacks any insight into the original point of my post.

Otherwise thank you for reading and have a nice day.

TLDR: Japan did some truly horrific shit that many people including the present day Japanese citizens are unaware of. What they did is abysmal carnage from the Antichrist itself.

Also, piece of shit apologies that require uttering words and throwing money at victims isn’t a true apology when they are still in 2019 warping textbooks and none of their youths know anything about their crimes.

Why do you think Germany forces every citizen to learn about their nazi history and Japan doesn’t ? It is to deliberately ignore and not acknowledge their past due to their pride and selfishness. I’d equate this to even pathological narcissism and psychopathy due to how far they have gone in managing stomping this knowledge out of their own present day citizens.

Edit 2: As I am still getting very disrespectful, deranged comments on here pitting atrocities against each other, saying that I am spreading lies and others spewing ignorant hatred against Koreans, here’s my final message.

Instead of blaming others, look at what Japanese Nationals do. Stop diverting the attention away by blaming the mistakes of other countries yet not acknowledging the corruption of the Japanese government

Japan’s leaders are still stubbornly refusing to admit their war crimes

What Japanese history lessons leave out

Japanese people often fail to understand why neighbouring countries harbour a grudge over events that happened in the 1930s and 40s. The reason, in many cases, is that they barely learned any 20th Century history. I myself only got a full picture when I left Japan and went to school in Australia

The Germans in contrast have personally done everything possible to make people aware of their Nazi past. Japan doesn’t scratch the surface of what it means to have true honour while Germans go to great lengths to do humanitarian work and to allow their citizens to understand the FULL facts. This is what true compensation and remorse actually is, not the dogshit excuse of what Japan does by also denying people, correct history. End of.

We must remember Nazi crimes, says Merkel

Westoids get rid of this sick mentality

Disappointed that china isn’t collapsing and Chinese people are not starving with 50 cent hoes selling their body to you?

A channel which is ironically named “Economics Explained” is possibly the worst when it comes to it. Western propganda is not just limited to mainstream media, but to nutwits like these.

Imagine if a Chinese made a video “sorry to disappoint America/India isn’t collapsing ..yet”. What wud their reactions be.

In all honesty, the best channel for economics is Xiao Lin, light years better than these sick bas***ds.

Meanwhile Indian videos on China’s economy are even more hating than that of westoids.

Like seriously westoids, get a forking life other than hating a new country every decade. Last decade was Russia, last to last was Iraq. You guys got no job other than invading countries and telling “we love the people hate the government” then getting sad why that country hasn’t collapsed yet?

Original San Antonio Chili

Ingredients

2 pounds beef shoulder, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 pound pork shoulder, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 cup suet
1/4 cup pork fat
3 medium-size onions, chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 quart water
4 ancho chiles
1 serrano chile
6 dried red chiles
1 tablespoon comino seeds, freshly ground
2 tablespoons Mexican oregano
Salt to taste

Instructions

Place lightly floured beef and pork cubes in with suet and pork fat in heavy chili pot and cook quickly, stirring often.
Add onions and garlic and cook until they are tender and limp.
Add water to mixture and simmer slowly while preparing chiles.
Remove stems and seeds from chiles and chop very finely.
Grind chiles in molcajete and add oregano with salt to mixture. Simmer for another 2 hours.
Remove suet casing and skim off some fat.

Notes

Never cook frijoles with chiles and meat. Serve as a separate dish.

What is the toughest difficulty you have ever faced in life?

The pain was beyond anything imaginable.

Chiang Mai Thailand 2013. I had a rare form of Tuberculosis cysts lodged in my spinal cord and on my right kidney. The doctors didn’t know how I contracted this deadly bacteria. I was too ashamed to tell them it was from drug abuse and the unhygienic practices that came with it.

It felt like a hot knife piercing my back continuously for months as I lay immobilized on the bed of my apartment. I could not hold down food and went from 220 lbs to 163 lbs. There was no sleep, only my body eventually shutting down from the pain.

My mother was an LPN and flew in to take care of me because I could not afford a hospital. My poor mother, I screamed at her to take my life. I switched from fentanyl to methadone to morphine, but none of them worked – they only made the pain worse because my feeble body could not process the drugs. It was gasoline on the fire raging inside me.

Once a week or so, my mother would help me to sit up, place a back brace on me, and help me move six feet to the bathroom so I could attempt a bowel movement and a brief shower. Every inch of every movement was excruciating pain; I had no more tears; it was hollow bellowing, and even cursing was painful. And then back to bed. That simple exercise would be an hour of horrific suffering.

After three months of strong antibiotics, I could finally eat and hold it down. With a back brace and cane, I could stand and walk briefly. The photo above was from this time, taken with my beautiful mother. You can see the back brace under my shirt and the cane I used to walk.

This life I have today is beyond anything imaginable

I never thought it possible. I thought I was doomed to the bondage of self, and the slavery of active addiction.

Now, I live a lifestyle of sober recovery – drug and alcohol-free at 56. I train daily in the gym, go for power walks and jogs in nature, and have a purposeful, meaningful life.

I Just Got an Email That Left me SPEECHLESS. WE’RE AT DEFCON 2

This is really good, from a prepper. DEFCON 2. Holy Shit!

What are things about corporate life no one tells you about?

Your appraisal is dependent on last 2 months efforts and not 12 months
You ask for a raise, and your boss thinks you’re looking for a job change
You complain about administrative issues and your manager thinks you’re trying to be a rebel
Don’t share secrets with your colleagues, they might be sharing your secrets with colleagues or managers
Your office friend is not your real friend and they won’t swear by your death bed
If you die tomorrow, there is a replacement within a week
Your efficiency is decided by number of hours you clock in vs number of productive efforts you place in
A junior person can outsmart a senior person but he will still be called junior
Your mistakes will always be discussed during appraisals
Your best performance will be discussed when you want to quit
If you finish your work on time and leave early, this is getting noted in the system as you don’t have enough work. [Your efficiency is not counted 90% of the time.]
Hiring is done based on communication skills and not on management, writing, negotiation, programming, analysis, attitude and mindset
Your CTC, Variable, Bonus and Take home salary are different components (understand the difference)
Utilize your earned and casual leaves when you get time
Find your interests and do some certification courses from LinkedIn, Coursera, edX etc
Documentation is king
Lazy ones are the smartest but are difficult to manage
Love your job and be committed to the work. Period.
Your salary will increase by 1.5x, 2x or 3x only when you switch companies
At age 20–30 skill set is primary and salary is secondary.
If you find a mentor in your current company, listen to him/her and always consult when you get stuck
Be open to change and learn how to become smarter
Try to be 1% better than yesterday
Kill the boredom, go for a walk when you don’t have anything to do at office or talk to your colleagues and find out how they do what they do
Be happy and learn the financial management, this will help you stay afloat after 10–15 years

Chen Si.

He works at a logistics agency in Nanjing, China. He also spends his free time saving other people’s lives.

Let me tell you his story.

In 2003, a very close relative of Chen’s committed suicide after watching his sons argue over who would take care of him. The incident was deeply traumatizing. Having to lose someone he held so dear to his heart just because his sons didn’t seem to show enough respect and compassion for him. Chen also read in the local newspaper that the Nanjing-Yangtze River Bridge was a major suicide hotspot — in fact, by 2006, about 2,000 people were estimated to have killed themselves by jumping off the bridge since the year it was constructed (1968). He then became greatly determined to devote the rest of his life saving those of others trapped in hopelessness by foiling suicide attempts.

In response, Chen began to patrol the Nanjing-Yangtze bridge either on his motorbike or on foot, continuously on the lookout for people willing to jump from it.

He has been there almost every day, even on holidays and weekends, regardless of the weather.

He has kept a lookout for signs of depression, for example, in the way some of them walk, which Chen describes as “passive with no spirit or direction”.

Chen also keeps a diary documenting the people he has encountered and the reasons why they wanted to kill themselves.

Some had been greatly shamed for not being successful enough in school.
Some had broken up with their boyfriend or girlfriend.
Some had wasted away their money on needless things.
There was also, for example, a migrant worker who was drowning in debt because he couldn’t pay off the $15,000 bill for his daughter’s leukemia treatments.

Chen also gives out suicide prevention pamphlets to potential jumpers, detailing emergency contacts.

And not only does he simply pull people off the bridge. In fact, he has spent 10,000 yuan ($1,457 in dollars) renting a two-room house not far from the site, which he calls “a station for the soul to rest in”.

He sits with people and lets them share all their suffering in their stories, which in a way ignites friendship, trust, and newfound confidence. Chen also occasionally brings victims back to the bridge as volunteers, helping others see a way forward in life.

Throughout his time engaging in this, Chen has stopped over 300 people from ending their lives. That is an example of being a hero without having to fight. An example of generosity and compassion at work without the necessity for bloodshed. Sometimes the best heroes simply dedicate themselves to lending a hand to people who feel like they’ve got nothing left for them. Chen Si isn’t called the “Angel of Nanjing” for nothing.

“Not all heroes wear capes”, they say. That is most definitely true.

Footnotes

[1] Chen Si – Wikipedia

What are some of the oldest contracts still in place that include some regular payments, like a lease that requires the user or tenant to pay something?

Every October since 1211 the City of London has paid rent to the Crown for two pieces of land even though nobody knows their exact locations.

The Ceremony of Quit Rents is the oldest legal ceremony in England apart for the Coronation of the Monarch. It takes place between St Michael’s Day (October 11th) and St Martin’s Day (November 11th) every year in the Royal Courts of Justice in London where the City pays the King’s Remembrancer.

The King’s Remembrancer is the oldest judicial position in England and was created in 1164 by Henry II to keep track of what was owed to the crown.

For the first piece of land, called The Moors, the City pays two knives, one blunt and one sharp.

The Remembrancer’s duty is to test the knives. The billhook is tested on a hazel tally and should make a mark representing the payment. The sharp axe then splits the tally in two, one for each party as a receipt. The Remembrancer then calls “Good service”.

This is called a split tally where in order to record debts a stick was marked with a number of notches and then split lengthwise. This way the two halves both record the same notches and each party to the transaction received one half of the marked stick as proof.

The second quit rent is for the use of the forge in Tweezer’s Alley, somewhere near The Strand. It is believed that the first tenant, Walter Le Brun, was a blacksmith who had set up his business near the tilting ground of the Knights Templar sometime around 1235.

The rent for this land is sixty-one nails and six horse-shoes. The horseshoes used are believed to date back to 1361 and are probably the oldest horseshoes still in existence. After the payment is received, the shoes and nails are then loaned back to the City of London for the next year.

When presented with the horseshoes and nails, the Remembrancer calls “Good number”.

There are also other quit or peppercorn rents. In Medieval times when a piece of property was deeded over as a reward for service a nominal rent was often charged as a reminder that the tenant didn’t own the property outright. A single peppercorn (or a single rose i.e. rose rents) was among the most popular forms of this style of rent but there were various other interesting forms of payment, such as a frog, a roast pork dinner, the donation of a petticoat to a poor woman, or even a raw calves head and a pair of gloves.

What do you dislike most about the U.S.?

Hi.
I am an Australian who is married to an American and, due to the nature of my work, lived ALL OVER the US over a decade.

Half my family are American and many of my closest friends.
In short, I’m very fond of the United States and support my nation’s close affiliation with them.

So please forgive me if I’m blunt.
This is NOT an American bash, it’s an honest expression of the one thing that [SOME] Americans do that never fails to trigger me.

“We saved your asses in World War Two”.

Americans often tell us bluntly, over and over how they “saved our arses” in both World Wars.

I assure you, EVERY SINGLE Brit, Aussie, Kiwi or Canadian reading along can hear those words spoken in an American accent as they read them.

That’s how often we hear it.
Almost weekly.
Certainly once a month.

Wars that we ourselves stepped up and fought in the protection of others.
Wars that wouldn’t even have affected us directly.
Wars we fought for YEARS before the United States.

Australia, Canada, India and New Zealand particularly could have turned their backs on Western Europe.

Britain herself could have closed her borders and looked the other way.
Hitler had no designs on the UK – He admired them.
All they had to do was stand back and allow the holocaust to happen.

But of course they couldn’t because fighting Nazi Germany was the right thing to do.

We didn’t make Britain wait 3.2 and 2.3 years to enter either great war.
We were there from day one.

We didn’t charge Britain for our goods or help.
We didn’t keep a tally and make them pay it back for seventy years.
We didn’t insist they realign their trade preferences to favour our markets setting their still very young colonies prematurely adrift or cost them their empire, wealth, dignity or preeminence as a world power.

We didn’t use Britain’s plight as a springboard for our own wealth and dominance or spend the following century diluting their culture with Pan Americanism and shallow consumerism.

CANZUK didn’t ask for anything.
We just went because we’re family and that’s what family does and despite what some of you are going to assert in the comments, yes, America, though you are the black sheep you are also family.

Speaking for Australia, from a population of six million (2/3 of which were women, children, the elderly and infirm), a full one million Australian men served in the military during the Second World war.

Let that sink in.

We had, from our far-flung nation gathered together the fourth-largest air force in the world and the fifth largest navy and lost so many men in every theater of both World Wars that we had a noticeable lack of them right into the 1980s.
Indeed, by the time American boots had touched the ground in North Africa and Europe, CANZUK had already sacrificed literally millions of men.

It’s SO, rude.
I’m not even sure you understand just how disrespectful it is and how much damage it does [at street level] to our relationships with the US.
Honestly – it’s there in the pit of all our stomachs whenever we even engage with an American.

I will leave you with this quote from the memoirs of one of your own.
American journalist Ernie Pyle who was killed in action by the Japanese in April 1945.

His account of D-day and the liberation of Paris.

“One cannot help but be moved by the colossus of our invasion. It was a bold and mighty thing. One of the epics of all history. I hope that we can rejoice in victory but humbly. The dead men would not want us to gloat.”

Peace.

Do people realise that China is an authoritarian country?

Probably. So?

I don’t live in China. But I do live in another country that is often said to be authoritarian (Singapore). And what else can we say about Singapore?

It’s ranked in the world’s top five richest countries (by GDP per capita). It’s ranked among the world’s top five least corrupt countries. Its public transport system is often ranked as the world’s best. It’s also ranked as the world’s no. 6 most peaceful country. It has one of the world’s highest average life expectancies. It’s ranked No. 1 for infrastructure. Singapore is ranked the 2nd safest city in the world. Singapore students are the world’s best in science, math and literacy. Its economy is ranked the 4th most competitive in the world. Singapore has the lowest infant mortality rate in the world. Homelessness is very rare here. Singapore’s rate of death by drug overdose is 81 times lower than in the US. There hasn’t been one gun homicide in the past 17 years.

Etc etc etc. I could go on and on. Basically Singapore is a very successful country across a wide range of different indicators and criteria. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it – what exactly is so bad about authoritarianism.

Yeah, yeah, you can’t smoke pot; you’ll be caned if you are a rapist, and you have no right to utter hate speech to bully anybody. Sounds quite good to me.

Which is the best thing to import?

Cigarettes 😀

You do the maths. I used to be able to buy them at HKIA for $90HKD a carton. The airport staff said you have to pay duty if you take more than 2 cartons. I said yes and filled my suitcase.

I’d take them to the UK and sell them for £35–40 a carton. I’d sell them to somebody who looked like he’d stab you in the face. First time I met him he wanted to rob me, but realised I could supply him regularly. Anyway he’d sell them for £50–60 a carton (it’s about £50 for 100 a carton is 200).

The trick was to land late at night, if you did this the customs agents were usually not too attentive and wanted to go home.

Same thing with France, I’d go for a razz now and again and come back with a car filled with cigarettes.

It was easy money and made me my seed money to get my business off the ground.

What are some sad truths about life?

Chris Langan was born with a freakishly potent brain, having arguably the highest IQ of any living person.

Langan began speaking at six months old and went on to skip several grades. He had an adult vocabulary by age 10. He breezed through college-level tests as an adolescent. He took his SAT several years early and got a perfect score in half the allotted time and took a nap.

Today, he is a rancher. He never finished college. Most of his adult years were spent as a bouncer at a bar, and in manual labor jobs.

It all stemmed from his rough childhood. He grew up in a poor family. His mother married multiple times before he turned 12. One stepfather committed suicide. Another was psychopathic and abusive.

His stark upbringing created behavioral problems and a persisting contempt for authority. Combine this with inadequate mentorship, resources, and an absent professional network and he never weaponized his extremely rare gift.

The sad truth is that there are many like Langan, who are like the gifted child working on a 3rd world farm, born into poverty and dealt a common, cruel blow to the chance of success.

TikTok on the cost of living | RANT ON INFLATION | EVERYONE IS BROKE AND TIRED

“Hi guys, just to clarify I do not own any of these videos I just thought it would be interesting to see how people are dealing with the cost of living, sending prayers and well wishes to you ”

Chinese Doctors

The doctor(s) keep telling me that high blood pressure is not a problem. They say “you cannot die from high blood pressure“. And this, of course, is the Chinese stance on the matter. That blood pressure is dynamic, and not static, that it goes up and it goes down. And that you want to manage your lifestyle to keep it in a relatively low state, but not to get upset if it raises up high.

Meanwhile the Western advice for what my current blood pressure seems to be is…

Which is quite different from the Eastern belief.

When I entered the hospital emergency room, my blood pressure was 214. The Western medical advice and warnings are…

I think that it was prudent that I went to the emergency room, no matter what the doctors say. And I most certainly did not want to endure a stroke or a heart attack.

You all, please be careful and safe.

Today…

In the military, have you ever seen a superior officer berate a junior officer for giving enlisted unnecessary grief?

In 1973 while a specialist (E4) in the 82d Airborne Division, I had to draw a travel pay advance to go TDY (temporary duty) for 179 days.

This was well before direct deposit or electronic payments.

We actually got paperwork processed then went to a teller’s window who dispersed cash.

When I arrived at the division finance center the waiting area was full to overflowing.

As I found a place along the wall to stand a soldier near me said, “You’ll be here a while. ”

He pointed to another soldier and said he had been there two days in a row before that day attempting to get an advance to go home on emergency leave.

Several other soldiers confirmed what he said. They too kept returning and waited their turn until time for the center to close, then they returned to their barracks and came back the next day.

After an hour or so with only a couple of troops called to the desk to be processed (by now it was late morning) a full Colonel arrived and signed the waiting list at the front.

As he took a place along the wall one of the soldiers told him he would have a long wait. Someone else told him about the guy who needed to go on emergency leave.

After about 30 minutes, the colonel went to the clerk at the sign in desk and asked to speak to his boss.

The clerk went to the back office area and returned with a senior NCO, E6 or E7 as I recall. The sergeant asked the colonel how he could help him.

The colonel replied, “I asked to see this clerk’s boss, the person in charge here.” The Sergeant said, “I’m his boss.”

The colonel then said “I want to see the OIC (Officer In Charge) out here, right now.”

He was very polite and spoke in a slightly lower volume than if in a normal conversation, however when he approached the sign in desk all conversation in the room ceased and we could hear what he had to say.

Full Colonels, O-6s, don’t like to be kept waiting.

The Sergeant (staff sergeant or sergeant first class) went to the office area and returned from a small separate office with a junior officer, a captain if I recall correctly.

Very respectfully the finance officer asked the colonel how he could help him.

The colonel said he was going on TDY and needed his advanced travel pay. The finance officer said, “Yes sir we’ll get you taken care of right away.”

The colonel then said “I need to leave tonight.”

“Yes sir, no problem.” was the reply. The colonel said “

All these men that were signed in before me are ahead of me. They will get their money before my advance gets processed. Are we clear on that, Captain?”

A very red-faced, obviously shaken junior officer, now sweating bullets, assured him everyone in the waiting area would be processed that day.

It was amazing how quickly paperwork was processed after that.

The guy waiting for emergency leave was called back almost immediately and the rest of us were taken care of very expeditiously in the order in which we signed in.

The colonel was looking out for men who weren’t directly in his chain of command but he made sure everyone was taken care of appropriately.

He could have “pulled rank” and left with his money in just a few minutes.

He could have made one phone call to division headquarters and had the officer and the NCOIC replaced, but a low key, on the spot correction resolved the immediate issue.

I’m sure the situation was discussed with both the OIC and NCOIC privately and in much greater detail later.

That was an experience I learned from and never forgot as I rose through the enlisted, warrant officer and commissioned officer ranks during my 24 years of service.

Chili Louisiana-Style

Yield: about 3 quarts

Ingredients

2 pounds ground beef
1 pound ground hot sausage
2 medium onions, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 whole clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 (15 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
3 (15 ounce) cans New Orleans style kidney beans, drained
Louisiana hot sauce, to taste (optional)

Instructions

Combine first four ingredients and brown in a large frying pan. Drain all excess fat.
In a large slow cooker, combine all the remaining ingredients. Add the cooked meat mixture. Cook on LOW overnight.
Remove garlic clove before serving.

When men have NOTHING left to lose. The masculinity crisis pushed too far.

Men being treated like second-rate citizens in the modern day is nothing new, but what happens when they end up being pushed to the very edge? Men were not designed to lie down and be taken advantage of. Eventually, all men rise up against oppression and take their final stand. This is a frightening world we’ve created.

https://youtu.be/aOnsLtmIPb8

On a plane, is it rude to ask someone to move to another seat so you can sit with your friends or family?

Literally this just happened to me a few days ago. I live in Virginia (USA) and I was flying to Athens, Greece. We booked the trip on a Saturday and left three days later, very last minute. Because it was an overnight flight and more than 9 hours we purchased the tickets in business class so we could recline to sleep. I like to read before sleeping so I purposefully selected (on Saturday) the window seat so I could lean up again the wall and look out the window while reading. As soon as I got onboard and got to my seat (hadn’t even sat down yet!) the woman in the aisle asked me switch with her husband who was seated on the middle row on the aisle. I said “No thank you, I’m good with where I booked”. I was polite but firm. Later during the flight she asked when I had booked and I said three days ago and she said that they had booked months before. What actually irritated me was that MONTHS went by where she (they) could have adjusted their seats to be together. Why then does it become MY problem to give up what I paid for. So yes, I find it exceedingly rude to ask someone to give up their seat.

P.S. Athens, Mykonos and Santorini were fabulous and I can’t wait to go back!

Why does the West vehemently back Israel?

They don’t

Get your facts straight

The West has a history of Anti Semitism that would make your blood run cold

I don’t mean just Uncle Heini

Jews have been deported enmasse from 8 European Countries from the 12th century to the 20th in their thousands, forced to live in Ghettos, speaking a slavish language Yiddish for the most part

Guess where they were treated better than in Europe?

Yep.

The Middle East , the Muslims

The Jews had their best time under the Ottoman Empire and with the Arabs. Both sides minding their own business

And once again who ruined it?

Yep

The West – in the form of the United Kingdom

This is Klaus Barbie – a Psycopathic Anti semite who sent many jews to their death in camps during WWII

He was the butcher of LYONS

Yep that’s France

Frenchmen, Poles, Czech and Ukrainians watched and silently endorsed the slaughter of Jews and making them soap , a term that our friend Jean-Marie Valheur takes such strong offense against

Auschwitz, Riga, Sachenhausen – they aren’t in Moscow or Beijing or Delhi or Tehran

They are in Europe

This gutter dreg who took orders from Himmler or his men and who had jewish blood on his hands

He got a standing ovation in Canada

Standing Ovation!!!!

So dont ever say the West backs Israel

The West wants a guard dog in the Middle East just like you want a Foreman in prison, in case the inmates get violent

The West believe the Middle East is their playground and to keep things in order, fund organizations and terror groups and keep organizing small and large scale chaos

Israel does what it’s told

As simple as that

The West will never see Israel as part of it’s Anglo Saxon heritage

Not even Eastern Europe whose idiots think they are a part of the grand alliance of the West

They aren’t

The West is US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, Italy and Scandinavia

Every one else from Spaniards to Slavs to Greeks to Jews to Balts to Chinese to Indians to Malays to Serbs are expendable and will be dropped like hot potatoes if it suits the West

How powerful is the Triad? Does the triad engage in a gunfight with the Chinese police?

The Triads? They’ve long since become regular business men.

The last triad gunfights were in the UK around 1997 vs the Vietnamese gangs. The Vietnamese gangs had guns the Chinese triads didn’t.

The last gunfights in Asia were Yip Kai Foon. He had a type56 Chinese AK and rarely got into gunfights. He eventually did get into a gunfight with police and was hit in the spine and captured shortly after.

What is the fastest anyone has been fired from a job?

I got fired during my interview.

I had already been given the job. Been told my start date and salary. The owner was my brother in laws father.

I had sat and chatted with him one evening having just left the army. He told me the job was mine. But he had already arranged the interviews so told me he had to go through with them but inserted me into the interview process.

I mean this job couldn’t of been more nailed on. Ever.

Anyway. I was so blasé about it. I went into the interview not even thinking it was an interview and chatted away to him. Next thing I’m laughing and joking with him about my time in the army. About the crazy funny antics we got up to. Like skidding tanks. Trying to spin the tracks on tanks in the mud. Breaking so hard to see how much you could nose down.. how I run my colnel of the road snaking down the road in a tank. I thought I was hilarious. I thought he thought I was hilarious

This was for a job as an articulated truck driver.

I even walked out pleased with how it went. Absolutely clueless

Needless to say. I got a call next day saying I didn’t get the job.

The most ridiculous part of this story is that the penny didn’t drop for years for me. I just assumed he had only given me an interview to keep the family happy. That I was never going to get the job and was annoyed he’d wasted my time.

It was only 20 odd years later I had that awful.cringe moment. Like. Oh god! No! Did i actually go into an interview for a driving job. Bragging about how irresponsible a driver I could be. Yes. I did.

A need to rewrite marriage laws

The latest generation is simply not getting married, and will result in this…

Do the Chinese know how much worse a war with the United States would be for their country than for the Americans?

Terry, you have everything upside down.

China and the Chinese do not have to be reminded of the horror of wars. They have the century of humiliation that reduced their entire country to destitution and hundred of million dead. It is this existential awareness that is in fact going overdrive to ensure this never ever happen again.

On the other hand, the U.S. has never been touched by war because of geography – not WWI, not WWII. This is why after WWII it is only the U.S. and our industrial base coming out totally unscathed that allowed for our hegemony.

We’re the clueless.

And today, it is the U.S. who must be reminded that we have a peer military power. China has the capability to kick our ass if we try an offensive run at them and can accommodate in kind with a nuclear MAD. So, how is it that they will suffer more in case of war with us?

Have you ever gone for a date without knowing it was a date?

I went to a late afternoon house party at a neighbor who lived a block over from my house.

The host was wealthy. She had a beautifully designed Tuscan, two-storied house, with art of various styles and sizes adorning the walls throughout.

Although I was younger than most by decades, everyone was very welcoming to young buck Sean.

Everyone had brought a dish of food and they had some music playing.

My intention was to just stay for an hour, make the rounds, introduce myself to some neighbors and get to know them as it was rare to see a lot of these people that I shared close proximity with.

(For the record, I wasn’t a freeloader – I’d made brownies that I’d brought with me as well.)

There’s a crowd of us on the back porch talking. I’m in a circle with the host, her daughter, and 4 other people.

So out of the blue, the host says, “We’ll just let you two talk for a bit.”

And everyone evaporates into the house and here I am stuck on this back porch with her daughter.

It felt like I blinked and the world disappeared and I was locked in a closet with a stranger.

“So Sean – do you like it here in Tampa?”

You’ve got to be kidding me. This is a setup…..

She was pretty and friendly enough.

However she was not my type and I was not psychologically/emotionally prepared to be on a date that moment. My ex and I had broken up 2 days before this.

I got through it. We spoke and I stayed long enough so as not to be rude and/or hurt her feelings. Then I went home, curled up in a ball and sucked my thumb.

But hey – at least the experience made for an OK Quora answer.

My pain for your pleasure.

Did he handle this situation properly?

Making a day better

Yesterday, we had a horrible customer at the restaurant, he yelled at the bartender because we didn’t have club soda. The bartender explained we don’t have club soda because we don’t have liquor (just beer and wine) and therefore we don’t have a soda gun behind the bar. He didn’t like that.

Then he asked for a cheese that we don’t have, even after she read him the cheeses we did have – twice. She explained we don’t have that cheese. Then he LOST it and started yelling at her as if she was hoarding the world’s supply of this cheese for herself. Ridiculous.

He eventually left in a big huff and every other person within earshot of his temper tantrum was thankful.

Even after he left we still had a black cloud over us. Admittedly, we let this man and his behavior affect our day.

That is until an older gentleman and his adult son came into the restaurant and changed our whole mood. They are relatively new regulars (started coming in a month or so ago). The son has Down Syndrome and his father takes care of him throughout the day.

The father is very talkative, but his son (Peter) never spoke to us – he was always happy to eat his sandwich and bop along to the music (he really likes Grateful Dead songs).

As they were getting ready to leave, the father waved us over. We got to the table and Peter looked up at us and said…

“I’m happy here, I see you give out hugs, can I have a hug?”

We happily raised our hands to start the hug and he quickly pulled us in and gave us the strongest bear hug we’ve ever received in our life. He lifted us off the ground – anyone that has ever met us face-to-face will attest, that is no easy task.

Thank you Peter, with one (just shy of unbearably strong) hug, you made our entire day better (and gave us a free back (alignment) You’re an awesome man.

What are your thoughts on the Israel-Palestine conflict?

Regardless of the military outcome of the war in Gaza, America, and Israel are already big losers. In a UN resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and a humanitarian corridor in Gaza, a staggering 120 countries voted in favor. Only 12 other states backed America and Israel. Massive protests are erupting in major cities around the world, from Sydney, London, Paris, New York to Washington, and across much of the Muslim world. Israel has the audacity to question UN’s legitimacy after it passed the unfavorable resolution and doubled down by demanding an apology from Secretary-General Guterres and his resignation for condemning Israel’s indiscriminate bombing in Gaza.

The biggest losers are, sadly, the Palestinian people. Consider these sobering facts. Fully 85% of Hamas fighters are orphans who grew up in hate, many as young as 12 who stand shorter than the rifles they carry. Thousands of children are buried alive in the rubble, and thousands of expectant mothers are denied medical care because hospitals are either bombed, overstretched, or critically short of essential supplies. It is a humanitarian disaster on a scale unseen since the last world war. Israel keeps killing while the whole world watches—in its own shameful Holocaust against the poor Palestinians.

Brushing aside the UN resolution, Netanyahu seems constitutionally incapable of compromise. Turkey calls him a war criminal and is crouching to strike, as is Iran. The 6th full-scale Israeli-Arab war looms.

When Hamas killed and captured Israeli civilians, they were crucified by Western politicians and pundits. But as Netanyahu made good his threat to reduce Gaza to rubble in a frenzy of murderous bombing that took the lives of aid workers, journalists, women, and children, world opinion swiftly shifted. Four European minnows plus eight tiny Pacific Island states like Fiji opposed the resolution, as their support can affordably be bought. Even traditional staunch Israeli and American allies voted to abstain.

The root cause of the conflict is Israel’s 50-year-long brutal suppression of Palestinians, who subsist as stateless people in their own country. In World War II, Jewish people won universal sympathy as the oppressed. Now, they have mutated into brutal oppressors themselves. Netanyahu has Nazified the Israeli military.

In a fatal strategic miscalculation, the US rushed warships to the combustible region, ostensibly to deter Iran from entering the conflict. But Biden is sending a wrong and strong signal that emboldens the bloodthirsty Netanyahu to carry out his Gaza massacre. America has failed to put Bibi on a leash and he is spilling oceans of blood.

This conflict has reshuffled the geopolitical deck, with Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon already engaging Israel sporadically. Heavy hitters like Turkey and Iran are crouching and poised to pounce. Russia, too, is entering the equation, airlifting supplies to Gaza and threatening all-out war if its planes are fired upon. The war in Ukraine is becoming a side-show, with NATO support possibly waning or wavering. China is seen as a potential credible mediator. America, by contrast, stands discredited as a meddler, aiding and abetting Israel’s unjust war against a downtrodden people. It is fast losing its halo as the world’s self-appointed policeman.

If the war widens, America and Israel will be fighting on multiple fronts. I see no long-term winners, even if Israel wipes Hamas off the map. Genocidal oppression breeds its own revenge and lethal vicious circle. That is why Netanyahu, the butcher of Gaza, is a danger to Israel’s legitimate existence. China is walking taller among nations. That explains the mild thaw in US-China relations during the Chinese foreign minister’s recent visit to Washington. Both Blinken and Biden notably toned down their anti-China rhetoric. With two wars raging, America reluctantly seeks dialogue to restore bilateral relations to a normal footing.

Wars are notoriously unpredictable. Who will emerge on the right side of history? No one knows. But one thing is certain: injustice is inherently unstable. Regardless of military muscle, with shifting allegiances on a crowded planet, world opinion matters.

Has someone ever been fired because of you?

Absolutely and I would do it again!

I was in line at a market and there was just one person ahead of me. The assistant manager was at the register and just as the person in front of me left, the regular cashier returned from her break.

Instead of simply walking away and letting her take care of me, he turned to her and began yelling at her because she was 3 minutes late coming back from her break! “How dare you take up my time, I am way more important than you and I could fire you for this!!” he screamed, as I was standing there waiting to pay for my groceries and leave.

The poor girl was incredibly embarrassed and turned to me to apologize and I lost it!

I looked him square in the eye and said “How dare you dress down a staff member in public! I manage a staff of 60 and would NEVER yell at my staff in front of anyone because it is incredibly unprofessional and embarrassing for every person standing in this line! Where is the manager?” I asked and proceeded to hunt him down.

I spent 10 minutes dressing down the manager in his office and told him that I would take it to the corporate level if that man was not promptly fired for his actions.

I found out later that he had been harassing this poor girl for weeks and no one had gone to the manager about it out of fear of retribution. I never again saw that assistant manger and later heard that he was fired on the spot after I left. The staff was so much nicer and happier without him there and I received a personal letter of apology from the manager that thanked me for letting him know what had happened that day.

BTW, I have done this 3 other times at different places and had the same outcome at all of them. I am not looking for someone to be fired when I walk in the door, but I know what it feels like to have a boss that thinks it’s okay to terrorize his staff and I refuse to allow it to happen in front of me ever again.

No one has the right to go after a staff member in front of customers. It is unprofessional and makes those in charge look like they are power hungry bullies who out of control.

Someone has to be the champion of those who are too afraid to speak because they are so afraid to lose their job, and being the loudmouth that I am, I am happy to step up!

A tiny tiny house

What is the cheapest thing you’ve seen a mega-rich person do?

I am a pediatric dentist. I had a patient who was autistic and had ADHD (male, 5 years) with a huge swelling on his cheek because of an infected tooth. Generally, 5 years old understand and sit on the chair, but because of his problems, he just wouldn’t sit and made a mayhem in the clinic. My assistant then restrained the child and we drained the pus.

Now, the mother started to cry when the payment part came. She told us she was separated from her husband and he wasn’t paying support. Because of the special child, she couldn’t even work, so please make it free.

Thankfully, my assistant knew her. She and her husband had two apartments worth 7 cr each in Mumbai and were in the middle of a deal worth another couple crores. My assistant was with the broker who had initiated the deal, so he knew for sure. But the lady wouldn’t budge. At the end, she paid 50 percent and left, and didn’t turn up for the next appointment.

Fast forward a month, the kid had swelling and pain again, because of the incomplete treatment. She pleaded to come, and promised to pay. But this time, because of the pain, the kid didn’t allow me to even have a look. He was feverish and in a bad condition.

So I told the parents (dad had also come) that the kid would need a treatment under general anesthesia in a proper hospital. We explained everything, they nodded with great interest, then asked for the cost. It was going to cost more than a lakh.

The dad straightaway asked me to slash my charges completely. Because, anyway I was earning from rest of the patients and didn’t really need the money. Then he asked for the cheapest hospital possible. I told him I don’t go to charitable places because of questionable hygiene, and lack of ICU. I don’t compromise with the safety. He then argued for an hour over the charges. I refused to budge. I have done numerous free cases, but I wasn’t going to do charity here. He then asked me to wait for two months as he had enquired about an insurance plan, and the wait period was two months. And give the kid medicines to stop the pain.

I was aghast. I told him the kid needed treatment now. All his teeth were in a bad shape. And medicines wouldn’t help after a while, and it wasn’t his decision to make. The medicines also have numerous side effects, if given unmonitored.

Then he started to blame me for the charges. I politely told him to go to a govt hospital where he would be treated for free. He declined, because they had a really long waiting list, just to be seen.

Lastly, he told me to go ahead, but that if his kid had any problem post treatment, he would see me in the court.

I folded my hands, and asked him to leave. Anyway I didn’t want to treat after such a long argument. And no one wants to work under threats.

He got furious and stormed out. We heaved a sigh of relief.

He kept calling for the next few days, bargaining. Even told me he would refer me ultra rich patients if I treated his boy for free.

No thanks, I said. I am happy with my patients who trust me.

So, a super rich man and his wife(at least for me) declining urgent healthcare for his kid to save money and insulting the doctor is the cheapest and most despicable person for me.

Cooter (Turtle) Stew

Ingredients

2 to 3 pounds cooter*
2 quarts water
4 tablespoons cooking oil
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 large onions, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic
10 peeled, seeded tomatoes or 2 large cans tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
3/4 cup chopped celery
1 cup green spring onion tops
1 pinch each paprika and cayenne
4 bay leaves
1 1/4 cups good sherry (not cooking sherry)
1 tablespoon molasses or brown sugar
6 to 8 hardboiled eggs, chopped
3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
Seasoned salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup crumbled bacon

* Substitute dark-meat chicken, catfish, veal, or all three.

Instructions

Cover meat with water and parboil on medium heat for 20 minutes.
Set aside to cool and then trim to small chunks. Skim fat from broth and set aside.
Heat oil to just short of smoking. Stir in flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 15-20 minutes to make a dark roux.
Add big onions, garlic, tomatoes and tomato paste.
Add 4 cups of reserved broth and meat and cook 30 minutes on medium-high.
Add celery, spring onions, seasonings, bay leaves, sherry and molasses or brown sugar and cook 30 minutes. Add water to thin stew, if needed.
Add chopped eggs and cook for 1 1/2 hours.
Add potatoes and cook 20 to 30 minutes longer, until potatoes are tender.
Taste and add seasoned salt and pepper.
Sprinkle bacon over top. Remove bay leaves.
Serve in large bowls with a salad on the side and hot bread, preferably corn bread made in a black iron skillet.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Big Cup of coffee

What is the best moment you witnessed in which somebody proved they weren’t “all talk”?

I watched an elderly man in San Francisco, on the tough corner of Eddy and Hyde streets, being threatened by a thuggish stranger on the street, and being told “I’ll kick your ass.”

The old man laughed, and said quietly, “No, you won’t.”

The thug made a quick move and the old man flinched. The thug laughed and said, “Scared?” The old man said, “Yes. And it’s not healthy to scare me.”

Suddenly the thug was on his back on the sidewalk and the old man was sitting on his chest and beating him across the face, still talking quietly, saying “You better not mess with strangers. I could easily kill you, but I won’t. But you’ll have enough pain so that you’ll remember this for a long [BAM] long [BAM] time.” [BAM]

The old man got up, dusted himself off, picked up his dropped belongings, and left the thug laying bleeding and dazed on the street.

The “Urban Alchemy” private security people across the street, stationed in the area as part of the city government’s last desperate attempt to maintain civil order in the anarchic “Tenderloin” district, didn’t even have time to react. It was over that quick.

I was in awe. My jaw literally dropped. I was walking ten feet behind them, I heard and saw everything. I’m pretty old myself, and I’m no stranger to street confrontations. I’ve never seen any such situation where the outcome was like that. Not ever.

And I’ve never envied one of the participants so much in my entire life.

Why was salt so valuable in ancient times and even used as a currency, when all you have to do to get it is let sea water evaporate in the sun?

It’s not that easy.

Yes, if you can get sea water to evaporate, you get salt. However, you need to get a lot of sea water to evaporate to get an appreciable amount of salt out of it. For that you need a lot of flat land by the seashore. It needs to be at or very close to sea level so that you can let the water roll in before you close off your salt pans. And you need a lot of warm, dry, sunny weather to evaporate the sea water and leave the salt behind. Land behind the sea shore rises too quickly? Can’t make salt. Too much rain? Can’t make salt. Storms driving large waves that wash over into the salt pans? Can’t make salt. Too cold or humid so evaporation is slow? Can’t make (meaningful amounts of) salt.

So it turns out that there are actually very few places where it’s actually feasible to make salt by evaporating sea water. So few that those very, very few places which can historically grew rich by doing it and salt mining could remain a viable competitor. Venice, for example, occupied a shallow lagoon backed up by marshes. The sheltered lagoon protected the marshes from large storm surges, the marshes weren’t too elevated to convert into salt pans, and the Mediterranean has a warm, sunny climate. Consequently, it first became wealthy in the salt trade. But you simply couldn’t do that around places like Genoa or Bruges, which had the wrong geography and/or the wrong climate. Sure, you can get salt out of sea water, but it’s a lot harder to do on an industrial scale with historical technology.

The lack of a father….

Gaza nightmare

Some disturbing stuff going down right now. The idiots in Washington DC are Hell-bent on war, and all of us are feeling like we are trapped in some kind of cage lashed to the back of a speeding car driven by a madman.

The West has gone completely koo-koo.

No shit.

In case you all haven’t noticed, I am not “reporting” or commenting on the insanity of the Middle East. It’s all a cluster fuck that I want no part of.

Today…

What is the smartest thing you have seen a lawyer do in court?

How about the Judge?

A long time ago, I owned one of the first Honda Accords. I had bought it new in 1977, and around 1984, the engine had a very bad oil burning problem. I was pulled over by a Metro Toronto Police constable, who gave me the choice of a ticket for “excessive smoking” or a visit to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment testing centre.

I chose the test, filled the engine with 50 w oil and while there was no smoke, the rest of the needles went fully to the right. Busted.

I was given a chance for a repeat, but knowing I would fail that one also, I put the car on the driveway, pulled the plates and used a borrowed vehicle. About a month after the missed test, a summons came in the mail to appear at the Provincial court one morning in the not too distant future.

I showed up early, and approached the clerk to find out where I should be and when. They never tell you that on the summons, just to appear. While talking the the clerk, a man walked up and was dealing with another of the clerks. I asked the clerk I was talking to “what the fine would be” if convicted. She didn’t know, and man beside me became interested in the matter. I had no idea who he was, but we kind of looked at the summons and neither of us could see anything about a fine. There was a little conversation; I assumed he was a lawyer, and we had a friendly chat. Court was starting shortly, and the fellow left, so I also went inside, told the bailiff I was there – important to do so, otherwise they might not call you for hours – and sat down.

At the stroke of 10:00 am, someone says “all rise” and in walks the Judge, the fellow I was talking to at the desk. Before the proceedings began, the Judge asked me if I had received an answer from the clerk. I told him that I had not, and then the proceedings began.

The Crown (prosecutor) presents the charge, an environmental offence, which he obviously felt was on par with burning down a forest or killing baby seals. Looking very smug, he sat down.

I am called forth, and I told the Judge that yes, the car had failed, but it was off the road and here are the license plates in my hand proving that it was no longer driving or polluting.

The Judge then asked the Crown what the minimum fine was for such an offence. The Crown responded that “the Ministry has a range up to $5000 for such an offence and the usual fine is this case would be $100.”

The Judge asked again about the minimum fine and the Crown repeated his same line. The Judge then asked “so there is no minimum fine?”

The Crown sheepishly answered “No sir” and the Judge turned to me and asked “the car is off the road?” and I responded affirmatively, at which point he said the charges were dropped as the intent of the law was to keep polluting vehicles off the road and obviously this had happened. Case dismissed!

I can’t say for sure, but there was a bit of smile from my new friend on the bench as I walked out of the court.

The smartest lawyer in the room was the Judge.

What are the best socializing tips that are not said but everyone should practice?

I couldn’t unsee it.

We’d just celebrated a diversity milestone as part of our quarterly meeting. It was one of those corporate cheerleading events where I stood in the back resisting the painful urge to roll my eyes.

“We are far more than a team of coworkers,” the CEO said, gesturing wide with his arms to the crowd, “We are a family.”

He was such a phony. The summit concluded and I went to the lunchroom. Right as I walked in, I stopped in the doorway and noticed something obvious that I hadn’t noticed before this diversity meeting.

All the white people were at their tables. All the black employees sat at another set of tables. Three Asian ladies sat at another. It was like we were living in the 1950s. And it wasn’t confined to this office. I still see this trend so often when I walk through malls, or along the sidewalk.

A similar phenomenon was observed on the set of Planet Of The Apes in 1968. The director noticed that during lunch, the people dressed as gorillas sat with other gorillas, chimps with chimps, and humans with humans. He described feeling a chill in the air and wondered if we were already in a dystopian sci-fi future. It even happened on the set of Babylon 5. People self-segregated according to their alien skin color.

This trend has long predated echo chambers, and it’s detrimental to your growth.

The closed network problem

The trend is called homophily, where we magnetize towards clusters of people similar to us. Race isn’t the only sorting mechanism. People sort by social class, age, political ideology, and even the type of music they listen to. And the unfortunate result is that we often live in a “closed network”. We sort ourselves into increasingly tight homogeneous groups.

A closed network forms in these four steps and I suspect you’ll be able to think of a few examples as you read this (I certainly did):

Putting all moral platitudes aside, social diversity has great predictive qualities for your career and life.

Count on one hand your closest friends. I’d bet that for many of you — they are pretty similar to you across a few demographic touchpoints. It’s no fault to you. This happens naturally, but you can disrupt this habit.

By mixing up your friend group, you are exposed to ideas different than your own and stretch your thinking. Your professional network also becomes much more potent, which is especially important: Within 10 years of graduation, a majority of people won’t work in the area they majored in.

Beware of gatekeeping your network

My ex’s family was deeply conservative — which is fine on its own. People are entitled to their beliefs. But this was often a barrier to who could spend time with them.

They were constantly sizing people up and figuring out their political opinions to determine if they were friend-material. Many people do this without realizing it. These parents were just explicit about it and they had a very small town syndrome (cliquey behavior, when you forget there is an entire world outside of your own).

This introduces the other pesky problem. It’s not all that easy to make friends — especially as we get older. So what next? There are a few solutions.

A route out of Cloneville

I moved 15 times before I turned 18. I lived in California, DC, Florida, Virginia Beach, North Carolina — and every new batch of people was so different than the next. I went to an all white, deeply conservative private school in 9th grade, a liberal high school in Coronado. I was one of the only white kids at an inner city middle school in DC. It wasn’t always easy.

Every summer, I waited for the talk. My mom or dad would come to my bedroom and tell me we were moving and how I was going to love this new school and place. Early on, I realized implicitly, “OK. I need to learn to make new friends.”

I was a new 5th grader at Linkhorn Elementary. We had a substitute teacher who happened to be gorgeous. She was passing out quiz papers. Before she passed out each quiz, she did that thing where she licked her finger to grip the paper.

After she handed me my quiz, I looked across the table at a classmate Joe and say, “Hey Joe! Pssst.”

He turned to me and I pretended to lick my finger and put it down to my thigh and made a hissing sound, like bacon hitting the frying pan. It was a corny joke — but it made Joe laugh and we were instantly friends. And from there, I learned that humor was one quick path to win anyone over.

Often, it’s less about how funny a joke is — and more about the energy it establishes. It signals, “I want to play.” Think about how a dog plants his chest down to the ground while keeping his hind legs standing to get another dog to play with him. This is the human equivalent.

It says, “I like you. Let’s have fun.”

“What if I’m not that funny?”

An even better solution that is painfully overlooked is to smile. Researchers have proven that smiles motivate people to interact with you. They are seen as a “prosocial invitation”. Stand upright and give them a quick, natural smile right when you spot them. It signals you are excited to see them.

After getting to know so many types of people, I’ve realized most people just want to be accepted as a complicated human being. And if you are just nice to them, and seem happy to see them and talk to them — you’ve nearly won the battle already.

When you go to your lunchroom, consider sitting with a new group of people. Don’t be afraid to talk to someone who looks different than you.

There’s a concept called contact hypothesis whereby tension between groups is reduced when they are brought together and interact. It promotes trust and reduces stereotyping. It reminds two different people that they’re both human beings. But the only way to make different types of friends is to actually spend time with people who are different from you.

One of my close friends couldn’t be more different from me. His political views and background are a full 180. But we are both fully candid about our opinions and thoughts, and know we can do so without fear of judgement or being disliked. Sure, he says crazy stuff sometimes but that’s fine. He’s still my friend. He’s taught me a few things about the world and changed a few of my opinions, and I’d like to think the reverse is true.

My hope, is that in a world that is so divided, more people from different walks of life can share the same path. They’d expand their own perspectives. They’d have more love and understanding, and more career opportunities.

And it would save us from being fenced in with our own. Closed networks beget closed minds.

Quite an intriguing visual.

Brazil was inches away from recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital not very long ago, mind you.
Surprising split in South America nonetheless, you’d imagine they’d have a uniform stance like they had for Ukraine.
A sea of yellow in Asia with only the usual suspects in blue but hey there’s someone new this time!
India’s position sits perfectly with our new found friends and within our domestic political landscape but ought to disappoint the fellow global southerners. But tbf, it is not to be construed as a paradigm shift in our policy, our Ministry of External Affairs clarified our two state stance on Palestine only yesterday, rather bad memories getting rekindled.
Nepal lost about a dozen citizens to Hamas’ attack. Poor folks go under the radar and didn’t even get sufficient coverage.
Irans sphere of influence, man, from Caspian Sea to Red Sea. Bush what have you done?
This is a map from TRT— Türkiye’s state run broadcaster. Interesting that they construe Erdogan’s position as call for de-escalation.
Sudan’s case is the perfect microcosm of the viability of normalisation deals that Israel is pursuing. You try so hard and get so far, and then a coup happens.
Morocco, UAE understandable, but Saudi and Pakistan? Who would have thought? Not me. Only 2% of Saudis are in favour of normalisation, I wonder if that matters at all. And 2% would be too high a number for Pakistanis.
Those who follow Bangladesh’s politics ought to find Bangladesh’s silence intriguing, if not outright discombobulating, especially with Hasina up for election soon and US breathing down her neck (yeah, not making this up, US is the biggest threat to Hasina’s re-election).
I don’t get Mexico’s neutrality, they don’t even recognise Palestine.
I don’t get New Zealand’s contrarian take either. What gives? I imagined if anyone from the West was going to have a contrarian take it would be Norway. The right is on the rise in Norway, left rules New Zealand, perhaps that explains?
Ghana coming all out to condemn Hamas? With a similar religious demography split like India, I wonder if there’s domestic political considerations involved.
Foreign policy really is domestic politics with its hat on.
Given that Indonesia’s support will be construed differently then Iran’s support, Venezuela joins the “axis of evil”. But in all fairness they joined the club previously after Ukraine invasion.
DPRK has been silent?
What explains the silence of that many African countries? None of our business paradigm?

Putin tells it like it is…

Fudge Cobbler

Yield: about 9 servings

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
1 (1 ounce) square unsweetened baking chocolate
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, beaten
Vanilla ice cream (garnish)

Instructions

Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease an 8 inch square baking dish.
Melt the chocolate and the butter in a saucepan over very low heat. Stir often. Remove from the heat.
Stir in the sugar, flour, vanilla extract and eggs.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish.
Bake for 20 to 22 minutes.
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

What’s a rule your employer implemented that backfired terribly?

Everyone in the office was paid on an hourly basis and it was each person’s responsibility to keep track of how many hours they worked each day on a paper time sheet. At the end of each week each employee turned in their time sheet to their supervisor who would sign them and then give the to HR so everyone can get paid for the hours they worked. In practice, everyone showed up each day, did their work, wrote down”8 hours” on their time sheet and went home. Everyone was happy.

Then along came a new guy in management who stated that nobody was actually keeping track of their hours and just writing down what HR wanted to see. This meant that the company was losing money and productivity from people not working a full day but being paid for it. So he instituted a new digital time sheet system where each person had to log their times in and out on their computers and the system would track how many hours each of us worked.

What the company discovered was that everyone tended to come into work 10–15 minutes early, hardly ever took a full hour for lunch and often stayed 10–15 minutes late to get their work done. Thanks to the new time sheet system every employee was now getting paid for all that overtime they had been working but not tracking. This affected the company because it was added payroll expense that wasn’t budgeted. So management put out a new rule that nobody would be allowed to work any overtime without written permission from their supervisor and HR. So everyone was very diligent to log in and out exactly in time.

Except now productivity had fallen because nobody was working those extra minutes each day, which multiplied over all staff added up to an extra 60 hours per week of work. The company ended up needing to hire two more people to make up that productivity.

After Huawei released Kirin 9000S, Biden revised the bill: banning China from owning high-end chips.

So China cannot make their own, if they do, they will violate American law.

Malaysia’s switch to a dual 5G network will allow for more effective participation by China’s Huawei – PM Anwar

Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Wednesday the country’s switch to a dual 5G network will allow for more effective participation by China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.

Malaysia in May had said it would allow a second 5G network to operate from next year, following concerns over a monopoly held by a single state-run network.

The European Union and the U.S. had warned Malaysia of risks to national security and foreign investment amid efforts by Huawei to bid for a role in its telecoms infrastructure.

Anwar on Wednesday acknowledged concerns from some countries over the “security and capacity” of technology stemming from China, but said the decision to allow a second 5G network was made so that Malaysia could benefit from different technologies.

“We in Malaysia… and I believe rightly, decided that while we get the best from the West, we also should benefit the best from the East,” he told an event hosted by Huawei in Kuala Lumpur.

“After extensive discussion… we made the decision to allow for a dual network, and thus the decision for more effective participation by Huawei.”

Malaysia had in 2021 unveiled a plan for a state-owned agency, Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB), to own the full 5G spectrum, with various carriers using the infrastructure to provide mobile services, but the plan had come under industry criticism over pricing and competition.

State-run DNB partnered with Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson to roll out Malaysia’s 5G network. It is unclear how Malaysia’s plan for a second network would affect DNB’s agreement with Ericsson or other mobile operators.

WHAT THESE FILIPINAS CAN OFFER TO THEIR PASSPORT BROS!

Three chicks talking.

How do expats view other expats in China?

I really don’t like most western expats in China.

They are generally ignorant about China and Chinese, and conversations about China are very shallow and full of misconceptions. It is not worth my time to correct those misperceptions, and there is no reward for doing it.

Chinese are much fun and interesting, and even if they have silly ideas, they are often entertaining. Most importantly, they know the local restaurants and dishes, and can introduce me to some dish I have never had before. Unlike for most westerners, dining out is a social event, not just filling the tummy.

What was a gift that made you speechless?

I was age 14 in the early 1960s and living with a family who had one child around my age. On my 14th birthday, my mother said I needed to pay room and board. I decided to pay for a room in other homes where there was no violence. My rapidly increasing scoliosis was becoming a problem. I had three jobs to pay room and board — (1) feeding and washing people in a nursing home and doing laundry), (2) babysitting at the country club 1.5 miles away, and (3) stocking shelves in a dry goods store. I made $29.00 a week. My room and board was $28.00 a week. I went to high school about three days a week.

I was happy with this family. The father was Welsh and sang Welsh songs every Friday night as he walked home from the Legion. The mother was one of the cafeteria ladies at the high school. They were good to me.

Then one day, the father came home with an envelope and pulled out a Beatles ticket and handed it to his daughter.

And then he handed another ticket to me.

TO ME!

It cost $15.00. I told him it would take me years to pay him back. If I didn’t buy shampoo, pads, or deodorant, it would take me 15 months to repay him. The father disregarded this idea with a flick of his hand and a Welsh phrase I didn’t understand.

The father drove us the 80 miles to the venue, let us off and circled the building during the performance and was right there when it was finished. Not only that, but the man put up with us singing Beatles songs all the way home. We were not good singers.

Even now, decades later (and I am a retired person), whenever I do something nice for someone, I think, ‘this is for you, John Cooper, this one is for you.’

I carry such lightweight debts with me.

Pepe Escobar: China Has DEFEATED the Neocon Agenda as US War Fails Before It Starts

I don’t expect Xi or Putin to meet with Biden. He doesn’t make the decisions.

This is really, really, REALLY good.

Do you think Huawei can produce smartphones with advanced chips in large volume despite the US claims that Huawei may violate trade restrictions?

LOL, this is China.

If they know how to do something, they automatically know how to do it at scale.

This is a country that builds entire new cities at one go. They produce 600,000 engineers per year. They make four out of every five solar panels in the world. They can build a 57-storey skyscraper in 19 days, and as we saw during the covid-19 pandemic, a brand new hospital in 10 days. They are the world’s biggest factory.

If they know how to make one Huawei Mate 60, they already know how to make 100 million Huawei Mate 60s.

China does not know how to think SMALL. It is unnatural and weird for them to think on a small scale. China has cities with populations larger than countries such as Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, even Australia. Thinking big is China’s default mentality.

New round of US sanctions started against Huawei! U.S. tech war enters stage 2.0!

In this episode, we dive into the latest updates on the potential second round of sanctions by the United States on Huawei. Huawei, the Chinese tech giant, unveiled its new smartphone, the Mate 60 Pro, sparking intrigue amidst ongoing U.S.-China tech tensions.

These cutting-edge smartphones, powered by 7-nanometer chips from China’s SMIC, bring 5G connectivity to the forefront.

The implications of this move are significant, causing a reevaluation of the technology blockade against Huawei and even calls for a complete halt to technology exports. We also explore China’s efforts to boost its self-sufficiency in chip production and navigate U.S. export restrictions.

https://youtu.be/CI-ZOcv2CaI

What sort of sexism do most women face in the workplace?

I generally like my employer.

But the worst part of my job is that I occasionally have to be the “male voice”.

One of my female colleagues will refer a call to me to tell a caller about some iron clad policy we have that we can never, ever overlook.

I am on the same pay level as all of them. I am not the manager. I often work in a different department. I am, however, the only one of this fairly large group of people that is male.

I tell them the iron clad policy. They shut up. End of story.

Part of the problem is that the engineering profession is still about 80% male, and so is the applicant base. They are not used to being told “no” by someone who isn’t male. It’s not like it’s just immigrants either.

Here’s the irony. The second highest ranking staff member, and the person two steps above me, is a woman. She’s had to put up with it too.

But I will tell you about my ex-colleague, boss and PEO president. She left her position as my boss to take on a five year position at the university she was hired by to get female enrollment in the engineering program up to 40%. It took her one year and she shot past the 40% goal to boot. Then she went to another university and did the same thing.

China’s LATEST Hypersonic Drone Can Destroy US F35 Stealth Fighter in Seconds

China’s hypersonic program has emerged as one of the biggest and heavily advanced sectors of the nation. In this remarkable sector, the PLA boasts having a drone in its arsenal which is capable of reaching hypersonic speeds and destroying world renowned stealth fighters that have dominated the aerial warfare sector for years. Today’s episode is covering China’s hypersonic drone and how it can be used to destroy US Stealth fighters.

Why is Quora full of Westerners who praise China?

Many of the westerners have been to China, like it, and see a lot of criticism of China in the western media which is based on planted information and is basically untrue, in order to drive western public opinion against China.

These westerners try to compensate for this distorted view by praising China. Their intention is to restore balance in how China is viewed.

Unfortunately, the western view of China has become so distorted that it is impossible to have a balanced view of China: either it is completely bad, or it is good.

A balanced view of China would say that there are many good things about China, and there are some bad things as well.

China is just like the US: it is just another country and society, each facing its own set of challenges.

What is the most satisfying thing you have done to someone who blocked your driveway?

I live in Northern Maine. My property borders a state park/forest. The state forest has a parking lot you need to pay to park in the lot although the park/forest is free to enter. Alot of people will park along the main road and walk into the park. my property is on a side road that is beside the park the park entrance is 2 mile up the main road from my road.

Some park/forest visitors have taken to pulling down my road and parking on my property and hiking across my property to enter the park. they block driveways and the road with poor parking abilities. Some pull into driveways.

My property is a farm I have many driveways used by tractors and equipment to enter the feilds for feeding livestock and tending crops. All driveways are gated (keep livestock in feilds and out of crops)

One group of annoying tourists pulled up in 3 vehicles (2 rvs and a 12–15 passenger van) All had New York plates. they pulled in blocking the access to the feilds and began hiking across my feilds. I caught up to them and informed them that they would be towed if they did not move the vehicles. The leader of the group told me to f-off while giving a one finger salute. I watched as they walked away across the feild. once they entered the park/forest I went to my equipment barn got my large green and yellow tractor hooked up a slurry spreader tank and drove over to the slurry bin and filled the tank. ( Slurry is cow manure that is mixed with water to make it able to spray) I adjusted the spray bar and drove over near the area and sprayed liquified manure (did not spay any on the vehicles) just near the road along the fence a nice heavy thick layer then sprayed more along the area they entered the forest. Since it was 85 degrees outside the smell would bake in the sun to keep it fresh I placed a water tank and sprayer/ sprinkler nearby and set the timers to run for 5 minutes every hour. After 4 hours I called and had the vehicles towed.

They returned and found me spraying slurry in my feilds as they walked across the feilds the slurry is sticking to the shoes (most wearing sandles or flip flops – Nothing like the feeling of liquid poop between the toes) They find the vehicles gone and ask me where they are. I tell them where the inpound lot is and inform them that as they exit onto the main road they should stop and read the large SIGN that says private road. I called the police who informed them that they could walk to impound as it was 20–30 minute walk down the road.

I would imagine that they found out that the oder of sun baked slurry permeates into things. (they left the widows open on the vehicles) and with what was on the shoes it must have been an interesting ride back to New York.

Josep Borell, EU foreign policy chief, accuses China of treating Europe as a US puppet. How can this perception on the part of the Chinese be changed?

The problem with the EU is Josep the Chief Diplomat’s words do not represent the cohesive attitude, or indeed, policy decisions of the EU towards China. EU member states hold even more divergent and polarizing attitudes.

The fact of the matter is, the G7 does not have a China seat, but the EU gets its own seat, on top of individual EU members. The currencies of these nations power the global financial market, while the yuan issued by the world’s No. 2 economy is an afterthought in BIS reports.

Senior figures in the EU have repeatedly made rude and damaging attacks on China and Chinese interests, including the core issue of Greater China sovereignty. Entities and individuals have been sanctioned, just like their American counterparts, whose actions they mirrored.

Nord Stream is a key European infrastructure that cost billions to build. After it was bombed, the lack of condemnation for an act of war is curious, to say the least. Government findings were blocked from release, while there remains a shocking lack of blowback and demand for accountability in the press.

The EU-CHINA CAI, which is tilted in Europe’s favor, is also dead in the water, after 10 years of painstaking negotiation securing an agreement in principle. EU leaders are complaining about lack of market access in China, when it is self-inflicted.

There is also the issue of the EC, with Ursula completely at odds with Josep’s conciliatory, if shaky, diplomacy. She was given the cold shoulder on a recent visit to Beijing as Emmanuel’s invited partner. The message was clear. She wasn’t the guest invited by the Chinese state.

Who represents the EU? Who has the authoritative voice that can be trusted? How has the EU demonstrated long-term policy independence from the US?

Wang Yi, and before him, Yang Jiechi, have had regular hours-long closed door conversations with Jake, the National Security Advisor. Jake is 46, and not even elected, but he has access to top Chinese leadership that the EU can only dream of, because he is the personal envoy of Joe.

Do we really have to spell out who calls the shots in NATO, which is tied at the umbilical with the EU power structure?

As the Cantonese say, 画公仔唔使画出肠。

Israel Conflict Just Became Scarier And Weird!

Yes. Too odd. For certain.

How does culture influence human behavior?

During a 10-hour flight, she was heading from Seoul, Korea, to San Francisco, USA. This mother distributed more than 200 passengers on the plane a plastic bag for each one. The bag contains candy, chewing gum and earplugs as a kind of advance apology for using them in the event that her 4-month-old baby screamed during the flight.

The bag also contained a message containing (hello, I am Jan Woo. I am 4 months old and today I’m traveling America with my mom and grandmother for my aunt’s outfit. I’m a little nervous and scared. This is my first flight in my life. It’s normal for me to cry or cause some disturbance. I’ll try to stay calm, but I can’t promise you. Please use it if my voice gets too loud.. Enjoy your trip. Thank you)

A culture of respecting the freedom of others…

Is China still a communist country? Can we say that the rivalry between the US and China is the ideology conflict?

Not at all.

Communism and Marxism is hardly an issue to the U.S. with Vietnam that the U.S. is courting shamelessly and Saudi Arabia a Islamic Monarchy hardly liberal democracy but does it bother Uncle Sam for the last half a century?

For me it is as simple as China cannot be made submissive and subservient to the U.S. that is all to it. And worst China is simply a lot lot more efficient and effective than the U.S. can ever be! In fact China has a better human rights record than the U.S. anyway! That perturb the US to no end.

But what is worst for the U.S. Is 150–175 nations out of the world’s 195 nation prefers Chinese and China way and none in the global south wants anything to do with Uncle Sam. They find them obnoxious and despicable. To me this is not due to China at all but due to the shit U.S. did to the world since 1945.

I know Americans who are mostly highly naive and hugely made ignorant to think the U.S. media or government is well liked by the world. But in truth it couldn’t be further than the truth!

Abusing nations has consequences, bullying nations turned them off, arbitrary sanctions puts nations off, they will hedge, they will stop letting you fxxk them! It does not matter what your media lies and your propaganda says. The world is no fool!

Just figure this. US the biggest murdering nation telling China in Alaska about human rights! Is totally laughable and utterly ridiculous! Chinese officials told Blinken save the advise for your dogs and slave vassal nations!

The “American Dream” is actual Slavery (It’s all a Lie)

Harsh truth about the United States. Soak it in.

What’s the dumbest thing your boss has gotten mad at you for?

I was an admin assistant at a department at my local university. I was just about to clock off and make my way home in a wild windstorm that eventually knocked down 20,000 trees across the city when for some reason I decided to check one of the grad student offices and discovered that the skylight had blown off, exposing multiple desks and computers, some of them running data, to the elements. I called the relevant campus department and was told that restoring electricity and clearing roads and whatnot took priority, and they likely wouldn’t get to replacing the skylight (which I’d located, but lacked the strength and roof access to lug it up myself) until the next day at the earliest. So I cracked open the earthquake kit and rigged, using tarps and duct tape, a patch, then moved, ever so carefully so as not to accidentally disconnect the computers, all six desks away from the skylight shaft, in case my patch failed.

This all took about four hours past my usual knock-off time. Everyone was really glad I’d taken the time and initiative to do it, but my supervisor refused even to consider giving me time off in lieu for those four hours because she hadn’t pre-approved them, never mind that, in those pre-cell days, I’d had no way of reaching her. So I appealed to the department head, who overrode her. She was livid, and thereafter made my life so miserable that I leapt at the first decent opportunity to leave.

If universal healthcare is actually cheaper than our current system and covers everybody. Why not just do it?

I’m a retired US citizen who moved to Uruguay in 2015 after spending my entire working career in “Corporate America”.

It’s entertaining to read discussions about the possibility of implementing Universal Healthcare in the United States.

It will NEVER happen. It’s 1000% impossible. The reason? Health insurance companies.

The concept of Universal Healthcare does not involve insurance companies. There is no need for a bloated middleman.

There are 563,366 Health & Medical Insurance Employees in the US, costing approximately $50 billion annually.

These companies would have to be closed, freeing up all this cash for actual medical care, instead of bloat.

The main problems with the US Healthcare system are listed below. None of these problems exist with Universal Healthcare.

Greedy Health insurance companies run by highly-paid executives.
High-paid pharmaceutical & insurance company lobbyists.
Greedy congressmen who take millions of dollars in bribes annually.
Expensive TV commercials pushing expensive drugs.
Doctors who earn outrageous salaries to pay for outrageously expensive college educations with insane education loans.
Outrageous malpractice lawsuit settlements, requiring doctors to carry outrageous liability insurance.
People with no medical knowledge make decisions about whether a patient can have a medical procedure, overruling the attending physician.

Now, with the outsourcing of call centers, people with no medical knowledge in Jamaica, India, and Pakistan make those decisions.

Here are some typical costs in Uruguay:

Office visit: US $8.00
ER visit: US $ 10.00
House call: US $12.00.
Electrolyte blood analysis: US $7.11.
Cerebral CT Scan: US $23.29

If you call an ambulance, it arrives with a full-fledged MD, not an EMT.

Before I turned 70 years of age, I paid around US $55 per month for health coverage.

Now I pay around US $70 per month. For that, I get totally free hospital stays and all costs are free, including hospital stay, surgery, medications, doctor care, and nursing care. When you check out, regardless of what was done or how long you were hospitalized, you pay nothing.

The monthly cost for my cancer medication is around US $2.50. The same medication in the US is around $500.00.

Here are the main reasons everything is so cheap:

No claims to file

No EOB

No Deductible

No Out-of-Pocket

No Coinsurance

No Allowed amount

No Benefit period

No Preauthorization

Sincerely, A Tax Payer

“It sucks being poor…”

Can China manufacture semiconductor chips and create a rival to Intel, Apple, TSMC, and NVIDIA?

It’s been proven China can with Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro.

Chinese companies can rival the giant U.S. tech companies like Intel, Apple and Nvidia but what takes time is building up the ecosystem to make this possible. Thousands of companies make up the support system that manufactures and supports the tools and machines for the manufacturing processes of semiconductors.

The most critical of these companies are in the design (specifically EDA tools) and packaging (chiplets) processes, as well as the lithography machines for the making of the chip itself. There are now Chinese companies with the leading edge (or close to) technologies to rival industry leaders.

Just as critical is the consolidating of resources and capabilities to have the companies to ensure adequate supply of legacy chips. These are actually the more important players because they make up 90% of demand.

U.S. sanctions have forced China to come up with its own self-siufficient semiconductor indiustry.

If the average Chinese person supports 1 party rule and the average American supports democracy, how can we determine who is correct?

Chinese don’t necessarily support single party rule; they support a strong central government to maintain order.

Whether it is single party or not is secondary.

In today’s China, it is led by a single party, but it is much more than any western political party because it has 100M members who meet monthly to discuss local, provincial and central government issues, and how to solve them.

Do the Republican and Democratic parties ask their members to meet monthly to discuss how to solve social issues? I think not.

My point is not that one system is better than another, but they are very different, and talking about the ruling party in China being the same as the political parties in the US is silly and ridiculous, because China developed according to its historical conditions, and the US developed according to its historical conditions.

As Everyone’s Lοοking At Ιsrael, Something Τruly Unbelievable Has Begun Ιn America

Very interesting.

He’s saying that (it’s official) World War III is on-line.

https://youtu.be/DA3aRJrAyOo

Why is it NOT a good idea for an American White woman to marry a Middle Eastern Muslim man?

I did it. I regretted it.

People are imbued with cultural and religious ideas they don’t even recognize and simply take for granted.

I, an American, was imbued with the idea “I am my husband’s equal. In marriage we will have the same freedoms and similar expectations of each other. I would never shout at him for wearing shorts, so of course he will not do that to me. I don’t consider cooking his job, so I am sure he won’t consider it my job. I would always discuss a big purchase with him – and naturally he will give me the same respect.”

That sense of equality and “Don’t treat your spouse in a way you don’t want to be treated yourself” was my cultural norm.

I found that my husband had absolutely no cultural or religious norm of equality. He absolutely was willing to treat me in ways he would hate to be treated himself. He did not think a woman deserved what a man deserves.

He found it absolutely normal to expect control over me, and be resentful thst I didn’t make his life as comfortable as he believed a man’s life should be. He was constantly looking at the very unequal marriages of his (Muslim Arab) friends and resenting me for not being a submissive woman who cooked and cleaned and expected nothing but money from him.

My husband and I are in the same profession. I worked longer hours than him. I was also the one who was sometimes pregnant or recovering from childbirth.

But he could not appreciate me. He had a cultural and religious idea in his head : a man should come home from work and be catered to. Clean house, good food, obedient wife who wears certain clothes and lets her husband forbid her from certain activities or friends that do not please him. The man should be comfortable, should be served, should have things his way. (It is similar to the relationship between a dog owner and his dog. They love each other – but the owner does not think the dog should share in decisions or come and go as it pleases. A dog is expected to be happy being owned and trained and played with.)

My husband started off claiming he would love me forever.

It did not last.

But his cultural ideas of what a man is owed and how a wife must serve — those ideas will last in him forever.

What is wrong with American politicians’ fascination with Huawei?

Let’s answer this question using 5 Low IQ positions that the US politicians are taking –

Low IQ action 1 – Raimondo threatens Huawei before her China trip. She is simply arrogant and lacks intelligence. Who in the right mind threatens someone’s kid before visiting their home?

Low IQ action 2 – It is simply embarrassing to see a country using full state resources to bring down a private company. You brought an army to a fist fight and didn’t knock your much smaller opponent out!

Low IQ action 3 – The Western chips companies are making large profits selling products to China. And you stopped the sales and force your biggest customer to make their own?

Low IQ action 4 – You give billions of dollars of subsidies to your own chip companies to build factories. But you stop the demand from your top customer. So where are US companies gonna sell their excess chips to?

Low IQ action 5 – You take away Huawei’s access to Google and they went to develop their own operating system to threaten Google’s and Microsoft’s future dominance. You like shooting your own foot?

Irish Girl Watches MISTER ROGERS For The First Time

Oh nostalgia tv, except I don’t know who Mister Rogers is. I’ve always heard the name Mister Rogers as a reference in American tv and films but this Irish Girl had no idea who that was. Join me on a very emotional journey as I watch Fred Rogers first through last tv appearance, see him sing “I like you just as you are” and “ it’s a wonderful day in the neighbourhood” Mister Rogers Neighbourhood. Couldn’t we all do with some nice insight from a Fred Rogers right now.

What was your experience like when you realized that life outside of the United States was better than inside it?

I was in the US Army stationed in Germany for 3 and half years… Just turned 18. During this time I never took leave and went back. Travelled all over Europe! In Germany, I drunk my first beer, had my first kiss, and my first Girlfriend, was amazed by the people, the culture, the infrastructure, the cuisine, almost everything. I even took German courses and was proficient at least with speaking German. Anyway the day came, when i was being discharged ( I never really liked the army, andjoined for the Gi Bill) Back in the rural midwest, working at Walmart while going to community collage, I realized how much I missed Germany, the lifestyle, the urban vibe and so many things ( missed having a GF too, in the US I wasnt rich enough or cool enough to date anyone, in Germany this was never a thing at all, about money and all that. I decided if I was going to have a dull dead end life with no future, why not go back to Germany? At least have an adventure of some kind, i could always come back to the US.. 7 months after I ETSed ( left the army) I got a passport, got a cheap one way ticket and reconnected with some German civilians I knew.. I ended up staying in germany, has been 30 plus years now. I remember when the plane landed and I was disembarking, and set foot on the ground, I felt like,, this is it..the place you are meant to be.

Will the US dollar lose its global power in the next 5 years?

Yes it absolutely will.

I takes longer than that but slowly and surely it will.there is not even a speck of doubt. Tell me which nation wants to save in U.S. dollar reserve if can be confiscated away from you at the whims or fancies of the U.S? Do you want to keep your savings in a bank using a currency that the US can take it all away anytime it wants?

No one do, no want does, no one will ever want to. The fact that the US and the west can even phantom that by stealing gold from Venezuela and US dollar reserves from Russia is an acceptable behaviour tell how little the west thinks of the rest of the world.

Every nation on earth, even the US allies are figuring how to hedge against the US dollar. Direct Currency swap arrangement is very popular and it must have have grown several fold in the last year alone! Some agree on a basket of currencies, Others revert back to barter.

JEFFREY SACHS ON A HISTORIC DEBT

Israel Attacks Damascus Airport as IRAN Foreign Minister Plane Coming-in; Plane Forced to Divert

World Hal Turner 12 October 2023

The Israeli Air Force fired missiles at Damascus Airport and Aleppo Airport this morning, just before a plane carrying the Iran Foreign Minister was approaching Damascus for an official state visit. The Iran Minister’s plane was forced to divert from the area to avoid conflict.

Attacking Syria was an illegal act of aggression by Israel. Conducting that attack while a Diplomat was approaching for a state visit is arguably an Act of War.

Damascus Airport is now damaged and closed. Aleppo Airport is also reported to be damaged and closed.

The Iran Foreign Minister plane appears to be returning to Iran.

Syrian Defense Ministry: “At approximately 1:50 pm this afternoon, the Israeli enemy simultaneously carried out an air aggression with bursts of missiles, targeting the international airports of Aleppo and Damascus, which led to damage to the airports’ landing strips and them being out of service.

This aggression is a desperate attempt by the criminal Israeli enemy to divert attention from the crimes it is committing in Gaza, and the great losses it is suffering at the hands of the Palestinian resistance.”

( HT Remark: Nothing like escalating the already bad situation with Gaza into an international incident with a foreign Diplomat. Unschooled, these Israelis. Totally devoid of class.)

How does the cost of Whoosh, Indonesia’s first high-speed railway, compare to other high-speed railway projects around the world?

According to our Singapore media reports, the cost of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail is approximately US$7.3 billion. We tentatively believe that this number is real.

So this figure exceeds the budget given by China when bidding for the project eight years ago by US$1.2 billion. The project completion time was delayed by 4 years than originally planned.

This doesn’t seem like a good number.

But compared to current plans in other countries around the world to build high-speed rail, these are two very good figures.

1. Cost per kilometer

Even calculated based on all costs after overruns (including land costs), the cost per kilometer of Indonesia’s high-speed rail is only US$58 million. The high-speed rail in the United Kingdom is US$300 million per kilometer, and the high-speed rail in California is US$200 million per kilometer.

India’s high-speed rail was originally planned to cost US$35 million per kilometer. However, it has not actually been completed yet. Only ten kilometers have been built. The cost has been doubled and the final cost cannot be estimated. Due to serious delays in construction, some experts predict that there is a high probability that the cost per kilometer will exceed US$80 million when completed.

2. Time spent

The Indian high-speed railway started construction one year earlier than the Indonesian high-speed railway and is scheduled to open in 2023. According to media reports some time ago, only 10 kilometers have been built so far.
The completion date has been changed to 2028, but many experts believe that the actual completion time may be after 2032.

The first phase of the British high-speed railway is planned to build 160 kilometers. Construction will start in 2020 and is scheduled to be completed in 2029. It has now been changed to 2033. The real completion date cannot be determined.

Therefore, although the Indonesian high-speed railway experienced a 16% cost overrun and a 4-year construction delay.
But this is mainly due to the virus problem over the past 3 years.

Judging from similar large-scale projects around the world, Indonesians have reached the top level in terms of project time and budget control.

I believe that for many years to come, no country will be able to surpass Indonesia’s level.

This is due to the efficient work of the Indonesian government, the unity and support of the Indonesian people, and the technology and efficiency of the Chinese. Their achievements deserve congratulations.

Star Trek – Fire On the Forcefield

America Can’t Stop China’s Rise — Foreign Policy

There’s little doubt that the American government has decided to slow China’s economic rise, most notably in the fields of technological development. To be sure, the Biden administration denies that these are its goals. Janet Yellen said on April 20, “China’s economic growth need not be incompatible with U.S. economic leadership. The United States remains the most dynamic and prosperous economy in the world. We have no reason to fear healthy economic competition with any country.” And Jake Sullivan said on April 27, “Our export controls will remain narrowly focused on technology that could tilt the military balance. We are simply ensuring that U.S. and allied technology is not used against us.”

Yet, in its deeds, the Biden administration has shown that its vision extends beyond those modest goals. It has not reversed the trade tariffs Donald Trump imposed in 2018 on China, even though presidential candidate Joe Biden criticized them in July 2019, saying: “President Trump may think he’s being tough on China. All that he’s delivered as a consequence of that is American farmers, manufacturers and consumers losing and paying more.” Instead, the Biden administration has tried to increase the pressure on China by banning the export of chips, semiconductor equipment, and selected software. It has also persuaded its allies, like the Netherlands and Japan, to follow suit. More recently, on Aug. 9, the Biden administration issued an executive order prohibiting American investments in China involving “sensitive technologies and products in the semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies, and artificial intelligence sectors” which “pose a particularly acute national security threat because of their potential to significantly advance the military, intelligence, surveillance, or cyber-enabled capabilities” of China.

All these actions confirm that the American government is trying to stop China’s growth. Yet, the big question is whether America can succeed in this campaign—and the answer is probably not. Fortunately, it is not too late for the United States to reorient its China policy toward an approach that would better serve Americans—and the rest of the world.

America’s decision to slow China’s technological development is akin to the folly revealed by the old cliché: closing the barn door after the horse has bolted. Modern China has shown many times that China’s technological development can’t be halted.

Since the creation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, several efforts have been made to limit China’s access to or stop its development in various critical technologies, including nuclear weapons, space, satellite communication, GPS, semiconductors, supercomputers, and artificial intelligence. The United States has also tried to curb China’s market dominance in 5G, commercial drones, and electric vehicles (EVs). Throughout history, unilateral or extraterritorial enforcement efforts to curtail China’s technological rise have failed and, in the current context, are creating irreparable damage to long-standing U.S. geopolitical partnerships. In 1993 the Clinton administration tried to restrict China’s access to satellite technology. Today, China has some 540 satellites in space and is launching a competitor to Starlink.

The same principle played out with GPS. When America restricted China’s access to its geospatial data system in 1999, China simply built its own parallel BeiDou Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) system in one of the first waves of major technological decoupling. In some measures, BeiDou is today better than GPS. It is the largest GNSS in the world, with 45 satellites to GPS’s 31, and is thus able to provide more signals in most global capitals. It is supported by 120 ground stations, resulting in greater accuracy, and has more advanced signal features, such as two-way messaging. Other nations have also previously tried and failed to block China’s technical rise. In the 1950s and 1960s, when the USSR withheld nuclear weapons technology from China, China launched its own “Manhattan Project” in the early 1960s and succeeded in testing its first nuclear weapon by 1964. Russian nuclear leverage over China ended that day.

Many of the measures taken by the Biden administration against China were also executed without factoring in China’s capacity to retaliate. While China does not physically construct many truly irreplaceable components of the American technology stack, they are keenly aware of the importance of their raw materials inputs (rare earths) and demand (revenue generation) in fueling the American innovation ecosystem and are now using them as leverage. In the current tit-for-tat dynamic, China will start squeezing these two critical ends of the value chain in response to American technology and capital export restrictions. China’s July ban of the gallium and germanium exports was merely an opening shot across the bow to remind America (and its aligned allies) of China’s dominance in the rare earths and critical metals space. The country has a near monopoly in the processing of magnesium, bismuth, tungsten, graphite, silicon, vanadium, fluorspar, tellurium, indium, antimony, barite, zinc, and tin. China also dominates in midstream processing for materials essential to most of America’s current and future technology aspirations such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and copper, which are critical for the rapidly developing EV industry globally.

While America and other neutral countries have mineral reserves of many of these materials, it would be naïve to believe that one can simply flip a switch on mining and production. It will take at least three to five years just to build the requisite extraction and processing infrastructure. This is to say nothing for recruiting and training skilled labor, or receiving requisite operational and environmental permits for such activities. Both could prove impossible. The processing of rare earths is a highly toxic and environmentally destructive endeavor. It’s unlikely such approvals will be granted. If Arizona is struggling to find qualified workers for its TSMC fabrication facility, and to address domestic union opposition to importing foreign skilled labor, it’s unlikely that America can develop similar capabilities for material processing. Along the way, China gets to play kingmaker in how it doles out access to its processed materials, likely restricting supply to American technology and defense giants. The failure to factor in China’s retaliatory capacities indicates that the United States doesn’t have a well-thought-out and comprehensive approach to dealing with China.

American measures to deprive China access to the most advanced chips could even damage America’s large chip-making companies more than it hurts China. China is the largest consumer of semiconductors in the world. Over the past ten years, China has been importing massive amounts of chips from American companies. According to the US Chamber of Commerce, China-based firms imported $70.5 billion worth of semiconductors from American firms in 2019, representing approximately 37 percent of these companies’ global sales. Some American companies, like Qorvo, Texas Instruments, and Broadcom, derive about half of their revenues from China. 60 percent of Qualcomm’s revenues, a quarter of Intel’s revenues, and a fifth of Nvidia’s sales are from the Chinese market. It’s no wonder that the CEOs of these three companies recently went to Washington to warn that U.S. industry leadership could be harmed by the export controls. American firms will also be hurt by retaliatory actions from China, such as China’s May ban on chips from US-based Micron Technology. China accounts for over 25 percent of Micron’s sales.

The massive revenue surpluses generated by these sales to China were ploughed into R&D efforts which, in turn, kept American chip companies ahead of the game. The Chamber of Commerce estimates that if the United States were to ban semiconductor sales to China completely, U.S. companies would lose $83 billion in annual revenues and would have to cut 124,000 jobs. They would also have to cut their annual R&D budgets by at least $12 billion, and their capital spending by $13 billion. This would make it even more difficult for them to remain competitive on the global scale in the long run. American semiconductor firms are painfully aware that U.S. actions against China in the chips arena will harm their interests more than Chinese interests. The U.S. Semiconductor Industry Association released a statement on July 17, saying that Washington’s repeated steps “to impose overly broad, ambiguous, and at times unilateral restrictions risk diminishing the U.S. semiconductor industry’s competitiveness, disrupting supply chains, causing significant market uncertainty, and prompting continued escalatory retaliation by China,” and called on the Biden administration not to implement further restrictions without more extensive engagement with semiconductor industry representatives and experts.

The Chips Act cannot subsidize the American semiconductor industry indefinitely, and there is no other global demand base to replace China. Other chip producing nations will inevitably break ranks and sell to China (as they have historically) and the American actions will be for naught. And, in banning the export of chips and other core inputs to China, America handed China its war plan years ahead of the battle. China is being goaded into building self-sufficiency far earlier than they would have otherwise. Prior to the ZTE and Huawei components bans, China was content to continue purchasing American chips and focusing on the front-end hardware. Peter Wennink, the CEO of ASML, stated that China is already leading in key applications and demand for semiconductors. Wennink wrote, “The roll-out of the telecommunication infrastructure, battery technology, that’s the sweet spot of mid-critical and mature semiconductors, and that’s where China without any exception is leading.”

Germany Just Warned Europe On “China’s Counterstrike Move” | Silent EV War Explodes

Simple, like the UK with Brexit, Germany should leave the EU. This will solve the problem, as Germany will then be able to distance itself from investigations implemented by the EU parliament.

What is the most dangerous thing you have done and why?

I used to be a Tower Climber.

Installing antennas and transmission lines on cellular towers.. Day in and day out we would climb 150, 200, 300feet and stay up there literally all day – often 10–12 hours.

Those heights were the norm, but I also did 400ft a couple of times, and then 500ft once.

And I did it because I needed a job and this paid really well. Plus I was a brand new divorcee and just starting over, so at the time working this tough, dangerous job with other guys was a very good thing for me. I made close friends, we partied and had fun, we laughed a lot, and it was just what the doctor ordered.

The end of Evergrande.

Bloomberg News has reported that billionaire founder and chairman Hui Ka Yan was taken away by police earlier this month and put under so-called residential surveillance , a type of police action that falls short of formal detention or arrest.

The surveillance doesn’t necessarily mean that Hui will be charged with a crime, and the exact circumstances of his situation remain unclear. But it’s not looking good: Evergrande has halted trading and confirmed in a Hong Kong stock exchange filing that authorities have told the company that Hui has been subjected to “mandatory measures,” due to “suspicion of illegal crimes.

The latest twist in an ongoing saga for the world’s most indebted developer has left creditors confused and concerned about what’s to become of their investments. The fate of the developer’s restructuring plans are now at risk, and the chances of a full-on liquidation have increased.

There’s a long list of victims: the hundreds of thousands of homeowners who bought into some 706 residential projects that are still being built; people who bought into Evergrande’s wealth management products, worth 40 billion yuan ($5.5 billion) a few years ago; global investors who collectively own at least $30 billion of offshore debt; suppliers and banks who are among those owed some 2.39 trillion yuan in liabilities. The company is facing more than 2,000 lawsuits, too.

I remember a time when Evergrande was still able to overcome its detractors. When a shortsellertargeted it for alleged financial mismanagement back in 2012, a Hong Kong tribunal provided vindication by saying the report was misleading and false.

But so much has changed since then: Evergrande has become a harbinger of the nation’s real estate meltdown. Its fate seemed to be sealed back in 2020, when a liquidity scare fueled by its massive debt load triggered aggressive regulatory tightening. Compounded by pandemic-related woes, the company defaulted the following year.

What happens after Evergrande? As we know, this property crisis is far from over. China’s property developers face a liquidity shortfall worth some 19 trillion yuan, or 15% of GDP, that could morph into a solvency crunch by year-end, Bloomberg analysts estimate.

Property downturns are always painful. In China, that’s especially the case because of the outsized role that the sector plays in the economy: As much as 70% of household wealthis tied to the industry.

The government has responded by relaxing property buying rules, since it doesn’t want the current distress among developers to trigger financial contagion — nor does it want to see social unrest.

Dragging out the Evergrande saga, though, has wreaked havoc among homebuyers, construction workers, suppliers and investors. And as the government has shown no intention of bailing out developers, the only certainty we’re left with is the idea that this pain is far from finished.

Asian point of view

Have you ever tried to fire someone and it backfired?

This happened to my ex.

My ex was the CFO of one of the largest private construction companies in the world. His main role was to make sure the company stayed profitable. Simple really.

The owners’ son, who recently graduated from college and was having trouble finding gainful employment, (seems nobody would hire him to get stoned) was parachuted into my ex’s job. My ex was quickly let go.

He didn’t mind too much. Even though a little disappointed, he still was paid out fairly and started his own firm with the severance money.

A tender came up for a new skyscraper in London. My ex’s former company put in its bid and came in ahead of everyone else by millions. Turned out months into construction that the new CFO had forgotten to add the cost of electrical wiring into the cost of construction. A mistake that sent his family bankrupt.

Luckily there was one new firm with the creditor’s backing, experience and ability to jump in immediately. My ex hired a lot of the now redundant employees and bought a large chunk of his old company’s heavy equipment at a huge discount in a mortgagee sale.

The lesson here is to never kill the golden goose!

Elderly shelter cat had weeks to live. So this woman adopted him.

This woman is a saint! What she does for these cats is beyond compassion!

Capitalist and socialist modernisation

The Sixteenth Forum of the World Association for Political Economy (WAPE) took place from 25 to 27 September 2023 in Fuzhou, China, co-organised by Fujian Normal University. The theme of the forum was Chinese modernisaton and the prospects of world modernisation. Although unable to attend in person, Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez was invited to submit a video presentation.

Carlos’s presentation, entitled Capitalist and socialist modernisation, takes up a number of questions: What is modernisation? Is modernisation desirable? How has modernisation been achieved in the West? What is China’s modernisation plan? What are the unique characteristics of Chinese modernisation? How does socialist modernisation differ from capitalist modernisation? What effect does China’s modernisation on the global journey towards development and socialism?

The video and the text of Carlos’s presentation are available below.

What is modernisation, and is it necessary?

Modernisation is a somewhat nebulous concept. It means different things to different societies at different times. By definition, its parameters are constantly changing.

In the broadest sense, it means adapting to the latest, most advanced ideas and techniques for meeting humanity’s material and cultural needs.

In sociology, there is more or less an equals sign between modernisation and industrialisation, and is generally held to begin with Britain’s Industrial Revolution. We can think of it essentially as the transition from ‘developing country’ status to ‘developed country’ status; from a predominantly rural society to a predominantly urban society; from a technologically backward society to a technologically advanced society.

Is this desirable? Beauty is of course in the eye of the beholder, but most people consider modernisation to be desirable, because it enables higher living standards for the masses of the people.

With modernised industry, production techniques, communication methods, transport systems, energy systems and healthcare strategies, there exists the possibility of providing a healthy, meaningful and dignified life to all, such that each individual has reliable access to a healthy diet, to decent housing, to clothing, to education, to healthcare, to a vibrant cultural, social and intellectual life, and to fulfilling work. In short, modernisation makes it possible to attend to people’s basic human rights.

The fruits of modernisation have thus far been divided extremely unequally: the process of industrialisation in North America, Europe and Japan has created previously unimaginable wealth for a few, but this has been accompanied by desperate poverty and alienation for significant numbers. However, modernisation creates a material basis for common prosperity, far beyond what a pre-modern economy can offer.

Specifically in the case of China, the government has set a goal of “basically realising socialist modernisation by 2035”, and has defined some parameters for this:

Reaching a per-capita GDP on a par with that of the mid-level developed countries such as Spain or the Czech Republic
Joining the ranks of the world’s most innovative countries in the realm of science and technology
Becoming a global leader in education, public health, culture and sport
Substantially growing the middle-income group as a proportion of the population
Guaranteeing equitable access to basic public services
Ensuring modern standards of living in rural areas
Steadily lowering greenhouse gas emissions and protecting biodiversity, so as to restore a healthy balance between humans and the natural environment

If achieved, these aims will constitute a significant – indeed world-historic – improvement in the living standards of the Chinese people, and will blaze a trail for other developing countries.

How did the West modernise?

But is China doing anything new? After all, it won’t be the first country to achieve modernisation.

In mainstream modernisation theory in the West, the dominant narrative is that the countries of Western Europe, North America and Japan achieved their advances via a combination of good governance, liberal democracy, free-market economics, scientific genius, geographical serendipity and a dash of entrepreneurial spirit.

Historical investigation reveals a considerably different story.

The most important precursors of the West’s modernisation are colonialism, slavery and genocide. The conquest of the Americas, the settlement of Australia, the transatlantic slave trade, the colonisation of India, the rape of Africa, the Opium Wars, the theft of Hong Kong, and more. The profits of colonialism and the slave trade were essential for propelling the West’s industrialisation, as was so eloquently uncovered in Eric Williams’ classic 1944 work, Capitalism and Slavery.

As Karl Marx famously wrote in Volume 1 of Capital: “The discovery of gold and silver in America, the enslavement and entombment in mines of the aboriginal population, the beginning of the conquest and looting of the East Indies, the turning of Africa into a warren for the commercial hunting of black-skins, signalled the rosy dawn of the era of capitalist production.”

Such is the ugly truth of European modernisation. And the story is not so different in the United States. Many of the so-called founding fathers of that country were slave-owners, and they established a slave-owners’ society. They went to war against the indigenous peoples and against Mexico in order to expand their territory.

In the 20th century, having established their domination over the Americas, they constructed a neocolonial global system that is still in place to a significant degree, imposing American hegemony on the world.

A network of 800 foreign military bases. NATO. An enormous nuclear arsenal. Genocidal wars waged on Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya. Systems of economic coercion and unilateral sanctions.

Proxy wars, coups, regime change projects, destabilisation.

This is the global system of violence that has facilitated and accompanied North American modernisation.

Japan’s rapid rise was facilitated first by its brutal expansionist project in East Asia, particularly Korea and China, and then through adaptation to and integration with the US-led imperialist system, the much-vaunted ‘rules-based international order’.

South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan Province constitute the small handful of non-imperialist territories that have been able to achieve modernisation, but these are special cases. Their shared proximity to China and the DPRK is no coincidence; they have been inducted into the imperialist club by the US, to play a dual role as regional policemen and living advertisements for capitalism on the frontline of its confrontation with socialism. Both roles rely on at least a certain degree of prosperity for a section of the population.

There is no shortage of countries of the Global South which have attempted to apply the “liberal democracy plus free market capitalism” formula, but none have been successful in modernising. Indeed the West’s prescriptions for (and interference in) developing countries have largely led to chaos and disaster.

The contrast between the West’s success in modernising and the Global South’s failure has fed into a largely unspoken but widespread and pernicious racism: an assumption that white people are somehow inherently more advanced than everyone else.

This supremacism is allowed to fester, because in addition to dividing working class and oppressed communities, it provides convenient cover for the reality that capitalist modernisation is built on the foundations of colonialism, imperialism and hegemonism.

As Kwame Nkrumah commented, “in the era of neocolonialism, under-development is still attributed not to exploitation but to inferiority, and racial undertones remain closely interwoven with the class struggle.”

How is China modernising?

China’s journey towards modernisation starts in 1949 with the founding of the People’s Republic, the early construction of socialist industry, land reform and the extirpation of feudalism and the landowning class, and the provision of at least basic levels of education and healthcare services to the whole population.

In 1963, Premier Zhou Enlai, supported by Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping and Chen Yun, first raised the question of the Four Modernisations: of agriculture, industry, national defence, and science and technology. Despite a complex political environment this goal was revived in the early 1970s, and, with the launch of reform and opening up in 1978, China accelerated its pursuit of those goals, and ushered in an era of rapid development of the productive forces and improvement in the people’s living standards.

China’s journey of modernisation has evolved again in recent years with the pursuit of the second centenary goal: of building a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful by 2049.

China is on a fast track to becoming an advanced, developed country, and this process stands in stark contrast to the West’s modernisation process:

First, China’s modernisation is built on the efforts of the Chinese people rather than on war, colonialism and slavery.

Second, its fruits are to be shared by everybody, not dominated by the wealthy. As General Secretary Xi Jinping said in his work report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China’s modernisation is “the modernisation of common prosperity for all.”

Even today, not everyone in the West is able to enjoy the fruits of modernisation. Consider for example the US, where tens of millions lack access to healthcare; where over half a million people are homeless; where life expectancy for African Americans is six years less than for their white counterparts; where – according to the US Department of Education – over half of adults read below a sixth-grade level.

Third, China’s modernisation is becoming a green modernisation, fuelled by clean energy, careful not to destroy the planet that sustains us. Again quoting Xi Jinping’s work report, “it is the modernisation of harmony between humanity and nature.”

Capitalist modernisation has had a disastrous impact on the environment. With 4 percent of the global population, the US alone is responsible for 25 percent of historic greenhouse gas emissions. The simple fact is that humanity literally cannot afford for China’s modernisation to follow this pattern.

Socialist modernisation will become the ‘new normal’

The West’s modernisation path is not open to the countries of the Global South, and it wouldn’t be desirable even if it were. Today, the road of capitalist modernisation is closed, so how is China able to modernise?

China does not have an empire, formal or informal, but it does have a particular advantage of being a socialist state, a “people’s democratic dictatorship based on the alliance of workers and peasants”, to use Mao Zedong’s expression. Such a state can use its power to direct economic activity towards the goals of the social classes it represents.

Thus the specificities of China’s modernisation – the commitment to common prosperity, to ending poverty and underdevelopment, to preventing climate collapse and to peaceful development – are a function of China’s political system, its revolutionary history, and the leadership of the CPC.

At a meeting of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2016, Xi Jinping made this point very succinctly: “Our greatest strength lies in our socialist system, which enables us to pool resources in a major mission. This is the key to our success.”

Or as Deng Xiaoping famously commented in 1984: “the superiority of the socialist system is demonstrated, in the final analysis, by faster and greater development of the productive forces than under the capitalist system.”

In a world still largely dominated by capitalism – and an intellectual world still dominated by bourgeois ideology – it’s easy to forget this system’s fundamental and irreconcilable contradictions, which Marx identified with such clarity and profundity 150 years ago; contradictions which lead inexorably to inefficiency, stagnation and crisis. A political economy directed at the production of exchange values rather than use values can never result in common prosperity.

In China, the capitalist class is not the ruling class and is therefore not able to direct the country’s resources according to its own prerogatives. At the top level, resources are allocated by the state, in accordance with long-term planning carried out by, and in the interests of, the people.

This is what is enabling a new type of modernisation, which is blazing a trail for socialist and developing countries the world over.

The fruits of this process are being shared with the world, via mechanisms such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Development Initiative, which are creating a path for the countries of the Global South to break out of underdevelopment, even where they lack China’s resources and political advantages.

As such, China’s evolving modernisation has great historic significance, and offers valuable lessons for the world. It is an embodiment of historical materialism in the current era: capitalism has long since exhausted its ability to fundamentally drive human progress, and therefore the future lies with socialism.

What were the most ‘badass’ moments of history?

Galvarino was a legendary warrior of the Mapuche people who rebelled against the Spanish Conquers who had invaded their land.

The Mapuche people were natives of the Araucana region of Chile who fought against the Spanish conquest of South America. The Arauco War was the bloodiest and longest-running battle in the history of the New World.

In what became known as the Battle of Lagunillias, Galvarino led his people in a fight against the Spanish invaders who were trying to force them into servitude.

During the battle, Galvarino and his men were captured by the Spanish. As punishment for defying the Spanish, Galvarino had both his hands amputated at the wrists and sent him home as a message to the other Mapuche tribes.

He returned home defeated and severely wounded. He showed the war council his wounds and begged them to let him lead an army against their oppressors. For his bravery, he was named commander of a squadron of men in a fight against Governor Mendoza.

With long Sharp knives fastened to his mutilated stumps, he led his army into battle against Governor Mendoza and his men. The Brutal battle lasted for an hour, with Galvarino striking and killing Mendoza’s number two in command with his modified stumps.

Although Galvarino and his men fought a brave battle, they were soon overwhelmed and captured. All the remaining captured warriors including Galvarino, were executed on the orders of Governor Mendoza.

Has Huawei successfully challenged the dominance of American tech giants and truly democratized the tech industry?

Huawei has established the third truly COMMERCIAL Asian Tech Ecosystem from China and the eighth in Asia after Toyota, Nikon, Canon ,Samsung , BYD, Trina and Xinyi

The Huawei Ecosystem now has

The Chip
The OS
The 5G Modem
The GPU
The Networks

Yet Huawei Ecosystem is fragile because SMIC the manufacturer of the 7 nm Node depends on Advanced DUV equipment from ASML

Now SMIC has stockpiled massive orders from ASML and that will keep SMIC going till maybe 2026

However that’s still dependence, a lot of dependence on the West

So i would say HUAWEI has made a start

Meanwhile people forget the REAL WINNERS of the three companies that have established it’s own dominant ecosystem on which the West is entirely dependent on :-

BYD

BYD has:-

The Chip – The Mature 28nm Chip that only China can today manufacture cost effectively and in huge volumes
The Software
The Satellite Navigation System
The Battery
The Dynamic Unit

It’s completely and entirely Independent from Western Technology

Trina and Xinyi who have :-

The Intelligent Chip
The Micrograde Wafer Panel (That to this day no nation can produce except France but at 87% higher cost)
The Carbide micro layering etching equipment (Chinas equivalent of the EUV Lithography Machine)
The Silicon extraction process into Mono, Poly Crystalline Silicon with infusions

Yes Huawei deserves all the admiration for its clawback and fighting

Yet BYD, Trina and Xinyi actually get Proprietary License Fees from the West which is unique for a Nation that to thia day didn’t kowtow to the West unlike Japan, Israel and South Korea

Huawei to win, needs SMIC to become another BYD or Xinyi or Trina

If SMIC can achieve that, then China truly begins the challenge to the established Semiconductor industry

Lego just hit a climate BRICK wall

Lego says that it cannot make bricks from recycled material. They tried and they simply cannot do it without increasing carbon emissions. That’s a refreshing admission. Most companies take on “green initiatives” anyway, even if they prove to make the problem worse. In a similar vein, the CEO of Lufthansa admitted that“going green” would require the airline to use up HALF of Germany’s electricity. So not green at all then. Meanwhile, Ford says that it will pause construction of a $3.5 billion plant to build EV batteries in Michigan. They aren’t saying why. It just goes to show: It ain’t easy being green.

Is the Belt and Road Initiative losing steam?

You’ve probably heard of China’s ambitious plan to connect the world with its Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI for short. It’s a massive project that involves building roads, railways, ports, pipelines, and other infrastructure across Asia, Africa, Europe, and beyond. China says it’s a win-win situation for everyone, a way to boost trade, development, and cooperation among more than 140 countries that have signed up for it.

But not everyone is buying it. Some critics in the West say that the BRI is a trap, a scheme, or a tool for China to expand its power and influence at the expense of other countries. They say that the BRI is saddling poor countries with unsustainable debt, damaging the environment and human rights, and undermining the international order. They also say that the BRI is losing steam due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the backlash from some host countries, and the changing global dynamics.

So what’s the real story? Well, if you listen to what China has to say on its official websites, you’ll get a very different picture. According to them, the BRI is not losing steam at all. In fact, it’s gaining momentum and achieving positive results in various aspects.

First of all, they say that the BRI has shown strong resilience and vitality amid the COVID-19 pandemic. China has actively cooperated with other BRI partners to fight against the virus, provide medical supplies and vaccines, share prevention and treatment experiences, and support economic recovery. The BRI has also contributed to the global efforts to build a community of health for all.

Secondly, they say that the BRI has promoted high-quality development and green cooperation. China has adhered to the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, and has followed the international rules and standards in implementing BRI projects. China has also attached great importance to environmental protection, social responsibility, and debt sustainability, and has encouraged green investment and financing under the BRI framework.

Thirdly, they say that the BRI has enhanced mutual trust and friendship among different countries and peoples. The BRI has fostered dialogue and exchange among different civilizations, cultures, and religions, and has supported education, culture, tourism, sports, media, and other fields of people-to-people cooperation. The BRI has also created opportunities for poverty alleviation, job creation, livelihood improvement, and social development for millions of people in the participating countries.

So there you have it. The BRI is not losing steam but rather advancing steadily and fruitfully. The BRI is not a solo show by China but a chorus by all participants. The BRI is not a challenge or threat to anyone but a benefit and opportunity for everyone. The BRI is not a zero-sum game but a win-win cooperation for common development. That’s what China wants you to believe. And if you don’t believe it, well, too bad for you. Because China is not going to stop or change its course anytime soon. It’s going to keep pushing forward with its vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Why Australia’s Housing Crisis Is a Warning for the World

My goodness!

What is something that needs to be said that nobody wants to hear?

Trump supporters have a point.

They weren’t misled by Russian trolls. They weren’t ignorant. They weren’t racist or sexist or xenophobic or homophobic. They were mad… they felt left behind and ignored by the media and the federal government… and they had a point.

They were left behind, and ignored.

For many of them, the America their parents and grandparents grew up in was a lot better. And no, that’s not because other groups were oppressed. It was because the economy was better for working-class people back then.

If your grandparents raised a large family on a single income, while the media and politicians cared about what your grandparents cared about, and now, 50 years later, you and your wife can’t get by on your dual incomes, and the media and politicians spend more time talking about transgender bathroom usage than the fact that families like yours are falling further behind each year… then yes, you have a point, and Make America Great Again makes sense.

Blueberry Grunt

Ingredients

4 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons grated orange peel
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk

Instructions

In a skillet, combine blueberries, sugar and water; bring to a boil. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
In a bowl, combine the next 6 ingredients; stir in milk just until moistened (dough will be stiff).
Drop by tablespoonsful over blueberries.
Cover and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until dumplings are puffed and test done.
Serve warm.

Should secondary sanctions be imposed on China and Russia for their complicity with genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Myanmar?

All terrorism in the world is linked to the United States! It is no longer a secret that the United States Government supports terrorism in South-East Asia!

US-backed Terrorism Targets Vietnam & Myanmar in Wider War on China

Two terrorist attacks this month (June 2023) in Southeast Asia have been carried out by groups backed by the United States government and its allies for decades;
This includes a singer murdered in Myanmar and a series of armed attacks carried out on police stations in Vietnam killing 9 including several civilians;
British state media, the BBC, and US government-funded media platform Radio Free Asia have attempted to spin and even justify this terrorism as part of a much wider pattern promoting and defending terrorism as a means to counter China’s rise and punish nations working closely with China;
The opposition in Myanmar has openly been backed by the US and UK for decades – fighting to reinstall Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy back into power;
In Vietnam, the ethnic Montagnards had fought alongside US invaders in the Vietnam War, and since then have worked closely with the US through the National Endowment for Democracy toward separatism;
Much of this context is omitted from Western state-media accounts of the terrorism;
Both Myanmar and Vietnam’s current governments have close relations with China. Vietnam, while depicted in the Western media as “anti-China,” has worked with China to build infrastructure within its borders and access Chinese rail projects to bring their products all the way to Europe;

Why Companies That Go Woke Go Broke

I saw the title and I instantly clicked to watch, really wanted to see a documentary about all these companies that went woke, then broke!

What is the most amazing thing you overheard because people didn’t think you understood their language?

Well one fairly amazing thing happened in Penang. I (white Australian) was speaking to my friend (Asian Australian) in English.

An American tourist interrupted us and asked “excuse me, do you speak English?” We were both quite shocked and I said “a little.” I don’t know if she really couldn’t understand Australian English and didn’t realise what language I was speaking.

She said “Can you direct me to XYZ hotel?”

Now ordinarily two Aussies, neither of whom have ever been to Malaysia and speak no Malay wouldn’t be the best choice. But I pointed to the building we were standing in front of and said “walk about 10 yards that way.”

She was WAY out of her depth and her next international holiday should probably be to Hawaii.

However, I did the opposite in Austria. I speak no German, but if I look at a menu and plan out my sentence I can pretend to. So I asked in perfect German “Could I please have 2 hot chocolates; one with whipped cream and one with rum thanks.” She answered with something as simple as “that will be 8 euros” and I looked at her blankly and said in English “I’m sorry, I don’t speak German.” She laughed and did the transaction in English. She said I fooled her.

Pretty much the same thing in Poland, back in the days before Schengen membership. Apparently I needed a visa. So they berated me in Polish for a while, and I said I didn’t speak Polish. They went to the lingua franca of Eastern Europe and said “something something Russky.” I replied with what I’m told is an excellent accent “nye poni mayu po Russkiy.”

Here’s a guy in Lithuania, driving an Estonian-registered car, saying in perfect Russian in response to a question IN Russian “I don’t understand Russian.” I’m sure they weren’t thrilled and may not have believed me but I looked blankly at the rest of their diatribe. So eventually they wrote down my name, pointed me to Vilnius and said “visa.”’

Why is Urumqi, Xinjiang cleaner, safer, civilized, and developed than New Delhi?

Almost every Chinese City beats Indian Cities hollow in terms of Cleanliness, Safety and Development

There are Primarily three reasons for this :-

A. One Party Meritocracy & Funds

There is no political rivalries or party based discrimination between Fund Allocation and Revenue sharing

It’s all about How much the City develops and how well maintained the City is

China has 20 times the provincial autonomy than an Indian State

B. Continuous Development to prevent overcrowding

India keeps on dumping on the same city again and again for year after year. Thus every such city attracts migrants like flies and that leads to overcrowding of the worst order

China keeps developing and expanding new Cities regularly

Chengdu, Chongqing etc were small towns a decade or so ago that are now bustling cities, brimming with Prosperity

Urumqi was once a town , now it’s classified as a Tier 3 City

C. Chinas Housing Policy

Everyone living with a proper Job in a City in China MUST have housing

This is a law from the time of Chairman Mao and when it’s a Chairman Mao law, it’s enforcement is very strict

Public Housing is thus available for every single resident of the city including the poorest of them

Only Shanghai and Beijing has slums today , which existed before the 1998 law and thus can’t be torn down

Of course many Chinese become prosperous enough to rent much nicer places and sub lease their public homes for which they pay rent of 78 RMB/ month for 400–500 RMB / month

During Covid 19, many such people were discovered and fined very heavily (30, 000 RMB plus 60 months rent or 100 Days in Prison)

A Fourth reason is the fact that Migration into Cities is heavily controlled

You just can’t come to a City that easily without housing or a job unless you are a tourist there

In India it’s the opposite

You can flood into cities and sleep on the roads and everywhere else and even defecate

It’s like a Zoo

So it’s the Chinese System

They may have their flaws but by God they have excellent City maintenance and keep themselves very clean

Their Air Quality improvement in a mere decade is something every nation takes notes on

Primarily another reason is the Chinese are proud of their country and love their country

The genuine love that ensures they actively take pride in their development and their cities

When stray cats see this man, they compete with each other to get a place on his lap.

This is fun.

No longer human

On a somber note, the Israeli destruction on Palestine is a (text book) genocidal event. This is just as disturbing to me as the complete killing off of all the males in Ukraine.

There is something truly evil about the oligarchy that rules the West.

Their “heads aren’t screwed on tight”. They are unhinged and behaving in complete disregard for their fellow humans.

No care towards humanity.

Which means that they have evolved into something NOT HUMAN.

I shake my head in sadness.

As Everyone’s Lοοking At Ιsrael, Something Τruly Unbelievable Has Begun Ιn America

https://youtu.be/DA3aRJrAyOo

What is the craziest thing you’ve found in an old coat pocket?

The identity of a MURDERER!

I bought a used coat from a yard sale and months later, when it turned cold, I put the jacket on and noticed a hand written note in the left pocket. It had listed things to buy at Ace Hardware.

It said Lye, ropes, tape and a small shovel.

Next to the list was the actual receipt showing the stores name, what was bought and exactly when.

I thought it seemed suspicious so I took it to the local police and they ran the info I had against an unsolved murder case.

After pulling the archived video from Ace Hardware, it was clear who the man was and after interrogating him and his fake alibi, he broke down and admitted that he was the one who picked up a 22 year old hitchhiker and raped and murdered her.

He forgot about the note and receipt in his left pocket.

He was also left handed. Had he not written it himself, it would not have proved anything, but it matched the handwriting analysis.

He also had no idea his wife sold the old jacket in a yard sale months earlier. That simple task on her part, cost him his life and he sits on death row today.

You just never know what you’re gonna get for three dollars at a yard sale.

A strategic nightmare sneaks into Washington’s political agenda: Global Times editorial

By Global Times Published: Oct 14, 2023 12:38 AM

This is horrifying. -MM

A simultaneous war with China and Russia is a strategic nightmare that sober American strategists such as Henry Kissinger have been warning the US to avoid at all costs, and it is also a topic that some US media outlets have become more and more fond of talking about in recent years. At least from the publicly available information, Washington has never previously addressed it as a formal political agenda, supposedly aware of its seriousness and the terrible risks it carries. But the publication of a report by a congressionally appointed bipartisan panel titled America’s Strategic Posture crossed this “red line” on October 12.

The central point of the 145-page report is that the US must expand its military power, particularly its “nuclear weapons modernization program,” in order to prepare for possible simultaneous wars with China and Russia. Notably, the report diverges completely from the current US national security strategy of winning one conflict while deterring another, and from the Biden administration’s current nuclear policy. It is not a fantasy among the American public, but a serious strategic assessment and recommendation in the service of policymaking.

The 12-member panel that wrote the report was hand-picked by the US Congress from major think tanks and retired defense, security officials and former lawmakers. This report makes us feel that a “strategic nightmare” is sneaking into the US political agenda, but has not drawn due concern and vigilance in Washington, and to a large extent, the American elite group represented by the panel is actively working to make this nightmare come true.

A look at the specific recommendations of this report will send shivers down the spine of those who retain any basic rationality. The report recommends that the US deploy more warheads, and produce more bombers, cruise missiles, ballistic missile submarines, non-strategic nuclear weapons and so on. It also calls on the US to deploy warheads on land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and to consider adding road-mobile ICBMs to its arsenal, establishing a third shipyard that can build nuclear-powered ships, etc.

What depths of insanity is the US sinking to? The US’ military spending accounts for nearly 40 percent of the world’s total defense expenditures, and it has been growing dramatically for several years, with military spending in 2023 reaching $813.3 billion, more than the GDP of most countries, but even that is not enough for these politicians. Such a report full of geopolitical fanaticism and war imagery, whether or not it actually ends up as a “guide” for Washington’s decision-making, is dangerous and needs to be resisted and opposed by all peace-loving countries.

According to some American media, the report ignores the consequences of a nuclear arms race. In fact, the report doesn’t seem to consider this at all and doesn’t suggest any measures other than nuclear expansion to address this issue. In other words, it is a reckless approach. Both China and Russia are nuclear powers, and everyone knows that provoking a confrontation between nuclear powers is a crazy idea. Even promoting a nuclear arms race under the banner of “deterrence” is a disastrous step backward in history. Washington’s political elites, who lived through the Cold War, cannot be unaware of this. However, the fact that such an absurd and off-key report is being presented in all seriousness by the US Congress is both surreal and unsurprising. It is in line with the distorted political atmosphere in Washington today.

The motives behind this exaggeration of threats and creating a warlike atmosphere are highly suspicious. The recent outbreak of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict caused a sharp increase in US defense industry stocks, while American defense industry companies have also been the biggest beneficiaries of the long-standing Russia-Ukraine conflict. The military-industrial complex, like a geopolitical monstrosity, parasitically clings to American society, manipulating its every move, pushing Washington step by step to introduce and even prepare for ideas that were once considered “impossible.”

The prosperity of the American military-industrial complex is built upon blood and corpses, and carries a primal guilt. Serving the interests of the American military-industrial complex is unethical.

The reality is that such rhetoric is becoming increasingly politically acceptable in today’s Washington. The idea of “preparing for possible simultaneous wars with Russia and China,” once a fringe fantasy, has gradually made its way into Washington’s agenda, which is deeply unsettling.

If Washington were to adopt even a small portion of the recommendations in this report, the harm and threats it could pose to world peace would be immeasurable and would ultimately backfire on the US itself.

There is an old Chinese saying: “Those who play with fire will perish by it.” This is something that is worth Washington’s careful consideration.

Have you ever bought a car that didn’t run and found that it was an easy fix?

In 1980 my boss had left the company and had planned to sell his very nice 1970 Buick LeSabre for $500. One Monday I came into my office and the keys to the Buick were on my desk with a note saying that the automatic transmission was bad and that it would cost more than the car was worth and that I could have it for $25 since that is all the wrecking yard would give him.

I picked up the car one evening and was able to make it part way home before the “transmission” problem occurred.

Fortunately, I was near the company parking lot where I left the car. The next morning, in daylight, with the help of my brother-in-law, we discovered that the “transmission problem” was actually the air conditioning compressor intermittently locking up and putting a severe drag on the engine.

Since it was fall in southern California, we just cut off the single belt that drove the AC compressor and the car ran great. Months later, a neighbor was putting a Chevy V8 into a Toyota pickup and gave me the AC compressor, which we installed on the Buick. And the AC worked perfectly.

I told my boss how we fixed the “transmission” problem and offered him $500 for the Buick.

He declined and said I should keep the car for $25.

I told him I didn’t want my wife driving a $25 car, so he agreed to $250.

That summer I decided to install an aftermarket cruise control unit on the Buick and while routing wires under the dash, I noticed a small spring, not unlike the ones in ball point pens, was broken in an AC/heater duct. I replaced that spring (cost was less than $1) and noticed that the AC was coming out of the dash vents where previously it was just coming from the floor.

When I next saw my former boss, he said that he had taken the Buick to the dealership to complain about the AC/heat not coming from the dash vents, and they told him that to fix the problem they would have to remove the dash and it would cost more than the car was worth.

I put an additional 100K miles on that car and only recall replacing the brakes and a distributor, in addition to routine maintenance. In 1992, as I was moving to Texas from NJ, a co-worker asked if I would sell him the car, which I did.

As an aside, my former boss went to work for a company that made high power gas lasers, costing at that time about $25,000.

At my next company, I needed one of those lasers. I happened to mention to my former boss at a conference that I hoped to buy one of those lasers, but didn’t have the budget.

A few weeks later, a high power gas laser unexpectedly arrived on the shipping dock!

I called my former boss and he said if and when I get the budget, let him know and he will replace the “loaner” laser with a new one. Probably a year or so later, I did find the money and paid for the “loaner” laser.

My former boss’s company also made an even higher power laser for $50,000. I later wondered if I had given him $500 for the car if he would have shipped a $50K “loaner.”

I would ask him, but he passed away, way too young, years ago.

Rest in peace, Dean…

Life in URUGUAY! – South America’s Richest and Safest Country

As an Uruguayan I want to make a comment. First, great video, mostly accurate expect for a couple of details.

When you show the ‘gauchos” those look more like people on horses from Bolivia or Peru, or even maybe somewhere in northern Argentina or Chile. Because, first of all, in Uruguay, the gaucho’s “poncho” is usually made of plain dark colors, and most important, we do not have mountains, like the ones you show. About population “skin” color, let me make some remarks.

The original population in Uruguay is around 90% of European descent, and when I say European I mean, from all over Europe, including countries like: Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Russian, Denmark, etc. Not only Southern Europe. So there are a lot of fair skin color people including blonde, blue eyes.

But what has been happening in the last decade is that there’s a large immigration wave, such as from the Caribbean countries, as well as from the rest of Latin America.

So, the demographic is changing rapidly because Uruguayan’s population as you established is very small, so the culture is also changing, including the food and even the language…

https://youtu.be/sTP44M2vQzk

How heavily does Apple depend on China, and what would happen if China decided to seek revenge for the Huawei ban by kicking Apple out of their market and supply chain?

2500 Foreigners have been invited to the Hangzhou Asian Games in China

Ordinary Foreigners

From US, Canada, Europe and Japan and South Korea

Fully paid for, Business Class Tickets, Five Star Pampering

All China asks them to do is to cover the Games on their Social Media (TikTok mainly or YT or Instagram)

The result is despite the Western Media almost entirely ignoring the Asian Games, a whopping 673 Million people worldwide are watching the events

This is China’s Strategy to counter thr Western Media

Not launching their own MSM and insanely and making accusations

Instead , they bring ORDINARY PEOPLE and treating them to what China looks like and spreading the message

A Popular Teenager goes home and says “Man do you know China is so different from what we hear in our TV channels”

Slowly this gains traction

It’s a long term plan targeting the 19–24 year olds today and gradually influencing the Younger Generation

The key reason is INFLUENCE

The 12–36 year old US Generation doesn’t view China as an enemy but as a neutral country or as a mutually beneficial country

Yet 36–65 year old Americans, the MSM influenced generation see almost 75% of them view China as an enemy

China is slowly influencing the younger generation and in a way that US simply cannot comprehend

Long term, slow and PATIENTLY

Every year you have 20,000 Vloggers invited to China and cover China positively

They influence around 60 Million -150 Million people

Tourvashu is one of these

He influences 2 Million Indians

Most are 16–20 year olds

More likely to watch Tourvashu than Palki Or Gravitas or Arnab

Slowly the Younger Indians will be influenced and say “Yaar Tune Chaayina ka wo Video dekha. Mast tha”

So you wonder why Apple is not banned. In China?

Same reason

It’s not the Chinese way

These Brash, Useless and Economically unsound tactics are not something the Chinese do

China will encourage Apple, use it as a gold standard to develop their own industry, and undercut the iphone eventually

Take the Chinese High Speed Rail

In 2005, Chinese imported exclusively their Boring Machines (Germany, Switzerland), Engines (Japan, Spain), Software (UK, Singapore, US) and Electronics (Japan, S Korea)

Today nearly 90% of their High Speed Rail Supplies are COMPLETELY MADE IN CHINA with same or better quality

They have decimated TBM markets in Germany with export shares plummeting from 69% in 2000 to 11% in 2023

Took them 17–18 years

That’s how China works

These loser protectionism bans don’t work for China

They COMPETE and UNDERCUT and enhance quality with competition

The Trump Ban begun in 2019

So the key is to see if China will beat the Apple and undercut the company by 2036–2037

I am willing to guarantee that they will

It’s what they do

Kind of their Mantra

Banning is what Losers do

Competing and beating with Economics is what Winners do

What is the smallest thing a person ever did for you that impacted your life?

When I was a young boy I used to get teased a lot in school and I didn’t have many friends. I was a fat kid and often got called a “fat slob”, “pig”, and “smelly or “stinky”. I took a bath at least once a week, more in the summer, and tried to keep clean so I knew I was just getting teased because I was fat. When I was eleven my best friend’s mom drove us home from baseball practice one day. Out of the blue she turned to me in the back seat and said, “Andy, you smell and you need to bathe more often.” She did not say it in a mean way but in a stern businesslike manner. My best friend was horrified and said nothing.

When I got home I immediately took a shower and wondered about what was going on. Obviously, I’d been sweaty from practice but she must have known that. As I thought it over, it also dawned on me that my skinny little sister often got teased as “smelly” too. I’d always assumed she got it from association with me, not because she smelled. So I told my mom what happened and asked her to tell me honestly if I smelled. She said, “no” and started to get a little upset about my best friend’s mom saying that to me.

I went to play outside and saw one of my classmates across the street. We had an on-again/off-again friendship up to that point. I guess we were what you might call “frenemies” today but at this point in time, we were more on the friendly side. I decided to get his opinion believing he wouldn’t hold back. In fact, he had teased me before about being smelly. So I asked him straight-up, “Do I smell?” He answered very matter-of-factly, “yes”. “My sister too?” “Yes, her too,” he replied. Then I asked him what we smelled like. He then told me that this had actually been a subject of discussion among his family who did not want me or my sister in their house because of our smell. He said his parents said we smelled like “old books”. Immediately, this brought to mind the set of Encyclopedia Britannicas I had in my bedroom closet. I immediately went home to check them out. Not only were they covered in mold but vast sections of my closet and room had mold. In fact, I found it throughout our home. But it didn’t smell to me. I was used to it. We all were. We lived in the woods surrounded by soggy tree pools so our home was often damp. We had no AC nor did we need it. This was back in 1972 before the internet and all the scares about the dangers of mold.

I told my mother what I’d learned and was able to convince her this was what was causing my sister and me to smell and probably her too. We cleaned everything with bleach, aired out the house, and bought dehumidifiers. From then on I showered every day. My friends all told me I no longer smelled. That following summer I also worked my ass off to get physically fit. I don’t know how many more years I might have suffered but for this very simple and brutally honest admonition from my friend’s mother. To this day, my best friend of 58 years still tells me how embarrassed he was that his now-deceased mother said that to me. And I always remind him she did me one of the greatest favors of my life.

Flip Flop Cherry Cobbler

Yield: 6 to 8 generous portions

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
8 cups cherry pie filling
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Instructions

Coat a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture alternating with the milk; mix until well combined.
Spread batter evenly into prepared pan.
Top with filling and sprinkle with sugar. Cover and freeze.
To bake: Thaw completely in refrigerator.
Bake at 375 degrees F for 40 minutes or until browned.

Mighty China Remove All Iran Sanctions Placed By U.S and E.U

In this eye-opening video, we explore the shifting dynamics of power and influence between Iran, the United States, and China. With the U.S. imposing stringent sanctions on Iran, China steps in to form a strategic alliance, challenging the global power balance. Learn more about the economic, political, and strategic implications of this trilateral relationship and how it could shape the future of global geopolitics.

What was one experience in your life that hardened you as a person?

Going anonymous because it is a part of my life that not even my closest friends are aware of.

This is from the time when I was 12 years old. My mom had a problem where her breast would develop lumps which would have to be removed surgically. This problem started before I was born and she would undergo these procedures every couple of years. We lived in a small town with limited access to advanced medical facilities, but the doctors always told us that the lumps were not malignant.

When I was 12, this one lump was growing very big. My dad (who is a doctor himself) decided to take her to Delhi to get some tests done. I have two elder sisters and we (me, my sister and my parents) live with my grandparents.

So, my parents were away in Delhi and my grand mother would spend the day on the phone talking to relatives, spreading rumors that my mom actually had cancer and saying that we three are a burden on them and that they just want my parents to come and get us off their head.

My sisters, who were older and more mature, would mostly stay in their room, but I, by nature liked to be outside with my mom and in her absence, my granny. Hearing these things used to hurt me, but I wouldn’t tell my sisters since I knew they’d be hurt even more.

I started taking up house-work with my granny (though we had help by my granny used to crib that we 3 were a burden)-cooking half meals, helping with washing clothes. All this I did without my sisters’ knowledge (or they’d never have let me do it).

This was a time when mobiles didn’t exist in India and fixed line phones were the only means of communication. News from my parents used to reach us with a lag. We just kept praying that our mom comes back safely.

After tests at AIIMS (top hospital in India), our parents returned awaiting results and my granny immediately left for my aunt (her daughter’s) place citing she needed “rest”.

Results came in-the growth didn’t seem malignant but needed a fairly complicated medical procedure in Chandigarh. These were times when my dad was under a lot of financial pressure (though my grandparents were well-off and my dad was the only son). My dad requested my granny over call that they need to leave immediately and that though he had applied for their life savings-their FDs to be broken, but if it doesn’t happen on time, if my grandparents could lend money till the FD money could reach home.

Unbelievably, my granny just didn’t come home! She made my aunt call in saying she would stay longer at her place and that my parents can leave for the surgery! I still remember my dad almost crying, not sure if he would be able to arrange money on time to save his wife (the tumour had grown visibly big). By God’s grace, the FDs broke a day before they had to leave and they left us alone, at the trust of the neighbours who were more helpful than my grandparents!

It was a long, painful time when my mother received treatment-a surgery which lasted 9 hours, where doctors almost gave up hope, where she was on ventilator support for days. All this while, I kept hearing from my granny’s conversations as she invited friends over, that it was certainly cancer, that such complicated surgeries could only be for cancer. It kept on making the 12-year old me scared as I knew cancer is something bad, it is something that can take away my mom.

We first got a chance to speak to our mom after 35 days when she managed to call from a hotel after her discharge. Those 35 days had been a struggle beyond my imagination for my parents (which they told me much later when I was around 20). With just my dad for company-he had managed everything from sleeping on hospital floors to washing my mom’s clothes.

My mom has recovered fully and still prays everyday for the doctors who cured her.

My dad still hates my grand parents, and I don’t feel any love for them wither.

My grand dad passed away a few years ago and we still live with my granny because my mom still thinks its our duty.

But, the pain is still there, the fear that the 12-year old felt is still there ,the betrayal is still feels fresh when I see my granny.

I grew up in those 2 months, chopped off my hair because I had long hair and my granny wouldn’t help manage them.

I hardened, realized I only have my parents and my sisters who will stand by me, and I will stand by them till I die.

I realised the world is cruel, looking at my relatives’ behaviour in that period.

The child in me died.

Why do rich people work even after they become rich? Why don’t they play?

“Dad, when will you retire?” I asked him one day.

“Hector, I retired before you were born,” he laughed.

Confused, I asked again, “Be honest, Dad, I mean, when will you stop working?”

His response was simple, “Working? What’s work? I don’t know what work is.”

“OK, Dad, forget about it,” I said as I assumed he wasn’t willing to talk about this.

“Hector,” he said, “what you know as my job is not work for me. I enjoy architecture so much that I could do this 24/7. This is who I am. Architecture is my life.”

So, to answer your question, why do rich people work even after they become rich? Why don’t they play?

My father lived to be 91 and worked until his body gave up on him. He was a passionate architect who found joy in his work. That’s what kept him active and full of joy every day. His passion for architecture was infectious, and it taught me this valuable lesson about work as a lifestyle.

So, if you ask me about retirement or work-life balance, I’d say it’s better to find what you love and make it a part of your life. When you find that, you’ll stop working and start living. We achieve a balance not by separating work from life but by integrating what you love into your lifestyle.

Today, this is how I see it: It’s not about working less; it’s about loving more what you do.

That’s the secret to a fulfilling life. As my father always said, “The day you find what you love is when you will stop working.”

Heavy Rain forced Mother Cat to Carry her kitten in Streets, but No One Opened the Door for Them!

In the pouring rain, we spotted a soaked cat seeking shelter. Feeling sorry for her, we followed as she led us to her hidden kitten in the woods. We gently petted the mama cat, who had braved the relentless rain. The tiny, wet kitten needed our care, so we wrapped him in a warm blanket. Back at our home, where rescued cat families and foster cats live together happily, we ensured both mother and baby were dry and well-groomed. A vet visit ensured mama cat’s health, and we even gave the kitten a bath, revealing his adorable charm. The heartwarming reunion between mother and kitten was filled with playfulness and bonding, showing the strength of family ties.

https://youtu.be/-xzP2TMSoMQ

What is the best case of “You just picked a fight with the wrong person” that you’ve witnessed?

Here’s one example, regarding myself: I was working as a bouncer at a bar in Erie, Pa one night and some guy, about 24 years old or so was making quite a bit of trouble, harassing customers, pushing some, bullying others, etc.

He was somewhat high, but not drunk, and it seemed he was there just to harass and embarrass/humiliate some who were there with a date. He was pretty big, about 225 pounds and about 6 feet and acting like a real bully. When I was told about some guy doing these things ( He wasn’t near my door, but farther inside ), I went in to see what was up.

When I got there he was harassing some poor kid who was clearly scared and was with his girlfriend. As I approached, a few people pointed at this guy and said, “get him out if here, he’s an asshole.” .

I got up to him and very nicely told him to leave the kid alone and that he’d have to leave because he was causing too much trouble.

He looked at me, stood up as high as he could (I hate when they do that, like it matters), and said, “Who’s going to make me?” I said, simply, “me.”

He told me to get lost or he’d beat the shit out of me.

I said, “Well, let’s go outside and see who comes back in, and, if it’s you, you can stay.” He smiled, said,”I’m gonna enjoy this” and said, “let’s go” and we walked outside. By that time, everyone, including the other bouncer at my door knew what was going to happen.

The other bouncer, Tommy Williams, just stood at the door and smiled while we walked outside. Well, when we got out about 15 feet from the door, the moron suddenly turned and tried to hit me with a roundhouse kick which I not only blocked, but grabbed his leg and picked him up by the leg and threw him to the ground, saying, ”I don’t think karate is going to help you here.”

He jumped up and said, “how about this, asshole? and then tried a double leg takedown, as, apparently, at some time he was a wrestler. I actually laughed and said, “oh, you want to wrestle, huh?” and then as I countered his sad attempt, the other bouncer, who had heard everything, shouted out: “Wrestle? well you picked the right guy, he’s the National wrestling Champion……”

I just said, “You picked the wrong guy you moron,” and, as my friend, Tommy later said to me, I literally swept the parking lot with him.

I never saw him after two of his friends ended up taking either home or to the hospital.

He was a bully.

He got to feel like those he had bullied before.

I was NOT kind to him.

No regrets, but I bet he was kinda surprised when he heard the other bouncer tell him who I was, and he had no escape, as even as he said over and over, “I quit, I give up.”

I told him that it wasn’t up to him, It was my call and I wasn’t done yet.

That is a scary thing to realize, that you can’t quit, that it’s up to the guy beating the crap out of you. But I believe it has led others like that guy to never bully anyone again. Jeff

Have you ever met a dangerous person and not known it at the time?

Sat in a bar in South Pattaya one Sunday afternoon in 1991 I noticed a fairly fit looking bloke dressed only in flip flops and shorts. He suddenly ordered everyone a drink then turned to me and said “I see my friend that you are interested in my tattoos.” I wasn’t that interested but I wasn’t going to argue and let him tell me. One he’d got for some work in the Philippines – the other some thing in the Mekong Delta. A mahout then came by with a large elephant which the man went across to look at saying they’d always fascinated him. So I asked him where he came from – American Samoa he replied. And what did he do? He worked “for the government”.

He then stepped back and ordered another drink for everyone in the bar. I thanked him and he turned and said “Let’s eat and drink for tomorrow we may be dead”. He then looked me in the eye with the coldest eyes I’d ever seen and said “ You know it is very easy. I pick up the gun, I pull the trigger and they are gone.” It was evident he wasn’t bullshitting.

That evening I saw the bar owner – who comes from Texas – and mentioned this guy. “Oh yes that’s so and so – he’s a US Navy SEAL. Bad news when he’s drunk.”

Guess I can be thankful I met him whilst he was sober!

Atheist Overdoses; Shown Soul’s Process Of Pre-Life Planning (NDE)

Her story is powerful. All of her words should have been heard and none bleeped out….

What are your thoughts on the owner of Home Depot saying,” The rise of socialism is making people too lazy, fat, and stupid to work”?

If you are offended by profanity, best skip this response.

I, too, am in the top 1% of wealth holders in this country, albeit, on lowest rung, yet minimum wage at my small Inn is higher than it is at this billionaire cunt’s company. I have no problem finding employees. This piece of shit motherfucker sits on his yacht sipping pina coladas while his employees need a second job to just pay the bills to live their day to day lives.

This asshole supports the Republican Party with massive amounts of money, and as a wealthy person, I can tell you a thing or two about how tax laws work in this country. For those of you who make less than $250k a year but still vote Republican, your economic misery is your own fault. The Democratic Party has LOTS of problems, but one problem they don’t have is trying to make life better for the average person and if you stopped watching your choice of right wing media, you’d soon realize that. It’s people like this cunt who are destroying America and contributing NOTHING to it.

What did this prick do? He built a fucking store, massively exploited his workforce by grabbing all the loot for himself and then whining when ordinary people have had enough and don’t want to work for anymore. Fuck him, and his fellow cunt billionaires.

How do you know you are rich?

When I was doing my B Tech, there was a Professor Talukedar who used to teach us ‘Mechanics’.

His lectures used to be very interesting since he had an interesting way to teach and explain the concepts.

One day, in the class, he asked the following questions,

What is ZERO.
What is INFINITY.
Can ZERO and INFINITY be same.

We all thought that we knew the answers and we replied as following,

ZERO means nothing
INFINITY means a number greater than any countable number
ZERO and INFINITY are opposite and they can never be same

He countered us by first talking about infinity and asked, ‘How can there be any number which is greater than any countable number?’

We had no answers.

He then explained the concept of infinity in a very interesting way, which I remember even after more than 35 years.

He said that imagine that there is an illiterate shepherd who can count only upto 20.

Now, if the number of sheep he has less than 20 and you ask him how many sheep he has, he can tell you the precise number (like 3, 5 14 etc.). However, if the number is more than 20, he is likely to say “TOO MANY”.

He then explained that in science infinity means ‘too many’ (and not uncountable) and in the same way zero means ‘too few’ (and not nothing)

As an example, he said that if we take the diameter of the Earth as compared to distance between Earth and Sun, the diameter of earth can be said to zero since it is too small.

However, when we compare the same diameter of earth with the size of a grain, diameter of earth can be said to be infinite.

Hence, he concluded that the same thing can be ZERO and INFINITE at the same time, depending on the context, or your matrix of comparison.

The relationship between richness and poverty is similar to the relationship between infinity and zero.

It all depends on the scale of comparison with your wants.

If your income is more than your wants, you are rich.
If your wants are more than your income, you are poor.

I consider myself rich because my wants are far lesser than my income.

I have become rich not so much by acquiring lots of money, but by progressively reducing my wants.

If you can reduce your wants, you too can become rich at this very moment.

Ep 9. We just moved to Bulgaria! How is it going?

From the UK to Bulgaria.

Have you ever caught your spouse cheating on you in your own home? How did you deal with it?

I came home very sick with flu one day, went up to my bedroom, my husband was in my bed with the mail lady. I told them both to get the fuck out of my house. He argued that he needed sleep cuz he worked overnights. He needed his clothes and stuff. I told him all his clothes would be alongside the garage by Monday. It’s where the garbage is kept. Take a shirt and stuff he needed for tonight and get lost. Take a shower at her house or work. I packed up his stuff in garbage bags along with the topper to our wedding cake, some mementos from our honeymoon, I was being passive aggressive I agree, but how dare he sleep with her in our bed, in our home. We had a 2 year old and a 6 mos old. He was just wrong. He showed up a month later crying to me that she had broken up with him. I told him too bad, I didn’t feel bad for him in the least. I got the house( and mortgage) in the divorce. It was ok cuz I wanted the kids to stay in their home and school and I made more money, the root cause of the problem. He felt inadequate cuz I was a senior manager and he was doing maintenance work. This was no issue for me, just for him.

What caused you to fall out of love with your past lover?

When I first got married, we would be passionate everywhere, if you know what I mean, bed, floor, couch, where ever. We would do things for each other. And we enjoyed each other’s company. She was from Japan I am white american.

I learned to speak Japanese and we lived in Japan a few years and life was good. We had kids together, but over the years things grew cold between us.

They say that people change and you grow apart. I don’t think either of us changed. I doubt that most people change. What I suspected happened was that I would base my love on how much she loved me and visa versa. If she did something nice for me, I would do something nice for her. Or if I did something nice for her, she would do something nice for me.

That all sounds fine and dandy, but I think in practice, it doesn’t work. When I do something nice for her, I expect something of equal niceness in return. However, often is the case that you don’t perceive what is done in return is as valuable as what you gave him or her. So the next time you do something, you feel less inclined to do something as nice. And so the love kind of fizzles.

You basically stop caring because you perceive your partner as not caring. And chances are your partner feels the same way about you. Neither person has changed. They are both the same person, but the love isn’t there anymore. They let it spiral into nothingness.

That is what my wife and I did. After 20 some odd years of marriage, there was nothing. I really had no desire to do anything for my wife, because she wasn’t going to do anything for me. We didn’t hate each other. We helped each other when needed, but that is about all.

I was unhappy with the marriage. I either wanted out or I wanted it fixed. But after 20 years of marriage, I knew that she wasn’t going to try and fix the marriage. I knew that she thought I would not change so why should she have to do anything special and if I did change, it would only be temporary and things would go back to how they were, so why even try. I knew this would be her mind set.

So I had 3 options. Divorce, stay in the lifeless, sexless marriage, or take a chance and do something about it.

I thought perhaps divorce would be the better way. Start anew. She had given up on me and didn’t care.

But I decided to give it a try anyway. I completely revamped my approach. I decided that I would try for one year to fix this. I would not require her to do anything. I would just do these things on my own. If these things wooed her back then she would be back on her own terms and not mine.

So I did the following.

I committed to get into shape… better diet, exercise
I committed to do something special for her everyday regardless of whether we were getting along or not.
I committed to do at least an additional 30 minutes of house work every day.
I committed to pay her a sincere compliment at least once per day.
I committed not to fight with her and to only have calm arguments with her.
I decided to fix her dinner and breakfast as often as possible.
In essence I decided to love her every day.

As I thought, I got essentially no response from her day after day. I mean she would sometimes say thank you, but that was about it. After about four months she started to change. I kept at it. She continued to change. Ok.. she didn’t change. She was the same person, but she saw that I was trying. She saw that she was important to me. She saw that I wasn’t giving up. She wanted to be loved.

She started doing things for me again. We started talking a lot more and doing a lot more together. We started dating again and going on trips. It was almost like we were newly weds again, but with less passion, but it felt great. Sometimes I would just hold her in my arms for 30 minutes.

Love can be revived. It is not easy. True love takes work. Making the decision above to love her regardless was the second best decision of my life. The first of course was to marry her. Our marriage is not perfect, but I look forward to seeing her every day. She is an awesome woman. She is basically the same person I married. We just let our love die. We were lazy lovers. She asked me one day what got into me and I talked with her about my plan. I think it was a pretty good plan and so did she. And yes, we are still married, but much more happily now.

I knew our love couldn’t be one sided, but I also knew it needed to start somewhere and why not me. Ask yourself, why not you? Do you want the love back? what kind of sacrifice are you willing to make to have the love back? If I had decided that she needed to do something while I was doing something, then we would have been right back to where we started. You can’t base your actions on what the other is doing in return. You need to commit to love regardless of what is done in return. That is the sacrifice and that is where real love will begin.

Edit.

I can’t believe how many people have read and liked this. Someone mentioned the 40 day challenge. I found out about that several months after I started on this path. There is a movie out there along these same lines called fireproof that is worth a watch.

For me things didn’t change around in 40 days. It took quite a bit longer. But you have to ask yourself is divorce really the better way out? Yes, sometimes it is. But infidelity doesn’t have to be the end of life as we know it.

I look back on these events and they seem like a distant memory, the hurt and pain. like a forgotten dream. But it really wasn’t that long ago. I am a better person because of it. She has become a better person as well and we are definitely a better couple.

6 REASONS WHY AMERICANS ARE OBESE. WHAT IS CAUSING THE RISING OBESITY IN THE USA?

It’s no secret that obesity in America has been an ongoing issue and that doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon.

In fact, according to Harvard University; about 2 in every 3 adults or 69 percent of the population in the US are overweight while1 in 3 adults are obese or 39 percent.

It has to make you wonder how the most powerful and advanced nation in the world can be so obese especially when compared to countries in Europe and Asia, it’s not like we don’t have the means as a nation for healthier lifestyle and better-quality food.

Or maybe Americans are meant to be obese, and they want us to stay that way? Sounds controversial right, well in this video we will expose 8 reasons why Americans are so obese compared to other countries.

Why is Burma so poor?

Our country born with troubles since its independence.

Have you ever heard about the Burma Campaign in World War 2? It is quite thorough and one of the most destructive campaigns largely forgotten by Western Powers and historians. The entire infrastructure of the country was destroyed during the course of the war. By the end of the war, the country was totally in rubbles and a massive number of firearms were widespread even in the village level which was left behind by warring powers. The situation was ripe for armed insurgencies.

The country was never been administered as a whole before British arrival. The region out of central Myanmar was usually administered by local petty chiefs with vassal-high king relationship which never need any direct contact between different cultures (except a few tributary missions and merchants). There is no large-scale internal trade and the transportation was also difficult. Different cultures and ethnic groups suddenly came into contact under British rule. As usual, the British exploited the situation by creating a divide & conquer strategy by favouring ethnic minorities over the Burmese majority. This led to extreme Burmese nationalism.

Due to economic disaster in the 1930s and later devastating war, the country is under very hard economic conditions which was a natural breeding ground for communism. The Burmese Communist Party which never believed in British plan for independence already went rebellion even before independence.

Then, the world’s longest-running civil war began.

In the 1950s and 60s, the civil war lost momentum and Burma came under the spotlight of international relations due to its leading role in third world nations, one of the founders of the non-aligned movement. The country was also the only real democratic nation in Southeast Asia with regular elections. The country largely recovered from the war at the beginning of the 1960s and hopes ran high. A federal system was proposed by the ethnic leaders and the government agreed.

All out of sudden, the coup came. At first, people weren’t serious as they already seen a short 2 years long military rule which stabilized the country and the coup ended with the mostly free and fair elections. By the time they realized that the military is no longer intended to give up the power this time, the civil war gained intensity and all the things we achieved in the last 10 years were gone.

The military junta slowly transformed themselves into businessmen by laying hands on the country’s economy entirely. The Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) ran by the military alone control nearly 40–50% of the country’s economy directly or indirectly. With the lack of a proper banking system, the ordinary people have no access to much-needed capital for investments. Small and Medium scale businesses have no chance to grow unless the monopoly of military elites and their relatives were removed.

My daughter hit her younger brother in the groin so he slapped her across the face. I confiscated all his devices and grounded him for a month. Was that a good enough punishment or not?

So he responds in self-defense and you teach him that if the attacker is female he’s supposed to just sit there writhing in pain getting injured? And she got off scott-free?

What’s next? She stabs him and he gets tossed in a closet and fed gruel and water? Because you might as well.

If you knew she attacked first, you should have punished HER. You discipline all parties that have transgressed, not just the ones who have a penis. Having a vagina doesn’t magically bestow immunity on a person.

If you confiscated all his devices, you should have confiscated hers as well. For his month of grounding, she should have received two.

There’s a big difference between a slap in the face (which stings but quickly dissapates) and kicking someone in the jewelies (which could cause irreparable damage).

No. You’re punishment wasn’t good enough. You half-assed it due to sexist reasoning. Go back and discipline your daughter as well.

Who Wants To Be A WARMONGER?!

Inspired by the war hawks that run the West, it’s the game show that always ends badly!

What is the kindest act you have ever witnessed?

Even though this was a relatively small thing, it affected me profoundly.

On my lunch break from work, I went to a fast food place. A homeless man came in. He was absolutely filthy, with long, greasy hair and dirty hands, dressed in raggedy clothes with a piece of blanket wrapped around him. He smelled bad. He didn’t seem able to talk and he went from table to table, sort of chittering at people, like a rat. People were pretty horrified and either gave him a quarter or just ignored him.

There was one table with 4 Mexican day laborers. These are guys who often are in the U.S. “illegally” and who hang around outside home improvement stores, hoping to pick up jobs. They don’t make much money and sometimes people cheat them, knowing the laborers can’t go to the authorities. A lot of these men may live in one house so they can save money and send it back to their families in Mexico.

When this homeless man came up to their table, they asked him, “Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?” Then they gave him all of their food, packing it up for him so he could carry it away. Then they didn’t go and buy more food themselves (they probably couldn’t afford it), but simply cleared the table and walked out. They knew what it was to suffer, and they very likely would suffer a bit from their generosity. But that didn’t stop them; and they were the best example of kindness I have ever seen. It was over 30 years ago, and it still affects me.

What is an insane coincidence that you’ve experienced?

The night my daughter died in a double hit-and-run in Colorado, a stranger stopped to help her and was witness to the second car that hit her, ending her life. He had been trying to help her though; he called for an ambulance and although it was ultimately unsuccessful, every effort was made to save her life. That stranger is a hero as far as I’m concerned.

The man who tried to help was very traumatized by what he had witnessed and had to change jobs so that he no longer had to daily pass by the place where my daughter died as he went to and from work. Unrelated to the accident, he and his wife got rid of their landline when they moved. I wanted very much to thank him but although I had tried every way I knew, his job had changed, he no longer had a telephone I could call 411 for and he no longer lived in the same place. I finally decided that simply being grateful would have to be enough, even if I couldn’t tell him myself.

Two years later, I’m sitting at the dinner table in a hostel in London and strike up a conversation with a guy also having dinner there. He was from the same area as me. He remembered my daughter’s death not just from it being in the news, but because the husband of one of his co-workers had stopped and tried to help the young lady.

OMG.

To make a long story short, he put me in touch with his co-worker and I was able to email her and express my thanks and gratitude for her husband’s efforts that night. She emailed me back and said that although her husband was desperately sorry he couldn’t save her, he was grateful that she didn’t have to die alone. He is a hero in my eyes and I’m so glad I got to let him know how grateful our family is. May he and his loved ones be abundantly blessed.

China Reveals HUGE Sanctions On US Tech Giants Due A STAGGERING Unpaid $1 Trillion

The direct consequences for the implicated U.S. tech companies are potentially disastrous. China is a significant market for many of these entities, and the sanctions could drastically affect their revenue, stock prices, and global operations. Companies like Apple, which rely on China for both sales and a vast portion of their supply chain, could see significant disruptions. The same goes for firms like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, which have invested billions in capturing the Chinese market and establishing a supply chain nexus.

Furthermore, these sanctions could also impact hundreds of smaller U.S. tech firms and startups that might not be direct targets but could suffer collateral damage due to the intertwined nature of the tech ecosystem. This isn’t just a bilateral U.S.-China issue; the sanctions have ramifications for the global tech industry. Supply chains across the world are intricately linked, and disruptions in China could lead to ripple effects impacting tech manufacturing globally. Countries and businesses that rely on these tech giants for critical infrastructure, software, and hardware might find themselves caught in the crossfire.

The European Union, India, Japan, and South Korea, among others, will be closely watching the developments. Any prolonged conflict could force these nations to recalibrate their tech dependencies and alliances. On the diplomatic front, this escalation further strains an already tense U.S.-China relationship. The last few years have witnessed a hardening of stances on both sides, with trade wars, tech bans, and territorial disputes. This new development might just push the diplomatic ties to a new low.

As the news of China’s unprecedented sanctions reverberated across the globe, key stakeholders began weighing in, highlighting the vast complexities of the issue. Major international business councils, traditionally silent on political matters, expressed deep concern over the possible long-term disruptions to global trade. Wall Street responded predictably, with significant declines in tech stock prices. Investor sentiments seem to mirror the broader fears. If China and the U.S., two of the world’s largest economies, can’t resolve their differences amicably, what hope is there for the stability of the global economic order?

Moreover, experts in international relations also sounded the alarm. The escalation of this magnitude in the U.S.-China tech conflict marks a deviation from conventional trade disagreements. The integration of geopolitics with business is not new, but the scale of this rift indicates a deep-seated power struggle reflecting ambitions, fears, and strategies beyond mere economic interests.

One of the most pressing concerns for the sanctioned tech companies and the international community is the verification of China’s claim. How is this enormous one trillion dollars figure reached without transparent documentation and a clear breakdown? Suspicions linger over the validity of such a vast sum. The call for a neutral third-party audit has gained traction in various quarters. International bodies like the World Trade Organization could potentially mediate, ensuring that claims and counterclaims are examined impartially.

While the U.S. government has not yet announced any countermeasures, there’s widespread speculation about potential retaliation. Would the U.S. respond with equivalent sanctions on Chinese tech companies? Could there be a broader economic response that targets other sectors of the Chinese economy? Such a move would undoubtedly lead to further escalation, intensifying the trade war and potentially causing harm to global economic stability.

https://youtu.be/0HdX5XhiMMQ

Date Pudding Cobbler

Yield: 9 servings

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon cold butter
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup chopped dates
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup water
Whipped cream, for garnish
Ground cinnamon, for garnish

Instructions

In a bowl, combine flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar and baking powder.
Cut in butter until crumbly.
Gradually add the milk, dates and walnuts.
In saucepan, combine water and remaining brown sugar; bring to a boil. Remove from heat; add the date mixture and mix well.
Transfer to a greased 8 inch square baking pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
If desired, top each serving with a dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon.

What are the cleverest scams you have come across?

As an immigrant, one thing that always spooks me is paperwork and all related things to immigration process.

One day, I was outside working on my garden, when I came back inside, there were four missed calls. Just like a habit, I copied and pasted the phone number to Google search, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection – Corpus Christi Border Patrol Station popped up.

I started panicking. Why? Why they called me?!?? So, when the phone number appeared again a few minutes after that, I picked it up.

A woman on the phone let me know that there was someone used my identity to cross the border, tried to traffic drugs into the country. She told me that this could happen because I traveled outside of the country recently (which was correct). I was nervous. Then the woman proceeded to tell me she ‘would help me to verify and straighten things up’. Then she asked me my full name, DoB and Social Number.

At this point, I started smelling B.S. I told her, wasn’t it an identity thief case? Shouldn’t she have those information already? She got furious and told me, she was ‘trying to help’ and I needed to ‘cooperate’ or else I would ‘end up in jail’.

I decided to cut off the call, told her I would contact my lawyer and said goodbye then hung up.

I did some searching, then I decided to call back the phone number. It went to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection – Corpus Christi Border Patrol Station for real. I talked to an officer. He told me I was right hanging up the call and told me scammers nowadays gets really aggressive. They can hi-jack the phone number line like that, so the Caller ID looks like it’s legitimate from government offices. He also told me: If the government wants anything from you, they will send snail mails, they don’t call.

It was a very interesting experience.

Star Trek – Parallel Universe

MM hospital run

Well, I am in the hospital. In-patient.

I had a “blood pressure” event that scared the living shit out of myself and caused me to rush to the emergency room.

The night before, we had drank three bottles of Merlot wine. Now, Merlot is a very hard wine, not so much in alcohol, but it is a heavy wine, and the next morning, I felt “very off”. That feeling of being “off” persisted well into the afternoon.

By 3:30 in the afternoon, I made up some of my herbal tea. Which consisted of “yin Yang Hua herbs (“Horny goat weed”) and GuoGe grapes. You just keep on adding hot water to the mix. And I drank about six bottles of the tea. Perhaps six or seven bottles. Maybe three liters total. It made me feel better.

It always does.

Anyways, I started to chew on some of the leaves and swallowed some of the GuoGe berries. And about a half of an hour later, I started to feel really “off”

My body felt really “wrong”.

So I went and checked my blood pressure. It is normally at 121.

I read 142. High.

High.

So I calmed down. Waited 15 minutes.

Measured it again.

158. Uh oh!

Gulp.

It was rising rapidly. Too rapidly. Too fast.

So I waited twenty minutes, and checked again.

175.

Sheeeeet!

I told ms. mm, “we need to go to the hospital now”. She started to protest, “but I have xxxxx”. I said “I don’t care.” And grabbed my keys. And the mrs and kid followed behind.

Luckily the hospital was down the street and we parked in front of the emergency room, as it was around 5 o’clock Sunday night.

I got in. They measured my vitals.

Blood Pressure = 214
Body temperature = 39.5 C

Both too high. I was admitted, and checked in. The staff took care of me.

…

Anyways, things are under control now, but I have to stay in the hospital for a while as they watch me.

My temperature is back to normal, and my BP is going down. The doctors tell me that I worry too much, high BP will not kill me. And they put me in the old people wing of the hospital due to my age.

LOL.

They nurses look at me… and then to my wife…, and four-year old and go “really?”

I don’t look like the rest of the folk in this area. And frankly, they are scaring me. Old 90 year old men on death-beds, and 80-year olds with health issues.

But I’ll get out once things stabilize.

My heart checks out fine. CT scan of my skull is fine too, though the doctor wanted to know what those seven black beads were. LOL! He chuckled at my answer, and I joked about it too.

Anyways…

Don’t fuck around with your health!

Anyways, the doctor says that my worrying about my situation only made things worse. All I was doing was drinking red wine, and taking Chinese herbal teas and that there was nothing that I should worry about.

Nothing. Normal behaviors.

Blurred vision, however. Dizziness, however… yeah… go straight to the hospital, but aside from that. Dontworryaboutit.

I’ll give you all updates as time moves on, but I have a lot of things on my plate that this particular moment in time, and I have to jiggle my medical emergency with all sorts of other personal, professional concerns. So I’m at max right now.

…

Today…

Attractiveness as rated by different sexes

How and where was Huawei able to manufacture the 7nm chip that powers the Mate 60 series? It is the subject of intense speculation within the US government. Why does the US focus on it? Will it reignite the ongoing US-China tech cold war?

Huawei did a miracle, defy traditional convention and believe, it had done the impossible. It was beyond US and DOC imagination, it is still a mystery to them, they have yet to figure out how Huawei did it.

The US banned Huawei access to EDA design tool, practically cut Huawei or Hisilcon from designing the chip although Hisilcon was able to design chip of 3nm using US EDA design tool before the ban.

Therefore Huawei and Hisilcon need to come out with their own EDA tool which they did successfully in unprecedented record time.

With its own EDA tool Hisilcon can proceed to design 7nm chip that SMIC can fabricate.

The other breakthrough was the fabrication of 7nm chips with DUV machines which according to industry is not possible, DUV standard limit is to produce chip up to 14 or 10 nm. 7nm chip require EUV machine, China or SMIC was banned from getting EUV machine.

BUT SMIC with corporation from Huawei did successfully produce 7nm chips by using available DUV machines which they call them N+2 chip. It was reported Huawei seconded more than 300 engineers or scientists to jointly resolve the bottleneck of using existing DUV machines to produce the require N+2 chips, an unbelievable breakthrough.

Another mystery is how can SMIC mass produce N+2 chips, initially, market was under impression, Huawei Mate 60 pro will be limited in supply, but Huawei surprised the markets by introducing 3 more models and look like the 7nm chip had achieved mass production able to meet sale volumn requirement.

The US and allies are panic now, Qualcom sale of chips to China contribute more than 60% of their sales, may risk losing the markets, ASML is panic too, China and Huawei are likely to breakthrough on EUV machine soon. US EDA suppliers risk losing Chinese markets permanently, the biggest risk is China may soon flood the markets with competitive chips killing US and allies chip industries.

The US and allies need to worry beyond just Mate 60 pro.

周杰倫 Jay Chou【Mine Mine】Official MV

What do you make of the comment by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat that “the most important bilateral relations in the world is that between the US and China”?

Of course.

The U.S. will lose considerable ground and opportunity if it continue behaving like it is doing now.

What you need is a leader like Newsom the California governor. He sets aside biases and US media narratives to visit China and sees for himself what opportunities the U.S. is missing by having senile leaders like Trump and Biden.

The U.S. can only stay strong if it takes its head out of the sand. China is not just a big market it is humongous and growing rapidly. China alone is worth more than your next 5 biggest market. These nonsense of decoupling or de risking is having the opposite effect. You are not cutting China out. The U.S. is being decoupled from the world instead.

I suspect that Americans will throw out all China and Chinese haters out of your government soon. That is the first right step for the U.S.

GLICHERY – SEA OF PROBLEMS (PHONK)

Creole Flank Steak with Sautéed Vegetables and Cheese Grits

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

Flank Steak

1 beef flank steak (about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds)
1/2 cup red wine
2 tablespoons lime juice
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

Okra and Carrots Sauté

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 cup tomatoes, chopped
16 ounces okra, cut into 1 inch pieces

Creole Grits

1 1/2 cups water
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup quick-cooking grits
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup jalapeño jack cheese, shredded

Instructions

Flank Steak

Combine red wine, lime juice, garlic, Creole seasoning, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper in a food-safe plastic bag. Add steak, close bag securely. Marinate in refrigerator for 6 hours to overnight.
Remove steak from marinade; discard marinade. Place steak on grid over medium, ash-covered coals. Grill, covered, 11 to 16 minutes (over medium heat on preheated gas grill, 16 to 21 minutes) for medium rare (145 degrees F) to medium (160 degrees F) doneness, turning occasionally. Allow to rest.

Okra and Carrots Sauté

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the onions, carrots, cumin, coriander and chili powder. Sauté for 3 to 5 minutes or until the onions are transparent. Add the tomatoes and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the okra and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes or until the okra is cooked through.

Creole Grits

In a Dutch oven combine water, milk, Creole seasoning and salt. Bring to a boil.
Slowly add grits to hot liquid stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and cover, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 7 minutes.
Remove from heat, stir in butter in cheese until melted.
Slice grilled steak against the grain. Serve with vegetables and grits.

Nutrition

Per serving: 569.53 Calories; 256.68 Calories from fat; 28.6g Total Fat (13.2g Saturated Fat; 0.1g Trans Fat; 1.1g Polyunsaturated Fat; 8.6g Monounsaturated Fat;) 97.9mg Cholesterol; 1192mg Sodium; 45g Total Carbohydrate; 5.3g Dietary Fiber; 38.5g Protein; 4.3mg Iron; 964mg Potassium; 9.9mg Niacin; 0.7mg Vitamin B6; 3.6mcg Vitamin B12; 6.6mg Zinc; 35.5mcg Selenium; 129.3mg Choline

This recipe is an excellent source of Protein, Iron, Potassium, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Zinc, Selenium, Choline; and a good source of Dietary Fiber.

Why do many people live beyond their means/income?

Because the goalposts have been moved.

50 years ago, it was perfectly reasonable to have a huge house, 3 kids, a car, and go on holidays at least once per year. On a single income.

Today, working 2 jobs, living in a small room, having no kids, taking the bus, never going on holidays, but sometimes getting a latte or an avocado toast… is considered to be an extravagant lifestyle, filled with needless luxuries.

Give it another couple of decades, and random stuff like getting 8 hours of sleep will be declared to be some kind of reckless indulgence, irresponsible behavior that youngsters should avoid if they ever want to be able to afford housing.

Husband Shocks Mrs By Laying Down The Law About The Marriage, Lack Of Bedroom Fun, Etc (She Obeys)

In today’s video, I go over an email sent from a subscriber who shares his story of how his once great marriage went down the tubes after unfortunate life events caused him to stop being the masculine leader he once was.

Finally after gaining back some of his manhood, he confronts his wife about her years of bad treatment of him and makes it clear that there are going to be some immediate changes or it’s over!

This is a great story about how men need to always remain in their masculine (even when things are difficult) as well as be the leader or things will quickly go to hell in a handbasket in their relationships.

What was the best April Fool’s prank played on you/you played on someone else?

Sixteen years ago, I got a job assignment 100 miles away for one year. My newly married daughter and son in law (Andy) moved into my house and I got an apartment in the new city. I came home most weekends. Before I left, I asked Andy if he wanted to keep cable for the year and pay for it. He said no and I cancelled it. Interestingly my bill with Comcast reflected the cancellation but the house still had service.

A few months go by and now it is April 1. I call Andy and leave a voicemail. I say that the Michigan State Police contacted me. They are investigating a three state cable theft ring. They claim my home is stealing cable, there is an illegal, third party bridge device affixed to home and the device has Andy’s fingerprints on it. I am in the clear because I have not been living there. This is all fiction.

Next, Andy is out and goes to my ex wife’s house where he and my daughter had been living previous to my house. A younger daughter answers the door and tells Andy that a police officer came to the house asking for him. She gives him a name and phone number the imaginary cop left. Andy is confused and then listens to my voicemail. Now he is freaked out. He calls the number and it rings to the desk of the woman who works next to me. She sees the incoming number and answers “Kent County Jail”. Andy identifies himself and tells her a bit of the story. She says she will transfer the call to the detective.

The call rings to my desk and I answer Hi Andy. April Fools.

I never left his side

What are some reasons the Cold War started?

Everyone keeps saying “1945” but the genesis of the distrust between the Soviet Union and the United States goes back way before that, and it’s impossible to understand why the two sides got engaged in proxy wars and a disastrously expensive arms buildup without going back to the Russian October Revolution in 1917.

It’s 1917 and the Russian Empire is on the ropes due to some spectacularly bad military and civilian leadership that saw Tsar Nicholas actually trying to lead troops in the field. His government completely collapsed that spring.

However, the provisional government, led by a faction called the Mensheviks (“Minority”) made one critical error. They were dependent on Great Britain, France and the United States to prop up their finances on the condition that Russia continue their war effort. The Mensheviks were no better at trying to fight the Germans, Austrians and Turks as the Imperial forces were and Germany decided to try to destabilize the new government by allowing passage to a Communist who went by the pseudonym of “Lenin” who was living in Geneva at the time who knew an opportunity when he saw it.

Lenin managed to get the support of worker’s unions, known by the Russian name “Soviet”, and the armed forces and took power in Moscow. He then consolidated power and ordered his foreign minister to end the war with the enemy powers as soon as possible no matter what it cost them. Russia conceded massive amounts of land and Lenin planned for what he knew was coming next – a civil war with the various factions that remained in Russian territory and breakaway states.

Naturally, the Western Powers were appalled, not only by the fact they now had to fight the Germans and Austrians alone (the war dragged on for another year) but that Lenin was making good on his promises to destroy the aristocracy and redistribute land and factories to the new “Soviets”.

The Russian Civil War, which lasted from 1917 to 1923 was an absolute mess with dozens of factions getting involved in addition to the primary fight between the Bolshevik “Red Army” and the “White Movement”, a loose coalition of anti-communist forces. Into this mess jumped in Great Britain, France and the United States, who sent personnel and support to the White faction.

So, after half-a-million people were killed and another 2.5 million people were wounded, the Reds were clearly on top and ready to rebuild the country. Unfortunately, the currency was worthless and the economy (once the world’s 4th largest) was in the toilet. What made it worse was that the economy was still largely agricultural at this point, and the Soviet Union still had to feed itself.

And absolutely no-one was willing to help them. Despite the Soviet Union being the de facto government of most of the old Empire (the Baltic States and some other areas remained independent) it would be another ten years before the western governments would recognize the new government, at which point the Soviet Union still struggled to recover its economy while it made great strides in industrialization. Sure, the west would buy Catherine the Great’s diamonds, but money was scarce.

In 1924 the secretary of the party, who had by manipulating meeting attendance and taking control of the bureaucracy rose to the head of the government, was clearly in charge with his rivals fleeing the country (to no avail, he had them hunted down). Joe Steel, or in Russian, “Josef Stalin”, had been a Georgian seminary student (he was very bright) and former bank robber (to finance communist party operations) but despite his accomplishments still spoke Russian like a Georgian and had a massive inferiority complex, a suspicious streak a mile wide, and was absolutely ruthless. When he died thirty years later, his servants were too afraid to check to see if he was actually dead.

But the western powers, this time including the newly restored Nazi Germany, were still hell bent on anti-Bolshevik rhetoric. The Nazis were hardly alone in this – the U.S., France and Great Britain were also hostile to communists during this period.

And it’s in 1939 when Stalin makes one of the greatest blunders in world history – he trusts Hitler. As his foreign minister later said, Stalin trusted no-one, except the world’s greatest liar. At first, it seemed to be a good idea as Russia seized the eastern half of Poland. However, just two years later, the Germans were on the move and invaded the Soviet Union. The irony is that Great Britain had excellent intelligence and was able to pin down the date of the invasion. They weren’t stupid and passed the information onto Russia. However, Stalin thought it was a ruse to get them to attack Germany. The Tsar’s attack on Germany in 1914 was what led to the war with Germany and he didn’t think it was a good idea to repeat history.

Nevertheless, their common enemy pushed Great Britain and the Soviet Union together as the British provided what they could to the Russians. When America entered the war later that year they got in on the game too and the three sides realized they had to work together to destroy Nazi Germany.

But throughout this period the three sides still had a lot of distrust of each other, and there were even cases where the United States and Great Britain were at odds.

Percentages agreement – Wikipedia

Russian and Great Britain’s plan to carve up Europe after the war. The U.S. wasn’t in on it.

But distrust over each other’s post war motives continued. By the time Truman told Stalin about the atomic bomb, Stalin knew about the project and even before that, had known about the potential (Russian scientists had independently hit on the idea). Moreover, during the period from 1941–1944 and D-Day, the Russians were carrying the bulk of the fight against the Germans and suffering terribly for it while the British and Americans were safely making plans in England. Stalin persistently pressed the matter about when the western powers would open a second front, and by the time they did so in June 1944 it was clear the Germans weren’t going to win the war anyway. American involvement didn’t win the war, but it certainly shortened it.

Things didn’t get better after Germany’s defeat. Russia turned its attention to Japan and Japan, in another great historical miscalculation, figured they could avoid an occupation by using the Russians as intermediaries with the Americans. Instead, the Russians moved their forces east and invaded Manchuria the same day the first atomic bomb fell.

The importance of this delay cannot be overstated as it allowed Russia to occupy Manchuria and the northern half of the Korean peninsula, both of which were under Japanese occupation. Meanwhile the Americans grabbed the southern part of Korea and Japanese occupied Taiwan. Russia’s occupation allowed safe haven for the Chinese and Korean communist parties.

Still, the Russians, Americans, British and French still worked together to get things done, but by 1949 it was clear that the relationship was severely strained. One of the big issues was the flight of European capital to the United States after the war. This was clearly against the laws of the countries where the capital flight had taken place, but instead of repatriating the capital to their original countries, the American government decided to provide replacement capital (commonly called The Marshall Plan). Stalin outright refused to participate in the plan and again blamed capitalists for the now near total lack of usable money in his sphere of influence.

The western powers managed to keep the Russians from extending their influence into Austria or Greece, but it was clear Stalin had a great plan to prevent western friendly governments from getting influence in the regions he occupied. The first was his refusal to clear Warsaw of German troops as the Polish government-in-exile in London planned to return. This gave him the opportunity to set up a new Polish provisional government. East Germany’s new leaders were found by using the easiest denazification tactic after the war – finding German communists who had been forced into exile or concentration camps.

After the Soviet attempt to blockade the western powers zone in Berlin in 1948, everyone quickly got used to the new world order with NATO in the east with the remaining democracies and the Warsaw Pact consisting of communist puppet governments in Russian occupied territory. A couple of places like Yugoslavia and Albania were both communist and mostly independent of Russia, but it was a delicate balancing act.

At the same time, it was clear the Republic of China was in serious problems and the Kuomintang fled to American controlled Taiwan as the Chinese Communist Party managed to do what the Republic of China never did – consolidate the country’s military forces into a single unit and take control over all the countryside. The Soviet Union immediately recognized the new communist government of China, but the western powers instead continued to back the Kuomintang despite the fact they no longer controlled any of the mainland.

So in the end all of this really goes back to that time in 1918 when the western powers refused to accept communism despite its immediate popularity in the new Soviet Union, and gave birth to a paranoid sociopath who could neither trust nor be trusted. The two sides continued to be suspicious of each other for the next forty-five years as both spread misinformation about the other in order to justify their tactics.

Do not be fooled

What is the strangest thing you’ve seen someone return to a store?

Someone attempted to return a steel entry door to the store I worked at. I refused the return.

“You have to take this door back! I know the returns policy here!”

“No, I do not. We only accept returns of unused items.”

“And how do you know it isn’t unused?”

“Okay…
It’s painted green on one side.
It’s painted white on the other.
The tape from where someone hung a picture on it is still there.
The jamb on one side is nine years older than the jamb on the other, and it’s busted out where the lock bores are.
The jamb side of the hinges is a different color than the lock side.
It’s warped.
The brickmould around the outside is three different colors. (There are three pieces of brickmould on a door.)
There’s a big dent in the area of the lockset where someone kicked it in.
Which says to me that someone came in, bought a new door to replace this one, removed the parts from the new door that he needed, reassembled the rest of the parts into a facsimile of a door, then sent you down here with it to try to return it. And, as I said, I’m not going to accept the return.”

Naturally, he demanded to speak to a manager…who took one look at the door, asked the guy “you’re kidding, right?” and walked away.

On edit: Here’s one that was actually justified. In North Carolina, you can buy bales of pine needles. The product is called Pine Straw, and people use it in landscaping. A woman brought back a bale of it – something that NEVER happened.

“Reason for return?”
“There’s a live rattlesnake in it.”

We called Animal Control. They sent a truck over to pick up the bale. Before hauling the snake off, they told her that next time she gets a free rattlesnake with her pine straw, she needs to call Animal Control and not try to haul it back to the store. They returned two hours later; they hauled the snake twenty miles out in the woods and turned it loose.

Second edit: A customer I knew pretty well and got along with (he was a contractor) brought in a wooden gable vent. A very, very used wooden gable vent…the house it was in was probably 50 years old. So I got called to Returns. “No. Definitely used, and we don’t sell these anyway. The cobwebs on this thing probably weigh more than it does.”

“But I bought it here fifteen years ago!”

“Sir, I can guarantee you didn’t buy this here fifteen years ago.”

“How can you guarantee that?”

“The store is only eleven years old.”

He was just fucking around; he wanted to see if I’d throw it away for him because it wouldn’t fit in the dumpster he rented. That, I would do.

Two options

I just got fired. Now my former boss (the one who let me go) is asking me where some important documents are. How should I respond?

I went through this myself and I was the biggest idiot in the world for thinking that maybe, just maybe, if I’m nice and give the info my “dear friend” would change his mind. HAH!! The fucker had his errand boy bother me for days about all the shit that they never fixed or gave me the correct info to fix it properly and they they denied the fact that I worked 7 days a week and only paid me for one week instead of the 2 it should of been. His piss poor excuse was that his girlfriend the office manager said I wasn’t owed it. I wonder how she would of felt if I told her about the offer of an apartment and $3k a month to be his girlfriend and how much he hated being with her and was disgusted at the thought of having sex with her. DO NOT DO IT! If you are offered payment to do it and you need the money, tell them the money has to be in your account before you tell them anything, otherwise let them look for it themselves. Basically, fuck them, they fired you and now are proving they need you. It’s bullshit!

What is the worst case of a spoiled person you have ever seen?

In 9th grade, during PE class we were just sort of milling around waiting for class to start. The guys were all standing around discussing chores.

Our PE teacher was a southern blue collar kind of guy. He worked as a fixer upper worker on the weekends too, repairing homes, bathrooms, kitchens etc. This is a guy who probably earned every penny he ever spent.

And here he was stuck in a room with a bunch of spoiled rich kids.

He jokingly said something to the effect of, “Man, you guys are all spoiled. I bet your parents pay you to do chores.”

And all the guys start nodding yes. “Oh yeah, my mom gives me $20 to mow the lawn.”

Another says, “I get $5 to clean my room.”

The teacher had poorly concealed disgust on his face.

For the record, I didn’t get paid for chores. Again, I’m from a military family. Being paid for chores is preposterous.

I cleaned my room or else.

Why did China’s Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng say that the US wants to establish China as an ‘imaginary enemy’ to divert attention from domestic problems and suppress China?

Of course.

It is cheap political propaganda that gain popularity but in reality costly to the U.S. government and the Americans livelihood.

To me and indeed the world. The U.S. is a broken nation that has tremendous internal issues to the point of being unsustainable and imploding politically and socially. There is far too many unworkable issues facing the U.S. such as racialism, poverty, homelessness, disparity of income, high inflation, bankrupt cities, random street shooting and unworkable. Health care policies.

Most U.S. politicians simply ignore those unsolvable issues and distract the attention of frustrated citizens by ignoring those problems through creating imaginary adversaries like China, Iran or Russia. Their media are used to demonise these nations instead of facing its own domestic issues.

What is the last thing you want your pilot to say?

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have a problem with our wings,” announced the pilot.

True story. This happened to me last week.

The plane was making its final approach to Houston Intercontinental Airport. Suddenly there were three consecutive “ding-dong” sounds in the main cabin.

I saw both air hostesses run from the back of the plane to the front and grab the phone. They talked for a few seconds to the pilot, then the pilot came on with an announcement.

“We have broken off our approach. We have a problem with our wings. The leading edge slats won’t come down. We have declared an emergency and we will be landing shortly,” he said.

“Fire trucks will be waiting for us on the runway. It’s probably going to be a hard landing because we can’t slow the plane down as we normally would. We’ll see you on the ground.”

That was it.

Immediately the air hostesses started preparing everyone for the emergency. Uncertainty filled the cabin. Everyone of us felt vulnerable and scared.

I reflected on how fragile we are. There we were, trapped inside a metal tube flying at a high speed, … nothing to be done, simply pray and trust that everything would be okay.

The wind shook the plane from one side to the other. I could sense how the pilot was trying to find the optimal speed to land, not too fast, yet enough to fight the winds.

I could finally see the runway through my window. We all braced for the impact and as soon as we touched the ground, the pilot hit hard on the brakes.

The captain did an amazing job. We cheered and clapped for his fantastic landing.

Fire trucks followed us to the gate.

It was not fun. That leading edge slat on the front of the wing is responsible for the addition of a few more grey hairs to my head.

My first — and hopefully my last — emergency landing!

Making a sandwich is a problem

Is it a crime to say in China, “Xi Jinping is destroying China. He must be kicked out! He is a dictator!”? In the West, saying such things about one’s president is perfectly normal.

Nobody cares about you.

You need to prove your idea carefully and defend your opinion facing a tsunami of debates, otherwise, no one believes in you, or they just took you as a psycho. Persuading Chinese people is a hard task, America tried every means to turn Chinese people to think so in past 30 years, but worked badly. And thanks to Western anti-China propaganda, Chinese people are well trained in confronting such speeches.
China has a lot of CCP-haters, Western-lickers, retro-nationalist (hate their own nationality and hoped to be colonized by the West again), they spoke much more hilarious speeches than you.
Again, if someone making speech only providing his own opinion but lacking details, usually means the speaker is less educated or lack independent rational thinking.

Why I choose to raise my child in CHINA and not the WEST

I found a practically new Porsche 911 that was declared a total loss by an insurance company because water came up to the floor. A third party says it’s in perfect condition and wants to sell it. Should I buy it?

Oh. Oh dear god.

Any car that’s been written off for water damage is a car you want to stay as far away from as possible. Insurance companies know what they’re doing, and there’s a reason they declare water-damaged cars total losses even when the car looks and acts fine.

Look, Porches are expensive, temperamental, finicky beasts at the best of times, with perfect care and proper maintenance. A water-damaged car that insurance has declared a total loss? Jesus.

No. The third party is lying to you. It is not in perfect condition. Dear God no. If you buy it, you are not purchasing a car. You are purchasing a world of hurt. You are purchasing pain everlasting. You are purchasing a demon of the night, a thing that will present you with repair bills you never knew could be so high and so frequent at such totally unexpected times. Every seal, every moving part, every bit of metal on that car is suspect, and it will fail in interesting ways you wouldn’t think possible.

“Perfect condition” my left testicle. Right now, as I type this, corrosion is at work in every tiny nook and cranny of that car, eating away at its heart. As the seller hopes you’re too technically naive to realize. Don’t think of it as a car, think of it as an opportunity to saddle yourself with an expensive albatross that will be a source of the most magnificent pain for years to come.

Snowgraff – 10 Mentions Parallèles feat. José (Clip Officiel)

Israel Minister Amihai Eliyahu: Dropping a Nuke on Gaza is “An Option.”

World Hal Turner

Israel’s Minister Amihai Eliyahu says that dropping a nuclear weapon on the Gaza Strip is “an option.” Given the volume of explosives already dropped on Gaza, it exceeds the explosive power of Hiroshima.

Asked in a radio interview about a hypothetical nuclear option, Eliyahu replied: “That’s one way.” His remark made headlines in Arab media and scandalised mainstream Israeli broadcasters.

Neither Eliyahu or his party leader are in the streamlined ministerial forum (War Cabinet) running the Gaza war. Neither would they have inside knowledge of Israel’s nuclear capabilities – which it does not publicly acknowledge – or the power to activate them.

“Eliyahu’s statements are not based in reality. Israel and the IDF (military) are operating in accordance with the highest standards of international law to avoid harming innocents. We will continue to do so until our victory,” Netanyahu’s office said.

Eliyahu also voiced his objection to allowing any humanitarian aid into Gaza, adding that “there is no such thing as uninvolved civilians in Gaza” and that Palestinians “can go to Ireland or deserts.”

Hal Turner Editorial Opinion

I am almost apoplectic at this remark by Minister Eliyahu.

It is unclear to me which is worse: His remark, or the reality that his country has dropped more conventional explosives on Gaza than the explosive power of the Hiroshima nuclear bomb; and Israel still isn’t winning.

Can any of us imagine a military that is so ineffective, they would have to resort to using a nuclear bomb against an “enemy” that has NO ARMY?

How pathetic must the Israel Defense Force actually be that someone would even consider using a nuclear weapon?

One wonders if Minister Eliyahu has even considered what the rest of the world might do if Israel actually did something like that? Would the rest of the world allow even ONE Zionist – including Christian Zionists – to continue living anywhere on this planet if they did something like that?

How could the world ever trust any such person to remain breathing if they chose to use a nuclear bomb against an enemy that has NO ARMY?

I think this remark by Minister Eliyahu shows a gigantic, deep-seated, severe, mental sickness. Win at all costs, no matter what.

The remark strikes me as what we get when we bring up entire generations of people with “Participation Trophies” so they “all win.”

In real life, in sports, in business, in relationships, someone wins and someone loses. It is the reality of human existence.

But those who were brought up with Participation Trophies, have never had to learn to lose. They never learn to deal with it.

And it now appears to me, this is the result: A man who is so bent over possibly losing, he is willing to use nuclear bombs against an enemy that has no army, in order to satiate his need to “win.”

This remark indicates to me, that this particular Minister (and maybe a whole slew more) is a danger to himself and to other people.

How many more such people with such maniacal ideas are elsewhere in Governments around the world?

Maybe it’s time to find out – before such a maniacal idea spreads.

It’s a different race completely

Have you ever gotten roadside help from somebody unexpected?

Quite the opposite. One of the right side 110psi tires on my 24 foot living-quarters horse trailer blew out spectacularly on the interstate in Wyoming. It caused quite a bit of damage to the trailer. My horses were fine, though. I was alone, but prepared for that eventuality. On the side of the freeway, I set about getting it changed. I noticed a car pull over in front of me as if to help. A young man got out of the back seat, took one look at me standing there holding my four-way lug wrench, immediately turned around and got back in the car and left! What was he expecting? I was 57 years old at the time with silver hair, but not ugly or scary. I can’t imagine why someone pulling over to help would change their mind upon seeing me. Maybe I looked capable? I did get the tire changed, but getting the extremely heavy spare on was very difficult. I was very dirty (I ended up sitting on my butt on the roadside straddling the wheel, and lifting the spare up with the help of my knees) and bug-bit when I was done, and I’m still mystified as to what changed the young man’s mind.

Why Men Age Like FINE WINE in the Dating Market | Why Women Like to Date Older Men

The reasons why men age like fine wine and most women prefer to date men that are older, is because women look for a “standard”. In addition to qualities, that most men, simply do not have in their early twenties. Which makes it very ironic that women complain about this fact, since it’s women themselves, who are choosing these standards and men. Most skills that women love in a long term partner are skills and traits that only come with age and experience.

What was the most scariest experience you’ve had at work?

Hello, I trust that you will truly understand the whole means the this event had upon me. I was working in neibourhood office with about a dozen others, a mother came in carrying her child, who alleged had stopped breathing. Everyone stood back aghast…. Not knowing what do, several people just ran out. I had to push through the melee of useless people who were happy just to stare.. Moribid fasination! I managed to take the child from the mother and began breathing and heart compression treatment. I was very briefly trained in first aid, but only to a small degree. While I was with the child, someone called for an ambulance, which eventually arrived. They took the child from who by now was partly recovered. I heard theat very soon the child had recovered completely. All this action caused a great deal of mental worry to me and disrupted me a huge amount. Am I now over the trauma? I very much doubt it. My the lord never sho you the back of his hand.

What are some paradoxes in life?

The more you seek approval from others, the less you will get it.
You can only be brave when you are afraid.
If you aren’t happy now, you won’t be happy after you achieve your goals.
We aren’t wired to be happy and fulfilled, but to be miserable and safe.
Without failures, there can be no consistent success.
Wisdom is realizing that you know so little.
The more available you are to people, the less they will respect you.
Nobody will love you if you don’t love yourself.
A king and a slave have the same duties i.e. to serve others.
If you find yourself in toxic relationships over and over again, then it’s your fault — you teach people how to treat you.
Whatever you think is stopping you from living the life you want is not stopping you, but only you.

Triangle method

What is your craziest TSA experience?

I was on my way to Iraq. I was on a plane chartered by the Marine Corps for this, there were about 400 Marines on the flight, in uniform, with our weapons stowed under our seats. I was stationed in California, and we left from March Air Force Base out there. The first stop was in Baltimore, at the international airport there, and this is where my story occurs.

In Baltimore, we were let out of the terminal to go make phone calls and smoke cigarettes and whatever else. I called my girlfriend from a payphone, I smoked some cigarettes, and eventually it came time to get back on the plane. Now, I had put my rifle cleaning kit into my cargo pocket, without the slightest idea that this would cause any problem whatsoever. Inside my cleaning kit was this”carbon pick”.

I’d estimate that the steel rod at the end is about half an inch long by maybe a millimeter in diameter. As I emptied my pockets to go through the checkpoint, this carbon pick came to the attention of the TSA mouthbreather working there. He had decided that this steel rod, significantly smaller than a toothpick, was a deadly weapon (or something) and that I would not be permitted to take it into the terminal and on my flight. Now, mind you, I was in uniform. Flying with a military ID. With approximately 400 other guys dressed exactly like me. I told him that I clearly was flying on official military duty, and that I wasn’t wearing desert camouflage for fashion sense, and that it wasn’t a coincidence that there were all these other guys wearing the exact same outfit who were with me. He didn’t seem to comprehend this. I told him that, speaking of weapons, I had an M16A4, a select fire rifle, under the seat on my flight, a bayonet with a 7″ blade in my carry on, and everyone else on my flight was similarly equipped – except for those with grenade launchers and machine guns. He looked at me stupidly. Eventually I said something to the effect of: “you know those guys, those terrorists, that you’re trying to keep from getting on airplanes? Well me and all those other guys dressed like me are going over to Iraq to kill them. And to do that properly, I need my fucking rifle cleaning gear”. He grudgingly handed my carbon pick back and let me through. He took my cigarette lighter – I’m still convinced, 12 years later, that he did so simply to score some small, petty victory. I didn’t care, I’d left my crucial Zippo on the plane anticipating TSA stupidity.

This is your tax dollars at work, America. Outfuckinstanding.

Anima Libera 0.8X (国会鼓DJ抖音版 2023) Remix Tiktok

Why don’t China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea have emotional intelligence and no global media? Why they don’t use datas against the USA? Everyone thinks the USA is right always.

You think that everyone thinks the U.S. is right. That is a highly flawed notion. You media gives you the impression and your politicians fooled you into thinking that way.

The truth is to tally the opposite. Very few people on earth have trust and faith in the U.S. Global media reached out to mainly to the western world. This group sound a lot but they are a small minority. In population it adds up to 13% of the world. In nation count it is at most 12–15 out of the world’s 195 nations.

I live in South East Asia. Almost everyone I meet are disgusted with American lies and western media. No one believes it. It is biased it is opinionated, it spews falsehoods and fabrications. For me I feel pitiful for the western Ignorant and highly naive lot. Please tell yourself 90% of everything written in CNN, Fox, BBC are inaccurate and lies.

I cannot speak for other nations but Chinese media focus less on opinion but you are given facts and proofs. Chinese media trust that armed with facts one can make up their own mind.

Creole Hot Dogs and Rice

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

3/4 onion, diced
1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
2 slices bacon, diced
3 hot dogs, sliced
2 cups cooked rice
1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes (seasoned or not)
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro or basil, chopped

Instructions

Cook bacon until crisp and remove from pan to paper towels to drain.
Sauté onion in bacon drippings for 4 to 5 minutes or until onion is softened.
Stir in seasoning and sliced hot dogs and cook for 2 minutes.
Add rice, bacon and tomatoes and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until heated through.
Remove from heat. Stir in chopped cilantro or basil.

Would you be willing to adapt if European style socialism was implemented across the board in the U.S. or would you have to leave the country?

If the U.S. treated its citizens like Europe does, I might actually come home.

Leaving Media, PA for Frankfurt, Germany in 1990, I have to admit, it was hard to adjust.

When I went to the supermarket there were only ten or twelve types of soda. The bread was heavy with brown stuff and seeds. Some stores didn’t even bother to take the goods out of the carton boxes. The cashiers didn’t treat me like a king and the stores closed at 6.30 p.m. during the week and at 2.30 on Saturdays. The service was so lazy they refused to work on Sundays and everything was closed.

What a nightmare!

I went from the land of 24/7 plenty to a socialist desert.

Get this, on Sundays people walked everywhere. Gas was so expensive, that few could afford to cruise about the countryside just for fun. People took public transportation because they couldn’t afford a car or the place to park it.

Then there were the taxes. When you are young, single and making tons of money they rob you. In some countries such people are taxed at more than 40%.

Healthy I had to pay the highest premium for mandatory health insurance, and some chain-smoking unemployed father of five paid much less.

There is no better way to say it, I was furious.

I was used to a different sort of social justice.

Then something really terrible happened.

Summer came and I had to take vacation. I learned that I had five weeks with full pay. Crazy isn’t it?

How can any economy function when everybody spends so much time on vacation?

It gets even worse. Everybody gets a minimum of 20 paid vacation days! EVERYBODY! Yes, even the dishwasher, the hotel page, the taxi driver and the cleaner get paid vacation. And for a small deduction from their salary, they get unlimited health care too. And if they have smart kids, they get to go to the best schools for free.

It was then I started to understand why eating out was more expensive too.

Feeling sorry for myself I asked “Why did I go to college and study so hard if even the cleaner has the same rights to vacation, health care and education as me?”

Slowly, the answer dawned in my thick skull.

Everybody else does have the same rights as me.

Everybody has the right to health, enough to eat and a warm place to sleep…even those who don’t work. It occurred to me that that may be why the incarceration rate is so much lower in Europe.

Everybody who works hard, no matter how much they earn, has the right to paid vacation.

I woke up and smelled the roses.

I liked vacation. And I was much more productive and happy when I returned to work

I saw the clean streets, the modern buses and metros, the airports crowded with regular people returning from sunny beaches.

I learned to look forward to Sunday grill parties when nobody had to work.

I became tired of traffic jams and trying to find a parking spot for my car and read a book while on the train or the bus.

I fell from a fence and had to go to the hospital. They treated me like a king and there was no bill.

I met a girl who became my wife. We moved to France and raised four children. That was almost 20 years ago.

I still pay the highest rate for health care, but it’s not much more than I paid 30 years ago as a single. The deduction for our four children makes our income tax rate very low. If they want, all the children can go to university without breaking the family finances.

To conclude, everything I paid into the system as a young man is being returned to me in spades.

When the children are grown and my taxes rise, I will pay them without anger (I won’t lie and say happily).

Europe is taking care of me, my family, my friends, my co-workers and my neighbours.

It is not a utopia. It can do many things better.

But America can do better too. A good start would be to recognize that caring for fellow humanity is not a dirty word that ends like Venezuela.

I love America dearly, but Europe treats its normal people (that would be me) better and I will stay here until that changes.

That’s Right

A global interruption to the BRI

If you take a moment to look at the globe, you will notice that the United States (and remember they OWN both Ukraine, and Israel) started wars in Ukraine, and in Israel (After all, HAMAS is Western trained).

Why?

Well, for one, war is a business racket. But that is not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about the BRI.

Both wars effectively block two major routes of the BRI to the West.

War in Ukraine = Europe BRI
War around Israel = African BRI

Thus the BRI is now geographically limited to the Asian nations.

Hum…

Today.

What “black technologies” have shocked the world at the Hangzhou Asian Games?

The Asian Games in Hangzhou, which kicked off on Sept. 25, are not only a showcase of athletic prowess, but also a dazzling display of technological wonders. China has spared no effort to impress the world with its cutting-edge innovations in various domains. Here are some of the most remarkable examples of what I call “black technologies” that have made the games a spectacle to behold:

– Digital torchbearers: This is the first time that the Asian Games have used holograms to create virtual torchbearers who can carry the flame across different locations and interact with real people and surroundings. The digital torchbearers include some of the most famous and influential figures in sports, entertainment, and history, such as Yao Ming, Jackie Chan, and Confucius.

– Electronic identity registration cards: These are smart devices that replace the traditional paper-based accreditation cards for all participants. They can perform multiple functions, such as verifying identity, controlling access, monitoring health, making payments, and providing information. They also support various authentication methods, such as NFC, QR code, and biometrics, making them convenient and secure.

– Digital spectator service platform: This is a comprehensive platform that offers a range of features and services for both online and offline audiences. For example, users can watch live streams, replays, highlights, and VR videos of the games; chat with athletes, coaches, and experts; join quizzes, games, and lucky draws; and access information about venues, transportation, tourism, and culture.

– Intelligent robots: These are robots that can assist in various scenarios and tasks. For example, there are robots for guest reception, patrolling, firefighting, and distribution; robots for public performances, such as dancing and drumming; robots for sports training, such as playing table tennis and badminton; and robots for media coverage, such as interviewing and reporting.

These “black technologies” reflect China’s leadership in digital transformation and innovation. They also add to the cultural significance and social value of the Hangzhou Asian Games. By blending technology and culture, the Hangzhou Asian Games have created a new paradigm of sports events that is more intelligent, interactive, and inclusive.

Blueberry Dumpling Cobbler

This is good served warm with vanilla ice cream. Strawberries may be substituted for the blueberries.

Ingredients

4 cups blueberries
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup milk
2 1/4 cups Bisquick baking mix or Biscuit Baking Mix
3/4 cup Quaker oats, uncooked

Instructions

Bring blueberries, 1 1/3 cups sugar and butter to a boil in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring gently until butter is melted and sugar dissolves. Remove from heat.
Beat cream cheese and 2/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy; add milk and beat until smooth.
By hand stir in Bisquick mix and uncooked oats.
Spread two-thirds of dumpling mixture onto bottom of a lightly greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
Spoon blueberry mixture evenly over dumpling mixture.
Dollop remaining dumpling mixture evenly over blueberries.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes.

This is a Briefing, I’m not asking for your consent.

I love how in this altered timeline, the relationship between Picard and Riker is completely different. Far more strained and much less casual as well. It’s little touches like that that make the overall picture clearer and more believable. Great writing and great execution by a very talented group of actors.

Hersh Reveals U.S. Motive For Destruction Of Nord Stream Pipelines

Seymour Hersh just published a new piece about the bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines.

When the pipelines were blown up on September 27 2022 I had asked:

Whodunnit? – Facts Related to The Sabotage Attack On The Nord Stream Pipelines

I had collected the various known facts around the incident and they in sum suggested that it had been the U.S. of A.

Seymour Hersh put the same question to some of his intelligence contacts. He was given the same answer.

He now reports on further facts and final motives to trigger the incident.

A YEAR OF LYING ABOUT NORD STREAM
The Biden administration has acknowledged neither its responsibility for the pipeline bombing nor the purpose of the sabotage
(archived version)

At the core of Hersh’s report is this:

It was no surprise to the agency’s secret planning group when on January 27, 2022, the assured and confident Nuland, then undersecretary of state for political affairs, stridently warned Putin that if he invaded Ukraine, as he clearly was planning to, that “one way or another Nord Stream 2 will not move forward.” The line attracted enormous attention, but the words preceding the threat did not. The official State Department transcript shows that she preceded her threat by saying that with regard to the pipeline: “We continue to have very strong and clear conversations with our German allies.”
…
The German leader was considered then—and now—by some members of the CIA team to be fully aware of the secret planning underway to destroy the pipelines.
…
What I did not know then, but was told recently, was that after Biden’s extraordinary public threat to blow up Nord Stream 2, with Scholz standing next to him, the CIA planning group was told by the White House that there would be no immediate attack on the two pipelines, but the group should arrange to plant the necessary bombs and be ready to trigger them “on demand”—after the war began. “It was then that we”—the small planning group that was working in Oslo with the Royal Norwegian Navy and special services on the project—“understood that the attack on the pipelines was not a deterrent because as the war went on we never got the command.”

After Biden’s order to trigger the explosives planted on the pipelines, it took only a short flight with a Norwegian fighter and the dropping of an altered off-the-shelf sonar device at the right spot in the Baltic Sea to get it done. By then the CIA group had long disbanded. By then, too, the official told me: “We realized that the destruction of the two Russian pipelines was not related to the Ukrainian war”—Putin was in the process of annexing the four Ukrainian oblasts he wanted—“but was part of a neocon political agenda to keep Scholz and Germany, with winter coming up and the pipelines shut down, from getting cold feet and opening up” the shuttered Nord Stream 2. “The White House fear was that Putin would get Germany under his thumb and then he was going to get Poland.”
…
All of this explains why a routine question I posed a month or so after the bombings to someone with many years in the American intelligence community led me to a truth that no one in America or Germany seems to want to pursue. My question was simple: “Who did it?”

The Biden administration blew up the pipelines but the action had little to do with winning or stopping the war in Ukraine. It resulted from fears in the White House that Germany would waver and turn on the flow of Russia gas—and that Germany and then NATO, for economic reasons, would fall under the sway of Russia and its extensive and inexpensive natural resources. And thus followed the ultimate fear: that America would lose its long-standing primacy in Western Europe.

The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will now have to answer some serious questions …

Added:

This is of course related:

Stephen Stapczynski @SStapczynski – 22:47 UTC · Sep 25, 2023

Europe must rely on LNG from the US for decades, said EU’s top energy official 🇪🇺🤝🇺🇸

🚢 “There will be a need for American energy,” said Jørgensen, energy director-general

⚡️ This is one of the strongest signals that the EU needs US LNG well past 2030

ft.com – Top EU energy official says US gas will be needed for decades

Posted by b on September 26, 2023 at 14:26 UTC | Permalink

Get Out of America Now… Something Strange is Happening

“Hey fam! Let’s talk about why we believe you should leave America for good. Back in 2020 we left America and have never returned and hope to never go back. As time goes on, the country isn’t getting better from everything that happened with the planned-demic and now hyper-inflation. What do you think? Will you be leaving America in search of greener pastures? It’s up to you to decide!”

Mainstream Media Admit – Ukraine’s Propaganda Is Full Of Lies

As a sign of the turning narrative of the war in Ukraine we find a new New York Times piece about ‘disinformation’ that is not about Russia but about lies from Ukraine.

Andrew E. Kramer, the NYT correspondent in Kiev, opens with an anecdote from the first weeks of the war:

Six weeks after Russia launched its full-scale invasion, Ukraine sank the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, dealing a serious blow to the enemy navy, and, a Ukrainian official said, killing the ship’s captain.

“We do not mourn,” an adviser to the interior minister at the time, Anton Gerashchenko, said.

The only problem was that the captain — or somebody who resembled him — later appeared in a video of survivors released by the Russian Navy. He had escaped his sinking ship, the Moskva, the video seemed to indicate.

Then comes a paragraph that could fit both countries but the following one it is again related to disinformation from Ukraine:

What is clear is that misdirection, disinformation and propaganda are weapons regularly deployed in Russia’s war in Ukraine to buoy spirits at home, demoralize the enemy or lead opponents into a trap. And it is often hard to know when reports are false or why they may have been disseminated.

Now, Ukraine and Russia are offering dueling narratives over whether a more senior Russian naval officer, the commanding admiral of the Black Sea Fleet, is alive or dead.

Well, in this interview Adm. Viktor Sokolov looks quite alive.

Then comes an astonishing admission:

Few military analysts, […], believe the Ukrainian military’s optimistic daily account of Russian casualties running into the hundreds that is nonetheless reported widely in Ukrainian media.

It is the first time I see a public refutation of Ukraine’s laughable claims about Russian casualties in the mainstream media. It is also an indictment of the Biden administration and the Pentagon who publicly use the Ukrainian numbers.

The piece ends with a wise acknowledgement:

Mr. Gerashchenko said that, in the end, war propaganda is only effective when it accompanies battlefield successes. The missile strike on the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet last week, he said, was a “stunning success of Ukrainian intelligence and the air force that fired the cruise missiles on a supposedly well-defended site.”

“You cannot win the propaganda war without winning the real war,” he added.

Oh really? Guess who told you so:

Disarming Ukraine – Day 13 – Lies Do Not Win Wars – Moon of Alabama, March 8 2022
Propaganda Does Not Change The War – The Ukraine Is Still Losing – Moon of Alabama, March 25 2022
No – Such Propaganda Delusions Will Not Win The War – Moon of Alabama, June 8 2023

Good to see that this obvious truth is finally sinking in.

—

Yesterday the Minister of Defense in Russia, Sergei Shoigu, gave an update (in Russian) on the war in Ukraine. The speech seemed to include a time frame for the war to end (machine translation):

The United States and its allies continue to arm the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the Kiev regime throws untrained soldiers into senseless assaults, for slaughter.

Such cynical actions by the West and their cronies in Kiev only encourage Ukraine to self-destruct.”

“Under these conditions, we continue to increase the combat power of the Armed Forces, including through the supply of modern weapons and improving the training of troops, taking into account the experience of a special military operation. Consistent implementation of the activities of the Action Plan until 2025 will allow us to achieve our goals.”

Shoigu expects the war to run throughout 2024 and into 2025. But if the current loss rate of the Ukrainian army continues the country will be running out of soldiers and armored vehicles before the end of next year.

—

Schadenfreude:

Canada’s House speaker steps down after making tribute to Nazi veteran
Canada’s honoring of Nazi vet exposes Ottawa’s longstanding Ukraine policy
60 Minutes video (1997) about Nazis war criminals living in Canada

Posted by b on September 27, 2023 at 13:50 UTC | Permalink

Ask Prof Wolff: China Vs. a Myth of Stolen Technology

China has pulled it off because it is unique with huge, diligent and hard working population, and a one party state with consistent long term goals but flexible enough to adapt and adopt so as to be pragmatic.

Other Asian and South East Asian countries have similar ethos but their populations and geographical size are much smaller.

More to the point, those countries have multi-party political systems that would ensure continuous changes to whatever the previous government has done, ie no consistency in long term targets but all short term political gains (Western style).

Vietnam is actually a communist country but the US and the West like Vietnam; they rarely publicly criticise or smear Vietnam because it is not seen as a “threat”.

Singapore is a prosperous city state virtually dominated by one political party.

Rarely, if any, have I seen negative opinions of Singapore from the West. Some local and Asian people think that Singapore acts like a dictator.

So you know what I am leading to.

Political system may or may not matter. It is a matter of effective governance.

During an interview, the founder of Huawei questioned that how could the West accuse Huawei of stealing technologies from them that they had not got?

A senior employee said in an interview about 5G that the company had been researching on 6G several years ago.

By the end of 2020 the entire underground transport network in Shanghai was covered by 5G.

In contrast, the Mayor of London has promised to cover the entire London Underground network with 4G by the end of 2024.

That’s how much more advanced Chinese technology is in terms of development and implementation. Without Western interference of all kinds, I bet that African nations with help from China will leapfrog the West.

This may sound far-fetched.

The US will do its utmost, including starting a war and regime change, to next suppress the rise of Africa.

Many areas on the Belt and Road Initiative have since 2013 had bombings, massive political protests and chaotic civil wars etc.

This is the dirty work done by a particular organization to stop the success of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

If China and the Chinese had the technology to migrate to live in Mars, I bet the US would try to stop the Chinese travel in mid-space.

My 18-year-old believes that as an adult, he doesn’t have to respect the rules of my home. He refuses to do his only chore, so I grounded him but he’s ignoring it. What do I do here?

Grounding an adult has no effect other than making them more belligerent.

Instead, I changed her living conditions…

Turned off her phone service
Changed the wifi password
Changed the password for all TV services and accounts
Put a lock on the laundry room door, where the breaker box just happened to be located
Flipped the breaker for her room
Finally, I ordered take out for me for a full week and bought no groceries

After a week, she came in throwing a tantrum. I was abusing her! How dare I do this to her.

I calmly told her that family enjoys the perks of living in a family, including my electricity and food…but they also are respectful, do household chores or pay their share. Squatters get no considerations of family. And next week, there will be a lock on my room and no hot water in my guest bathroom.

She was a butthead for another week. She talked to other adults and the cops and CPS (who asked if she was a vulnerable adult who needed guardianship)…then decided being pleasant and respectful and doing about 2 hours of chores a week was worth the perks of being family.

I never raised my voice, never argued with her, simply impressed upon her what I no longer HAD to provide for an adult.

‘Armed to the Teeth’ Frankish Warrior’s Untouched Grave Found

In a discovery that has left historians and archaeologists astonished, a completely untouched grave from the Merovingian period was uncovered in Germany. Hidden among other graves that were plundered over a millennium ago, this singular grave had rested undisturbed for over 1,300 years.

The discovery was made by the archaeologists from the Kaiserpfalz Research Center , who have been digging at this early medieval burial ground since 2015. Christoph Bassler, excavation manager described the discovery:

“We first spotted the edge of a shield boss…It wasn’t immediately clear which grave it belonged to. But, as we dug further, the realization dawned that we had stumbled upon a grave that, for some reason, had been overlooked by ancient grave robbers.”

A 7th Century Frankish Warrior, ‘Armed to the Teeth’

The grave’s occupant, known as the “warrior from grave 447,” was evidently someone of importance in his time. A splendid double-edged sword, or ‘spathe’, lay next to him, measuring nearly 93 cm (3 foot) in its entirety. Its blade, even after so many centuries, remains slightly flexible , pointing to an impeccable state of preservation, noted Bassler.

The sword wasn’t the Frankish warrior’s only companion in the afterlife. A massive broadaxe, another heavy knife, a lance tip, and a shield were found, showcasing an array of almost every weapon from that era—except for a bow.

Interestingly, while adorned with an impressive weaponry collection, this man was not a full-time soldier. In the early Middle Ages , there were no standing armies as we know them today. Free men were expected to gear up and respond to their leader’s call to arms when required.

The Franks in Europe

The Franks, one of the prominent Germanic tribes, played a central role in the reshaping of European geography and politics after the fall of the Roman Empire . Their history in the region was rich and transformative.

Between the 5th and the 8th centuries, with the decline of Roman power, the Franks under King Clovis I unified various Frankish tribes and expanded their territories. In 486 AD, Clovis defeated the last Roman governor in Gaul, marking the end of Roman rule in that region. Clovis and his successors, known as the Merovingians, expanded the Frankish kingdom into what is now Germany, establishing a significant portion of the region as “Austrasia.” Under the Merovingians, the Franks converted to Christianity, and the fusion of Germanic and Roman traditions began.

Secrets Remain intact, For Now

While the grave’s goods have been handed over for restoration, further studies are expected to shed light on the precise dating and intricate details obscured by rust. For instance, silver inlays hidden beneath the rust layers, might offer deeper insights into the artistry of the time. “This incredible discovery adds a significant piece to our understanding of early medieval Ingelheim,” remarked department head Eveline Breyer.

Analyses are also underway to ascertain the cause of the man’s death, who was believed to be in his 30s or 40s when he passed. Whether he succumbed to illness or fell in battle remains to be seen, but given his grave’s martial ambiance, a warrior’s end in combat wouldn’t be unexpected.

How does China feel about the ban of Huawei products in other countries?

Typically China doesn’t use political muscle to counter Anti Chinese sanctions or Anti Chinese hostility

China is in a very good position today

It is very strong, it is bustling with emerging technologies, every day sees new developments and it’s people are enjoying the lowest inflation possible and saving the most money in the world with very little personal debt

China is developing at a very rapid pace and surging ahead

It’s Military and Navy are building up at a rate that the US has not hit since 1944

Israel placed an order for 1.5 Million units of Body Armor Vests for their Paramilitary with China

Delivery within 30 days

Express order at 2.5 times original tender price

Bangladesh can do it, India can do it

Yet the quality, price and time taken combo is entirely Chinas baby

No Nation on earth can come even 50% close

At this stage, China is too prosperous to get into fights and get into any situation that could jeopardize it’s progress

In fact if you go to China, you will realize that a Company sanctioned by US is a MARK OF HONOR in Beijing

DJI is flush with orders from South America, Central America and the Middle East today

They lost a potential $ 4 Billion of deals in US and Europe and gained almost the entire $ 4 Billion in Saudi, Oman, Qatar and Brazil and Peru

Huawei has China

The Sheer Network in China alone would ensure Huawei covers 5G for 1.4 Billion people

Add the BRI Nations and another 36 Nations and you have a whopping 3.47 Billion People who are using Huawei equipment for their 5G

Plus Chinas smartphone market of 867 Million Units a year is more than US and EU and UK and Japan combined (574 Million Units)

Plus Huawei is an expert at using Western IP developed for Billions using a few tweaks and minting money on the same by spending pennies on the dollar

Best example is 3G and 4G.

The Collective West spent almost $ 15 Billion on the development

Huawei modified these IP and developed their 5G Patents by spending a mere $ 600 Million

Thus while Cisco hasn’t even recovered 15% of it’s investments, Huawei has already quadrupled it’s investments in 5G

China thus is in the best position to just sit by and surge ahead while doing very little

Things are so good for them that any counter action could make things worse

Huawei too is building a base among its Global South clients and will ultimately reach the peak without the West or their markets

Don’t under estimate China

They use their soft power for other things

This UNHRC is the best example

The Collective West twisted arms until they broke

Yet China grinned and became a full member for 2 more years

The Collective West twisted arms until they broke to avoid the BRICS expansion or the G20 condemnation of Putin

China crushed both these plans through tough diplomatic manoeuvres

The US is in a very weak place

It’s breaking up and is in deep trouble

Thus all this posturing to divert attention from the problems at home.

Same for UK, Canada and Europe

China has no such diversion needed

They just want to keep doing their job – developing Technology and soft power and surging ahead

FIRST TIME REACTING TO | Merkules ”Rich Men North Of Richmond” Remix

He’s been around many years. A true badass rapper. Dudes flow is always crazy.

What’s a point in time when you realized nothing would ever be the same again?

I was 14. No friends. Each day I dragged myself home to where I lived with my schizophrenic Mother, just the two of us.

I would be in trouble for something: I lived in a perpetual state of confusion as I often couldn’t remember what she told me I had done.

She told me I was stupid and needed to go to a special school because I didn’t know what I had done wrong.

In the past she had often slapped me until my nose bled and beat me with the metal pole of a fly swatter, but that stopped the summer before high school.

She told me she didn’t love me repeatedly for months.

According to her I was a horrible daughter.

Her friends from church had stopped coming weekly to yell at me and slap me senseless as well. I knew when she sent me away with my Aunt and Uncle the summer that had passed she had read my diary, where I detailed all the abuse and talked about wanting to die.

She denied reading it, but it stopped the physical abuse so now it was just verbal and believe it or not that hurt just as bad.

I was unloveable and alone.

She didn’t work and depended on government assistance.

She just sat at home chain smoking and playing cards.

During the week I woke myself up, made breakfast, went to school. She complained about the smell of eggs in the morning and of course I was useless.

I had a hard time socializing, and she decided she didn’t like the friends I’d managed to make the previous year, so put me in a very small private Christian high school the church paid for.

As a low income, single parent house I was a freak among higher income two parent families.

So I spent my days an outsider and bullied at school and then came home to be bullied some more.

I got in trouble once because someone told her I walked around with my head down and never smiled!

I remember trying out and making the school play that year. I was so proud.

My Mother decided to use that as leverage for her every whim: if I did anything wrong (sang doing dishes) she threatened to not allow me to be in the play. It got so bad I just quit the play rather than have it continually be held over my head as a threat.

A school councillor regularily made me talk to him.

I refused to give anything up.

He persisted. He asked me if I was abused: as she was no longer hitting me I said no.

I had no words to explain the verbal abuse.

Being stupid and unloveable didn’t seem to qualify.

Then one magical day a girl at school approached me and we became friends.

A few weeks later she asked me if I could spend the weekend at her house.

Her house was beautiful and she lived with her parents and siblings and it was loud, noisy and chaotic.

On the Saturday of this weekend sleep over, my new friend had to take piano lessons so I was to hang out in her room until she got back.

I was surprised when both her parents wanted to speak with me while she was gone.

They informed me that the school had asked them to be my foster parents and presented me with a ‘contract’.

They gave me 30 minutes to decide if I wanted to live with them.

I was 14 years old.

I had no friends.

My Mother was the only family I had ever known.

I knew I was stupid. I knew that I was worthless and unloveable. 30 minutes was a ridiculous amount of time for a decision that would change the course of my life that I was too young to make. I didn’t know these people at all.

But a voice in my head screamed at me to do it, with everything it had.

So I took that leap of faith. I jumped off the cliff away from everything I’d ever known.

My roller coaster ride wasn’t over my any means, but to this day I am so grateful I left.

My life 30 years later is wonderful and I often wonder where I would be if I had stayed growing up in that horrible house.

U.S. Confirms M1A1 Abrams Tanks Arrive in Ukraine

World Hal Turner Hits: 10439

The United States is confirming that the first (official) group of M1A1 Abrams tanks have arrived in Ukraine to be used against Russia. The escalation of fighting between Russia and Ukraine continues.

At some point, and we are now very close to it, Russia is going to declare the US a “combatant” in the fighting, and when that takes place, it will be public notice that we — here in the USA — are now subject to Russian military strikes.

Americans will be caught completely blind-sided if and when this takes place; they won’t understand how or why we got attacked by Russia – because our Mass-Media has not done its job to inform the public just how far our government public servants have escalated the fighting.

China just gave US chip materials’ permission, the US ordered to escalate sanctions against China!

Tired of this wicked government of america.

What is the biggest surprise about getting rich?

I made $30M from my previous tech company.

For me, the most surprising thing about being rich is that it’s an incredibly isolating experience. What I mean by that is you can’t really complain about your problems except within your small circle of rich friends. Otherwise, you will sound like a douchebag. Even if you do, non-rich people can’t really empathize with you.

There are a few problems associated with being rich such as general (lack of) motivation for work, family/friends asking for money, worry for how to motivate kids, spouse with different attitudes toward life after getting rich, potential spouse being a gold digger, unexpected jealous reaction from friends/family, pressure to deal with more complex tax, estate planning and investment planning and etc.

The joy of “set for life” doesn’t seem to offset the anxiety from hoarding the huge sum of money. In addition, when you don’t work because you are rich but can’t hang out with your friends who have to work during the week, you feel like an outcast of society.

Overall, being rich is very isolating and that’s the most surprising thing I have experienced.

China’s new missile DF 51, called a small Sarmat, can evade the Aegis defense system at sea

The New DF-51 ballistic missile can carry 10 miniature missiles. When the DF-51 flies to a certain area and launches 10 atomic bombs at the same time, the power is so great that the existing air defense system of the United States cannot bear it at all.

What is the best moment you witnessed in which somebody proved they weren’t “all talk”?

I watched a 90 lb female put a 235 lb guy in the hospital. This was a fight between 2 neighbors in my neighborhood. This guy harassed her for weeks then for some reason he decided to walk up to her front porch and knock on her door. I was sitting on my front porch when it happened. I was thinking this is not going to be good, and had my cell phone within reach.

She open her door and in a clear loud voice, she requested he get off her property. He said, what are you going to do about it. She said, I’ll call the police. He laughed at her and reached for the screen door. Before I could move she kicked him in the head twice, swept his legs out from under him, and he was down and bleeding.

I started to call the police, but again before I could dial the number a patrol car pulled up and the officer put the guy in handcuffs. I just sat there, drank my coffee and waited for him to come over and ask what I saw. I told him and signed the bottom of the form.

As he walked away he said you know the woman? I replied yes, she’s a former Marine. He chuckled and said. I guess the guy didn’t know that, and I laughed.

How I see the US after living in Europe for 5 years

“I moved to France 5 years ago. Came home to Maryland to spend Christmas with the family. I got sick, went to the ER, and came out with a bill worth $1,900. The doctor saw me a week later for a follow-up. I needed surgery and it would cost more than $ 45,000. I went back to France after the holidays, saw a doctor, got surgery, 2 months off work and I PAID NOTHING. “

What kind of leader is Xi Jinping?

What kind of leader is Xi Jinping?

He’s somebody who will deal with shit.

I mean it literally.

In 1974, Xi volunteered to go to Liangjiahe, a dirt-poor village in Northwestern China. His dad was getting the rough treatment during the Cultural Revolution, so he probably felt that getting out of Beijing was a safer move. So he volunteered.

China’s GDP per capita in the 70’s was around $100 per year, which is obviously not great. But Liangjiahe was a totally different ball game. It was a famously poor place. I would guess the GDP per capita was maybe $20 a year. No, I did’t miss any zeros. It was really that poor. There was no electricity, no indoor plumbing, no toilet, no heat, no rice or flour. Corn was a luxury, millet and wild grass were the normal diet. and people just dug dirt caves out of mountains to live.

The villagers that Xi lived with – were mostly illiterate and covered in fleas. So Xi looked around, and was like, fleas, oh well, I just have to get used to it. Food? That’s OK, I’ll take a hoe and go farm with the villagers. We can feed ourselves. Electricity? Water? Nah, nothing can be done about that. So what do we have? Poop! OK, so we have poop. We can make something with that, maybe.

So he read about fermenting poop to make methane gas, and tried to build a poop-fermenter in his village, so that people can use it for light and cooking at night. He was only 16 or 17 at that time, so he wasn’t very good and got the pipe stuck, so he had to jump into the cesspool to clear the pipe, and got poop all over himself, but he got it working. The next year he traded his motorbike for a water pump and some other tools for the village, and pretty soon his village was getting more prosperous. He stayed and worked in that village for 7 years, applied to join the CCP 10 times, got rejected 9 times, and finally got admitted on the 10th time. The villagers promptly elected him the Party Secretary of the village.

That was how he started his political career in China.

He’s not unique.

Actually, all of China’s leaders have been through absolute hell to get to where they are.

CCP tradition is that unless you start from the very bottom, you’ll never get to the very top. I mean, you are selecting 7 out of 80 million, once every 10 years, so the CCP traditionally has been absolutely ruthless in terms of discipline and promotion.

Election bribery? Expel 70.

Industrial accident? Send 25 to jail.

Corruption? Punish 100,000 in one year.

Get GDP to grow at 10%+, while keep your nose clean? OK, you get a one step promotion.

A small purge once every 2 years.

A big purge once every 5 years.

You’ve got to beat out 80 million people to get there, and everybody is swimming as hard as you are. The ones who pop out at the end, after 35 years, are all NOT your normal people!

When Beijing announced the plan to eliminate extreme poverty in 2015, most foreign observers were dubious. Can China Wipe Out Poverty By 2020?

Since the announcement, People Daily, the top Chinese newspaper, has been literally reporting on poverty reduction DAILY – success, failure, method, strategy, recidivism, lessons learned, statistics, etc. Everyday! I suspect the guy is actually serious about it.

Why I Am Leaving The United States and Never Coming Back

In this video I will be explaining why i am leaving the united states and never coming back. this discussion consists of reasons like social life in the united states, dating in the united states, cost of living for quality of life and more. I am going to thailand for the first time leaving the country in a couple months. expect upcoming traveling vlogs.

What is one absolute cast-iron classroom practice you use all the time that your day wouldn’t be the same without?

I sit behind the students and use an iPad hooked up to a projector to show them things on a screen in front of them.

It’s a really big screen, too. It’s one of those “backyard movie projection” screens, for which I built a frame and now it’s taking up the better part of one wall in my classroom. I have the projector at the back of the classroom, aiming over the students’ heads. And, since the projector is next to my desk (which is a sit/stand desk, by the way), I can physically plug my iPad into it. I tried doing this all wirelessly a few years ago, but it was more trouble than it was worth.

Usually, I’m showing them pages from their textbooks or workbooks. I snap pictures of the relevant pages for that day, turn them all into a single .pdf, and work my way through them, for the class to see. I use an Apple Pencil to mark them us as I go.

If the students seem bored, I ask for volunteers to come over to the iPad and do a few problems for everyone to see. The students enjoy it when one of their classmates takes on the role of “teacher.” The students who are taking on that role enjoy using the iPad and Apple Pencil.

Every now and then, I have to sub in another teacher’s classroom for a single period. No one else at this school has a set-up like mine. I genuinely don’t understand how teachers can stand being in front of their students while they’re trying to teach them, writing things on a whiteboard. Turning your back on your students while you write on the board is nerve-racking for me.

As an added bonus, when I’m using the iPad as a whiteboard or e-reader, and our textbook mentions something interesting, I can quickly and easily pull up YouTube or Safari, to enlighten the students a little more. Just this morning, our lesson on appositives featured 10 sentences about jazz music, including several about Louis Armstrong and Wynton Marsalis. I was able to pull up videos of both men, so the students could see who we were learning about. I was then able to find out that, not only is Marsalis still alive (the students asked me), but he’s playing in Chicago next spring.

At least once per day, I pull up something online that one of our textbooks mentions, to teach the students a little more about it.

Originally, I sat behind my students so I could see their screens when they were online. Yes, there is monitoring software, but just looking around at their screens in much easier. That was 15 years ago, when I began teaching. I’ve been doing it like this ever since.

The Video I Never Wanted to Make.

This is honestly getting scary hopefully it doesn’t get as bad as we all think but something tells me that we may not get that lucky. Crazy to think I am only 28 years old and I am prepper but i might have to start teaching my family how to do this stuff. Everyone stay safe.

When have you fired someone on the spot?

Yes.

Several years ago I inherited a “team” of people that included a lady I’ll call “Nancy.” She was what we called a houseplant: she’d been there forever and didn’t do much, but firing her would be a mess.

Nancy was a disaster from day 1. She would take two hour lunches. She’d hand in work so poor I could have just done it.

I once asked her to compile a spreadsheet and all she did was dump files into a folder and send it to me. She literally had one job of compiling a single report that she was doing. We even made her a simple guide that anyone could follow. We had her do this because it kept her away from everyone.

She also had beefs with three of my other people, so much that I moved people around the office to avoid her. She once accused a lady of drinking beer at her desk and it turned out to be some generic cola from Winn Dixie. When she wasn’t satisfied by this she reported me and the lady to HR. One fellow on my team was on long term pain management after being wounded by an IED in Afghanistan. He took some serious pain medication but he was a fantastic employee. Again, she called HR on him after telling her to mind her own business. When HR didn’t do anything she called the police and tried to have him arrested for drug possession.

One day we were doing end-of-year reporting and needed the report that Nancy was running. I go to the share drive and it’s empty. I ask her for it and she claims it’s there. I check again and it’s just raw data from our database.

I go over to her desk and ask what was happening. She immediately lies and says I never told her about the report. I point out the file detailing the steps on how to pull the report on her desktop.

One of my other employees, Wondah (pronounced Wanda) walks over and is trying to help. Nancy keeps trying to just push her away or delete files. Wondah tells her she’s costing us time and resources and it hits. Nancy looks at Wondah and yells “Shut up n*gger!”

The office goes quiet. I take two steps back. I put my hand on Wondah’s shoulder and gently pull her back a bit. I call over a neutral guy on another team. I ask him to walk Nancy out of the office and wait.

30 seconds later I’m on a conference call with HR confirming she’s getting fired. Wondah and five other employees confirm what she said.

I walk out in the hallway. Any illusion of civility is gone. Now she’s spitting and swearing at everyone. I tell her she’s fired. I get deluged by a string of racist screeds and threats to send her sons to my house to kill me. Security is there to escort her out. She turns and spits at me.

She tried suing the company for everything under the sun. On the stand she was a total disaster of a witness and I think the jury hated her as much as I did at that point.

She lost and had to pay our legal fees. Last I heard she’d fled the country to avoid paying a bunch of debts.

Silvio.

What is the most interesting fact you know about a film?

This is a somewhat worrying fact.

In the movie “The Wizard of Oz”, aluminum powder was used as makeup for the “Tin Man” costume.

…

This dust ended up getting into Jack Haley’s eyes and causing him a chronic infection.

…

But this was not an isolated incident. Buddy Ebsen, the original Tin Man, retired when he realized that makeup was slowly poisoning him.

The Tin Man’s character makeup was changed when Jack Haley replaced Buddy Ebsen.

Haley’s eye infection became so severe that he was forced to undergo surgical treatment and use antibiotics for years.

The production of this film was complete chaos.

Reacting to the Song that Stole America’s Heart

What is the best case of, “You just tried to scam the wrong person,” that you’ve witnessed?

As a gullible 30 y.o. I met a really cute man that seemed to like me. We started dating. His car broke down and he asked to borrow $80. I loaned it to him and he returned it. About 6 weeks later, his Mom had an emergency and he needed $400 and asked to borrow it until the next payday. I loaned it to him. Then I found out he had a live-in girlfriend and child. She came to my work and tried to beat me up for trying to steal her boyfriend. I broke up with him but I tried to get my money back. That wasn’t happening. He kept trying to get back with me, but I found a note that he had written about how much money I had in my checking account. He didn’t realize it had fallen out of wherever he put it. So I decided to beat him at his own game. I asked him to meet me for lunch at a restaurant. I had stashed a dear friend of mine at another table within ear shot and vision of what I was doing. I had handwritten a small “loan agreement with interest” that I told him I needed him to sign for me to rebuild trusting him. The Sucker signed it thinking it wasn’t valid. My friend witnessed it and signed as a witness. I then took him to Small Claims Court, asked for damages and Court costs, garnished his wages, and got my money back over time, including interest.

10 Reasons Why You Should NEVER Move to the United States

The USA has become a TERRIBLE place.

Apricot Cobbler

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

Filling

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup water
3 (15 1/4 ounce) cans apricot halves, drained
1 tablespoon butter

Topping

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cold butter
1/2 cup milk

Instructions

Filling

In a saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Stir in water; bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil and stir for 1 minute; reduce heat.
Add apricots and butter; heat through. Pour into a greased 2 quart baking dish.

Topping

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl; cut in butter until crumbly.
Stir in milk just until moistened. Spoon over hot apricot mixture.
Bake at 400 degrees F for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown and a wooden pick inserted into the topping comes out clean.

What is a split-second decision you made that changed your life?

When I was 14 years old my Mom suddenly decided she wanted to move to Colorado. Apparently it was a place she had always wanted to see, so next thing I knew we were living in the ultra small town of Limon, Colorado. I was not happy about this at all. My brother, who was 19 at the time, had stayed in South Carolina. All of my friends were still in South Carolina. I was miserable.

I spent my freshman year in Limon, and hated almost everything about it. The one part I didn’t hate was that my freshman class of 30 students included 5 guys and 25 girls. That was fun. On the other hand, I was the fattest kid in school, so even playing football didn’t help me in that arena.

One day, about a week after school let out for summer, I was sitting in my bedroom listening to music when I suddenly really wanted to hang out with my brother. I didn’t even think about it. I grabbed my rucksack that I used for camping, loaded it up with clothes, my radio and some tapes (this was 1990), and I walked out the door. I was going to hitchhike the almost 1500 miles to South Carolina.

It took me 63 hours to get there. To this day I am amazed at how easy it actually was, and how fast I made it there. What’s even more amazing is that when I showed up at my Aunt’s front door (my brother was living with her after we moved) it was my Mom who met me at the door. As soon as she had gotten home from work and I wasn’t there she knew what I had done and where I was going. Since she was able to drive straight through she made the trip far quicker than I did.

My Mom was angry, but she was just as relieved that I was safe, so she agreed that we could stay for one week before we headed back to Limon. That was on a Friday. The following Wednesday was June 6th, 1990. That date might not matter to most people, but it was very important to us, because of this:

Limon marks 20 years since devastating tornado

A tornado ripped through the town, destroying almost half of the town – including the apartment we were living in at the time. If we hadn’t been in South Carolina, I would have been home when it came through, and likely would not be alive right now.

Oddly enough, this would not be the last time something like that would happen to me. In 2010 I made the split-second decision to move back to South Carolina again, leaving behind my apartment in Joplin, Missouri. I had already been planning to move, but my plan had been to go to Florida to be near my parents. At the last minute my Mom told me not to come because the Space Center had just laid off 10,000 NASA employees, and that was a job market I did not want to try to compete in during those hard times. I could have stayed in Joplin, but I had already sold off most of my furniture, so I just decided, “Screw it, I’ll go back to South Carolina.”

A year later, Joplin was hit by an F5 tornado that destroyed almost 25% of the town — including the apartment I had been living in when I was there. Combined with the fact that an entire street I lived on in South Carolina was destroyed by a tornado a couple years after I moved away, and the fact that I left South Carolina months before Hurricane Hugo hit, and again just before Hurricane Andrew hit, and now my friends joke that if I ever move away they are all coming with me.

Jamaican Sista Warns Black Immigrants, The American Dream Is A Farce Because US Is A Plantation

“You will work until you are literally DEAD!”

Stacked 1,400-Year-Old Zhou Dynasty Emperor’s Tomb Uncovered in China

Archaeologists in Shaanxi Province, northwest China, have discovered the tomb of Emperor Xiaomin (birth name Yuwen Jue), the founding emperor of the Northern Zhou Dynasty (557-581). Emperor Xiaomin’s tomb, a medium-sized one in the context of the Northern Zhou dynasty, is situated in Beihe Village, Weicheng District, Xianyang, an area known for its concentration of high-quality tombs spanning from the Northern Dynasties (439-581) to the Sui and Tang dynasties (581-907).

Uncovering Zhou Dynasty Emperor Tomb: Medium-Sized but Power Packed

The tomb itself faces south and is a single-chamber soil cave tomb with four patios along the sloping tomb passage, according to a press announcement by Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology on Tuesday. Covering a total length of 56.84 meters (186.5 ft) from north to south, the bottom of the tomb lies 10 meters (32.8 ft) beneath the current surface.

According to the press announcement:

“The archaeological discovery of Yuwen Jue’s tomb from the Northern Zhou Dynasty is of great significance. It is the second Northern Zhou emperor’s tomb that has been excavated after the Xiaoling Mausoleum of Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty.”

Though the tomb had previously been looted, archaeologists have managed to recover 146 burial objects, primarily pottery figurines in a single chamber holding funerary offerings, depicting warriors and cavalry units. Furthermore, the presence of an epitaph on the tomb’s eastern side has allowed archaeologists to confirm that the tomb belonged to Emperor Xiaomin (542-557), reports Heritage Daily .

This discovery holds immense significance for historical research into the emperors of the Northern Dynasty , as highlighted by Zhao Zhanrui, an assistant researcher at the academy.

Northern Zhou: Foundation of a Short-Lived Dynasty

Rather than assuming the title of emperor, Xiaomin, also known as Emperor Ming of Northern Zhou, chose to adopt the Zhou Dynasty’s title of “Heavenly Prince.” However, his reign was marred by internal strife and power struggles. A significant conflict unfolded between Xiaomin and his cousin, Yuwen Hu, who sought to consolidate his own power.

In a dramatic turn of events, Yuwen Hu managed to depose Xiaomin from his position and subsequently had him killed. This political maneuvering further highlighted the instability and internal divisions that plagued the Northern Zhou Dynasty during its relatively brief existence.

The Northern Zhou Dynasty , which reigned from 557 to 581 AD, was a significant but relatively short-lived era in the history of ancient China . Founded by Yuwen Tai, who took the title of Emperor Wen upon his ascent to power, the dynasty was established following a successful rebellion against the ruling Northern Wei Dynasty .

The Northern Zhou’s capital was Chang’an, an influential city located in what is now Xi’an, Shaanxi Province. Chang’an was known for its cultural richness and strategic importance as a center of trade and governance .

One of the most notable aspects of the Northern Zhou Dynasty was its association with Buddhism. Emperor Wen and his successor, Emperor Wu, were fervent Buddhists, and they played a pivotal role in promoting Buddhism as the state religion. They supported the construction of Buddhist temples , sponsored the translation of Buddhist scriptures, and actively contributed to the growth of Buddhism in China. This period marked a significant turning point in Chinese religious and cultural history.

Emperor Wen and Emperor Wu also implemented important political reforms aimed at strengthening the central authority of the emperor. Land redistribution was one such reform, aimed at reducing the power of the aristocracy and redistributing land to the common people. These efforts were indicative of the dynasty’s desire to create a more equitable society.

Despite these reforms, the Northern Zhou Dynasty faced challenges. The empire’s unity weakened over time, leading to regional fragmentation and conflicts among various power centers. Eventually, the Northern Zhou Dynasty succumbed to internal strife, and it was conquered by the Sui Dynasty in 581. This marked the end of the dynasty’s relatively short but culturally impactful existence.

Legacy and Historical Relevance of the Northern Zhou

The legacy of the Northern Zhou Dynasty lives on in several ways. Its patronage of Buddhism had a lasting influence on Chinese religion, culture, and art. The dynasty’s contributions to calligraphy and sculpture, particularly in the context of Buddhist art, marked significant advancements in Chinese culture. Furthermore, some of its political reforms, such as those related to land distribution, influenced subsequent Chinese dynasties, including the powerful Tang Dynasty.

Notably, the Northern Zhou Dynasty was unique in its ethnic background. Its founding emperor, Yuwen Tai, belonged to the Xianbei ethnic group, making the dynasty one of the few in Chinese history to be ruled by a non-Han Chinese ethnic group, a rarity.

FILIPINA WIFE DEFENDING PASSPORT BROS.

One of the best, most intelligent responses to these woke, American women. Thanks Leah. You and Gary have a great family and life. Wish you both the best!

Hot n heavy

Man oh man! The Geo-political changes are happening hot and heavy! HEAVY!

My MM articles are now at a 35 post backlog. Shit! Half of you will be reading 1/2 month old articles by the time I get around to posting them.

Do not freak out.

Lots of things going on in the world today. It’s a massive realignment of the world AWAY from the USA dominance. The thing is that the Western peoples, and their “leadership” are clueless as to what is really going on. They still believe that they have some kind of power or ability in these matters.

Nope.

It’s all strategic retreats… for now.

The running away and full-scale, across the board, running and galloping rout comes later.

Maybe this year. Don’t ya know.

Have fun. Enjoy yourself.

Today I am catching up. We have a typhoon raging outside so I have an opportunity to play some catch up. Israel, Ukraine, and all the rest, especially Africa are in states of flux.

I’m not worried. The USA will retreat and the rest of the world will be secure.

Todays…

What is your opinion on China’s call to the United States to “carefully consider” rules that ban or restrict U.S. investments in China’s tech sector?

It is self explanatory.

The long-term forecasts clearly favor China by every measure.

If American companies fail to use this period of time to invest, they will not be able to “jump on the bandwagon” and take advantage of opportunities that are presenting themselves today.

If the Biden “government” insists that all American (and allied) companies “sit this one out”, then the entire American and Western industry will fall back and will NEVER be able to catch up.

…

China is being kind.

The United States NEEDS to “carefully consider” the long-term ramifications of their current actions.

As China gets stronger, more important, more dominant in all areas, the United States is at risk to not only falling behind, but going absolutely obsolete in the process.

This is not something that China wants.

…

China wants and prefers a vibrant world; one where different regions; nations, societies and people thrive. In the world that China envisions, it is a WIN-WIN for everyone.

However, the path that the United States has embarked on is fraught with danger. And the United States appears to be on fast-track towards becoming a blight; a mawed gouge in an otherwise improved world.

…

So China is being very polite, and very understated.

However, the truth is the truth.

Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients

1 pound bottom round steak, thinly sliced
2 bell peppers, halved and cored
Avocado oil
Bell peppers, sliced thinly
Red onion, sliced thinly
White onion, sliced thinly
Pickled jalapeños, chopped
1/2 pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
Onion salt
Sea salt
Pepper

Instructions

Heat oven 350 degrees F.
Drizzle avocado oil on bell papers. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes.
Heat a large frying pan over medium-high and add a little avocado oil.
Season steak with onion salt, sea salt and pepper. Sear each side of steak for about 1 to 2 minutes and remove to let rest a couple minutes.
Cut steak into small 1/4 to 3/8 inch square pieces.
Heat frying pan over medium heat and add avocado oil when warm.
Add thinly sliced onions and bell peppers to pan and cook while stirring often for about 10 minutes.
Mix steak, cheese, bell peppers, onions and jalapeños in a bowl.
Fill bell peppers, then bake for 10 minutes until cheese is melted.

What are some amazing accidental archaeological discoveries?

In 2001, two ancient statues were blown up in Afghanistan on the orders of the Taliban. The monumental statues were called the “Buddhas of Bamiyan,” and they were carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamiyan valley of Afghanistan.

They were destroyed after the Taliban declared the ancient Buddhist statues to be false idols and had them blown up.

In a crazy twist of luck seven, years after the statues were blown up, an Afghan-led archaeological team discovered a series of hidden caves behind that statues. In the caves, they found oil paintings that dated back to the 5th century. This pre-dates the common perception that oil paintings originated in Europe hundreds of years later.

Which designers deserve an award for their incredible creativity?

Translation of the answer of Jarlin Andres Fonseca on the Spanish Quora:

For example, those behind the following designs:

1. This deck so you can have your feet in the water.

2. 3D sculptures full of tenderness.

3. An LED lamp that looks like a fountain.

4. To save space at home and be able to iron clothes.

5. Now it’s more fun to travel by bus.

6. A plate on which you can keep a dry portion of cereal for later use.

7. A trend that should be replicated around the world. The use of natural biodegradation as a packaging method.

8. This pool has an access ramp for people with functional impairments.

9. This cable indicates the correct side to use in Braille.

10. A duck ramp.

Photos obtained from DesignPorn: Amazing Design Images, Renderings & Models • r/DesignPorn.

Israel Under Attack! 800+ Missiles Fired from GAZA; HAMAS Enters Israel by land and by Air! IDF Declares “State of War”

World Hal Turner 07 October 2023

The Israeli Defense Force has declared they are in “a state of war” after over eight hundred rockets were fired into Israel today. Fighters from HAMAS para-glided into southern Israel using fan gliders to cross over the border, landing and killing everyone they see! Today’s “state of war” declaration has not happened since 1973.

Numerous Israeli civilians are already dead, some shot dead just standing in Bus Stops; many more are injured.

At about 1:17 AM EDT Saturday, the Israeli Defense Force made a public declaration that this is a “State of War.”

The last time Israel announced a “State of War” was in 1973. And the first time Israel was surprised by an attack like today’s was in 1973.

Air Raid Sirens are blaring throughout Israel as the Iron Dome air defense systems engage more incoming missiles.

This is taking place NOW. Live updates to appear below . . .

Terrorists in a battle with Israeli forces in southern Israel. Israel is under attack pic.twitter.com/vUchbF15hB— Niv Calderon (@nivcalderon) October 7, 2023

Casual Observers of the never-ending situation between Israel and Palestinians are commenting publicly right now “This is quickly heading toward a Full-Scale War near the Gaza Strip and Southern Israel, this is Totally Out-of-Control.”

Terrorists from Gaza invaded southern Israeli civilian cities – and they’re shooting whoever they see.
This is unprecedented. Israel in under attack. pic.twitter.com/5Ngrjm4uts— נריה קראוס Neria Kraus (@NeriaKraus) October 7, 2023

Fighting is widespread and fierce:

Video below shows the Iron Dome air defense system engaging multiple inbound rockets:

#Israel under attack

The moment the Iron Dome intercepted hundreds of rockets fired from #Gaza pic.twitter.com/9vXqQ90Jp0— Shadi Alkasim (@Shadi_Alkasim) October 7, 2023

By 1:00 AM eastern US time Saturday, at least sixteen Israelis were confirmed injured and at least ONE was confirmed dead, but there is already ample evidence of MANY dead.

(HT NOTE: I am already reaching out to my former colleagues in the Intelligence Community from during my years working with the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) to get more detailed info and the “Back Story” but things are a bit chaotic right now over there, and it is very early over here, so information is coming very slowly . . . .)

— Hamas military chief calls on armed groups in Lebanon to join the fighting against Israel

— Civilians massacred by Hamas terrorists in Sderot.

— According to Al Jazeera television, Israel has begun bombing Gaza by Air, Sea, and Artillery.

— Israeli Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant has Approved an order to begin the Call-Up of Reservists to Reinforce and Support the Israeli Defense Force.

Below, images of what are reported to be an Israeli “Merkava” tank, burned-out and smashed outside of the GAZA Strip:

Palestinian Fighters taking Israeli’s Captive:

An IDF soldier has reportedly been Captured . . . Israel calls that “kidnapped.”

Hostage situations reported in Southern Israel.

Palestinian infiltrators have taken over a police station in Sderot and are currently in an active firefight with Israeli police.

Livestreams from Palestinian infiltrators show them executing/ shooting Israeli citizens.

Apocalyptic scenes right now in southern Israel. pic.twitter.com/uuseUdcytV— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) October 7, 2023

Tel Aviv Airport: CLOSED

Unconfirmed reports of 10 killed and 2 IDF soldiers captured after clashes on the Gaza border.

Due to rocket salvos throughout Israel, Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv is closed.

— The Government has just declared an “Emergency situation” for an 80km perimeter from Gaza borders

— The Israeli army announces the loss of control of an Israeli military site in the northern Gaza Strip. The soldiers are either captured or dead.

Ashkelon Burning

Map showing Air Raid Alert areas in Israel:

Heavy rocket barrages on Jerusalem area, rocket alert siren in Wadi Ara in northern Israel; emergency situation declared in entire southern & central Israel.

WARNING – GRAPHIC IMAGES

Below, a man reported to have been an Israeli Soldier, but who is already clearly shot through the head and dead, is dragged from a car and stomped in the street:

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES

An Israeli soldier has been taken by Palestinian fighters into the Gaza Strip.

Reports indicate the soldier is dead. pic.twitter.com/ADJVPlKnVE— Hamdah Salhut (@hamdahsalhut) October 7, 2023

— Confrontations between HAMAS and Israeli forces in a number of settlements in southern Israel.

— IDF soldiers were reportedly killed in their barracks near the Gaza-Israeli border.

— Iron Dome continuing to intercept Rockets:

Israeli air defense intercept rockets fired by Palestinian armed groups in the Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/nV1aLdallD— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) October 7, 2023

Actual INTEL is now becoming available . . . .

Thousands of rockets fired at Israel from Gaza.

Israeli civilians massacred in several southern Israel towns.

Minor Israeli retaliation for now as IDF prepares for massive military operation.

It will be very harsh.

FLASH

Israel Will announce they are officially AT WAR with Gaza at 130PM local Time.

INNOCENT CIVILIANS MERELY DRIVING THEIR CARS, BEING SHOT DEAD IN THE STREETS:

Hamas & Palestinian terrorists from Gaza strip has infiltrated into Israel & shooting every innocent civilian they see on the street!

Israel declares state of war, Justice for #Palestine really?#Israel #IStandWithIsrael

pic.twitter.com/s9hrVkcIQF— JUNO (@SpiderJuno18) October 7, 2023

What is the dumbest life decision you’ve seen somebody makes?

The guy circled below is in the last minute of his life.

He and the guy in the vest were talking trash to each other, escalating a situation and having an ego battle.

What the guy in the red shorts didn’t realize, is that the other guy was armed with a knife. As he goes to tackle the armed man, he is fatally stabbed. The knife severed a major artery and blood poured out of the man’s body. He couldn’t have survived this wound if it happened in a hospital.

All because he wanted to get into a fist fight with someone who disrespected him.

To the men reading this, especially, getting into a fight with a complete stranger is one of the most dangerous things you could ever do. To you, it might be a fist fight. To them, it might be much more.

You win every fight you avoid.

Which sad news did you wake up to?

On March 25, 2022, 17-year-old Michigan teen, Jordan DeMay put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. His demise came as a huge surprise to his parents, who noticed nothing unusual before the tragedy.

Unknown to them, Jordan had been in an online relationship with a ‘woman’ he met on Instagram. They had exchanged nu*de photographs, but he had no idea he was chatting with two Nigerian men: 22-year-old Samuel and his 20 year-old brother, Samson Ogoshi.

With Jordan’s nu*des in their possession, they resorted to extortion. They demanded $1000 from him, and although he managed to send $300, it wasn’t enough. They threatened to leak the photos to his Instagram followers if he didn’t send the rest.

After several failed attempts to change their minds, he sent them his final message: ‘I am k-illing myself right now because of you.’ To this, they responded, ‘Good, do that fast, or I will make you do it.’

The brothers have been apprehended in Nigeria and extradited to the US to face trial.

What is the best case of “You just picked a fight with the wrong person” that you’ve witnessed?

Once I lived across the street from a high school and every day at lunch the students would cross in front of my house on their way to get food. A lot of them crossed through my yard which was annoying but not a big deal. Well one day there was this long hair stoner punk standing in my yard gouging a hole in my lawn with a big stick. I shouted at him to get the fuck off my lawn, he shouted back at me and we got into a low grade shouting match (fuck you! No fuck you! —that sort of thing) as he walked away.

I thought that was the end of it, but then a few days later in the morning I realize my house and truck had been egged. These geniuses had egged me during a rainstorm, however, so all the egg had washed off. The only way I knew was from the eggshells and a little residual yolk in my truck bed that I easily wiped off with a paper towel. Still, the principle of the situation called for vengeance. I was a grad student with a lot of time in my hands, so I got onto myspace (kiddos, myspace was like a proto-facebook popular for a minute in the mid-2000’s) and spent hours clicking through the networks of kids attending that high school until I found his page. Bingo!! This kid was a stoner raver dude and not exactly a genius ( egging in the rain, eg). His myspace page was full of pics of him drinking vodka, smoking blunts, and arranging smalltime drug deals on his and his friends pages, out in the open with no privacy controls!

Next I clicked through all his friends’ pages and happened to stumble on one where he had left his phone number (home phone — this was when only grownups had cells) on a girl’s page. So I paid $5 to reverse-lookup the number and got his parents’ names and address. Then I printed out all his pics and references to drug use and buying/selling along with a handy glossary of drug terms, put it in an envelope and mailed it to his mom. For good measure I emailed a link to his page to the principal and school police officer at his school along with a note expressing how concerned I was that this kid was dealing drugs in school.

I continued to monitor his page to see if I could find out what happened. His activity ceased and his friends were leaving messages on his page saying ‘Dan where are you??’. Apparently he was not in school. After a while his friends began to learn what happened and were discussing it on their pages. Apparently, he got expelled and his parents sent him to reform school!! So delicious. It was great revenge, and hopefully the intervention steered him toward a better path in life. Wish I had a way of finding out what happened to the kid in the long run, as this was 13 years ago.

What did you do that was unusually honest, and turned out well?

Once, while in high school, I went to a store in my small town to buy a gallon of milk for my family. I paid the cashier with a $5 bill but she somehow gave me change for a $20.

I didn’t notice her mistake until I was almost home- I had too much money. I told my Mom that I was going to return it to the store. When I walked in the store, the cashier was not at her place so I went to the back and talked to a man in the meat market area (it was a small business not a chain store like we have nowadays).

I told him I had received too much money in change. He looked at me with a look like “WOW”. He then said, “You are an honest young man, aren’t you?”

I told him that I would have felt like I was stealing if I didn’t return the extra money.

Come to find out that he was the owner of the store. He thanked me and said he would not forget about my honesty.

Well, three years passed and I needed a job. I went in to fill out an application for a job at the same store. When I asked for an application at the front counter, the owner came out of the meat market area and asked if he could help me with anything. I asked him for a job application. He said, “You are hired. Can you start tomorrow?”

Now it was my turn to have a “WOW” look on my face. He told me that he remembered me from when I had returned the extra money.

So…by me not keeping $17 three years earlier, I made way more money for three years while I went to work there after high school.

He also trained me to be a butcher, too.

It does pay to be honest.

This is a true story that I told my kids (and every sports player I coached) as they grew up.

What did you hear that shocked you today?

This case was famously called the “ Mormon sex in chains case.” In 1977, 17-year-old American Mormon missionary student Kirk Anderson was in the UK when he was kidnapped from the steps of a Mormon church in Surrey.

Kirk Anderson was kidnapped by 24-year-old Keith May after posing as a fake Journalist. He was then driven to a house in Devon, where he was chained to a bed. He was then seduced and raped by Joyce McKinney for three days against his will, while chained to a bed.

Kirk went straight to the police to report Joyce and her accomplice Keith May. The two were charged and during a committal hearing Joyce, claimed to be in love with the victim. At the time, under the Sexual Offences Act 1956, no crime of rape was deemed to have happened due to the perpetrator being female.

Although Joyce couldn’t be charged with rape, she was charged with kidnapping, along with her accomplice. Joyce McKinney and Keith May absconded to the US under fake names, skipping their trial. They were sentenced to a year in Jail for skipping bail, but extradition orders were never filed by UK authorities.

She became quiet infamous and even appeared in some raunchy photos for a magazine. She still lives in the US, and to this day, she has never seen a day inside prison for her crimes. She also received a suspended sentence for using a fake ID to enter the US.

BUSTED: Trudeau’s Plane Filled With Cocaine, Psychedelic Drugs!? Diplomat Outs Scumbag Canadian PM

Mr Benny, I’m Canadian and we are not all under Trudeau. I think he should be charged and tried for treason.

Fighter jets from multiple countries played relay

in a reflection of how geopolitics have changed

when President Assad and his family left China after attending the Asian Games and State visit on Air China Special jet B6131. It was escorted by Chinese fighter jets.
as soon as the plane left China and entered Pakistani airspace, fighter jets from Pakistan Air Force escorted the plane
when the Special jet left Pakistani airspace and entered the Arabian Sea, fighter jets from the Iranian Air Force escorted the Special plane along the Persian Gulf
jet fighters from Saudi Arabia subsequently took over and escorted the special plane to Jordan
at the Syrian border, Russian jet fighters took over for the last leg of the journey.

countries that were once bitter foes are now coming together under a BRI Eurasian world

and demonstrating their military coordination

it is now clear that Muslim countries of the Middle East will now COLLECTIVELY provide a powerful and decisive military contingent as part of a BRI Eurasian world in the war that will be fought

triggered by the Angel of Death himself who will once again lead a world wide coalition of countries obsessed with racial superiority, brutality and consumed with hatred against others not like them to complete what he had failed to do in World War 2……to burn the world down

the dice has been cast

What are ten truths everyone should accept in life?

You are not going to exist forever. You’re just a tiny speck in this vast universe and your time in this world is limited.
Anything harsh said to a loved one in anger leaves a permanent scar, no matter how much you try to bandage it.
Health is the most important wealth you can acquire. No matter how much gold you own, it can not quell the torture of an illness.
Every old person was once as old as you are today. Time stops for none.
Things which are most important for you today might be worthless tomorrow. Avoid spending money on urges.
Something as simple as saying sorry first can prevent countless disputes. It is not a sign of weakness.
Who your friends are determine who you become.
To become good at conversation, learn to be a good listener first.
Luck favours those who don’t give up
Be grateful if you have a roof for shelter, clean water for drinking , food on your table and a healthy functioning body. Try to imagine the absence of even one of these in your life.

This Kitten was LEFT FOR DEAD: What Happens Next Will SHOCK YOU

What office rule made you say “You gotta be kidding me”?

When I still worked for the Forest Service, right after 9/11, the newly created Department of Homeland Security went crazy issuing all kinds of new rules for federal employees. One was knives and sharp objects were no longer allowed in federal buildings. We all shook our heads and muttered “WTF!!! This is the Forest Service. Axes and knives are part our EDC. Tools of the trade.” All field going personnel carried a 4″ folding blade knife, that was mandatory, and most had a favorite tool they carried. Mine was a double bit axe I shaped and filed to my specifications. I did not leave it in my pickup at the end of the day. I carried it to my desk. Most others did too. Walking down the hallway carrying a sharp hand tool was a common sight.

We had a warehouse full of sharp tools and chainsaws. We used incendiary devices and napalm for prescribed burning. We used a scoped rifle to shoot cones out of trees for seed collection I received fire investigation training that showed me how to commit arson without detection. Yet we could not be trusted to carry a knife in the office.

The rule was ignored by everyone, including top management.

You Won’t Believe Who’s The Mastermind Behind Failed Coup Against Ibrahim Traoré!

Stay Strong My Brother, All Africans we need to STAND TOGETHER.

Why has the Belt and Road Initiative been criticized as “debt trap diplomacy?”

The BRI is a very simple idea on a very grand scale:

China will help to buiid ports, highways and railways in other countries, to facilitate mutual trade and commerce.
If you don’t have enough money, China will lend you some.

That’s about it. Participation is voluntary – China doesn’t force you to have a port or take a loan. And of course, before any country takes any BRI loan, its government, with its Finance Minister and accountants and economics advisers, will think carefully about the pros and cons. Simple as that.

The criticism came about because, well:

… the US government is paying USD 500 million to get the media to criticize the BRI.

WHO blew up the NORDSTROM pipeline

Watch this NEOCON squirm!

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sFm7quSKb8A?feature=share

How much money does China contribute to the US economy compared to other countries that we trade with? What would happen to our economy if that number were ever reduced?

The U.S. made more money on trade and business with China than any other nation in the last decade and within a decade it will double.

Think about this for every outlet of McDonald’s, KFC and Starbucks and Coffee Bean open in the U.S. they opened 10 in China! China alone buy more GM than the entire U.S.! Every Apple and Dell sold they make 300 USD due to China’s productivity low cost of production. China’s middle income is now 3 times the size of the U.S. middle income consumer! Most of US brands produced in China is laughing all the way to the bank.

And what did the U.S. do? Yes the fxxk it all up. They pick a fight with their biggest customer and about to be bigger than the next 5 biggest customers put together! The U.S. is now facing an unbearable inflation and an impending recession due to your two 80 year old leader jointly and severally starting a trade war with China! And China have not really retaliated yet.

About the only thing the U.S. is able to make and sell to China. It stupidly ban China from selling! Ok to be fair it bans the 1% of high end Chips. Thinking China will buy the 99% that China could make but thought it let the U.S. share the piece of the pie! But since the U.S. says has evil intentions. China immediately stopped buying the 99%. And the entire U.S. chip industry crashed. Now China has the ability to even take over the 1% high end chips too.

You cannot find a more foolish government on planet earth or perhaps the universe. They even think that China will collapse if the U.S. stop buying or trading with China. China in their mind says if the U.S. wants to have a long rope to hang itself that is their right. China suffers a mosquito bite!

Now ten years on, what implications have the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) brought to global economic development and international cooperation?

Amidst Laos’ rugged mountainous landscapes, a daily spectacle unfolds as dozens of trains race through, carrying a diverse array of goods, from electronics to cold-chain fruits, bound for destinations in China, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, and beyond. For the people of Laos who had endured the impact of dire transportation for decades, however, these sights have lost their novelty.

Two years have passed since China completed the construction of the China-Laos Railway, which connects the Chinese city of Kunming with Vientiane, the capital of Laos, a route that traverses mountains bearing the scars of unexploded American bombs from the Vietnam War. In this short span, over 19 million passengers and 24 million tons of goods have been transported, and more than 100,000 jobs have been created.

The once treacherous day-long drive from Vientiane to the Chinese border has transformed into a safe and smooth 3.5-hour journey. Today, with an average of seven passenger trains operating daily in Laos’ section, individuals sometimes still struggle for securing a ticket, given that Laos just added another passenger train set to its fleet from China in June. The ample demand for the rail service has surpassed initial expectations.

Over the past decade, hundreds of railroads and highways like the China-Laos Railway have been constructed from scratch over mountainous terrains and deserts across the Eurasian and African continents. Since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was proposed in 2013, promoting greater infrastructure connectivity and facilitating cross-border transportation with the aim to strengthen business and cultural exchanges have become a defining aspect of China’s international cooperation. Millions benefit from BRI projects. According to the World Bank, BRI is able to boost trade flows among participating countries by 4.1 percent, cut the cost of global trade by 1.1 percent to 2.2 percent, grow the GDP of East Asian and Pacific developing countries by an average of 2.6 to 3.9 percent, and lift 7.6 million people from extreme poverty.

A trap?

On the global stage, however, China’s overseas infrastructure projects under the BRI have faced significant scrutiny, often being depicted as costly plans that may push participating countries into a “debt trap.” The Bar-Boljare highway is on top of the list. It is the first highway in Montenegro history that connects the country from south to north, which is set to replace the old narrow two-lane expressway built along steep mountains and over deep canyons. Although Vatroslav Belan, former advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro on financial matters, stated in an interview that the project did not impose an excessive debt burden on his country, discussions still revolve around the cost of the highway.

China constructed the Bar-Boljare highway with a cost of around 20 million euros per kilometer, which seems like a high price at first glance. But here is a fair comparison to similar infrastructure projects, such as those in the Alps region. According to World Highways, Germany and Austria, two countries situated along the Alps, spent an average of 28.9 million Euros and 27.8 million euros per kilometer on their highways. Given that the Bar-Boljare highway includes the construction of 16 tunnels and 20 bridges over one of the toughest mountainous terrains in Europe, its cost falls within a more than reasonable range.

However, it’s important to acknowledge the existing concerns and controversies surrounding the BRI. Debt issues for some participating countries in this case highlight the need for more transparency in BRI projects.

No matter what people’s attitude towards the BRI is, one thing that can be confirmed is that the BRI is pragmatic, prioritizing gains for the sake of mutual prosperity, as seen from the results.

Open for all

The original purpose of BRI was building an “economic belt” along the ancient “silk road” linking China with Europe. Despite this, the BRI does not impose geographical restrictions on participating countries, nor is it limited to developing nations. In fact, among the over 150 countries that have signed up for the Initiative, approximately half of them are categorized as upper-middle or high-income by the World Bank. Examples include countries like Hungary, New Zealand, Poland, and many others.

(Source: Countries of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI))

Several Western corporations have already reaped benefits from the BRI. General Electric secured orders worth $2.3 billion for construction and engineering projects under the BRI, while Siemens collaborated with over 100 Chinese partners on BRI-related energy and mining projects. Citibank and Deutsche Bank have also participated in financing BRI projects. From China’s perspective, the BRI is an inclusive platform open to all stakeholders willing to engage.

Also, the world welcomes other similar initiatives aimed at promoting cooperation and shared prosperity. The G7’s ‘Build Back Better World’ and the EU’s ‘Global Gateway’ can be promising endeavors, provided that their leaders prioritize meaningful actions over branding.

Cooperation rather than aid

To achieve prosperity, economies not only need modern infrastructure, such as high-quality electricity, fast rail, 5G networks and so forth, but, more importantly, a development path tailored to each country’s unique circumstances.

African countries have been receiving aid for decades. Prior to 2000, developed countries extended one trillion US dollars in aid to Africa, averaging more than 1,000 US dollars per person for its 800 million population at that time. Surprisingly, despite the peak of European and American aid between 1970 and 1998, Africa’s poverty rate soared from 11% to 66%.

(Source: Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa by Dambisa Moyo)

China has actively supported Africa since the 1950s, albeit with a distinct approach. The wisdom of the proverb, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime,” exactly characterizes China’s intentions in Africa and other developing nations under the BRI.

China’s own economic ascent over recent decades underscores the belief that each nation should chart its development path based on its unique circumstances—harnessing its resources and fostering distinctive industries. The wiser approach lies in dismantling barriers to enable the smooth flow of essential factors for industrialization.

Instead of extending direct financial aid, China focuses on addressing crucial development needs, removing obstacles, and promoting trade, which are pivotal for African countries in breaking free from the control of aid providers and achieving self-reliance in development. The 1,860-kilometer-long Tazara Railway, linking Zambia to the Indian Ocean, has significantly bolstered the development of nations along its route, underscoring the effectiveness of China’s approach of assisting others in helping themselves.

Underlying this philosophy, the Belt and Road Initiative goes beyond merely offering financial assistance to impoverished nations. It revolves around empowering countries to foster their own development in which China gets market access, while BRI participants acquire technology and opportunities. It’s a mutually beneficial, two-way journey with cooperation at its core.

As reflecting on the past decade of the BRI, it is clear that this initiative has evolved significantly. It has embraced environmental sustainability and has promoted smart industries like telecommunications and cloud computing. While debates about its impact continue, the BRI remains a focal point of global economic development and international cooperation.

Woman want to be owned

Interesting point of view. Makes you think.

What is the smartest thing you have seen a lawyer do in court?

The smartest thing I ever saw in a court, and I’ve been in a court more than a few times (no, not as the defendant), wasn’t accomplished by an attorney, but by a 16-year-old girl. I bet she’s a lawyer now, as it was some years ago. If not, she’s surely doing something that requires similar talents and abilities, because she removed a threat and constant victimizer from our community when lawyers couldn’t.

It wasn’t a particularly important case, but she approached it acting as her own attorney and as if she had been arrested for murder. She even brought her own self-produced technicolor slide and video shows.

She had been pulled for speeding and running a stop sign by a county deputy who was the bain of our resort community from which the only way into the city where many of us worked or had other homes was by passed through a small town. Deputy Thug, as we called him, often lay in wait behind huge trees in the darkness, not just for law breakers but for people to harass at night when observers were not about. His favorite victims were minorities and teenagers and younger women of any race. He never pulled mature men, even if they were flying low, or older women, maybe for fear of husbands and sons or maybe they reminded him of his mother.

Almost all of our law enforcement officers were extremely polite and courteous, even if they hauled you off to jail. But people were afraid of this man. Everyone, even other deputies, knew that those he pulled were far more likely to be innocent than guilty and that he threatened violence and set people up, but no one had been able to prove it, with or without lawyers. Deputy Thug was not merely a liar, but a bully with no one controlling him. He was proud of his reputation for the most tickets, the most arrests, the most feared, etc.

He yelled, screamed, called names, demanded people, especially boys, get out of cars so he could shove them around and try to provoke them into something he could arrest for. He threatened, he intimidated. He accused them of serious crimes. I know it was true, because I saw it, and spoke up about it, and later I was also targeted. He was nasty and very threatening until I convinced him I knew my rights and for reasons not worth going into here, he wouldn’t be as likely to win my kind of fight as he would a violent one against a teenage boy.

Miss 16-Year-Old approached the docket like Perry Mason pretending to be Columbo. You would have to see it and hear a lot of detail to get the brilliance of how she set him up, but just to simplify it, she asked him question after question, about what she did, where she was, why that was illegal, where he was, what he saw, what he did, when he did it, on and on. She repeated every important question, asking twice if he were absolutely sure beyond a doubt. Of course, he was, he would answer, arrogant and condescending, tough, counterattacking, apparently not suspecting a trap being laid.

Since she refuted nothing he said, even seemed to be accepting his lies and a bit chagrined at times, the 200 or so of us in the courtroom (a bigger county court in the bigger city, not the small town) felt sorry for her. Deputy Thug was verbally beating her up to the extent the judge would let him, and we were losing hope that she had anything to offer to support her case – until she finished her line of inquiry and turned on the visuals.

She turned from Columbo into a 16-year-old ace prosecutor and proved with the slides and film that every single answer he had given her was a lie.

She had not even been where he claimed and wrote on the ticket that the incident happened. He had not pulled her at the time he said and wrote. There was no stop sign where he said she had run one. The speed limit at the place he cited was higher than he said she was driving, on and on and on.

Then, after she had disproven all his claims beyond a doubt – she proved that both the place she actually was and the place he falsely claimed to have pulled her weren’t even in his jurisdiction! He had no right to pull her or ticket her, let alone threaten to arrest her, as if she had been committing grand theft auto.

And during that process, she handled him as if she had 30 years’ experience in dismantling the defenses of hardened criminals, and he lost control and exploded at her when he realized she had shown him up as a liar and abuser of his authority.

The entire court room erupted in loud cheers and applause as the judge, enraged well before this point, dismissed the case and shredded the deputy, saying that he was a disgrace to his uniform and that he himself was deeply offended by the lies just told, also implying that serious consequences were in order.

Unfortunately, the judge had no control over police personnel, and Deputy Thug was not fired. But he stopped harassing our community and we never saw the swagger and arrogance again. All because a 16-year-old decided to take the time and trouble to prepare carefully a real defense and offense instead of just paying the fine.

I wondered if one of her parents might have been an attorney. Someone close to her could have advised, but the girl did it all. I hope she is fighting for the right somewhere today.

The lesson I learned is that it sometimes does pay to take small cases that seem to have little chance of success to court.

i sold everything & left America

I left my country beginning of 2021 and moved to France. It has been the most healing, spiritual and phenomenal thing I’ve ever done. I had a spiritual awakening, met my husband and started a business and all because I answered the call of my soul. Well done for doing the same. Life is short. Just do it!

Could America turn into a communist nation like China or Russia in the long term if things continue as they are now? Why or why not?

I am not sure what what will US become. That is what Americans must decide on its own free will. To me to each it’s own. It will be good if Americans think seriously about the system you have that your media term as exceptional and land of the free and brave, the beacon of democracy and the leader of the free world?

But if Americans are brain dead and take it as what your media and your politicians say it is. Then that is the choice and right for Americans. I can only say what I think and what 7.5 billion out of 8 billion earthlings think about the so called liberal democracy. We know it is anything but democratic, anything but liberal, anything but exceptional!

We want out. Out from the U.S. so called rules based international order. The world knows it should not and will not follow a U.S. or western order or rules set by the west to impoverish the developing world and enriching the western order. That won’t work and we the world reject it wholeheartedly.

The U.S., its dog nations mainly your Anglo Saxon family, your slave vassal states some former colonial powers have reason to want to perpetuate this order so that the loot and the plunder can perpetuate because you are the net beneficiary of this order. So I can understand why this group wants to keep your thieving ways. But this group represents a mere 12% of the world and at most 12–15 nations out of 195 nations on earth. By any definition this is not the majority of the world. It Is a small minority.

We think the U.S. ways are simply barbaric and certainly unsustainable over the long term. It is no wonder that the U.S. share of the world economy evaporated from 52% in 1945 to today a little less than 15% in real purchasing power share today! And dropping very fast. In a decade the U.S. dollar as a reserved will reduce by 80% after all who wants their reserves to be robbed right before their eyes like how you confiscated the Russian reserves or Venezuelan gold in London.

The U.S. can only survived by money printing and credit creation without basis. No different from one humongous Ponzi scheme. 20% of worlds prisoners population is in the U.S., a week of mass random shootings in the U.S. is more than the entire world put together in a whole year! Up to a million Americans live in tents homeless throughout the U.S. Is the U.S.”liberal democracy” good? Or is it even workable?

But that is for Americans to decide!

Why is the US doing such a bad job countering China’s rise?

Because China is a large country with a population of 1.4 billion. In recent years, China has increased its research and development efforts, innovated and made breakthroughs on its own, achieved independence and self-improvement in the fields of military, national defense, finance, economy, high technology, and got rid of external constraints and threats. It has maintained the world’s advanced level in fields such as high-speed railways, aerospace, ocean diving and drones, and has won respect and voice in the world. China is not afraid of provocation by the United States or encirclement by the United States.

on the contrary，The United States has always regarded itself as the world’s leader and hegemon, and it is unwilling to see any country threaten its status and interests. The United States’ provocation against China is motivated by fear and jealousy of China’s rise. When China has made significant progress in various fields, the United States feels crisis and uneasiness. It fears China will surpass it, or at least be on par with it. It is jealous of China’s achievements and wants to smear and slander China’s image. Therefore, the United States has adopted various means to suppress and contain China’s development in an attempt to maintain its advantages and hegemony.

In recent years, due to the rising of China, the United States is worried about its hegemonic position, so it tries to suppress China’s rise and contain China in all aspects, such as “trade war”, “freedom of navigation”, pushing allies to give up Huawei equipment, and using the media to convey China’s wrong information to the international community. It has also put pressure on its Allies to do so, for example, by provoking countries such as the Philippines to constantly provoke China over the South China Sea issue.

In fact, none of these strategies worked. The more the United States oppresses China, the higher and more stable the Asian country will stand. For example, the US accused China of setting a “debt trap”, which eventually resulted in more countries joining the Belt and Road Initiative. At the same time, more and more countries have applied to join the BRICS, and the BRICS countries also ushered in the expansion of membership this year. Diplomatically, despite the United States’ efforts to isolate China around the world, more than 30 foreign leaders and senior officials attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics. In short, the US policy of “containing China” has failed miserably. So why can’t the US contain China’s rise?

First, the US cannot afford outright confrontations with China right now. China’s economic growth has been steady, and it has become the world’s second largest economy, with a wide market for US trade exports, and the two economies are highly interdependent, making complete decoupling almost impossible. China and the United States have close ties in trade, investment, and finance. Some US industries and enterprises are too dependent on the Chinese market and will suffer serious losses if the trade war continues. However, China has countermeasures, such as restricting imports of US products and reducing purchases of US bonds. This interdependence makes it difficult for the United States to bear the economic costs of confrontation with China.

Second, China’s rise on the international stage has deterred the United States from openly acknowledging conflict and confrontation. China is increasingly influential in global affairs, actively participating in global governance and proposing a series of initiatives and programs, such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. The US is aware that open confrontations with China will only lead to its isolation on the global stage, loss of opportunities for international cooperation, and further weakening of its hegemonic position. History is the best proof: Vietnam War and the Iraq War fully illustrate the nature of selfishness of the US. The various failures of the United States have already undermined its diplomatic reputation, but for China, it is a good opportunity to gain more room for growth in the targeted competition.

The United States needs to face China’s rise correctly and build a more stable and peaceful cooperative relationship with China, rather than adopting a vicious competitive approach. In the era of globalization, international cooperation is an effective way to solve problems. Both China and the US are the world’s largest economies with different strengths and development models. Through mutual respect, equal dialogue, and cooperation, the two countries can jointly address global challenges and promote prosperity and stability in the world.

Spicy Orange Beef

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

1/4 cup orange juice concentrate
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon finely grated orange peel
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
5 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups broccoli florets
12 scallions, with tops, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 (1 pound) boneless sirloin steak, cut into thin strips
3 medium oranges, sectioned
Hot cooked rice

Instructions

In a small bowl combine the first six ingredients; set aside.
In a large skillet or wok, heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium heat; sauté garlic for 30 seconds.
Add broccoli, onions, ginger and pepper flakes; stir-fry for 2 minutes or until broccoli is crisp-tender.
Remove vegetables and keep warm.
Heat remaining oil in skillet; add beef. Stir-fry until no longer pink.
Stir orange juice mixture; add to skillet.
Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until sauce is thickened.
Return vegetables to pan. Add oranges and heat through.
Serve over rice.

On father’s day

Sheech! The USA is truly fucked up.

How do long-range high-speed rail lines make sense in China, where it doesn’t in other places?

You have to understand the Chinese mindset to make sense of High speed rail

Only the Chinese can make it work

In Hongkong, Westerners predicted ferries would go out of business in the late 1950s because they charged 5 cents per person

FIVE CENTS

They were losing almost 150,000 HK a day

Yet they flourished and stayed in business

The reason?

INTRINSIC BENEFITS

More people flocked to Kowloon and the New Territories and more opportunities cropped up and more money was earned and the economy benefited more

So the Loss of 150K a day was compensated by a gain of 800K a day in 4 years time to the HK economy

This kind of mindset is something only a Chinese Mind and by extension a Singaporean Mind can conjure or think up

Factories in China were given tax subsidies in lieu of investing in Rural China

Factories gained an average of 60 Billion Yuan of tax concessions and their investment into the villages was 34 Billion Yuan

So Chinese Governments were losing 26 Billion Yuan a year in Tax

Sounds inefficient? Sounds corrupt?

Yet this 26 Billion Yuan a year, helped make villages self sufficient and within a decade the villagers were saving the Government of China around 100 Billion Yuan a year and earning them around 36–40 Billion Yuan

So the Chinese lost 260 Billion Yuan in Taxes over 10 years but Chinese Economy gained 1.4 Trillion Yuan over the same 10 years

High Speed Rails works in the same way

It costs the Chinese around 600 Billion Yuan a year in Losses

Yet it connects people from 200 miles away and helps prevent ghettos and slums in cities, ensures workplaces tick on time

It brings value to rural outlying areas whose land growth is asset monetization to the Chinese Government

It helps the housing sector as people can build in semi urban or rural areas now and still sell flats and houses due to the fact that cities are 4–6 hours away instead of 18 hours

Thus the intrinsic benefits of this 800 Billion a year is maybe 2–3 Trillion a year to the Chinese Economy

And as you scale the HSR across China (It’s only 45% complete today), you can cut the losses from 800 Billion Yuan a year to maybe 300 Billion Yuan a year and bring a positive intrinsic benefit to China of upto 4 Trillion a year

That’s something purely for the Chinese and maybe the Japanese people to know and understand

Westerners who follow pure capitalist economics won’t understand any other this

Indian leaders sadly are too corrupt and too entrenched in politics to have intrinsic benefits for their people. Thus any intrinsic benefits will be replaced by inefficiency and corruption

Bottom line

You want to understand Chinese actions in business?

First understand how a Chinese thinks

You cannot understand Chinese actions with a Western mindset.

Why is the opiate crisis in the United States getting worse?

USA is basically what happens when Jean Calvin meets Oliver Cromwell meets Ayn Rand.

I have never seen this kind of squalor in any First World country - and I have travelled a lot.

United States, as a society, is incredibly callous, ruthless, indifferent and negligent as a society. It was like that when Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle, and it is the same today. United States is a winner-takes-it-all society, where losers are treated with hard hand and where losing in this societal dog-eat-dog struggle of existence is basically your own fault. And in this mindset, for every winner, there must always be a plenitude of losers.

American “freedom” is essentially indifference.

Now opiates are painkillers. They are downers. They numb down pain. Not only physical pain, but also social and societal pain. This is what makes them so dangerous.

Opiates are not party drugs nor protest drugs nor psychedelics. They are essentially loser drugs. They are not used to getting high. They are used to keep the pain away.

Heroin is the ultimate so-what drug. Opiates are used to keep the cruel world away – to keep the pain, the shame, the agony, the knowledge you are bottom dregs of the society, human waste – away.

To be comfortably numb.

Opiates are the alternative for committing suicide. For the really downtrodden and broken, the opiates give a reason to live for tomorrow.

The seeds of the opiate crisis were sowed in the 1980s during the era of Ronald Reagan and the Neo-Liberalist economic policy and Neo-Conservative societal politics. They initiated the polarization of the American society into filthy rich and dirth poor, and they initiated the erosion of the middle class. Ever since USA was founded, each generation was wealthier than their parents. This finally ended with the Generation X – it is the first generation which will remain poorer than their parents. The reason is the erosion of the middle class and the polarization of the society into winners and losers, and there is no guarantee any more for social ascension via hard work, education or entrepreneurship.

With the erosion of the middle class came the erosion of the support pillars of the society. The loss of middle class jobs meant erosion of the nuclear family. That came with erosion of the traditional religiosity of the US. That came with the polarization of politics – Dems were overrun by the progressive wokes and Reps by the MAGA folks. I cannot say who are more lunatic, but the pragmaticism and common sense disappeared. Trump is not the cause, he is the symptom.

Generation Y and Z (the Millennials) will remain still even poorer than the Gen X. They are the first American generations with no future. And they realize it. Usually people become more conservative with age – because of gentrification. This has not happened with Gen X, Y nor Z. It is said Gen X is the great so-what generation – totally disillusioned and totally dreamless – and the younger generations are outright Nihilstic about their futures.

This “no future” realization, however, is not enough to create a drug problem – in the UK it created the punk subculture. What is needed is a cheap supply of safe drugs. And that happened with the Purdue Pharma. They developed a process to manufacture oxycodone cheaply from thebaine and a form of compound which releases slowly the oxycodone into metabolism – and named it as Oxycontin.

Thebaine can easily be converted into just any source of drugs. Mind you heroin is diacetylmorphine, and synthesized from morphine by treating it with acetic acid anhydride. The molecule of oxycodone is dangerously similar as that of heroin.

Purdue Pharma marketed Oxycontin ruthlessly and disregarding its addictiviness. The company got rich – and also a lot of the product went to clandestine hands. The drug addicts realized it was both cheaper than heroin and safer to use – oxycodone eventually pretty much has superseded illicit heroin on the market. Purdue Pharma dug too deep and unleashed the balrog.

This figure pretty much explains it all. The first wave began with Purdue Pharma unleashing the balrog with Oxycontin in the 1990s. It also coincided with the closure of coal mines and deindustrialization of the Rust Belt and the desperation and hopelessness of the poor people there.

The second wave began with heroin in 2010. It was only a temporary rise – the even stronger and stranger stuffs – emerged. That is, synthetic opioids like fentanyl, tramadol and other similar stuffs. The Russian scourge, krokodil, never got a foothold in the US, though – the American addicts are not that desperate.

Eventually the synthetic opioids bypassed both oxycodone and heroin. The drug misuse problem is greatest where desperation, hopelessness and bleak outlook in the life are hardest – rural America, traditional industrial areas and poor quarters of the cities. In 2020, the age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths increased 31% compared to 2019. Adults aged 35-44 (Gen Y) experienced the highest rates of drug overdose deaths while young people aged 15-24 (Gen Z) experienced the greatest percentage increase in deaths.

Fentanyl is both extremely potent painkiller and rather simple to synthesize in a clandestine laboratory. Fentanyl has been synthesized from a simple phenylethylamine by four step sequence. The key part of this synthesis involves an efficient construction of phenylethylpiperidone skeleton via aminomethano desilyltion-cyclization followed by Swern oxidation. This is known as the Gupta method.

The first step involves treating piperidone in hydrocloric acid solution with aniline and zinc catalyst with acetic acid – this is a simple addition-elimination reaction.

The second step is adding 2-bromoethylbenzene in 50% w/w NaOH (50% hydroxide solution was interpreted for the 100% hydroxide solution stated in the Gupta patent) to yield 4-anilino-N-phenethylpiperidine (4-ANPP).

The third step is adding propionyl chloride to yield fentanyl. It should be noted in all cases that dichloromethane was substituted for 1,2-dichloroethane in the last step (Step-3). Also, the Gupta-patent stops at the isolation of the fentanyl in freebase form, while all samples in this study were converted to the hydrochloride salt form to replicate the salt form of most seized samples (Step-4) with hydrochloric acid.

Unlike Breaking Bad and the red-white-blue synthesis of methamphetamine, the fentanyl synthesis is rather safe, but asks for clandestine, uncommon and not generally available chemicals. The yield is not stoichiometric, and produces a lot of unwanted side products. Mind you also the stereochemistry. A modification of the Gupta “one-pot” route is accomplished starting with piperidone hydrochloride, triethylamine, phenylacetaldehyde, and sodium triacetoxyborohydride (STAB) in dichloromethane. This chemical mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight. On the second day, aniline and additional STAB were added and allowed to stir again overnight at room temperature. The crude 4-ANPP product was isolated after Step-2, which was a deviation from the standard “one-pot” procedure, by adding NaOH solution until basic and extracting the desired product with dichloromethane. The resulting dichloromethane layer was dried over sodium sulfate, decanted into another flask, taken to fentanyl using propionyl chloride and triethylamine, and then isolated as the hydrochloride salt form in Step-4.

The result is now that balrog roams free and there is no simple solution for this problem. United States is slowly decaying and disintegrating, but not with a bang but with a whimper. The current opiate and opioid crisis is a symptom of this decay – including all the social evils connected to it.

Russia has a similar crisis, but with really dangerous stuffs, such as krokodil, which is basically home-cooked very impure desomorphine. The Russian youth experiences the similar hopelessness, lack of opportunities, bleakness and desperation as the Americans, and they have it even worse. Needless to say, Putin’s politics have certainly not eased it. Russia is basically another petrostate with Mongol legacy, and Russian rulers have always treated their peasants as expendable. In Russia, human life has never had any value whatsoever. See ‘Muting The Horrors’: Experts Warn Of Addiction Crisis As Russian Soldiers Return From Ukraine

We here in Europe live with a cold circle under our butts: which will collapse first, USA or Russia – and what will it mean to us?

a shift is happening, keep up

“I needed to hear this so badly today. Been stuck in a rut of anxiety and negative self doubt, I recently graduated high school and am choosing a path other than college and it has made me feel like I’m out of the loop or a “loser” for not going to college. This made me realize I need to stop pitying myself and put the work in to have a better life for myself”

Swamp Pizza

The “swamp pizza”.

Long before I even heard of a “Chicago pizza”, I would make these pizzas that my brother and I referred to as “swamp pizza”. What I would do is take a “off the shelf” pizza kit and raise the dough extra long. And instead of flattening it out in the standard pizza shape, I would use it to line a deep Pyrex dish.

I would then fill it with the sauce and cover it up with cheese. Sometimes I would add meat and mushrooms, and always I would cover with lots and lots of cheese.

It’s been decades since I made these little Swamp Pizzas. But every now and then, I get a hankering for a swamp pizza on a lazy afternoon, and a black and white vintage science fiction or film noir movie. I will tell you that it is perfect for spending a snowy Winter day alone.

Today…

Doggie story

“My dog gave her life to save my son.

Cindy, my dog, was six years old and she was the most home-loving and obedient dog. I loved her and she knew it. When my son was born, she was immediately very protective over him. She’d sit beside his pram for hours, popping her front legs up onto the pram every now and then to make sure he was ok.

My son was almost three years old. We lived near a busy road and we were super vigilant at always child-proofing the front door – without exception. My son, as young children can be, was into everything. We’d often find him in the kitchen at 4 am with a concoction of cereal, milk, dry dog food, eggs, etc all mixed up on the kitchen floor. He was that kind of child – into everything. He also watched everything we would do and try to mimic us in his own unique way, often with highly amusing consequences.

One morning, again around 4 am, he somehow managed to ‘escape’ through his bedroom window. To rewind a little, Cindy knew not to go outside (apart from the garden) without us. We could have left the front door open all day (when my son was visiting with grandparents) and she’d never venture out. She also knew that our son wasn’t allowed to go through the front door without us, evidenced by her pushing at him if he fiddled with the front door handle. She didn’t know that it was double locked. This day, she followed my son through the window.

At 5 am, the police woke us knocking on the door. Their words were – “your son was nearly killed but your dog copped it”. They then reiterated what the lorry driver had said…

He told them that he was driving along in the dark and in the distance, he could see something ‘light colored’ moving on the road. As he got closer, he could see a dog at the side of the road barking and barking at the ‘light colored’ something. At the last moment, he realized that this was a child and was about to swerve. He said he could see the dog, still barking and glancing between the truck and the child. While the driver was braking, the dog ran out into the road, jumped at the child’s back and threw him out of the path of the lorry and at the same time, the lorry hit the dog and killed her.

According to the police, the driver said that he’d never believe what he saw unless it was with his own eyes. He said that the dog definitely knew the danger which is why she was barking so anxiously. He said “that dog just saved that kid’s life and it knew what it was doing.”

That was 39 years ago and I still miss Cindy every day. She was a rough collie (a lassie dog) and I can understand why this breed was chosen for the movies.”

School Bus story

“I drive a school bus and have a 6 grader who I would like to talk about.

Last week he was talking about an elderly neighbor not leaving her house for weeks. I tried to explain how hard it could be for her to do things. On Tuesday I pulled up and he wasn’t at the stop waiting. I looked over and saw him shoveling her porch. I was early so I waited for him. The other kids asked why I waited. I said anyone helping someone deserves a few extra minutes. All the kids started asking him questions about his neighbor. The next day 7 children got on the bus with blankets, food and cards for the elderly woman. I delivered them after worked. Now everyday she stands on the porch and the whole bus waves good morning. I am so proud of him for stepping up and doing the right thing. He taught all the children something important. I smile with pride in my heart because of the extraordinary children I have on my bus.” .

A Secret Global Coup Has Happened!

Let’s say there are 10 people. 1 is a sociopath and 2 are brutish thugs. The sociopath will use the two thugs to keep the rest in line using violence. The other 7 people will be forced to work long and hard so that these 3 can live lives of pleasure and privilege. This is the story of human civilization ever since the agricultural revolution. Countries are people farms; most humans have become farm animals and are treated as such.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Leonard

Matthew Leonard, born on November 26, 1929, in Eutaw, Alabama, embodied the spirit of service from an early age. Raised in a segregated society, Leonard attended Ullman High School in Birmingham, Alabama. He was not only a student but also a Boy Scout, instilling in him the values of honor and duty.

As a teenager, Leonard took on a job at a local drugstore, earning a modest $15 per week. This hard-earned income was dedicated to helping his mother meet the family’s financial needs. Even in his youth, Leonard demonstrated a deep sense of responsibility and commitment to those he cared for.

In 1947, at the age of 18, Matthew Leonard enlisted in the U.S. Army, beginning a remarkable journey that would span nearly two decades. He dedicated himself to a life of service, embracing the challenges and responsibilities that came with it.

Leonard served as a drill sergeant and trained young recruits at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. But as the war in Vietnam broke out, Leonard’s wife said he struggled to watch those young recruits, who weren’t much older than his sons, go to war and die. So, even though he was close to retirement, he volunteered to deploy in the hope of making a difference.

On February 28, 1967, in the heart of Vietnam, Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Leonard, serving as the platoon sergeant for Company B of the 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division, demonstrated unparalleled bravery in the face of overwhelming odds.

Sgt. Leonard’s valorous journey unfolded near Suoi Da, Vietnam, where his platoon suddenly found themselves under a hail of enemy fire. The enemy, armed with small arms, automatic weapons, and hand grenades, vastly outnumbered Leonard’s platoon. Amid the chaos, the platoon’s commander and several key leaders were among the first to be wounded, thrusting Leonard into a position of leadership.

With remarkable composure, Leonard rallied his platoon to repel the initial enemy assault. He swiftly organized a defensive perimeter, redistributed ammunition, and bolstered the morale of his fellow soldiers. Even in the midst of battle, he exemplified unwavering leadership.

As the enemy’s assault intensified, Leonard’s selflessness and bravery shone brighter. When a wounded soldier found himself outside the safety of the defensive perimeter, Leonard risked his life to rescue him. It was during this act of heroism that Leonard himself was struck by a sniper’s bullet, shattering his hand.

Undeterred by his injuries, Leonard refused medical attention and continued to fight. He moved tirelessly from position to position, directing counterfire against the enemy, who had positioned a machine gun that threatened the entire perimeter.

Just as the situation seemed dire, Leonard’s own platoon’s machine gun malfunctioned, adding to the peril. Without hesitation, Leonard crawled to the malfunctioning weapon, determined to get it back into operation. During this critical moment, the enemy machine gun began strafing nearby soldiers, hitting Leonard’s gunner and others.

Summoning every ounce of his strength, Leonard rose to his feet and charged toward the enemy gun. Despite suffering multiple gunshot wounds, he managed to eliminate the enemy machine gun’s crew, silencing the threat.

Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Leonard’s indomitable spirit and unwavering commitment to his comrades and mission endured until the very end. Despite being gravely wounded, he propped himself against a tree and continued to return fire until he could no longer carry on.

His incredible sacrifice and valor were acknowledged with the Medal of Honor, a testament to the extraordinary dedication and courage he displayed in the face of adversity.

Poor Cat Left To Decompose While She Is Alive | Rescue Before And After

Horrific! But a great rescue.

What is the smartest thing you have seen a lawyer do in court?

Back when I was a young teen (more moons ago than I can count) I worked as a law clerk during the summers at my father’s office in downtown Chicago. Mostly it was busy work, matching mail with files, pulling files for court and some light typing.

On occasion I would go with him to court when he argued cases before the industrial commission (work related accidents).

One of these cases involved an individual who claimed his shoulder injury was so bad he was permanently and totally disabled from working ever again. He was a Russian immigrant and so his lawyer had to use an interpreter to question him during the hearing.

What they didn’t know was that my father had been a Russian Interrogator for the Air Force during the Korean War, and spoke fluent Russian. He had been teaching me conversational Russian while I was growing up, so I was able to follow along for the most part.

When his lawyer asked the question : “Mr. Petrovitch, how high can you lift your right arm” their interpreter actually said “Raise your right hand a small amount and act as if you are in severe pain” to which the man raised his hand a little, groaned and grimaced, squinting his eyes.

On cross-examination, after a laundry list of standard questions (through the interpreter, of course) my dad said in fluent Russian “HANDS UP OR I’LL SHOOT!” The man immediately raised both arms and stretched them towards the ceiling, showing no limitations or pain behavior at all.

Of course the other lawyer started shouting his objections, the interpreter yelled at the petitioner (plaintiff) that he was stupid and the judge covered his face with his hands to try and stop laughing out loud.

The award: Zero.

My son’s school searched my child’s backpack and found his phone. Now they are holding it to the end of the year. Is this legal?

Go to the school and demand the phone back immediately. Having a phone is not illegal. If they balk at giving it back and spew some nonsense about not allowing phones at school tell them your child doesn’t have his phone in class but you as his parent require that he carry it with him to be able to track him and reach him as needed. There are many tracking apps now. Calmly, Demand they hand over the phone immediately. If they do not, call the police right there from the school office to report a theft. Get the names and positions of everyone witnessing this. Tell the school that if you don’t get the phone by the next day you will be buying a new phone and your attorney will be in contact with the school regarding the school paying for the new phone plus the old phone plus the attorney’s bill. Ask when the next school board meeting is and suggest you will be attending to discuss the dismissal of all involved, on charges of petty larceny.

You Won’t Βelieve What Τhey Have In Stοre For Us Next..

Let me see if I got this correct. The tax payer now pays for Gov stores and also pays to fill those stores with food and other items again using tax payer money. Then the tax payer goes to buy the food in the Gov store and gets tax on top of that. Crazy times we are living in!

What is the most humane gesture you have ever encountered?

Prison food is not great. It is not served on fine china or plated to be visually pleasing to the eye.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are seldom served.

For five years I went twice a week to spend time with inmates as we worked together on a book project for at risk kids.

We were all volunteers for our community, as we sat on opposite sides of the table.

One evening when I entered the men’s dormitory, where we met, an inmate handed me a small cardboard box.

He said, “We do not have anything to give you to thank you for coming here and treating us with respect. We want you to know we appreciate your giving value to our lives by using our stories to help others.”

I felt humbled and astonished when I saw the contents of the box. It was a red apple, some popcorn, and another small edible item. On the side was a handwritten note with many signatures.

Anyone who has spent time in prison knows fresh fruit is like gold. A thank you in any form is not to be taken lightly.

Inmates sharing their food with an outsider is not common. Sharing food that is fresh and seldom served is momentous.

Their gifts were not only humane. They were risky. Giving gifts was not in the rule book. I looked over at the nearby guards who also chose to be humane that day and let me know they understood the importance of what was happening.

They looked at the hardened faces of the men in my class, whose softened eyes were asking permission. The guards nodded while I fought to keep back the tears.

In all my years of teaching and rendering service to others, I have never felt such gratitude for the priviege as I did that day.

Years later, seeing a red apple stirs my spirit and reminds me, humane and selfless acts still abound.

In unexpected places, gratitude can still civilize us when we least expect it, for both the giver and the recipient.

P.S. The book is available to be borrowed for free through Amazon Kdp select. It is titled,
“Redirecting Kids for Success” Prison Prevention…for at risk kids grades 9-12.

Breaking! China just dealt a DEVASTATING blow to U.S. Dollar Dominance

Breaking news on this Monday out of China where we have new data on the dumping of U.S. treasuries and what this means for the U.S. dollar dominance. Saudi Arabia also dumping U.S. treasuries at an increased rate over the past few weeks. What is going on?

Riddle me this. China has been doing quite well under Deng-Jiang-Wu-early Xi when China was friendly to foreign countries and being part of the global community. Why did Xi change all of that? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?

Xi changed nothing. You’ve been listening to Western propaganda garbage.

Nearly the entire Global South is behind China. More than 40 countries have expressed a wish to join China-led BRICS and SCO. More than 150 countries have signed up to the BRI and wish to receive Chinese assistance.

China has treated America, Britain and EU with utmost respect. The reverse, unfortunately, has not been true. China is sick and tired of their arrogance and Cold War mentality.

Why did the West change their attitude towards China? Riddle me this.

Nikki Haley says she will stop China from killing Americans with fentanyl. Is the PRC doing this? If so, how?

She’s lying. She has no idea what to do. What she’s trying to selli is the idea that she does.

Preying on the poor is hugely profitable, and the capitalists have risen to the task. We choose to look away and complain.

HarmonyOS 4.0 reaches over 60 million Huawei devices in less than 2 months

Hauwei unveiled HarmonyOS 4.0, the latest version of its operating system, on August 4. The new iteration brought several changes to the user interface, as well as new features and improvements. Huawei has been quickly rolling out the new software to eligible devices. Earlier this month, we reported that 10 million Huawei smartphones and tablets were already running HarmonyOS 4.0. And today, the company confirmed that the OS has now made its way to over 60 million devices.

Huawei announced 60 million installations of HarmonyOS 4 on Huawei smartphones and tablet devices at its Autumn 2023 Flagship Product Launch event today. The company said it added an average of 1.2 million new users each day. This is just after less than 2 months of the formal announcement of the software.

HarmonyOS 4.0 comes with several notable changes, including a variety of rich theme templates and stylized layout designs. You can select the colors of your app icons and set emoji wallpapers and home screens by choosing your favorite emoji.

It also lets you better manage your notifications by clustering them together and sorting them by importance. The notifications for the same app are now stacked into dynamic cards so you can see more information about each notification without having to open it. HarmonyOS 4.0 also lets you identify text and images by double-clicking and then long-pressing to select them.

Huawei had a busy day today. It launched half a dozen new products in China, including a Huawei Mate 60 RS Ultimate Design smartphone with satellite calling and a ceramic body. In addition, the company unveiled the FreeBuds Pro 3 as well as the Watch GT 4.

U.S Sanctions Failed As China’s Shenzhen Imports Integrated Circuits From All Around the World!

“We see the “US of Amurdikkka is fastly declining in to a third world company/country/corporation.” Fall Babylon fall, youve destroyed so many. Now enjoy the ride down, you’ll never rise again.”

https://youtu.be/IVx7KNRiJEI

What is the best case of “You just picked a fight with the wrong person” that you’ve witnessed?

I’ve been wondering whether or not to answer this… The “wrong person” is my daughter (stepdaughter really,but I’m Daddy now and forever so that settles that) and the people doing the “picking a fight”were her ex boyfriend and his father.. I didn’t personally witness this because I was in Iraq at the time,but believe me I sure heard about it.

Daughter is tall and not a delicate flower even though she has all the requisite standard equipment to attract stares and suchlike, including a startling resemblance to Gal Gadot ,and I always emphasized to all my kids the importance of self confidence ,so she carries herself with a certain pride. She has Blackfeet blood along with Irish and Norwegian and who knows what else, girl has a temper too,what can I say..

Anyways,ex boyfriend and father spot her walking down the sidewalk one weekend night and follow her,asking her to get in and go for a cruise.. She says no,but they apparently don’t want to take no for an answer and pull ahead and stop, ex BF Gets out of the car and grabs her elbow and pulls her towards the car,she pulls away and he grabs her again, by this time she is almost in the door. I had taught my kids to avoid punching someone and use their elbows if the person was close enough, which ex BF certainly was unfortunately for his dumb ass, because Daughter proceeds to elbow him repeatedly in the face with backswing strikes on her way away from the car, dislocating ex BF‘S jaw and shattering his eye socket and breaking his nose, and naturally stopped any hostilities on his part, but ex BF’s dad was pushed by this time and ran around the car and accosted Daughter, catching a 50 yard field goal kick in his balls for his troubles..I taught my kids well.

no charges were filed..

What would you recommend to China’s leaders on foreign affairs/relations?

Well, as an American woman, I would recommend that China’s leaders maintain a strong and unyielding stance against the outright bully tactics of my country’s government. To be fair, the US isn’t the only country upping their anti-China sentiments but it is the country I am from so that is what I primarily speak of.

I would say to China, you have more than paid your dues and earned your right as a superpower in world affairs. Hold your heads proudly because you have every right to. There is no need to hide your strength anymore. It is time to let it be on display.

You are one of, if not the oldest country with 5000 years of continuous history. You don’t need to bow to anyone. You don’t need to apologize for being great. You don’t need to sell your technology to the US. You don’t need to accept blame for a virus that was not your fault. You don’t have to back off of your initiatives because other countries don’t approve. You don’t have to take acts of aggression from our spy planes flying in your airspace. You don’t have to tolerate the blatant disrespect to your consulate that was closed in our country. Your people don’t have to accept racism when they come to the US to attend college, work in research, or just visit as tourists.

Please don’t let anyone else push you around anymore. Never again. Let that be your motto from here on out.

Germany Freaks Out – China, PLEASE Buy Our Cars!

“As a European, I am so ashamed of our political class and what they have turned the Eurozone into. If the european project is just a facade for American hegemony, then let it die and this is extremely hard for me to say, because I see the eurozone and union as a great idea but ONLY if we have autonomy both strategically, economic and militarily. These two years have shown we have none of it and this is why I write this. It is mindbuggling/unbelievable stupid what is happening right now.”

How can you handle humiliation in your job by your boss?

Let me tell a story about a Clerk who worked with me who made me believe that The Godfather (Book) theory that The Simplest and most humble man can avenge himself against the most powerful of men with patience

We worked in a Branch where i was temporarily in charge of recovery. The branch was a Scale IV Branch but for some reason a Scale V AGM had been deputed to the branch for a temporary basis due to some shortage or something.

This Asst General Manager who had a chip on his block. You had a good natured thirty something old clerk who worked in the department and who was a pretty good guy. He owned a family business as well and would very often give us discounts. I went on many recovery missions with him and he was always a cheerful and happy go lucky type.

Our Old Branch Manager was a good man but once he retired – until his replacement came- this AGM was posted and he was a PRIG. He was angry at working in a Scale IV post and showed it on people.

Now our Clerk always went from 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM to pick up his daughter, take her to the family business premise, drop her there, have tea and return. The lunch ended at 2:30 so he would always be around 45 minutes late which he would make up by working from 5:30 to 6:15 in the evening. He would help a lot of us.

This arrangement was unofficially agreed upon by the Old Branch Manager. The New Prig did not agree . He believed it was against Bank rules and decided to take the clerk on. Now the clerk requested the AGM to give him the time off but the AGM refused. He decided to run the department efficiently (Instead he made it highly inefficient). He refused to repair a water filter (Back then Aquaguards were rare) and calculated the cost of Pens and White Paper.

One day – the wife of the clerk came. The clerk was away for recovery and the peon took her straight to the AGM. She told the AGM that she had to go to her mother and requested that her husband pick up the child as usual. Back then there were no cellphones or SMS and the lady had come to the office for the first time. The AGM was preoccupied with something and forgot (I believe this. Others say he deliberately did what he did but i believe he was preoccupied)

Bottom line – the message was not conveyed. It was 2:50 PM or so when the Peon told the clerk that his wife had visited. The Clerk was puzzled and walked into the AGMs office but the AGM was not there. The Clerk shrugged and continued on with his work believing that his daughter had picked up the child. It was 4 PM when the brother of the Clerk called the Office and asked where the child was? The Clerk was stunned and believed the child would be with his wife but Myself and few others decided to ask the AGM (Bank Hierarchy especially PSU hierarchy is a big thing. Approaching an AGM when you are a Scale II officer is a scary prospect) but the Clerk was out of the doors.

The Good thing was that the Child was a clever girl and simply sat outside with the Watchman of the School and was relieved when the father picked her up. The Father brought her to the branch and he was hugely relieved.

What happened next was straight out of the Malayalam Movie Drivers License

The AGM who saw a child and commotion – shouted at the top of his voice. He abused the Clerk in the loudest words calling him inefficient and moron. The Clerk also raised his voice and talked about his wifes message and the AGM said “I am not your messenger or Postman”. By the time the others separated them – the Clerk had literally been abused in front of his girl who was watching the whole thing (She was in Class IV i think)

The Clerk silently took his daughter home burning with humiliation. The local association leader told him to stage a Dharna but the clerk refused. He told me “God will take care” and i thought it was the usual sentimental nonsense. He remained on his desk, never asked for any leave from the HC, did his work and we all presumed the issue was finished.

Then An Opportunity came

Back then there was no Core Banking. A Customer came with a Fixed Deposit Receipt for Rs. 6 Lakh and wanted Cash. The Officer in question looked at the register and saw that the FD number was not mentioned (No Computers also. Back then we had Ledgers where FD numbers would be mentioned and recorded). The Customer was known to the AGM though and the AGM told the Officer to go ahead and encash the FD.

However it was after Lunch and the normal officer was gone for the day. I am a law and recovery officer and have no role to play so there were no officers. The AGM promptly asked the Clerk to encash the FD and pay the cash (Highly irregular) and the Clerk said “Sir the FD number is not on the ledger”. The AGM arrogantly told him that the customer could not be made to wait and so the Clerk paid him.

Once the Customer was paid and left, the Officer returned the next day or so and searched in every register but could not find a trace of the FD record. He told the AGM and the AGM called the customer but the customer was gone (It was a honest explanation. The Customer did not cheat etc. He just was away somewhere else). The AGM was now sweating beads. The Clerk shrugged. “I am just a clerk. I follow instructions. You instructed me to encash the FD” – he said and pointed at a few of us as witnesses.

The Officer was told by the AGM to give a few days but the same evening the clerk told him “Sir…if you report this today then you are clear but if you take a few days then they may think you are also involved”. The Officer decided to not take chances and reported it.

What happened next was unbelievable. The Big Boss arrived personally and blasted the AGM. Then some people came to go through the ledgers and found Rs. 6 Lakh shortage (A Huge sum back then) and told the AGM he had to make the amount good or they would report to the cops. The AGM was shivering but nothing could be done. The cops arrived and took him to the station. Now the Clerk was a local and the cops were locals. The AGM was an outsider – so they sweated him, threatened him, took him to his house in a jeep in front of his wife and children, talked to his neighbors etc. I was asked to be there at the station as a lawyer and the cops took iron rods and torture devices in front of me. When i said “What the hell is this ??” – the SI laughed and said “Sir! We are not mad. This is just for getting him to talk”

The poor man stayed the entire day at the Station. The next day the Customer returned. He had presented an FD receipt for another branch of our bank so the number was not in our ledger. He gave the FD receipt of our branch and the ledger confirmed the number and everything was okay.

But the AGM was finished. He was humiliated in every way possible. He took leave for 4–5 days and asked for a Transfer

It was then that the clerk told me “Sir. On that day itself i saw that this FD receipt was from a different branch. Had he been a better man – i would have told him then and there. I would have told the customer itself. None of this would have happened”

I told him he had been too cruel but he said “There is nothing worse than being yelled at in front of your child for no fault of your own”.

The AGM who was destined to become CMD – resigned from the bank unable to bear the humiliation of the incident (Though it lasted exactly for 14 – 15 hours after which it was all over). He joined Madura Courts and his career was never the same. He later began to sell Reuters Screens on a commission basis.

The Moral of the Story is – Humiliation by your boss unjustly will always come back to bite the boss. This Clerk who was such a good man that when i was transfered – he travelled in a lorry with my furniture to ensure that the local packers dont take me for a ride. Yet he never forgot his humiliation and destroyed the life of the AGM.

If you are a Boss – Never humiliate your underlings. Call them separately and tick them off but never in front of others. Easiest way to make enemies.

True for all fields.

Pizzeria Uno Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

This is a clone recipe of the best Chicago-style pizza you will ever eat!

Servings: 8

Pan Dough
1 cup warm tap water (110-115 degrees F)
1/4 ounce active dry yeast
3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup course ground cornmeal
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Pizza Topping
1 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced thin
1 pound Italian sausage, removed from the casing and crumbled
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
5 fresh basil leaves, chopped fine
4 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

Pour the warm water into a large mixing bowl and dissolve the yeast with a fork.

Add 1 cup of flour, all of the cornmeal, salt, and vegetable oil, and mix well with a spoon.

Continue stirring in the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl. Flour your hands and the work surface and knead the ball of dough until it is no longer sticky.

Let the dough rise in an oiled bowl, sealed with plastic wrap, for 45-60 minutes in a warm place, until it has doubled in size.

Punch it down and knead it briefly.

Press it into an oiled 15-inch deep dish pizza pan until it comes 2 inches up the sides and is even on the bottom of the pan.

Let the dough rise 15-20 minutes before filling.

Heat the oven to 500 degrees F.

While the dough is rising, prepare the filling.

Cook the sausage until it is no longer pink and drain the excess fat.

When the dough has finished its second rising, lay the cheese over the dough shell.

Distribute the sausage and garlic over the cheese.

Top with the tomatoes.

Sprinkle on the seasonings and Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes at 500 degrees F, then lower the temperature to 400 degreesF and finish baking for 25-35 minutes longer.

Lift up a section of the crust from time to time with a spatula to check its color. The crust will be golden brown when done.

Serve immediately.

Cat Sisters Meet After 9 Months Apart – Do They Recognize Each Other?

When do you think the Ukraine war will end?

It depends on so many factors

The Ukraine War was one of the worst miscalculations of the West and the Stupidest

The aim was to

Weaken Russia and destroy it Economically
Weaken Russia Globally and make it a Pariah
Give China a strong message and frighten China into following the Biden Doctrine

What’s happened is:-

A resurgent Russia that has something to fight for at last and has grown stronger every day
A Russo Sino Alliance that is fast becoming a nice power bloc with many nations with resources and heavy sanctions now drifting to them
Loss of Confidence in the West by 80% of the world and belief in a Multipolar world
Waning Western impact of Sanctions
Ensure China knows it’s War and prepare for it instead of catching them off guard

Today, Ukraine has been brutalized badly

It has lost 33.7% of pre SMO population as Refugees or now Russian Citizens in the Donors region and Kherson and Zaprozhye

It has lost its entire production capacity and it’s own weapon reserves have been brutally depleted and it relies on western arms and money which is dwindling every day

The West has spent $ 130 Billion so far on Ukraine and most of this money has been salted away due to severe corruption

Ukraine is sending more and more men to die

Russia meanwhile is happy with it’s grind and move strategy, minimizing casualties and enjoying the growth of their own industries in the MI complex

Scenario 1:-

The West want to FREEZE the conflict

Russia said No
Maybe Russia would be incentivized to do so like say offer to remove sanctions on Russia or maybe persuade China to convince Russia

Bleak chance of this happening

Scenario 2:-

Ukraine is destroyed

Russia decides to move from SMO to war and start hitting and destroying Ukraine like US did to Iraq or Afghanistan
Zelensky would flee and most leaders would flee then and Ukraine would capitulate
Timeline: 2025 March or April
Biden will not be President. He may not even be nominated as the Democratic candidate, so he will vindictively carry this till 19/1/25

Scenario 3:-

Trump is elected

Trump only has one term left and knows once he is elected, he has no more fears and no need to worry about voters again
He may make a deal and force Zelensky to surrender and make a deal with Russia and China
Unlike 2016, he won’t have the fear now because he can’t stand for any more elections

Scenario 4:-

The famous BAKYAN scenario

Poland moves into West Ukraine on invitation from Ukraine and forms a protectorate for West Ukraine
Central & remaining Ukraine is given security guarantees akin to Article V by Poland (Proxy by USA) and formally remains as the NEW UKRAINE
Donbass, Zaprozhye, Kherson are abandoned by Ukraine and Poland but not recognized by the West or UN as part of Russia and only as break away republics
However in reality, those territories will never return to Ukraine again along with Crimea for a long time
Russia will declare a cease fire to avoid clashing with Poland, a Nato power
Zelensky will be mostly arrested due to corruption and replaced by someone else

Timeline :- 30/6/2024 , a clean 4–5 months before the US Elections

The Destruction of Los Angeles | 2012 (John Cusack, Morgan Lily, Liam James)

Fun. Fun. Fun.

Have you ever tried to fire someone and it backfired?

I have not, but an interesting backfire happened with a close friend’s father, George.

Meet George, he is a PhD Astrophysicist and works in a very specialized field for the United States Department of Defense through a Defense Contractor. He has developed a number of unique solutions over his career that solved some very big problems for some very expensive black projects.

After over 30 years on the job he had moved to the top of his career path, he led a sizable group of physicists and engineers, but was not in management. Following a reorganization, George and his band of merry eggheads found themselves under a manager that had very little experience managing. When budget cuts came down, the green manager started reviewing the personnel files and, unsurprisingly, George was the highest paid person in the department. George was given the option to take an early retirement or be laid off. He was getting close to full retirement age and taking early retirement took a large chunk out of the pension he was counting on. He even offered to give up salary or work part time to address the budget needs. The manager would hear nothing of it.

Once George’s retirement was announced, a number the physicists and engineers approached the manager to warn him that there were solutions that only George fully understood and if there became a need to update or change some of the solutions, they may not be able to do it. George gracefully retired from the company and headed off to teach at the local university. About a year later, he heard from a number of his former team that there had been layoffs and terminations from the team by the same manager. A contract had come in to the company to modify one of George’s unique solutions and the remaining team was unable to make it work. The manager was under the gun to deliver and when it wasn’t working, he was accusing the team of being lazy and incompetent.

Not too long after, the Manager contacted George and asked him if he would come back on a short-term basis, George declined because he was happy teaching at the university. The manager continued to pester George until he finally agreed to come into the office to talk about what it would take to bring him back. George told the manager that he would come with his terms and that the meeting had to include the HR Director and the department Director.

George’s terms:

The company take back his early retirement and bridge his service so he could reach full retirement. (The manager groaned, but grudgingly agreed.)
Any of the team that was fired or forced to resign would be offered the option to come back. (The manager was furious, but George demanded that he had to have his team to be successful, so the manager agreed)
He become the manager of the department. (The manager threw up his hands and said it would never happen, there was only one manager of the department.)

The department director agreed to George’s last term.

We have A guardian Angel his name is Harry Kim.

Kathryn Janeway was a mother figure to almost ALL the crew … the clear exceptions being her first and second officers … but she ESPECIALLY was so to Harry Kim.

If you had the opportunity to bring back a deceased family member for 24 hours, how would you spend your day?

Oh my god, no. God, no… no no… I’d rather they stay dead.

Jesus, the mere thought of it gives me anxiety and stress.

My father died very suddenly last year. It was like my aunt talked to him on Friday, and he died of a heart attack on Sunday in his house.

For a few months, I kept thinking if I had any regrets. If I knew he would die, what would I say to him, or what would I want to do with him?

I came up with nothing.

It’s not like I don’t have anything to say. In fact, I have a LOT to say, so much so that I had therapy for years so that I could process and perhaps recover from all that childhood trauma from his abuse and neglect.

Would I say that to him? No. Because he wouldn’t listen. Not only he wouldn’t listen, he would turn it around and make it my fault. He would make me feel that I somehow wronged him, that I should feel guilty and ashamed and beg him for forgiveness and ask him how I can make it better. He’s an emotional manipulator, and he will never change. Not even in death.

He had, in his own domineering kind of way, made some attempt to mend our relationship after his 3rd wife died. But I couldn’t help but think he was doing that not because he genuinely wanted to fix our father-daughter relationship but because he did the mental calculation and realized with his wife dead, I was the only person who would take care of him if he couldn’t care for himself. It’s all about him. Never about me.

After he died, I wondered if he’d come back and haunt me or if he would come visit me in my dreams. Not that I believe in such things, but my aunt said her father (my grandpa) had visited her several times. And I thought, “Oh, you want to come and haunt me? Go ahead. I have something I want to scream at you. So come and haunt me and see how it ends for you, Dad.”

I’ve never even dreamed of him once since he died.

Having him back to life for 24 hours is not going to change anything between us.

The same goes for my mom, who ran off with some artist when I was 18 months old. The same goes for my grandma, who had raised and abused me…

You all better stay the fuck dead because you ain’t gonna like what I have to say to you.

Quit Your Job In 2023, This is my way out

No more 9 to 5 job for me. Do you also struggle with not having time for more valuable things in life than your work, do you spend too much time working for others? Are you feeling frustrated and stressed about not having time to live your life to the fullest, this is my story of how I realized my dream of living a simpler and less stressful life by quitting my job and stopped working for others.

Why doesn’t Huawei use Qualcomm chips anymore?

Introduction

In the ever-evolving landscape of the global smartphone industry, Huawei, the Chinese tech giant, once relied heavily on Qualcomm chips to power its devices. However, recent years have witnessed a significant shift in Huawei’s chipset strategy as it began to develop its own chipsets and reduce its dependence on Qualcomm. This change in course raised questions and curiosity in the tech world. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the reasons behind Huawei’s decision to distance itself from Qualcomm chips, explore the challenges and opportunities that this shift presents, and assess the implications for both Huawei and the larger smartphone ecosystem.

1: The Historical Nexus

1.1. Qualcomm’s Dominance

A brief overview of Qualcomm’s leading position in the semiconductor industry.
Huawei’s early partnership with Qualcomm and the Snapdragon chipset series.

1.2. Huawei’s Ascendancy

Huawei’s rise to global prominence as a smartphone manufacturer.
The integral role of Qualcomm chips in Huawei’s international success.

2: Huawei’s Push for In-House Chip Development

2.1. The Emergence of HiSilicon

The birth of Huawei’s semiconductor subsidiary, HiSilicon.
The strategic importance of in-house chip development.

2.2. The Rise of the Kirin Chipsets

Introduction to Huawei’s Kirin chipset series.
Technological advancements and innovations in Kirin chips.

2.3. The Competitive Edge

How HiSilicon’s chip development aligns with Huawei’s long-term goals.
The advantages of vertical integration and control over chip design.
3: U.S. Sanctions and Supply Chain Stumbles

3.1. The Unfolding U.S. Sanctions Saga

An examination of the U.S. sanctions imposed on Huawei.
How these sanctions impacted Huawei’s access to critical technologies, including Qualcomm chips.

3.2. Vulnerabilities in the Supply Chain

The precariousness of relying on foreign suppliers for critical components.
The central role of chipsets as a strategic resource in the smartphone industry.

4: HarmonyOS and Huawei’s Ambitious Vision

4.1. Huawei’s Vision for HarmonyOS

Introduction to HarmonyOS, Huawei’s proprietary operating system.
The strategic significance of developing an Android alternative.

4.2. A Unified Ecosystem

How HarmonyOS aims to provide a seamless user experience across devices.
The role of chipset compatibility in achieving the HarmonyOS vision.

5: Implications and Challenges

5.1. Disrupting the Smartphone Market

How Huawei’s departure from Qualcomm chips impacts the competitive landscape.
Implications for consumers, industry players, and market dynamics.

5.2. Pursuing Technological Self-Reliance

The broader implications of Huawei’s commitment to technological self-reliance.
Lessons for other tech giants facing similar geopolitical challenges.

5.3. The Road Ahead

The technological and market challenges Huawei faces in developing its own chipsets.
The importance of innovation, research, and development in overcoming these hurdles.

6: Consumer Perceptions and the Future Outlook

6.1. Consumer Reactions and Preferences

How Huawei’s decision to utilize its chipsets is perceived by consumers.
Factors influencing consumer preferences in the realm of smartphones.

6.2. Shaping the Future of Huawei Smartphones

Prospects for Huawei’s smartphone business in the absence of Qualcomm chips.
The role of design, innovation, software, and competitive pricing in defining Huawei’s future offerings.

Conclusion

The divergence of Huawei from Qualcomm chips signifies a monumental shift in strategy with far-reaching implications. While the impact of U.S. sanctions and supply chain disruptions are undeniable catalysts for this transition, Huawei’s investments in in-house chipset development and the vision of HarmonyOS underscore its unwavering commitment to technological self-sufficiency and innovation. As we conclude this article, we gain a comprehensive understanding of the complex factors influencing Huawei’s strategic decision and what the future holds for one of the world’s foremost smartphone manufacturers.

INDIAN NEWS is Cheap Western Propaganda

The Indian news channels like WION and ANI (Asean News International) have become cheap propaganda outlets for the Western Colonial Masters that have always ruled over the Indian population. This video shows beyond any doubt that India News is part of the Anti China propaganda network set up by American Politicians and Main Stream Media. It is no secret as they admit to it in this video that they have joined this movement of hate against China.

When is lying the right thing to do?

A young German soldier during WWII was ordered to check the house for Jews. After minutes of searching, he declares the house clear.

His commanding officer is unconvinced. “Schauen Sie in den Dachboden,” he orders. Check the attic.

“Die Luke ist offen! Die würden sich nicht dort verstecken!” The young soldier says. The attic door is wide open! Surely they wouldn’t hide there!

His commander shakes his head. “Schauen Sie trotzdem nach.” Go check anyway.

The soldier climbs the ladder. As he peers into the darkness, he sees at least a dozen Jews hiding in the attic. All women and children.

Their terrified faces look back at him. Nobody dares to move. The young soldier turns and shouts to his commander.

“Alles klar!” All clear.

The soldier closes the trapdoor, leaving the Jews in the dark. He will never see them again.

Decades later, one of the young children in the attic will recall the anonymous soldier’s kindness. Every single person in the attic survives the war. Many attribute their lives to the young man.

Dishonesty is right when it saves innocent lives.

How do pilots of the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird handle the load of speed when the plane is flying at 3,540 km/h? How does a person feel when flying in an airplane at such a speed?

The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird was a remarkable aircraft that could fly at speeds over Mach 3.2 and at altitudes up to 85,000 feet. It was the fastest manned aircraft ever flown and still holds many speed, altitude, and distance records for a manned aircraft.

Flying in such an extreme environment required special training and equipment for the pilots. The pilots of the SR-71 wore full-pressure suits that resembled those worn by astronauts. The suits protected them from low pressure, low temperature, and lack of oxygen at high altitudes. They also provided protection in case of an emergency ejection.

The pilots also had to cope with the high g-forces and acceleration that resulted from flying at such high speeds. The SR-71 could accelerate from Mach 1 to Mach 3 in less than 15 minutes, which put a lot of stress on the human body. The pilots had to undergo rigorous physical training and medical examinations to ensure they were fit for the mission. They also had to use special techniques to breathe and move their limbs during high-g maneuvers.

The pilots also experienced a unique sensation of speed when flying the SR-71. They could see the curvature of the Earth and the stars in broad daylight. They could also see the shock waves forming around the aircraft as it broke the sound barrier. The SR-71 flew so fast that it could outrun any missile or enemy aircraft that tried to intercept it. The pilots had to rely on their instruments and their instincts to navigate and control the aircraft.

Hang on, this is VERY strange!

This is the equivalent of China recognizing Puerto Rico as a sovereign nation….

What is the best comeback you used on someone?

My ex husband and I got married at Gretna Green with just 2 friends for witnesses. On the day after the wedding on the car journey home, we were passing a field of higland cows (ginger and hairy like me apparently) and said in an insulting tone, “oh look Sarah, there’s your relations”. I immediately fired back with “yes, but only through marriage”…. friends were in stitches, he never even cracked a smile. He had no sense of humour and had been trying to belittle me in front of people as he did the entire 9 years I was with him…

Another time when I was about 25 or so, at a neighbours bbq, I approached a small group of people listening to one guy in his late 50′s or so telling sexist joke after sexist joke. At the end of each joke all the men laughed loudly and the women kind of awkwardly. I had always found this guy a bit of a chauvinist and quite ‘sleazy’ so stepped in with my own joke… Mrs Smith went to hospital to give birth. After the baby was born the doctor said to her “I’m really sorry Mrs Smith but your baby is a hermaphrodite”. “A what?” asked Mrs Smith. “A hermaphrodite, it has features of both sexes” said the doctor. Mrs Smith gasps and says “Oh my god….it has a penis AND a brain!”. The women in the group all belly laughed but the sleaze not so much

Why has the Belt and Road Initiative been criticized as “debt trap diplomacy?”

A well-told lie is worth a thousand facts. The debt-trap narrative is a lie, a powerful one.

There are three main fallacies in the West’s hype about China’s “debt trap theory”: First, in terms of debt causes, countries in debt distress today often fall into debt traps before the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Second, in terms of debt ownership, most of these countries’ debt is owed to Western or pro-Western institutions, not China. Studies show that 80 per cent of Sri Lanka’s external debt, 70 per cent of Pakistan’s and 77 per cent of Zambia’s external debt is owned by Western private and public institutions.

Third, in terms of the nature of debt, Western loans tend to be short-term with high interest rates, leading to unsustainable debt cycles, while Chinese lending to developing countries is long-term, low-interest credit that helps improve infrastructure.

The characteristics of China’s BRI financing is that it breaks through the traditional model, with no political conditions attached, and the forms of financing are pragmatic and diverse; The Export-Import Bank of China and the China Development Bank both emphasize debt sustainability, with commercial needs flexibly integrated with national strategies.

The irresponsible monetary policy of the United States is the real reason for the concentrated outbreak of debt problems in developing countries. The United States first implemented an ultra-loose monetary policy, allowing low-interest dollars to pour into Africa and emerging market countries, and then aggressively raised interest rates to attract dollars back to the United States, resulting in insufficient liquidity in developing countries.

Since China is not the largest creditor of developing countries, why does the West hype the “China debt trap theory”? The answer is that China’s “Belt and Road” initiative helps developing countries improve their economic capability. Once these countries achieve independent economic development, they do not have to rely on borrowing money from Western developed countries to maintain production and life, which is equivalent to cutting off a financial route for Western countries.

How I See the USA After 14 Years of Living Abroad & Expat Life

After 14 years of living abroad and enjoying expat life, I wanted to talk a bit about how I see the US now… This week, we’ll be taking a look at the USA through an Expat lens… Is the U.S. truly the “leader of the free world”, or is that just a perception we’ve grown accustomed to? One of many topics that are worth thinking about is the education system. Does it really prepare us for life, or is it more about scoring high on tests?

What about healthcare access? Is it as straightforward as it seems, or are there nuances we’re missing when comparing American Healthcare with European Healthcare? Another important factor to consider is safety and quality of life, is the U.S. the gold standard, or are there elements of community and culture that we’re overlooking in comparison with overseas?

We’ll also touch on the topic of zoning. Is it just a mundane urban planning concept, or does it have deeper implications for our lifestyle and mobility? Finally, we’ll take a look at the geographical isolation of North America. Is it just a geographical fact, or could it be shaping our understanding of the world in ways we don’t realize? There’s a lot to unpack, and these are the conversations that need to be had.

In this expat podcast episode of Not Your Average Globetrotter, hosted by me, Rafael Di Furia, I’ll share how I view the US and American culture and lifestyle in comparison with the culture and lifestyle in Europe and elsewhere having been abroad for more than 14 years, questioning everything from its global leadership role and education system to healthcare access, safety standards, connections in local communities, cultural rituals, and the implications of its geographical isolation.

What is the classiest way to respond when meeting a celebrity?

My husband and I entered an elevator in a hotel in Vegas, headed to the lobby and extraordinarily tall black man was already in there. I smiled and tried not to stare because he was simply that enormous.

Husband, a sports fanatic, asked the giant of he’d ever played basketball and the giant responded that yeah, he’d played some ball in his day and DH told the giant that if he hadn’t, he would have missed an opportunity. The giant chuckled and sort of shook his head.

When we arrived in the lobby, we all kind of nodded and smiled and went out separate ways. I asked DH what his little exchange was all about.

The giant was Shaquille O’Neill, the Shaq Attack. My husband told Shaq that he would have missed an opportunity if he hadn’t played basketball.

What did you say at a job interview that automatically landed you the job?

I told a story about a kid threatening to kill himself. Let me explain.

I didn’t think I was going to get the job. Not in a “I don’t believe in myself” kind of way, I mean in a “I have direct evidence” kind of way. A meeting I’d had fell through, so I showed up for my interview super early. This meant I was sitting there in the lobby when the head of the special education department opened the door, profusely shook another woman’s hand, and said:

“You are exactly what we’re looking for. We’ll send out an offer to you as soon as we’re done with today’s interviews.” Then she looked up and saw me waiting. “Oh, you’re here early, come on it.”

So I walked in knowing I was wasting my time, but I was already there and decided to have fun with it. I told jokes. I made fun of the number of people they had in the room to interview me (7!). I was as casual as possible and answered every question off the cuff instead of trying to think of an answer they wanted to hear. Then they asked me one of those awful, super generic questions you always get when you work with kids, something along the lines of “What was your moment when you realized you knew you were supposed to be a teacher?”

I have no patience for those questions, and find them to be really performative and all about showing how generically kind and sensitive you are. For a job I thought I was going to get I might have played along and told an exaggerated story about teaching a kid to read or something. I didn’t do that.

Instead I told them about one of my students in the Emotional Disorder class I was teaching at a middle school. The little guy had a severe anxiety disorder, and we were trying to support him while also ignoring attention seeking behaviors. So when he started yelling I escorted him to the quiet break area. When he started shouting he needed to go to the hospital I assured him I would check in on him to make sure he was ok. And when he started screaming that he was going to kill himself I pointed out there was nothing in the area he could use to do it, and if he decided to bang his head against the wall it would probably just really hurt. Two minutes later he poked his head out and calmly asked if he could do his math work, and I realized that some of the interventions I was using were actually working. It was a pretty cool feeling. Everyone in the room was silent, and more than a few looked really freaked out. No worries, I already knew they gave the job to someone else, and went on my way.

They offered me the job that evening. Apparently they had an elementary school moderate/severe class with a lot of difficult behaviors, and my story had convinced them immediately that I could handle it. Oh, and that other woman I saw getting offered a job? She was a speech therapist, and not a teacher at all. Looks like we both crushed our interviews.

What’s a rule your employer implemented that backfired terribly?

Raise all prices by 15 percent.

We had 4,000 employees and had been the world leader in our field for about 10 years at this time.

We were not the price setter, though. But we did very well and had a reasonable operating margin, enough to satisfy our corporate owners and shareholders.

Then we got a new president, an American B-school graduate. He came from Stanford, as I recall.

After some time he declared to us in the sales department (about 90 people), operating worldwide.

Raise all prices 15 percent
Go back on all orders in house and negotiate a 15 percent higher price.

I tried.

We all tried.

We suffered, badly.

No new orders for nine (9) months.
The customers with orders in place said a flat “are you out of your fr…..g mind?”

Our build cycle, order to delivery, was about 18 months.

Nine months later the factories started to look empty and were laying off staff, weekly — NO NEW ORDERS.

“Biggest boss” at our owning company got wind of this and came to town.

Our president was fired the same day and we all in sales got new instructions.

“Forget all orders about price increases — go sell as competitively as you can.”

It took about two years for the company to regain its world-leading position.

By that time, I and just about half of our previous sales organization were gone, replaced by eager young souls.

The “American Dream” Is A Big Lie

I talk about how the “American Dream” is a big lie. Too many people around the world are victims to debt, consumerism, and care too much about what other people think. I give my all knowing wisdom via Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

We are all going to die!

The neocons are marching the world towards war. Lordy!

We are all going to die!!!!!

All these videos MUST be watched to get the FULL IMPACT of what is going on right now. It’s so insane. So crazy. So very disgusting. You have to laugh.

Neocons cannot be stopped, they will get war

This is so worrisome. This is a MUST WATCH.

How does your language reflect your culture?

I have worked in the video games industry for over a decade. During this time, I introduced several Western games to the Chinese market. This experience taught me a great deal about the cultural and behavioral differences (and similarities) between Western and Chinese users.

One thing I found fascinating is how Western users and Chinese users absorb information.

The Chinese language is information-dense. Reading Chinese, you absorb a lot more information compared to reading English of similar length. There’s a reason why when Western (English) literary works are translated into Chinese, they usually “shrink” in length. Chinese Bible, for example, is thinner than English Bible.

Chinese users are very used to absorbing large amounts of information all at once. Chinese websites usually have a very busy (by Western standards) layout packed with headlines and texts. At the same time, English users are more comfortable with a minimalistic layout.

In game design, this reflects on UI and HUB design. Chinese users are very used to busy UI and packed HUB design, while Western players are more used to the “less is more” kind of design, sometimes no HUB at all.

A lot of times, when Western designers were presented with this problem, they often considered Chinese users “backward,” or “still live in the 90s,” or “just not sophisticated enough to appreciate a minimalist design.” While it was my job to explain the cultural differences, the designers didn’t always listen. They believed they could “educate” Chinese users with their “superior” design. They thought once these “backward” people saw my awesome modern design, they’d love it!

LOL.

That is not to say there isn’t minimalist design in China. It’s just what’s considered “too busy and overwhelming” style in the West is accepted or even preferred in China because of how our language functions differently than English.

Good Advice

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-EbqIpiOPNk?feature=share

Which country has the most objective news coverage about China: USA, UK, Australia, Canada or Japan?

USA knows the only thing it can do is to talk shit on China. It cannot out compete, out innovate and out succeed with China. It certainly cannot bomb or nuke China as it will will received the same from China. The only thing it can do is to talk shit.

UK,Canada and Australia. Are the U.S. fellow colonialist and fellow native slaughterers. They did so much shit in the past few hundred years and are scared of reprisal and reparations. They had no choice to get a mafia hoodlum to protect them. Talking shit on China is a given.

Japan shared the loot and plunder of Chinese and Asian people in the 2nd world war and refused to accept responsibility for her aggression and prefer to pay protection money to the U.S. they had to talk shit on China.

if you are smart and intelligent enough. None of these nations ever whisper a grain of truth on China. The truth hurts them too much.

Why everything is so cheap in China…

MINISO: how China’s 10-Yuan shop became a global sensation

MINISO’s global expansion strategies; Q3 online sales in China, and consumer reactionsAmber ZhangOct 26∙Preview READ IN APP *This post is our premium content.

MINISO (NYSE: MNSO), a Chinese low-cost retailer and variety store chain, is gaining global attention. As of June 30, 2023, MINISO operates 5,791 stores worldwide. Its annual revenue for the period ending June 30, 2023, increased by 13.8% to 11.47 billion yuan. Revenue from China reached 7.651 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 2.8%, while revenue from overseas markets reached 3.822 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 44.6%.

MINISO’s rapid overseas revenue growth has made it one of the most successful Chinese companies to go global.

(For the year ended June 30, revenue from overseas markets accounted for over 33% of MINISO’s total revenue.)MINISO is on track to reach the peak price it had since its IPO in October 2020.“一切面向海外，一切面向商品” (“Everything is oriented towards overseas, everything is oriented towards products.”) —— Guofu

Ye, CEO and founder of the MINISO [source]Expanding into global markets has always been a key part of MINISO’s strategy.

As of 2023, MINISO had already established stores in 107 countries and regions, including North Korea, with over 2,100 stores overseas. Notably, in May 2023, MINISO achieved a significant milestone by opening a store in Times Square, New York, becoming the first Chinese brand to have a presence in that iconic location.

As of year-to-date 2023, MINISO (NYSE: MNSO) has gained over 150%, despite the pessimistic sentiments towards Chinese equities.In today’s post, we will share some winning strategies of MINISO to help you understand how the company managed to succeed domestically and internationally, and whether these strategies will be sustainable.

We will also provide an update on MINISO’s domestic online sales and consumer reactions ahead of MINISO’s upcoming earnings report in November.*

Understanding the psychology of overseas consumersMINISO adopts unique sales methods in various countries to connect with the psychology of local consumers. To scale this strategy, MINISO has chosen the “agency model” by partnering with local leaders.For instance, in Vietnam, MINISO initially thought that inexpensive small umbrellas would be popular, but they ended up having an excessive amount of umbrellas in stock.

This was due to MINISO underestimating the actual preferences of local consumers. Vietnam, being a “motorbike country,” is the fourth-largest motorcycle market globally, with over 45 million motorcycles in circulation. As a result, people in Vietnam use raincoats while riding motorcycles.MINISO later collaborated with Le Bao Minh Group and specially developed arm sleeves and masks for the Vietnamese market, which immediately became popular locally.Le Bao Minh is the exclusive distributor of Canon in Vietnam and has over 200 sub-agents in 64 provinces.

With such a leading enterprise leading the way, MINISO avoided many pitfalls and reduced a significant amount of trial and error costs. [Source]The low-cost advantage has given MINISO a boost amid a slow economic recoveryAs we have previously observed, Chinese consumers are increasingly prioritizing practical purchases.

The combination of Miniso’s low-cost advantage and its creative and personalized products has given them a boost both in China and globally in 2023.Similar trends are observed among other low-cost retailers. For example, Pinduoduo is estimated to reach its target of $10 billion USD GMV for 2023, and SHEIN recorded a revenue of up to $23 billion USD in 2022. In China, there is also a growing trend among e-commerce players to adopt the low-cost strategy to remain competitive in 2023.To create a feeling of consumers “getting a bargain,”

MINISO focuses on the “golden price point of 10 yuan” in its stores.Ye Guofu, the CEO of MINISO, explained: “To make customers buy when they want to buy and use when they want to use, that’s the best thing. We must achieve this situation, so 10 yuan is the golden price point, allowing customers to have no pressure.” [source]

However, despite the growing importance of value for money to consumers, the demand for personalized and stylish products from MINISO’s main customer base of young consumers remains strong.

As a result, MINISO has made significant investments in “大牌平替” or “substituting big brands with generics” products, which are self-made products that imitate the popular themes and styles of well-known brands:

For example, from the same supplier, a water cup is priced at 379 yuan in MUJI, while MINISO is priced at 49 yuan; the same goes for socks, with MUJI priced at 158 yuan and MINISO priced at 29 yuan.

The management of MINISO stated, “The perfumes in our store are made by perfumers from Dior and Chanel, using their fragrance ingredients. The luxury brand perfumes are priced at $200 per bottle, but I only sell them for $20 per bottle.” [source]

Have you ever had a job where you did nothing for years and nobody found out?

Not me (sadly) but a guy I met when I worked at a steel mill.

It was a very big company, 17.000 employees at the time, the size of a small town with their own small hospital, fire department and armed securities with patrol cars, shops and even a gas station. So quite a big area.

I was working at the contiunous casting facility. Basically where molten irom from the blast furnace is poured into a casting unit and becomes a rectangular block of steel.

The whole company was incredibly split up in different departments each with their own hierachy and leadership. One casting unit consisted of a Foreman (which belonged to department X), 1 quality control inspector (department F), 1 guy in the control room checking all the parameters, looking at several graphs and so on (department Z) and finally 3 workers doing actual work (department A). Just to get the hang of it, 6 people working on the same unit belonged to 4 different departments. And the whole company was like that!

Like every few years some higher ups decided to reinvent the wheel and restructure the electrical maintenance department. There used to be 6 departments and after some calculations they decided to cut it down to 5 departments and integrate the workers from the sixth department into the remaining five.

It went surprisingly smooth aside from the old foreman. There was only one foreman position per department and they were already filled. Because he was 30 years with the company, starting as an apprentice and rose through the ranks after a few years they told him “We need to hold a meeting about your position but dont worry we find something for you”.

Time went on but he heard nothing at all about the meetings outcome despite several inquiries. So he simply came in his office everyday and waited for news. He had nothing to do because the sixth department didnt exist anymore so nobody could call him to fix a problem, he simply didnt exist.

But it gets even crazier. A new office building for the departments was built and he stayed in the very old 2 story building because how could he move into the new one if he didnt exist at all?

So he strolled around all day through the different units, chatting with people and drinking coffee, had an awful lot of house plants in his office, even one of those Japanese Bonsai trees he used to cut regularily (it looked like a rain forest, not gonna lie) and found himself another hobby, modelmaking. If he wasnt walking around he sat in his office and assembled those 1:24 models of planes, helicopters, cars…

It took the company 4 years to somehow recognize he is still here! But nobody could figure out how he had gone missing. HR had him listed as Foreman of department 6 and higher ups of the casting facility somehow assumed he left the company and went into early retirement or something because department six did no longer exist.

In the end, he had two years to retirement and they decided to let him carry on for the next two years. It was apparently cheaper to pay him for literally nothing than dealing with all the legal issues. Our worker protection laws are really strong and firing somebody so close to retirement means the company has to pay a massive fee to the government.

Which island has the most unusual plant life?

Ah. An insight into what life on other planets might look like. -MM

The obvious choice would be Socotra, that little Yemeni isle off the Horn of Africa, home to the iconic dragon’s blood tree. However, I think there’s another island which has even more interesting flora – New Caledonia. Sitting in the South Pacific, well over a thousand kilometres from the nearest major landmass, New Caledonia has been biologically isolated since the Cretaceous period.

Because of this, it has unprecedented, record-breaking levels of endemism: around three quarters of its plants are found nowhere else on Earth! Despite only being around the size of the nation of Israel, it’s home to four and a half thousand plant species.

Back in dinosaur times, New Caledonia broke off from a vast southern super-continent known as Gondwana. Because it remains remote, it still harbours the primeval flora of Gondwana, which has long since gone extinct in most mainland regions. First of all, it is the world’s only true stronghold of the araucarians.

The most famous species today is the monkey puzzle tree, which is native to Chile, but New Caledonia’s most recognizable variety is the coral reef pine, Araucaria columnaris. It has a thin, pillar-like shape, and grows directly on shallow limestone coastlines, especially on the Isle of Pines (a popular tourist attraction).

The araucarians are an ancient family of conifer trees, dating back to the beginnings of the Jurassic Period. During the reign of the dinosaurs, they dominated forests all over the world, and were the first trees in Earth’s history to grow extremely tall, as many stood over 60 metres in height. In fact, they are likely the reason sauropods like Brachiosaurus were so damn tall.

Despite their former success, araucarians have been out-competed by more advanced lineages of tree, but they persist in various parts of the Southern Hemisphere. The only place where they still predominate, however, is New Caledonia, which is home to 18 species.

They thrive in all kinds of habitats on the island, from its tropical rainforests and iconic limestone islets to its hilly “maquis” scrub and dry woodlands.

The closest relatives of the araucarians are the podocarps, which were also abundant in Gondwana long ago, and also maintain a strong presence in New Caledonia despite extinction in many other regions. The island has an especially interesting (endemic) genus called Parasitaxus.

As its name suggests, it’s a parasite – in fact, it’s the only parasitic gymnosperm plant in the world. Believe it or not, it has no roots, and does not perform photosynthesis (hence its rather alien purplish-black colouration). Instead, it grows exclusively out of the roots of a different endemic podocarp species, sucking nutrients from its host.

Another example of New Caledonia’s very unique flora is Amborella. This genus contains a single species, and it is in fact so unique that it has a whole taxonomic family and order to itself! It’s the most primitive flowering plant on Earth, having diverged from the rest a staggering 130 million years ago. It’s a pretty good proxy for what flowers would have looked like while T. rex was roaming the Earth.

Lastly, I’ll introduce you to Sphaeropteris intermedia, sometimes alternatively called Cyathea intermedia. With a woody trunk that can stand over 30 metres tall, one would think it was a palm tree, but it is in fact a fern – the largest fern on the planet. It further contributes to the exceptionally prehistoric feel to New Caledonia’s vegetation.

So, those are the most charismatic and fascinating members of New Caledonia’s flora. There are many, many, many more endemic species Mesozoic relics and the like, but I’ve just selected the ones which are of particular interest to the non-botanist.

Now, you all know me by now, so I doubt any of you are surprised that I can’t bring myself to finish this answer without going off-topic and talking about the animals. First things first, the wonderful birdies. The most fascinating of all the island’s avians is undoubtedly the kagu.

This species is highly unique, genetically – it is the sole species in the distinct family Rhynchochetidae, and shares the whole order Eurypygiforms with a single other species, the equally weird sunbittern of South America. The kagu is practically flightless, and probes the forest floor for invertebrate prey.

To prevent soil from getting up its nose as it digs around the ground, it has structures covering its nostrils called nasal corns, something not seen in any other bird. For mysterious reasons, it has around a third of the number of red blood cells most birds have, but thrice the amount of hemoglobin per cell.

Another highly notable New Caledonian avian is the New Caledonian crow, one of the world’s most intelligent birds.

In the wild, they fashion sophisticated tools out of ferns, feathers, thorns, grass and twigs, carefully trimming and folding them down to size. These are used to extract insects from trees, and remarkably, different styles of crow tools can be observed in different parts of New Caledonia. This could mean that these crows are the only non-mammals in the world which have distinct, evolving cultures.

The island is also home to a diverse array of tropical pigeons. Pigeons seem boring to us, but closer to the equator, species are much less drab. Some in New Caledonia are huge, measuring over half a metre in length, whereas others have vibrant colours, such as the cloven-feathered dove.

There’s also the crow honeyeater, a strange-looking bird, which – at over 40 cm in length – is the largest species of honeyeater in the world. Sadly, it’s now critically endangered.

Moving onto the reptiles, we have some very cool geckoes. This includes the rather polite-looking crested gecko, who’s got killer eyelashes:

And of course Leach’s giant gecko. Measuring up to 36 centimetres from nose to tail, this lumbering beast is the world’s largest gecko.

On the topic of larger-than-life lizards, here’s the dramatically-named terror skink. It’s even bigger than the aforementioned reptile, at around half a metre in length. It was presumed extinct until being rediscovered in 1933, although to this day it is extremely rare.

Then there’s a plethora of endemic invertebrate fauna, of course. The largest insect on the island is the giant coconut grasshopper, a freakishly big creepy crawly which is longer than your hand.

What are even more interesting, however, are New Caledonia’s marine invertebrates. For example, its waters are the only home of one of the only four living species of nautilus, Nautilus macromphalus.

And it has the New Caledonian Barrier Reef, which is the world’s longest continuous barrier reef, stretching across over 1,500 km of shallow sea. That’s about two thirds the length of Australia’s much more famous one, which is actually a smattering of smaller, disconnected reefs! This reef is highly biodiverse, and is home to rare dugongs.

My final words in this very long answer about a very small island will be on New Caledonia’s extinct animals, from the time of the last Ice Age, prior to human arrival. Back then, it was home to even more amazing wildlife, such as Mekosuchus inexpectatus.

Up until its extinction 4,000 years ago, it was the very last land-dwelling crocodylian in Earth’s history, the end of a story lasting hundreds of millions of years. It would have been an apex predator on the island, despite being only 2 metres long.

A possible prey item of Mekosuchus was Sylviornis, the largest galliform ever to live. The galliforms are an order of birds which include chickens and their relatives. Specifically, Sylviornis was a member of the megapodes, odd Australasian birds who incubate their eggs in huge mounds of earth.

It weighed in at about 30 kg, and its skeletal anatomy was markedly similar to that of the non-avian dinosaurs.

Other extinct creatures endemic to New Caledonia in the Pleistocene include a variety of other megapodes, flightless rails, huge hawks and several monitor lizards.

So, what was meant to be a quick answer about some cool plants ended up being an exhaustive ecological and paleontological survey of New Caledonia. If you stuck around for the full article, thank you very much, and if you didn’t, just try to sleep well in the knowledge that you’ll never know what a terror skink is.

America Compared: Why Other Countries Treat Their People So Much Better – US American Reaction

This is a very good video. Please take the time to watch it.

Irresistible Exotic allure! Russian tourists flock to China’s border city of Heihe for breakfast, shopping

It may seem surprising, but a growing number of Russians are making the trip to have breakfast in Heihe, a border city in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, before heading back home.

Heihe sits across the Heilongjiang River from the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk. The river is known in Russia as the Amur River. Since the resumption of visa-free group tourist trips between China and Russia in Heihe on Sept. 21, 2023, there’s been a noticeable uptick in Russian visitors. A simple boat ride allows for easy movement between the two nations.

Many Russians are attracted to Heihe’s breakfast offerings and shopping experiences. They indulge in local breakfast staples such as soybean milk, tea eggs, and Baozi — steamed stuffed buns. Some have even crafted a unique dining blend, pairing Baozi with beer.

Many vendors at morning markets have added bilingual Chinese-Russian signs, and some have picked up basic Russian to better serve their visitors.

Given its strategic location, Heihe has long been a nexus for China-Russia trade. It stands as China’s primary supplier of everyday Russian products, which are then distributed nationwide.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has made trade between China and other BRI partner countries increasingly convenient.

Beyond Heihe, many other border areas in China exude an exotic allure. Cities and regions such as Dongxing in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Manzhouli in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Horgos and Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and Mengla county in Yunnan Province have thrived due to the expanding cooperation under the BRI. These places now serve as critical ports connecting China to Southeast Asia, Europe, and Central Asia, and beyond via railways and economic corridors.

Over the past decade, these border regions have directly witnessed, participated in, and benefited from extensive cooperation under the framework of the BRI.

Meanwhile in the United States…

Texas Chicken-Fried Steak with Cream Gravy

Yield: 6 large servings (2 pieces each)

Ingredients

Steak

3 pounds 1/2 inch thick round steak
2 cups all-purpose white flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
Vegetable oil (corn, peanut, safflower oil) for frying*

Cream Gravy

1/4 cup pan drippings
1/4 cup all-purpose white flour
3 cups warm milk
Salt
Black pepper

Instructions

Steak

Trim the fat off the meat, remove the bone and cut the meat into 6 equal size pieces. Use a meat mallet to pound the steaks on both sides, until they are 1/4 inch thick. Then cut each pounded piece of steak in half (making 12 pieces total).
Combine the flour, salt and pepper in a large shallow bowl. Beat the eggs and milk together well in another large shallow bowl.
Dredge the steaks in the seasoned flour, coating them well on both sides. Then use the meat mallet to pound the flour into the steaks. Dip the steaks in the egg-milk mixture, then dredge them again in the remaining flour. Set the steaks aside in a single layer on a large piece of wax paper.
Heat the oven to 200 degrees F.
Pour the vegetable oil to a depth of 1/2 inch into 2 or 3 large heavy-bottom skillets (iron skillets are best). You will have to cook the steaks in 2 or 3 batches, depending on the number of skillets you have. Set the skillets over medium heat. The oil will be hot enough for frying when it pops when you sprinkle a few drops of water on it.
Carefully put the steaks in a single layer in the hot oil and cook over medium heat until the bottom side of each steak is golden brown (about 7 to 8 minutes).
Turn the steaks over, cover the skillets, reduce the heat to low and cook until the bottom sides are golden brown and the steaks are tender (about 8 to 10 minutes).
Transfer the steaks to a heatproof platter, cover loosely with aluminum foil and keep them warm in the oven while you cook the remaining steaks and prepare the cream gravy.

Cream Gravy

Pour the remaining oil out of one large skillet into a heatproof bowl or measuring cup, but leave in the skillet any particles of batter that stick to the bottom of the pan.
Return 1/4 cup of the oil to the skillet and stir in 1/4 cup of flour. Cook for about 3 to 5 minutes over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan, but don’t let the mixture brown.
Slowly add the warm milk to the pan, stirring with a fork or wire whisk to prevent lumps from forming. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the gravy is smooth and thick.
Add salt and black pepper to taste.
Serve the chicken-fried steaks with the cream gravy poured over them.

Notes

* Beef suet, lard or solid vegetable shortening are traditionally used for cooking chicken-fried steak

What did the military give you or instill in you that you wouldn’t have had if you didn’t join?

A free house.

In Belgium you could join up “for life” (until retirement, you can’t do that anymore) and get a shitload of perks.

You got a free apartment, free water, electricity, telephone, gas, and cable TV.

You could eat for free and you got your uniforms for free. You also got free cigarettes’, free beer, and free condoms.

Whatever else you needed you could get at substantial discounts.

When you traveled from Germany to Belgium (every weekend … yes, we went home for the weekends during the Cold War), it was on military trains where the customs officials had no jurisdiction. So our kitbags were loaded with cigarettes which we sold on the black market in Belgium.

We always used public transport as it was free as well.

You could get a free university education as well if you passed the screening tests. The better your education, the easier promotion came, the more money you made.

Basically, you could put your whole monthly pay in the bank and then some.

In the days of the Cold War, most joined for the perks. You had a good job and job security.

What did all that amount to? A free house.

HUGE BOMBSHELL! China & Russia Sign $160 Billion Strategic Project

Best ever friendship China- Russia helps to build up global prosperity.

https://youtu.be/JnQtWGw95b4

Have you ever witnessed a customer become aggressive because they believed they were given an incorrect amount of change?

I experienced many times when I worked as a cashier. 99.9% of the time the customer was mistaken. There was a woman who came into our store every 2 weeks and usually made a stink about some aspect of poor service , etc. We suspected her of stealing also. She was not happy unless she made a clerk or cashier cry.

Once she tried to pull the wrong change scam on me and it backfired on her. While I had a fully loaded till, I only had rung one sale that day and that customer had paid with a $20 bill that was ripped. I put the bill under the removable cash drawer so that I could tape it back together later. .

The store got busy so I opened my register. The scammer purchased a few small, inexpensive items and paid with a $50. When my drawer opened, I noticed the damaged $20 was sticking out so I lifted the drawer and stuffed it back in and also put the $50 under the drawer. I make the correct change. The customer starts screaming that I made the wrong change and that I’m stealing from her. She calls me a thief repeatedly. I locked the register down as the manager comes running over.

Customer is throwing and all out hissy fit, crying and screaming about how I should be fired for stealing from her. She also started throwing her purchases at me, hitting me in the face. I know the manager is going to pull a reading on the register and count the money in and under the drawer. I stepped away and discreetly called the police. I knew we finally had her.

Surprise, surprise. My drawer balanced. Evidently she saw the damaged $20 and assumed it was a $100 and thought she would try to take advantage of us. The police show up. I explain that she has slandered and assaulted me (I have a raised red welt on my face), I want her arrested and I will sign a complaint . My manager tells them that we have video. She also explains what happened with the customer trying to scam us financially. As the police walk her out, some items fell out of pants, so stealing was added to the charges

Long story short, it goes to court. She got community service for assaulting me and a substantial fine for the stealing. But the best was the store manager printed out the customer’s image from the store video and made a poster stating that she was banned from the store. She taped it to the entrance door. Lol Plus she made smaller versions and taped one to each register telling the cashiers to call a manager if she is spotted in the store.

Looking Poor is More Important Than Ever

What things are just not worth the effort?

The vice president of Korean Air, Heather Cho, in 2014, was so angry about being served Macadamia nuts in a bag instead of on a porcelain bowl that she forced the plane to return to the gate at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport so the flight attendant could be removed.

She also demanded that the flight attendants get on their knees to apologize to her.

Heather Cho, the daughter of the CEO of Korean Air at the time, Cho Yank-ho served five months of a one-year prison sentence after South Korean court found her guilty for violating aviation law.

The flight attendant filed a civil suit against Cho and Korean Air, asking for a total of 400 million South Korean won ($354,000).

“The Seoul western district court ordered that Korean Air pay him 20 million won for attempting to coerce him to drop the case.”

“He was also entitled to another 30 million won ($27,000) as compensation for Cho’s assaults and insults.”

In all, $18,000 was all he was able to get.

It took one and a half years for the flight attendant and cabin crew chief to get their jobs back.

Her father could have just said “yes, my daughter is batshit. Here, have your jobs,” but that did not happen.

This was a perfect example of the abuse of power that seems to be all too common in South Korea and amongst a good number of Asians even here in Africa.

There is always a better use of your high influence than using it to make people feel like a puppet.

It’s just not worth it.

Sources:

The Duran: Zelensky is FINISHED as Russia Forces NATO to Seek Frozen Conflict

Are Huawei and China Mobile developing a completely separate hardware and network stack for mobile to support 6G?

You have to.

6G is 100 times faster than 5G. Nothing we have supports this. It is 100Gb/s. I think there are fiber lines that support this. But that is in PC, not mobile.

It is a challenge to do this in the power factor that mobile phones have. You don’t have access to 300W of power.

So everything has to be done from the fundamentals and re-engineered to work in a mobile form factor.

Wired, whether copper or fiber is completely different than wireless. This is brand new territory for human technology.

Overrated?? America Compared: Why Other Countries Treat Their People So Much Better

Will a US sanction on BYD be more or less effective than on Huawei?

Oh please

BYD is an EV company and China sits well above the US in this field

They control

The Rare Earths and lowest extraction and process costs
The Patents are theirs
The Raw Material supply is theirs
The Technology is entirely owned by China
The Software and Electronics are theirs
You take them out of GPS, they will laugh and use Beidou in 10 seconds or Galileo

At best US can prevent their sale in US but BYD expects that anyway

The only area where US hold some away is AUTONOMOUS DRIVING

Here US holds the edge while China hasn’t yet gone full flow into autonomous driving because it’s superfluous and expensive today

The ADS for Tesla costs around $ 13000 to make in the factory and design

China will get it to $ 4600 by 2025–2026

Then my guess is Oppo and Baidu will take over the Autonomous driving revolution in China

China is immune against their development of High Speed Rail, EVs, Solar Panel, Rare Earth Extraction, Steel and Alunimum and Nuclear development and Aerospace

US can’t do squat except prevent these models from being sold in US but frankly Automobiles always depend heavily on their domestic market with the sole exception of Germany

What did a neighbor do to you that you will never forget?

When my son tragically died she bought groceries, put them on the doorstep, knocked on the door and left so I didn’t have to engage in conversation if I didn’t feel like it (she stayed just inside her front door in case I did want to talk).

She cooked meals I could put in the freezer for me and my daughter that I could eat (I have several food intolerances she knows about and which mean I can’t actually find ready-meals in stores).

She put our bins out every week until I could do it myself (it was one of my son’s jobs each week).

She was always there when I needed a hug. Even now, four years on, she is there to talk to, to reminisce with about my boy’s antics, to share a tear with about the loss of him. She is never afraid to bring him up in conversation and talks to her young sons about him, holding him up as an example of the type of young men they should strive to be.

I have had a lot of bad neighbours, but she is a blessing that outweighs the others a million times over

Florida Businessman Dies from Virus : Meets Three Guardian Angels (Near-Death Experience)

Bill Tortorella shares the story of his Near-Death Experience, occurring after contracting a virus at a jewelry trade show in Tucson, Arizona. During his encounter on the Other Side, he describes being transformed into a beautiful beam of light, being guided by three guardian angels, reuniting with his deceased brother, and having it revealed to him where we come from and why we are here. Bill shares what it was like to feel that he was back in his True Home on the Other Side and how the love and forgiveness he experienced helped him to live his life differently after his Near-Death Experience.

Why did China sell missiles to the terrorist group Hamas?

The missiles used by Hamas were aided by the United States to Ukraine!

Yes, it’s an American missile.

The United States provides “aid” to Ukraine, and the corrupt Zelenskyy government officials resells it cheaply to Hamas.

This money is enough for Zelenskyy family to live a luxurious exile abroad in the future.

What happened to some of Hong Kong protesters who got prosecuted for breaking Hong Kong’s national security law?

What happened to some of Hong Kong protesters who got prosecuted for breaking Hong Kong’s national security law?

The legal system in Hong Kong works slooowly… it took them 3 years to prosecute me for not wearing a seat belt on a bus. A woman who rioted in Mong Kok in 2016 went to trial in 2020.

So what’s happened?

Open court trials happened. Open court trials YOU can attend by sitting in the galleries.

Some were convicted some were not.

The trials and convictions began in 2021. Convictions and acquittals are going on as you read this on 26th October 2023. Last week 4 rioters from PolyU were sentenced to around 4 years. That means we’re likely to find out in 2024 as some of those sentenced in 2021 and 2022 of 2–3 years will be released from prison.

My guess is that they will be absolutely unemployable Yer see Hong Kong doesn’t have the rehabilitation of offenders act like the UK. In the UK if you’ve served a prison term you no longer have to declare it but it will show up on a CRB check.

As such they will likely be exploited for the rest of their lives.

You go jogging in the morning and you see old people sweeping streets. It’s hard work as I see them leaving trails of sweat. They may get jobs in those areas and the bosses? They can exploit the shit out them as they wish. What are they going to do? Quit and work somewhere else?

Those last chance employers have ALL the power.

Even the leaders of the rioters and politicians. When was the last time you heard from them? The Nathan Laws who ‘escaped’ to the UK. When was the last time he was in the limelight? When was the last time he said or did anything?

Or they may become homeless. Way back in 2021 there was a rioter who was sentenced for 8 months and was released. He was homeless and had a piece of cardboard begging for money. You can’t go any lower than that and once you get down to that level all that’s left to help you are charities.

What was combat like for American soldiers in Vietnam?

You sweat. Especially in an M48A3 Patton tank. You’re cramped, well the guys in the turret were but the driver didn’t have it too bad though he had 30 rounds of 90 mm stacked around him along with control panel in front and to the left plus fire extinguishers.

The driver had three telescope views to the outside world. One to the front, one to the left and one to the right. In the jungle, he could barely see anything out of them but green. And he could only see about eight or so feet ahead. He had help from his TC who had a better view and told him which direction to go through the com. You can’t hear conversations in a tank unless you are wearing your CVC helmet with the com speakers in it. Tanks are very noisy. Don’t let the movies fool you. You cannot talk and hear each other normally in a tank. Not in a 48 anyway. Not unless you are wearing your ‘Bone Dome.’

Tank crews in Vietnam, especially in III Corps sweated because inside the tank the temperature could reach 130 F or 54.4 C. Without gloves, you could burn your hands on the surface steel of a tank. Crewmen wore either T shirts, no T shirts.or just flak vests, if they wanted to. And their trousers of course.

So before moving up into the tree line, or jungle, you sit there sweating and waiting and sweating and waiting and sweating and waiting. That’s the worst part of eminent combat. Waiting…..and thinking. Too much time to think. Too much time. That was the problem. You were praying to get moving. Thinking too much was not good.

So you sat and waited and listened to the chatter on the com. A big ice block could be felt in your stomach and you got thirsty as hell and gulped evil tasting warm water.

Your eyes detect everything, right down to the flies that land on your vision block and you think, ‘You won’t want to be there in a little while. Fly away little guy.’ At times you wish you could fly away with him but here you stay, seated in a 52 ton steel hot box, a hot box that is nothing but a killing machine manned by 18 and 19 year olds just out of high school. They look tough in their combat gear but take off the combat uniform and give them t shirt and jeans, and you’ve got innocent looking kids. They are the ones fighting your wars.

Then, all changes. You’re ordered to move up.

“Time to find the bad guys,” you hear your gunner say on the com.

“Or time for them to find us,” the loader chimes in.

“Cut the chatter chipmunks,” the TC says sternly. It’s not like advanced training anymore, a crew being in combat together often is much less ‘Army’ and more personal.

Moving into the jungle is not pleasant especially in a buttoned up tank. It’s nerve wracking everytime. For a new guy it’s nerve wracking because he doesn’t know what to expect. For a combat vet it’s nerve wracking because he knows.

The pack or engine of the tank is loud. All you can hear is that and the voices on the coms. Combat can happen in seconds. You have to remember you are not alone. That’s hard to do in the lead tank because it seems like you are. However there are ground troops, M113s or ACAVs and other tanks with you. You are all going through this shit together.

You do not know when it’s going to happen then suddenly, you are in it. Green tracers are steaming toward you, sometimes you see sparks then a smoke trail snaking your way and mortar explosions falling around you. If there is a lot of this happening and does not stop, you know it’s an NVA regiment and not the VC. A VC fire fight only lasts 15 minutes or so. Hit and run. With the NVA, it’s hit and hit. You know your in for a fight. Now you hear the TC’s voice on the com telling you where to drive, telling the loader what type of round to slam into the breech, usually it’s canister or Beehive if they are available which they usually are not.

In close combat the gunner is not needed, shots are eyeballed by the TC who can fire the big 90 from his cupola. Canister rounds spray shot like a huge shotgun. The gunner is on the back deck of the tank armed with either an M79 or an M3 grease gun or if lucky to get one, a Car 15. He’s watching for jumpers who usually try to climb onto a tank and disable it with packs of ChiCom grenades. Surprisingly, it is fairly safe on the rear deck of a 48 because as I mentioned, a tank is never alone.

The nervousness has left you and you concentrate on doing the job you’ve been trained to do. A good tank crew operates like a well oiled machine. Their sole purpose is to kill the enemy and get their fellow crewman back to base alive, in a month or so.

Being in combat is an experience few people have had. There is no other experience like it. It is loud, time is sometimes sped up or slowed down, there’s no time to be scared as you are too busy to be scared and some of the sights you see are locked in the deep recesses of your mind only to come out later in life to haunt you.

It is after combat that the full effect of what you have just been through hits you. Some get the shakes, some talk fast and crazily, some are too tired to move and a few joke about it to hide their true feelings. There is no exhaustion ever felt as the exhaustion you feel after a lengthy combat action. Some men are dead and some are dead tired.

Seeing your own dead you usually have two thoughts in quick succession. You feel for the guy and what his family will soon learn and nearly at the same time, you are glad it wasn’t you laying under that poncho.

I found out what “the China threat” really is–and it’s hilarious

References to “the China threat” are widely used to justify the diversion of public money to weapons makers. But what is it? Look closely and we find “the China threat” is a series of vague allegations that China is planning to impose its system on the world—evidence-free claims that no scholar believes. Yet at the same, a very different “China threat” DOES exist, and it’s not what people think!

Do you agree that despite the animosities between China and the West, it is nevertheless in China’s interests to try and calm the Russians down and get them to adopt another approach to the Ukraine situation?

A peace proposal was reached early in the conflict last year. But it was vetoed or blocked, only not by the Russians.

There was no Chinese involvement.

In the meantime, China hasn’t shipped weapons to either side, or provided monetary aid, unlike, ahem, Nato members. Ukrainians soldiers are being paid in US dollars, while a select group of young Ukrainians are driving brand new Teslas and German cars on the streets of Kiev, partying into the night while conflict ravages their country.

China has instituted export control of commercial drones, after these were found weaponized in large numbers by Ukrainians. WHO paid for them?

China’s consistent position has been, let’s sit down and talk this through, and overtures have been made. Unfortunately, this isn’t a bilateral quarrel between Russia and Ukraine, but with the entire NATO.

Joe the elder(ly) will have to take the pedal off the gas and walk back from escalating this conflict.

There is little China (and the rest of the world ex-first) can do, just like Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen…

The only difference this time is white people feeling the economic pain of war.

And I mean the whitest of white, not the “not white enough” cannon fodder being slaughtered and displaced in the tens of millions.

You want it that way, you can have it.

Leave Asia out of it. We have had enough suffering the horror of war, particularly the Muslims of the Middle East.

“Europe” does not accept Russia as part of “Europe”, despite Russia being sovereign over the largest piece of EUROPE.

This quarrel needs a shift in mindset, and I am not referring to the russians.

“Europe’s” problems need not be the world’s problem.

Note: Hundreds of thousands Ukrainians are dead, and more than 20m Ukrainians have turned refugee. Is Ukraine in a better position today than 2014–2015, when the Minsk agreements were signed (and reneged) TWICE? Ukraine gave the finger to Russia for 8 long years, ignoring two brokered agreements.

Zelensky and co. belong in jail.

China and Malaysia’s Rare Earth Metal Deal, Put U.S in Panic

Today’s video is a deep dive into the significant geopolitical decisions made by China and Malaysia regarding the export of rare earth minerals, which play a crucial role in driving today’s tech-savvy society.

How has living as a Buddhist monk (temporarily or permanently) changed you?

I have been a Theravada nun for 8 years now.

Here are the main changes that may take within you.

Lack of sensitivity towards your own self and your own needs. – Monks and nuns are constantly under immense public scrutiny in culturally Buddhist countries. At first you feel extremely sensitive and it’s a huge pressure. But with time you get used to it. Also the lack of freedom and comforts compared to laity may make one quite selfless and tough.
Sensitivity towards others – People keep looking forward to you in their bad times and you have to act as their guardian angel. But in their good times they may somewhat forget you. You learn this nature and learn to deal with it.
Whatever you do, you do not expect anything in return – You are a public figure. Being a public figure (specially if a monk or nun) is the same as being anything public. Everyone uses you but there is no one in particular to look after you. And again this will make you very tough, independent and very strong.
Even the worst introvert can become the most outgoing person – This was the case with me. If you want to do something for the society you get so much support from the laity. It is very easy to do social service.
Develop leadership qualities – People always want you to lead them in everything so if you do not have nor develop leadership qualities you are more or less doomed. So you learn it.
Patriotism – A lot of monks/nuns in traditionally Buddhist countries gets criticized specially by the Western Buddhists for this. But as a monk or nun you have very little things to call yourself apart from your country, ethnicity and religion. So the patriotism comes naturally and it is quite inevitable.
You become very patient.
It was originally intended to be a very calm and quite solitary life style but you can also make it the busiest life if you want it to be. You have the choice. However you have very little bonds and you feel so free whatever you do.
Inner calmness.
More understanding of life and worldly nature.
The immense discipline.
Sense of family towards other monks and nuns.
Respect for the elders
As a nun I MUST specially mention the discipline of the Buddhist monks and the way they treat the nuns specially in my country Srilanka. I had been a lay person till I was 28 years old. And there hasn’t been a single day that I did not face some sort of a sexual harassment from lay men in public places. But once in the order you don’t even feel that you are a woman. Suddenly gender has completely disappeared and you all just become human beings – monks and nuns. It’s so beautiful.

These qualities may increase if you stick to the practice as well. But just being in the robe without doing a minute of meditation can make you a different person in itself.

I see it among the monks who have been in the order since their childhoods the most. Eventhough they may not meditate as a habit there is a significant patience and an inner discipline among them. The later you enter the order the lesser the change may be. Ofcourse when you keep up the practice a lot of changes start appearing but it also can go down when you stop it. And the farther you keep away from the laity and the more you stick to the company of fellow monks and nuns the more changes will take place within you.

Worship whom…

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/35o5NQuNFFs?feature=share

Why is America the only country that tips? In other words, why are Europeans so cheap?

My own experience here. Back in the 1980s when I worked in a BR (British Rail) information kiosk, I had an American couple come up and ask for a train itinerary to get up to Fort William in Scotland. They were keen to stop off at various places en route so it took a good half an hour to work out times and optimum ticket prices.

Once they had collected all their notes, the gentleman pulled out his wallet and proffered me a tenner (£10 note) whilst thanking me for my diligence.

Naturally, I turned his “tip” down and said that what I’d done for them was simply my job and that we weren’t permitted to accept such things.

Blimey, that was it! The gent was visibly taken aback then his partner launched into a very loud verbal lashing of me saying that I was extremely rude for embarrassing him in front of everyone else, adding that they were “only trying to help your poor wages”.

Somebody in the queue piped up with “we don’t need your money, pal”, at which point the couple stormed off and kicked the door on their way out.

It could be argued that I went “above and beyond” but all BR clerical staff were salaried back then and we’d be mortified to have people announce that they thought that we were poor!

Generally people in Europe are paid a living wage so we don’t need to extract a tip out of everyone at every transaction to make ends meet. We leave that to our American cousins!

This is a HUGE PROBLEM for all of us!

This is a must watch for anyone who cares about our country and We The People !

Do you believe that America’s involvement in various global affairs has played a role in China’s ascent to superpower status?

This is a very good question.

Yes in a huge way it is. Though China and the Chinese people Confucian character and ethics itself is a phenomenal force.

If the U.S. had not foolishly fought wars that achieved absolutely nothing and cost tens of trillions of dollars that literally bankrupt America that pave the way for China to speedily caught up the U.S. and overtook it in most aspect of superpower status.

Just imagine this. Korean War is to stop North Korean to being communist. Today 80 years latter it is still a communist nation. The same goes to Vietnam. After 10 trillion lost 3 million dead and most U.S. gold reserves evaporated yet today half a century is still a proud socialist nation. Iraq is fought to introduce democracy to them. After 5 trillion dollars down the toilet Iraq is as i lambic nation as it was. But worst it now ally with Iran now. Another 3 trillion dollars thrown into the money pit is Afghanistan to get rid of the Taliban after 20 years the U.S. surrender the nation back to the Taliban.

The U.S. achieved nothing but hate and a broke and bankrupt nation! But worst. During the 60 years of continuous self created conflicts while the U.S. real standard of living standard of living stagnated back to the 1960 level today in 2023. During these same duration China grew 50 times in 60 years! By 2021 The Chinese life expectancy overtook the U.S. having doubled from 39 to now close to 79 years old!

You would think the US learn lessons from this nonsense but no. But today in 2023 the U.S. is fomenting coups in Africa, doing regime change in Russia, fighting another 10 trillion dollar un-winnable war in Ukraine, seething a stage to begin another war with China doing another Tokin lie in Taiwan and South China seas. It seems the U.S. won’t stop till it is finally collapsed in a total civil war! But that is the U.S. where popularity of leaders triumph over rationality.

China is laughing all the way to the bank metaphorically and factually. While the U.S. economy is is dire straight. Ukraine requires a billion a day Chinese provocation cost another billion a day and CIA and NED activity will totally burn up their cash but heck, your million homes less living on tents can wait, your 35% of Americans without medical insurance can die without help!

Israel Has just CUT OFF Water Supplies to Gaza – Just Like Ukraine did to Crimea

World Hal Turner

NEW AL JAZEERA REPORT SAYS ISRAEL JUST COMPLETELY CUT OFF THE WATER SUPLY TO GAZA! Just like Ukraine did to Crimea.

It was a Crime Against Humanity when Ukraine did it. It is a Crime Against Humanity now that Israel is doing it.

To deny human beings water means death in as little as three days.

During those days, people will have to take a crap into a five gallon bucket and haul it out to dump it somewhere.

With THAT type of sanitation, disease outbreaks will come fast; killing many who have some water stored and are otherwise surviving.

The shear hatred between the two sides over there would be mind-boggling were it not so long in coming.

Most of us have known for years this type of day would come. Few of us thought it would be in our lifetime.

Meet Frane Selak, the world’s (un)luckiest man.

In January 1965, Frane was aboard a train travelling through a cold, rainy canyon.

At one point of the journey the train was somehow flipped off of its tracks, and tumbled into a river.

A bystander rushed to the train’s aid, and pulled Frane out of the river. Unfortunately, 17 people drowned, trapped inside the train as it sank to the river’s bottom.

A narrow brush with death.

The next year, Frane was aboard the only plane ride he would ever take.

During the flight, the plane malfunctioned, and Frane was blown out of the aircraft.

He tumbled through the air— and landed safely in a haystack.

The plane crashed in a field, killing all 19 of its passengers.

Yet another close call.

It seemed that Frane had experienced his fair share of near-death experiences, but life still had quite a lot in store for Mr. Selak.

1966- A bus Frane was aboard crashed into a river, killing four. Frane was able to swim to safety with only minor injuries.
1970- While he was driving, Frane’s car suddenly caught on fire. He managed to escape just before the fuel tank exploded.
1973- In yet another driving incident, the engine of Frane’s car was doused in scalding oil from a malfunctioning fuel pump, causing flames to shoot through the air vents. Other than singed hair, Frane was unharmed.
1995- While on a trip in Zagreb, Croatia, Frane was struck by a bus. Luckily enough, he only sustained minor injuries.
1996- As Frane was driving, he was forced to swerve into a guardrail to avoid an oncoming truck. The rail collapsed under the car’s weight, sending it plummeting into a gorge. However, Frane wasn’t wearing a seat belt, so he was flung out of his car—right onto a tree. He held on, and safely watched as his car tumbled down into the gorge.

While he’s lucky to have survived more than seven brushes with death, Frane Selak seemed plagued by misfortune.

That is, until 2003 rolled around.

Two days after his 73rd birthday, Frane purchased a lottery ticket—- and won. It wasn’t a small amount, either: Roughly $1.1 million USD.

Perhaps even better than his lottery win?

He’s gone over twenty years without being placed in a life-threatening situation.

Frane Selak truly has beaten all odds.

My Son Didn’t Want to be Born; Pre Birth Memory and Near Death Experience

“I really appreciated the whole “I want to go home” statement. I never wanted to kill myself but I have that feeling of wanting to go home all the time. My husband never understands this because I will be at our house but I feel lonely/a longing to ‘go home’”

The US’ small yard & high fence protect its outdated & obsoleted technologies which are one to two generations behind of the Chinese technologies such as hypersonic missiles, smart phones, chips, green energy, stealthy fighter, radars etc. Why?

Simple.

Small things amuses small mind. To most Yanks the world stood still since 1945. That is their failure to recognised that the world has move on.

Americans stood still while China advanced beyond recognition in a space of a mere 74 years since 1949. ASPI the acronym for Australian Strategic Policy Institute coincidentally an off shoot of the U.S. Neocon group concluded that today China lead the U.S. in all 37 out of 44 most key and strategic technologies and material sciences going into the future.

Hubris, over estimation of themselves, racial bias and frown upon Chinese people, wrongful dismissal of Chinese progress and achievements. Coupled with being so full of it attitude caused the U.S. to lose all its lead in technology. While China work their guts out the U.S. simply deteriorated by by feeling entitled and foolishly ignorant and naive about their collapse going into the 21st century.

Another way to put it they slumbered into deep sleep mode till it is way way way too late. And any counter action on China hurts and harm the U.S. way more that it affects China. It hasten China’s lead. And speed up US implosion. And being full of it they did in the space Center ban GPS threat, trade war and Chip act all of which cost the US an arm and a leg. And padded China’s lead further.

How can I find out who’s stealing my lunch from the office fridge?

I added a drug in my food which induced diarrhea and waited to catch the culprit.

I was fed up with the lunch thief. Every other day someone would eat my lunch and this was a common phenomenon happening in our class. Any day a student bring something delicious it was bound to disappear. Some students stop bringing lunch others used to carry their lunch box wherever they go. Complaints were made to the school principal but, couldn’t catch the thief. I suspected few students which included some senior students also but, didn’t dare to say anything. Then I decided to do something extreme.

I brought a local delicacy for lunch one day and invited every possible classmate to have a bite during lunch hour. The morning hours were chemistry practicals and we had to leave our bags in our classroom. I knew if the thief got news about my food, he will strike during this time only. We all went to the practicals. Nearly one hour later we heard a commotion and saw principal and few teachers rushing upstairs, immediately followed by nurses. My teacher also went outside to see what was happening and then we saw one of my seniors crying loudly and taken on the stretcher by the nurses. He was the one who tried to eat my food but, didn’t know that I had mixed a drug extracted from a plant which induces diarrhea. He ate my entire lunch went back to his class and within 15 minutes started to have uncontrollable loose motions. That class was opened only after disinfecting which took 2 days.

He was admitted to hospital for a week. Later on, he confessed that he ate food from my lunch box before falling ill. My parents were called to the school and I was asked what happened to your food and I confessed to mixing in the drug for which I got nice beating from my father.

But, that incident made me famous in my schools and students started to bring lunch without fear. I felt like a savior of the world.

Edits 1- Lot of people have commented regarding the legality of this situation. I was in 8th grade when this happened. I didn’t mix the entire potion of drugs in my food, it was few drops. The diarrhea was contained within few hours but, the culprit felt weakness and took a week to recover. To everyone knowledge, I won’t use that drug again but, if someone tries to mess again with my food…….hahahahahahahahahaha (beware)

US decrypts the secrets of Kirin 2035, Huawei did not respond. The discovery scares the U.S.

The United States decrypts the secrets of Kirin 2035, Huawei did not respond.

The discovery scares the U.S.

https://youtu.be/zp8fL5uX3DU

Have you ever checked into a hotel room and found something unexpected?

Yes. One of the major regrets of my life. Let me explain……

As a young single sales engineer for Digital Equipment in the early 80s I attended a european sales meeting held in a posh hotel in Majorca. We were told that junior ranks (like me) were to share rooms, so after picking up my key I went to my room and saw a suitcase on the other bed. No probs, I thought, until I took a slightly closer look and noticed it was opened and full of female underwear. Hmmm, there must be some mistake, thought I. So I trudged down to reception, they assured me the room allocations were made by the company organisers not themselves, but they sent me to another room, which did in fact have a male engineer in it.

I subsequently discovered that the female in the original room was an absolutely stunning blonde Swedish girl, also single, and the organisers (a couple of girls from the Geneva Head Office) had mischievously allocated us together hoping that love would blossom.

What a wasted opportunity, I should have stayed in the first room and seen how events played out.

Have you ever seen someone who badly needed it “get dealt with”?

My middle school was relatively clean cut. It was a private school.

Most of the kids came from good homes. They weren’t the fighting types.

There was this kid Brandon, who used to bully everyone. (There always seems to be at least one doesn’t there?)

He was one of those early teenagers who had a big early growth spurt. He was bigger than everyone.

He was angry for no reason all the time. A perpetual scowl on his face.

He’d constantly be in the face of kids much smaller than him, egging them to fight him. He’d say, “You are a pussy.”, “Do something you pussy.”, “I dare you. Push me you pussy.”

I occasionally was the target, I’ll admit.

He’d throw a 12 year old boy into a locker right as the kid was talking to his crush. It was brutal. He had no qualms embarrassing people.

Nobody in our school was much of a fighter. And most of us were smaller so we didn’t really want to test our luck.

That summer, apparently there had been a meeting with school officials where it was communicated that his tenure at this private school should probably end.

Code: expulsion.

He didn’t learn from his expulsion from our school. His ways continued.

But he would learn soon.

He went to a new public High School with the same assholish attitude, that “looking for a fight” approach.

Unfortunately, the new pool he was swimming in had bigger fish: kids from a rougher side of the train track.

One particular kid “opted in” on his invitation to fight and Brandon got himself a badly needed public ass-kicking.

My conclusion, that actually gives me some solace:

Every bully will change his ways eventually.

Or he’ll have his ways changed for him.

There’s always a bigger, badder dude out there, gladly willing to be the “vehicle of his enlightenment”.

Now that China is beating the US in every aspect such as technology, life expectancy, quality of life, infrastructures, resources such as steel and rare earth, smarter people, no homelessness, does this mean that its the new superpower and the best?

No it does not want to be a super power. It wants a fair and just world! The U.S. can still pretends to be the superpower and spends its way into oblivion. Go right ahead. Prepare for another hundred US wars!

China just wants to make money and give its people peace and prosperity. If the U.S. prefer to see 5 million homeless in the U.S. but fund Hong Kong poor and hoodlums to pretend to protest. That is their right of the US to deprived its own people and interfere in every corner of the globe.

China wants the world to be a better place. It wants to help build a better and fairer world. The U.S. can necked it’s citizens to death in bright daylight or shoot 16 years old due to his skin colour. That is their right. The U.S. can fund another 10 Ukraines wars and cause 10 million deaths that is the U.S. right.

China knows what it needs, better roads, better high speed railway, better infrastructure better access to IT and facilities for its people to progress. China won’t do shit like the U.S. China won’t bankrupt itself over muscles flexing like the U.S. It wants to give its people better food and more food and better homes and nicer cloths. Better health care and free education.

You ask this question because you see from a western lens. China needing to over lords the world now that they are rich and successful. That is the western way. Not China not the Chinese people. They want to sell to the world. They want to make stuffs for the world. They want to trade with the world. Sure they are super duper ready if you ever threat them.

Have you ever found out a horrible family secret from your parents?

Yeah, from my dad but AFTER he’d died, when I was given a load of his stuff.

I knew my mum had left him, but we were told she left me and my brother with dad because she couldn’t take us with her as we were on our dads passport and he was in the army.

Well it turns out my dad kept the “Dear John” letter she wrote him when she left us all.

She made it clear that my dad was to stay in contact with her parents, but to not contact her about us.

The courts naturally awarded her custody in the divorce, but she never came for us.

We ended up living with our paternal Auntie, long story, and she hated our dad and did her best to ensure he couldn’t take us back from her.

She made us wards of court and sought a custody of sorts, which she won.

In the paperwork for that was a note saying our mum had a new life, spouse and a daughter with him and didn’t want to be involved with her two sons.

Reminder — she left us, she didn’t come get us after the divorce and didn’t prevent our Auntie from keeping us.

My dad never ever told me any of that, not even a hint and I had years of on and off again contact with mum before eventually going to live with her when I was 17.

He’d kept a load of her photos, original birth certificate, all the court documents from divorce and ward of court stuff, everything we’d need if we’d wanted to find her when we were older but to also show she’d left us and he’d tried his best to keep us.

He was civil to her the few times they saw each other, like when he came to visit me when I was living at hers and when I got married, but he never mentioned the past.

Even when my brother estranged himself from dad after years of our Auntie drip feeding him lies about dad, Dad never said anything about Mum and what our Auntie did to him in regards to taking his boys off him.

Dad left the Army, left his girlfriend in Germany with whom he’d settled down with after Mum left and they were going to raise us as a family when he came to get us back from his sister…he left everything behind to come and live round the corner from us and start all over again with nothing.

He had to die before I could find it out the truth, I never got to speak to him, to hear his side because he just left it in the past and was the best dad he could be in the circumstances.

I miss him and honestly the wrong parent died early in my view.

What is the oddest conversation you’ve had with a telephone scammer?

It was a Sunday morning, and I was bored, so when the phone rang, I jumped to answer it.

I forget the detail, but the first sentence spoken by the caller gave the game away.

I put on my best British upper crust accent, and demanded to know where he got the number from.

He umm’d and arr’d. I demanded again, whilst I turned around and barked an order to trace the call to the non-existent millitary staff behind me.

Tapping on my computer keyboard, for sound affects, I informed the caller that he had called a millitary number restricted for use by 10 Downing Street (and no-one else), and I continued to question him, whilst having secondary conversations with the non-existent personal behind me.

I kept the call going for 30 minutes, and I’m pretty sure that I heard the precise moment the poor guy shat himself.

In the end, I let him off with a warning and an instruction to ensure that this number was not called again.

I didn’t receive an unsolicited call of any description for more than two years after that.

Initially, I felt cruel, figuring this was just some kid in a scam call centre. That feeling wore off when I realised what a tale this guy had to tell his mates later on.

How do you politely decline when an older family member tries to give you things they no longer want?

You politely say, “Are you sure you want to part with it?” Then depending on the item, you can say that you will keep and cherish it as a family heirloom, or, you can be honest and say, “While this is lovely, it doesn’t fit with my decor. I will be glad to take it and find the perfect home for it where it can be loved and enjoyed.”

The biggest fear many older people have is that after they die, people will come into their home and not respect the things that were special in their lives. My mother’s fear was that her “special items” would simply be thrown away.

While your older relative is alive, ask them to walk you through their home and tell you the history of the various items throughout their house. You may gain a new respect for those items, as well as get clues to another family member who may actually want that item or have a connection to it. You may also find out if the items have significant monetary value or just sentimental value.

Your relative may think some items have high value, such as old or expensive sets of china or some collectible figurines, but the reality is that people no longer are interested in china sets or other items and they are worth very little. Older people can be devastated at the loss of value, so if that is the case, you don’t need to tell the older person, just reassure the person that you will take those items and care for them, then you can later dispose of them appropriately. If you don’t have room to store items, it may work to say, “I know you love this figurine (or whatever.) Why don’t you keep and enjoy it, just put my name on it for the future.”

The key is to respect the feelings of your older relatives and help them care for their special items in a respectful and caring manner. After they are gone, you can do what you need to do.

What are some signs that someone may be manipulating you, even if they don’t seem like it?

Years ago, my then-girlfriend gave me a pair of Bluetooth headphones as a birthday present. I appreciated it and tried so hard to make them work. But they kept irritating my ears and always fell out. Eventually, I went back to my regular wired headphones — not realizing this would trigger a huge point of contention.

Every time we went to the gym, she’d cross her arms and lament, “It’s a shame you won’t use those $150 headphones I got you.” She brought it up for months and months and it started to feel like I’d loaned money to the devil.

Humans are strongly reciprocal in nature. Any healthy relationship is built on giving and receiving in a fair manner. When there’s a gulf in this reciprocity, it creates a power imbalance. This is why gifts are a common tool for manipulation by people who score high in machiavellianism (having a desire to control someone).

Bestowing presents is also a common tactic by abusers. Each of Michael Jackson’s accusers made similar claims of him showering them with amazing gifts. They felt a sense of loyalty to him, particularly when it was time to defend him in court.

With my aforementioned ex, we eventually reached a resolution that once a gift is given, it is released. There are no claw-backs. There is no weaponizing them during arguments or using them to create resentments. That relationship taught me to keep an eye out for scorekeeping. Anytime someone tries to lord over me that they did this one nice thing for me — just to get their way on an entirely different subject, I tend to get prickly.

Even favors can be used against you if you aren’t careful. The most advanced manipulators use them, and you can too, in a good way.

Ben Franklin had a political enemy who was making speeches against him. Franklin remembered an old quote, “He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another than he whom you yourself have obliged.” Then he asked that political enemy to loan him a rare book. Ben eventually returned it to him with a nice thank you note inside the cover. Suddenly, their political rivalry vanished and Franklin had a new friend.

Asking for a favor is a conveyance of trust and need. A person feels chosen. You’re suggesting they have something you don’t: knowledge, ability, and resources. It also appeals to their insecurities. If you don’t know the requester or are angry at them, it creates a cognitive dissonance: why am I helping someone I don’t know or whom I’m mad at?

Your brain watches you behaving in conflict and creates a subconscious conclusion: you must like the person. After all, we ask favors of people we trust and care for, right? Beware of pro bono favor requests from people who have something to gain from you.

China Just REVEALED Update Plans For NEW Moon Base

China, who has seen a dormant phase recently regarding its lunar exploration program has recently released updates regarding the continuation of its lunar exploration program. As this important endeavor continues, China is on track to land its Taikonaut on the lunar surface and achieve one of the biggest milestones in its sector.

BOOM! Turkey Enters Israel-Palestine Fight — Warns U.S. to STAY OUT

World Hal Turner

The President of Turkiye, Recypt Erdogan, has publicly come out in support of Palestinians in the ongoing HAMAS-Israel conflict and has PUBLICLY WARNED the United States to STAY OUT of the conflict.

Erdogan says that his country is “with our innocent Palestinian brothers” and explicitly warned — everyone — that Turkey is “willing to defend Palestine at any price.”

It looks to me as if he just threw down a Gauntlet. To the US. To Israel. To pretty much everyone; perhaps even including NATO!

Erdogan knows that Poland, just yesterday, said they were sending military transport aircraft into Israel to evacuate Polish nationals and that if those aircraft are attacked, Poland would invoke NATO Article 5, resulting in the 31 country NATO alliance making strikes against Palestinians!

With today’s announcement, Erdogan just dumped cold water all over Poland . . . AND NATO. Neither will be able to do anything if Turkey says no. NATO requires unanimity before the bloc can engage in military action.

This HAMAS-Israel thing is spinning out of control so fast, it’s hard for me to even keep track of it.

Frankly, in my opinion, this has “Disaster” written all over it.

Why doesn’t America feel shameful when talking about human rights when they have only been in peace for 17 years in its entire 247 years of history?

They are deluding themselves. Most Americans still think they are exceptional. They are so deluded that they think it is alright for their government to use chemicals like ‘Agent Orange’ in the battle field. They think it is alright for them to torture captured prisoners with ‘Water Boarding’ and all other forms of ‘Tortures’. One picture has kept me awake at nights for a long time is the one showing a naked young girl running away and crying because she and other kids were being chased by American soldiers after they saw the unarmed civilian grown ups being tortured and killed by the American soldiers. And of course who can forget those picture showing prisoners being torture in Abu Ghraib prison, on the outskirts of Baghdad. There are too many pictures for the American Authority to deny their existence. And a former US President got the nerve to say that ‘Water boarding’ was not torture.

Another picture that come to mind is when Secretary of State, Colin Powell, a former 4 Star General, holding up a tube containing washing powder and claimed that as proof of Iraq’s ‘Weapon of Mass Destruction’. He mis-spoke. He should have said. ‘Weapon of Mass Deception’.

Thank his ex

Where would a war between China and the United States be fought?

Simple cheek for cheek an eye for an eye!

China will not start a war. To China it knows wars don’t resolve anything. It focus on being able to do tit for tat.

So if the U.S. talk shit and do daft muscle flexing and chest thumping like a gorilla, China will do nothing. China’s view is

It will intelligently let the US have a long rope to hang itself if that is what the U.S. wants. But if the U.S. hit China in China it will reciprocate by hitting US in U.S. if you kill a hundred in China it will kill a hundred in U.S. mainland. If you kill a thousand China will kill a thousand. If you use a nuke on China, China will use a nuke on U.S.

So if you want to stay safe stay in your shore in Florida or California. If you are loitering in South China Seas. The U.S. had 2 choices. One blow trillions for nothing. Or two, murder equal number of people in China and the U.S. or worst turn earth into a nuclear dust.

Right now the U.S. choose blowing billions like a faded and aging hoodlum flexing its muscles no one bother to pay attention to. All it needs is it swing accidentally and hit China to start a mutual self destruction. I think it is suicidal.

As a doctor, what is the most dangerous lie a patient has told you?

It wasn’t a patient, but the sister of his wife who demanded that my girlfriend tell a big lie to her patient. According to my girlfriend, it happens all the time in Muslim families.

Only a couple of days ago, my girlfriend found out that the patient was dying from bladder cancer metastasis. He did not have much time left — quality time, that is. She explained that to the family members who had come to the consultation room.

Not only his wife and children were there, but also his wife’s sister and an even older aunt, and some other family members — there was a bunch of them. The man himself was in his room. Asleep.

The sister and his wife asked — well, actually insisted — that my girlfriend would not tell the patient how bad his condition really was, and she certainly was not allowed to mention that his end would be very painful and bad.

My girlfriend kindly explained that she cannot tell this kind of lie to a patient — that he had every right to know about his condition, and that there were also the options of palliative care or euthanasia, which he had every right to think about before the pain would get even worse.

The problem is: in Muslim families, euthanasia is a no-go, and they rather have beloved uncle-husband-father patient succumb to the worse imaginable pain, than to help him go finally asleep without pain. Their way of coping with it is simply to not tell the patient.

But my girlfriend refused (she always does).

And she also told them that she had already spoken with him, and that he had dearly thanked her for telling the truth. He had suspected for a while that this was going the wrong way, but he needed confirmation — which he now had. And he planned to think about the options, now that the pain was getting worse.

His wife’s sister was furious, and exclaimed that the proposed therapies were not an option.

Yeah. But, you know, she was not the one in pain though.

What are some lies car mechanics tell?

I purchased a brand-new Honda Civic, which I drove very little and kept garaged. At 21k miles, I was told by the Honda dealer that the car needed brake work in order to pass inspection. I was highly skeptical, since I’m not hard on the brakes, and my previous vehicle did not require ANY brake work until around 80k miles. However, I was recovering from surgery and not able to do much myself, so I agreed to the work. I questioned this, and got a long BS story from the Service Manager about how I didn’t drive the car often enough, and as a result, the brakes were wearing. Something didn’t seem right, and I should have known better.

At 25k miles, the vehicle had other service work done, and the Honda mechanic reported that the brakes were fine. However, as I was leaving the dealership, I overheard the Service Manager having the exact same conversation with another customer about her brakes. The same BS reasons (not driving enough) were given, verbatim.

Roll forward to 31k miles, and the Honda dealer tells me they need “immediate attention”. By now, I was recovered and strongly smelled a rat. So I declined the work, and put the car up in my own garage. I was pissed when inspection showed nothing wrong with the brakes whatsoever. In fact, they looked almost new.

Since that time, I have driven the car for 2 years and over 16k miles, passing state inspection (which includes brakes) both times, without any brake work!

Took my business elsewhere, and didn’t look back. That was the 5th car bought by the family at that dealership, it will be the last.

Has anyone ever taken a DNA test and found something completely shocking?

I have a good one. I had long had a suspicion that my father was not my biological father. We looked nothing alike, not that it bothered me, but he was a 5′4″ Egyptian man and I’m a 5′9″ very white woman. At some point, my sister’s MIL gave her an Ancestry DNA kit for her birthday. Sure enough, it came back with 0% anything related to Egyptian. Both our parents have been deceased for several decades so we couldn’t ask them. At that point, I figured I should just go ahead and take the DNA test myself. Sure enough, same with me. I told my sister than I had heard a rumor from my mother’s best friend that our parents had fertility problems. I had quietly assumed that we had been a product of a sperm donation for years. My sister and I appear to be half sisters. She’s three years younger than I am so it makes sense. Sperm donors usually don’t donate for years and they may have tried to get a donor with at least some darker features. She was somewhat more shocked.

Fast forward six weeks after my results came in and I get an alert from Ancestry, I have a match. I open up the email and the first line is something like – “John Smith (not real name) is your father”. I was ready to acknowledge that I was not biologically my father’s but, for some reason, it startled me that I would find my actual biological father. I didn’t contact him. I was in my forties at the time and I imagine when he donated sperm that many years ago anonymously, it never occurred to him I’d show up.

That being said, a couple weeks later, he contacted me. After a few back and forth messages, it turns out he was a sperm donor, a retired OB/Gyn (not my mother’s for the record) and was indeed my biological father. On top of that, I have three other half sisters, the youngest of which is three months older than I am. He likes to brag/joke that he had two women knocked up at once. Of course, there may be more of us out there.

I’ve met the family multiple times. They’re a very nice group of people and my biological father calls me his fourth daughter. I look a lot like my sisters. At 5′9″, I’m actually the shortest sister. My bio dad at his tallest was around 6′5″, I think.

As crazy as all of this sounds, it didn’t really cause any identity crisis. I was in my 40’s. I knew who I was at that point and who my “real” father was, the one who had raised me. On top of that, I had fertility issues myself (just age related) and had used donor egg and sperm for my daughter. I discovered all of this after my child was born. It would never occur to me that my daughter wasn’t my “real” daughter. I gave birth to that girl and raised her and I’ve been honest with her about all of it, in an age appropriate way, of course. My mother died when I was eight so my Egyptian father was a single parent raising two girls. I still feel half Egyptian. As far as I’m concerned, I just have more nice people in my life.

Oliver Anthony – Rich Men North Of Richmond (Remix by Patryk Pryce)

Another fantastic remix. I really love this version.

Bluegrass rock.

Shit, I must of listened to this version about a hundred times! Damn!

Did China lose money on its bullet train project?

Absolutely

China averages around 65 Billion RMB a year on Losses on the HSR and an aggregate loss of 5.77 Trillion RMB totally

Sounds huge doesnt it?

It would be if you were an American

For a Chinese system, this is a pittance

Let me explain

First

HSR is regarded as a PUBLIC SERVICE in China

Public Services are always subsidized by the Governments from Beijing to the Local Governments

So these losses are reimbursed by the Taxpayers

The estimate is the average Chinese taxpayer pays 3.77% of his tax money to maintain his country’s railway network

Meanwhile an Average Indian contributes nearly 3.11% of his annual income for a railways that’s maybe a fifth of the level of Chinese quality

This is why I keep saying India isn’t ready for a HSR

Our people are too poor today as a whole to pay for the HSR unlike China whose population is way more middle class and have larger pockets plus the fact that HSR has an entire massive hub ensuring the lowest cost of operations

A HSR of 1/10th the size of Chinas in India would cost the Indian Taxpayer 8.41% of their annual income (Around 2100 Kms length)

It’s why despite the operating losses of 65 Billion RMB a year , only 10 Billion RMB or 15.4% is reimbursed from borrowings or debt

In India, a whopping 57% is reimbursed from borrowings

In Pakistan, 77% is reimbursed from borrowings

In short the people happily pay for the losses because (a) they are capable enough to pay for the losses with a near 50% middle class (b) the amount is not that high, around 3.77% of their total tax money

Second

Intangible benefits

The HSR enables development of areas and places deemed uninhabitable a decade ago

In Shenzhen a worker pays 870 RMB for 32 m² Apartment while 240 Kms away in Guaoxi he pays 400 RMB for 60 m²

Earlier Guaoxi took 6 hours by Road

Today Guaoxi takes a mere 65 minutes by HSR, the 230 kph line, not even the 418 kph fastest line

Thus he saves almost 500 RMB a month which translates to 6000 RMB disposable income a year

The fare for the train is paid out of profits by the employer

This extra 6000 RMB can be spent on other things and thus enhance the economy

The Value of intangible benefits is estimated to be close to 7 Trillion RMB or so

Third

Asset Monetization

The Benefit of Socialism

China owns the land on which the HSR is built, valued today at close to 21 Trillion RMB and that’s not even market price but a 60% discounted government local land price

Thus the total losses are barely 33% of the Assets owned in land alone

Thus the HSR is in vibrant and excellent economic shape

What is the dumbest thing you have ever done

The dumbest thing I’ve ever done …

Well, in my defense . . . oh, never mind. It was the dumbest thing I’ve ever done. I have no defense.

Remember this excellent product, ladies?

It made our hair wonderfully moisturized and conditioned, silky, shiny, and lustrous. It comes in small tubes, and you put it in a glass or cup of hot water to heat it up, apply it to your wet hair and work it through, leave on for just one minute (!) and then shampoo it out.

Alberto VO5 products (made by a company named Alberto-Culver) are very good and inexpensive hair care products. They go back a long way; even my Grandma used them. In her bathroom was always VO5 shampoo …

and this …

And never mind “conditioner” .. we used this, Tame Creme Rinse …

I remember, when I was a young girl, wondering why “cream” was spelled c-r-e-m-e, and why a guy named Toni was making stuff for girls (?) And why the heck was Tony’s name spelled with an ‘i’ instead of a ‘y’?

Okay, sorry. I got sidetracked by nostalgia. (Love and miss you, Grandma and Mom.)

So, the dumbest thing I’ve ever done? I gave myself a “hot oil treatment” but not with VO5. Not that time. That time I did it with this:

I melted some (probably more than a tube full, but, ya know, I was putting Vaseline in my hair. What’s one more dumb thing?) in a small saucepan on the stove, applied the “hot oil” to my hair, and well – did I let it sit on my wet hair for one minute? Hell no … I let it sit for ten minutes.

Yeah, I hadn’t thought it through.

It completely congealed. Back to its original state. Petroleum Jelly. My hair looked like I went swimming in an Exxon oil spill.

I shampooed .. and shampooed .. and shampooed. It wouldn’t wash out. In desperation, I even called an Ask-a-Nurse hotline for advice, which was a fairly new service at the time, around ‘78 or ‘79. (I was only 21 or 22 at the time. Is that a good defense? . . . No? Yeah, you’re right.)

The nurse I spoke with told me to try laundry detergent or an astringent, which sounded reasonable. I bought two bottles of Bonnie Bell astringent. It rolled off my hair like a car windshield that’s been treated with Rain-ex.

NEXT…

Yes, I washed my hair with powdered laundry detergent. Was there no end to the dumb shit I’d try? Apparently not. That didn’t work, either. Perhaps the nurse meant liquid laundry detergent. Well, dammit. Then she should’ve specified.

Finally I spotted something that gave me hope, in the kitchen of all places. Like a shining beacon of relief from an ordeal of my own dumb doing, one I’d been dealing with for three days running. It was a fairly new product, too. One that had “grease cleaning power”, or whatever their slogan was back then. And .. hallelujah! It worked!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the reason nothing but this adorns my kitchen window ledge.

Have I done dumber things than giving myself a hot oil treatment with Vaseline? Oh, I’ve done a couple of dumb things since, sure, but nothing quite as dumb. My brother-in-law thought it was the funniest freakin’ thing he’d ever heard. He told everybody. I’d meet friends of his and they’d say “Oh, are you the one who put Vaseline in her hair”? I never lived it down.

“Yep … *sigh* .. yep, that was me”.

Shocking: Nightlife in Kampala, Uganda

This is ASTOUNDING.

What’s something scary you’ve done?

I started a men’s group.

And… it was terrifying.

The idea came from a conversation with my therapist.

“You need to find meaning outside of work,” she said. “What are you passionate about?”

And get this—
Even in the *safe space of therapy* I felt awkward telling her: “I want to normalize vulnerability between men. I want to support other dads. I want to feel their support.”

“That’s a beautiful idea,” she said. “Go for it.”

So I:
– Posted on a local Facebook Group
– Got hundreds of likes and comments
– (ironically, 80% from wives tagging their husbands)

I felt imposter syndrome every step of the way.

“Who the hell are you to start a men’s group?”
“What do you even have to offer?”
“No one’s going to come.”
“You suck.”

But I did it anyway.

(While responding to that voice with a healthy dose of: 🖕)

And now, 7 of us meet in my basement every two weeks.

It’s:
– 10% parenting advice
– 90% “I need to get this off my chest”
– And 100% “Why don’t men do this more often?!”

There are two things I’m trying to say here:

The first is that I have three boys at home, ages 16, 12, & 8.

I don’t want them to grow up like me:
– Terrified to share their feelings
– Show weakness
– Be vulnerable.

Incapable of connecting with other men on an emotional level.

Because life’s short. We’re social creatures. And finding our shared humanity is one of the greatest joys of life.

The second thing is that:
– The inner critic is a liar
– Your comfort zone is a liar
– Imposter syndrome is a liar

Each of us has unique gifts to give to the world.

But it takes stepping out of that comfort zone.
Taking risks.
Falling.

Getting back up.
Doing hard things.
Being the change you want to see.

What are the best ways to become the best at whatever you do?

Follow this simple process:

Write Down Your Goals Twice Every Day. You cannot get the things you don’t remember you wanted in the first place.
Do Something For The Goals Every Single Day. Success and excellence only come from what we do behind the scenes every day.
Work Harder Than Everyone Else. To be the best you must work like the best. Period.
Get Over Yourself. Get over the fact that you can do this all while staying comfortable and do the things you do not like to do and that scare you.
Believe You Are The Best Before You Are. If you do not believe it, why should anyone else?
Focus All Your Energy On Improving. You are not the best yet, so you must grow into the best by improving everything you can as much as you can.
Invest In Yourself. Spend the time, energy and money required for you to become the best.
Do Not Give Up. This will take longer than you think it will and will be harder than anyone told you, but if you give up, you will never be able to reach it.

How does the ousting of China’s defence minister and foreign minister reflect on President Xi Jinping’s leadership?

It has no effect because defense and foreign policy are not made in the Defense and Foreign ministries. These ministries are only involved with policy implementation.

Foreign policy is formulated by the Director of Foreign Policy 外事办主任。 This office is now headed by Wang Yi, who took over as Foreign Minister after Qin Gang was put under investigation in June. This means that Wang Yi is responsible for foreign policy, and is also responsible for foreign policy implementation as the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Defense policy is devised by the Central Military Commission 中央军委, of which Xi Jinping is chairman. The Defense Ministry is responsible for defense policy implementation.

China is not ruled by Xi Jinping individually, but by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, of which Xi is the face and the spokesperson. Because it is not rule by individual ego, as is often done in the west, it has no significant effect on Xi himself.

Can Israel survive a long drawn out war of attrition?

Hezbollah is waiting for Israel to start the ground invasion of Gaza then they will open the northern front. With Iran, Russia and China potentially backing this war, what will be the situation if this escalation happens?

Israel does not have the stomach to take heavy casualties nor the capability to fight a prolonged war of attrition on three fronts i.e. Gaza, West Bank and Lebanon. Israel has a Jewish population of 7.1 million, around 50% of which are of fighting age (18–55) male and female.

[1] Size of its army is 634,500 including reserves, that is around 18% of population which is in the 18–55 years bracket. With these statistics, how much casualties can Israel take? Without US soldiers to die for it, Israel will run out of soldiers long before it runs out of ammunition.

Hence the only way Israel can survive this war is if US comes in with full force to fight alongside IDF and die for Israel. Short of that Israel is in deep trouble, as it is surrounded by the ocean of Muslim world with unlimited supply of manpower ready to fight Israel given half a chance.

It remains to be seen whether American public is ready for another “never ending” war, and whether American taxpayers are willing to fund it.

They aren’t stopping for shit

How do you politely decline paying for a group dinner?

Our somewhat spoiled and entitled 34 y/o son invited a couple friend of his to join us at an expensive beachfront restaurant. We had graciously picked up the tab for him and his friends on previous occasions, so we expected it to be more of the same. No big deal except that couple brought another couple we’d never met, and they all proceeded to order filet mignon. They also ordered two more to-go for their large dogs waiting at home! I whispered to my husband to keep his wallet in his pants and to order us two hamburgers. Oh how sweet it was when the check came and I loudly told the server that my husband and I would be on a separate check. You could hear the gasps and watch them all struggling and asking each other if anyone had cash or creditcards. I didn’t need to order dessert as that was the most delicious moment. Got tired of being mooched.

India is paying $17 billion for a 500km bullet train while China is building a 3,000km bullet train for $5.5 billion in Thailand. Arvind Kejriwal has re-tweeted this thrice. Is this true?

That’s not how China works

China never builds 3000 Km at a stretch

Chinese Projects are always divided into Phases

Typically a 3000 Km has 10 Phases of 300 Km each, which are finally linked into a single mesh network

The Chinese learnt this from Singapore & Japan both of whom work this strategy

This way, if the project is cancelled, the Phase completed can stand alone and have it’s own financial viability model

So if China quoted $ 5.5 Billion, it’s always for a Single Phase

The Whole cost will never be revealed and depends heavily on other factors

Since a Phase is around 300 Kms or definitely not more than 400 Kms, China is likely quoting $ 5.5 Billion for maximum 400 Kms

Still that’s astronomically different from Indias $ 17 Billion for 500 Kms

India is at least 250% higher

India was rather short sighted with the Bullet Train

Initially Chinas bid to India was for almost $ 4.3 Billion for 250 Kms but included Tech Transfer over 15 years

However five areas of disagreement emerged

China quoted 2.6% interest on composite terms
China demanded a 33% contingency payment knowing Indias history of delays
China insisted on having first refusal to build additional routes along the bullet train at later dates , basically saying if and when you expand, we get first choice
Chinas last condition was that their engineers felt very strongly that Mumbai to Ahmedabad was not a good pilot route due to many estimated problems that they predicted. Instead they wanted the Pilot Project between two other points rumored to be between Karnataka to Tamilnadu due to ease of terrain and other reasons.

At this time Japan who was terribly eager to get the contract offered to regard the entire 500 Km as a single phase at 0.1% interest but at double the cost

They agreed to Ahmedabad to Mumbai route

They agreed to no contingency payment

The agreed to no first refusal at a later date if India chose to expand

However they said no Tech transfer

In the end the Chinese were absolutely bang on

Proving that Political decisions never work

They perfectly predicted Delays in the whole project

They perfectly predicted that this 500 Km had a much lesser chance of becoming 5000 Km than with Indonesia Or Thailand

And Japan is stuck with the Project having had a opportunity loss of around $ 1.488 Billion to this day

Biden’s build up to war w/ Jeffrey Sachs

Outstanding discussion.

I’m almost 18 and I inherited 3.5 million dollars can I live off this for the rest of life by investing it?

An old friend of mine received 1 million dollar through a private investment savings account when he retired as a university professor. He was sixty-five at the time and had plenty of other savings, so you would think that he would do all right. Wrong.

His Chinese wife — who was a tad younger — had different ideas.

She first used part of his money to start a female clothing store in a local mall, without knowing the next thing about clothes, selling, or money management (she had a PhD in Physics and had no clue about what selling was about).

The shop went bankrupt in no time.

Some time later, he noticed that his private savings accounts were shrinking rapidly. She had gotten into investing (again, with no knowledge about it whatsoever, besides her prior dramatic clothing shop experience), and she was essentially flushing his money through the drain.

He could stop her (barely) before it was all gone.

In the end, nasal and sinus cancer hit him (very) hard when he turned eighty, and almost nothing was left to pay the very expensive surgeries and therapies — he also had a young daughter to take care of, and she came first. (His wife ignored their daughter altogether.)

He died not much later in “relative peace” (as they say), but kept worrying about one thing and one thing only till the very last seconds, as his daughter would be all alone now.

And his money was gone.

What bothers you?

Would you bargain at an Apple store? How about Starbucks?

“Let me have two 15″ MacBooks for $1,000. Last offer!”

“Gimme two Frappucinos for $2. Otherwise I’m going across the street!”

No?

I live in a small village in Costa Rica.

A guy selling free-range eggs from his own backyard chickens came over the other day.

Everybody tried haggling him down.

“That’s too much!”
“If I drive over to the next town I’ll get them for half of what you’re asking!”
“How did you decide on your price?!”

Tim Cook took home $102M in 2017.

This man was raising chickens so he could send his daughters to school.

Now, I’m not here to bash executives and big companies. I own an Apple laptop and I like going to nice cafés.

But here’s my question:

Why are we comfortable paying those who already have so much what they ask, but always try to get the best deal out of those who have so little?

Texas Chuck Wagon Chili

Ingredients

1 (3 pound) beef chuck roast, cut into small stew-size chunks (including fat)
6 tablespoons chili powder
3 tablespoons ground oregano
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon cayenne (less if you don’t like it really hot)
1 1/2 to 2 quarts water
1/3 cup Masa Harina or cornmeal

Instructions

Using some of the fat, render fat for browning rest of meat. Brown meat in a cast-iron Dutch oven.
Add chili powder, oregano, garlic, cumin and cayenne. Stir to coat meat.
Add water and stir. Bring liquid to boil and simmer, covered, for 1 to 11/2 hours.
Make a thick paste of Masa Harina or cornmeal and add to chili. Stir to prevent lumping.
Remove lid and simmer 30 to 45 minutes longer (more if you like) to thicken and reduce stew to desired consistency.

Notes

You may need to cut down on the seasonings to suit more tender, non-Texas palates.

NATO Web Site Op-Ed Calls for Nuclear War Preparation!

World Hal Turner

NATO has published an Op-Ed article by a retired American defense official, which calls on the bloc to fight and win a limited nuclear war against Russia. Should the US and China clash over Taiwan, the author claims that a full-scale war in Europe would likely follow.

The Op-Ed article was written by Gregory Weaver, who served as the principal nuclear and missile defense advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In it, Weaver argued that, counter to Moscow’s long-standing nuclear doctrine, Russia may use tactical nuclear weapons either to stave off a battlefield defeat or bring about a swift victory to a conventional conflict, such as that in Ukraine.

In such a scenario, Russian military leadership would assume that the West would not respond in kind, for fear that the situation would “escalate uncontrollably to a large-scale US-Russia homeland exchange.”

Instead of fearing nuclear war, Weaver argues that the West should embrace it. NATO should equip its fighter jets and submarines with tactical nuclear weapons to deter a tactical Russian strike, and “convince Russian leadership that NATO is fully prepared to counter limited nuclear first use with militarily effective nuclear responses of our own.”

Russian nuclear doctrine allows for the use of atomic weapons in the event of a first nuclear strike on its territory or infrastructure, or if the existence of the Russian state is threatened by either nuclear or conventional weapons. This position has not changed since 2010, and makes no exception for the use of tactical nuclear weapons (which are far less powerful than the strategic nuclear weapons that NATO and Russia would fire at each other in the event of an all-out exchange).

Despite these clear guidelines on nuclear use, Weaver claimed that Russia could launch an attack on NATO states in Europe if the US were preoccupied with fighting China over Taiwan, a scenario that he treats as possible without further explanation.

To counter this, he recommends that NATO move “more deep precision strike capabilities” to Europe, form “several modern armored divisions” in the Baltic states and Eastern Europe, and press European members to “provide more conventional capability,” while the US sends them tactical nuclear weapons.

Weaver did not mention the consequences that nuclear war would wreak on the European countries where such a conflict would be fought.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York last month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that Western leaders have become so obsessed with inflicting a “strategic defeat” on Russia that they have lost their “sense of self-preservation.”

The writer of the NATO Op-Ed Piece is Gregory Weaver.

Filipina SHOCKED by “DELUSIONAL WOMEN” | Rubeauti reacts

Ugh!

What is the likelihood Xi Jinping will never meet with President Biden during Biden’s term?

I watched a recent speech by Biden in Asia. It was a press conference in Vietnam. Biden was so bad that while he was still talking, his own US press secretary cut him off halfway by muting his microphone, declaring abruptly that the conference was over; and turning on jazz music in the room so that Biden’s voice could not be heard anymore. This was damage control. The US press secretary did it, to stop Biden from continuing to ramble on spouting nonsense in front of a roomful of journalists and media crews.

The poor man is senile. He is still President, of course. But surely he is no longer making the real decisions for the USA. He is just the front, the puppet on stage – the people in charge are the ones behind the curtains pulling on the strings.

It’s pointless for Xi to meet Biden. Xi probably knows it already. Any meeting with Biden would just be for ceremonial purposes and publicity reasons. Nothing will actually come out of such a meeting, because Biden doesn’t make decisions anymore.

Xi is a busy man and I wouldn’t be too surprised if he decides never to meet Biden again. There’s not much point in such a meeting.

Is 65 TOO OLD for a YOUNG FILIPINA? | Street Interviews

LOL! That’s my age!

This is too funny!

How superior is NATO to China in terms of weaponry?

Chinese Weaponry is more than capable of taking on NATO weapons

Oh don’t get me wrong. Maybe technologically, NATO weaponry is more advanced

Yet NATO weaponry has been exposed in Ukraine as woefully being inadequate for a battle with a formidable ally

They have been designed since the 1990s with the aim of maximizing profit and fighting small nations like Iraq and Afghanistan rather than design them to COLD WAR STANDARDS

NATO weapons are designed for rapid strikes and rapid breakthroughs

Their offensive capabilities, mobility, speed are their key design parameters

Yet their defense is weak, their loading rate is compromised and they are not meant for heavy use

The Leopard and Challengers are the best example

They move faster than Russian Tanks yet their load rate is slow and their external body is vulnerable due to lower weight and allows them to be crunched by a simplest cheapest $ 20,000 drone or an 155 mm Artillery Shell or an Air to Surface missile

Chinese and Russian Weaponry are still designed per COLD WAR STANDARDS

To fight NATO

To fight US in an eventual war

They are designed for slow, territorial attrition, rock solid defense and grinding the enemy

Plus their numbers are superior due to better industrial productivity

Logic says Chinese Weapons should take on NATO weapons

Did Apple get lazy about introducing new features to the iPhone when Huawei was sanctioned by the U.S. Commerce Department?

Lazy is not the word to describe Apple.

When there is no rival, all you need to do is to change a little to fool consumers to buy your new product.

Sometimes you purposely do not want to change too much either. Otherwise you may not have new things next year.

Huawei is different. Huawei must find a way to go around US sanctions. It is this urge to survive a harsh condition that people become more innovative & get breakthrough.

It’s STARTING! Biden Just SHOCKED The World With This Move Towards GLOBAL WAR

As Biden seeks vast new sums for wars in Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, will his rambling and incoherent speech propel America hurtling towards a global war?

This video is great.

He absolutely captures the sheer insanity of this moment! I mean it’s so insane that you all have to laugh.

Jesus H Christ!

Why don’t people make better decisions?

Biases.

I’ll give you an example.

Psychologist, Paul Piff, ran a famous social experiment using Monopoly. They had two strangers play a game against each other — but first, they flipped a coin.

The “heads” player got double starting money, double bonuses, and rolled two dice instead of one. The tails player played the game normally.

By design, the Heads player would eventually begin winning. Then, scientists watched.

The heads player began talking louder, raising their hands to celebrate. They slammed their pieces down louder on the board as they moved them. Eventually, they were outright rude and hostile to the other player.

When interviewed about winning, they talked about their amazing strategies and tactics. They rarely mentioned the 2x bonuses they began with. They also never acknowledged those advantages were the result of a coin toss.

They were displaying the Self-Serving Bias, where people tend to seek out and over-weight information that is favorable to them (and their ego).

In sports and video games, it’s why teammates often point fingers at each other over a loss. In business, it’s why unethical managers blame employees for their own incompetence.

It’s as Upton Sinclair once wrote, “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”

I try to fact-check the beliefs I have against this powerful bias — because it sneaks into every minor decision we make.

Do you think Russia, China, North Korea, and other countries will make a joint army against NATO, the USA, and Israel sooner or later?

No need for ‘or later‘, perhaps in the ‘now‘.

This is a schematic diagram of the recent situation in the Middle East, where the armed forces of China, Russia, and the United States are located near Israel, Palestine, Iran, and Syria.

The top three countries in the world’s military power rankings are all gathered in this small region.

The reason why the US military dare not directly intervene in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is because they are unwilling and because they dare not.

No one will act recklessly.

No one wants to break the current balance.

They Just Did It! America Unleashes Economic Chaos – Shutdown Crisis Escalates

Congress has just ousted Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House. This one move just ramped up the shutdown crisis to the next level. We are in for a rollercoaster ride which could lead to a government shutdown where the economy could get dangerously impaired. Here’s what you must know!

Stressed out PP

When I lived in Shenzhen (ripe out of the ‘States) we had a little dog. We called him ShaoPi, or “PP” for short. He was a good little Bishion breed. He was a mini version, and so didn’t live as long as a normal breed would of.

Anyways, we also had his son; “Super”. Which was a mixed breed. Bishion and Bomei. And he was absolutely one heck of a handsome dog.

One thing, though. He hated my guts.

…

I mean it. He HATED me; with a searing level of disgust and malice. Including biting me, and forcing me to get rabies vaccinations. Ugh!

I was an “outsider” and he “owned” my wife and her ex-boyfriend. And to exert his displeasure on me, he would make messes all over the place, bark non-stop and generally did everything he could to try to chase me away.

Well, that was causing our PP to get super stressed out. And he was a good dog, always trying to straighten out this wayward son. But it was to no avail. Eventually, both dogs were super stressed out, and start a non-stop peeing contest in the house. I mean, they were urinating over everything.

Everything.

And so we would take PP out with us and we did out chores and made our rounds, and it helped some. But, you know, he was so stressed out that he still continued to pee everywhere and over everything.

We knew that there was a problem. But we didn’t know what to do.

…

Then one day, while riding on an elevator there was a really cute 20-something girl all “decked out” wearing nice clothes and makeup going out (probably) on a date. We were also going out. PP was at our feet, and we were making arrangements for an evening dinner.

She was checking out her phone while adjusting her makeup, and sure as shit…

…PP urinated all over her high heels, and her nylons and her dress.

…

She screamed out so loudly that PP jumped back as if electrified….

…

That week we found a home for “Super”, and that was another trial, I’ll tell you what. But the moral of this little story is when people, or loved ones are stressed out…

…do something about it, before things get out of hand!

Todays…

Shi Jiangiao

This is Shi Jiangiao, a Chinese assassin who lived during the Warlord Era (1916-1928) in China.

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Shi came from a family of humble beginnings as her grandfather was a simple farmer and tofu seller. However, that all changed when her father and uncle became decorated soldiers, rising through the ranks in the Chinese military. This helped raise the social status of her family.

In 1925, when Shi was only 19 years old, her father was leading a brigade of soldiers to capture Guzhen, Shandong, when he became surrounded by a warlord by the name of Sun Chuanfang. Sun decapitated her father and had his head mounted on a pike and put on display at a local train station.

Two years later, Sun was disposed of by the Kuomintang (aka Chinese Nationalist Party) who wanted to reunify China, which had become fragmented after the 1911 Revolution, which overthrew China’s last imperial dynasty, the Qing. Sun peacefully retired from his life as a warlord and founded a Buddhist society.

Meanwhile, Shi spent her 20s tracking down Sun who had disappeared without a trace. In 1935, ten years after her father’s death, Shi managed to track Sun down in Tianjin, a major port city close to Beijing. (If you recall, Tianjin was the city that had that major explosion in 2015.)

Shi entered the Buddhist temple and found Sun kneeling in front of the altar. She approached him from behind and shot him several times with a pistol. She did not attempt to flee the scene of the crime but began distributing pamphlets explaining her actions.

Her case drew significant coverage and reached the Nanjing Supreme Court. In the eyes of the law, she was guilty. However, Confucian morality stipulates that one must avenge their parents. Ultimately, the Nationalist government decided to pardon her on the grounds that the assassination was justified because it was an act of filial piety. It also helped her case that the man she had assassinated was guilty of trafficking opium, suppressing strikes by factory workers in Shanghai, and collaborating with the Japanese.

What did someone say to you that instantly made you realize their life was in danger?

While I was working as a Hospice Nurse one of my patients had a great grand daughter that visited often. One day she came in and could hardly walk.

She wouldn’t look at me.

…

I made an excuse to get close to her.

Her eye was almost closed shut and her face was black and blue.

…

I ask her who beat her but she was too scared to talk.

I didn’t wait.

I immediately called 911 just as her boyfriend came in and was going to pull her out of the room.

…

Security came and the boy tried to hit them.

It took 3 police and a taser to get him in their police car.

The poor girl had [1] broken ribs, [2] a ruptured spleen, [3] collapsed left lung and [4] she had a miscarriage the next day.

We made good friends regardless of the age difference and her family is so nice.

I thank God that I didn’t look away and could help her.

I had to be a witness at his trial and he got 40 years for attempted murder and spousal abuse.

Exposing Philippines!

Take a little vacation and look at how the “Global South” looks like. This is the Philippines.

Green Chile Steaks

Ingredients

1/2 pound lean ground beef
1/2 teaspoon Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
1/4 teaspoon Lawry’s Garlic Powder with Parsley
1 fresh green chile, seeded and minced*
3 tablespoons chopped scallion

Instructions

In medium bowl, thoroughly combine all ingredients.
Form into 2 oval steak patties or 4 hamburger patties.
Cook in skillet, broiler or on grill until done.

What accidentally rude things do Americans do while traveling even without realizing it?

Saying “Give me this/that” instead of asking for it.

I was once in a bar in Turkey, watching football (as in kicking a ball with the foot) with some other foreigners, German & Danish IIRC, drinking beer, & nibbling cacik & bread.

A group of American men walked in (I think from the nearby air base). They knew the barman’s name. They asked if the back room was free, & on being told yes, headed for it & commanded the barman to bring them beers – all done by shouting across the bar in English. He smiled to their faces & scowled at their backs. Then he noticed two of us looking at him & looked embarrassed.

A little while later we needed more beer, & it was my turn, so I went to the bar & asked (in Turkish – as we’d all done) for more beer e.g. “beş bira, lütfen”. He still seemed embarrassed, & said something like (IIRC) “You’re OK. You say lütfen” (Turkish for please). In his terms, the Americans were extremely rude. They probably had no idea. We, on the other hand, were at least trying to be polite. We knew how to ask for a beer (or a few), & how to say please & thank you, & understood that was customary.

I expect the Americans would have been very surprised to know that they were constantly being rude to locals.

They’re FINALLY Been Arrested in MAUI,The Rock & Oprah

Thank you for speaking on our Maui brothers and sisters. Thank you James Okeefe also. This is unacceptable as well as unbelievable!!

https://youtu.be/cXv1Cb93OGA

Confession of the Day

I started self directed investing in 2012 with $20k. My first big success was betting on American Airlines after they filed bankruptcy before the merger with US Airlines. It was a 5x return in less than two years. I took that money and bought a house to Airbnb and ended up with about $250k.

I reinvested into the market and made my way all the way up to about $600k during the Covid spurt. Then I began to fuck with options. The first few wins were big for me, $5k, $10k, $20k, etc. then I really started betting big and hit returns over $100k in a single day. I couldn’t stop. The dopamine rush was too good.

The ups were euphoric and the downs sent my mind and body into a total whirlwind of intense emotion. It was the sickest drug. I couldn’t get enough. Nothing else matter other than becoming as rich as possible. And then I finally crossed the $1m threshold…. For only one day.

The next day I the market looked like shit but I was so hard up for my next fix I played anyway. Down $100k – eh it’ll come back, I can’t lose. Down $200k – if Itake the hit now that means I’m a loser, no way. Down $250k – ok I was wrong, time to switch sides and redeem myself. Down $330k – fuck fuck fuck!!! Don’t worry, I’II get it back next week…. And I did. $980k. Nice, almost back to $1m.

And then down. And down. And down.

All of it. Gone. 9 years of building $20k into $1m. Because the high was never high enough and the low was never enough to stop me. I went through deep depression, lots of suicidal thoughts, and darkness I didn’t think I’d come out of. A year of therapy, books, podcasts, support, and I’m doing better. Relapsed once and lost another $90k in a single day, just because I couldn’t lose.

We’re a dopamine nation now. This forum says it all. Gambling at your fingertips and the ever looming reminder that some people actually win and get super rich. At least for a little while. But the highs are never high enough and it never ends. Check yourselves before it’s too late. Day trading can be a real gambling addiction and you really can lose it all no matter how good you are.

I hope this helps save even just one person.

Is there Any Hope for this Once Great City?

Who do you fear the most in your country?

As ridiculous as it sounds, roving bands of young fellas off the estates, typically aged between 10 and 16.

I know some Americans will probably read this and think I’m a right pussy for being scared of a load of kids, but you don’t know man! You weren’t there!

See, the thing is with these kids, be they scallies, chavs, neds, roadmen, townies or whatever you call them in your region, is that typically they appear in large groups, they have little to lose and so don’t care about doing the stupidest shit possible, and they are not afraid to hound you and make your life a misery if you challenge them.

Sure, one on one, I wouldn’t be particularly scared about a 14 year old scal (although they increasingly carry knives and machetes and shit), but the point is that you rarely do encounter them one on one.

And let’s say, there’s a load of them camped outside your nan’s house chucking stones at her windows and you think, “Fuck that, I’ll go chase them off,” what is likely to happen is that they’ll start posturing around you and throwing stones at your head or they might fuck off, but then they’ll find out where you live (if you live nearby) and they’ll start wrecking your house and you might even find your house firebombed. It might sound extreme, but it does happen.

The police are ineffective as they have no respect for the police and, anyway, they’re minors so cannot properly be held accountable unless they do something really bad. And anyway, being tough on crime only goes so far. A more holistic long-term approach to the issue is required, but sadly no government has the vision or appetite to really commit to such policies.

So, essentially, you are powerless to do anything meaningful against them because you will only exacerbate the situation. These kids have the capability to make your life hell. They can make going to the local shops a genuinely nerve-wracking experience, particularly for the elderly and those with disabilities. They can really ruin the atmosphere of otherwise solid working class communities.

And that’s the thing too, it is the working class communities where they live and hang out that suffer the real brunt of their aimless destructive behaviour. You can be somewhat insulated against them if you live away from them or even just on a road they don’t frequent, but if you are forced by circumstance to live where they congregate, then your life can be pretty miserable if you get on their bad side.

And yeah, I’m scared of them. I’m less scared of some actual high up gang leader than I am these kids because at least with the real gang members they’re not interested in you unless you give them a reason to be, whereas, like I said, these kids have nothing to lose and might target you simply because they can and they think it’s funny.

It’s the one thing I really don’t miss about living in more working class areas, which can otherwise be much more friendly and interesting places to live

US efforts to strangle China & reassert hegemony – Jeffrey Sachs, Alexander Mercouris & Glenn Diesen

“Emerging nations fight wars at their borders, declining nations fight wars far away.” ~Chris Hedges

What is the rudest thing anyone has ever done to you in your own house?

My mother-in-law was visiting us in Canada from her home in South Africa. There she had two house servants and a garden “boy” who did all the work. She sat smoking her cigarettes and “supervised”. Staying in my home where I had two children under age 6, a lot of my mornings were spent in child care, household chores, meal planning and all of the hundred other jobs of the Canadian housewife. One morning my mother-in-law sat at the kitchen table drinking coffee I had made and smoking her cigarette (which I had objected to from day one) and told me that I needed to change my routine to do my household chores after everyone had gone to bed so that her day was not “spoiled” by me having to do chores on “her” time.

What legitimate reasons does the US have for prioritizing military goals over economic ones in countering China’s influence in the developing world?

Let’s see

Is there the slighest chance that China will invade USA or any NATO country?

Absolutely not.

The US is impregnable with Canada and Mexico as buffers and the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans as it’s maritime buffers

There is a nuclear deterrent as well

So why else is US prioritizing it’s Military Goals

The Answer is IT HAS TO KEEP FEEDING IT’S MILITARY INDUSTRIES

Critical issues

The US has to keep paying money to keep it’s Defence Industries rich and profitable so that their shares are profitable and so that the Corrupt Senators, Congressmen and Lobbyists get rich

It’s a vicious cycle

Guess how many Senators have more than 30% of their investments in Defense Stocks?

61 – SIXTY ONE

35 Republicans and 26 Democrats

Guess how many Senators have more than 30% of their investments in Tech stocks?

67 – SIXTY SEVEN

38 Democrats and 28 Republicans and 1 Independent leaning to Democrat

Congressmen?

209 – 108 Democrats and 101 Republicans

Of these 51 have more than $ 5 Million worth of stocks

Lloyd Austin has earned $ 4.3 Million after leaving the Pentagon just by sitting on the boards of various Defense Contractors

He doesn’t have 50 grams of brains in that massive skull of his

So the Military Industry in US is like a shark that has to keep swimming

They always need an enemy to keep selling weapons to

They HATE PEACE because any peace means less potential to sell weapons

First it was the Cold War – Weapons sale

Next it was fighting Communism – Weapons Sale

Next it was fighting Saddam & Milosevic – Weapons Sale

Next it was fighting Terror – Weapons Sale

Now it’s fighting Russia and China – Weapons Sales

Tomorrow they may decide India is the enemy and wage a war on India and sell weapons or decide it’s Japan Or even Aliens

Their Military Goals have led to the worst disasters on earth

Vietnam
Cambodia
Laos
Afghanistan
Iraq
Libya
Syria
Ukraine
Taiwan (Next)

They have single handedly led to their deaths more men than Taliban, Al Qaeda, ISIS and Saddam Hussein and Gadaffi COMBINED

They have destroyed countries with their bombs and Agent Orange

Today their Target is China and Russia

They don’t have the balls for a direct fight because a MAD means the evil politicians will also die and they don’t want that

So these proxy wars will be their way of milking and flattening the military defense industries

Basically they are part of a corrupt hellhole with many idiots even today proudly saying how the US Dollar is backed by the US Army

They will be destroyed one day as history is proof of

One day they will collapse when their own people begin to rebel and fight this evil system

Until then these a**holes will keep harrassing everyone and lying to the whole world

I refer only to around 300,000 Evil Americans in US and another 2 Million more brainwashed evil corrupt minions

The other 336.7 Million Americans are very decent and nice people

Eliminate these 2.3 Million a**holes and the US will be back to the Pre Eisenhower era. A Nice Country with genuine morals

OH. MY. GOSH.🤯😟 MUST SEE: Can Americans answer ANYTHING correctly!?

I fully support the movement to require a civics test before voting or even just knowing the difference between a STATE and a COUNTRY would be a start.

Dog-fight between France & Germany. But drag China along. What is the dog-fight about?

Chinese electric cars surprised the world in the 2023 car exhibition.

France started the dog fight. It called for EU investigation if China has subsidized its electric car industry. EU chief took France’s case.

EU Commerce Chamber in China right away told EU that there is no electric car subsidy by Chinese government. What makes China successful in electric car is because China has lots of scientists who work hard to improve their car tech so as to compete in the world, said the Chamber.

German business-people also opposed the EU investigation. Saying it will force China’s to react & counter EU’s unreasonable action. It will harm German economy.

It is a dog fight between France & Germany.

France’s car sales in China accounts for less than 1%. Germany, more than 17%. No need to explain further, right?

France can afford to lose its <1% to weaken Germany’s >17%.

If Germany wants to, Germany can counter target France’s luxury products eg cosmetics & fashion that sell well in China.

Despite objection from German business people, German politicians agreed to EU investigation. … really, politicians do not care about the welfare of the country & its people. They only care about votes ie personal interest.

Has German government subsidized electric car industry? Many times. From internet.

What is more irony is that: when USA subsidized its electric cars under the disguise of Inflation Reduction Act, EU protested & warned USA that EU will also subsidize its electric car industry. Today Germany is subsiding its electric cars industry based on … false accusation as testified by EU Commerce Chamber.

Is it true that Chinese people seemed not to get offended and are too weak to fight back when abused racially because interracial fighting is something very shameful in their cultures?

Chinese do not like direct confrontation. Confrontation is seen as a sign of stupidity. Two thousand years ago, the founder of the Han dynasty summed it up: 吾寧鬥智不鬥力: I prefer to fight with my wits, not by power. From a very weak start, he thrashed 項羽 Hsiang/Xiang Yü, his main rival, whose army was much more powerful.

Fighting is for children and inferior people. Look at it this way: a four year old can strike out in anger, but is incapable of coming up with a better plan.

Chinese always prefer to use strategy rather than brute force. 難忍能忍大丈夫: a powerful cultural standard is that a real hero is someone who can say, “My head is bloody but unbowed.”

This is strength, not weakness, and does not mean that Chinese will not fight back. Look what happened to the mighty Japanese warlords when they attacked China. The Chinese in general avoided direct confrontation, drew the Japanese in, and overcame them. China has stood off some of the most powerful armies in the world. Even though the Mongols eventually conquered China, it took them decades and weakened them so much they were unable to conquer Viet Nam (of course there are other factors, such as VN fighting prowess, but this is an essential factor.) In China, the Mongols were close to their home but suffered great losses at Chinese hands. Compare that to the European powers, where the “flower of chivalry” was butchered in short order on their home territory by Mongols far, far from their home base.

I do not know how much the person asking the question knows about China, but I would guess that most people have heard of China’s long tradition of martial arts. Chinese will fight, but consider it uncivilized, immature, beneath an adult’s dignity.

We left America for Police putting guns to our heads. Part 1-2

This channel is to bring the awareness to the world of the beautiful continent of Africa. My intentions are to show the development, people, property and investment opportunities. All the adventures and opportunities that is for people to take advantage of. Also showing how America is not necessarily the perfect place for people to live.

ASMR: What it is, what it stands for and how it works

What is ASMR? How does ASMR work?

What does ASMR stand for?

Are you “ASMR sensitive”? Do you get ASMR tingles?

Is this the first time you’ve heard of ASMR which stands for “Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response”?

It might not mean what you think it means.

Millions of people experience ASMR “tingles” when exposed to certain stimuli.

Triggers like hair brushing, whispering, finger tapping, clicking, chewing and caring role-playing send shivers down some people’s spine.

These same ASMR triggers are actually “misophonic” triggers for others; meaning these sounds cause negative responses.

For example: nails on a chalkboard will drive some people nuts but others aren’t affected.

The Why Files answers these questions and raises a few more. The science behind behind ASMR is still new but research is underway.

Though ASMR is a relatively new phenomenon, the online ASMR community is vibrant and growing rapidly.

Are you ASMR sensitive?

What are your triggers?

Who is the most evil person you have ever met?

I once had a therapist for four years. He spent every session of that 4 years grooming me. Yes grooming me as if I were a child and he were the predator – except I was an adult and never knew what was happening until it was too late. If I questioned anything about the ethics of something he did or said – he always twisted up an answer that made enough sense in my mind that I would disregard. It was a disgusting abuse of power. He was extremely subtle about his approach and he nearly destroyed me as a human before it was all finished. Looking back years later I can see how correlated he was in what he did and I am sure he had many victims besides myself. At one point he even talked of “getting rid of my husband”. (I never told me husband this part of everything)

In the end he chose the wrong victim. I had to rise above the fear and confusion. I did. I had to be careful to make sure to keep all of my complaints and even my lawyer was a secret till the moment that he was piled with so much legal shit and my states’ board and Human Resources was all brought out at once. I did this intentionally so there was no way he could get out of the situation or harm me without someone knowing who did it to me. And so what he was doing was made known without ANY space for “reasonable doubt”.

I’ve taken a lot of time to heal and am still now in the process of forgiving him, forgiving myself, and moving forward to be as healthy as I can be. Sometimes I wish he’s a trash guy now… except the get paid too much. But he’s the most evil person I have ever met.

It’s unfortunate that what he did to me isn’t a criminal offense in my state as it is in many states. I plan to make this change through whatever legal route I need to take and make a difference so nobody else ever has to go through what I did. That man should be in prison. He’s a rapist and a cunning one at that. A sick sick human.

Syrian conflict.

When the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011 , Western-backed rebels launched a full-scale attack on the Syrian government, and an extremely bloody color revolution began.

We Chinese often say that we experienced 14 years of hard resistance against Japan during World War II. Warning the war in Syria is not over yet! The United States also steals oil, food, and cultural relics in Syria…

No one expected that at the opening of the Asian Games in Hangzhou , China would make a move that would completely change the world.

On September 21, the Syrian president and his wife arrived in Hangzhou, China, and then arrived in the capital Beijing on September 24, visiting two places in a row.

Below is a picture of the Syrian president and his wife arriving in Hangzhou and Beijing. My heart moved at this moment.

Perhaps the whole world did not expect that Syria, which has long been completely blocked in the West, has received the most respectful reception in China. We do not belittle Syria just because it is a small country in war.

Put yourself in my shoes, if you were a Syrian , how would you feel when you saw this scene? What is the characteristic of a great country? This is the It! China has deservedly become a true morale beacon of human civilization. The picture below is really shocking.

During their visit to Hangzhou, the Syrian president and his wife visited Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou . During the visit, a female tourist could not help but touch Asma, the Syrian lady, because she was so beautiful. The female tourist said to Asma, “You are so beautiful.” Unexpectedly, Asma replied: “You have a beautiful country.” From the look of the video, the female tourist seems to be an older person, but even so, I don’t think it’s good to touch her face, since she is the president’s wife after all. However, this reply from the wife of the Syrian President suddenly sublimated the matter. Yes, we have a beautiful country, and for the Syrian people, this is their biggest dream. Syria was once a beautiful country. There is an old saying that goes like this: “If there is a paradise on earth, Damascus must be in it. If paradise is in the sky, Damascus will be as famous as it.” Asma, the wife of the Syrian President, is known as the Desert Rose . She is a very beautiful and gentle person, but behind this beauty, there is an extraordinary experience, which can even be said to be legendary.

Asma was born in London, England, to Syrian parents. Her family conditions are very good. In 1996, Asma graduated from King’s College London with a BA in Computer Science and French Literature . After graduation, she started working at Deutsche Bank Group as an economic analyst in the hedge fund management department. In 1998, Asma joined JPMorgan Chase & Co. in investment banking. She was also preparing to pursue an MBA at Harvard University, but moved to Syria after meeting her husband, Bashar , while on vacation with her family. I can be said to be an absolute intellectual and business elite. Her husband Assad is the second son and is not the successor that the family focuses on training. The family focuses on training his eldest brother. As a result, his eldest brother died unexpectedly in a car accident in 1994.

Assad himself is relatively flat. His early dream was to be a doctor and he had little interest in politics. He himself has been studying medicine in the UK. After meeting Asma, we hit it off and became even less interested in politics. However, the eldest brother, who had been trained by the family and was supposed to take on the succession, unexpectedly passed away. Assad could only return to his country to take charge of the overall situation. At this moment, the gears of fate began to turn. The Assads would never have imagined that they would be pushed to a turning point in human history by chance.

The general background of the outbreak of the Syrian civil war is that the United States instigated the ” Arab Spring ” throughout the Middle East . Don’t read the name and think that is a good thing like it’s name “spring”. In fact, it is a large-scale national subversion. According to Egyptian statistics afterwards, the Arab Spring caused more than 1 million deaths in the Middle East and damage to infrastructure worth 1 trillion. It started with the collapse of the political situation in Tunisia , followed by the complete collapse of the situation in Egypt, Libya , Yemen, and Bahrain…

That is, in 2011, Gaddafi’s regime came to an end. He himself was caught in the north of the country. He was tortured, then executed on the same day, and finally his body was exposed in a market… After trouble occurred in the above countries, it was Syria’s turn. This was the background of the early outbreak of the Syrian civil war. At that time, no country believed that Syria could survive. The United States in 2011 was not the sick cat it is now. It was the peak moment of the US imperialist regime. Hanging Saddam , destroying Gaddafi while laughing… Moreover, at that time, the United States had almost no opponents in the world.

Let’s talk about China and Russia back then . At that time, Russia was still dreaming of integrating into the West. It had already joined the G7 and became a small G8. At that time, China did not have a falling out with the United States and was still busy doing business and making money. Except for Iran, an absolutely anti-American country, almost no one in the world supports Syria. However, China and Russia still helped Syria during the UN vote. Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, the United Nations Security Council has held seven votes on the Syrian issue. Due to opposition from China and Russia, all seven votes have been vetoed.

That was only the beginning… After all, if you look other than Syria, no country in the Middle East can withstand this combination of punches from the United States. At that time, Russia was not realized being duped and China was not strong enough. In the first four years, the only way for Syria to survive was to hold on by itself. After all, if the Syrian regime collapses at the first sign, it will be useless for outsiders to help. But no one expected that the Assads would refuse to surrender! I swear that I will never surrender to USA. Assad said that this is not a matter of the Syrian civil war, or that once our regime fails, the entire country will be carved up by foreign countries, and the Syrian people will have no future. From a current perspective, Assad’s judgment back then was very accurate. Just think about today’s Libya and today’s Iraq . Since the civil war, the economy has not recovered yet, and the country is still in a state of fragmentation. It was very smart to be able to make this prediction in 2011. We can recall that in 2011, support of the US was rampant on the Internet in china. The point is USA really fooled many people into believing that the United States was good. The United States in 2011 was still at the peak of its empire, and its influenced was indeed much stronger than it is now. At least in those days, American women were still women, and men were still men… When the Syrian civil war was at its most dangerous, the rebels fought directly near the capital. Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus, has been occupied by Syrian rebels for six years. It is only a stone’s throw away from the capital. At this time, it is a great test for the Assad’s resilience.

After all, the fate of Saddam and Gaddafi lies ahead if Syria government lost. If they do not flee for their lives, once the rebels enter the city, their entire family will definitely be killed. But Assad insists on one thing. No matter how crazy the “expendable” supported by the Americans are around me, I will not surrender. I will live and die with my motherland! I believe that many people at that time advised Assad to save the country and choose to surrender. But Assad has an attitude, I will not surrender! I don’t care how strong the opponent’s is, but this is our own motherland, if we the Syrian people don’t resist, won’t we just perished? However hopeless we must fight! This scene suddenly reminded me of our people during the Anti-Japanese War. “Yes, no matter whether we can win against the Japanese or not, this battle must be fought. If we don’t defend our own motherland, who will we defend?” “And if we don’t fight, how do we know we won’t win? Those who say surrender is a way to save the country, better die as quickly as possible!” As a result, with the help of Russia and Iran, it was actually recovered!

Although these external help are important, I think the most important thing is the persistence of the local people. Russia’s military intervention in the Syrian situation was in September 2015. The war in Syria broke out in 2011. If Assad himself could not hold on in the first four years, it would be useless even if reinforcements came. What is touching is that in the Battle of Aleppo , the Syrian army, after repeated bloody battles, was about to completely regain the lost territory… However, Western countries have appealed for an armistice at the United Nations, and they are talking about providing humanitarian relief. What it actually means is that you stop fighting and give me some time. I will re-arm the rebels so that I can kill you after.

It was immediately vetoed by China and Russia. Don’t stop, keep firing, shoot with all your might! Just beat up the drowned dog. Our veto vote greatly helped Syria and won them a lot of space at the level of international public opinion. On the New Year of that year, China became the guardian symbol of the Syrian people. In the New Year of 2016, Aleppo, Syria, was liberated. The five-star red flag was raised on the Syrian land, and countless Syrian people grateful to our country’s flag.

“Thank you, China, thousands of miles away. “

If you look at the first half of Assad’s life, you will feel like a young college student, a refined intellectual who did not have a strong desire for power and just wanted to spend a comfortable life with his beautiful wife. It was the wave of history that pushed him to the critical point of life and death in Syria, but he actually withstood the test of history, which no one expected. The United States not only funded the Syrian rebels, but also created the Devil Isis organization. What the Isis organization has done can be said to be insane. If I were to tell what they did, I’m afraid this article wouldn’t even pass the censorship. In short, it’s extremely anti-human and more Nazi than the Nazis… During the process of regaining the territory, the eastern Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor encountered a siege by the “Isis Organization” for more than three years! No one knows what kind of will the Syrian people relied on to survive and win again…

In the end, this city, under the leadership of the legendary Syrian general Issam Zarushidine, and the 104th Brigade, finally changed the tide of war after four-year defense, which can be called the Syrian version of battle of Leningrad, and the situation in Syria began to fundamentally change. reverse! To be honest, I feel that the Syrian Civil War is very similar to our country’s Anti-Japanese War, both of which are won by persistence . During the Anti-Japanese War, there were some bastards who were promoted as liberal masters by domestic intellectuals. His so-called literary character was just like a piece of shit…

Hu Shi (bastard liberal master) once said: “We should have the determination of a strong man to cut off his own limb, make the highest sacrifice of abandoning the three eastern provinces, seek the preservation of remaining territories and administrative integrity, and seek a peace relations between China and Japan…”

During the Anti-Japanese War, our country was too poor and weak. To be honest, the key to reversal in World War II lay in Stalingrad and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor . Stalingrad laid the foundation for a complete Soviet counterattack, and the German army was defeated decisively . The attack on Pearl Harbor meant that the United States could no longer stay aloof and had to personally attack Japan. So for our country, it really means victory in the “anti-Japanese war”, and we “carried” it by force ! The whole process was extremely arduous. But this definitely does not mean that our resistance is meaningless. Before the war started, the Japanese army said that China would be conquered in three months. If there was really no resistance and we would be wiped out in three months, then the situation in World War II would be impossible to reverse! Because once the Japanese army obtains China’s vast territory and resources, it will not be so easy for the United States to attack Japan, and the US military may not even go to war personally. The same is true for Syria and Assad. They have endured it for 12 years, during which they have defeated countless opponents… Now think about it, among those Western politicians who originally called for Assad to step down, how many of them are still on stage?

At the opening ceremony of the Hangzhou Asian Games, one of the most touching details was that when the Syrian athletes first entered the venue, they were very nervous and reserved , because after all, Syria has been blackmailed by all Western countries on the international stage. Now, what the world sees every day is the fake news about Syria. They don’t know whether they will be welcomed after entering the venue. After all, they are just a small country in war…

But what none of them expected was that the Chinese audience gave out a roar of welcome for twice make a wave a tsunami.

Then the Syrian athletes became more and more relaxed and began to wave the national flag vigorously. The Syrian president and his wife stood on the stage with peace of mind and smiles, watching the scene below.

This scene seems to say: “We the Syrian people are still exist in this world!” This visit by the Syrian President to China is not simple. Syria has been sanctioned by all Western countries. Many airspaces are inaccessible and many places are very dangerous for them.

Being able to bring the President of Syria to China is in itself a manifestation of the strength of a great power. We need to have sufficient aviation endurance and at the same time have enough friendly land neighbors so that you can have the transportation capacity and airspace to welcome distinguished guests.

Currently Syria’s cultural relics have been placed in China for more than three years. This is also a high degree of trust in our country. After all, the US military is still stealing things in Syria. The whole of Syria has not ended the war. Syria can only put the cultural relics in a place that he thinks is safest. country, that is China. At the same time, this time the Syrian President visited Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou, which sent a positive signal, because after all, Syria is a “Middle East religious” country. As a “Middle East religious” country, they often do not go to places of other religions, but this time the Syrian president personally visited Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou. This also expresses to the world that Syria is an extremely tolerant country and is not as extreme as Western society has smeared it to be. As a Chinese, I sincerely hope that the war in Syria will end soon. The visit of the Syrian President to China made me deeply moved. Back then, our athlete Liu Changchun , as the only Chinese athlete, represented China in the Los Angeles Olympics . It was precisely because we were caught in the “Rain” that year that we always want to hold an “Umbrella” for others… .. The difference is that our country faced an extremely brutal world back then. Now Syria is living in a rising new global order.

Liu Cixin once wrote a sentence in his novel The Three-Body Problem: “I hope that one day, the bright sunshine can shine into the dark forest.”

Today China is that beam of light to fight unipolar world order!

In today’s China, we are the deserved to be called as beacon of multipolar world order!

May China’s multipolar world ray shine upon the victim of bullies on the entire earth and human civilization.

I came across a video in which their president praised China and said this during an interview:”China is great but humble”. At that moment, I suddenly felt very touched. This was the most accurate, heartfelt, and profound compliment.

1.8K views

What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever said in a foreign language by accident?

“I am very allergic to penis.”

When I was learning English, I had terrible pronunciation. Combined with the fact that I had just lost my front tooth (I was 7 at the time), it was very difficult for me to pronounce “t”, “th”, and “s” sounds.

The story starts with my mom taking me out for lunch. I wanted Kung Pao chicken, which is a delicious, succulent dish made up of spicy stir-fried chicken, peanuts and vegetables. The problem was, I was allergic to peanuts.

Excited to show off my English speaking abilities to my mother, I proudly waved over the server and asked, “Does this dish have pee-nits in it?”

Confused, the server repeated, “Penis?”

Delighted that he understood what I was saying, I nodded enthusiastically. “Yes! Penis. I am very… allergic. To penis.”

“We typically remove the penis from the chicken before we cook it, so that’s not an issue. Unless you were referring to you being a lesbian. In that case, let me assure you that our restaurant is very LGBT friendly.”

“So no penis?”

“Uh, sure. No penis.”

At this point, my mother interjected the conversation. Wiping tears of laughter from her eyes, she said, “She means peanuts. Alex is allergic to peanuts.”

The chicken was eventually ordered, and luckily contained neither peanuts nor penis.

In what significant way has American culture shifted?

The Balkanization of pop culture, entertainment, and news outlets.

There is no single screen that families gather ’round in the evenings to watch together. Everyone in the family now has their own screen, with which they can watch whatever they wish to watch, without worrying about if anyone else in their house also wants to watch it.

There is no single television series that dominates the ratings on a regular basis. Currently, the single most-watched non-sports television series is “Yellowstone,” which gets around ten million viewers per episode. So… barely 3% of the adult population in America watches the single-most-watched television series these days.

There is no more “must see TV.” This includes most sports finals, too. Ratings for things like the NBA finals peaked in 1998 and now aren’t even half of what they were back then. Only the Super Bowl has seen an increase in ratings since the 1990s. If not for that one four-hour event every year, there wouldn’t be a single time when more then 40% of American adults were all tuned into the same thing.

Any form of entertainment that finds a substantial audience across demographic lines is rare these days. With the exception of the NFL, seeing a large, diverse group of American adults enjoying the same event or even enjoying the same music is rarer now than it was in the past.

There is no single news outlet that most Americans consider trustworthy and rely on for their news. There is no modern-day Walter Cronkite. Sure, many Americans trust their particular news sources. The problem is that there are so many news sources, and they all cater to their particular audience’s interests, that there isn’t a single news narrative upon which most American adults can agree. The current events you know about as an American adult, and the facts of those current events, are largely determined by which media outlet you get your news from.

In any crowd of American adults, the chances of finding even two of them who partake in the same entertainment options is low. The “pop” in “pop culture” used to stand for “popular.” Now it’s just “popular, relative to the thousands of other options people have to entertain themselves these days.”

We’re not really living in a pop culture melting pot anymore. It’s more of a miles-long pop culture charcuterie board, where everyone takes exactly what they want, with no need to worry about what others are taking. There’s no peer pressure to “fit in” with what the popular crowd is doing. There is no real “popular” crowd anymore. Just relative popularity, in a culture of unlimited choices.

Passport Bros Love TWO Countries

This video showcases how passport bros and other of men can live an amazing life outside of The West and away from modern women. Feminism has gone too far in America which is driving men to seek more traditional lives in countries like Thailand and the Philippines.

We compare the crazy woke women to the masculine movement.

We encourage the manosphere, redpill and MGTOW community to self improve, work hard and live your best happy life. We also enjoy a bit of modern woman fail, cringe and hitting the wall along the way.

Is it possible to have a bias without being aware of it?

Corporates in US now have Blind Hiring

No Voice, No Name, No Direct Interviews – the Candidate is vetted first and then the name is deleted and replaced with a Number like 287. Then the Interview is completely in generic voice which means man or woman the voice of candidate is generically modified by software so you wont now if its a man or woman.

The Numbers are then selected or chosen and only then is it known who the Candidate is

The reason is to avoid Civil Rights Lawsuits on Workplace Discrimination and Equal Opportunities.

Likewise in Promotions too – An outside agency is hired to evaluate the employees and they do so using Blind Techniques and output monitoring programs.

This is because EVERYONE HAS BIAS

If you sit on an interview panel and see a Beautiful Girl and an Average Looking Girl – you will either develop bias to the beautiful girl or a grudge against the beautiful girl in favor of the average looking girl.

If you had a bad interaction with a Nepali person , then you may bear negative bias against a Nepali who comes for an interview even though he may be from Manipur or Mizoram.

My wife is one of the most liberal persons in the world and always talks about secularism etc. Yet when one of the houses in our Colony was to be sold to Muslims, She was among the neighbors who persuaded the owners not to sell. She could not explain it. She had a subconscious bias.

Another example is me. Having seen so much bungling done by Mr Modi – even if he does something good now – I develop bias and start looking for the negative aspects only. This is why before answering – i always consult with the Bank community and only if others feel similarly do i know i am on the right track.

During the Cauvery Riots – Tamilians develop Kannada Bias and vice versa. So in an interview if a Tamil employee appears and the Authority is a Kannadiga – then you could have a subconscious bias.

Its Human. Only Machines and Robots can be unbiased. We can develop subconscious bias all the time.

Tractor-Trailer Carrying NUCLEAR WARHEADS on-the-move-North Dakota

Nation Hal Turner

A Tractor trailer carrying nuclear warheads was caught on video Saturday afternoon in North Dakota. The truck was being escorted by local police, Military Police, armed Military troops, and protected overhead by helicopter gunships.

Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota is the most well-known nuclear missile base in that area of the country. All the missiles in that base are already armed. So why the additional warheads?

Under Barack Obama, the US nuclear arsenal was made much smaller. Missiles that had previously carried TEN (10) Multiple Independent Re-Entry Vehicles (MIRVs) were reduced to only one warhead. Perhaps the US is re-installing multiple warheads on our existing missiles?

Why would they be doing that unless they are expecting an actual nuclear war?

Hal Turner Personal Remarks

And expect one they should, given the meddling the US is doing in Ukraine, and the harshest economic sanctions ever imposed, against Russia, are all adding up to the US being hit by Russia.

Of course, the American people remain blissfully unaware that their government has us all on the threshold of actual nuclear war. They’re unaware because the “mass-media” has utterly failed to do its job of reporting actual news. The mass-media seem more interested in the severely mentally-ill who think men can be women and vice-versa.

Do you have a favourite joke from a homeless person who asked for money?

I was sitting on a bench outside my business smoking a cigarette. I had been there since 8 AM and it was already 9 PM, and I was just waiting for a few people to leave.

A homeless man, riding a bicycle with an attached cart in the back, stopped near me. I expected him to ask for a cigarette, but instead he said, “I’ve got a lighter in each of my hands. One works and one doesn’t. If you pick the lighter that doesn’t work, I win a cigarette. If you pick the lighter that works, you win the lighter.” I thought that both lighters were probably non functional but I decided to play along.

I picked his left hand and he handed me the lighter. I tried it a couple times, but it didn’t work. I handed him a cigarette and he lit it with the lighter in his right hand.

We sat and smoked, and I asked him how he pulled off that trick. He told me that he was an amateur magician and he used some kind of slight of hand to do his trick. I was working at a recovery house, and we had a party coming up on Saturday. I asked him if he wanted a job doing magic tricks as a wandering performer in the room. A little negotiation and he was hired for a two hour gig for 200 dollars.

Saturday came, and he had shaved, cleaned up, and dressed casually but well for the performance. He did card tricks, coin tricks, and other kinds of sleight of hand for the 2 hours and then some.

One of the people who was attending the party owned a coffee shop, and he ended hiring the guy to perform in the coffee shop on weekends and some week nights.

His funny way of tricking people for cigarettes turned into a gig and then a job. He performed a trick on me that changed his life.

(Sopranos) Christopher Moltisanti || Soldier On [for Reece]

Sopranos was the only show that came so close to capturing what life is really like, and what it’s all about. Never seen a show cover complex themes and problems like this in such a captivating, real way (and even funny often).

Why are most engineers not rich?

I’m an engineer and I’m rich.

Most engineers, like most Americans, spend everything they make. Then they run up credit card debt. Then they borrow $100k each to send their brood of children to liberal arts colleges for degrees that don’t make them employable. If they’re lucky, when they retire, they can sell the family home and live modestly on that and social security.

Why am I rich? I saved at least 10% of every paycheck since I was 24, and invested in no-load stock mutual funds, mostly as IRAs. My family lived modestly, but well. I didn’t buy bitcoin, didn’t day-trade, didn’t hit a lucky startup. Later in life, I gave my savings to a reputable stock manager, but I’m only doing a little better than if I’d stuck with mutual funds. I bought a house and paid down the mortgage when I had unspent income, three times. Have I been lucky in investments? Hell no. It took me a few years to learn to steer clear of retail stock brokers’ siren songs, for instance.

My investment strategy goes like this:

Spend less than you earn.
Invest unspent income in no-load stock-index mutual funds and ride the long-term upward bias of the stock market.

It’s really that simple.

A real coup

I think Huawei executed a ruthless, cold-blooded coup on Apple. It successfully kept Apple in the dark, getting complacent with its delusional domination of the Chinese market, so much that it thought it could maintain its grip by introducing the next model with not much more than a new metal case and USB connector. Then a week before Apple’s new release, with no time left to make any last-minute changes (no matter how much FoxConn can turn on a dime), Huawei dropped the bombshell. Classic!

What if you had a gay son?

Actually, I might have a gay son now.

There he is, sleeping in his green room, in his little bed.

Here are things I know about him:

He is the most talkative toddler on this earth. He literally does not shut up. Ever.
He loves to play with his sister’s dolls. He feeds them, carries them around, and puts them gently to sleep.
He is also obsessed with handy-man tools. He walks around with his drill, chain-saw and hammer, and repairs things that are then irreversibly un-repairable ever again. After this, he is utterly proud of himself.
He is compassionate. When his sister cries, he will drop his toys and run to hug her. Yesterday he used his shirt to wipe her tears, while telling her: Don’t cry, don’t cry…
He loves to dance, and when ever he can get himself an audience, off he goes..
He snores like a grandpa, and giggles in his sleep.
He wakes up in a great mood, proclaiming: “I woke up!” and every day he fills our home with love, music, laughter and dance.

These are some of the things I know about him, but let me tell you one thing that I don’t know:

I do not know if my little son is gay. And I don’t give a damn.

Is this the beginning of the end of China’s economic dominance?

It is the beginning I would say

China had an enormous trade surplus for nearly one and a half decades plus enormous savings by its people

Here

Chinas problem is that the three years of lockdown meant the expenses were much lesser and thus people have huge savings and thus very low inflation

This is why China is issuing more and more debt instruments, to push that savings and prevent a glut of money

It’s why China is so keen on pushing up Consumption

It’s why when everyone is raising rates, China is slashing them

Because China has a lot of money in the banks and wants to discourage saving and encourage spending

This is the US, the total opposite

Expenses are higher than wages, Savings are at an all time low compared to the SUPERB TRUMP ERA pattern (Call him all the names but that man ran a good economy until Covid)

Thus people don’t have money in the US

Savings have been depleted and so now US Fed encourages savings by raising the rates

Same with other nations including Bharat

As you can see, Economy is doing beautifully under Modi until 2017 when Demo happens and Wages crash and expenses rise

Again by 2018, there is a recovery but by 2019 the savings are depleted by rising expenses

Two years of lockdowns mean savings crash but expenses rise due to the opening up policies and finally today you are NECK TO NECK

Better than the US

So today China has too much money

US and India and EU and UK have too little to no money

The best solution would be China lending to UK, EU and US by buying more Debt

They said it was a WIN WIN

China has too much money and if they don’t spend it, it will lead to a glut and a deflation

US have no money and keep printing and piling inflation

However China said NOTHING DOING

They don’t trust the West anymore and believe the West may renege on their debt

After what they did to Russia

If only China and India were closer, China would have lent to India and invested heavily

Best to get 6% from India than 2.5% in China with great difficulty

My guess is China will spend huge money on Technology investments and hope it yields a big change

Meanwhile China has a huge economic dominance today.

They can cut a cheque of $ 300 Billion without printing money

The entire EU and UK and US combined can’t do the same

Post 1950

US was also flush with money while UK and Europe were broke

Thus US lent the money and invested in Europe and UK and grew their money enormously

They then invested this into Military Industry and sadly it mutated beyond recognition

China has a BRI luckily

FIRST DAY in Beijing, China – America warns NOT to visit CHINA but I Did

This is John Eisenman.

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He lost his daughter to sexual trafficking.

She was sold for $1,000 in Seattle Washington.

He did what a father should do and researched, investigated and found out about her abduction.

He RESCUED her HIMSELF.

…

He found out the person who sold her into trafficking was her 19 year old boyfriend.

He met up with him, abducted him, bludgeoned and stabbed him to death in Nov, 2020.

The authorities found him [dead AF boyfriend] in Oct 2021 in the trunk of the car he abandoned.

John Eisenman sits in prison knowing his daughter is safe and growing up after he has already lived 60 years of his life.

I bet you, he rests easy.

Live your life to the fullest. Do your absolute best to make sure your children have the opportunity to do the same no matter what the sacrifice.

What is the rudest thing you have ever done that you are glad you went through with?

My brother called me to let me know our dad was in the ER and it didn’t look good for his survival. I drove like a bat out of hell the 120 miles to get there. In the ER waiting room sat my brother & his wife, who knew nothing and had not been given any info or updates on our dad in over 2.5 hours.

I went up to the admitting desk to ask for an update and was told to sit down…that the clerk at the desk was busy and couldn’t deal with me. Unacceptable response so I just marched into the actual ER room to find my dad. Brother and SIL followed.

Found my dad and he is basically gray with no one attending him. The attending comes up to me and starts screaming at me. I asked him what was wrong with my dad, (who has a heart problem and has a pacemaker). The Dr responds in a horrible accent and terrible English that my dad has vertigo. It took several tries to figure out what he was saying and even the nurses were having a problem understanding him.

I lost it and didn’t care if I got arrested or not. I loudly proceed to tell the Dr that my dad is gray, not green, indicating heart problem & that my dad had his last heart surgery at this hospital 1 year prior. That I want a heart monitor on my dad ASAP.

The smug Dr asked me where I my medical degree. I smiled and again, loudly said that I didn’t have one but that I had a law degree. That I hoped he enjoyed his sojourn in the US because by the time I’m done suing him, deportation will look like a good option.

He quickly put on a heart monitor on my dad and it showed my dad was having a heart attack as they attached it. Luckily, they were able to treat him and he lived many years after that.

3 things:

This was at a top nationally ranked hospital
I filed a complaint with the BoD and the Dr was let go due to his repeated negligence.
I was bluffing — I don’t have a law degree!

Why don’t doctors put dying patients under a medically induced coma to suppress the pain? Why can’t the patient and/or family members opt to do that so that the person will not have to be conscious while they die?

The day my mother-in-law died they called and told us that she was not going to live through the day that her whole system was shutting down and she didn’t have more than a few hours.

My wife and I went to the hospital she was conscious and complained because they had the bed in a head lower position. She complained that it was uncomfortable and asked to have it moved to a sitting position, the nurse said that they couldn’t do that because it would shorten her life.

We insisted and they moved it so she was more comfortable.

While we sat there they kept coming in and drawing blood, etc. Finally, when they rolled in a portable x-ray machine, my wife stood up and threw them out.

Eventually, she got to the point where she wasn’t conscious any more and in the evening she finally passed.

I still believe that they were trying to bill everything they could get on her bill before she died, why take ex-rays of someone they already told us was dying?

Fortunately, when my wife died of cancer she died at home in hospice and not in a hospital. She died peacefully in her sleep, with no hassles.

Why Do We Have to PAY Others Just to LIVE?!?! IT’S INSANITY!

We are out here on this Earth and surrounded with everything we need to live amazing lives. So why have we created, and continue to tolerate, a system that makes us work our whole lives earning money so we can pay for the privilege of living?

What are your opinions about the sanction against Huawei?

The explanation given to me by a Dumbo on Quora was that Huawei which used US Technology and US Patents, did not follow US rules and did business with countries sanctioned by the US

This despite the WTO ruling on 8/7/1998 clearly citing that

Trade restrictions on Technology and it’s free and fair use shall be determined by the commercial aspects and by the political ones

This was wrt Iraq

So the sanction on Huawei was illegal

Plain and simple

So the US essentially claim that because they control the technology, they can use it to demand obedience from the entire world

That because they control the dollar they can demand obedience from the entire world

They are immune from WTO appeals and rulings

So if the US is against you, you have no where to present your case

If the US is against you, you either comply or die

That’s the RULES BASED ORDER

Tell me i am wrong

Tell me of one example where the US sanctioned a nation and reversed it when the Nation without any change in its Government Or Leader Or Policies, appealed to a higher authority

It has NEVER happened ever

Under the same Rules based order, Saudi Arabia cannot decide to refuse to sell Oil to a paying customer but the EU can decide to cap the price of oil and force the whole world to comply

I wouldn’t have had a problem if Huawei had been taken to court and fined billions of dollars for patent violation

That’s Commerce and Trade and Business

However merely because you sell stuff to Iran, just because you use US technology, you can be sanctioned and cut off from Chips on a mere order from a US President is terrifying

Xi, Putin, Assad may all be many things but today they are the ONLY PEOPLE preventing us all from becoming slaves of the United States of America

Its why I support them wholeheartedly

As long as they are strong, there will always be two camps, and the US better be on its best behaviour or it will lose friends to the other side

I believe Huawei was the beginning

When Meng Wanzhou was arrested for baseless charges that were never established for 3 years on the whims of a 70 year old syphilitic promiscuous orange man with half his brains eaten out by some STD or another

It was the moment when one realized that the United States was growing not only too big for their britches but capable of becoming something that would put Nazi Germany to shame

Plus these evil men would justify it saying “We are the good guys”

Huawei paid a heavy price for trusting the US

Yet they also ensured that every other Chinese company was now on its guard when dealing with the US

Plus other companies too

Today ISRO is tolerated because it’s so much below NASA

The day it starts climbing higher, you will see sudden references to Kashmir and Genocide and sanctions will begin

Unless India learns from Huawei like China did, Russia did and Iran did

Hawaiian Steak

Ingredients

Individual steaks, 1/2 inch thick or less
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup vinegar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Pineapple slices
1 large can mushrooms

Instructions

Punch both sides of each steak well with a fork, then marinate for 24 to 36 hours in a marinade made by combining soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar and sugar.
Simmer steaks on a low fire for 10 minutes in the marinade.
Remove them and place steaks in a 350 degree F oven for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on thickness of meat. Three minutes before removing steaks, place a pineapple slice on each.
To make gravy, slowly sauté a large can of mushrooms in butter. While doing so, boil down the sauce used for the marinade to make a gravy.
Combine mushrooms and reduced marinade sauce.
Serve individual steaks with the pineapple on top, over which has been poured a generous amount of gravy.

Have you ever come into contact with a deranged lunatic who made you fear for your life?

Yes, I nearly died.

This is a bizarre survival tale that includes jaguars, politics, cactus, assassination threats, near-death, and yes… a deranged lunatic. Oddly enough, even though I’m a dedicated liberal, this mad-man was a far-far-left liberal himself.

It was the mid-2000’s, and I was actively engaged in all sorts of wildlife research for a variety of government agencies and civilian groups. One of my projects was with a great organization called the Sky Island Alliance, in Tucson, AZ. (Read about them here, if you’d like: What are “Sky Islands”, and do they exist? ) This particular project involved looking for signs and tracks of jaguars that were reportedly crossing over the border from Mexico and setting up shop in the mountains of southern Arizona, in order to have data to set up protected areas for this extinct-in-America Big Cat.

One day, I received a call from a graduate student from a University in Colorado, who was looking for a research assistant for his project. The project consisted of living out in the wilderness and setting up camera-traps throughout the mountains, trying to get photos of the elusive cats, and learn more about their habits. Since I had a very good reputation among the environmental research community, I was recommended for the job by a professor at a local university. So I interviewed with the guy over lunch, we seemed to bond, and I got the job. I spent the next couple weeks putting in a lot of extra time at the Tucson Zoo, observing their two beautiful black jaguar sisters, Nikita & Simone, up close and personal. I would help with the feeding, collect scat and urine samples and do a lot of watching, reading and interacting. [1]

Eventually, it was time to head out toward the Mexican border and set up in the cabin. No electricity or running water. Right in the middle of the smuggling route from Mexico. Surrounded by the wildest remote mountains around. I was looking forward to a great adventure and a chance to get some good science accomplished. Emil and I got started with our automatic cameras. The challenge was to make continuous hikes into the mountains, replacing batteries and exchanging film in the many dispersed camera traps. It was some treacherous hiking. We were getting along fine. On the second day, we got a surprise… Emil’s dad decided to come from Colorado and join in.

He was a surly old guy from the Rocky Mountains. He probably wasn’t as old as he looked, because he was extremely “weathered”, leathery and wiry, with deep creases in his face; a constant suspicious squint. Grey stubble grew from almost right under his eyes, down to his chin. Not an ounce of fat on his stringy hard muscles. When you said something to him, he’d jerk his face left or right like a chicken, to look at you sideways, always seeming to be about to say an accusatory “Wha’ju say!?”, and perhaps bite your head off. He happened to look incredibly similar to this actor, Roberts Blossom. [2]

He wasn’t very trusting and he took an immediate dislike to me for some reason. I think he wanted to be the assistant, and have me leave. There was some weird father/son dynamic going on between them, and I got the impression Emil had grown up with beatings being a normal part of life.

Emil’s and my relationship suddenly subdued and the atmosphere changed.

These were the days of the George W. Bush administration. Emil’s dad turned out to be an extreme far-left liberal. The most far-left I’d ever come into contact with. I was also a liberal… but a moderate. I wasn’t a fan of Bush, but I was pushing through it, waiting for the next election. On that second night, we sat down to dinner. Tin plates of beans and bacon, with some tin cups of coffee. Emil’s dad sat across from me at the small wooden table. I tried to talk to him, and it immediately turned to politics. I nodded my head at all he was saying about the damned republicans and “that asshole Bush”. He spat out a long list of complaints. It wasn’t long before he said something about killing him if he had the chance. Oddly… I was of the mind that we shouldn’t be thinking of killing our president, whoever it may be. I said something to that effect.

Dad growled, “You mean you wouldn’t kill him?” He looked straight into my eyes, like a maniac.

I half-laughed out a response of, “Look, I don’t like him, but I’m not going to say we should assassinate the President”.

He glowered through me. His hands were in fists on the table, one of them holding a fork. I felt a pressure tank across from me, building up steam. His lips were pursed, breathing hard through his nose, staring at me. Suddenly he exploded up in a jerk, flipped his plate of beans toward me and about leaped on top of me, ranting about what the president was doing to destroy the country! He bent over and got in my face. I stood up quick and said, “Back the fuck off!”

Emil finally got involved and said something. I was fuming. I looked at them both, then left the cabin to go chill out outside in the night air. This suddenly took a weird turn.

Eventually we all went to bed, as we had to get up very early. In the morning, we had breakfast in silence, then all headed out in the pickup, toward the beginning of the trail. The whole way, he was insulting me in every way possible; from my knife being too big; “Only green-horns and pussies think they need a big knife,” to my hair, “Why don’t you get a haircut and look like a real man.” Beyond all belief, I kept my cool and waited for Emil to reign in his crazy old man. Emil wouldn’t look at me, and stayed silent. The old man hadn’t been with us on our last outing, and we had used a comfortable pace to make our rounds. But this time dad took the lead. It turned out that not only was he half jack-ass… he was also half mountain goat. He set off at a crazy unnecessary pace, clearly meaning to break me, or leave me behind. I was in average shape, but I had a trick knee from an old parachuting accident I’d had while I was an Army Paratrooper. So I needed to watch my step. As we sprinted up and down the mountains, eventually the worst happened and my knee blew out as I was racing down a steep slope of forest. I yelled out. They kept going. Eventually I stumbled down to the rocky dry river bed at the bottom, where they were waiting.

I explained I had a bad knee from the Army. “How many jumps you got?” he scowled. I told him 26.

He says, “My buddy has over a thousand and he never had no bad knees.” At this point, I was vulnerable, and I really needed to restrain myself for my own safety. He pointed up a steep rocky slope and said he was heading out. I told them I couldn’t make it. He derided me some more and told me to wait while they continued. I had no choice. I agreed. They left me with most of the heavy batteries and set off. “3 or 4 hours,” they said. I waited, surrounded by dry boulders.

There was no shade in that valley. I had to get out of the sun. The nearest shade was 150′ straight up a cliff, where I saw a tree. I made the choice to climb after about 2 hours. I got up and started hobbling toward the cliff of rocks, dirt and some dry grass. Now came my biggest misfortune. All the extra batteries they piled into my backpack made it extremely heavy. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was that my pack was on top of my camel-back, which held all my water. It was fine when my pack was light, but all the batteries were pressing down on my water bladder, and at some point during my climb, the pressure popped the end off the drinking tube. I didn’t notice as all my water squirted out and left me empty, until 30 minutes later, I reached the top. I pulled out the tube for a well-deserved drink, and… nothing. “Damn it!”

The tree wasn’t as full as I wished and only gave a smattering of shade. Better than nothing. It was about 118 degrees F. After a total of 5 hours had passed since they left, I was getting desperate. As I sat on that cliff side, I saw a barrel cactus not far away. I stumbled over. Ya hear that they have water in them. So, I gave it a shot. Luckily, I had my big knife with me and was able cut off the top. No puddle of water. Just an off-white mash of cactus innards. It was moist. It would have to do. I don’t recommend this method. It had a bitter tannin taste to it, as I scooped out a chunk and sucked on it. Horrible! Again… better than nothing, but not much better. 7 hours passed and I was dehydrated and starting to get hazy vision and a crazy headache. I considered starting a signal fire. But I worried about it getting out of control and consuming me. 8 hours.

Finally, I saw them down in the valley of rocks. I yelled out. Again and again. At last they answered. “Come on down!” I heard. Clearly I had to go down. But I was only thinking of water. I scrambled down the cliff again, knowing that in just a few minutes, I could drink. At last… “Water” I croaked.

“You don’t have any water?” he says. I wasn’t up for a discussion to explain, I just needed a fast drink. I shook my head.

Again, I asked for water. “We don’t have any water.”

What the hell? I see them both with canteens. Emil started to give me his canteen. The old bastard again yelled out, “I said we don’t have no water” and he shot a look at his son. Emil backed down silently. I couldn’t believe this! I reached out and tried to grab a canteen and the bastard got up and started walking away, saying, “There’s water at the truck.” I was dumbfounded. I started following them, listening to the water sloshing in their canteens just feet away. I was going a bit mad from the sound.. and from the entire situation. But I barely had the strength to be mad. I did my best at keeping up but fell further and further behind. I tried calling out. They stopped one time for me to catch up and as soon as I did, again they took off. At last, I could go no further. Five minutes later they came back, with the old bastard bitching at Emil. Emil gave me water. One drink, and then that evil bastard yelled out, “That’s enough! We need it!” Emil put away the water. They started to take off again.. my knee was throbbing and I could hardly walk. I set short range goals of just making it to the next boulder. One after another. My vision made everything wavy. And finally Emil grew a pair and defied his old man, and put an arm around me and helped me the rest of the way… another mile. He mumbled an, “I’m sorry” quietly.

The truck was ahead of us. 100 yards more. I willed myself to keep going. Then… we were there. A 5 gallon jug of water that had been heating in the sun was brought down. It was hot enough to brew tea, but I drank. And drank. Near-boiling water. It was good.

It was a quiet ride back. I packed up my gear and got in my car and drove off, back to civilization. All I keep thinking about was that water sloshing ahead of me, out of reach, and hearing him insist “We don’t got no water” while I was looking right at it. All this, because I didn’t agree that President Bush should be assassinated.

It’s quite clear that he would have left me to die out there and concocted some story of me wandering off and getting lost, if it wasn’t for the intervention of his minimally-less corrupt son.

Months later, Emil got indicted for illegally trapping our jaguar in a noose, causing stress in the poor cat, which eventually led to the death of the only jaguar in the United States at the time. Here’s the picture he took of the tortured, snared cat. [3]

It was a whole big deal with scandal and blame spread all over. It became a Federal case. After being indicted, he lied to investigators and blamed his assistant for putting lure around the trap without his direction. This wasn’t true and eventually came out. This assistant was the person who took my place! In the end, he was banned from practicing any more research, anywhere. You may be interested in reading about the debacle here: emil mccain prosecuted over jaguar

Conspicuously absent from the indictment, was one old, evil, bastard goat, that I damn well know had a hand in the unethical activities that led to the jaguar’s death, due to over-bearing parental pressure. And he certainly had a hand in convincing his son to lie about the circumstances afterwards. I have no doubt. It was, after all, the government against his son. The government that he wanted to take out with a bullet. I know that lunatic bastard helped kill our jaguar, and let his son take all of the fall. Not that his son didn’t deserve it as well. I’ve no proof. But I know it. He damn near killed me.

Damn near. But not quite.

What is the most famous crime case that’s unsolved in the United States?

John Holmes was a legend during the golden age of porn. He played the famous Johnny Wadd, a fictional detective in a series of porn films. At the time, he was most famous for having a 13-inch penis, although this was never proven. He also claimed to have sex with over 14,000 women. This is also disputed, but he did star in over 500 movies.

As his porn career was taking off in the early 70s, so was his drug use. At his height, he was earning 3,000 dollars a day from his films, which was mostly spent on freebasing cocaine. His habit greatly affected his ability to maintain an erection, and by the end of the 70s, he was selling drugs and prostituting himself for drugs to both men and women.

By the early 80s, Holmes was heavily involved in criminality. He was a close associate of drug dealer and nightclub owner Eddie Nash and was also close to the notorious “Wonderland Gang,” a group of heroin-addicted cocaine dealers, that ruled the drugs trade in Los Angela’s.

Holmes had confided with some members of the Wonderland Gang about a stash of drugs and money being kept at Eddie Nash’s house. Holmes had fallen out of favour with the Wonderland Gang after taking more than his fair share of drugs. So he helped them by setting up the home invasion and robbery of Eddie Nash.

Eddie Nash suspected Holmes was involved in the robbery. He admitted to his part in the robbery after Nash threatened to kill his family. In the early hours of July 1st 1981, a gang of Nash’s enforcers along with Holmes entered the Rowhouse located on Wonderland Avenue, where five members of the Wonderland gang were sleeping. All but one of the gang members were beaten to death, and the fifth barley surviving the brutal attack.

A handprint belonging to Holmes was found above the headboard of one of the slain gang members, putting Holmes at the scene during the attack. Eddie Nash was the prime suspect for the crime along with Holmes who took more of an active role. Holmes was charged with personally committing all four murders but was acquitted due to lack of evidence after a three-week trial. The trail was a landmark case, where it was the first trial in history to introduced video as evidence. The Wonderland murders remain unsolved to this day.

By 1986, Holmes was diagnosed as HIV positive, and it was around this time he landed a lucrative deal to star in two adult films with “Paradise Visuals.” He went on to have unprotected sex with his co-stars while not revealing his diagnosis.

He died from Aids related complications on March 13th 1988, at the age of 43.

i gave up on the american dream | regularism

“I feel you girl! I’m 34 renting a room in a house, I hardly own anything anymore. I let go of the illusion of how life is “supposed to be”. We are free this way, living simply! It’s all a state of mind starting with gratitude for what you have.”

How to hide your infidelity

This little post is going to make me the most hated man on the internet. Or, perhaps not.

Sigh.

But that is not it’s intention. Instead, my intention is to break down what happens when a woman decides to have a relationship outside of her marriage to her husband.

It’s about a woman who decides to cheat on her husband.

…

When a couple falls in love and starts a family, it is like a match being lit. The flame might brighten or dim, but it will still be ignited.

Events will cause the light to fade, or brighten.

But nothing is quite as devastating as an affair.

It will snuff off the light, and render it unable to ever be re-lit.

…

It’s life.

And, Well… Life is what we all experience.

And, that includes the non-physical with the physical.

Sigh.

…

Infidelity.

…

It is something that is going on with one of the MM followers right now.

And, you know, this is my “advice” to that contributor.

…

Life can be very painful, but we have to be very careful on how we deal with these events that we end up enduring. To do it right, it will take time.

I’m not a novice in these matters.

Lordy! It happened to me. Too.

…

Now, truth be told, this is a unique subset of the infidelity sub-culture. I will do one on men cheating on their spouses at a later date. So in all fairness, expect both sides to the same coin.

I have experienced both.

Sigh.

This is not intended as a DIY, “how to” guide, nor is it intended to be salacious. It is intended to break down, in really simple terms, what is going on and how to avoid having one HELL of a train-wreck in the process. Because (ask anyone who has been there) catching a partner cheating is DEVASTATING to everyone.

There’s absolutely no up-side to it.

It’s a toboggan to Hell.

Why and background

There is an MM influencer that is going though this right now.

Words really fail on how to comfort this person. I have no easy answers, but I can relate my own personal experiences, and these were TERRIBLE.

Thus, to prep for this response, I have, of late, been torturing myself listening to you-tube renditions of reddit discussions on infidelity cases. Ugh! Talk about a dark world! Very addictive, but leaves one drained.

Sheech!

Really horrible stuff.

But, you know, as a man who went through of a couple of divorces, I can (unfortunately) relate.

Now some of the videos and readings sound like fiction. Others are probably elaborated truths.

You have to take what you find on the internet with caution.

Nevertheless…

I want to offer something positive to this world. So, thus in this post, I am trying to address the singular issue of a woman who cheats outside her marriage, and what the ramifications are, and what her options actually are.

I will cover the absolute importance in truth in resolving this matter. And how to avoid the great calamity that is looming up ahead of you.

In the future, I will make a post of a man cheating on his wife.

Let’s start with some solid truths.

Some important notes

This is written by a man discussing men’s impressions and attitudes.

The internet is full of twenty-something single women, and 40+ cat ladies who have very different opinions. You can view those if you disagree what is presented here. This is my opinion based on my experiences.

And one more thing, this post is intended to HELP someone. Nothing more.

The best thing you can do is… don’t even think about it.

Truth One

Your infidelity will be found out. It will be uncovered. One way or the other, and once it is uncovered, you can expect from three years of LIVING HELL to as much as twenty years of horror.

Do not be blind to this fact. It might happen in hours, or over decades, but it will eventually be discovered.

I advise anyone who dares contemplate such an action to proceed very, very carefully. Your actions should not be taken lightly. Regardless of your feelings, you are MARRIED, and thus the weight of your actions affects both you and your HUSBAND. As well as any children that you may have.

Truth Two

When you get married, the man gives up part of his life for RESPECT from the wife. And in exchange for that respect, he provides SECURITY and STABILITY to the wife.

RESPECT for SECURITY

That is why a man gets married.

This is an absolute fact. He does marry to have sex, make money, have kids, or anything like that. He marries to have a partner who RESPECTS him.

The partner who truly respects him will get everything he has. In traditional marriages, he gives all; 100% of his salary, all of his earnings, his time, his devotion, and everything else to the wife.

From the wife’s’ point of view, this is SECURITY. A house. A home. A steady and growing lifestyle. Children, and all the good that comes from the family unit.

SIGNS OF LACK OF RESPECT

Saying derogatory comments about the husband.
No or little amount of sex.
No intimacy.
Hurtful comments.

Truth Three

Wife Instituted change.

When there is a loss in RESPECT by the wife, the husband will change.

He will start to get depressed, and sad.
He will start to get angry and short tempered.
He will see as cascading of troubles to his life.

In every case, to some matter of degree, the SECURITY (of the wife) will diminish.

Perhaps he will lose his job. Maybe he will take on addictive behaviors. Maybe get sick and ill. Maybe he will go “nuclear” with a divorce.

SECURITY is intimately tied to a man’s RESPECT.

If respect is reduced, so too will be the security.

In every event, the SECURITY (of the wife) will reduce. In worst case scenarios, it could be a precipitous fall.

Truth Four

If you have it “good”, human nature will assume that it will stay that way.

So many times, a wife is fine and content with her family life. But it is missing something. So she takes and makes efforts to “improve” it. Thinking “what he doesn’t know, won’t hurt him”, and additionally (and most importantly) my lifestyle is immune to change.

People, not just women, are great at making rationalizations.

He’s not as intuitive as myself. He’ll never know.
He would NEVER do this to our kids.
I deserve this, after all <enter excuse here>.
He cannot do anything. I’ve gotten away with it before, so…

A woman who cheats on her husband risks a great deal.

A sub-par life with a weakened spouse.
A divorce.
A very enraged and violent husband, and a life chained to a living Hell.
Torture and death.

All of the above mentioned outcomes are historically accurate. Do not think that anyone is immune.

Truth Five

RESPECT can be quantified.

Here are some elements that men consider to be strongly tied to RESPECT.

Sex on demand.
NEVER saying anything bad about the husband outside the home.
No infidelity.
Husband comes before friends, family, work and all else. Husband is #1.

There is a woke movement that says the opposite of this. Don’t believe it. Most women of the “woke movement” are retiring in single lives with pet animals.

Truth Six

SECURITY can be quantified.

Here are some elements that men consider to be strongly tied to SECURITY.

Shelter; home, house.
Transportation; car.
Food.
Being an active parent.
Shared future.

A man who is Respected will do his best to maintain the highest quality of SECURITY for his family.

Truth Seven

Precautions.

If you do decide to have a relationship out of marriage (even if it is trivial a “one night stand”) the following precautions will help postpone discovery.

No text messaging. Do not even think about it. Often texting is a #1 sure-fire tell-tail that indicates infidelity. ZERO text messaging, and do not think about “work arounds” like getting the message and then deleting it. The Server, often by law, keeps full records of all texts.
No phone calls. What can be said about texting goes double for all phone and video conferences and calls.
No sex pictures, and videos. Absolutely. No exceptions. Once recorded, and you are told that they will be deleted, or are secure, and all the rest; do not believe them. In a hostile divorce proceeding, nothing goes against you more than the entire judicial chamber watching you take in three husky men plowing into every one of your orifices while you moan in pleasure.
Do not change routine work hours. This is a common gambit. You state that you have to work extra hours, and then use the time for dating and sexual activities. This is often one of the first lies that are uncovered. Do not even think about it.
Pictures. Never, ever, ever stand beside your “boyfriend” (or girlfriend) in group photos, or in any photos. Don’t do it. No excuses.
Home Visits. Nothing enrages a spouse more than to find out that the interloper has invaded their home and defiled it. This is a big no-no. It can mean all the difference from a simple divorce, to a torture session. Do not even dare contemplate it.
Presents. If you feel the need to purchase a present for your “special friend” never hide it in your house. Never use a credit card to purchase. Never use a QR to purchase. Pay in cash. Hide it outside of the home.

Truth Eight

Maintenance

You must (as a woman) perform three times (3x) to your husband for every act of infidelity. It is not one on one. It might seem like a lot. However, you NEED to over compensate to dispel any doubts.

Even if caught, your husband will think that he is too much of a “lover” than any outsider.

So here’s the guidelines…

Fuck a lover = fuck your husband three times the day after.
Oral or anal sex. Do it three times with your husband.
Give a gift to your lover, provide something of value x3 times in value to your husband.

You do not want to get caught. Right?

And if you are caught, at least your husband would be “scratching his head” as to why you would want someone else. As it would not make sense to him. He would think “Shit! We are fucking like animals all week, where in Hell would she ever have time for an outsider?”

Truth Nine

Cautious behavior.

You can never get your aggrieved spouse to see your point of view. But you can perform “damage control” to minimize the impact of the horror that will be unleashed once discovered.

Avoid local and well-used restaurants. If you are out in public with your lover, go to places “off the beaten path”.
Never compare your lover to your spouse. Ever!
Never “confide” your secrets to anyone (outside of your husband).
Be careful about your new lover. If they are getting emotionally involved then a stop-watch is started for the collapse of your life.

Truth Ten

It is a slow descent into Hell.

It is unusual for a husband to discover cheating immediately. It will take time, but he will notice a few things. No matter how smart and careful you are, and how dull and dim-witted he is, he will eventually know.

It’s not an EQ thing, but rather being married, you two are emotionally and spiritually joined. And he will FEEL something different.

Initially, the man is apt to “brush it off” as his imagination.

But all it takes is one tangible minor issue that will trigger the detective in himself.

And the elevator to Hell will begin.

The stages generally are (variations in duration, and investigation, with actions) will vary from person to person.

Feeling off.
Strange changes in life and behavior.
Detective mode.
Discovery with SHOCK!
Planning to resolve, or end the situation.
Implementation.

Truth Eleven

Fighting a man.

To have an extramarital affair out of wedlock with your husband is to violate your marriage, and attack him personally.

Your actions with your lover is a personal violation of your husband. Period.

You are now in a battle with him.

It might not look like it, and it might seem that everything is just fine and stable, but battles and wars are often fought in secret long before the eruption of violence.

The tools of battle available to the man…

Deletion, erasure, and corruption of all SECURITY.

This means that your savings will disappear, any joint accounts will be emptied, your workplace will fire you, and your possessions will disappear. He might alienate your children from you, and will try to erase your friendships and turn your parents and siblings against you.

Violence

Your husband would get very violent against you. And he could really hurt your lover. He could do this himself, or hire goons / friends, or associates to perform the actions.

Abandonment

This is the softest but most infuriating technique. He just disappears. And the wife is left with a mind spinning trying to figure out what is going on. This is an intentional MIND-FUCK. And it will change body chemistry for the worst.

Head Games

The husband would start dating outside the marriage. He would start playing games and doing things that would trigger the detective in every woman to go into over-drive. A woman's mind can be set into a whirling nightmare, and a husband though careful manipulation wan whip that mind-fuck into a hurricane and tornado.

Truth Twelve

Detaching from your lover

The smart wife (or man) would realize that the road that they are on will result in a fiery crash with significant collateral damage. Sooner or later an off-ramp must be put in place, and the illicit romance or series of escapades must end.

There are many ways to do this. But the most important one is to go “cold turkey” and abruptly call it off immediately with ZERO follow up communication.

Depending on where you are in your marriage, it can be timely and productive, or far too late.

NOTE: Your lover will NOT go “quietly into the night”.

Truth Thirteen

Sorting out the truth for full closure

If the husband finds out, and WANTS to resolve this and keep his marriage intact… then the good news is that your affair will be forgiven.

However, invariably, he will ask for the FULL truthful story as to what actually happened.

Human nature, mean and women, will minimize the truth. This is for all kinds of reasons, but the real truth will never be admitted to.

“a single fling while drunk”

When in reality the wife was having monthly swinger sessions with multiple men at group orgies.

“Sex was fine, but he wasn’t as good as you”

When she is caught on tape saying terrible things about her husband and comparing him to her studly lover.

“It was only once”

When the husband knows of multiple occasions though friends, associates and the internet.

No matter how you parse it, the odds are VERY HIGH that the husband knows much more than what he is letting on.

If what you say does not match his proof, he will call you a liar, and your opportunity is shit-canned.

When he asks for the TRUTH, he means a truth that will match and fit with his evidence in hand. And believe me, when he comes to you and offers to forgive in exchange for truth… this is D-Day. You must be completely forthcoming.

Truth Fourteen

Truth is difficult to obtain

It is in our nature to keep things private and secretive. Even if you want to be open and honest, you will invariably avoid saying the raw truth. And this problem, being serious, can absolutely torpedo any resolution to the infidelity issue.

There are techniques that are guaranteed to get the truth.

Sodium pentathol (truth serum)

You can have family doctor administer the serum while a social worker or psychologist asks questions in a relaxed environment.

Hypnosis

A trained hypnotist can ask questions to the person, and invariably in that relaxed state, the person will more likely than not, tell the truth.

Truth Detection Equipment

Truth Detection Equipment often works on changes in amplitude or frequency of voice, electrochemical reactions in the body or the combination of both.

LSD, MDMA

These illegal drugs offer an unconventional means of dealing with the issue. You will need to both take the drugs together, and you both will talk and emote about this issue.

It NEEDS to be said, that unless professional means are obtained to extract the truth, the husband will continue to doubt his wife for the rest of his life.

You cannot fake this.

It has to be solid and tangible; something that the husband will believe.

I recommend a trained hypnotist, or a doctor administered shot.

Refusal to do this WILL result in unintended consequences to the opportunity presented to you at this time.

Truth Fifteen

The crawl back from the edge of the pit is possible.

But, the solutions are Black and White with absolutely no ambiguity.

Non-contested divorce.
Contested divorce.
Full STOP with the infidelity, and zero communication with the lover.
Staged decoupling, husband, lover, or both.
Open marriage.
Start an alternative lifestyle.

You pick one. Both of you agree to it. And you stick to that decision.

Truth Sixteen

Closure and Future

When a wife cheats on her family, a change in the relationship occurs. How the couple works it out is wildly interconnected, but it really just boils down to two solid events.

Closure. The full truth is shared. Guarantees are made to prevent reoccurrence.
Future. What changes will be made in the relationship and the expectations with them.

Final Comments

This post is about a wife cheating on her husband.

I experienced that myself.

We resolved it by the two-choice method. After my wife returned from a weekend in a distant city with her boyfriend, I sat down with her and made the situation very clear.

[1] Say with me, or [2] go with the lover.

Pick one, and we will move on from there.

But having both a lover and a husband can not continue.

Long story short. My wife chose me, and left him.

And he was pissed!

…

I did not ask for details. I already knew enough. And, you know, I really didn’t need a blow-by-blow of events.

She had sex numerous times. Ok. Meh. This is a no-brainer. Of-course.
She spent a lot of time with him, too much.
He was active in trying to peel her away from me. (A big headache!)
He was /is an investment banker. (He had a LOT of money to spend on her.)
I was just then getting back on my feet. (I was just scraping by.)
He was younger, studlier than myself. Alpha male.
His parents already made arrangements for a mansion, cars, and a lavish lifestyle under the observation of his mother once they “got married” after our marriage was annulled.

Sigh. MM life. Not for the feint of heart. Eh?

My concern (my “big deal”) was “shared relationship” and one where large portions of time was not spent with me, instead she was emotionally attached with her lover. Guys. I don’t like sharing emotions. It’s difficult for me.

Us guys are like that.

When your wife spends “too much time” with another guy, we start to get insecure. Whether it is just talking, writing, texting, or sex… it doesn’t matter. We want your undivided attention. Otherwise, we get insecure.

Insecurity is the result of a lack of RESPECT.

So, I had to end it.

And I respect any man or woman that makes the same decision. Including certain MM influencers living in Europe. Don’t you know.

…

The wife initiated this chain of events.

But it is husband’s responsibility to end them. And, you know, so I did.

I did what I preach. The decision on how to proceed must be clear and unambiguous. The choices were clear and stark. Two men. One a husband, the other a lover. The wife had to choose, and the loser could NEVER, ever communicate with the wife ever again.

Once presented, it was up to the wife to make the decision.

And my wife chose me.

Most wife’s will not want to throw away the relationship that they have with their spouse, but the guardrails and rules must be firm and adhered to. Or else it is just a continuation of torture.

…

In the future, I will make another post about men cheating on their wives. I also have experience in this. And it’s called life experience. Ugh!

Please don’t judge.

It is natural to do so, but we all experience the highs and lows of life, and some are not pretty to look at. And, as I have repeatedly said, I am not an angel. Just a man, full of mistakes and faults.

Relationships change. People change. Life changes us.

No one is an angel. Accept that fact, and be understanding to your spouse who has made mistakes. It’s not a forgiveness; it is rather an acceptance.

Men. Do not be an absolutist.

Be understanding, show kindness and compassion. Most especially to your wife. Everyone deserves to have one major fuck-up. Let her absolve her sins, and move on forward.

Be like water. Adapt to the changes.

…

It is common to be devastated and turn into a solid cube of ice. Fight that force.

Offer the wife a choice, and a firm and clear option with “guardrails”. Allow her a “face saving” out, and a chance to repair the marriage, and then build something new and better from the ruins.

Some good Videos

The following videos will help explain what is discussed herein. They were difficult for me to watch. If you want to watch just a few videos, then just watch the first three.

VIDEO #1

Husband Finds Spicy Video Of Wife With Coworker, Sends It To Her ENTIRE Family And Then Leaves Town!

This video illustrates well what is at stake.

VIDEO #2

Husband Took My Dad’s Business & Left Me W/ No Inheritance Cuz Of My Small Misstep.

This is a pretty good story. Probably the best on the Internet. And well illustrates all the points made up and above.

VIDEO #3

She participated in group sex for years!

This is also a pretty good video.

VIDEO #4

My Cheating Wife Is Going To Be Homeless Because Of A Prenuptial Agreement

This is also interesting.

The case of the light-fingered PC thief

As my life crumbled apart, back in 2005-6, I tried all sorts of measures to stop my “retirement” from MAJ.

But, at that time, I didn’t know the entire picture. I didn’t know what was going on. I thought that I was just “having some problems”.

Nope my entire life was crumbling away before my eyes.

Still I tried to do something about it.

I made arrangements in China, and tried to make various arrangements in the Philippines as well. I was tricked, abused, and basically thwarted at every turn. So many swindles. So many scams. So many selfish pricks. So many liars, tricksters, and generally selfish narcissists.

In hindsight, my Fate Forecasting was Black-on-Black, overlaid with black. It was triple negatives; or to use the parlance of Fate Forecasting and Bazi, it was very inauspicious, on top of very inauspicious.

It was one bad thing after the other, and my life fell apart in complete stages of collapse.

(Which, by the way, you are now starting to watch the entire United States government go through.)

Anyways, I was stuck in the Hong Kong airport,and spent about ten days there after being swindled in a number of places… by numerous people… and left alone to ROT.

While I was waiting there, my resources started to dry up and I was living off airport coffee, and hope. I slept on the hard metal chairs. Used the bathroom, and took sponge baths in the sinks.

And sure as shit, I eventually had to go to the bathroom and pee up a storm, so I put my backpack (with my laptop computer) in it, on my back and stood at a urinal peeing away…

…and some jackass gets really close behind me, but I must have been pissing three liters out, …

…he stood there right behind me, so close. Sheech.

Anyways, soon he left. I still kept a peeing.

I’m not kidding. I must have needed to pee out three liters. It just kept draining.

…

Then I exited the bathroom, and settled down, and low and behold, my laptop was stolen!

That asshole plucked it skillfully and silently from my backpack while I peed. Sheech!

Yeah. It really sucked, and I was flabbergasted. Shocked, and upset. I didn’t know if I were to laugh or cry.

It was profoundly a disaster, on top of a fiasco, surrounded by trouble at every turn.

…

I relate this little story to make a few points of interest.

When things are going to shit; they will go to shit no matter what you do.
The only thing that you can do is to reduce the damage, hedge against it, and be extra cautious.
It was a new computer, but has all my passwords, codes and critical communication methodology. I placed way too much on electronic means of record keeping, and communication.
After this event, I made it back home, computer-less, of course, and then was seized and set into the “system” to endure my “retirement”.

So to keep things simple.

Let’s distill the lessons here.

Friends are valuable. Never dare try to do things alone; and on your own. Work as part of a team with your most trusted friends.
Fates must be endured. These are gravitational / planetary alignments that you cannot modify. The only thing you can do is “nothing” on very inauspicious times.
Hope is critical. No matter how bad and hopeless things are, it is always temporary. Eventually it WILL change. Just hang on.
It will end. Sure it will, and an equal period of greatness will occur. You simply must endure the bad first. Consider the “bad events” to be your entry ticket to the life you desire.

Todays…

Nice Picture

Do you think Huawei can produce smartphones with advanced chips in large volume despite the US claims that Huawei may violate trade restrictions?

LOL, this is China.

If they know how to do something, they automatically know how to do it at scale.

If they know how to make one Huawei Mate 60, they already know how to make 100 million Huawei Mate 60s.

Barbecued London Broil

Ingredients

1 (1 1/2 or 2 pound) flank steak
1 tablespoon sherry or any dry red wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

Score meat on all sides.
Mix together remaining ingredients. Put on meat and let stand 1 1/2 to 2 hours, then place meat in broiler pan about 4 inches from heat. Broil for about 10 minutes or a little longer on each side. Ten minutes is for medium rare.
To serve, cut diagonally across the grain into very thin slices.

What were the worst two minutes of your life?

Watching my wife die.

My wife’s had cancer for the last seven years. It was well-controlled. She was on maintenance chemo to prevent it from coming back.

All was going fine—she always felt sick a few days after chemo—but she was generally doing well. She had good quality of life and wasn’t really limited in any way except she had doctor’s appointments and scans nearly every week.

After a routine PET scan… Well, to make a long story short, they found cancer in her brain. It wasn’t “brain cancer”, it was the same cancer (inflammatory breast cancer) that had made its way to her brain. It was already fairly extensive by the time they found it, but they were confident they could take care of the lesions through radiation.

The day after her penultimate treatment, she complained that it hurt to breathe. I took her to the hospital and after giving her some pain meds, they admitted her. She was still having pain breathing, so the doctor thought they’d give her something to help her sleep so she could get some rest. And maybe in the meantime, they could figure out why she was experiencing painful breathing; it hurt to breath in and out.

While they were checking her out to prep her for some sleep, she flatlined. About a dozen people sprang into action. Some were specialists, some were support, but all were fighting to bring her back. I stood in the corner out of the way watching in horror as the hoard of medical professionals tried to bring my wife back.

About a million thoughts flooded my mind. Was I really watching my wife die? Was she really gone for good? I just hoped they could get her back.

The doctor pulled me out into the hallway. She asked what I wanted them to do.

I said, “I’m not a doctor, but I want you to do whatever’s reasonable!” She said okay, and they tried shocking her back. Every time, they got no pulse in response. They tried at least three or four times when it was clear she was gone. I gave the signal they could stop.

That was two weeks ago. I’m still trying to process it. It wasn’t like she was on a slow or steep decline. Everything pointed to her recovering.

But she’s gone. My kids are doing a good job helping keep my spirits up, but they’re devastated too. They’re all adults now, but they very nearly worshipped her, as did I.

Girls Standing In The Middle of Tokyo to Sell Themselves.. Japan Has A Serious Developing Problem.

Thank you for posting this. Japan is a complex society, with many ancient traditions, some of which are clashing with modernity even today after 150 years of intense exposure to (and copying of) the West. As with many things, prostitution there has uniquely Japanese characteristics and doesn’t necessarily involve physical intimacy, though such certainly exists. Anyway, these sad stories of girls from the countryside being exploited in the big city are all too common not just in Asia but in the West as well.

https://youtu.be/yo3IUSfTiMY

Our 18-year-old daughter enlisted in the Marines without discussing with me or my husband. What should we do now?

Every few weeks, bake 100 chocolate chip cookies, wrap them in wax paper, put them in a large Tupperware container, and mail them to her in Boot Camp.

Whatever you do, NEVER send packaged cookies from the supermarket! If you do this, her Drill Sergeants will hold them up for everyone to see at Mail Call and mock her mercilessly, saying, “This means yer parents do not love you!” Seen that happen in Army Basic Training a few times.

Homemade cookies the sergeants hand out to everyone and she will be the most popular and well liked Boot for the next half hour.

Why were the Japanese so merciless to Chinese people during World War II?

It happened, but not only to China.

Japan has historically been a very xenophobic and racist culture. Once you’ve convinced yourself your enemy are subhumans not even worthy to live, and you’re a dick, you go nuts.

The interesting contrast between the German and Japanese atrocities is that the German stuff was much more hidden. People have the impression that the holocaust was openly known to everyone, but the Germans took great pains to tell the population that they were shipping undesirables off to newly conquered territory to the east, to live seperately from Germans.

Whereas the the Japanese, their atrocities were rarely hidden. Entire military units would make a contest out of beheading prisoners. They’d round up women and children into a tall building and set it on fire and watch them jump from the roof in desperation. Their newspapers would cover these incidents and it would be celebrated back home.

Not to downplay the evil of the Germans at all, but the Japanese never get their due – I consider them to be as evil or more than the Germans, but you almost never hear about it, whereas you’ve heard about the holocaust at least 100,000 times in your life.

In addition to that, the official policy in Japan is dangerously close to the equivelant of holocaust denialism, whereas at least the Germans are thoroughly ashamed and sorry for what they did.

The American Dream is a Scam

Long comment. -MM

I think this subject matter is 100% correct and I agree with you on it and I also think that its a major part of the reason why America steadily has been becoming more toxic of a place over time.

I think its the perfect storm of capitalisms worst traits being compiled on and exacerbated by the people that are winning at capitalism.

What I’m saying is, in the course of the last 80 years at least our capitalist society has become more and more structurally corrupt.

Because the only people with any real power over how these systems are built and the people that they screw over vise versa, the people that it benefits.

Are the people who have the power and the success to influence it.

This is done with lobbying and both political parties USE lobbyists to this day which is essentially legal corruption for the political system to thrive on.

How it works is this, If im the owner of Apple or something like that and I value things like gun control or mandator vaccines and a community based culture , Im gonna give the politician that most closely values what I value and ima give him multi millions of dollars to run his campaign for election.

THEN I ask this person for political favors and to represent ME a little more than anyone else BECAUSE im handing them a multi million dollar check to run for whatever.

America has done this for a very long time and its one of the reasons way our election cycles are meaningless.

The elite class literally have more valuable voters than you do lol. Its NOT an even playing field. I think red or blue doesnt matter because the problem is both parites are dog shit.

Both parties got some good they wanna do and the bad shit they do is there too.

With republicans its the positive of them understanding personal freedom and things like guns remaining protected rights. but negatively speaking the republican party Is just as tone deaf and stupid about stuff like corporate greed and how bad that is, as the democrats are tone deaf to the importance of gun rights and being able to have the scary shit they wanna be able to dictate HOWEVER democrats do understand corporate greed and greedy elite cocksuckers who are siphoning the people of this country of their time and labor value. It sickens me that republicans will support selfish people like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk who are prime examples of people who do ALL THE SHIT that’s killing society over time.

This idea that they “earned” this when the money the get is being farmed off the backs of 20k employees.

We live in a country where we got the worlds largest GDP and the most ready to fight population of people ready to defend our country if someone wants to try us. and we got people like Jeff Bezos living in massive excessiveness while FAMILIES of people cant afford insulin or food or housing without government assistance programs and hand outs.

I mean its really no wonder why drugs are such an issue in the modern world, and people are doing shit all the time like walking into a place and killing your fucking children because theyre fucking sick.

This country BREEDS sickness. The hormone changing foods we eat. The garbage media we consume way to much of.

The sheltered life we have in dependency to the system being the norm and self sufficiency being a less sought after thing. People need to understand what freedom is. Sometimes it sucks.

But its way more liberating than this shallow illusionary world we created for ourselves. It dont even make sense to go out here and farm money like we do with our jobs, killing our bodies and our backs to MAINTAIN a life style when that money your working for is being PRINTED off a press by the trillions in our government. Its MAKE BELIEVE.

There is no backing to the value of our currency other than what we say its worth. Its just a catalyst to make way for modern slavery.

The type of slavery where the average slave doesn’t even see the shackles attached to them or they see it as a necessary inconvenience rather than what it is. Its a scam. Its a rigged game built to siphon the actual value of your life way from you. Money is nothing.

The value comes from skill and time.

The reason they created curency like money is because with this extra step in between, you can figure out ways to siphon it down without people knowing. I These companies use every dirty trick in the book to maximize profits.

Oh our employees want better pay, well just make everything we sell twice as expensive as to not take any cut to our current lifestyle.

This is why I was pushing back against minimum wage being increased to 15 an hour. Because this DOES NOTHING. People could do more with their money back when they made 1.35 an hour at minimum wage. The wage isn’t the problem its the scope of how much these companies WANT out of what they put in to a product or service. Its the fact that per hour of your time, you make less than half of what the same money could afford back when the world had a better capitalist balance going on before every motherfucker was exploiting every facet of every thing for maximum profits.

The average American doesn’t understand this concept of how they are stealing from you, while making it look like their giving you more when they aren’t.

The ONLY way to fix the issues is if these rich greedy cocksuckers decide one day that they are tired of being super duper rich and excessive, which has no chance of happening.

The people who hold the heys to the cookie jar are gonna dip into the most for themselves when nobody is looking.

That’s just human nature.

I do think that if people don’t mentally evolve enough to realize this entire system wand cultre we have is bogus and we dont need it at all to have everything we got, and keep working just like we have.

The only difference is, instead of working for selfish reason and necessity, people would work for others and out of wanting to serve the human race. Like if EVERYTHING was free..

I think people would still work. The only difference would be people wouldn’t settle for a job because they NEED money to eat, they’ll do shit they find more meaningful to them to do. It would actually probably IMPROVE the quality of work being done IF we just made it to where we operated as a community.

You like building houses ok, go build some hosues for people.

You know tech?

Okay go build tech or set it up for people. You know farming and food? Okay teach people how to be self sufficient and help them get set up. Society CAN function perfectly WITHOUT this idea of being in competition with each other and having more than the next guy.

That’s all that capitalism really is, its the idea of fuck the community I live in so I can get ahead of all of them and earn my status in society. And I don’t think capitalism is even the problem.

I think its just people. People are the ones who infest something and start corrupting it to be beneficial to themselves.

It doesn’t matter what system we call ourselves because people will always find a way to reach the top rungs of society in any society and they will begin to manipulate how society is from then on built, and they will most likely create it in a way where its unfairly exploiting one class of people sop another class can have more than they honestly need or deserve.

Communism wouldn’t fix it because that system is just as exploitable and manipulatable as capitalism and any other system controlled by human beings. I hope this all makes some sort of sense. people really need to fully wake up and we do need to throw this system overboard as a whole and we need to start restructuring society in a way where its beneficial to the human race equally.

Nice Picture

What is a true personal story that people have a hard time believing?

I was representing the USA in an international table tennis (ping pong) tournament in Osaka, Japan. The night before, I wandered over to the tournament site to check it out. When there, I noticed a guy wearing a Chinese team jacket. They were and still are the best in the world. Being somewhat cocky, I went over and asked him if he would like to hit some. He did and we eventually played a best-of-three match. I was playing well and managed to eke out a win.

Back with my teammates I modestly mentioned that I had beaten a Chinese player. To my astonishment some skepticism was expressed. Being fed up, the next day I suggested to the most skeptical teammate that we stroll over to where the Chinese team was camped out. I didn’t see the player from last night, so I started talking to one of the other Chinese players. Finally I casually mentioned that I had won a match with one of his teammates. “Which one?” he asked.

“Well I… Oh there he is, walking over now.”

“Ah yes”, he said, “That’s Mr. Chen. He’s our cook.”

Have you ever lost any respect for someone instantly?

I had worked at the car dealership for a year when they decided to shift me from sales to service. It wasn’t what I wanted, but at least I still had a job.

The Saturday before my job changed, the service manager grabbed me by the arm and dragged me into his office. He then filled me in on his philosophy…

“I can’t stand having women working for me”, he said. “They have menstrual periods. They’re nothing but bitches for 3 weeks out of the month. They can’t make rational decisions. You can’t trust them.”

I just sat there, silently. He’d apparently decided that I would be replacing a woman who I had great respect for. She’d helped dozens of my customers, and they loved her. Nobody ever had a bad word to say about her.

I was floored at his attitude. He could think what he wanted, but by opening his mouth, he became a liability to the company. I have no idea why he felt the need to ”share” that with me.

Months later, I had to testify against him in an unlawful termination lawsuit brought about by that female employee. I don’t know what it cost the company, but I hope it was worth it to them.

My mother raised me by herself until I was about 5 years old, and I have nothing but respect for hard working women in the workplace.

With his unsolicited diatribe against women, he instantly lost my respect.

How to Leave the USA in Five Steps

I think this guy is a puke. However, his information is pretty good. Hold your nose and watch. -MM

Why does the West feel so intimidated by Russia when Russia has shown by its poor performance on the battlefield and its looking for outside help that it is not a proper threat?

Poor Performance?

Aw give it up for heavens sake

The Western MSM have been forced to acknowledge that Russia has had a massive win against Ukraine and NATO by ensuring the 115 day long counter offensive with :-

14 Fresh Brigades – 56,000 NATO Trained troops
4 Fresh Divisions – 120,000 Ukrainian Reservists trained over 6 months in Ukraine from June to December 2022
116 NATO Tanks
440 Armored Vehicles
540 Soviet Era Tanks (T 62, T 72)
1.7 Million Artillery Shells 155 mm

Has been ground to dust

Literally

Only ONE BRIGADE the 71 UK Yeger is still left untouched

The Ukrainians have 258 out of 656 Tanks left

They have 190 out of 440 Armored Vehicles left

They have barely 200,000 Artillery shells left

They have lost in the last 115 days, around 44000 Men and another 27000 men have been seriously wounded and disabled for minimum one year from fighting

And what have they gained?

Exactly 152 Square Kilometers that too, territory still under Russian Offensive

That’s why the West are worried

That Russia of their imagination is a different Russia from this Vigorous fighting force

Apple Reacts to Huawei Challenge in China

Unconfirmed reports that Apple is reacting by:

Apple corporate has decided that the newest Apple products would be supplied to China before the US market;
Price war to keep China users from switching (back) to Huawei mobile phones.

Obviously Apple sees a major Huawei challenge with the Mate 60 Pro and upcoming products, and sees that this market is key to Apple’s future, even if it has to sacrifice profits.

What is something Westerners don’t know about Africans?

In many African countries, money changers effortlessly swap bundles of cash by the roadside, operating under the implicit but rock-solid assumption that they won’t be robbed. And we walk out of banks with wads of cash, sometimes on a tiny nylon or envelope. Such security measures are largely unnecessary.

Lawyers and signed agreements may be the norm elsewhere, but in many parts of Africa, your word is more valuable than gold. Break it, and you’ve essentially declared social bankruptcy. A broken promise doesn’t just tarnish your immediate reputation; it haunts you for life, impacting your relationships and prospects. I, for one, have family members I wouldn’t lend a penny to, much less enter a business deal with. All because they failed to uphold their word when it mattered.

In most Western cities, shoplifting is a perennial problem, and law enforcement often turns a blind eye. Not here. Young people aren’t emboldened by societal indifference. On the contrary, the idea of swiping even a candy bar sends shivers down their spines. In our world, retribution is swift and comes from the community itself. Misbehavior is universally scorned.

Kids don’t engage in senseless acts like random street attacks, burning of shops, or joyriding in someone else’s car. It’s not just the fear of punishment that deters them. Rather, it’s a collective societal understanding that these actions are fundamentally wrong. Our young people may admire your shiny sports car, but they’d rather beg you for money than dream of damaging or stealing it.

Respect is in our DNA. Children back-talking their parents happens rarely and is frowned upon. We quickly give up our seats to older people and pregnant women without being asked. Titles like Sir, Ma’am, Daddy, and Aunty aren’t just terms of address; they’re badges of honor for the wisdom that comes with age. We greet older people by bowing or semi-kneeling. Communities act as a self-regulating mechanism, making certain transgressions practically unthinkable.

Violent acts like public shootings of innocent people remain alien to us, not because we’re oblivious to the global mental health crisis, but because the fabric of our communities simply doesn’t allow such chaos to unfold.

While discussions around the treatment of women in Africa often lean toward the negative, there’s another side to the coin. Any man who dared to raise a hand against a woman in the presence of people would swiftly face communal justice even before the police arrived. Spectators don’t stand back to dial emergency numbers, we make the fight ours.

The Magic isn’t necessarily in governmental laws or policing. It’s in the unwritten code of conduct, the communal upbringing that checks our moral compasses and teaches us to respect one another.

U.S Hold Top Secret Talks With China in Malta! U.S Beg China

September 22, 2023

American plans are turning to shit, quickly. Actions must be taken. Can China bend a little to help out the Biden Administration?

“It would be wonderful should the United States regain some measure of sanity again! Then we in the rest of the world may be able to breathe again without the thought of forever war and death intruding in our dreams only to become nightmares.”

What is the most eerie declassified CIA document you have seen or heard about?

A US Marine group had killed Sixty Afghans

So a group of angry Afghans pretended to be PRO US and requested a few marines to help them and abducted them

They proceeded to skin the marines alive literally and chop them into pieces and cook them

They then wanted to feed this to the other marines

However there was a road block and the truck was abandoned and the men saw the huge container that was full of some flesh

They soon DNA tested and found it was human remains , cooked meat of their comrades

The remaining Marines were so frightened that they were relieved immediately to stateside and took treatment for mental shock

This was related to a Congressional Committee in the late Obama era when the issue was declassified to justify keeping Guantanamo

The Taliban and the Islamic fundamentalists are the only mortals who can defeat the USA and bring them to their knees

Russia has missiles, China has missiles

No use

The Fundamentalists have a nice 14 year old boy who befriends a majors son, becomes a close friend and them calmly plunges a dagger into the kids heart and smiles as he waits for deliverance

Invincible!!

Sad but true

WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED to the USA! (REVERSE CULTURE SHOCK)

“I’m an American ex-pat who has been living overseas for 35 years. I try to fly to the States at least every other year (with the exception of the Corona-lockdown years), and I always get the reverse culture shock. I think what shocks me most is the huge increase in homelessness and drug addiction, as well as the political polarization. Back in the 80s, you could discuss politics with others, even if you didn’t agree, and in the end you stayed friends.”

22 things. Yuppur.

What is the best case of “You just picked a fight with the wrong person” that you’ve witnessed?

When I was about fourteen years old I was walking home, at about 8 PM, through a local park in The Bronx when three boys from the gang that came from an adjacent neighborhood appeared. It was about dusk. I knew I was in trouble. As things were getting tense for me, Ronnie appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

Ronnie and I attended the same public school from grades K to 6. In 2nd grade the teacher had me sit next to Ronnie. The seats were arranged in three rows of two. Each pair were adjacent. Ronnie was a slow learner. I taught him to read that year. We became friends…only in that class as we didn’t live “near” each other and didn’t have much in common. In those days, near was within 2 city blocks. For seventh grade I was sent to another school and I hadn’t seen Ronnie for two years.

Ronnie was short but he had bulked up a bit and had taken up boxing. I had lost track of him. As he stood next to me facing the three boys, it became clear as what was going to happen as Ronnie took a step closer to the other boys and slightly in front of me. They all took a step back. And then walked away.

Ronnie and I said the mandatory “Good to see yous”, walked a couple of hundred feet together and said. “see ya.”*

*A couple of years later I heard that Ronnie had become a Golden Gloves boxer and had done OK.

Bacon-Wrapped Filet Steaks
Topped with Roasted Garlic Butter

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

12 large garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
Kosher salt
3 1/2 teaspoons chopped chives
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
4 (6 to 7 ounce) filet steaks, about 1 inch thick
4 very thin slices of lean bacon
6 inch wooden skewers or toothpicks, soaked in water for 10 minutes and patted dry

Instructions

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Place peeled garlic and olive oil in 1-cup, ovenproof ramekin, soufflé dish or custard cup. Cover dish tightly with aluminum foil and place in oven. Roast on center rack until garlic is golden and very tender and soft when pierced with knife, about 30 minutes (start checking cloves after 20 minutes and then every 5 minutes until done).
With slotted spoon, remove garlic from bowl and reserve oil. Place garlic, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the reserved oil, butter and 1/8 teaspoon salt in food processor or blender and process, pulsing machine on and off for 30 seconds or less until garlic is coarsely chopped and blended with butter and oil. Transfer garlic butter to small bowl and stir in 2 teaspoons of the chives. (Garlic butter can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature 30 minutes before ready to use.)
When ready to cook steaks, oil a grill rack and prepare grill.
In small bowl, stir together 1 teaspoon kosher salt, coarsely ground black pepper and thyme. Rub both sides of each filet with some of this seasoning. Then wrap each steak around its sides with 1 slice of bacon. Skewer bacon in place with wooden skewer or with 2 to 3 wooden picks.
Grill steaks until lightly charred on the outside and until bacon is cooked, about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare.
When done, remove steaks from fire and place on warm serving plate. Remove toothpicks.
Top each steak with 1 generous pat of roasted garlic butter and sprinkle with some of remaining chives. Butter will start to melt and season the steaks.
Serve immediately.

The United States is fucked

The historical plate

When I was a boy, I had a friend named Jeff B. I spoke about him earlier. He was the kid with the great idea of growing “night-crawler” worms in his garage so he could become a millionaire. Anyways, today’s story is about his plate.

You see, in his living room was a glass curio cabinet, and at the top of the cabinet, proudly displayed was a pretty normal ceramic dish. It didn’t look anything special to me. I’ll tell you what. But, they (his entire family) revered that plate.

You see, that plate was used to serve George Washington back in the 1780’s.

It served duck, maybe turkey… maybe chicken to the President.

The telling of the tale seems to be blurred at this moment in time.

Yupper. My local boyhood friend was in possession of a major American historical artifact. And it was there; right there in plain sight. Imagine that!

That’s it.

(crickets)

I wonder how many great historical artifacts lie hidden in everyday homes, long forgotten and their histories lie undusted? Hum.

Like a cache of 1950’s era men’s magazines. Or a box of world war I metals. Or perhaps, an original 1950’s barbie doll in a pristine box.

Or, even more interesting…

A metal fob found in a lump of coal, or the old “Indian tale” of a certain place in the woods with magical histories…

Makes you think.

Don’t you know…

…

Todays….

Southern Pork Loin with Fall Flavor Infusion

This pork loin recipe is easy to make and has been a Southern favorite for generations. Apples and pork have always been a great duo and this crock pot recipe is no exception.

Ingredients

3 pounds pork loin
1 apple, cut in half and sliced
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 Vidalia or other sweet onion, sliced

Instructions

Slice slits into pork loin horizontally about 3/4 through meat.
Fill each slit with an apple slice and drizzle honey over top.
Sprinkle with cinnamon.
Transfer pork loin to slow cooker. Layer onions over top.
Cook on LOW for 3 to 4 hours.

How did Chinese companies make so much money exporting to the US from Mexico and Vietnam?

This is an interesting business phenomenon.

1. China’s industrial transfer (active transfer)

After 30 years of rapid development, China’s society has entered the level of a middle-to-high-income country.
In 2022, Chinese people will buy 25 million cars, and per capita GDP will reach US$12,000.
In this case, if you want a Chinese to turn a screw on the production line, or sew a shirt, their monthly salary requirements are often more than $1,000.
But, it’s only $300 for a Vietnamese or a Bangladeshi to do the same thing. What do you think the Chinese company will do?
Yes, as early as a few years ago, Chinese enterprises have already begun to transfer abroad. The first thing to be transferred is clothing, toys, shoes and other industries with a high proportion of labor.

Just because an enterprise or factory has moved to Vietnam does not mean that it has no connection with China. For the production of clothes, toys, shoes, household appliances. They need upstream support. Equipment, computers, software, buttons, batteries, switches, wiring, paint, circuit boards, everything.
from where? Can only be imported from China.

Therefore, the transfer of industries is accompanied by a sharp increase in China’s exports to target countries.

2. Decoupling of the United States and the European Union (passive transfer)

Since Trump launched the trade war, the United States and the European Union have begun to “decouple” from China. They said “Hey! Let’s not do business with China, don’t buy Chinese stuff, okay?” In order to force importers and consumers, they imposed too high tariffs and created a sanction list with only one purpose, to prevent the sale of Chinese goods.

However, what will happen to people’s lives without Chinese products?

So they need to find a replacement. Some countries with large populations and low wages are the best choices: Mexico, Vietnam for example. They signed trade deals, lowered tariffs for these countries, and hoped they would replace China. It’s a pretty naive idea: New cheap suppliers replace old ones, with nothing to lose.

However, businessmen in Vietnam and Mexico soon discovered that they simply could not make these items (or it was more expensive to make them than in China). The easier way is to import from China, label it with Mexican or Vietnamese labels, and sell it to Americans or Europeans.

Another strange line appeared: China exported semi-finished or finished products, and Vietnam and Mexico completed the final assembly and outer packaging.

Finally exported to America and Europe.

3. Everyone wins The Chinese found that their exports were not reduced.

From January to July 2023, China’s total exports increased by 3.1%.

Vietnam and Mexico saw a massive increase in their exports and imports, and people made more money.

Politicians in the United States and the European Union are finding that trade decoupling from China is paying off. Imports from China fell.

All three parties are very happy.

In this interesting story, there is no loser.

Which movie that fared poorly at the box office when it was first released, introduced a character that went on to become a cultural icon?

The Big Lebowski (1998). Jeff Bridges portrays Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski, a passionate bowler, White Russian drinker, and consummate slacker.

The Big Lebowski received mixed reviews when it first came out. The movie seemed a bit odd for audiences and reviewers to initially appreciate, especially in comparison to the Coen brothers’ previous hit film, Fargo, which received seven Oscar nominations and went on to win two Academy Awards.

Peter Howell from the Toronto Star wrote, “It’s hard to believe that this is the work of a team that won an Oscar last year for the original screenplay of Fargo.” Doesn’t exactly tickle your interest, does it?

Over the years though, The Big Lebowski has developed into a cult classic. Passionate fans of the film call themselves “achievers” (an ironic reference to the Dude’s lack of ambition), and several lines from the movie have become memorable quotes, such as:

• “I’m The Dude. So, that’s what you call me. You know, that or, uh, His Dudeness, or, uh, Duder, or El Duderino, if you’re not into the whole brevity thing.”

• “Obviously you’re not a golfer.”

• “Hey, careful, man, there’s a beverage here!”

• “That’s just, like, your opinion, man.”

• “This aggression will not stand, man.”

• “The dude abides.”

As the film evolved into the cult status it has become, it spawned “Dudeism”, a way-of-life that celebrates The Dude’s philosophy and laid-back lifestyle.

In 2002, what began as a Lebowski Fest in a local bowling alley in Louisville, Kentucky, has evolved into 4,000 people now attending the fest. In addition to the original fest, several other Lebowski fests have taken place in cities around the US.

Jeff Bridges has described The Dude as his favorite role, and the only one of his films he feels comfortable watching.

“It’s just a really good movie,” he told Vanity Fair in 2022. “The characters, the way everything is executed from the set design to the wardrobe, everything is just right.”

The Big Lebowski, what began as one of the Coen brothers most misunderstood and underappreciated films, is now regarded as one of their best films. The Dude’s iconic repute is still alive and kicking.

Why should adults be legally forced to wear seatbelts? Absolutely require anyone under 18 to wear one. But shouldn’t adults have the freedom to be stupid?

In 1997 I witnessed a pickup truck flip and roll, and saw one person fly out of the truck. I was first on scene. A teenaged boy was sobbing, only a few scratches, asking me where his grandpa is. The boy said he was driving and got distracted.

50-60 yards away I found his deceased grandpa, head totally caved in, blood spot from every pore in what was left of his face. His hands were clutched in an agonizing pose.

I grabbed a blanket from my car to cover his body so that his grandson wouldn’t see him like that, nor bystanders who began to appear.

I comforted the teenaged driver for 30 minutes until police and fire rescue arrived on scene. The boy was devastated, saying “I killed my gradpa” and “I’m so sorry grandpa “ all in the midst of his sobbing. I told the boy his grandpa was gone.

Cops told me it was obvious the old man was thrown from the truck, which then landed on his head, causing instant death. The boy was wearing his seat belt; the grandpa was not.

After that I insisted that everyone in my family buckle up. A year later, my sister in law rolled their family car 3 times, only a mile from where the old man died. Everyone was wearing a seat belt, and only got minor scratches and bruises, but their car was a mangled mess.

My sister in law told me that when they left the house, she told everyone to buckle up because of what Uncle Danny said happened.

That was 36 years ago. Once in awhile I still wake up from a nightmare of that sobbing teenaged driver, and the image of the smashed head of an old man I did not know.

When I first saw the man’s face, I was stunned to realize that I was seeing blood drops from every pore in his mangled face from the impact of the pickup truck.

I remember it like it just happened, all these years later.

Please, wear your seat belt for your family, friends, the EMTs, and innocent people who might see your smashed head when they stop to help.

What is the best personal submarine for sale?

A Polaris Nuclear submarine for only $6.98.

When I was a kid, they had all kinds of neat things you could send away for in comic books.

I ordered the Big Bang cannon and scared the shit out of my family one night when I fired it off in my room. After that it was an outside cannon only. Worse was when I was 10, I fired off a .22 starter pistol in my room. That gun was confiscated. Then there was the black chewing gum that turned your mouth black when you chewed it. I gave a piece to my older sister Tracy when she went out with her friends. Funny! Younger brothers did things like that. My pal Earl ordered the X Ray Specs, glasses that you were supposed to see through things with, like girls clothing. Didn’t work. Earl was vastly disappointed. He wore them over to my house hoping to see through my sisters clothes.

“Those are pretty stupid looking sun glasses,” Lori said to him. Earl felt stupid.

I ordered the footlocker full of soldiers, tanks, boats and airplanes. A FOOTLOCKER FULL OF THEM! WOW. When I finally got the footlocker, it was about seven inches by two inches full of flat, tiny, half inch crap, not even to scale. Very poorly made. Disappointment was real though. This stuff was all junk but they made it look so great.

I remember when I was ten I asked my mom at the breakfast table if I could get the little monkey advertised in the comic ads. My twelve year old sisters burst out laughing.

“I’ll look after it,” I promised.

“RJ, those things aren’t real. They’re all fake,” Lori said to me. But they actually were real. Live animals shipped to kids for $18.99, a lot of money in those days. Unbelievable.

Mom laid the law down. NO MORE ORDERING FROM COMICS!

But the dream of many boys was the Polaris Submarine. WOW! A real nuclear submarine! For only $6.98! Many boys dreamt of getting their sub and taking it down to the river where they could float around, dive, and shoot nuclear missiles and torpedoes. The ad actually said you could hunt for sunken treasure and explore the ocean floor. To good to be true? Yes it was. When the package arrived, you had to build it, ‘out of cardboard’. It would last two minutes in the water. It wouldn’t last an hour out in the rain in the back yard.

Most of the ads were lies but they got away with it. Many children were disappointed. But still, it was fun to look at those pictures and dream.

What is the likelihood Xi Jinping will never meet with President Biden during Biden’s term?

Very High

The Biden administration has made it very clear that China must operate in the manner in which the USA sees fit

That China must develop in the manner in which the USA sees fit

In short –

Make all the Washing Machines, Laptops, Smartphones, Microwaves and Televisions you wantMake all the Jeans, Toys, Textiles you wantMake all the low and medium grade components you wantHell even make all the Robots you want and High Speed Trains, EVs and Solar Panels and Green Energy

Yet at the same time

You cannot go ahead of us or our allies in the areas of Advanced Computing, Space, Quantum Computing, AI etc. You should always be No 8.You cannot modernize your Military technologicallyYou cannot pursue your own foreign policy and Geopolitics against our foreign policyYou cannot support anyone who doesn’t follow the Rules based orderYou have to buy more Bonds of ours and acknowledge the Dollar as the world’s only reserve currency

This was the BIDEN DOCTRINE TO CHINA

Qin Gang and Blinken apparently discussed this where :- In exchange for China acknowledging the Biden Doctrine & relinquishing support to Russia & Forcing Putin to sue for peace by weaponizing the Yuan The US would remove tariffs on Chinese products, remove export controls on certain equipment, remove 215 Chinese entities from the blacklist and propose Status Quo for Taiwan with no support for Taiwanese Independence The plan was likely for QG to deliver an ultimatum to Lavrov and for Xi Jingping to gather Global South Leaders like KSA & UAE while US could persuade India and together force Putin to call a ceasefire in Ukraine

The Old Fox Wang Yi likely told Blinken to f*** himself which is why Biden was so angry that he called XJP a dictator I believe Raimondo tried the same thing, asking China to trade and develop in a direction acceptable to the US I believe China again said GO SCREW That’s why Raimondo was so angry when she returned back

Blinken, Yellen, Raimondo all pushed China to follow the Biden Doctrine and China said No each time which was why they all returned back in a state of fury So now Biden will say the same thing if he meets Xi Jingping

Maybe Hu Jintao would have agreed

Not Xi Jingping

So Biden and Xi meeting is a pointless exercise

There is no US Leader who is willing to ask China to do whatever it wants and COMPETE with China directly and win

Why was the G20 summit so soft on Russia?

Simple

Ukraine is losing and losing badly

It’s very unlikely that Ukraine can turn the tide in the next 45–50 days after which the rains descend in all their fury

The West is very angry

They expected a breakthrough by Ukraine and a belief that such a breakthrough would force the Russians to negotiate from a position of weakness

It didn’t happen

Instead Ukraine lost too many men and too much equipment

Bradleys, M113s, M777s, M109s, Leopard Tanks, Strykers all burning on the battlefields
Almost 70% of Ammunition used up. Ukraine had almost 700,000 Shells in June 2023, sufficient to use 8000 Shells a day for 90 days, yet they used up 270,000 Shells in the first 16 days of the offensive and are down to their last 200,000 Shells today
They have sent over 110 Drones into Russia but only 17 caused any damage and now they are short of Drones

Plus the men they lost!!!

See the horror here

The Russians tag every dead Ukrainian now and they accurately estimate 4700 Dead in the past 14 days.

That’s Dead

Not Wounded

The Estimate of the Dead Ukrainians in the last 3 months ranges from 40,000 to 70,000

Almost all of these were NATO TRAINED

They were not conscripts

NATO trained 70,000 men and it’s likely most of them perished in the counter offensive

So the West simply hang in there because they can’t lose face and they can’t appear to have LOST

They spoke too much

The West can’t really keep pursuing aggressive strategy here

They tried begin aggressive, threatening people in 2022 and 2023 but that was because they hoped they would be in a winning position

That’s not happening

Now they need to end the conflict without appearing to look defeated

And divert attention to Africa or China

What is the best thing you saw someone do when they got fired from their job?

Bernie Marcus was CEO of the Handy Dan Home Improvement Center chain when the parent company declared bankruptcy. Marcus was fired by a vindictive board even though the Handy Dan division was not in bankruptcy.

“They threw me out of my office and put bars on the door. They searched my files. It was pretty terrible — one of those corporate things. You hear about them, but you don’t know what they are like until you live through one.”

He was convinced to drop his lawsuit against the company by a mentor who encouraged him to get on with his life. Another friend advised him to open the store he had always dreamed of. And that’s how The Home Depot was born. He was fired from a top spot in hardware retailing and went on to redefine the hardware industry.

What is the worst compliment you’ve ever received?

In Japanese culture, when you reach 20 you are officially considered an adult. Cities across Japan have “Coming of Age

” ceremonies where 20-year olds would dress up in formal attire or traditional Japanese clothing to attend.

This was over six years ago, but being in the U.S. at the time I had no ceremony to go to. Still, my parents and I decided it would be nice for me to dress up anyway for a family photo shoot.

Putting on a furisode

(long-sleeved kimono) or any kimono is a complicated art form impossible for amateurs to do. Fortunately for me, my best friend’s mom happened to be certified, and she offered to dress me free of charge.

As she was tying the stings around my waist, she said:

“Serina, you have the perfect body type for kimonos! You’re going to look so good.”

My genuine smile froze as she continued,

“They’ve always said people with a flat chest and no waist are ideal. It’s such a struggle to dress my daughter….“

-_____________________________-

I died a little inside that day, but I still managed to smile for the camera.

What did a neighbor do to you that you will never forget?

Two things (different neighbors).

We purchased our first house in Hampton, VA in 1976 for $15,000. It needed painting and we were planning on starting on Saturday hoping we could get it finished in a couple of weeks. Talking to our neighbor who had a crew doing restoration painting. I asked him what the best paints were that was reasonably priced and told him what we were going to do. “When are you going to paint it?” “Starting Saturday.” “I can probably get some folks to help if you are buying the beer.” “Great!” “How much is the paint going to be?” “My price.” A crew of six showed up at 6 am Sat and were finished inside and out by 5 pm and ready to party.
We moved into our new (to us) house in Burleson, TX on the day before Thanksgiving. As I am working on unloading the POD’s our neighbor walked over and waited for me to come back out. “I know that you are busy and don’t need me intruding. I just wanted you to know that you don’t need to worry about a Thanksgiving turkey. I am going to my mom’s tomorrow and deep frying two, I will cook one for you also.” He showed up the next day with Turkey, sides and a fresh baked pie.

We have been blessed with good neighbors.

What’s the most scummy business tactic you’ve ever seen?

Another story of America. -MM

…

Predatory towing.

While this may not be the most life-ruining experience, it certainly causes you to fantasize about using baseball bats in ways you’ve never imagined after being a victim of such an atrocity.

It still boils my blood thinking about it.

Let me explain:

I live in quite an affluent and liberal area – Montgomery County, MD to be exact. Montgomery County borders directly against Washington D.C., so the government basically fuels the entire economy and causes people to flock to the area. Of course, not everyone is rich, or even well-off. There are a lot of poor people in the area, including immigrants – a lot of whom are ‘undocumented’. These people are hurt the most by this specific brand of towing.

Basically, here’s how it works –

At first, a parking lot may be abused. Let’s say I want to visit a friend, but there’s no parking, so…eh, what the heck? I’ll just park in the grocery store parking lot nearby and walk over. Maybe Safeway gets tired of people taking up their parking spaces, but not doing any shopping. Let’s say it gets really bad after a while and there’s no spaces for paying customers to park, so they start to have cars towed away when people park there and walk “off premises”. Seems pretty logical, right?

That’s the innocent example, but here’s what it snowballed into:

A woman pulls into a McDonald’s parking lot – her son wanted a burger. She parks. He walks into McDonald’s, she walks to the post office 2 doors down. She comes out 7 minutes later to find her car, front wheels hoisted off the ground by a tow truck (one of the short ones with no bed, just a crane on the back). She is confused, scared, angry that someone is ‘stealing’ her car (as far as she understands it). She confronts the Shrek looking man who is operating the tow truck. He tells her (in his most practiced rude attitude) that ‘walk-offs’ are not allowed. He points to a sign in the far corner of the parking lot, under a tree. When examining the 18″x24″ sign (minimum regulation size).

It basically says “2 hours parking only; if you park and leave you will be towed” then a bunch of fine print, but at the bottom it says “Towing charge $440; storage per day ~$40” (can’t quite make out the storage price). So, you get towed, you go pick you car up immediately, and it’s “$480 to get your car out” they say with a smile.

The woman argues, saying she has a receipt for the McDonald’s. Her son is holding the food in the McDonald’s bag.

He ignores her and says “The tow bill is $440 plus $40/day when you pick it up from Rockville (12 miles away), or I can drop it now for $250 cash.”

She tries to argue more, but he continues lifting the car up. As she is yelling she doesn’t have $250 in cash, he walks to the truck, gets in, and leaves with her car.

Scenario 2:

In addition to pretty much all businesses having some sort of deal with towing (the business gets a kickback because the towing is so profitable), all apartment complexes have adopted a similar deal. Remember how I said immigrants are a large part of the population in Montgomery County? Do you know that immigrants usually live crammed in one household? Well…When you’ve got 8 hispanics living in a 2 bedroom apartment, and 6 of them have jobs, they all have cars to get to work. But the apartment complex only gives out 1 parking permit per adult resident allowed to live there – 1 per bedroom. So the hispanic family only has 2 parking permits, but they have 6 cars. What do they do?

Well, the first night they likely make a huge mistake – they park in the lot without a permit. Towing is allowed to start at 10pm, so a “scout” or “spotter” shows up at 9:48pm walking around with a flashlight looking for parking permits in the window. You remember “oh crap! I need to move my car by 10pm!” You walk outside to see your car being towed up the hill at 10:02pm, gone. $480 at the tow lot in Rockville, 12 miles away. An entire week’s pay – gone.

Scenario 3:

You see your car being raised off the ground. You run up to the guy and start arguing. He says the “$250 cash and I drop it”. You pay him, he pockets it, and goes to hook up someone else’s car 10 feet away. Rinse and repeat.

These towing companies quickly realized how profitable it can be to employ these predatory towing practices (a tow company could make $5,000 per tow truck in a night), and it became rampant in Montgomery County throughout the 2000s. There was very little regulation on the books. Around 2013 it really started getting atrociously bad. Even though there were some rules on the books by then, they were nearly unenforceable, or just plain not enforced. The use of “scouts” was made illegal, but hard to prove, so the towing companies kept using scouters because they are so profitable. Additionally, these tow companies will ignore some smaller rules – such as being required to have an ATM on premises. Another problem is them damaging your vehicle. You ever try to get an auto shop to admit they dinged your door while they were working on your car? These guys are 100x worse. I’ve seen all-wheel drive cars being towed (front wheels on the ground) that are jerking and bucking all over the place because the transmission is still in gear and it’s catching. I was once towed and they broke my windshield. In addition to the $300 tow bill, I got a “it was like that when we towed it” in respond to my cracked windshield.

There is nearly zero recourse.

Me, an angry white male who speaks proficient english, tried to file a complaint with the “Office of Consumer Protection (OCP)” in Montgomery County. The investigator (investigator XXY) told me things like ‘the owner is never in the office’ and ‘they haven’t responded yet’.

BRO! You are literally THE government. It’s your job to police these guys.

About 6 months later, my dad’s truck had been towed so we went to pick it up from one of these scumdumsters. As we were paying, an official looking guy comes in and starts talking all buddy-buddy with these chumbuckets. Stuff like “oh how’s Linda? And the kids?” I realize that he’s supposed to be some sort of inspector. I talk to him and find out he works for the OCP. “Oh, wow. Do you know investigator XXY by chance?” ‘I am investigator XXY!’ oh well fuck you then

It’s starting to be cracked down on. Here are some articles that make my heart sing

Montgomery County Looks To Crack Down On Predatory Tow Trucks | WAMU

Drivers to Receive $214 After Ruling Against Towing Co.

Illegal Towing Continues in Montgomery Co. Ahead of New Law

Better Call Saul: Gale’s first appearance

This clip is from season 4 episode 3. I fucking love gale. His death was genuinely the hardest to watch for me, he was such an endearing dork.

A first comment on B’s site

I write here just to address Pacifica’s point at @7, which is dead-on accurate I think. First comment ever here, but love this site B. So good.

This is kind of a general plea, but we get so lost in the politics, and this team or that team, it’s as if we’ve failed to figure out that the whole damn system is rotten, both teams. As the Founding Fathers realized, this is what poisoned so many governments in Greece and Rome and throughout history.

In any event, Trump was basically a 1980s Democrat who loves the country, hates wars, and just likes doing deals. Remember that MSNBC interview, where they listed out a bunch of positions and Trump is like, hey, you’re describing me, and they said no, that’s Bernie Sanders’ platform. LOL. He is very close to the Kennedy family, which is why he and RFK do not attack each other. I would love to see that combined ticket. I truly believe that 2016 was the last free election, and the deep state was so sure he was going to get beaten in a landslide they did not activate all their plans/contingencies.

In any event, look at what Trump said on the campaign trail with regard to Russia. Why can’t we get along?? What idiot wants to start WWIII??

Indeed. And then look how Trump dealt with China. Yes, he had very serious hawks on China on his team, but it really dealt with trade and business. Repeatedly, he made the comment that he doesn’t blame China for these crappy trade deals and eating our lunch, they are just doing what’s right for them, he blames our stupid leaders for allowing this to take place and completely hollowing out our industrial capacity. It is the fault of OUR politicians. That was completely respectful to the Chinese. (And of course, he would scapegoat this or that, such as Corona stuff, but that is just politics, even the Chinese get that)

As Pacifica said, Trump can be manipulated by the oligarchs, but it’s even deeper than that. Understand how our entire system has been hijacked to work against the PEOPLE and for the benefit of the few at the top. Trump wanted no wars. Trump wanted to pardon Assange and Snowden any many others (he was threatened with immediate impeachment conviction if he did so). He wanted better labor deals and to secure the country.

The guy was impeached twice for essentially nothing. The Democrats were firing at will. And HIS OWN PARTY hated him. Opened up all these idiotic investigations like Russiagate. FFS, that scumbag Paul Ryan wouldn’t even give him money to build the wall, which is the issue he won on. The deep state of McConnell, et al., had at their fingertips the ability to convict him with 20 GOP Senators standing at the ready if Trump went too far off the reservation. I think everyone has to remember that.

If one studies his errors, just consider what was arrayed against him. The Soleimani attack. True, I did not like that, but Trump was the only thing standing in the way of a full blown war against Iran. The MIC had those plans ready and literally said let’s do it and put it before him. Trump said no.

Sending weaponry to Ukraine. Again, the WHOLE system was saying he was a puppet of Russia, so of course he was boxed into that corner. If he said no, can you imagine the fury of the system saying, see, we told you so!!

Pacifica, I’m not sure about MacGregor, and I’m willing to give some benefit of the doubt here b/c I really like his thoughts on Ukraine and military matters generally, but I do worry about any saber rattling with China. It makes no sense and is idiotic. They had nothing to do with the opiod plague. All one needs to do is look at the Sackler family and that whole rotten cabal and so many towers of power would come down if the people knew and the fury was put in the right direction. But certain ethnic clans and regulatory agencies would get nervous. There was a 25 page or so New Yorker article on that that was just brilliant.

It’s amazing how much the system is against the people. You had Walgreens pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions for ivermectin, which is essentially aspirin, but if you need some opiods, just come on up, no problem!!

Sorry for the very long winded message. The American system is rotten to the core. The only people in the ring that actually care about the American PEOPLE and peace and lives throughout the world imho are Trump, RFK, and Sanders to some extent. I don’t trust anyone else quite frankly.

And finally, with the weaponization of the court system and these ridiculous indictments, which themselves are an indictment on the American populace as to the stupidity to which they have devolved and the darkness or partisanship that should have had these grand juries laughing this stuff out of the room, we are in sad and dark times now. Even though Hillary clearly was rotten to the core and an absolute criminal, I never supported anything criminal against her, you open that pandora’s box and you don’t know where it leads.

It’s why there’s a famous saying, grand juries are so retarded you can indict a ham sandwich. Very dark times ahead I think. The system is pulling out all the stops. I have no idea where this leads.

Posted by: Johnny | Sep 9 2023 17:32 utc | 50

Why are Chinese characters so fascinating?

My Chinese friend asked me a question:
As we all know, there are 7 days in a week, when you need to express the eighth day, how do you say it in English?

This stumps me. There is no such word in English. I can only say “Monday next week”, or “the day after Sunday”.

But the Chinese can create a new word “星期八” at will, and other Chinese people don’t need to learn anything. The Chinese people can immediately understand what he means.

Another Chinese teacher asked me a question:
If you went back to England hundreds of years ago and asked Queen Anne: “What are trains, wires, televisions, refrigerators, telegraphs?”
Queen Anne will know nothing.

But if you go back 2000 years ago and ask Qin Shihuang the same question.
Qin Shihuang will tell you: Yes, I know the general meaning.
train: a vehicle powered by fire
Wire: A rope that can spread lightning
Television: A machine that displays shadows by means of lightning
Freezer: a box full of ice
Telegram: Reports sent by lightning

Since it was finalized 2000 years ago, the number of commonly used Chinese characters has dropped from 50,000 to 7,000, but its meaning has expanded countless times with the development of human science and technology.All professional words, including words that have not yet appeared in the future, can be expressed using these 7,000 Chinese characters.People can understand the meaning of these future words without detailed study.

But the number of English words has expanded to 1 million in the past 300 years, 98% of which are professional words that ordinary people cannot master. Basically, every time humans discover new knowledge and items, English needs to create a new word. Moreover, people who have not studied cannot understand it.

Chinese characters：This is a magical text whose underlying architecture can be infinitely expanded without incurring too much learning cost.

FACES OF KENSINGTON (Zombies in the real life of the United States) Streets of Philadelphia – Part 2

So sad.

https://youtu.be/SBbN8IdSvUI

Why do sanctioned Chinese companies dare to do business with another sanctioned Chinese company in China even though the international and US law are forbidding it?

Whose law? US laws are for US people in the U.S. International must be written by all nations! Not one? Or a few Chinese or China hating ones!

US don’t rule the world.

Even though some in the U.S. thinks so.

It may be a strong nation and likes to talk and behaves like it does.

It is just a single nation amongst other nations.

The U.S. has every right (though hurting itself) to stop buying any products from any nation. But to tell others not to is not the U.S. right. Some dog nations, slaves nations and cronies wants to do so is up to their cowardice and lack of courage but it don’t matter. It is their right to destroy their own nation.

Take the UK for example. Today they don’t even have half the Chinese 5G capability spending more than twice to set up unworkable and inefficient 5G non Chinese systems and today it is the worst performing Europe nation. But it is theirright to destroy itself.

Australia under Scott Morrison nearly self destructed Australia but the Aussies send him packing.

Good bye!

We the rest of the world must understand this and see to it that the U.S. cannot and won’t ever control the world.

This is good for the world and it’s good for Americans too.

US excesses are killing and collapsing the United States.

SO, The Rumours are True! Oprah Shady Maui Deal with The Rock Exposed

An AI Model Tested In The Ukraine war Is Helping Assess Damage From The Hawaii Wildfires Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Oprah Winfrey face backlash for asking fans to donate to Maui fund instead of contributing more themselves The family of a woman who died trying to flee a wildfire on Maui is suing the county, the state and one of Hawaii’s largest landowners, alleging they neglected to maintain their fire-prone property.

Why is the yuan one of the worst performing currencies in the region?

Simple

Because China isn’t artificially modifying it’s currency and a low yuan helps the Chinese stay competitive

As I have reminded you Japan was strongest when it’s yen was 291 to the Dollar

It became stagnant and a zombie economy when it’s rate went to 115 a Dollar

It was FORCED to do so by the US in 1985 as part of the Plaza Accords

China won’t do that. EVER.

The US hopes to weaken the Yuan and use that to pull out investments and force China to appreciate the Yuan by other means including purchasing US Debt

China is already busy with establishing it’s own BLOC

Tomorrow instead of wasting time with G20, Xi meets President Maduro of Venezuela and inks a Oil Contract paid fully in Yuan and Priced in Yuan

If this works out then in 2024 – China will be purchasing 41% of Oil in Yuan or Ruble or Infrastructure Projects

US hope for China to print money, bail out their real estate companies and buy long term debt in Dollars and Euros to keep the Yuan floating

Like India has done, purchasing more US Debt than selling in the first eight months of the year

China knows how dangerous that can be and prefers ECONOMIC FORCES to handle the same while taking care of it’s energy supply

Family Guy British Radio

INDY speaks

Given matters in China have a bearing upon the SMO, a few items to consider….
LINK HERE
Tech war: China’s top memory chip maker YMTC making progress in producing advanced 3D NAND products with locally sourced equipment: sources
YMTC’s top secret project, which aims to use Chinese-only equipment, has placed big orders with domestic tool suppliers, including Beijing-based Naura Technology
The ramped up sourcing of local equipment comes after YMTC received fresh funding to the tune of US$7 billion from its state-backed investors, including the ‘Big Fund’

Chinese chip maker Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC) is planning to use domestically sourced equipment to make advanced flash memory products after it was put on a US trade blacklist last year, according to industry sources.

If successful, the strategy would represent a breakthrough in China’s efforts to become self-sufficient in semiconductor production after the country was denied access to advanced chip making tools over Washington’s concerns that the technology would end up in the hands of the Chinese military.

LINK HERE
Huawei Teardown Shows Chip Breakthrough in Blow to US Sanctions
The company’s Mate 60 Pro is powered by SMIC’s 7nm chips, according to analysis that TechInsights conducted for Bloomberg News

LINK HERE
China is the breakaway global leader in new nuclear construction.

China has 21 nuclear reactors under construction which will have a capacity for generating more than 21 gigawatts of electricity, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. That is two and a half times more nuclear reactors under construction than any other country.

India has the second largest nuclear buildout right now, with eight reactors under construction that will be able to generate more than six gigawatts of electricity. Third place Turkey has four nuclear reactors under construction with a presumed capacity of 4.5 gigawatts.

The United States currently has one nuclear reactor under construction, the fourth reactor at the Vogtle power plant in Georgia, which will be able to generate just over 1 gigawatt.

“China is the de facto world leader in nuclear technology at the moment,” Jacopo Buongiorno, professor of nuclear science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told CNBC.

China is “the determined and pacing leader in global nuclear ambition at the moment,” agrees Kenneth Luongo, president and founder of the Partnership for Global Security, a nuclear and transnational security and energy policy non-profit. China is “leading, even racing ahead,” Luongo said.

LINK HERE

CHINA / SOCIETY
China to employ multiple methods to enhance monitoring of marine environmental pollution: MEE
By Shan Jie
Published: Aug 28, 2023 10:47 PM

In this aerial image, nuclear-contaminated water is released from the Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean on August 24, 2023 in Okuma, Fukushima, Japan. Photo: VCG
In this aerial image, nuclear-contaminated water is released from the Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean on August 24, 2023 in Okuma, Fukushima, Japan. Photo: VCG

The dumping of nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan has raised concerns among Chinese citizens about the state of the marine environment. Chinese environmental authorities on Monday vowed to strengthen the monitoring of marine environmental pollution through multiple means, including conducting baseline surveys of marine pollution and utilizing satellites for monitoring.

China has launched its third marine pollution baseline survey, with the goal of completing a thorough investigation and assessment by 2025, said Wang Juying, the director of the National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, at the ministry’s monthly press conference on Monday.

LINK HERE
Thailand’s confusing election was a win for China
Thailand’s election saw winner Move Forward pushed to the opposition. It vowed to reset foreign relations including that with China. The current Pheu Thai-led government won’t likely deliver that.

LINK HERE

Chinese scientists look to 6G to hunt submarines, testing device small enough to fit on drone
Defence researchers say sensors can identify extremely small surface vibrations produced by a low-frequency sound source in the open sea
UAV-mounted platform could work in concert with other submarine detection methods such as a magnetic anomaly detector (MAD), microwave radar or laser

LINK HERE

China’s most advanced Fujian aircraft carrier on track for 2025 PLA handover, latest Weibo photos suggest
Covers taken off all three electromagnetic catapults on the deck of the Fujian, social media photos posted by military buffs show
Images indicate readiness for sea trials and systems testing, with warship likely to join the PLA within two years as scheduled, observers say

Not included above…. Passenger traffic on the Laos High Speed Rail Network has more than doubled since the beginning of the year..

INDY

Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | Sep 9 2023 17:54 utc | 61

Huawei success a sign the US should rethink its containment policy

Neither the markets nor consumers are easily surprised any longer by tech developments. Huawei’s deceptively low-key launch of its new “breakthrough” smartphone has turned out to be an exception, sparking patriotic jubilation on the mainland about a victory over American efforts to block China’s rise. At the same time it has caused consternation in the US over the apparent failure of a tech containment policy towards China, which has been progressively tightened under the Biden administration.

Analysts and market observers believed that even if the US could not head off China’s tech rise in the long run, its policies would significantly slow it down – that it would take Huawei, for example, longer to reach the stage it now has. Most people are taken aback by its progress.

The question for Western technology experts – and US security officials – is how Huawei developed the advanced semiconductors that drive its Mate 60 Pro. The device is powered by the new Kirin 9000s chip whose processor runs on the 7 nanometre technology, the kind of advanced chip the US seeks to deny China.

Sales of the new phone may be largely confined to the mainland and China may remain five years behind but, in simple terms, it is within one technology generation of the West. Beijing has spared no expense to build a domestic semiconductor industry, including billions in reported subsidies for Huawei to develop a network of fabrication plants. The aim is to boost the domestic supply of high-end products such as 5G smartphones, according to a plan released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Finance last month.

Huawei’s apparent breakthrough is in some senses symbolic. It is just one battle in a long war in which it will remain the weaker player. This is nonetheless a morale booster for China, a reminder of resilience and huge potential. That said, it still makes more sense, whenever the situation allows, for China to seek cooperation rather than fall back on total self reliance. Economically that does not make sense for any country.

That is not to discount China’s achievement. It is a reminder, as many have said, that US containment policy may backfire. A major concern is possible fragmentation of the global tech development and supply chain, creating problems such as oversupply and incompatibility, or so-called Balkanisation of the tech sector.

Technological development is going to be extremely expensive. Division of effort can help bring down costs and speed development. If Washington cites security concerns, unsupported by evidence, for trying to contain China’s tech rise it can only raise costs for everyone. In the light of Huawei’s new smartphone launch the US should come to terms with the need to revise its policy for everyone’s sake.

What was your “I am surrounded by idiots” moment?

Not me, but my daughter who was 17 at the time, was working at a McDonalds in a bad neighborhood. They had to constantly check the bathrooms for needles and passed out junkies (she actually found a nice Bowie knife in it one day and the manager let her keep it). So one day she steps outside for a break and finds a man laying on the sidewalk, bleeding from a stab wound (not from a Bowie knife), so she does what they were taught to do and calls for a manager, grabs some gloves and a towel and comes back outside.

The manager (30 something male) is standing outside, wringing his hands, along with several older staff members and none of them will take the gloves. The manager is trained in first aid as part of his job, but he won’t calm down. So my daughter tells one of them to go back inside and call 911, and she puts on the gloves, takes the towels and applies pressure to the wound. She talks to the guy while they wait for the ambulance and keeps him calm, while her manager is trying not to pass out from hyperventilating.

When the ambulance arrives, the paramedics assess the man and while one is getting the guy’s wound stabilized, the other one starts asking questions. When he finds out my daughter is only 17, he lost his crap on the manager and then commended my daughter for doing such a good job. He told her that she should be a paramedic because she was so cool under pressure. She laughed and told him she hates the sight of blood, but didn’t want the guy to die. She then went on break and had a little cry, then returned to work.

What red flag did you have the week before your wedding that you wish you had heeded?

I was a 20 year old newly licensed pilot flying solo from picking up my wedding dress one state over. There were thunderstorms in the area that my small plane should never fly in, not to mention i was a VFR pilot not qualified to fly in instrument conditions…so I landed at a small airport about halfway home. About an hour or so later the storms passed, and I called my fiance to see if the weather was clear at my destination (he worked as a fuel guy at the airport I was flying to). Earlier we had been in an immature fight where I thought he told me a lie, so there was some tension between us but we had put that aside for the moment. When I called him about the weather he said “yep it’s clear as a bell. Sunshine and rainbows.” So I took off and had about 45 mins in the air before getting there. The sky got darker and darker and by the time I landed it began pouring rain and lightning/thunder. I got there in the knick of time. When my fiance met me at my plane I said “omg! That was a close one! I was expecting rainbows and sunshine.” And he said “oh you believed me? I thought you thought I was a liar so why would I tell you the truth about the weather?” So he played with my life and safety in order to play a game and prove his point. My mother begged me to call off the wedding but foolishly I did not. It was a rough 9-month marriage before I got the hell away from him.

Robin Trower – Too Rolling Stoned (REACTION)

I love this.

Why can’t India and China just fix their border? What will they lose by fixing it? It’s not like they will get any long term benefits with these border conflicts comparable to cooperation.

Well, Mcmahon is long dead, and he is neither Chinese nor Indian.

The problem with the Indian side is the rather inconvenient history of the Raj, which unilaterally drew the “border” that is at the heart of the dispute.

Nehru singlehandedly upset the gameboard, when he overreached and concluded China was too weak to fight his well-equipped elite frontline troops, distracted by the Taiwan crisis, embargo by the US-led west, and rapidly cooling relations with the Soviets. He also judged that China would find resupply over the roof of the world challenging, unlike India which held the lowlands.

Nehru’s forward policy reached its crescendo in 1961/62, with unbelievable rhetoric from New Delhi fueling provocative orders to establish guard posts NORTH of the Mcmahon line (in other words, the occupation of Chinese territory, even by Indian standards). Delhi granting asylum to the Dalai Lama in 1959 raised suspicion that India was complicit in the 1960 Tibetan armed rebellion and had evil designs on Tibet.

By then, Nehru had rejected Zhou’s proposal for a East-West swap, despite China being prepared to accept the Mcmahon line as the basis of settlement. Instead, Nehru demanded China withdraw from Aksai Chin while retaining control of NEFA, today’s Arunachal Pradesh, as the essential condition for border negotiation.

Nehru wanted the cake cut India’s way as precondition, before negotiations had even begun!

The Chinese responded to Dhola Post after losing almost 80 men in early October to a skirmish with Indian troops. A massive attack was launched that decimated an Indian brigade. In the three-week lull that followed the battle of Namka Chu, India refused to negotiate, despite Nehru’s illusion of the Chinese unwillingness to attack being shattered. Mid-November exploded into full-blown war, with Chinese troops punching a hole through Indian lines that led straight to Delhi. The military loss was strategic and conclusive, despite China’s voluntary withdrawal.

India, in particular, Delhi, has never forgotten the humiliation, and fear of the capital being overrun by China. No leader since has criticized Nehru for his strategic blunder and overreach. That is why the border remains frozen in time. India, for the foreseeable future, will not come to the table unless China gives up claims (and actual control) to east and west.

Having shed blood to obtain the status quo, China will not agree to such terms as precondition for negotiation.

India needs a superman to courageously forge a new path distinct from the father of modern India, and come to the table as an equal, if slightly disadvantaged, party.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t appeared yet.

Does the U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo believe that Huawei’s research and development is a threat to the US national security, which is why she wants Huawei to abandon it?

Absolutely Gina Raimondo and the state department believe that the rise of Huawei is a security threat to America and the world.

Let me give you an example of why Americans think like this. In 2012 I was in America and found a group of professionals who cycle twice a week. Everything was terrific. I purchased a second-hand mountain bike for $150 because I didn’t know how long I would stay. This is the bike I owned at the time:

Everyone in the group had nice road/racing bikes that looked something like this:

The first two months were incredible. All the males were very nice to me, the females wanted to introduce me to other females … it was love and humanity everywhere in the group.

Keeping up with fast road bikes on a heavy aluminium mountain bike was too much for me. So, one stupid day I decided to buy the below bike so I can keep up with my cycling group:

From that day forward people in the group started to distance themselves from me. People started to find me ‘rude’ and ‘arrogant’ all of a sudden. Females started to feel ‘intimidated’ in my presence. The males in the group started suggesting that maybe I was homophobic? maybe I’m misogynist?

Then they started to worry about the ‘safety’ of members of the group because of my presence.

Whenever I spoke people would become irritated, their faces would become red with anger.

When I stopped attending the group cycle meetings they became even angrier and more contemptuous of me. When I returned to cycle with them the anger and hate increased even more.

They didn’t want me in the group, and they didn’t want me to leave the group either. What I’m describing is the process of ‘ni*gerization’ that Western people put others through.

Raimondo, with most of America’s institutes, are desperately trying to ‘ni*gerize’ China.

Why don’t illegal immigrants try to go to Canada?

What is the point of foreign actors playing Americans?

I hate to say this, but the talent pool of American actors has been shrinking for years.

Most American actors came into movies through stage (like Brando) or adult television (like Burt Reynolds). They trained with good acting coaches using innovative techniques.

But now, most American actors come into movies from juvenile television. It’s a massive logistical problem, but it’s much easier to hire actors who have already had membership in the Screen Actors Guild than to try to get an actor who has trained on Broadway or at a university theatre program into the Screen Actors Guild.

And teenage American actors get virtually no training. They come into adult acting with no real background in how to act, so, when you need someone really good, it’s a really small pool of talent.

However, in Great Britain, where America draws most of its “Screen Americans”, teenagers who are on juvenile television are still in some sort of serious theatre program learning stuff like Shakespeare. They likely have theatre experience before they get into movies. They learn how to act.

Take one of my favourites, Maisie Williams.

Although she got her job as Arya Stark at the age of 14, she already had three years of experience at a performing arts academy. Prior to that, she already had dance and drama training. Americans of the same age would probably be more interested in polishing their resumes than their acting skills.

Spike Lee noted that the film Selma featured British actors in all the lead roles, including playing Martin Luther King, Jr. He was somewhat upset that a black American didn’t get the role, but had to admit that he would be hard-pressed to name a young American actor who could carry the role.

And it’s that way for many serious productions. The big American actors aren’t bad, but they don’t have the same sort of training on the whole. There are exceptions, like Robert Downey, Jr., who have outstanding acting chops, but they’re few and far between, and their number keeps shrinking.

What do you dislike most about the U.S.?

That’s right. $15,500 for one semester.

What exactly are all those fees and charges? You’ll notice my tuition (the last one on the list) is only about $7,000.

What’s the rest?

Rent—$3,345: I need a place to live, and the only way to get student loans/scholarships to cover my housing is to live on campus.Dining plan—$2,355: No kitchen means I need an on-campus dining plan. My plan is the cheapest they offer, giving me ten meals per week.STEP 161 supervision fee—$11: Presumably a fee to compensate my host teacher (or to pay for some aspect of that supervision) during my in-classroom observations.Student Capital Fee—$400: “The Student Capital Fee supports bonded facility debt service and facility operations as well as capital repair and replacement.”

[1]

I have no idea what this means.LEAF Fee—$10: “The Student Leadership for Environmental Action Fund (Student LEAF) is intended to move the campus community toward a sustainability-minded culture. This fund finances environmental improvements in campus infrastructure and educational initiatives.”Student Services Fee—$444: “Student services and support are funded by this portion of the Student Fees.”Health Insurance—$1,290: You have to have health insurance on campus. You can fill out a waiver proving you have your own health insurance and have this fee removed (which I’ll be doing).Library Fee—$70.80: “Covers print and online library materials.”Online course fee—$45: An extra fee due to the fact that I’m taking one online course. “On-Line Course Fee-online fees pay for adjunct costs resulting from increased course sections and smaller class sizes; it also funds instructional designers, development and training to enhance online course offerings.”THEA 100 and THEA 275 course fees—$40 each: Supposedly to cover the cost of materials and anything consumable used in-course (which really doesn’t exist in these courses).Theatre program fee—$128: No clue. I’m guessing it’s to fund the theatre program, which is bizarre.Technology fee—$160.80: “Used for equipping new smart classrooms, staffing and maintaining computer labs, and providing students access to academic software.”Differential tuition for theatre—$144: Theatre classes are more expensive, so we pay more in tuition to allow the university to keep having them.Tuition WUE—$6,966: My actual tuition. “Covers classroom instruction, student services, administration and facilities. Based on cost and demand, differential tuition may be charged for certain classes (Sciences/SES/Art, Business, Nursing, Theatre).”

So that’s how we get to that beautiful number of $15,449.

I’m only taking six classes—note that three (THEA 100, THEA 275, STEP 161) had extra fees attached in addition to the over $1,000 they already cost.

And on top of that, I pay an extra $250+ dollars in a program fee and differential tuition to cover the mere act of being in my major.

And, I already receive reduced tuition as a Wyoming resident. My tuition is, by default, 150% of in-state tuition, which is significantly less than out-of-state. Imagine what this bill would look like if I was from New York and not Wyoming.

“Get a job!” you say. “Stop being a lousy freeloader! Work, save up some money, and pay for it yourself!”

Let’s take a look at that— “pay for it yourself”. How possible is it for one to pay for their own college?

I did some math. The minimum wage in Colorado is $9.30/hour. If you worked 40 hours a week making $9.30 an hour, you’d have $19,344 in one year. That’s assuming you work 40 hours every single week, with no time off.

My student bill for one semester (four months of education time) is $15,500.

I could take a whole year off from college, work at the minimum wage, and if I didn’t spend a cent of it I could pay for a little more than a semester of college.

“Don’t get a minimum wage job, then!” you say. “That’s on you!”

Right. The good ol’ “Just make some more money, then” argument. See, I’ve tried that. I currently have a few jobs that pay $20 an hour. If I worked 40 hours a week at $20 an hour, I could make around $41k a year.

That’d be fine and dandy, except for the fact that I still have to go to school. At most, I can work 20 hours a week (and even that’s being optimistic).*

If I work 20 hours a week at $20/hr (which is well over both the Colorado and federal minimum wages), I could make about $20K a year.

Once again, that assumes I never have to get gas. Never go to the doctor. Never buy groceries (remember, my meal plan covers 10 meals a week. The average person eats 21). Never buy clothes. Never fix my car. Never buy shampoo.

Even then, I could afford just over a semester of college.

The days of “save your pennies from your summer job to pay for college” are long gone.

“Well, you should’ve gone somewhere cheaper. That’s on you.”

Right. Because it’s on me that the cost of going to a mid-range school three hours from home is so exorbitant.

Sure, I could’ve gone to another school. Let’s consider my less expensive options:

University of Wyoming—AKA, the only 4-year school I can get in-state tuition at.Casper College—2-year community college.

Problem with both?

I couldn’t get my degree.

As in, neither school offers an equivalent degree program. I couldn’t study to be a theatre educator at either of these schools.

So sure, I could go somewhere cheaper, but then why bother spending the money at all if I’m coming out with a degree I don’t even want?

There are lots of others, too— “Your parents should’ve been saving up” (their savings went down with the economy, yo). “You should take out loans/apply for scholarships” (done and done. Still not enough). “Not everything in life is fair” (that’s not an argument. It’s just, like, philosophical bullshit). “You need to talk to your school’s financial aid department. There are resources to help you” (Oh, if only you knew…).

I’m not saying college should be free. I’m happy to pay for it.

I’m saying that it’s insane that college prices keep rising, and there’s no clear way for young people to pay for it. I’ve already taken on $10,000 in student loans from the past year. I’ve applied for every scholarship I can find.

It’s still not enough.

Jobs are requiring college degrees, but to get a college degree, you need a damn amazing job to pay for it (or parents who can afford it).

It’s a vicious cycle. I don’t know what the solution is.

I just know that it’s one of my top complaints about the US.

I don’t need free college—I need affordable college. Please.

*Ignoring the fact that few jobs will hire you for that much without a college degree, and that my current $20/hr gigs are really limited as to how many hours I’m allowed to work (one is max 5 hours a week).Footnotes[1]

How Undergraduate Tuition and Fees are Used

Southern Pan-Fried Chicken

A country ham (such as a “Smithfield” ham) is salt-cured, smoked and aged well. Whole country hams are expensive; it is possible, however, to buy country ham steaks. But you may also substitute thick-cut, smoked, streaky bacon for the ham in this recipe.

Ingredients

2 quarts cold water
1/2 cup kosher salt (regular table salt will make the brine too salty)
1 (3 pound) chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 quart buttermilk
1 pound lard
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup country ham pieces, or 1 thick slice country ham, cut into 1/2-inch strips (see note)
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Combine the water and the salt, stirring until salt is dissolved.
Place the chicken pieces in a bowl and pour the salt water over.
Cover and refrigerate for 8-12 hours.
Drain the chicken and rinse out the bowl it was brined in.
Return the chicken to the bowl, pour the buttermilk over and cover and refrigerate 8-12 hours.
Drain the chicken on a wire rack, discarding the buttermilk.
Meanwhile, prepare the fat for frying: put the lard, butter and country ham into a heavy skillet or frying pan. Cook over low heat for 30-45 minutes, skimming as needed, until the butter ceases to throw off foam and the ham is browned.
Use a slotted spoon to remove the ham carefully from the fat. (Reserve the fried ham for another use, such as snacking.)
Just before frying, increase the temperature to medium-high and heat the fat to 335 degrees F.
Blend together the flour, cornstarch, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl or on wax paper.
Dredge the drained chicken pieces thoroughly in the flour mixture, then pat well to remove any excess flour.
Slip some of the chicken pieces, skin-side-down, into the heated fat. Do not overcrowd the pan; fry in batches, if necessary. Cook for 8-10 minutes on each side, until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through.
Drain thoroughly on a wire rack or on crumpled (not flat) paper towels. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

As a doctor or nurse, what’s the saddest scene you have ever witnessed?

As an ED nurse years ago, middle of the night – MVA. We got the 6- or 7-year-old boy who had 2 broken femurs. Dad was dying in surgery at a huge trauma hospital in Portland. He had been driving drunk and went through the windshield. Mom didn’t have custody as she was an addict and lived who knows where. The room was flooded with people – two surgeons, police, nurses, etc. while I spoke on the wall phone to the surgical team at the trauma hospital. Went into my little guy’s room and I wrapped my arm around his head to shield him from the chaos and bright lights and leaned in to ask him how he was doing. He asked me if his dad was dead.

I asked him what made him ask that. He said that he saw his dad and thought he might be dead. I told him, “Yes, I think he did die.” (I knew by then he had.) He said (without tears) “He can’t be dead.” “If he’s dead that means I have nowhere to live.”

I got the very real feeling that this little man had been through too much in his short life already. We did a brief meeting before he went to surgery and I shared with everyone what he said. He did well in surgery and I found out that within 2 days he had 5 offers for actual adoption. One was one of the surgeons, one a firefighter, and one a paramedic, and two nurses. He ended up living three hours away with his maternal grandmother. I never forgot that little boy. Rough.

Arriving with only the clothes on your back

When I left my retirement in Arkansas and flew to China, the airlines lost my baggage. So when I arrived in China, all that I had was a backpack, some of my most important papers, my laptop computer, and what I was wearing.

At that time, and to this day, I wear very comfortable clothes on planes during air travel. And given TSA back in the State’s, my clothes were simple;

Black hospital scrubs, and black slippers with black socks.

So, here I am arrived in China, with literally only the clothes on my back.

And for the first month or so, I had to live and wear in them until I got settled in, reestablished, and start earning money again.

In hindsight, it’s kind of funny.

Everyone, including my wife, wanted me to toss those things and never wanted to see me in them ever again. As a result, she went on a spending spree and outfitted me right and proper.

…

I don’t know what the fuck I was doing when I planned this cluster-fuck of a life, but I’ve got to tell you all, it’s almost a parody. Seriously.

Did I have a sense of humor, or was my “crew” trying to make a point when they planned my pre-birth world-line template?

I wonder…

…how many meme’s have I personally experienced in this life? Hum….

Enterprise Under Attack from the Suliban Part II

Stra Trek Enterprise Season 2 Episode 16 Future Tense

Carolina Hot Dog Chili

Ingredients

1 1/4 pounds ground beef
1 large onion (about 1 cup chopped)
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon cider or white vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper (optional)

Instructions

Place the beef, onion and 2 cups of water in a Dutch oven or soup pot over high heat. Bring to the water to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and stir to begin breaking up the meat.
Add the tomato paste, ketchup, chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, salt and pepper, if using. Stir well until the tomato paste and ketchup are dissolved and the meat is mostly broken up.
Continue to cook at a simmer, stirring about every 5 minutes, about 15 minutes. As the chili thickens, you may need to reduce the heat to medium-low or low so it doesn’t stick. Refrigerate, covered, up to 2 days, or freeze in small freezer bags for up to 6 months.
Thaw or reheat in a microwave, stirring often.

If you want a finer texture, you can cool the chili at least 20 minutes and process in a blender or food processor for 30 to 45 seconds.

Are India’s GDP numbers intentionally misleading, suggesting that the country is faking its economic data?

I don’t really see GDP numbers too closely

They may fudged be but by very small margins

Say tomorrow we are at $ 4.981 trillion, then it’s possible we may fudge to somehow make it appear that we have reached $ 5 Trillion

There is no conceivable way that any GDP number is off beyond say 2% at the most

The Point is Economic Development can be seen with your own eyes and not on paper

Take UP

I visited UP and traveled to quite a few places

I saw nothing to indicate bountiful prosperity

There was nothing to indicate the hum of a busy growing economy

Sure they had nice roads and a lot of nice commercial and techno parks but frankly it looked like more like

If you build it they will come

That’s what happens when you don’t develop your own populace with good secondary and tertiary education and instead rely on only investments under gun point or unrealistic concessions by the state

Now Take Bangalore or Hyderabad or Chennai

They are buzzing with activity and you can see that the economies are doing well

The Problem in India is that a few cities and few hubs are carrying the weight of the entire nation

There are 3 Key points in a booming economy

Unemployment is pretty low
Savings are pretty high (>= 36%)
Inflation is typically 50% of RORR

India has neither of the three

Unemployment is way above the target 5%
Gross Savings are 30.20%
RORR is 7% and Inflation is 5.05% which is way above the 3.50% target

That alone tells me there are pending issues that need looking into

As a teacher, what’s the most personal thing a child has told you about their parent(s) that they definitely were not supposed to mention?

I taught a shop class in an inner city high school…One day as the students were changing into work clothes I noticed some relatively new wounds on Jerome’s back…I politely and discreetly took him into my office and asked him what happened…He told me his step father had tied him to a metal bed spring and beat him with a coathanger…I knew where he lived so when school was out for the day I went to his apt and his stepdad was there…I proceeded to beat the living shit out of that evil man…And told him if he wasn’t gone before Jeromes bus got there I’d finish the job…AND call the cops…I drug his worthless carcass down to his pos car and he drove off…never to be seen again. Jerome stayed in my class for the full 3 years and graduated high school…Neither of us ever mentioned it…30 years later Jerome still calls me to visit ever so often…

The US Bankrupting Itself on Wars -w/ Ron Paul, Alexander Mercouris & Glenn Diesen

Oh HELL yeah! The dignified and stately Dr. Ron Paul is one of the very best Americans living. Thanks very much for this, you guys.

A laughable 89% of the Chinese people actually trust their authoritarian government! Where are the renaining 11% who do not?

Laughable because you are ignorant and naive like a 5 years old kid. If you know the truth you will be the one of the 89% too.

While the U.S. real standard of living deteriorated back to the 1960’s Chinese real standard of living grew 30 times in 40 years! While 35% in the U.S. has no health insurance, every single Chinese gets free health care. While the U.S. kids get into debts for just getting into college Chinese are provided totally free college tuition.

Chinese average life expectancy overtook the U.S. in the last 2 years straight. While your infrastructure is crumbling China has the latest state of the art ports, airports, highways, high speed railways. While your trains travel at snail speed China’s high speed trains travel at 400 KM per hour.

Do you still laugh now? To be honest everyone in the world is laughing at you. You want to know about the 11% so that you can orchestrate a coup? Organised a protest and a demonstration? Do a colour revolution? And you think the Chinese are fools to give you the information? Just because you have a IQ of a snail doesn’t mean others are the same like you!

Tex-Mex Biscuits

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup enriched hominy grits or quick grits
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
1/2 cup butter or margarine
4 ounces Monterey Jack cheese (with or without jalapeno peppers), shredded
1/2 cup dairy sour cream
1/4 cup milk

Instructions

Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet.
Combine dry ingredients; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Stir in cheese.
Combine sour cream and milk; add to dry ingredients, mixing just until moistened. Shape dough to form a ball; knead gently on lightly floured surface 10 to 12 times. Roll dough to 3/4 inch thickness. Cut with floured 2-inch biscuit cutter. Place 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheet.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Yield: 12 biscuits

Have you ever applauded an act of vigilante justice?

This is Kalinka Bamberski, who used to be a 14-year-old from France.

During the summer of 1982, she briefly stayed in Lindau, Germany, with her mother and her stepfather, Dr. Dieter Krombach.

On July 9th of that summer, Krombach killed Kalinka. The next day, Krombach told the authorities that he simply found Kalinka dead in the morning.

Autopsies could not determine the exact cause of her death, and Krombach got away with the murder. This led Kalinka’s biological father, Andre, to grow suspicious and to investigate further.

Despite the authorities’ failure to discern the exact cause of Kalinka’s death, there were multiple red flags in the original autopsy: Kalinka’s corpse had multiple injection marks, fresh blood stains and a “whitish substance” around the genitals, and indigested food near the throat suggesting that she died soon after a meal.

Andre, rightfully suspecting that his daugher was raped, called for an additional investigation. This time, the authorities discovered clear evidence that, right before her death, Kalinka was injected with a drug named “Kobalt-Ferrlecit,” a substance capable of causing immediate discomfort and nausea in a victim. Andre pressed a case against Krombach, but the German courts judged that there was insufficient evidence for an indictment. Despite multiple red flags, Krombach was not indicted.

In 1995, however, the French courts officially sentenced Krombach in absentia to 15 years in prison for manslaughter.

Furthermore, later in 1997, Krombach admitted in a German trial that he had drugged and raped another girl using Kobalt-Ferrlecit, the same substance found in Kalinka’s corpse. Numerous other girls came forth, saying that Krombach had also raped them using the same drug. For this, the German courts took away his medical license, but did not sentence him to prison.

Unfortunately, in 2001, Krombach’s French manslaughter conviction of 1995 was annulled by the European Court of Human Rights, the reason being that Krombach was not capable of defending his case in that French trial. Not only was the 1995 French verdict annulled, but all attempts to extradite him for retrial were rejected.

But for Andre, the case was not over. Andre was deeply frustrated at the international legal system’s failure to bring justice; he decided he was going to take justice into his own hands.

In 2009, Andre and three other men secretly kidnapped Krombach from Germany, beat him up, and left him tied up near a French police station, allowing the French authorities to detain him and honor their 1995 decision.

Despite Germany’s requests to bring him back, French officials and courts ignored these complaints and officially re-tried Krombach.

With other victims testifying that Krombach had injected them with the same drug to rape them, on October 22, 2011, Krombach was finally sentenced to 15 years in prison for manslaughter.

Kalinka’s father, Andre, was convicted and given a suspended sentence for abducting Krombach.

But in my opinion? Andre Bamberski was a heroic father who spent 30 years of his life to bring justice for his daughter’s death. Yes, he broke the law — but refusing to convict Krombach earlier and ignoring the mountatin of evidence against him was a clear failure in the international justice system.

For Andre’s determination and commitment, I applaud him.

Prof. Richard Wolff on American Labor: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Pretty good and very interesting.

If China is indeed collapsing, why is every leader visiting China? Why is the US commerce secretary visiting China?

Reality vs Propaganda

The USA imports almost $ 560 Billion of Goods from China

Guess the retail value of these goods?

$ 1.567 Trillion or almost $ 1.6 Trillion

This means a US importer who pays $ 27.50 for a Jeans from China sells it for $ 69.99 retail

A Laptop imported for $ 700 from China sells retail for $ 1199

A Burnished Ebony Table Factory made. Imported with 6 Chairs for $ 121 from China sells retails for $ 249

Hence $ 564 Billion of Imports from China makes around $ 1.6 Trillion to the US Importers

1.6 Trillion Dollars Or around 6.5% of US GDP

Now let’s do the opposite

The US exports $ 165 Billion to China

Guess their retail value?

Around $ 255–260 Billion only

Why?

Because China exports low cost products manufactured with CONTINUOUS VALUE ENHANCEMENT from Market pricing and Brand pricing and Technology pricing

A $ 37 Purse of Calf Leather retails for $ 360 with a Gucci brand name

A $ 3.10 T Shirt retails for $ 43.99 with a Tommy Hilfiger Brand name

However US exports products with almost ZERO VALUE ENHANCEMENT POTENTIAL

Soybeans, Wheat, Corn, Semiconductors, Advanced Machinery etc

There is very little value enhancement due to market pricing or Brand pricing or Technology Pricing

Even a Boeing makes at the most a couple of million dollars commission to a Chinese Importer while earning nearly 100 Million Dollars to the US Economy

You see right?

No Nation on earth can export $ 564 Billion worth of goods to the USA

It’s estimated that at thrice the manufacturing potential today – India, Vietnam and Mexico combined can export $ 338 Billion worth of Goods by 2030

This that’s around $ 226 Billion of Exports but also around $ 700 Billion of final retail goods

That’s the amount that US players and entities will be deprived off if US entirely decouples from China EVEN IN 2030 with India, Vietnam and Mexico tripling their Industrial Output

Even then US Economy and it’s players will be deprived of $ 700 Billion Dollars which by 2030 could be around $ 1 Trillion with inflation

That’s a lot of jobs, lots of payments GONE

Meanwhile China?

China may lose around $ 564 Billion of Exports in decoupling

At 0.4% inflation

That’s $ 580 Billion vs $ 1 Trillion

So even in the worst case scenario of US entirely decoupling from China and India, Mexico and Vietnam tripling their Industrial output today – China would lose $ 580 Billion while US would lose a whopping $ 1 Trillion

At normal Industrial output for these three nations, US would lose $ 2.4 Trillion or nearly 4.5 times as much as China stands to lose as an economy

Same for EU

Same for ASEAN

Same for India

Its why Raimondo visits China

It’s why 27 Chinese entities were removed from a Blacklist recently

The Media has been spinning fiction and propaganda so far and China hasn’t cared

Now if China decides to take their revenge by drastically cutting off key exports of say $ 100 Billion, then US cannot source more than $ 30 Billion from other countries

China loses $ 100 Billion but US loses around $ 210 Billion of value to it’s economy

That’s 44% of the projected $ 470 Billion that the US Economy hopes to enhance itself this year at 1.8% growth

So Raimondo says

Please keep trading with us as usual. Ignore what we say in our media. Our contention with you is for the $ 10–15 Billion portion of our Trade, let’s keep the balance $ 685–690 Billion of Trade as normal

That’s why China doesn’t need to visit everybody and reassure anyone much

Everyone loses far far more by decoupling with China

So ultimately it creates a slow down globally where China albeit having very low growth still beats the rest of the world

Solving The Most Mysterious Children in History

THREE STORIES: The Most Mysterious Children in History In 12th century England, two children were found lost in a forest.

They spoke only gibberish, wore strange clothing and had bright green skin.

When the children finally learned to speak English, they described where they were from.

And that’s why, after almost 1,000 years, people still talk about The Green Children of Woolpit.

In 1828, a teenage boy was shuffling through a public square in Nuremburg. He seemed confused and disoriented.

He had trouble walking and speaking. When police finally approached him, he was holding an envelope containing two letters.

And those letters sparked the mystery of Kaspar Hauser.

In April 1922, in Brittany, France, 2-year-old Pauline Picard went missing. A massive search turned up nothing.

The family was losing hope. A month later, Pauline was found wandering around a village over 200 miles away.

Though her parents were overjoyed to have her back, they soon realized something wasn’t quite right with their daughter. These are three unsolved cases of the most mysterious children in history.

POMPEO said ‘Covert operations, ousting democratically elected governments, inciting revolts and supporting transnational companies are run of the mill operations for the CIA.’ WHO GAVE THEM THOSE RIGHTS?

We did, all us minions. America was once set up having a government described as ‘a government of the people, for the people, by the people’, but the people couldn’t be bothered and went home, leaving ‘those who shouldn’t be’ in charge. Industry filled the vacuum created by our conspicuous absence, which over time gave way to the American Industrial Military Complex which runs the country today.

Now industry owns the puppet show called ‘Democracy’, which in no way should be confused with actual democracy, and yet we continually pretend they are one and the same, and that our vote counts, even though voting either left or right basically changes nothing of significance. Results may vary but the rich are always always always the primary beneficiary, either way they lean.

We demand and receive empty platitudes, and are duly amused by military antics across the globe, ignoring the fact that such behavior merely mirrors us here at home, and that the same shit is pulled on our own, until folks like Snowden and Assange et al dare to shatter our deliberately cultivated ignorance. No matter, we have ways to deal with such moral assholes, as throwing them under the bus in various ways has become a time honored national pastime.

So, when you want to look at who’s at fault, go look in the mirror. When you wish to look deeper, check out your family albums. We are the bloody problem, and as we are paying the price, with record numbers driven from their homes in this rich nation, and yet, still we refuse to accept responsibility for our democracy, knowingly leaving it in the manipulative hands of industry, which is exactly how to kill actual democracy, regardless of the puppet show which operates by the same name.

Whether you love Trump or hate him, he reflects us, and had he actually run the country as we pretend to believe, he would have surely killed it, as would Biden. We need to wake the fuck up to the reality we have created, and make the necessary changes within ourselves which can then be reflected through our leadership, before it’s too late, if it’s not already.

But who among us want to actually be the change we want to see?

Who?

What scary gut feeling did you have that turned out to be true?

Many years ago, when I was living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, I had a work commute on a typical Monday through Friday schedule.

One evening on my way home from work, I turned off a main street into the side streets that would lead me the rest of the way home. It was a very familiar drive and I knew each block well – which ones had a stop sign for me, which ones had stop signs for the cross traffic, and which ones had four-way stops. I was cruising the last few blocks toward home and had no more stop signs, so I was probably going about 35 mph when suddenly it was as if someone inside my head said, “Slow down!” It was so forceful and unexpected, I did just that. “Slower!” was the next command, and then again, “Slower!”

I was just about to chalk it all up to being a little kookie after a long day, when suddenly someone driving a vehicle on the cross street blew through their stop sign at an alarming rate of speed. I am 100% certain if I had not slowed down, I would have been T-boned by someone doing a good 60–70 mph. The close call freaked me out. I’m not a religious person, but it sure felt like I had a guardian angel that day.

Dead For 7 Minutes; Man Is Shown Past Lives During Incredible NDE

Have you ever had a bad gut feeling about someone and it was right?

Yes. My dad’s best friend growing up has a son my age. We were really close as kids but they moved away and I didn’t talk to him for years. When we were teens, my dad’s friend came to visit. Something about his son literally made my skin crawl. I was left alone at home with him and my three young siblings while the parents went out for the night and I was nearly frantic trying to ensure he did not have a moment alone with my siblings. When our parents returned I told them something was wrong with the son, and to please not leave me alone with him again. My dad was upset and demanded to know why I would say that, did the son do something? He honestly hadn’t actually done or said anything that I could pin this feeling on. So I told them, I think my animal brain just knows a predator when I see one. My dad thought I was being dramatic but my mom believed me and made sure we weren’t alone with the son for the rest of their visit. About a year later it turned out the son got caught in the act of raping his niece. He told the police he was glad he was caught because he couldn’t stop himself. My dad has never doubted my intuition since.

Tony Confronts Tony Blundetto – The Sopranos HD

When Tony B looks up after Tony S said someone got a look at the guy. That’s the reaction of someone who did it. Split second panic and then cool as a breeze. Steve Buscemi nailed it.

What work secret did you accidentally find out that changed everything?

I worked for a major retail company, in a team running the mainframe.

One task was keeping the (huge, size of a car trailer) printers running.

Some printouts were for the board, and these we were told to check for misprints and missing pages.

We’d just been told that we couldn’t have any pay rises since there wasn’t any money in the budget. Inflation was running high, so not getting a pay rise really meant a pay cut.

The company annual account report was printed and I was checking it before putting it in internal mail.

I noticed that the IT department budget was underspent by half a million!

No money for pay rises!

Showed printout to my manager. He ran off with it to the copier. Multiple copies of the page showing the surplus in the IT department were placed around the department.

We got pay rises.

Ralph Cifaretto Refuses Tony’s Drink – The Sopranos HD

Why is Huawei able to get a large number of chips to release new mobile phone products like Mate 60?

SMIC has been making 7nm custom GPUs for the past 2–3 years, mostly for crypto customers who couldn’t get in the TSMC queue.

This filled real market demand that other players didn’t, or couldn’t.

SMIC used this opportunity to refine its process, on the quiet.

Huawei, in the meantime, found willing partners to share talent and resources, in a concerted effort to save the high-tech industry on the mainland from American destruction through the threat of sanction.

How did Huawei et. al. find the tools necessary for chip design, especially the GPU? What black magic did Huawei use to improve the transistor geometry? How did they penetrate the Qualcomm 5g patent wall? I don’t know. Neither does my friend in TSMC. It’s a separate ecosystem now, and quite independent.

The fog of war has descended, but the outcome point to solidarity across the ranks, with competitors working together like they are part of a conglomerate.

The Chinese are capable of cooperation on unheard of scale, because of long history.

The Mate 60 Pro is merely a first step, lacking polish and maturity. What’s coming though, will be a deluge.

Alien Artifacts on Mars: What NASA doesn’t want you to know

This is fun. But don’t take too seriously.

Is it true that Huawei phones are monitored by the Chinese government?

Of course. The Chinese government really wants to know how many times you call your girlfriend every week, and which are your favourite games, and which pop stars you follow on Instagram, and most of all they are interested in the photos of your meals that you regularly post on Facebook.

These are vital secrets so critical for the national security of the USA, so the evil communist spies from China will be watching intently. Remember that well, and be careful! The everyday events of your online life have the devastating potential to alter the direction of global geopolitics and the history of the world, basically.

How Huawei Mate60 5G Overcome US Sanctions? | Time to invest in Chinese tech stocks

100 sanctions. Imprisonment of it’s CEO. Mandatory shutdown of partner factories in the West.

Huawei survived!

This is really good.

Are you worried that China’s new $40 billion state fund for semiconductor manufacturing will disrupt the global supply chain for advanced chips?

Why worry US. Remember most Yanks still think Chinese live in caves and eat bats! To these hubris Yanks China can only make T-shirts and toys. And U.S. can deprived them technologies and send them back to the Stone Age.

Well, what happened? While the U.S. is still in the midst of ordering and coercing Taiwan to build its chip plant to manufacture 7nm chips that it thinks China is unable to do. To the horrors of U.S. officials. It took a mere 3 years for China to. Make it and now inside the Huawei Mate 60!

Where are the neocons who convince Biden to spend a trillion in losses, in subsidies, in coercions, in tax breaks, in new shining plants, in luring specialist to the U.S. only to see that China get it done in no time and made products that are not only comparable but better, faster and cheaper!

Huawei may have developed its own 5G chip to bypass US sanctions

Huawei, under tight US sanctions since 2019, started selling its latest Mate 60 Pro smartphone this week, raising speculation about its 5G capabilities. Some online reviews claim the device comes with the Kirin 9000s chip to support 5G and satellite calls.

The US and some European governments have labelled the Chinese giant a threat to national security, despite the company’s denial. Huawei had restricted access to US components and software, including from foreign chipmakers.

Early this year, Japan and the Netherlands joined the US effort to curb the export of advanced semiconductors. However, Huawei has been rumoured to be actively trying to overcome these sanctions to return to the 5G smartphone market, even resuming production on advanced chips with China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC).

Why does it matter?

Huawei’s development of its 5G chip may have implications for the tech industry, the global economy, and national security.

The smartphone launch coincides with US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s visit to Beijing, reiterating the Biden administration’s stance on export controls to China.

If the new Mate 60 Pro is confirmed to have a 5G chip, that would mark a significant achievement for the Chinese tech champion.

China’s ability to produce its own advanced chips would also announce a considerable advancement in technological capabilities and would mean a serious blow to current US measures aimed at slowing its progress.

It could inspire the country’s largest tech firms to get around US sanctions, fueling the ‘whole nation‘ endeavor to produce Chinese innovation to beat the US.

Breaking Bad – Shooting Tuco Scene (S2E2)

Why do people support Bernie Sanders?

I’ll tell you.

In the United States, I was a conservative Republican working at a wage earning job. Then, while driving for my employer, on a delivery, on the clock, at a red light I was stopped. A person who was not paying attention smashed into my stationary vehicle and totaled it, and sent me to the hospital.

The hospital bill was thousands upon thousands of dollars. My employer didn’t cover any of it. My automobile insurance replaced my new vehicle with an old one that barely ran. I ran up many thousands of dollars of medical debt that I couldn’t afford.

Note: I spent one hour at the hospital, getting one scan. I received zero actual treatment, before or after that scan. It still cost me more than I made in a year. And no, the insurance didn’t cover it. Insurance that would have covered it, would have taken up half of my wages in a given month.

Cut to a few years later. I am now happily married, living in Norway. Still an American citizen. My wife is Norwegian and the pay is much, much better here, because they have things called unions. I literally earn three times as much as I did in Florida, working the same type of job. Scratch that, I was in management in the USA. Here, it’s an entry level job, no promotion. I still make far more money than I did in the states.

But the point is, whenever I need to see a doctor now, I just go. Whenever I need an operation, I can afford it. Whenever I am sick, I take time off. Because over here, in Norway, they have single payer universal healthcare.

I’ve never seen a doctor more often than I have since moving to Norway. I’ve gotten medical conditions diagnosed that I never would have found the money for before. I’ve gotten sick leave from work when I have been ill. Seeing a doctor tends to cost less than I make in a day, and if I go over a certain amount in a year, I can pay nothing.

Instead of getting bills from a doctor for thousands of dollars, I end up paying around 30 bucks out of pocket each time.

The doctor earns plenty. They make slightly less money here, but are still among the highest paid people in society. The citizens are healthier, they live longer. They take their health more seriously. Norway spends more per patient than almost any other country in the world, and they cover every citizen, every resident, completely.

Norway still spends only about half as much as US citizens are forced to spend on their healthcare.

The reason is because healthcare is considered a right here, like getting a public school education. People don’t go without simply because they’re poor.

And as a result, lifespans and healthcare outcomes and healthcare expenses are all a better outcome or a cheaper deal here in Norway.

Bernie Sanders is one of the few politicians in my native United States who understands that progressive ideas like universal healthcare would greatly enhance the lives of my fellow citizens.

I care about my fellow citizens, and I’d like for my son to be able to live in the USA someday, as he is born to a US citizen and he can certainly go far there.

The problem is, if he decides to come to the USA; there won’t be a union fighting for him against corporate greed. There will be greatly reduced wages. And if he gets hurt, sick, or otherwise needs medical care, he will likely need to have far more money than he earns in order to get that care.

That’s ridiculous.

Of course, he could just get a college education (something that is free in Norway) and then he could afford the outrageous healthcare prices in the USA.

But if he wanted to get such an education in the USA, he could find himself a hundred thousand dollars in debt just for college alone, in a shitty economic downturn, without even the benefit of having a place to live. Throw on a mortgage payment on top of that, and he would be downright stupid to deliberately choose the USA over Norway.

The difference is that Norway governs for its citizens and certain things are prioritized here, like education and healthcare.

Whereas in the USA most of the money you spend in taxes goes towards prepping for world war 3 and giving subsidies to already profitable corporations, and then giving them loopholes where they don’t have to pay any corporate taxes at all. And then billionaires pay for senators to give them even more tax breaks personally, and then they use that money that should be funding your government services to bankroll candidates for the Republican ticket that will never, ever do anything to help a working class person.

I support Bernie Sanders because he’s spent decades representing working class people, without ever selling out. It’s a shame people keep rejecting him in favor of billionaires who bail themselves out on the taxpayer’s dime like Donald Trump.

Norway isn’t alone. Basically any other modern, western nation has a universal healthcare system of some kind, and doesn’t shit on the poor like the USA does under Republican rule. Needless to say, I don’t think much of my former political party. They haven’t done anything for any working person in at least 4 decades. I was a fool to support them at all when I was younger. I believed their lies, basically.

China’s Punishes Japan, Cancels $154 4 Billion Order!

https://youtu.be/Xwrfk3eD3bc

Is the Huawei Mate 60 Pro chip equal to the latest iPhone chip or even better?

The Mate 60 is superior to the performance of the Iphone 13 and is on par with the performance of Iphone 14

Yet the Mate 60 is expected to be half a generation below the Iphone 15

The Price of the Mate 60 however is at least 3000 Yuan lesser than the Iphone 15 and given the mild differences in performance between the two, the market for the mate 60 is likely to zoom and surge and definitely affect the market for the Iphone 15

I believe Iphone will lose around 15% of it’s present market share in China to Huawei due to the Mate 60 and the Mate 60 Pro Plus to be released in 2024 April

Saudi & Russia Have CHANGED The Game!

How come some of these parents did not discipline their children at an early age and then as they get older and get more and more into trouble they end up having to either go to jail or prison because they weren’t raised up by parenting skills 101?

I’ve often told this story:

As a child, I was an incorrigible thief. Absolutely nothing could stop me.

I stole books. We had no local library, no school library, and no money to buy books. And I WANTED TO READ! (That may have been why I developed the habit of re-reading books.) I also stole art supplies, but that wasn’t quite the same problem, because you didn’t need a new set of pastels every week. When I was caught, I was punished — usually beat, because that was punishment in Little Italy in the 1960s.

My brother also stole. He tended towards candy and comic books. He also got beat when he got caught.

When I turned 16 I got a job, and I never had to steal a book again. Within three months I had enough books (and money) to build my first bookshelf. My current bookshelf, which is about half the size of its maximum ever, is 13′ long and 7′ high. I built that one, too.

I don’t steal art supplies, either. I order them online.

My brother decided stealing was fun, and meant he didn’t have to work. He made a living illegally hooking up electric lines after the power was shut off; later, he added cable TV installations. And he didn’t need a full-time job, ever.

Same parents, same beatings, same reason — poverty. When I had a choice, I stopped stealing. When he had a choice, he became a better thief. Good parenting helps, but nothing will tell you why a child turned out the way they did.

Clear interference shown in docs leaked to Mintpress

This is pretty good. Heads up!

Why is the Huawei Mate 60 phone called “the world’s first phone that the CIA can’t monitor”?

Theoretically, any cell phone that makes calls through a terrestrial carrier could be monitored by the CIA. It doesn’t matter whether the phone is made in the United States, South Korea or China.

After all, their signals and data must eventually be aggregated into the operator’s computer room and lines.

However, Mate60 is so unique that it is the first mobile phone in the world that can send short messages and make calls directly through artificial satellites. Previous similar products required the help of ground operators for transit.

Some people may say: CIA will also monitor satellites! Of course.

But what if these satellites are not operated by Americans?

Yes, if two people hold Mate60 at the same time, they can rely on a series of artificial satellites in space for global communication that do not rely on the United States. Perfectly avoiding every link that the CIA may touch.

The Future of the WORLD is here in CHINA!

A new trend: Leading young Chinese physicists, engineers refuse to study, work in the US

While many Chinese scientists and engineers have returned to China after working years in the US, there is a newer trend which just came to my attention: Young Chinese star physicists and engineers are refusing to go to US universities and companies for study and then work, and are choosing to do their post-graduate study and work in China.

Why?

They have seen how research and product patents are owned by US universities and companies, and are used against Chinese companies and interests if a tech war breaks out.

They do not want their inventions used against Chinese companies and interests, so they choose to stay in China.

Huang Qianqian 黄芊芊 is a leading student and researcher on electricity consumption in chips, who went to Beijing University for undergraduate work, and is now doing graduate work there. In spite of being offered full scholarships to US universities, she decided to stay in China to do her work. She already has several patents under her name.

The US wanted decoupling; it is getting decoupling.

Douglas Macgregor: They Moved Past The Border!

https://youtu.be/L8QFXPEfn4c

ISRAEL TO DEPORT ALL BLACKS BACK TO AFRICA!

World Hal Turner

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for plans to immediately deport Blacks out of Israel and back to Africa.

Plans should be drawn up to remove all African migrants from Israel after groups of Eritreans were involved in a violent clash in Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says.

He also wants the migrants involved in the demonstration to be deported immediately.

His remarks came a day after rival groups of Eritreans clashed in bloody protests that left dozens of people injured.

The groups, supporters and opponents of Eritrea’s government, faced off with construction lumber, pieces of metal and rocks, smashing shop windows and police cars.

Israeli police in riot gear shot tear gas, stun grenades and live rounds while officers on horseback tried to control the protesters.

The violence broke out near the Eritrean embassy when protesters were stopped from reaching the building ahead of a cultural event set to take place there.

The issue of migrants has long divided Israel and the latest violence has brought it back to the fore.

“We want harsh measures against the rioters, including the immediate deportation of those who took part,” Mr Netanyahu said.

He requested that ministers present him with plans “for the removal of all the other illegal infiltrators,” and noted in his remarks that the Supreme Court struck down some measures meant to coerce the migrants to leave.

Under international law, Israel cannot forcibly send people back to a country where their life or liberty may be at risk.

About 25,000 African migrants live in Israel, mainly from Sudan and Eritrea, who say they fled conflict or repression.

Israel recognizes very few as asylum seekers, seeing them overwhelmingly as economic migrants, and says it has no legal obligation to keep them.

Stray Cat Follows Every Stranger and Asking to Take her Home Until This Happened

Heartwarming.

Media Say … Gloom And Doom In China

The New York Times, and other western media, are running a ‘doom and gloom in Xi’s economy’ campaign.

The latest entry is this piece:

China’s Economic Pain Is a Test of Xi’s Fixation With Control

The core claim is this:

Consumers are gloomy. Private investment is sluggish. A big property firm is near collapse. Local governments face crippling debt. Youth unemployment has continued to rise. The economic setbacks are eroding Mr. Xi’s image of imperious command, and emerging as perhaps the most sustained and thorny challenge to his agenda in over a decade in power.

But lets look at the sources the author quotes to make up ‘evidence’ for his claims:

Neil Thomas, a fellow at the Asia Society’s Center for China Analysis, said in an interview
Some experts say …
not all observers believe that China’s economy is in a sharp downward spiral. But …
Chinese internet users circulated an essay by a retired Hong Kong businessman, Lew Mon-hung …
Liu Shijin, a retired senior Chinese government economist, said …
said Alicia García Herrero, the chief economist for Asia-Pacific at Natixis
said Bert Hofman, director of the East Asian Institute at National University of Singapore
said Ms. García Herrero, the economist
Some Chinese economists and former officials have warned
Lou Jiwei, a former minister of finance said in a recent video interview with Caixin

The author of the gloom and doom piece is:

Chris Buckley, the Times’s chief correspondent in China, where he has lived for most of the past 30 years

If Chris Buckley lives in China why doesn’t he quote even one person who is really involved in China’s economy or policy making?

Isn’t there any active Chinese politician or Chinese CEO or Chinese economist or Chinese worker he could quote?

Why is he quoting an Asia Society fellow?

Founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller 3rd, Asia Society is a nonpartisan, nonprofit institution with major centers and public buildings in New York, Hong Kong, and Houston, and additional locations in Los Angeles, Manila, Melbourne, Mumbai, New Delhi, Paris, San Francisco, Seattle, Seoul, Sydney, Tokyo, Washington, D.C., and Zurich.

Why is he mentioning the disgraced Lew Mon-hung?

In 2016, he was found guilty and imprisoned after being found guilty of perverting the course of justice by asking Leung, in letters and emails, to stop the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) from investigating him.

Why is he quoting the Vice-something professor of this or that Liu Shijin?

Former Vice-President (Vice-Minister), Development Research Center. Currently, Vice-Chairman, China Development Research Foundation.

Why Bert Hofman, the Dutch ‘expert’ of the EU financed Mercator lobby?

Why ask a Spanish ‘economist’ from a French investment bank?

Natixis is a French corporate and investment bank created in November 2006 from the merger of the asset management and investment banking operations of Natexis Banques Populaires (Banque Populaire group) and IXIS (Groupe Caisse d’Epargne).

Natixis provides financial data for the ‘Markets’ section on the news channel, Euronews. On October 26, 2010, Natixis Investment Managers (NIM) has acquired a majority stake in asset management start-up ‘Ossiam’.

Why use some other outlets interview with the retired Lou Jiwei without giving this (2019) context?:

Lou Jiwei, who has long been seen as a liberalizing force in China, an advocate of market reform and international openness. He served as finance minister, ran the country’s massive sovereign wealth fund, and has palled around with western economists since the 1980s. But recently he made a prediction that contained a startling phrase: At a forum in Beijing, according to reporting in the South China Morning Post, he said: “The next step in the frictions between China and the United States is a financial war (jinrong zhan). The U.S. has been hijacked by nationalism and populism, so will do everything in its power to use bullying measures [and] long-arm jurisdiction.”

In this financial war, he continued, the U.S. will exploit its dominance of the international financial system to hurt China—and China will fight back.

Now back to what matters:

Godfree Roberts @GodfreeTrh – 11:17 UTC · Sep 3, 2023

REALITY: Only four economies have ever grown by $1.5 trillion in a year, and 2023 will see the fifth. All five boom years are Chinese, of course. Its economy is booming and so are wages: 4.7% nominal rise last year, 4.2% after inflation. Bwahahah.

FT: China’s economic slowdown reverberates across Asia https://ft.com/content/…

bigger

But it’s all gloom and doom in China. The NYT says so.

Posted by b on September 6, 2023 at 8:23 UTC | Permalink

Tex-Mex Baked Potatoes

Ingredients

4 baking potatoes
1 pound lean ground beef
1 (12 ounce) jar mild or hot salsa
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
1 tablespoon chopped stuffed green olives
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup thinly sliced iceberg lettuce
Sliced tomatoes

Instructions

Scrub potatoes; pierce skin with fork. Bake at 400 degrees F until tender, about 1 hour.
Fifteen minutes before potatoes are done, sauté meat in hot skillet until all pink disappears.
Add salsa and chili powder to meat. Cover. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes.
Add green pepper and olives to meat mixture. Heat through.
Cut baked potatoes open. Spoon hot meat mixture into potatoes. Top at once with cheese so that it melts slightly.
Serve with lettuce sprinkled on top and with sliced tomatoes alongside.

Apple In Tears: China Ban Iphone In Response to U.S Sanction

In today’s video, we dive deep into the recent ban imposed by China on the use of iPhones for its government officials and its potential impact on the U.S economy. From Apple’s position in the global market to the ripple effects on allied industries, join us as we uncover the implications of this significant move.

What was the stupidest thing someone has called the police on you for?

Some years ago I was living in rural Texas. My housemates decided to raise chickens. They thought it would be “fun.” As someone who had to raise chickens in the past, I did not agree with them, but compromised because chickens were probably the least expensive and bothersome livestock they could mess with. Eventually, they got bored of the chickens, so I processed the chickens for future consumption in the front yard where the light was good. My neighbors called the local police and claimed I was conducting Satanic Rituals. Once again, this was rural Texas (no HOAs, large tracts of land with the Piney Woods for our backyards). All of these neighbors claimed to be descended from farmers and country people. They should have damn well recognized what cleaning a bunch of chickens looked like versus “Satanic Rituals.”

Has a cop ever said something to you which was completely unexpected?

Yes.

About 15 years ago I was driving through a part of Miami, Florida in my work van, which contained lots of specialized tools. My company was based out of South Georgia, and we usually didn’t work this far South, but there I was, driving through unknown territory.

I was on a very long street with stop signs every block, and I dutifully stopped at each one before proceeding. Of a sudden, as I stopped at one of the stop signs, a police car pulled up on the left side of me, lights flashing. An officer jumped out of the passenger seat and stood at my window, asking me where I was headed. I told him that I was heading to the interstate so I could make my way back North to Georgia.

The officer asked what I had in the van, and I told him a bunch of tools. Wearing a pained expression, the officer told me that he and his partner had observed me stopping at every stop sign and then he said that it was several miles to the Interstate and that I was in a very rough part of town. In fact, the officer believed that my life would be in danger if I were to stop at every stop sign, as someone may jump on / in the van, shoot me, or whatever, and take the van.

The officer ordered me not to stop at any of the stop signs between where we were and the interstate. He said I could slow down and make sure it was safe to proceed, but under no circumstances was I to stop and that if anyone tried to stop me or signal me to stop, that I should ‘floor it’ and get the hell out of there.

The officer assured me that they were radioing my vehicle description / license plate # to other officers in the area to let them know what I would be doing.

I thanked the officer and proceeded toward the Interstate, running every stop sign on the way.

PASSPORT SIS Thought She Could Talk Down To Men In Africa Like In USA

“The arrogance of US women is astounding. I live in a poor country, but that does not mean that their education is bad. Very smart people here.”

What is the extent of the U.S. dependence on China? Why is this allowed to happen? What can be done about it?

Yes you are 100% correct. The U.S. is totally dependent on the Chinese in 3 main ways.

Without the Chinese products the U.S. will suffer a 50% inflation at the very least.

Without China producing stuffs productively and efficiently for them they cannot sell a thing in the world.

Without access to the humongous Chinese market most U.S. companies will go bankrupt and out of business within a year.

Just take Apple and Tesla as an example. Without the Chinese market it will suffer a good 30% less sales. Without China making their products they will be totally uncompetitive and lose the entire world market.

What can be done about this? You can do something to avoid dependence on China but you won’t. And you can’t. You wanted the cake and eat it too. You see US wants to be the world’s baddest nation and fight wars upon wars upon wars. It needs to outspent the top 20 nations put together! If you do that much shit you need to watch your back, your side and your front, your top and your bottom too!

There lies your problem. You need to spent all your money on wars you have no more money to produce anything. You thought that your CEO can earn 100 times China’s CEO, your workers must be paid 5 times more than Chinese workers and get 10 times the Chinese benefits and the customer will pay for your excesses! But the customer won’t! Not even American customers!

It is that simple. The U.S. cannot have the cake and eat it too! The U.S. needs to choose being competitive or being hegemonic! It cannot have both. American need to decide!

You want to compete with China, do the following. Close your 800 foreign military base, turn your dozen aircraft carriers into holiday cruise! Divert your trillion dollar military budget to building U.S. infrastructure, stop spending money talking shit and doing shit spend it on building relationship with your customers. Disband NATO, CIA and NED! Ban Industrial Actions and Trade Unions!

Can you do this? I doubt so. So the U.S. will rather be dependent on China!

The Sopranos || Feelin’ Good

I am really starting to like these Sopranos themed fan videos.

Blinkin is delusional

Yesterday, Global Times critiqued the speech Blinken delivered at John Hopkins and said he decaled a New Cold War, “Blinken sounds a rallying cry for a ‘new cold war’ that US cannot win”:

The growing US’ geopolitical competition with Russia and China marks the end of the post-Cold War world order, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, speaking at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies on Wednesday. “What we are experiencing now is more than a test of the post-Cold War order. It’s the end of it,” he noted. “Decades of relative geopolitical stability have given way to an intensifying competition with authoritarian powers, revisionist powers.” This statement appears to be a rallying cry for a “new cold war.”

Since the post-Cold War order is coming to an end, what kind of new world order does the US want? Various signs indicate that the US wants major power competition and camp confrontation in order to maintain its global hegemony, even at the expense of the interests of other countries, including allies, and partner nations. However, the reality is that major power competition goes against the trend of the times and cannot solve the US’ own problems and the challenges facing the world. It will only further divide the world, leading the world to slide toward a more dangerous cliff edge.

Regarding Blinken’s remarks, there are two main points to consider. Firstly, Blinken was creating a sense of crisis in the world. The underlying message to US allies and other countries is that there are challengers, particularly China and Russia, who want to change the existing order. Secondly, Blinken’s remarks also reflect a sense of anxiety in the US. The US is attempting to slow down China’s rise through strategic competition, while hoping to sustain its hegemony without jeopardizing its own interests. However, it seems that the US has no clear solution to this dilemma.

China is one of the beneficiaries of the existing system and does not seek to challenge or subvert this order. However, the US has viewed any legitimate demand made by China, even those that reflect the reasonable demands of the majority of developing countries, as a challenge and ill-intentioned sabotage….

As for China, the US is attempting to stifle its development by imposing unlimited technological restrictions, but it is unable to completely decouple from China economically. For the US and its main allies, China is either their largest single trading partner or one of the largest. Today, the US is a reckless strategic aggressor, attempting to unite its relatively weaker strength with its allies to wage a new cold war. It should be noted that the power of US allies has declined significantly, and the unity of the “West” is crippled due to the US transitioning from a “blood donor” to a “vampire”.

There’s no way the Outlaw US Empire and its vassals can contain China or the rest of the Global South. The degree of geoeconomic dependency noted in the final paragraph above is far too much for that Bloc to overcome. The attempts made so far beginning with Trump have illustrated the damage the Empire can inflict on itself in its ill-considered policy toward China and the world. The Outlaw US Empire’s illusion of “primacy” has faded into the mists of time and is irretrievable so matter what it tries.

Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 15 2023 14:31 utc | 4

An Elderly Cat was Scratching At People’s Door, Begging for Help

My goodness!

Extraterrestrial mummies in Mexico

There is something that has been bugging me / pestering me, over the last few days. And that is the Mr. Titor saga.

I covered this time machine / dimensional vehicle elsewhere on MM.

But sure, his dates were wildly wrong, but what I want to discuss something that bugs me to no end.

When he described what 2035 looks like, Lordy… I mean it sure sounds like what the United States is shaping up to become. From the home-made videos and demise of major TV shows. To the lack of retail and big retail stores. To the emphasis on more natural and “real” music a.k.a. Oliver Anthony… it is all too strong and makes me wonder.

Certainly his ideas about world war 3 in 2008 or so were wildly off. Wrong as in catastrophically wrong. They described a world more akin to 1995, than what the world looks like today.

However…

It is his description of his vehicle, and his predictions of the future that were spot on.

…

His vehicle ran world-line slides. A crude method compared to what I was involved in with MAJestic.

And anything can happen.

And what he described… world war 3, destruction of the USA and China, and all the rest seems like it is not going to occur today. If anything, it is a balkanization of the planet into quarters, and alliances accordingly.

But the social trends are bench-marked. They seem to be occurring.

…

I am reading this as a lateral slide event.

Social and societal changes are unchanged. They are common and associated with human trend-lines.
Geo-political events, and national trends are very different.

…

You see, in all of my MAJ slides, the societal trend lines seemed to be rather constant. With some very minor changes. But the major changes were Geo-Political in nature. The factors that moved herd / mass migration events seemed to be wildly divergent.

As such, then, on this template; on this world-line base start point, we have a different frame of reference, and the United States has just gotten weaker, while China has gotten stronger…

Quite different from the John Titor narrative.

…and thus the great nuclear war was delayed with some very different outcomes manifesting.

That is what I have been thinking about.

Very different outcomes.

From what John Titor narrated to the US public in 2000.

…

No wonder Domain is in China now.

The trend lines are reaching some very dangerous cross-roads, and the switching of templates are limiting the destruction while all the evil / malevolent are trapped within certain geographical regions.

Very interesting.

Don’t you know.

…

Today.

Is it safe to say that China is pretty much public enemy#1?

Of course. China is the cause of all of the USA’s problems.

See how the white cops keep killing black people in the USA – this surely is China’s doing.

Observe the mass shootings that plague the whole of the USA – at schools, malls, supermarkets, churches, pubs, cinemas, workplaces – this too must be China’s doing.

Did you know that the USA’s literacy rate has plunged t0 78%? (Developed countries usually have a literacy rate between 95 to 100%). China must have caused this.

Look at the ever-increasing number of homeless people living in tents in the streets of the USA. We know that this is China’s fault.

US engineers say that many of the bridges and roads and other public infrastructure in the USA are “crumbling”. Why didn’t China take steps to stop this?

In the USA, even the water pipes are leaking lead into the supply of drinking water at public schools, poisoning the children. China must be blamed!

Look at how Americans hate each other! Even families stop talking to each other, because some are Democrats and some are Republicans. Once again, China is guilty.

The average life expectancy in the USA keeps dropping! Americans keep dying at a younger age. Becauae they are more and more obese these days and; their healthcare system is too expensive. Surely China had something to do with this.

Women in the USA even have problems getting birth control and abortions! The infant mortality rate AND the maternal mortality rate in the USA have fallen to the levels typically found in developing countries. Let’s blame China for this too.

But not to worry. The USA still has more gender pronouns than China. So the USA will prevail.

Southern Style Smothered Ham

Ingredients

2 slices ham, cut 1/2-inch thick (uncooked)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 onions, sliced
2 cups sliced pared apples
12 whole cloves
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup water

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place 1 slice ham in shallow baking pan; spread half the mustard on ham.
Top with onions and apples; cover with second slice of ham.
Rub remaining mustard onto meat; place cloves in fat portion of ham.
Mix sugar and water together; boil 5 minutes.
Pour syrup over ham.
Bake for 1 hour, basting with sugar and water syrup 2 or 3 times.

The Sopranos – Breaking Balls Goes Too Far

Joking around goes too far between Eugene Pontecorvo and Paulie Jr at the esplanade construction site.

Mexico Congress reveals 1,000-year-old ‘alien corpses’

Ufologist Jaime Maussan stated that scientists at the National Autonomous University of Mexico used radiocarbon dating to obtain DNA evidence from specimens found in Peru

Written by Annesha Barua –September 13th 2023 04:05 PM

Mexico, September 13: During a public hearing in the Mexico Congress, two alleged ‘alien corpses’ were unveiled, along with videos displaying UFOs and unidentified phenomena. The small mummified specimens, believed to be 1,000 years old and found in diatom mines in Cusco, Peru, were showcased in windowed boxes.

Ufologist Jaime Maussan, testifying under oath, stated that the specimens were not part of Earth’s evolution. DNA evidence and X-rays were presented during the hearing, revealing unusual characteristics such as unknown DNA and rare metal implants, including Osmium. Ryan Graves, a former US Navy pilot, was also present.

Unusual DNA and rare implants

Jaime Maussan, a journalist and ufologist, explained that the specimens had been studied at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where radiocarbon dating was used to determine their age. Comparing the DNA from the specimens to other samples, researchers found that over 30% of the DNA was “unknown.” X-rays of the bodies were displayed during the hearing, revealing the presence of “eggs” in one of the bodies and implants made of rare metals, including Osmium.

Ryan graves in attendance

Ryan Graves, the executive director of Americans for Safe Aerospace and a former US Navy pilot, was present at the hearing. He had previously testified under oath to the US Congress about the national security threat posed by unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP).

Credibility and skepticism

While the hearing took place in the Mexico Congress, it’s important to note that Jaime Maussan has been associated with ‘fake’ claims of ‘aliens’ in the past. In 2017, he was involved in the analysis of alleged mummies discovered in Peru, which were later debunked (by whom?) as the mummified remains of human children.

If the US dumps chips in the Chinese market at very low prices, how will the Chinese government react?

Unlike the White House, the China government does not interfere with the corporate behaviour of civilian companies.

The issue is essentially that as a solidly run mobile phone manufacturer you have to choose a stable supply chain.

Before the United States launched chip sanctions against China, the United States had been dumping chips into the Chinese market!

In Q1 2021, MediaTek accounted for 37% of the smartphone SoC market in China and Qualcomm 29%. The total of the two is 66%.
In Q2 2021, MediaTek accounted for 40% of China’s smartphone SoC market and Qualcomm 31%. Total 71% for both.
In Q3 2021, MediaTek accounted for 43% of the smartphone SoC market in China, Qualcomm 32%. Total 75% for both.
In Q4 2021, MediaTek accounted for 38% of the smartphone SoC market in China, Qualcomm 30%. Total 68% for both.
In Q1 2022, MediaTek accounted for 41% of the smartphone SoC market in China, Qualcomm 34%. Total 75% for both.
In Q2 2022, MediaTek accounted for 42% of the smartphone SoC market in China, Qualcomm 36%. Total 78% for both.

Now, the U.S. chip has been unable to return to the former dumping state.

Replacing a mobile phone chip is not an easy task; its software and hardware must match. Moreover, Chinese mobile phone makers have already found a new domestic chip supplier.

Business partnerships are like marriages. Once a marriage loses trust, it can never be the same again. Because there is no guarantee that you will not have a second betrayal?

It’s like if you divorced your ex-wife and regretted it so much that you wanted to remarry, but your ex-wife has already remarried, and you still want your ex-wife to divorce her current husband? Even the most arrogant person would not be so delusional.

Once you exit the Chinese market and lose market share, it is almost impossible to come back. Unless American chips are given away for free, but can chipmakers do that at 0 cost?

Developing market share costs money.

If you lose market share, you lose market share. No one’s always there for you.

What screams “I’m upper class”?

When I did a year at an English university I shared a house with girl who was from what the Brits call old money.

She dressed fashionably but never wore anything with logos. And she noticed right away that Im the same and never wear clothing with logos. She was polite to everyone from the bin man to the university cleaning staff and even if guys tried to talk to us she didn’t let them crash and burn but made it clear she was not interested in a polite way without soundy bitchy.

She always introduced me right away to her friends before getting into a conversation with them and when I had friends come over from Norway she always introduced herself using her full name which always sounded odd to me but I noticed her friends and family did the same.

She was not a girly girl either. She visited me in Norway and when my grandfather caught a salmon she grabbed the club and killed it without flinching which is very unlike 99.99 percent of British girls.

She was very observant of everything around her and used disarming charm to get people to help her with anything she needed. And I noticed it was the same with a lot of her friends from similar backgrounds.

My dads a Brit and joked to me he could smell her class the first time he visited us, I said don’t be rude and he just pointed at her wax cotton jacket hanging in the hall and said, I can smell the old money from here.

What brutal firing strategy is often used by companies?

My favorite was the trader who called his mistress on his trading phone. Big things with multiple lines of which each and every one is recorded for compliance reasons, in case a trade is contested or whatnot.

But the management wanted to get rid of him (and his rather large compensation package) so they asked him to the HR office.

Management: we want you to resign
The guy: no way, we’re in France, if you want me to go, you’ll have to pay a hefty severance package.
Management: <presses “play” />
Management: (after the record finishes) We already have a delivery guy in the lobby, if you don’t sign your wife will have the record in thirty minutes. Your choice.

The guy quickly calculated that the divorce settlement would be worth more than the severance package and resigned on the spot. The delivery guy was paid, and the delivery cancelled.

That is brutal. Almost maffia like.

Edit: I must add that it was completely illegal of course, but as they kept the record, he was not going to go to the police… the place was fun we also had a guy who was so well known for sexual harassment or worse that he had a clause in his contract to deduct any settlement with his trainees and employees from his bonus.

Edit 2 : In the same company but another country, I also witnessed a fantastic boot up the arse: the top management was thinking about replacing a MD. Just about 5 people were aware of the plan, but it leaked. So, five emails with different plans were sent. Old spy stuff. One came out.

The tantrum was spectacular and the guy was carried out by security. The head of compliance was spilling the beans. He got a good yelling and was kicked out of the building without ceremony, all in half an hour.

Did you survive a gun fight? How did it go?

Yes.

Routine traffic stop.

Stolen car with cold plates.

Driver had been drinking but unbeknownst to me, he’d walked away from our County jail farm two days earlier and committed an armed robbery earlier in the evening.

The driver pulled a Colt .357 Magnum on me.

After a few exciting minutes we exchanged gunfire at a distance of about 15 yards.

I was in an open field, he had the cover of his vehicle.

Fortunately, while I came *very* close, we missed each other.

He was captured the next morning and, eventually was sentenced to fifteen years in San Quentin.

I had nightmares for several years but they eventually went away.

Secret Hidden Tunnels found 300′ below Maui, Hawaii

Always up for a adventure We take off into the depths of Maui in search of secret passageways. Hidden in the cane fields there is gate ways into the unknown.

NATO Commences Snap “Northern Coast Exercise” in Baltic Sea

World Hal Turner

Today, Saturday September 9, 2023, NATO began a snap military exercise named “Northern Coast” in the Baltic Sea near St. Petersburg, Russia.

the “exercise” involves about 30 ships and more than 3,000 NATO member-country service members. It will, for the first time, practice how to respond to a Russian assault in the region, Germany’s navy chief said on Friday.

“We are sending a clear message of vigilance to Russia: Not on our watch,” Vice-Admiral Jan Christian Kaack told reporters in Berlin. “Credible deterrence must include the ability to attack.“

Troops from all NATO countries on the Baltic Sea, plus soon-to-be member Sweden and non-Baltic allies the U.S., Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, will train side by side. They will practice amphibious operations and strikes from sea to land.

It is Russia they will be practicing to attack. Even the name of the exercise, “Northern Coast” is a direct reference to St. Petersburg, Russia, as seen on the map below:

The U.S. navy will send the Mesa Verde into the drills, Kaack said, a ship of more than 200 meters (656 ft) length, designed to transport and land some 800 marines in an amphibious assault.

Securing the sea routes through the Baltic Sea is another focus of the exercise that will take place off the coasts of Latvia and Estonia.

“Finland and the Baltic states depend to almost 100% on the maritime supply routes through the Baltic Sea,” Kaack noted.

“Should the Suwalki Gap be blocked – and this can be done easily as there are only two roads and one railroad line – then we are left with the sea routes only, and that’s where we will then have to make our way through.”

The Suwalki Gap, a narrow land corridor of some 65 kilometers (40 miles), is the only connection linking the Baltic states to Poland and NATO’s main territory in Europe.

It will be the first exercise of this size that the German navy, the biggest navy on the Baltic Sea according to Kaack, will command from its new maritime headquarters in Rostock which just reached operational readiness.

Germany aims to provide the facility to NATO as a regional maritime headquarters, capable of leading the alliance’s operations in the Baltic Sea in case of a conflict.

It is vital to remember that just one mis-step by NATO during this so-called “exercise” will trigger a massive Russian defensive engagement to protect St. Petersburg.

You’ll never believe what Biden just said!

NO one is prepared for what’s coming in this economy and they are trying to hide it. The Biden administration says inflation is coming down, jobs are being created, and Bidenomics is working! That sounds like a lot of spin. In fact the data shows us something devastating is on the horizon.

As a landlord, have you ever decreased the rent for someone because you really liked them?

Yes I did. Not necessary because I liked them as in say friends but because they were real people in a tough position. I reduced their rent by $500 a month for two years. They finally got on their feet, overcame a health challenge and began building their own home. When they finally had a roof on the place they moved their son’s small camper into the garage and lived there until the house was complete. I routinely saw this older couple at a local restaurant so we kept in touch.

Amazimgly they sent a check every month after they moved out. It took almost five years but they insisted on repaying my lost income. We had dinner together the month they had completed making the rent payments. I surprised the couple with a savings bond for approximately 60% of what they had repaid. I insisted they set the bond aside for retirement. The woman was ecstatic hugging me over and over, her husband was all tears, saying “this never happens in real life, never!” I get a Christmas card every year.

What was a red flag that made you stop talking to a person immediately?

Like many people today, I was using a dating site to meet new people. I met one guy who seemed nice, we had mutual interests, and we emailed a bit back and forth before deciding to meet for coffee. We chose a very small boutique coffee shop in a mutually convenient location. Then we chose a date and time.

“Give me your cell phone number,” he messaged me.

Oh, no, hardly anyone gets that. And certainly not a guy I’ve never met. I don’t want to be changing my phone number for anybody, and it’s not that hard to find someone from a cell phone number either.

“What for?” I replied.

“In case one of us misses the other when we’re supposed to meet,” he replied.

Well, that didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. We had chosen a very small place, and both of us had a lot of pictures on our profiles, there was really no chance of one of us sitting there and not seeing the other, or recognizing the other.

“You can message me here on the app if you need to,” I replied.

He told me he wanted my cell phone number, that there was no reason why he couldn’t have it. There was no need for him to have this. Him messaging me on the dating app would send a text to my cell phone just the same as if he had texted me directly. Surely any man today understands that women have to take precautions. Right? The dating site itself had pages of advice on how to stay safe.

So I gently said I doubted we would not recognize each other, or not see each other, and I preferred to use the app for now, but I looked forward to meeting him in person.

He went ballistic.

He messaged me over and over, progressing to caps, demanding that I give him my cell phone number as a condition of meeting. WHAT DID I THINK HE WAS? The messages got longer and more abusive and I sat there reading them, not responding. After I had seen enough of them, I deleted them, and blocked him on the app.

You know, if you draw a boundary, especially if it’s a reasonable one, and someone doesn’t respect it, it will never get better. Back off immediately.

The Sopranos – Uncle Philly’s reign as the King of New York begins

What is something in your life that you no longer give a damn because of your age and it gets worse as you get older?

Being social.

I think my social life peaked around age 18. I had a core group of four good friends my senior year of high school. I’d always try to make sure I hung out with at least one of them each weekend. I felt like a weekend without spending time with a friend was somehow “wasted.” I never went to parties or anything like that (wasn’t invited), but I at least drove around with Chris or went over to Bo’s house or chilled with Brandi or Ed at their places.

I only made one really good friend in college (well, besides my wife). He and I were roommates for awhile, so “hanging out” with him wasn’t especially difficult.

Time went on. I got married and had kids and my career took up a lot of my time. I haven’t spoken to that old college roommate of mine in about 14 years now. For awhile there, in my late 20s and early 30s, I still tried to find something “social” to do from time to time. But it got more difficult as the years went on.

And now, in my early 40s, I don’t give a damn about being social.

I have plenty of opportunities to be social. My church is always planning social events. So is the school where I work. Most of those social events are fundraisers, but still… I can go there and talk to people I kind of know from church or work, and feel like I’m “being social.”

I do go to them sometimes. I usually last less than an hour before I just want to leave. When I actually socialize at those events—actually talk to people—it feels more like a chore than something enjoyable.

When I was in high school, the thought that I’d have nothing to do but sit in my room alone and read or play video games or spend time online on a weekend evening horrified me. What kind of loser did such things on Friday and Saturday evenings?

Now? I’m writing this on a Friday evening, and I can think of nothing I’d rather be doing right now than sitting in my recliner, as I am now, alone in this room, taking a break from reading the book I’m reading to key out a few thoughts on Quora.

I would be perfectly happy if I never had to socialize again. If, God forbid, I end up alone in my retirement years, I think I’d be happy with it. One of my grandfathers lived alone for almost 15 years before passing away. He would go months with no human contact, besides exchanging pleasantries with the cashier at the grocery store. When I was younger, I thought he must have been really sad and lonely, living like that. Now that I’m older, I think that he was probably very content, living like that.

Remy: Rich Men North of Richmond (Federal Employee Version)

This is creative and hilarious!

“it takes one person to do my job, so we have two” Absolutely perfect, this sums up the government better than any Wikipedia page could.

What personal habits of Westerners are most repugnant to Chinese people?

1. In Taiwan, I talked about taking a shower with some friends. They found it so strange that I preferred to shower in the morning rather than in the evening. I told them that showering in the morning is quite common in America. They found it very disgusting because I would go to bed with all the day’s dirt on my body. They were actually right about that, showering at night sometimes makes more sense.

2. Another thing that some people made fun of me in Taiwan was my tendency to wear long-sleeved shirts with shorts, more or less like the style below:

I understand it was hot in Taiwan, but it was just a style that I sometimes wear and they thought it was really weird, not really gross, but still something they thought was weird (although one girl told me my fashion sense was weird/ disgusting) .

3. One thing I was told was disgusting was the tendency for us westerners to eat too much dessert. In China, desserts are usually not very sweet fruit or ice cream, they don’t like incredibly sweet and sugary things. One of my favorite things to eat is cheesecake, so I naturally gave Cheesecake to some Chinese friends (usually in the US because it’s so hard to find in China). In the photo below it looks delicious doesn’t it?

Well, my Chinese friends hated it, they said it was too thick, creamy and gross. One of them told me he wanted to throw up. I was like, “Fine, I’ll eat it all myself then.”

Douglas Macgregor: DURING RETRATING, UNITS WERE MASSACRED

Thank you Colonel Macgregor for being honest.

https://youtu.be/j4m9MFcj8Nk

What are the benefits of a one party system? Why does China have a one party system?

Do you know that Democracy was in fact a NO PARTY SYSTEM?

In Athens:-You had an assembly of people who chose their speakers among men who were 20+ years old based on their appeal and ability and their speaking style

In short an Assembly of People, qualified by estate or property or wealth who selected people based on ability or speaking style aka MERIT

No Parties, Agenda, Propaganda

Zilch

Remind you of something?

China – An Assembly of Qualified People based on Ability and chosen by their peers from the grassroots or chosen by tough examinations

They choose their leaders based again on ability and merit

Sure they have one party and call it a party but the name is long redundant

China is thus the closest to the original Athenian Democracy

Benefits:-

Consistent Policies over several decades
Controlled Consensus
Country above everything else since there is lesser vying for Power

Drawbacks:-

Chance of becoming Rigidly Bureaucratic and Stubborn
Chances of running away with rule without opposition

What is something your neighbor did that you couldn’t believe?

I inherited two dogs when my daughter passed away. I realized after a few months that a fence would make my life with the dogs so much easier. I was out looking for the property markers and my neighbour came over and asked if I was thinking of building a fence? I said I would like too but no one was returning my calls. He had a friend who did fences as a side job. Anyway, long story short, friend came, took the job, neighbour helped him so it was less cost for me and the fence was completed by the end of the next week. The friend also threw in two beautiful flower boxes made from the same wood as the fence. The dogs are so much more content and I have privacy. These two men likely have no idea how they have made my life so much easier. I am so thankful.

Will US troops come to defend Taiwan if China invades it? If so, at what point will they intervene?

They telling everyone they will bomb Russia if Russians dare attacking Ukraine in 2020.

Think about it.

1.China’s military size is three times bigger than Russia, more advanced in technology.

Chinese Navy vs Russian Navy.

2.China’s reserved military population is 260 million.

3.China produce all, even including the USA’s own bullets.

4.The first day, Russians took 40k㎡ of Ukraine’s land,and entire size of Taiwan is only 30k㎡.

5.Taiwanese speak standard Chinese.

6.American rich guy is still investing into both China Mainland and Taiwan.

7.China Mainland is still doing business with Taiwan.

8.the technology chips war between US and China, is actully between Taiwan Chinese vs Mainland Chinese, because the world chips industry was ruling by enthunic Chinese people(maybe add some Korean), it’s actully, a civil war.

Attempted Coup Against Burkina Faso’s Ibrahim Traoré Thwarted

Here is your latest African news. Attempted Coup in Burkina Faso Against Interim President Ibrahim Traoré Thwarted.

What is the most important thing someone has ever done for you?

When I was 15, I started a new school on the opposite coast of where I grew up.

At my old school I was unpopular and bullied harshly, so I was very shy and socially awkward with very low self esteem. The first week of school, I sat by my locker alone eating lunch, terrified of social interaction.

One day, up walked the most bubbly, outgoing, beautiful “popular” girl with maybe 6 other girls following her. She asked “Why are you eating lunch alone?! Wth? Come sit with us!!”

No one had ever done that for me. Then a few days later I casually mentioned it was my 16th birthday that weekend and she said “What?! We need to celebrate!!” and she organized a birthday dinner at a local restaurant.

She and her group of friends brought me pink balloons and gifts, I had a very memorable 16th birthday that I’ll never forget.

I literally had only known them for a week.

Then one day soon after, she saw that I rode my bike (3miles) to school everyday (due to my single mom’s work schedule and not being able to drive me – there was no bus at this school), and again, she said “Wth?! Why are you riding your bike to school?! That’s dangerous with all the traffic!!

My mom and I will pick you up at home and give you a ride!”

They drove me to and from school the entire year and we always did fun outings in the way home.

Experiencing their kindness at a hard time in my life was probably one of the most profoundly positive things I’ve experienced in my 43 years.

She remains my best friend until this day and is an amazing mom of 3.

Definitely the most important friendship of my life.

Jesse shows the cartel how it’s done

Is Elon Musk considered a rags-to-riches billionaire?

No, he was never in rags.

He was a child of well-off professionals, who built a phenomenal fortune in his own right.

It’s unclear exactly how well-off he was growing up. I suspect his family’s wealth has been exaggerated, both by his detractors, and by his father, who has been know to brag about how much money he made, but it’s clear that the Musk family was never poor.

On the other hand, there’s very little indication that Musk relied on his family, either for investment or business connections, in starting any of his companies. Insofar as a billionaire can be “self-made”, Musk has built his own business empire.

But his upbringing and education and whatnot come from being part of a family that was at least reasonably well-off.

After having significantly increased your income, do you feel happier than you were before?

Indeed.

When I first entered the gaming industry, I earned around 30K to 40K a year. And I lived in one of the most expensive cities in the world, San Francisco. The hostel I lived in cost me 700 dollars per month for rent. I have to be very careful with food. At the time, my weekly food budget was 40 dollars. I work from 10 am to 8 or 9 pm in the evening.

Then things started to get better. By 2019, I was making about the industry average for a mid-level producer. Both of my parents are dead, and I don’t have family and children, so I have some disposable income—no more “40 dollar food budget”. I think my weekly grocery cost me about 60–70 dollars, and I often dine out during weekends. Being able to buy a box of Kyoho grapes for 14 dollars feels very good.

But I think more than anything, the money gave me a sense of security, and it allowed me to pursue my many interests. Both had a tremendous positive impact on my mental health and quality of life in general.

I’ve made the decision very early on in my life that I do not want to get married or have children. While I’m happy with my life choices, I’m also very aware of the risks of choosing this lifestyle. After all, plenty of people feel the need to remind me that when I’m old, I’ll be sad and alone, and nobody will visit me at the hospital or senior care facility.

I mean, are you sure your kids will visit you when you’re old and sick? You know, the kids you abused and traumatized for 20 years? The kids who couldn’t wait to get away from you? I’ve read many articles written by medical professionals. They had made consistent observations that in a senior care facility, those with children are often mean-spirited and friendless, and their children never visit, while those who are single actually know how to make friends and are liked by everyone. Do you even know how to make friends based on shared interests that fall outside “childcare, PTA, soccer practice, family”? Not to mention, do you have children just so you get to have free nannies and ATM machines when you’re old and frail? I feel bad for your kids.

I digress. Still, being single and a social recluse, I need to be better prepared for my retirement financially. A long-term care nursing home in the US currently costs about 5,000 to 8,000 dollars per month, and if you want one with a better facility and nicer staff, the cost can easily ramp up to over 10K. And Medicare does not cover long-term nursing home costs.

Since I don’t have children to leech on, I must prepare for my retirement when I can still make money. I’ve set up some investment accounts like mutual funds and bought some annuities and US treasury bonds, on top of maxing out my 401K and Roth IRA every year. I’m glad I have some extra cash I could put away for my retirement. It definitely reduced a lot of anxiety.

And I have money to spend on hobbies and travel. I don’t care about luxury goods. Most of my clothing is from Uniqlo and Muji. Most of my furniture is from IKEA. As I grew older, I found myself caring less and less about such things. I found 3 holes in my T-shirt the other day due to wear and tear, God only knows how long I’ve been wearing T-shirts with holes on them, LOL. But who cares? I certainly do not.

I spend a lot of money on personal interests. I spend money on Wacom tablets and Macs.

I’m particularly happy with my current setup.

I really like my craft studio. I need to use it more, LOL.

I also spend a lot of money on video games and game consoles. And I recently picked up the expensive hobby of Lego.

I spend money on crafts materials and courses. I mean, why do I buy this thing for 15 dollars when I can buy all the tools and materials and make it myself (poorly) for 95 dollars? That’s my motto now. DYI is NOT cheap.

On top of all that, now that my work is a bit less chaotic and less stressful, I finally have the brain power and energy to focus more on my writing. I had spent money on editors and programs such as Scrivener and Plottr to help me write.

None of these are possible without money.

Money does not buy you happiness, that’s for sure. But money can buy you security, peace of mind, and freedom to pursue your interests. While I’m acutely aware that, like many Americans, I’m one major illness/major accident away from bankruptcy. I’m much happier now than 10 years ago when I lived in a hostel and worked 60 hours per week.

I’ve since receive the same type of comments every time I talk about being single.

Me: I don’t want to have children.

Comment: Fuck you! You’ll die sad and lonely! Having children is the best thing ever! You aren’t a real man/woman without having children!

… Every. Single. Time.

Like, you people have no imagination.

Oliver Anthony – Rich Men North Of Richmond [REACTION)

How Putin and Kim Throw Down a Challenge to US Hegemony

© Sputnik / Michael Metsel/POOL

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea Chairman Kim Jong Un held extensive talks on Wednesday. Dr. Kiyul Chung explained to Sputnik why the meeting of Putin and Kim is nothing short of historic.

The Russian and North Korean leaders met on September 13 at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, a Russian space port in the Amur region.

“Now today’s historic 2023 DPRK-Russia Summit at Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia first and foremost highlights one of the most significant geopolitical and geostrategic importances,” Dr. Kiyul Chung, editor-in-chief at the 4th Media and a retired professor of Tsinghua University, told Sputnik. “The 2023 Summit itself powerfully culminates, defines, embodies, and witnesses the arrival of the anti-imperialist and self-determined multipolar world of the 21st century.”

Per Dr. Chung, the idea to hold the meeting at Russia’s spaceport symbolizes the two nations’ future collaboration in the field of space exploration and other high-end technologies despite pressure from the West.

“Both DPRK and Russia are facing all sorts of threats from the already-collapsed ‘five century-long West-dominated unipolar power’. One of the threats they’ve had forcibly imposed is the very existence of both of their nations,” the scholar continued.

To the Stars: Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un Meet at Vostochny CosmodromeOn September 13, Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed North Korean State Council Chairman Kim Jong-un at the Vostochny Cosmodrome. The North Korean leader payed an official visit to Russia on September 12-13, holding talks with top Russian officials.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230913/1113340697.html

Russia and North Korea: Strategic Longterm Cooperation

Vladimir Putin noted that his meeting with Kim Jong Un is taking place “at a special time”: just recently, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) celebrated 75 years since its creation. For his part, Kim thanked Putin for the invitation to visit Russia, stressing that relations with Moscow is Pyongyang’s “priority”

. The North Korean leader called his trip to Russia a demonstration of the importance of strategic ties.

“Comrade Putin and I just discussed in depth the military-political situation on the Korean Peninsula and in Europe and came to a satisfactory consensus on further strengthening strategic and tactical cooperation, supporting solidarity in the struggle for the protection of the sovereign right of security, for creating guarantees of lasting peace in the region, and throughout the world,” Kim stated during an official dinner held in his honor later in the day.

During the meeting, Kim reiterated his support for Moscow’s special military operation to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine, stressing that “the DPRK will always stand with Russia in the fight against imperialism,” a clear reference to NATO’s proxy war in Eastern Europe. The DPRK chairman pointed out that he and his Russian counterpart will build “stable, future-oriented and long-term relations” between Moscow and Pyongyang.

All-Weather Friends: Why Are North Korea-Russia Ties Strong Against All Odds?North Korean leader Kim Jong-un pays a high level meeting to Russia amid the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) hosted by the Russian Pacific city of Vladivostok. When did Russia-North Korea relations start and how have they evolved through decades?

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230912/all-weather-friends-why-are-north-korea-russia-ties-strong-against-all-odds-1113317356.html

The two countries have a long record of cooperation which originates in the early years of the Cold War era. Together, the Soviet and North Korean military protected DPRK independence and sovereignty against US intervention in the course of the Korean War (1950-1953). When the hostilities were over, the USSR helped Pyongyang restore the nation’s economy.

Presently, the DPRK is interested in the opportunity to cooperate with Russia in the field of aviation, transport and infrastructure, as Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Wednesday. In addition, the sides discussed cooperation in the field of joint space exploration, Putin said, hinting that Russia-North Korea military-technical collaboration is also on the table.

Per Dr. Chung, “the Kim-Putin summit first and foremost apparently intends to nullify, pacify, or ruin whatever attempts the US-led suicidal nuclear war games, specifically both in Korean Peninsula and Ukraine.”

Furthermore, the summit is openly challenging the West’s illegal sanctions, according to the scholar.

“Today’s summit in Russia is the defiant denunciation, disregard, and complete rejection of illegal economic sanctions regimes of all sorts the US-led unipolar imperial powers have unilaterally wielded for decades. By the way, the latter Russia is one of the latest and by far ‘the most far-reaching’ cases. According to the most recent news reports about the US/West-led UN sanctions against DPRK, Russia apparently intends to dismantle the [sanctions] regime by strengthening both nations’ economic cooperation at all levels,” Chung said.

North Korea's 'Visible Show of Support': Key Takeaways From Putin-Kim TalksVladimir Putin has met Kim Jong Un at the Vostochny Cosmodrome to discuss a number of pressing issues, including those related to bilateral cooperation, as well as regional and global security.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230913/north-koreas-visible-show-of-support-key-takeaways-from-putin-kim-talks-1113347691.html

Western Media Up in Arms About Kim-Putin Meeting

The Kim-Putin meeting has stolen Western mainstream press headlines: the media has expressed unease over the summit of two leaders whose countries are under severe Western sanctions. American and British journalists particularly cited their respective government’s discontent with an alleged arms deal supposedly discussed by the Russian and North Korean leaders.

The American press also quoted US administration officials expressing fears that Pyongyang could receive technology that could advance North Korea’s satellite

and nuclear-powered submarine capabilities.How Russia and North Korea Could Benefit From Joint Space ExplorationRussia and North Korea could develop cutting-edge satellite technology, the Space Research Institute's Nathan Eismont told Sputnik, commenting on the DPRK leader's high-level state visit to Russia.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230913/how-russia-and-north-korea-could-benefit-from-joint-space-exploration-1113349741.html

Russia and the DPRK are cooperating for the benefit of the peoples of the two countries, and not against anyone; bilateral relations should not be a matter of concern for third countries, Peskov summarized on Wednesday.

“All other issues concern only our two countries, two sovereign countries, and should not be a subject of concern to third states. For our cooperation is carried out for the benefit of the peoples of our two countries, but not against anyone,” the Kremlin spokesman stressed.

The summit of Russian and North Korean leaders has demonstrated that the US’ dominance is fading, while a new multi-polar world, free of Washington’s diktat, is taking shape, according to Dr. Chung.

The scholar noted that the seeds of what is happening today were sown back in 2000, when President Putin met with Kim’s predecessor, Chairman Kim Jong Il. In July 2000, the first summit in the history of Russian-Korean relations (after the collapse of the USSR) took place and a Joint Declaration was signed.

“In that historic declaration, there is one item I’d like to highlight,” Dr. Chung said. “It’s about the number 1 Clause of that Declaration. There is a most important and historic language, expression, or declaration which was worded as in the following: ‘The DPRK and the Russian Federation …. [are] creating a multipolar world and building a new, fair, and rational international order based upon the principles of equality, mutual respect, and friendly cooperation’.”

“Today’s Kim-Putin Summit in Russia which can be interpreted as an assessment is kind of a recommitment as a rededication, reevaluation, and revelation of that historic 2000 Summit in Korea which I argue laid the most significant historic foundations of the anti-imperialist and self-determined multipolar world in the 21st century, 23 years ago for the sake of the future of the whole humanity,” the scholar concluded.

Russia and North Korea to Cooperate in Space, Military, Stand Together Against 'Imperialism'Russian President Vladimir Putin will sit down with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Russia's Far East later on Wednesday to discuss a range of issues of mutual interest.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230913/live-updates-russias-president-putin-arrives-at-vostochny-spaceport-1113328717.html

How Putin and Kim Throw Down a Challenge to US HegemonyRussian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea Chairman Kim Jong Un held extensive talks on Wednesday. Dr. Kiyul Chung explained to Sputnik why the meeting of Putin and Kim is nothing short of historic.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230913/how-putin-and-kim-throw-down-a-challenge-to-us-hegemony-1113353161.html

Is Australia good for travelling?

Imagine this – In a pub 200km from the nearest town, an Aussie in his 60s told me this story over a pint:

He left school at 15 and decided to train it up to Darwin for a few weeks. To experience real Crocodile Dundee territory.

After 3 weeks he was at the train station waiting for his train home.

While waiting he got chatting to another guy who was on his way to work as a chef at some remote town. Whoop Whoop probably, but location doesn’t matter. The guy said they’d been looking for staff, so if he wanted to earn a few bucks he could join.

He called his Mum back in Perth and said he’d got a job and would give it a few weeks.

Skip to the day I met him. That had been his life – travelling around Australia, working here and there, and collecting amazing stories (we talked for a while).

What a life he’d had.

The beauty of travelling Australia is it’s easy, and you’ll see and experience things only Australia can offer.

Imagine waking up on pure white sands, next to a crystal clear ocean, on a beach many miles from any pollution – even light pollution – and taking a morning swim with a school of 20+ dolphins.

That was one of many experiences I had travelling most of Australia, for many months, without a care in the world.

I bought a 4×4 in Perth which became my home, with a makeshift bed in the back, solar panel, and bare necessities.

Months later when I was done travelling and went back to “normal life”, I made a profit on the car. Enough to cover the whole trip, all the fuel, and all the food.

I saw the incredible blue waters of Esperance, experienced the Nullarbor, Adelaide Hills, Great Ocean Road, Ned Kelly Country, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, dived the Great Barrier Reef, saw whales off Hervey Bay, snorkeled at Exmouth, took a tinny boat around swamp lands of Kakadu within arms reach of crocs, went up mountains, through rivers, over salt lakes, and saw the incredible red dirt of northern WA, bumped into the Australian prime minister (Julia Gillard), and English comedic legend Ben Elton. Oh, and met and dated an Australian movie actress.

And more.

Nothing hard about it. I just got out there, did it.

Then I read answers from people on Quora saying it’s hard to travel Australia because it’s so far away.

It’s a flight away.

And those answers get hundreds of upvotes, by people who will never experience the amazing things I experienced travelling such an incredible country.

Can Russia and China make HIMARS and How soon?

What exactly is the HIMARS?

It is a system that fires Rockets

That’s it

A System that has a Launcher and that has a guidance system that helps launch Rockets or Missiles on the Enemy positions.

The Rockets could be ATACMS Or Precision Strike Missiles or mostly ordinary guided Rockets

The Chinese and Russians both have similar systems

China has the PCL 191 system that has a longer range of almost 357 Miles and has even Laser guided Rockets in its latest version

Russia has its own Tornado systems that are comparable to HIMARS including the latest Tornado S which has a larger range and a 1 meter tested accuracg

It’s what China has along the Indian Border

Yet the Russians don’t use their Counter Battery System in this SMO

Many believe this reveals a lot of Russian Weakness. They are WRONG.

The Reason is simple : COST EFFECTIVENESS

This is a War where the biggest obstacle is fortifications of concrete and steel every step of the way

Every few miles you have fortifications where you have ammunition and soldiers with artillery guns

These fortifications are spread over 8–20 Kms and you don’t know where the Soldiers are Or where the Artillery Gun is

So what are your options?

Precision Rockets?

Nopes.

At $ 125000 a Rocket, you may blow off at least 20–25 rockets and spend a whopping $ 3.5–4 Million before hitting the target and even then there is a chance you miss and run into an artillery ambush when you advance

That would be at least 2000 Rockets and a price tag of $ 320 Million for Severodonetsk alone

So instead Russia use the cheaper artillery shells with no guidance and entirely range, range and range

Russia has at least 3 Million Shells available for each phase.

Instead of 25 Rockets, they use 10,000 Shells and pulverize the entire position and the Ukrops either lose their artillery gun and flee or die.

They advance and use flamethrowers and that’s a higher guarantee of death

Crude yet Cost Effective

At a price of $ 500,000 for a single fortification, that’s 1/8 the cost of using Guided Rockets like Himars

That’s around 800,000 Shells and $ 40 Million for Severodonetsk

Much more cost effective isn’t it?

That’s the problem today.

Everyone thinks Russia uses crude shells and artillery because they don’t have guided rockets or counter battery

The actual reason is Ukraine is using WWI style warfare with fortifications and trenches

Russia has to go crude to remain cost effective and yet maintain an advance pace

It’s so old fashioned it’s downright brilliant

Old Warfare at lowest cost , maximum deaths of enemy and minimum loss of own men

Who cares if the glamour is absent right??

Attempted Coup on Ibrahim Traore Fails. Who is Behind this?

What did you assume was exaggerated until you experienced it?

Originally Answered: What have you assumed was exaggerated until you experienced it yourself?

A freegan in Singapore told me he collected 1 ton of items every month when he goes dumpster diving. I couldn’t believe it. But when I saw him collect 30+ kg of stuff every day, I believed him.

30+ kg x 30 days = 900+ kg (almost 1 ton)

When I started doing the same, I believed him even more.

This is 20kg of clothes retrieved from the dumpsters in a single hour.

When he told me that he collects so much fruits that he felt like crying because he didn’t know what to do with them, I thought he was exaggerating.

Then this happened to me last night:

Man, what do I do with 82 oranges??

What did your father do to your mother that you will never forget?

My mother and the man she’d left my father for, had taken my brother and I out somewhere and had run out of petrol, stranded on the side of the road.

This was the 80’s and in South Africa, options were limited. They called my Dad who came to our aid with a 2 litre bottle filled with fuel.

Enough to get to the closest garage (gas station). He followed us there and paid in full. My soon to be stepfather was drunk and belligerent, swearing at instead of thanking him but Dad was the perfect gentleman as always.

I was barely 5 but will never forget that afternoon and always fill up on half a tank. My dad never, ever had a bad word to say about my Mom, (who referred to him as A**hole), always answering any questions about their divorce (she’d cheated with several men) by saying all that mattered was my brother and I.

When my mom was blacklisted after her third husband embezzled and stole everything from her, my Dad, who’d stopped working due to illness, scraped together enough cash to buy her a second hand car.

When I was an adult I asked him why he’d done all these things, his response was that the best revenge is to be the bigger person but I think he just did what he believed was best for his children and by default their mother.

He simply loved his kids. I miss him.

Southern Style Barbecued Chicken

Ingredients

1 cup ketchup
2 to 3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Dash Tabasco sauce
2 to 2 1/2 pound chicken pieces
Salt and pepper

Instructions

Combine ketchup, honey, lemon juice and Tabasco sauce. Brush on chicken during last 5 to 10 minutes of grilling time.
Season with salt and pepper.

Rescued cat gets final wish in life

Heart warming.

The End.

The mighty continues sparring

Right now, the East and the West are sparring.

Sigh.

Dancing around each other in the ring. Throw a punch or two, and the West believes that “it has rigged the game”. I disagree, but what do I know?

I am tried of all this “shadow boxing”, but there are only two directions; two vectors left.

Full scale military HOT war
A subsiding of hostilities

I think that the East (China, Russia, the Global South) are just biding their time in the eventuality that the West will run out of “steam” and slow down on the provocations.

It’s safe and reasonable. And they have systems designed…intentionally designed to force all the steam out of the “mighty beast”.

But I am sure that they are all ready to unleash bloody Hell if need be.

…

Nothing that I can do about it.

So, I’m just gonna drink my coffee and enjoy the day.

Ukrainians Caught Trying to Sabotage Russian Nuke Plant; Putin says “Trained by British” – for whom “There will be consequences”

World Hal Turner 12 September 2023

Putin British trained Ukies Nuke Plant Sabotage large

“Vladimir Putin today warned Britain of ‘serious consequences’ and said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ‘doesn’t understand’ the risks after the UK’s special forces tried to disrupt Russian nuclear power plants.

President Putin said that Britain’s elite forces were training Ukrainian troops on how to damage atomic power plants in Russia.

The Russian President declared dire consequences for the UK while admitting his words would be interpreted as ‘nuclear blackmail.’

Putin claimed during a speech at an economic forum in the far eastern city of Vladivostok, that Russia’s FSB security service had interrogated a Ukrainian team caught operating inside Russia.

‘It turned out to be a sabotage group of Ukrainian special services,’ he said.

‘Interrogation showed they had been tasked to damage one of our nuclear stations by exploding a power line… to damage the work of the power plant. And this is not the first attempt.’

He alleged: ‘During interrogation, they admitted they were trained under supervision of British instructors. Do [the British] understand what they are playing with, or not?

‘Are they provoking our response at Ukrainian nuclear sites, nuclear stations, or what?

‘Does the British leadership, or the Prime Minister [of the United Kingdom. Rishi Sunak] know what their special services are engaged with in Ukraine?

‘Or do they have no clue at all? I assume this is possible, too. I assume it is possible British special services act on the orders of the Americans. Either way, we know the final beneficiary.”

When in war, do you think about the people you’re killing?

There was a moment after a short firefight when we shared a few thoughts about a dead enemy soldier.

We were on the top of a small hill in the mountains near our Kosovo Liberation Army base and a group of enemy infantry was coming up towards our positions. They didn’t see us, but we could hear them talking to each other. One guy, probably their leader, told his troops: “Stop whining, guys!”

When they were close enough we opened fire. We heard one of them screaming in pain. After we had ceased fire we went down the hill to look at the aftermath. We found the body of a dead soldier and what struck me first was how well this guy was equipped: a US-style Kevlar helmet, combat fatigues, boots; all his gear was of the best quality. One of my comrades searched his pockets and found his documents.

My comrade read out loud what was written in the dead soldier’s papers. This guy had been a sergeant and a professional soldier. He had fought in Bosnia as well and was the member of a Special Forces unit.

Then my comrade told me in a tone of regret: “Look at him! This guy did all the training, fought everywhere and then he gets himself killed by some peasants like us. What a waste!”

That was quite an objective and modest statement and I was honestly surprised. We had very good soldiers who were well trained and highly motivated, but they were no match to the soldier we had just killed. He was better trained and equipped and far more experienced than we were. Still, he was dead and we were alive.

We took the dead soldier’s gun and left the place.

This was the only time that we’ve ever talked about a dead enemy. Usually, we were just interested in the number we had killed: one there, three over there and so on. They were numbers for us, nothing else. We fought for the right cause and they didn’t. No regrets.

Tex-Mex Meatballs

Crushed tortilla chips is the ingredient that sets these Tex-Mex Meatballs apart from the rest!

Ingredients

2 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup tortilla chips, crushed (about 2 ounces)
6 tablespoons water or beef broth
4 ounces canned green chiles
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons chipotle powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
15 ounces red enchilada sauce
2 cups Mexican style shredded cheese (or any easy melt style)

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a bowl, combine the crushed tortilla chips (they should be the size of large breadcrumbs) with the water or beef broth. Stir to make a thick paste. This helps keep the meatballs moist but also adds a great corn flavor.
In a large bowl, combine ground beef, green chiles, salt, garlic powder, cumin, chipotle powder, onion powder and the tortilla chip mix. Using hands, mix lightly but thoroughly (do not pack).
Form the ground beef mixture into balls, using about 1/3 cup of the mixture per ball. Do not overwork or form the meatballs too tightly.
Place the meatballs in a large skillet, leaving space between them, then bake for 15 minutes.
Pour the enchilada sauce over/around the meatballs, and return to the oven for an additional 7 minutes.
Sprinkle the cheese all over the meatballs, and return to the oven until cheese is melted, about 3-5 minutes.
Serve immediately. Caution, skillet will be extremely hot.

Yield: 8 servings

In Canada

In Canada, they combine orphanages with retirement homes. And it has given new meaning to the lives of older people, who can share their time with children who so desperately need a father or mother figure.

For a few hours, children and elderly people play, discuss and share together.

As for the little ones, they grow up and learn in an atmosphere of respect and admiration, not only between themselves, but also in front of the elders.

And older people have the opportunity to pass on some of their wisdom to children. They no longer feel so alone and isolated and now look forward to getting up in the morning to play and talk with the little ones.

It seems to me that this initiative should be applied everywhere in the world, we would help the elderly to feel less alone and the children to grow better.

Chinese in the entire world are excited to hear that Huawei China introduced its new 5g phone with 7nm semiconductor chip in it. How long will it take for China to catch up with South Korea and Taiwan trying for 2nm chip as of September 2023?

The Chinese can’t make domestic chips below 5nm process using their present methods of innovative stacking

The Chinese used the “Necessity is the mother of invention” saying to fullest use and have managed to mass produce 7nm cost effective Chips using DUV and innovative stacking

They will crack 5nm Chips in a year and by 2027 – the Chinese will make 25% of all the 7nm and 5nm Chips on earth

They would have saved their Semiconductor Industry and would be able to make Robots and develop advanced technology

I don’t think the Chinese want more than that

Fact 1:- 3nm Chips are very different. It may look like 5 to 3 is just one step below but in reality 7nm process and 3nm process are two generations (6 years) apart. So if the 3nm is 2024,then 7nm is 2018 and 5nm is 2021.

Without Western Equipment and without the advanced know how that TSMC and Samsung offer – the 3nm Chip is almost 3 generations or even 3.5 generations ahead in commercial manufacture

This means to China, the 3nm Chip is around 10.5 years apart, meaning 2035 at least

It’s not worth it and China knows that

Fact 2:- The West cannot develop 3nm Chips commercially and not sell to China

China and Hong Kong together consume around 43% of the World’s Chips produced

China and HK account for 30% of the sales of Advanced Technology and Hardware needed for Advanced Applications

It makes no sense to invest billions into 3 and 2 nm Chips and NOT SELL in a market that today has a 30% demand and could well have 45% demand in the next 15 years

That’s like increasing oil production by 30% and refusing to sell to China or India

That’s like spending crores of rupees on refining Gold jewelry and refusing to sell them to Telugu or Gujarati weddings

It’s UNVIABLE

So the West HAS to sell the 3&2 nm Chips to China if they have to sustain a market.

At present the rest of the World only has a 7% market for these advanced applications of which Saudi and UAE have a 3.4% market share and they certainly can’t create the applications even if they get the equipment for the next 15 years

India has a 0.7% market today for advanced applications ($ 767 Million)

That’s 3% of Chinas market and 2.3% of China and HK market combined

Fact 3:- The 3nm Chips, 2 nm Chips and 1 nm Chips may be redundant advanced technologies

Artificial Sun, Hypersonics, Nanogrid Laser Arrays – these were all areas where good studies were made by the US in the 1980s -1990s , well before China and Russia

Yet they faltered because there was not sufficient necessity for such advanced stuff back then

The assumption that people will use advanced smartphones for the next 30 years would be silly

Today Defence equipment works perfectly with 450 nm Chips and Drones with 150nm -65 nm Chips

Today the most advanced Robotic applications are done without 7/5 nm Chips

The Memory, GPUs and other hardware are more crucial than Chips now

Again these products need China which is a 30% market to them

Otherwise they cannot be viable commercially

They HAVE to sell to China and if the US tries too hard, they will find alternate ways

Like NVDIA which custom made advanced chips and sold $ 5 Billion of these to China just breaking the threshold

If they say China can’t be sold a car that drives at 100 Kph, simply modify your engine a bit and sell them a car that drives at 99 Kph and stay within sanctions guidelines

Fact 4:- If China develops it’s own 7/5 nm Chips using the innovative stacking process and DUV, that alone is a major blow to Global Players

Today TSMC sells most 14,7 and 5 nm. chips to China

China accounts for 36.5% of TSMC and it’s revenue

Yet now its estimated by the SIA that

By 2027, SMIC and other Chinese entities will sell most of the 14,7 and 5 nm Chips to China

TSMC and Samsung will lose a lot of sales to China in the next five years and simply be unable to sell anywhere else

By 2027, China will account for 14.6% of the same sales to TSMC and there won’t be market for TSMC to compensate for the loss

Same for Qualcomm, Intel and other players selling Modems and other 5G technology

This means China is a part of a War where it suffers the LEAST

China won’t make 3nm and 2nm Chips. They will buy these Chips if offered by others but won’t waste billions on trying to commercially make these chips with their own equipment

They DON’T NEED these Chips even for their most advanced applications

TSMC and others HAVE TO SELL TO CHINA if they commercially produce 3/2 nm Chips

China likewise knows it will be SOLD equipment and hardware that keep defying sanctions all the time to survive

And in a few years time – China will take away a huge chunk of TSMCs market in the mainland and TSMC cannot replace the Chinese market, even half of it in the next decade

To answer your question

China is never likely to catch up with commercial 3 / 2 nm Chips
China will come out of the Chip war with the least damage and most positive effect for the mainland.
Taiwan, Korea and US will find their players badly mauled by economics
China will deliver a strong blow to TSMC and Samsung by 2027 from which they can’t recover

Unless Biden removes ALL EXPORT CONTROLS today and goes to free market mode

Then Chinese players will start being swamped with aggressive growth.

The Sopranos – Johnny Sack And Paulie

Paulie complains about Tony ruling against him in a sitdown to Johnny Sack, This is the first of many conversations between the two. These conversations lead to major problems down the road.

What are the best closing arguments to ever be used by lawyers?

Fedor Nikiforovich Plevako was one of the most famous Russian defence lawyers of the 19th century. Many of his speeches were recorded and became legendary. I will quote two of them.

Once, he was defending an old Orthodox priest accused of adultery and theft. The jury was very unfavourable. The public prosecutor described the depravity of the vicious priest. Finally, Plevako rose from his seat to say:

– Gentlemen of the jury! The affair is clear. The prosecutor is absolutely right in everything. The accused really perpetrated those crimes and confessed them. Nothing to discuss. But there is something I wish to draw your attention to. You behold a man, who listened to our confessions for thirty years. For thirty years, he absolved us from our sins. Now he is waiting for your decision. Would you absolve his sin?

The priest was acquitted.

In another case, Plevako defended an old townswoman who stole a tin kettle worth 30 kopecks. The prosecutor, knowing that she was going to be defended by Plevako, decided to knock the bottom out of his arguments and took pains to describe the hardness of her life and show that she was worthy of compassion. However, he explained, private property is sacred and if you acquit her, you would have to acquit criminals who are much more dangerous, and this may lead to the destruction of Russia. The jury nodded in agreement. Plevako started to speak:

– Russia has suffered a lot in over 1,000 years of its history. It was invaded by numerous foes. Moscow was taken by Napoleon’s army. Russia overcame all these challenges and not only survived but became stronger. Unfortunately, an old lady stole a tin kettle worth 30 kopecks. This is a heavy blow. Now Russia will perish, that’s for sure.

The old woman was acquitted.

Ukrainian Soldiers REVOLT Against Military Leadership

If only we could send all the Ukraine flag twitter users as conscripts, then we’d have reasonable discourse on the internet. LOL.

https://youtu.be/UBSPV58xkJc

Was the War of 1812 a war of independence for Canada?

Not at all. the two colonies involved in the war, Upper Canada and Lower Canada, both remained colonies after the war. Even if the Americans had succeeded in their objectives, they may have just handed both colonies back to the United Kingdom. The war was started by the Americans, although they felt some of their grievances against the United Kingdom were legitimate. The end of the war essentially put things back exactly as they were before the war, and everyone in Upper Canada and Lower Canada were just fine with that.

However, the war did create a Canadian identity, both tying together people of both Protestant and Catholic backgrounds through the six British Colonies in eastern Canada, and by establishing an identity separate from the United Kingdom for Protestant Canadians.

Prior to the war, you pretty much had five distinct groups of people living in Canada, each of whom identified differently.

Catholics (mostly French speaking) who identified as “Canadien” and not as British. They didn’t see Protestants as “Canadian” but as “British”.
Loyalists, who had been born in the United States prior to the American revolutionary war. They always saw themselves as “British”, but largely spoke and acted like Americans.
British immigrants, who also saw themselves as “British”, but were more diverse than the Loyalists, who tended to be English and Anglican, while the immigrants were English, Irish and Scottish, and were often Methodists, Baptists or Presbyterian. The largely Anglican Loyalists weren’t very welcoming. The immigrants also spoke and acted like the British.
American immigrants, who still saw themselves as “American” and came to Canada looking for opportunity well after the revolutionary war. They didn’t get along well with the Loyalists, and also had a rather diverse set of religious backgrounds.
First Nations, a mix of those who had been in Canada for some time, and some that had fled from the United States because they had supported the British. Most of them didn’t get along well with each other. They got along well with British authorities, but not with the other four groups.

Shortly into the war, and by no later than 1813, all five groups had pretty much put aside their differences and started identifying clearly as “Canadian”. There were two basic reasons for this. The first was that the Americans treated everyone they encountered brutally. They would routinely loot and burn settlements, including York (now Toronto), where they burned the new legislative building (which is why the Ontario legislature isn’t on Parliament Street, but the burned down structure was). Anyone who dealt with the American forces largely found the militia (not so much the professional soldiers) to be undisciplined and arrogant.

The other was the indifference of the United Kingdom to their plight. Yes, the UK was busy with Napoleon, and the professional British forces in Canada were competent, but a lot of the fighting was done by the First Nations with help from the local militia. The militia often complained they had to answer to British leaders who were often indifferent to their suffering. For people in Upper Canada, that often meant that their local forces answered to the British governor in Quebec City.

So, yes, the British did most of the fighting, with some help from Canadians, but the real stars were the First Nations, who terrified the Americans but worked well with the British. When the Mohawks heard the Americans had invaded York, and the British had abandoned the city, they put together a force of 400 warriors (to face an American force at least three times that size) and only turned back when they found the Americans had abandoned the city too. In late 1813, after the American unsuccessfully tried to attack British forces near St. Catharines (where they were ambushed), the natives surrounded the Americans at Fort George and kept them from venturing outside the fort. The Americans withdrew for the winter.

Over in Lower Canada, the Americans found the locals not to be hospitable. Two attempts to invade Montreal were turned back by a mixed force which was largely French-Canadian. That sent morale throughout the country through the roof.

As for the American immigrants, they soon realized they wanted nothing to do with their own country as the American forces looted and burned farms and houses without discrimination. That drove them further towards the British and their fellow residents of Upper Canada.

Meanwhile, over in Nova Scotia,. Halifax became rich as Canadian privateers preyed on American shipping. Once privateer, the Liverpool Packet, took fifty prizes during the war despite being captured once – the Americans sold the ship at auction back to its former owner. Everyone in Canada got involved in the effort.

The events eventually pushed all the colonies towards self-government by the 1840s (governors became figureheads without real power) and a new country by the 1860s (when the Americans went to war with themselves).

Glenn Beck reacts to Oliver Anthony’s POWERFUL testimony on The Joe Rogan Experience

As a police officer, what is the kindest thing a suspect ever said to you?

Over the years, there have been several people (suspects, offenders, witnesses, victims, etc.) who have said kind things to me. One that comes to mind is probably the most recent. As a captain, I’m not often out on patrol and I make very few traffic stops. A few weeks ago however, I saw a vehicle traveling the wrong direction in a traffic circle. Given the danger presented, I stopped the motorist and saw that the vehicle was driven by a tiny African American lady of about 65 (I am a not so tiny 55-year-old Caucasian man), and that she was confused and upset by the unfamiliar traffic control device into which she had driven. I helped get her turned around and pulled to the side of the road where we were both safe. Pursuant to Department policy, I asked her for her license, registration and proof of insurance. She paused a moment and then started looking through her purse, center console and glove compartment for the requested documentation. Based on my experience, this suggested to me that she did not have one or more of the documents I had asked her to produce. I asked her if she had a driver’s license and she admitted that her license was suspended. I couldn’t help but notice the tears welling up in her eyes. I had already noticed that her license plate was expired, as was her motor vehicle inspection sticker. I then asked if her automobile was insured, and she told me it was not.

In my jurisdiction, unless there are exigent circumstances, a vehicle found to be uninsured is to be towed and impounded. In addition, a motorist found to be driving under suspension may, at the discretion of the officer, be arrested, and should not be permitted to drive away from the traffic stop absent exigent circumstances which mitigate against preventing the motorist from driving any further. The lady had tears streaming down her cheeks, knowing she had a problem. She was wearing a business outfit, so I asked her where she was going, thinking that I might be able to drop her off if time was a problem. She explained that the previous week, she was hired by a local hospital and that day was to be her first at her new job. She explained that she had lost her home and job in August of 2016 when our area suffered through the worst flood to affect the area in modern history. Approximately 80% of the homes and businesses in our area flooded during the event. Many had never flooded before, were not in flood zones and consequently, many families and businesses were left with nothing, following the inundation. This lady was one of those.

She understood that she was in trouble, and she understood that despite her good intentions, she was breaking the law. But there was no anger or bitterness. In her face, I saw only resolve and determination. She never once suggested that she deserved a break. She didn’t hint at leniency. She expressed no self-pity and did not seek to shift the blame. While I may not have shown it, I was very impressed with the way she was handling the experience.

I told the lady, whom I’ll call Ms. Smith, to have a seat in her car, turn on her air conditioner (it was about 95), and that I would be back with her as quickly as possible. I then returned to my unit and checked her registration and driver’s license. I determined that her license was suspended due to her inability to honor a payment plan with the DMV that she had reached in order to resolve the fines assessed to her when her insurance lapsed. She was uninsured; her history showed that over the last several years, her insurance lapsed several times, She always managed to have her insurance reinstated but the administrative fees had built up over time. Her registration had expired two months earlier. However, with a suspended driver’s license, she could not renew her registration or obtain an updated motor vehicle inspection sticker. Clearly, she was in a vicious spiral and putting her in jail or doing anything to cost her the new job would not be helpful.

I carefully considered my options, recognizing that my obligation to protect and serve includes keeping people without the mandatory liability insurance off of the road. Her failure to have the required insurance presented a problem for me. Under our law, were she to have an at-fault accident and it was discovered that I had stopped her and failed to take the appropriate action, I could be held responsible. If I towed her car, she would likely lose her new job which was going to pay her enough to get the required insurance, take care of her suspended driver’s license and generally make her life better for the first time in two years. As I sat there considering what to do, I suddenly remembered something. I got out of my unit, walked up to car and looked in the back seat. There, behind the front passenger seat was a rear-facing baby seat, buckled snuggly into place. “I meant to ask you about the baby seat,” I told her. “Oh,” she replied. “That’s for my grand baby,” she told me. “I take her to day care each morning so that my daughter can make it to nursing school on time. This is our only car.” “Do they live with you all the time.” I asked. “Yes, sir! They’re my best friends,” she said with a smile.

I thanked her and returned to my unit. I smiled too and thought to myself, “Exigent circumstances! Can’t tow that car if there are exigent circumstances.” I prepared the lady a citation for driving under suspension. I hated to do it, but the only discretion we have in such cases is jail or a misdemeanor summons. I did, however, exercise my discretion and prepared a warning for the expired driver’s license and expired vehicle inspection sticker. I then made a quick phone call before walking back to her car, ticket book in hand. As the little lady waited to hear her fate, I began. “OK, Ms. Smith, here is where we are,” I told her. “I have to issue you a citation for driving under suspension. I have no choice. However, you’re not being arrested, only fined.” She asked me how much the fine would be and I told her that I did not know, but that I had called the Clerk of Court, asked that they let her pay over a period of six months, and that they had agreed. I then handed her the citation and asked her to sign where indicated. She signed and then remembered the other charges. “Is there another ticket,” she asked? “No Ma’am,” I told her. “Apparently, I am out of tickets and don’t have time to go and get some more.” She seemed confused and asked, “I know you have to tow my car, Captain. I was just wondering if there is any way that you can let me get to work first. I can park it around back where nobody will see it and you can tow it from there, if it’s not too much trouble.”

“Well, Ms Smith, it looks like your car isn’t going to be towed today. As it turns out, there are exigent circumstances that allow me to let you keep your car. But you have to get insurance within 30 days.” She didn’t understand, so I explained that since there is an infant in their house, since they had only one car, and since that car was the child’s sole means of transportation to day care, such a situation created exigent circumstances which allowed me to decline to tow the car, provided that I had a reasonable belief that the required insurance would be obtained within 30 days. She assured me that they would get the insurance they needed.

I wished her good luck and told her to be safe and I turned around to walk back to my unit as the tears started rolling down her cheeks again. Before I could walk away, however, Ms. Smith called out to me, “Captain Sharp!” I turned back to her. “I don’t know if you’re allowed or not, but would it be OK if I gave you a hug?” I told her I would love a hug, and it was the best hug of the day.

I’m sorry that it took so long to answer your question, but, “Would it be OK if I gave you a hug?” was one of the kindest things that a suspect ever said to me. Thank you for your question!

Nearly ALL of America FEELS This | Oliver Anthony “Rich Men North of Richmond” | Just Jen Reacts

Americans are crying out! And not one Senator is addressing this!

Covert Intel: Another “Gulf of Tonkin” Incident Planned? Black Sea. Next Week.

World Hal Turner

This content is for Subscribers Only — In order to get the United States involved in the Vietnam War, the “Gulf of Tonkin Incident” was staged by the United States, to claim one of its ships was attacked by the North Vietnamese (Viet Cong) and thus, the US had to enter the war.

Years later, it was revealed the entire incident was staged by the US to provide an EXCUSE to enter the war.

Next week, in the Black Sea . . . .

I don’t like to eat, but I’m not insecure in any way about my weight. I only eat when I feel hungry, and eating often feels like a chore. Is this unhealthy? Should my mom or doctor worry?

First and foremost you should worry. Feeling eating is a chore is not healthy at all. Meals are one of the core moments of socialization, our whole human identity is tied to eating collectively and many paleoanthropologists believe that the practice of sharing meals is what pushed us to develop the linguistic skills. This is how important are meals. Your refusal to eat may be a symptom of something extremely serious and you should see a psychologist about it.

What if the idea of ‘The Purge’ became real?

‘The Purge’ would cause a massive shift of capital to the rich, causing society to essentially collapse.

What would be incredibly rare is private citizens going out hunting and killing each other for sport. People would naturally band together in groups of those they trust and heavily arm themselves. Neighbourhoods would become fortresses. Rich people would hire extremely well paid private security for the night. If you had a murderous grudge against someone, Purge night would be the dumbest night of the year to actually try and carry out that grudge. It is the only night where it should be literally impossible to find your victim unarmed, unaware and alone.

It would also be unlikely to be an opportunity to rob banks or stock up on luxury goods or cars via looting – people who run banks or supercar showrooms know a thing or two about security, for purge night those places would be patrolled by heavily armed private security with orders to drop anyone who comes within a 100m radius of the place.

What would take place is massive amounts of corporate, financial and environmental crime, mostly by rich people.

Say you have a factory which produces gigantic amounts of toxic waste. Treating and properly disposing of that waste is damn expensive, so how about instead of doing that, you just store it all up in a giant vat through the whole year and dump it all into the sea on purge day! Millions in overheads saved, and your company isn’t on the hook for the cleanup. You could probably even get away with claiming that your company has produced zero toxic emissions that year and claim environmental subsidies as a result.

Say you are a hedge fund manager responsible for managing a multi billion dollar portfolio of assets mostly made up of people’s pensions. There are strict rules about how you manage pension funds, however on purge day, you simply transfer all of the money into your own account and become a billionaire overnight.

Say you are a major property developer who has big plans to demolish a poor neighbourhood to make way for luxury condos. There’s no way you can get away with doing something like this in normal times, but on purge day? Shit you could hire goons to put the whole place to the torch.

The premise of ‘The Purge’ is that it is supposed to act as an outlet to enable people to express their frustrations with life for one day, allowing them to live the rest of the year normally. What would actually happen if this law was passed is that normal people would spend the night huddled together in fear whilst rich people systematically rape and pillage the rest of society with zero repercussions.

The World WON’T Believe How SAFE China is! (Americans Shocked)

“I live in Los Angeles. It’s true that I will not go out walking around after dark by myself. It’s definitely not safe. I don’t understand why the government cannot do anything effectively about homeless people, zero-dollar shopping, and all sorts of hate crimes. I hope Chinese people continue to enjoy the freedom of walking around in the cities day and night without worrying about safety.”

What are some examples of criminals who have been caught due to their own stupidity?

My friend is a police officer and what he told me was surprising: the thing that gets most criminals caught is often simple stuff—usually with their car.

Speeding. Expired license. Broken brake light. Turning without using your signal.

Stupid stuff.

Officers need probable cause to pull you over. So at night, when many criminals are out, they just look for these little things.

Once you are pulled over, the officer runs your name in their database and asks you questions. He notices you acting weird while you churn out lies while darting your eyes around nervously. He notices the slight smell of crack coming from your car because you couldn’t leave it at home. But just to be sure, he has a drug dog come and sniff the car.

It all starts with something as simple as that license plate tag you were too lazy to update, which has a new color cycled in each year, to immediately call you out.

I see it happen over and over again on bodycam videos on YouTube.

Most criminals aren’t these genius conniving psychopaths you see on TV. They are generally quite stupid.

Another American “Volunteer” Killed in Ukraine

World Hal Turner

In March of 2022, former US Army Soldier Jericho Skye, made the decision to leave his young child and family behind, and go fight for the Ukrainian government.

An avid mass-media consumer, he was convinced that Russia’s “unprovoked” war was merely the start of a bloodthirsty campaign for global conquest.

The photogenic Californian was killed in battle yesterday, along with NINETEEN other “volunteers.”

He thought it would be like shooting Ducks . . .

…turned out, HE was the Duck.

How did the Chinese military background of the Huawei founder, Ren Zhengfei, give Huawei the strength and resilience to survive the most powerful sanctions which the US has imposed on any tech company in history?

I am not sure about you but I don’t think any military background would have helped Huawei’s founder in any way to survive and fight the most powerful nation in the world, because he does not lead an army, but a private company.

I would think it is his engineering background that’s behind his success,which translates to a single-minded purpose to transform factual information and physics into something that benefit Huawei’s customers more cost effectively and efficiently. This is the true cornerstone of Huawei’s success.

Even when his daughter was detained/kidnapped by Canadian authorities to blackmail him into submission,he did not immediately confront the unfairness of the detention, as what all hot-blooded military folks would do, but instead make him want to motivate his company to continue producing high quality products for the consumers. He took three years to reorg and rally his staff to launch the Mate 60 Pro and Mate X foldable smartphones recently, despite U.S. sanctions.

He probably foresee what’s coming, as he had wanted to sell Huawei to Motorola back in 2003, knowing Huawei will one day challenge America’s high tech Infocomms hegemony … but Motorola was not keen at that time and the deal was called off. After that he held an after-event-review and asked his employees if they wanted to sell the company again and the majority gave a no-vote.

Thus he decided so be it, and warned his employees they will one day battle the most powerful nation on Earth.

He’d never looked back since. The rest is history.

A woman found three kittens running right up to her, and knew they needed her help.

Today’s smile video.

What is the most offensive thing someone has ever asked you?

My sister asked me right before my father’s funeral as she was processing his final arrangements if I wanted to be buried next to him when I pass away myself. I felt that question was a self-serving, insulting slap in the face to me. My father and I had a very toxic relationship. We didn’t speak to each other the last 2 years of his life, although I was gultt-tripped by the family to attend his deathbed and funeral. Going all the way back to my early childhood, my sister, mother, stepmother, grandmother, and everyone else in the family have made it clear my dad matters more than me. Once he was gone, I couldn’t even enjoy the quiet relief from his emotional abuse of me in peace without having yet another female made on me, although I told my sister to go to Hell.

Oliver Anthony Plays His Biggest Show Ever

He’s the real deal. This is great. Check it out.

Why does the ASML CEO seem worried about the Huawei Mate 60 Pro, despite previously stating “Even if we provided them with the drawings, they wouldn’t be able to make it.” regarding China’s technological capabilities?

With Huawei Mate 60 Pro, the writing on the wall is clear: China’s chip ecosystem can make the chips to power the 5G technologies to meet current market needs. . . .and producing its own high end lithography machines can be achieved in as short as 5 years.

ASML should be shitting in their pants right now.

If Huawei can make do with 7nm node and work with chiplet technology in packaging to boost power and utility for the next few years, this means that U.S. chips will not be needed by China. And when the U.S. chip companies are decimated in their prime market and bankrupt, where else can ASML sell their machines to?

Weak or even the collapse of the EUV machine market will mean choking off the large capital funding needed for their even more expensive NA EUV machines. All these can collapse on its own immense weight within these 5 year period. ASML does not have the luxury of time.

‘To hell with spinelessness!’ | Neil Oliver

Neil Oliver shares his thoughts on the climate agenda.

Why didn’t European countries help Africa in the way China did?

Africa is an imaginary place to most people. A lot of commentary about Africa is a fictional genre that reveals more about the writer than the subject of their analysis.

If Europe was written about like Africa, it’d be a place that Arabs and Turks colonised, then an Austrian and Corsican did evil stuff before Uncle Sam saved them from themselves. They’d best watch out for dreadful Chinese and Russian propaganda! Europeans are a bit childlike, you see.

With that out of the way, countries can’t help each other. They can trade, but that is mutually beneficial. By sheer proximity European countries have paid more for African products than China has.

Even now, my country sells more to Spain than we do to China. It’s their dollars that funds our imports of Chinese widgets. Last I checked, Britain was also our largest source of foreign investment.

Much is made about infrastructure, but it’s one of those topics where people have more opinions than facts. The infrastructure explosion across many African countries is downstream of their increased prosperity and the expansion of global financial and industrial capacity.

China Civil Engineering is one of many foreign and domestic contractors vying for construction contracts from the Nigerian government. But it is ultimately Nigerian taxpayers financing the construction. I bet it’s no different in other African countries.

Infrastructure is also an investment. For example, a consortium of American internet firms have built out the underwater internet infrastructure linking Africa to the world. They’ll recoup their investment from increased usage and selling access to their property.

Similarly, a Chinese firm granted a port concession will recoup their investment through port management fees.

There is richer, more informative story waiting to be told once people drop their caricatures and deal with reality.

Dell’s Revenue Collapses After Losing Chinese Market Share De risking Became Destruction

Dell has lost China as its market share plunged posing an existential challenge as Lenovo, a Chinese company, has about 3x higher market share in China and growing. Dell is moving out of China as it cannot survive against the competition against China’s local companies due to the usa’s de-risking policy. Without components from China however makes Dell uncompetitive against China’s local companies. Going out from China Dell loses the huge China’s market forever. The de-risking policy shoot Dell in its foot as it struggles for survival.

https://youtu.be/fOBDyICFVP0

What is the funniest thing that happened to you while shopping?

Back in the 80s, I lived alone in a cheesy one-bedroom apartment in a building full of apartments rented to gay guys. I developed significant friendships with these men; one of them eventually became my “maid” of honor at my wedding, and we are all still in contact to this day. I was alone in the city and these men became my family. We were always hanging out in one apartment or another and I rarely ate dinner alone.

Back in the 80s, our 24-hour Walmart was still a fun place to hang out. If we were bored, we’d all pile in my car and go to Walmart; half a dozen gay men and me.

One December weekend afternoon we were just hanging at Walmart. Some of us were picking up Christmas gifts but mostly we were just enjoying the Christmas displays and each other’s company, cutting up amongst ourselves. We landed in the Christmas toy aisle.

Oh, lo, and behold, hey guys come check out the fire truck!

It was metal, and heavy, and fully as long as my arm. Bright red, it was built to resemble a real fire truck, not a cartoon truck. And it was covered with buttons labeled “Try me!”

By God, it was the coolest thing. One button sounded the siren. Another button and we heard water gushing out of the hose. Another button and we could hear the fireman admonishing the driver to go faster. Sound effects for everything: a 911 call reporting a fire, tires screeching around the corner, firemen calling out to rescue the cat. Probably two dozen buttons worth of sound effects. By God, it was the coolest thing.

The seven of us crowded around this fire truck; for five minutes we repeatedly punched buttons, crowing with delight.

Finally, the old lady standing behind us asked to be excused and pushed between us to grab three of the fire trucks. “If it keeps seven adults that amused, it might work for my grandsons.”

…

What is something your neighbor did that you couldn’t believe?

I was tearing down my old house, and building a new house. I got some outrageous estimates for tearing it down. I live 80 km from the nearest waste transfer station that would take this kind of material, so the hauling was expensive.. It was surrounded by trees, that I wanted to keep, so I couldn’t burn it down. I was talking to a neighbor about how much it cost to tear it down, but that looked like my only option. He talked to my other neighbors, and then on my birthday, the whole neighborhood showed up and helped tear down the house. One guy worked construction, and brought out a 40 foot dumpster container for the waste. We kept a fire like a large bonfire going, small enough to not be a threat, but big enough to burn a lot of tinder dry 80 year old wood . We filled the dumpster with the crushed shingled roof, windows, hot water heater, insulation, and kept burning as much wood as the fire would take. One neighbor brought over a Bobcat to pack everything into the dumpster. Others had sawzalls, cutting the walls into manageable chunks. My wife was BBQing up a storm. One neighbor who was disabled brought over 10 pizzas for the crew. Others hooked their winches to the walls and brought it down.

Some people hauled stuff away, my refrigerator became someone’s beer fridge, etc.

One neighbor stored all my furniture in his garage.

One neighbor let me plug an extension cord into her house, so we didn’t overload the little generator I had.

Another neighbors leant me in his bigger generator.

It took one day, a lot of burgers and pizzas, and my neighbors had saved me a small fortune.

Would your neighbors do this for you? I couldn’t believe my neighbors would do it for me.

BRICS: Bank of China opens branch in Saudi Arabia, New World Order

This is significant. Very significant.

https://youtu.be/bMIU65zrXsc

What are the reasons why some people believe that buying goods made in China is bad? Should we boycott Chinese products?

If you are dumb to asked this question you should take my advise. First open up every product to ensure 100% nothing is made in China. Check the materials. And every single parts need to be sent to a laboratory to check.

Any part of any items with even a small oration or materials made in China as throw it away. Yes you should absolutely not buy anything made in China. China don’t need you. You can throw everything you have and China still has 7 billion customer.

You and your six racist friends can keep buying and keep throwing everything away for all we care. You can burnt down your home because chances is the materials. Are China made, the wall paper U.S. Chinese made, your paint is made in China. Stop asking redundant questions no one gives a shit of your hate.

We don’t gives a shit if you think Chinese products is bad, inferior, trash or dangerous 175 out of 195 nations has China as their biggest trading partner and 7 billion out of 8 billion use a Chinese product 23 out of 24 hours a day. You are as insignificant to China as a one of the germ on planet earth. Get it through your thick skull.

why am I speaking out for China part.1

Once you get past his accent, it’s a very nice perspective.

As someone with expertise in hi-tech, why does Huawei, the Chinese telecom company, pose threat to national security of the USA and its allies?

Huawei is taking up the leadership in various tech fields, from autonomous vehicles to semiconductors. Huawei is moving so fast, the US has little chance to catch up, let alone compete. Huawei has gone beyond its original mandate of telecom gear and is now a strong voice in the EV sector, cloud computing, semiconductor design, production and all the attendant software and hardware items needed for the complete supply chain to produce semiconductors.

Huawei’ unannounced sales of its Mate 60 Pro with its Kirin 9000s chip during US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s visit to China stole the show. Not only is the chip self designed and produced in China, but it features no US parts. In fact, the messaging in the semiconductor sector is continuous and fast moving. Not only did SMIC produce 7nm chips, but TSMC is now taking orders from the mainland for 7nm chips.

Further, Samsung is set to rebuild its China semiconductor factories, Micron is expanding its Xian plant, Intel and Qualcomm have created ‘ innovation centers’ in China, and TSMC is expanding its Nanjing fab. Rumor has it that TSMC may acquire or build a couple more fabs in China. A rebellion is taking place to flaunt Biden’s bullying and destroying any effort to quiet the rise of the semiconductor sector in China.

Mission accomplished

Love this!

Tex-Mex Ravioli Casserole

This dish is good as is, but for an extra pop, serve with a dollop of sour cream and a few jalapeno slices.

Ingredients

1 (16 ounce) jar mild salsa
1 (10.75 ounce) can tomato puree
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 (28 ounce) bag frozen cheese ravioli, unthawed
2 (19 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Instructions

Combine salsa, puree and cumin.
Pour 1/2 cup of sauce mixture on bottom of a lightly greased 2-quart baking dish.
Top evenly with frozen cheese ravioli. Layer with black beans, chopped cilantro, green onions, and remaining sauce mixture; top evenly with cheeses.
Bake, covered with aluminum foil, at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes or until bubbly.
Remove foil, and bake 5 more minutes. Let stand 5 minutes.

Yield: 6 servings

What will China do to grow its economy under the current climate and how will the CPC find ways to tap on that huge Chinese saving resources to its best of advantage?

Right now the Chinese government and companies are striving to make tech breakthroughs in all areas: the most recent example is the launch of the Huawei Mate 60 Pro 5G mobile phone, which was made completely without using any US technologies.

As a result, share prices in tech companies have gone up.

The current trend is to let the air go out of the real estate balloon, while building up the tech sector.

China is also welcoming investment money from Saudi Arabia and UAE, while the US is forcing US tech companies to cut back on their sales and investment to the Chinese market.

Niger France Uranium Operations Shutdown As US Ambassador Is Given 48hr Ultimatum To Leave

Why would you send an ambassador to or insist on being in a country you don’t recognise the regime? The US and France definitely have something under their sleeves.

Newly unsealed court papers have publicly confirmed that the US government seized almost one million barrels of Iranian crude oil from the Greek-managed tanker M/T Suez Rajan.

The State Department said on Friday that the US government had seized the vessel and its cargo of 980,000 barrels of crude oil, alleging it was transporting Iranian oil to China in violation of Washington’s sanctions against Tehran.

It further claimed that the US government obtained a warrant earlier this year for its seizure.

On April 19, around the time of the seizure, the vessel’s owner, Suez Rajan Ltd, pleaded guilty to sanctions violations and was fined $2.5 million.

Subsequently, the Greek vessel’s operator, Empire Navigation, agreed to cooperate with US authorities and ordered the ship, located in Southeast Asia at the time, to take its load of oil to the United States.

The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy warned on July 20 that any oil company unloading hundreds of thousands of barrels of seized Iranian oil sitting in a Greek tanker off the coast of Texas would be held accountable.

Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri’s remarks came on the anniversary of Iran’s confiscation of a British-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz in 2019 after Britain seized an Iranian oil tanker off Gibraltar.

A few days after the seizure of the M/T Suez Rajan, Iran’s Navy seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Sea of Oman, which was carrying Kuwaiti oil for the second-largest energy company in the US.

The oil tanker, named Advantage Sweet, had been involved in a maritime accident with an Iranian fishing craft, which resulted in the injury and missing of a number of its crew.

After the collision, the oil tanker attempted to flee the scene in serious breach of international laws and regulations, which require the provision of medical treatment and supply of proper and sufficient medicine to seamen in case of sickness or injury.

After sitting off the Texas coast for months, the Suez Rajan began the hours-long ship-to-ship transfer of its oil to another tanker, the MR Euphrates, on August 21.

The newly released court documents confirm the US government then seized the oil.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference on August 21, spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Nasser Kan’ani emphasized that the Islamic Republic won’t remain silent on any violation of the Iranian nation’s rights, will show an appropriate reaction, and will “cut off the hands of violators.”

He reminded the parties that have plans to confiscate Iran’s oil to review the history of Iran’s actions in similar cases.

“Measures that involve attacking oil tankers carrying Iranian oil are a brazen example of piracy,” Kan’ani stated.

The United States and its allies have been seizing Iranian oil cargoes since the previous US administration of Donald Trump withdrew unilaterally from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in May 2018.

What is an insane coincidence that you’ve experienced?

In the early 1970s I was at a cocktail party. There was lots of standing about in small groups making small talk about nothing consequential. I was introduced to one particular person who was from Canada.

When in other countries myself, I have often been asked by strangers, when they discovered I was Scottish, if I knew their aunt, or uncle, or cousin or some other random relatives. No one seemed to realise that Scotland has a population of 5 millions and it was impossible for me to know everyone who lived in the same country as myself.

With the above in mind while chatting with this Canadian visitor, I made a joke saying “I won’t ask you if you know my friend Billy who lives in Canada”. We both laughed at that and talked about other things. A couple of hours later we had both circulated through various other groups and came across each other again. We had both run out of meaningless Smalltalk and simply smilled at each other.

Our Canadian guest then broke the ice by saying “Aren’t you the one who has a friend living in Canada? “

I responded yes, in Toronto.

He asked where in Toronto.

I replied, Missauguia.

He asked, where in Missauguia.

I replied, 26 High Cliff Drive.

He looked surprised and said, “Do you mean Billy Skinner. I live next door at number 24.”

Do police lie to cover up crimes?

On the night of August 23rd 1987, 16-year-old Don Henry and 17-year-old Kevin Ives decided to go hunting in Alexander Arkansas. It was believed, at 4 am the two boys were in a horrific accident when they were hit by a train.

It was determined to be a horrific and tragic accident by the state medical examiner, who said the boys were sleeping on the tracks due to marijuana intoxication from smoking 20 Joints. Those were his words, and the authorities closed the case.

Anyone that knows anything about weed would see that as a major red flag. The parents didn’t accept this finding and had a second autopsy done which showed the boys only smoked one joint and they were already dead when they were placed on the tracks. Don Henry’s shirt showed evidence of a stab wound and Kevin Ives had his head smashed in with his own rifle.

The theory is the boys stumbled upon a drug smuggling operation that was run by crooked cops and town officials. Several witnesses that came forward with information died under mysterious circumstances with each of the victim’s bodies examined by the same guy who first examined the two boys.

The prosecutor for the case Dan Herman, was arrested for drug dealing and was implicated as one of the murderers. Keith McCaskill was another man implicated but died when he was stabbed to death by an unknown attacker.

Phil And Tony Sitdown With Carmine Lupertazzi Jr – The Sopranos HD

Phil Leotardo And Tony Soprano Sitdown With Carmine Lupertazzi Jr.